Ghostbusters 2016 Movie Review

There are a 2 movie properties in my life that are as about as close to me as a personal relationship with Jesus.  Those franchises are Back to the Future and Ghostbusters.  I've loved both of these films since I was a young child. Ghostbusters in particular really resonated with me as a child.  Growing up my parents bought most of the toys and we watched many of the Saturday morning cartoons. Ghostbusters has been inter-weaved into the fabric of the person that I am today.  With that being said as a 30 something adult one of the biggest dreams myself and other fanboys have had was for a 3rd Ghostbusters film to happen.  Unfortunately for the fans we will never get that. With the death of Harold Ramis and Bill Murray's reluctance to return to the franchise we would just never see this fantasy come true.

Let's fast forward twenty plus years later.  Most of the fans came to the conclusion that the only sequel we would see after Ghostbusters 2 would be Ghostbusters The Video Game.  It was pretty cool because most of the actors came back to voice their characters and the overall story was pretty good.  Sony Pictures finally conjured up the balls.....and when I say "balls" I don't mean it literally because this movie doesn't have any because it stars mostly women.  Women?  Women? Wait, but I thought the Ghostbusters were dudes?  It's a different time.  This year we finally saw what would be a Ghostbusters film starring mostly all women.

Forget what you know about Ghostbusters.  Go into this movie with a certain familiarity of a franchise but with a different face.  Know up front that your in good hands.  Know that your not going to be disappointed.  We've seen the previews.  We've heard, read and experienced the crude remarks and uproar over women starring in this film.  I will tell you Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy, and Leslie Jones lead this film and do it well!  I can't forget Chris Hemsworth as the goofy, fun loving male receptionist, Kevin.  Paul Feig as the director handled a property that many thought that perhaps couldn't be done.  For this day and age the group that was assembled to make this movie went above and beyond any expectation I ever had.  Being such a huge Ghostbusters fan I was never disappointed.  Out of all the actresses in this film, Kate McKinnon is the knockout, standout female in this film.  All these women are funny but she really stood out from the rest.

Let's talk about the story.  The story is very familiar to the original 1984 film.  Different but similar. I won't go into spoilers or any specific details but it does overall semi follow the first in many ways but updated for our world today.  Our antagonist Rowan (pictured above) played by Neil Casey was good enough.  He was no Gozer or even Vigo from the second film.  He is fairly forgettable. The special effects of the ghosts are awesome.  I totally loved them.  There are many different cameos by most of the original cast with an extended scene with Bill Murray.  Surprising to see him but happy at the same time.  In the end this movie is fun.  This movie makes the grade for a one off Ghostbusters film.  Would I rather see men playing the title parts?  Yes, I would but that's just my opinion.  My kids loved this movie.  We had a great time at the theater and enjoyed the Blu-Ray release also.  This movie is worth watching multiple times!

Rose City Comic Con 2016

A couple of weeks ago we had the "Rose City Comic Con" in Portland, Oregon.  This is a young comic con in it's 4th year I believe but has been rising to national status of great comic cons to attend around North America.  My whole family attended and we had a great time.  I highly recommend this con to anyone looking for great artwork, toys and the opportunity to meet some of your favorite actors and television stars.  This year I didn't meet any of the celebrities or attend any of their panels.  The nice thing is that Rose City posted videos of all the panels with the celebrities.  I'll embed them below so check em out!



You can check out more videos from Rose City Comic Con over here!

The Purge Election Year Review

First and foremost this is film #3.  The first Purge film was new and exciting and different.  Imagine one night each year for 12 hours their are no laws.  No rules.  Anyone can murder anybody they want.  Kill, rape, mame, destroy.  You name it and it's legal.  I guess what "scares" me about these films is how close to reality this could become.  It doesn't seem far off from the world that we live in today.  Each and every one of us have a sick and twisted side to us that if this were real we would go out and "purge" ourselves by killing others.  The story was different.  I liked the first film.  I fell asleep halfway through the second film.  It seemed to me the movie studio was trying to cash in off the success of the earlier film.  We decided to give the Purge another try with a look at the third movie.

Remember Kurt Russell in Escape from New York?  The bad ass old school John Carpenter film. As I watched this film I felt more and more like this was a subtle knock off to another original flick. The film stars Frank Grillo as Leo Barnes.  Frank was in the second film also.  This time around he is a secret service type guard for hire to protect Senator Charlie Roan played by Elizabeth Mitchell.  I don't need to explain what happens other than they end up in Washington DC alone running from a group of neo Nazi mercenaries for hire to capture the senator among all of the freaks murdering one another.

