Random Thoughts: Disney Princesses(What I'd Like To See Changed About Em?)

Random Thoughts: The Spider-Man/John McClane connection

Usually during the holiday season I'd tend to have a christmas movie marathon and my first christmas movie of choice happens to be Die Hard. Die Hard is one of those kind of movies in which, to me, is a timeless classic that never gets old but what makes it even more special is watching it around christmas. As I was watching the movie I started to notice something that I haven't notice in awhile, how similar John McClane and Peter Parker actually are.

Lets look at a few main facts.

When the concept of John McClane first came up the character in actuality was originally supposed to parody action heroes like Stallone or The Ex-Governator. The actor they picked happened to be Bruce Willis. Before Bruce Willis became the action movie juggernaut that people currently remember him as he originally was a comedy movie star. Yes I was floored when I found that out. Blind Date was his most notable comedy film. When come time to play the role of John McClane his career really took off. So what started out as a joke ended up an inspiration for future action movies.

Peter Parker, like John McClane, didn't start out as your textbook superhero either. He didn't have the hero physique or the billions of dollars or the wonderful gadgets or super genius intellect. Peter is smart but he's more grounded smart, not like Reed Richards or Tony Stark who can make a suit of armor out of scraps. But he eventually ended up becoming the face of the Marvel Universe.

What they also have in common is that both of them are the everyman. They aren't billionaire playboys or invincible superheroes. Heck their origin stories didn't even involve them looking for supervillains to fight. It was just a case of being in the wrong situation at the wrong time.

"Story of my life"

In an essence they're actually wish fulfillment characters. John McClane represents the everyman who want to save lives even at the expense of their own life. Just like real life one doesn't get rewarded for it. However...

John McClane: You know what you get for being a hero? Nothin'. You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah, blah, blah, attaboy. You get divorced. Your wife can't remember your last name. Your kids don't want to talk to you. You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me, kid, nobody wants to be that guy.
Matt Farrell: Then why you doing this?
John McClane: Because there's no body else to do it right now, that's why. Believe me, if there were somebody else to do it, I'd let them do it, but there's not. So we're doing it.
From Live Free or Die Hard

Peter Parker represents the everyman who not just fights bad guys but also gets to hang around with the worlds greatest heroes and meets with some of the hottest heroines and yet he still gets crapped on. However

From Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes

They're the underdogs. In every sense of the word. They get the crap kicked out of them by every villain that comes in their path and they don't have corporate connections to pull them out of it. They also would get blasted by the media despite the countless lives they save yet through it all they pull through it and continue trying to save lives. Sometimes willingly and sometimes it just fall on their laps but they both continue to get the job done. While making a few wisecracks at the bad guys in the process.

Paul Walker

 

I remember when I first heard the news about it my first reaction was if this was someone's idea of a sick prank. I was proven wrong. It's one of those situations where it just shocks you to your core as your mind is trying to comprehend what it just discovered.

I'm not going to BS anyone and say the guy's my favorite actor but I admit that I have been starting to like his work as of late. Paul Walker to me is one of those guys who isn't really a bad actor, see Running Scared, but just doesn't have the right material for him to really showcase his talent, Running Scared again.

 My first time viewing him was in a movie called Varsity Blues. He played an all star quarterback who got injured and was replaced by the main character of the film. TBH I found Walker's character in VB more interesting as his character could have been written as a cliched jerk jock but in actuality he's more grounded and a pretty decent guy. That and he wasn't whiny like the main character. I liked him better in the Skulls, he plays the son of the main villain in that movie. His character in the Skulls I'd describe as not a villain but a more grayish type of character who could go either way depending on the situation. His character in the Fast and The Furious films isn't considered an all time favorite but when I looked at the character I see that he's actually the heart of the group. The glue that keeps the crew together. I thought his character arc was improving in the later Fast Films and was interested in seeing where it would go

While he's not considered my all time favorite actor I respect the guy due to his humble nature despite his celebrity status. He's one of those celebrities that you hardly hear a bad thing about, which to me is actually refreshing. Hollywood needs more celebrities like him.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Taking the comic book films out of the equation I'd put this up there with Pacific Rim when it comes to movie of the year for me. I thought the movie was a vast improvement over the first movie. The first things that won me over was how it showed Katniss suffering psychological effects from the events of the previous movie, she'd have panic attacks whenever she finds something that trigger her memories of the event or even have nightmares, even Peeta suffers the same effect. I like how they don't gloss over what the characters went through and go on about their day as if nothing happen.

