Battle: Los Angeles Trailer!

I've been following this film, like many others, for about a year.  Their has not been much information nor media released about this film before today.  All I know about this movie is kinda what the trailer portrays: an alien vs human war over Los Angeles.  I gotta say, this trailer is pretty bad ass!  It reminds me a lot of Independence Day meets District 9 with some Black Hawk Down thrown into the mix.  It stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez and Bridget Moynahan.  It is directed by Jonathan Liebesman who also directed "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" and "Darkness Falls".  The film is set to be released on 3.11.11.  I have embed the trailer below.  Check it out!

The Social Network Review

If your not in the loop about a small website called "Facebook" then just stop reading this review right now. Really? Really? Are you still shaking your head with a highlighted question mark above flashing off and on. Quit scratching your chin and seriously get a life.  Get connected to one if not the biggest social networks, no pun intended, known as Facebook. Odds are most of your friends and relatives already have. That is unless you are a true rebel against society and well, that is another blog.

This movie follows the beginnings of Facebook from the first conceptual idea to the million dollar business that it is today. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. Mark is a Harvard student and what most of us would call a "computer nerd". He is brilliant and most of the friends that he surrounds himself with are not to shabby either. After a break up with his girlfriend he designs a local campus website that would allow students to rate other students and make fun of them. He does this in a couple of hours, drunk, not too mention bypasses Harvard internet security to boot. There is a lot more computer jargon that I am not mentioning but in the end he is able to break barriers like none before and is not only recognized for it but punished by the college.

It is only when he is approached by 2 twin brothers of a fraternity that he would never be able to pledge in that this idea of what will be Facebook begins to come into fruition. The film chronicles the next few years and the progression of Facebook to many U.S. college campuses to eventually everyones computer in the world. It is not an easy road as friends becomes enemies and outside influences nearly destroy the dreams of Mark. The film is set in today with mostly looking back at his life the past 10 years. Needless to say he is being sued by his former best friend and the fraternity brothers that came to him with a similar idea in the first place.

The film, in the end leaves it up to you to decide what you really think about the man that created Facebook. Did he steal other peoples ideas?  How original is he?  I think he is a brilliant guy that is not very smart in many ways. That is my ultimate conclusion of this film. I think there are many people in life that are just like him and a lot of them fall into traps and dangers because they don't seem to have the "street smarts" or common sense to watch out for those things. He wanted to create something, a club, that anyone could get into and still be somewhat exclusive.  He could not and would not be excepted into those "clubs" that he longed to be in before.  That doesn't matter anymore now does it?  He is one of the richest people in the world.

The film is directed by David Fincher. He has directed such films as "7, Zodiac, Panic Room and Fight Club". Justin Timberlake also stars and seems to be fitting more and more into his acting shoes in every film he is in. Is this a good film? It is an interesting film and worth a watch. Would I see it in the theater? Probably not but it is worth renting and not a waste of 2 hours watching it. Is it everything that everyone has been bragging about. I really didn't think so. Sorry folks. 2 out of 4 pizzzzas!

Mechamania Vlog: Episode 2

Hey everyone! This weeks episode of Mechamania is online at Youtube. This week we cover the famous "Ninja Motorcycle Accident" viral video, "Return of the Quack": The awesome Oregon Ducks Football music video. Hulk Hogan shows the world what he is really worth these days and MC Hammer makes a comeback against one of the biggest rap moguls in history. H to the Izzo, V to the Iz-A. That's the anthem keep your damn hands off me!

The Blu Ray Review: Scott Pilgrim

Ok, watched this again this evening.  I need to give you a little history on this film.  First of all I am not a fan of the books this film was based off of nor the manga style of comic in general.  If you ask my 2 teenage daughters, they go GA GA over it.  I knew of the books and of the production of this film and jumped on the bandwagon as soon as I saw the first trailer.  I was psyched, my wife was psyched, the girls were psyched.  We were going to see this film in the theater.  Bad scheduling conflict Scott Pilgrim.  It was released the same day as "The Expendables".  It was my birthday and we watched Stallone kick south american drug lord ass.