Would I say this is a good movie?  I would say i'm on the fence.  Is it somewhat scary?  Not really. We've seen all this before.  Again, this is the third film.  There are some gruesome and violent scenes to appease the appetite of the movie goers that like that stuff.  Less than half way through the film you have the ending pretty much figured out.  You've seen this movie before.  The acting is fine.  Frank Grillo is up and coming.  He had a short couple of roles in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War as Crossbones.  He has yet to come into his own with an iconic memorable role.  I also noticed Mykelti Williamson (aka Bubba from Forrest Gump) co-stars in the film.  The rest of the acting crew is pretty much forgettable.

Don't feel bad you didn't waste your money in the theater to see this.  The movie has an estimated 10 Million budget and made close to 80 Million in returns so expect another sequel.  I would say rent it or watch it when it comes on cable for sure.  I wasn't really sure what to expect and it wasn't a huge loss of time like Ghost Team was.  Let's hope they can keep improving on the franchise and bring it to bigger and better levels in the future.

Vancouver Toy Junkies Show 2016

The fall season is in full swing and that means it's time again for my favorite toy show of the year!  I don't go to many "shows" for toys or anything that I collect. We do hit a couple of comic cons and local toy shops here and there but this is the premiere show to buy vintage toys in Oregon. It's the one that I can go to and know that I will be coming home with something that fits my unique interests. There are vendors that sell more modern toys but this is mostly made up of folks that have a big passion for old school items.

The Vancouver Toy Junkies and Record Show is held in Vancouver, Washington at the Pearson Air Museum at Fort Vancouver National Park.  It's about a 90 minute drive north for us but worth the trip. We have been visiting this event for a few years now and attend the "early bird" opening of the show to get first dibs on all the amazing items that many of the vendors have.  Mike McLaugherty is the spearhead of this show.  He has really managed to bring together many of the local toy shops and various private collectors to come to one place in unison.  It's the most easy going and friendly show that I attend.  I'm sure it's not an easy thing to do but it comes off to the patrons as a well oiled machine.

What else can I say about this show?  Well how about some of the great items I was able to find. I am a HUGE lunch box collector.  I look for everything from the super old metal boxes to the newer plastic boxes.  I purchased about 6 boxes through out the day and a couple are below.

I couldn't say more about the lunch boxes.  I believe The Karate Kid is from a short lived cartoon. We all remember Tiny Toons and the Wonderful World of Disney is just pure classic.  I love the old man from the Haunted House attraction.  So old school!  Most of these boxes came with thermoses also!  Anymore the thermoses are harder and generally more expensive than the box itself.

Being a collector in his 30's I think I can speak for a lot of people my age that tend to look for toys that they either had when they were kids or had wanted as children.  You are more than likely guaranteed to find something from your child hood at this show.  An example above are a couple of Terminator 2 action figures I owned as a child.  Their is nothing special about them.  I don't even know how successful the line was overall even.  I ended up purchasing 4 in the set but these 2 are the coolest.  They look as if they hadn't even been pulled from the original plastic shell.

I could go on and on about this show.  It's something I highly recommend experiencing for yourself. In all their is a part of us that still has that child inside.  A part of you that sometimes you want to revisit and connect with.  This show is a place for that.  It's a place to see old friends and make new pals.  It's a place to take your 6 year old son who is only really learning about life.  A place to bring your 22 year old daughter who hasn't quite let go of the child hood spirit we all have.  It's a place to make memories and be fond of for years to come.

**Update 9.28.16 - Check out Krystal D's review of the show by clicking here!  It's a great read!

Swiss Army Man Review

Once in a while you watch a film that leaves a lasting impression on you.  Sometimes you see a trailer to a film and you know it's going to be great.  It strikes a chord in you even from a 2 minute preview.  When I saw the trailer for this film it spoke to me.  In the days of sequel after sequel and rehashing of old stories it's nice to see something "different".  This movie is very different.



Hopefully you watched the trailer above and have a faint idea about what this film is about.  The film stars the amazing actor Paul Dano as Hank.  Hank has some issues.  Hank is lost in the wilderness and his only friend is a corpse, Manny, played by Daniel Radcliffe.  We don't know where Manny came from but we know that these 2 become best friends.  You may wonder how a guy becomes best friends with a dead body?  Good question!