The more I look at the movie the more I'm starting to see The Capitol as The Empire from Star Wars and President Snow is Palpatine. Some of the armor that his troops have on even resemble Storm Trooper armor. Then you have the ending, which I'll get to in a moment. But yeah I get the feeling that Donald Southerland is having a ball with his portrayal as President Snow. I also like the chemistry between him and Katniss as they both share a combination of hate and fear towards eachother.

What I also love about the movie is it's middle finger to reality tv. Cause really that movie shows how ridiculous reality tv actually is, minus the killing. So I like movies that uses that kind of take that. I also happen to notice a little nudge nudge wink wink towards shippers by the way the media and those watching seem to see Katniss and Peeta, that and celebrity power couples.

There were moments where I did get a little choked up and I like a movie where it can move you to a point that you become emotionally invested to the characters. The one character I had a gripe with was the Liam's portrayal as Gale. I had to roll my eyes at the touchy scenes involving them. Jennifer Lawrence however was trying. I thought the most powerful scenes were Katniss and Peeta's relationship with their respective mentors.

There were a few new side characters I enjoyed. For instance Phillip Seymore Hoffman's character won me over in his first appearance. I liked how, at first, it appeared that his character and President Snow was playing a game of who is the most evil. The three characters that really won me over were Finnick, Johanna, and Mags who were the previous winners of the games.

When Finnick was first introduced he came off as a jerk but I gotta admit he was a likable jerk. Then as the movie went on you start to see the character unravel. I was sitting there thinking why cant hollywood make more jerk character like Finnick? He was exactly what I wanted from a jerk character, sure around others he's obnoxious but he actually has a human side. One of them being was his relationship to Mags. Whom I also liked instantly when first introduced, she was the textbook example of a cool old lady. I liked Johanna due to her first introduction and she has a rather feisty personality, it's not one of those look at how feisty I am kind of personality as there is a reason behind it.

Coming into the second movie I knew it was gonna be a cliffhanger because thanks to Empire Strikes Back there usually is a cliffhanger in the mid portion of the trilogy. Speaking of ESB the twist and the ending actually seem to be influenced off of it. Heck most of the second movie seem to be influenced off of SW. It was a pretty good cliffhanger though.

Katniss kinda reminds me of Han Solo in that she didn't want any part of the war but would rather just survive the empire's tyranny yet something happens makes her want to join the rebel army. Speaking of Katniss the more I look at her the more I see her as a better role model than Bella Swan.

For one she doesn't spend each movie lusting after some guy and she is self efficient enough that she doesn't need to depend on some knight in shining armor to save her as she does a good enough job saving herself. Also the Hunger Games films doesn't revolve around some love triangle as there is a more deeper story.

There is one minor nitpick though. Ok Peeta had announced that him and Katniss not only were married in secret but are expecting child. Granted it was a fib but President Snow still had Katniss compete in the games. Taking it from a Evil Overlord List perspective putting a seemingly pregnant woman in a life or death contest wouldn't make ones image look good, especially one whose trying a villain with good publicity approach. The best option would at least be use means to disprove said claim and discredit the power couple.

Overall I say go see it, it's worth the money and the box office drawings.

A Look Back: Man of Steel

One of the most controversial films in superhero movie history. It is one of those movies that has splitted the comic fandom right down the middle. I've talked about the movie itself but right now I'm going to talk about it's more controversial nature from the movie's concept or the ending of the movie.

The Concept

I enjoyed it. I liked how they made Krypton look a little different when compared to the crystal palace version from the Reeves or the Smallville version as I've often wondered what the live action version of Krypton looked like when it's outside of a crystal room.

I thought the new suit looked nice, lets face it there are moments we'd question how one can take Superman seriously when he flies around with underwear outside of his pants. I also liked how the movie gave the suit a bit of a backstory.