>>>>Fast forward to this past week.  My first viewing was of the DVD and granted, I was tired when watching it.  I fell asleep on the couch and woke up with a crooked neck missing roughly 80% of the film.  From what I saw, unfortunately, I was not all that happy and came to the consensus that not watching it in the theater was a good idea after all.  I tell ya, watching movies on DVD is crap anymore.  Not to sound like a rich baby, which I am not, but happen to be fortunate enough to own a high def tv and high def video equipment.  Scott Pilgrim is one of those movies, to thoroughly enjoy it, you have to either watch it in it's original glory in the theater or in high definition at home.

If you do not like video games then stop reading.  If your not a big fan of Michael Cera then stop reading.  If your not in either of the 2 categories above then I sense you will enjoy this film.  If you are like me and grew up on old Nes and Snes game systems then this will bring a lot of memories back for you.  I went into this film thinking that if you liked Edgar Wright as a director (he made Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz most notably to US audiences) then you will love this film.  Not so much as I think he takes a different direction in Scott Pilgrim.  To be blunt honest.  Michael Cera is the same guy in all of this movies.  Does it seem to work for him?  Most of the time, yes.  He does a good job as Scott Pilgrim and I do enjoy his acting although redundant 99% of the time.

The story is not all that complicated.  Our main character Scott Pilgrim falls in love with a girl named Ramona Flowers.  To win her love and have her all to himself he must fight her 7 evil exes.  The evil exes are what really make the film for me.  They are played by such famous actors as Chris Evans (Captain America and Johnny Flame from Fantastic 4), Brandon Routh (Superman) and Jason Schwartzman.  Kieran Culkin is Scott's best gay friend and Anna Kendrick is his sister.

The special effects are out of this world.  The battle of the bands scene with Scott's band against the 2 Asian techno twins is pretty amazing.  Along the film you will find many flashbacks to your old 8-bit Nintendo games from in film graphics to the subtle soundtrack and sound effects.  I also found that a lot of the transitions and the constant aspect ratio changing from full screen to letterbox and back and forth kept the pace of the film running smoothly.

Overall, this is a good rental and worth a viewing once.  I see a lot of teenagers that are into Anime and Japan Manga culture liking this film more than your average demographic.  Perhaps if the film had of been released at a different time of the year it would not have been such a flop in the box office.  Hopefully it can make it's money back in DVD and Blu Ray sales.  I am looking forward to the next film from Edgar Wright hopefully with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun and Hot Fuzz).  2 ouf 4 pizzas!

The Blu Ray Review: A Christmas Carol

Hey everyone! I'm not sure what happened to me in the month of October but it's the first of November and i'm back with a bang! Honestly, I have watched only a couple of films that are even worth talking about or even recommending to anyone else. I am going to post a review of "The Social Network" and might even express my feelings on "Scott Pilgrim VS The World". I still have to bring up the back end of things and open up a chat about "The Walking Dead", the best show on television since True Blood!

Ok, Ok, here is "A Christmas Carol"! Don't be fooled by the Disney Studios into before the film's opening credits. I had heard from other people that this film was a little scary for the younger audience and well, it is. This is a Disney made film but I would recommend no one under 10 years of age at least. Some of the ghosts in the film tend to be a little more scarier and would probably upset smaller children. I can imagine watching it in 3D at the theater tended to make that even scarier.

If you have seen any of the many famous remakes of this Charles Dickens classic then your going to know pretty much everything about this film. That is ok though. In my opinion, what grabs you in this movie is how it was made. It reminds me a lot of "The Polar Express" in it's animation aspect. I don't know if it was purely animated or if they used motion capture similar to "Avatar" but this film looks and flows within itself amazingly! I would recommend watching this at the highest definition possible. My family and I watched it on a 42 inch LED from a Blu Ray copy of the film and it was gorgeous!

Jim Carrey is your starring actor and not only plays Scrooge but also 2 of the other ghosts that come to visit him in this tale. His work is wonderful as is other famous actors in the film such as Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright and Gary Oldman. I'm not sure if it will be re-released in the theater for the Christmas season but if it does I would recommend going to see it and especially in 3D. This is a great reincarnation of the famous tale and personally a great opening film for my family this Christmas season. I give it 4 out of 4 pizzas and you can watch the trailer below.