The Superman in this one has more layers. Gone are the days of the perfect boyscout hero as this movie shows us a guy and his internal struggle of being the worlds greatest hero. There were moments where Clark angst but it's nowhere near as bad as say his Smallville version.

I feel what they were doing with General Zod, in this one he had a motivation that is beyond taking over the world because I can. I did like the warning.

However I still feel that Stamp's Zod was better though. While Stamp's Zod didn't have motivation he actually made up for it in being one of the most memorable movie villains in history. On a positive note,  Faora.

You want to talk about ensemble darkhorse she's so enjoyable that even the haters and trolls like her.

I had no problem with the fights. Lets face it people this is WHAT HAPPENS when flying bricks duke it out. Also we are not dealing with an experienced Superman that take a world of cardboard approach. I also like how the military was involved, a part of me wonders if the events of MOS would result in the creation of Cadmus. I can see Amanda Waller being one of those government agents that isn't 100% on Superman being the savior of the world.

I was never sold on Jonathan Kent, a part of me wonders if he did a good job in raising Clark or if he was holding him back. The only father figure that helped Clark move forward was his own father Jor El. Whom I thought was better than the Smallville version, especially AI Jor El.

The ending

 

TBH I never had a problem with Superman killing Zod as I understood the message it was trying to make. They took a bold approach in showing a motivation as to why Superman never kills. That and he did show remorse over his actions. Also nobody went apeshit in Superman II and IV and that Superman killed with little remorse. I know some fanboy would try to use the Donner Superman to support their argument but given the official cut made it in theaters that is considered canon. Also there is Superman killing Nuclear Man. He also went and let the villain family in Superman 3 die, where was that uproar?

Overall

MOS isn't a perfect movie but I did like that it was trying a bold and different approach instead of copying off of the Reeves films. The end results might not be favorable to some but to me I'm looking forward to where they will go with this.

That Guy With The Glasses

I've been a fan of the site ever since the first anniversary movie and have followed just about every reviewer on the site. Throughout the years I have watched just about every video the TGWTG crew have put up there are videos I've enjoyed and there are videos I don't enjoy and recently I find myself not that much of a fan of the site.

Granted there are still reviewers of the site that I do enjoy but I find myself rather distant from it and I'm going to give reasons as to why and also talk about some of the reviewers on the site.

Lately their jokes can range between either funny or juvenile and by juvenile I mean on Family Guy levels, the best example I can give concerning that are Phoelous and Nostalgia Critic, recently.

Phoelous
I've followed his reviews and the one review that I happen to find decent was his A Sirbian Film review. Not because of the humor but because it's one of his few reviews that actually portrays some decent emotion out of it. What I find irritating about his reviews is that he can come off as a douchebag. In his regular reviews outside of A Sirbian Film he comes off as the kind of guy you feel like you just want to punch in the face or tell em to STFU. Especially with the way he makes those faces whenever he says something condescending

Nostalgia Critic
I wouldn't go as far as to call him my all time favorite reviewer, Linkara is first and Nostalgia Chick is second, however I do consider him one of my favorite reviewers at the time. But the more I watch his later videos the more I start to see how stale he has became. Also I tend to get irritated whenever he'd try to force feed his Demo Reel crew into his recent reviews. That and the majority of the reviews now aren't even reviews of old movies. It just takes the nostalgia out of the Nostalgia Critic, if all he's going to do is recent stuff then shouldn't he be called The Critic instead? Also his high pitched screaming can get annoying if done constantly.

I do happen to like his Avatar reviews as it's as close to an honest review I've seen and he isn't doing the typical angry reviewer stick.

I find myself reaching a point where I don't take the guys reviews seriously anymore tbh. Yeah I know they're not supposed to be taken seriously given their style but they still try to come off as legit reviewers and would often credit actual reviewers like Siskel and Ebert as their inspiration. Having seen their material they don't come off like those guys, on their worst day, they come off as the posters one sees in the comic forums. And you know the kind I'm talking about.

For instance when The Dark Knight Rises came out just about the majority of the people on the site seem to hate it. I put it off then I started to notice something in the Man of Steel review and I noticed something thats rather similar to TDKR. When Doug hates something everyone on that site follows. You have a few exceptions but it seems that when the boss hates something they're inclined to hate it too. So lets say if Doug hates Avengers 2 or the Superman/Batman movie then do they have to blindly agree with him? It reminds me of when Alan Moore did a rant against Watchmen and just about every comic fanboy complained about how much the movie sucked, not because they've seen it to give that kind of a fair judgment but just because to kiss Alan Moore's butt. It's that kind of sheep mentality I don't really care for.

Another reviewer I don't care for is Blockbuster Buster. The guy comes off as a fanboy than a legit reviewer. Also the guy's often been accused of not doing his research when reviewing something. Someone had pointed out a few inaccuracies from his Revenge of The Fallen review. One thing I roll my eyes on is his view on how he finds that Dreamworks makes bad movies, the two Kung Fu Panda movies, Rise of The Guardians, and Megamind is among the many movies that proves his theory wrong. I do however like him better when he's reviewing fan films, that really should be his job right there as it's not often you have someone that reviews fan films these days.

There are some reviewers I do happen to like though

Nostalgia Chick, especially when Nella is involved. She's actually informative when she does her reviews.

Cinema Snob: I like his reviews on old exploitation flicks and just about any scene with his cats in em. As far as his non-Cinema Snob stuff goes I like his regular movie reviews but only when he's doing him solo or when it's with Jillian, who should have her own show. Outside of his other crew like Sarah and Jake I don't really are much for the other Snob Crew. Especially Dave.

Dave to me sounds like the equivalent of a bratty child that one sees at a supermarket or any store when reviewing a movie. This is him at his worst.

http://blip.tv/the-cinema-snob/midnight-screenings-carrie-6668872

It didn't make me not want to watch Carrie but it did make me want to press the mute button so I don't really hold his opinion in any high value.

Spoony: I know some people would think typical angry reviewer but to me when looking at Spoony's reviews he comes off more honest than your usual angry reviewer. Also he rarely gets angry in his reviews, he mostly does when it's something thats actually worth it.

Linkara: I AM A MAAN!!! Also I like his arc stuff and when he rants on a comic you know it deserves the rant it gets. That and while he also did say something negative about MOS I at least can buy that what he's saying was honest, not because The Boss, hated it.

Suede: He's one of the few people that comes off as a angry reviewer

Welshy: The guy can be funny at times and my personal favorite was his Braindead and Doctor Who reviews.

So yeah these are my thoughts. If you have any thoughts relating to this drop a comment or if you have a reviewer that you like or don't like then also drop a comment.

Remakes

Just three words....reel it in.

Has horror movies in mainstream hollywood declined so badly that they need to depend on remakes of a classic horror movie or a novel to get it out of the hole that its in? Just you know this isn't an attack on the Carrie remake that has already came out but just wanted to point something out. It really didn't need a remake.

I respect the effort that the two stars of the movie put out and the movie did look like it was trying, which is more than I can say for most remakes, however it still falls under the cash grab remake. A horror movie that mainstream hollywood decides to remake just for the soul purpose of putting butts in seats.

Carrie has been remade so many times that I actually felt that they were beating a dead horse by remaking it again.

There were some satisfying moments, the roaring rampage of revenge. Still doesn't ignore the fact that a remake wasn't needed but I wouldn't go as far as to call it a horrible movie since there was some effort put in but not enough to put this movie in the same category with other gems like John Carpenters The Thing or Dawn of The Dead because of the fact that it was scene for scene. It didn't really do anything innovative. You know, some would find this ridiculous but I don't care. Have Carrie's mom be a psychic and the two have a psychic showdown. Least that would have been a curveball.

I happen to get a hidden message to this. With the string of anti-bullying stuff going on one could confuse the Carrie remake as a anti-bullying propaganda film. Although it makes me a little concern with the message it's giving. Ok replace psychic powers in the movie with someone going on a shooting rampage. Yeah not a message I'd recommend with what has been going on as of late.

Would I recommend this movie to anyone? Only if you have nothing to watch but honestly watch Chronicle instead since thats the closest to a good Carrie remake I've seen.

Still mainstream hollywood, it wouldn't kill you to do something original. Especially since the foreign films are kicking your butts when it comes to horror.