Well, you see, Manny begins to become alive.  Hank finds out through out this process that he can use Manny and his body to try and escape this wilderness.  In this Hank teaches Manny about life and the pitfalls and the happiness of what makes us human.  About love, anger, sadness and not farthing in front of other people.  Their is a lot of farting in this movie.  The film is so unique and quirky.  The acting alone of both of these actors is absolutely amazing.  I hope they get nominated for their performances.

Think Castaway.  Think about the craziest film you've seen to date and it probably doesn't compare to Swiss Army Man.  I can't say enough about Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe.  These guys are top notch and what a pleasure to watch them put on such an amazing performance.  I highly recommend this film!

Halloween Animatronic Butler!

A couple of weeks ago I bought this animatronic butler from Home Depot.  I've always loved these cool Halloween decorations.  I had originally planned to buy the butler last year but he quickly sold out. When I saw this guy I had to buy him!  The only downside is that he was very "plain jane". Unlike last years version he had hardly any color to his face, hands and eyes.  I contacted my daughter to save the day.  She was able to give this guy a little bit of color and some eye balls for once. Home Depot has other animatronic Halloween decorations below!

Ghost Team Review

I really wanted to get this review out about a week ago when I first watched it.  I guess it was better that I had some time to really think about this film and write a quick and honest review.  Your probably wondering why I say this?  It stars great actors like Jon Heder, Dave Krumholtz and Justin Long.  How can it be so bad?  First red flag is that it was pretty much a video on demand title from the get go.  Not to say all VOD titles are crap but a film starring this gem of a cast straight to your home tv really makes me wonder.  Where did the glory days of Napoleon Dynamite go?  I totally loved Blades of Glory.  What about David Krumholtz?  I've loved him in so many films and tv shows.   It's almost like this cast just put their own money together and made this film.  If that was the case then hurrah.  I highly doubt that though.  Were these guys bored and had nothing better going on then to just hang out and film this?

With all the bashing I did of this film their are a couple of funny scenes.  Oh wait, don't watch the trailer below because you will see most of them.  I keep shaking my head and wonder why Hollywood keeps wasting their money making stupid films like this.  Do these actors read this script and think it's actually good?  I had a better time looking at Instagram on my phone.  I know. I sound harsh and I really want to like everything I watch now a days but some films I can't lie about.  I love these actors.  I really do but they don't do justice to this film.  Watch the trailer below.  I've also decided to post a couple clips also of what these actors do best in some of their best roles.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates Review

So, I am back to work which means I can seriously tend to neglect this site!  With that being said, here I am doing not that.  Just wanted to send up a quick review from a flick the wife and I watched the other night. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.  Yes, the title is pretty much the whole concept of the film.  If you've seen the trailer you've seen the film.  Check it out below.  I enjoyed the film overall.  It had some pretty funny parts and some stupid parts.

Zac Efron is starting to come into his own as an actor and Adam Devine is funny as crap!  I've never been a super fan of Anna Kendrick so yeah she is fine.  Someone asked me if it starred the people from Pitch Perfect and yeah, I guess it does.  I was really never a big fan of that movie either.  I kinda compare this movie to other films that wouldn't be good enough to spend the money on in the theater but would turn out to be a solid rental.  Re-watch value is pretty low.  I totally recommend this over Ghost Team though.

Video Blog Day 2

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on what we're doing. Stay tuned to this site for exclusive updates about the new flick.

When your phone takes the best video!

So i've been going through this process of actually putting together another short film. I purchased a JVC Camcorder a few years back to use for the home and if I ever wanted to make another short film. This afternoon I decided to shoot some test footage with my camcorder and also with my Iphone. The Iphone hands down shot the best video in full HD. I embedded it below to see the rules and rights with uploading a video to Youtube also. Everything seems to embed just fine and look good at full 1080p HD.

TMNT 2 deleted scene with who???

Yep, you guessed it.  If you don't recognize the seasoned lady with the coffee cup in her hand then I guess your really not a TMNT fan.

It's Judith Hoag from the original TMNT movie. I guess this is a deleted scene that was never included in the theatrical run of the newest film but will be included on the blu-ray.  I highly recommend watching the new flick.  It was pretty fun and even better than the first film.  Watch the clip via Yahoo over here.

Oddities

If you know anything about me or have read anything on this website then you know first and foremost I am a collector.  My collections have ebbed and flowed over time.  Looking back on some of my old posts on here I see toys that I have parted with many moons ago.  As I grow older I tend hold onto things for a while and then let them go to only desire them again later on.  It's that eternal hunt over and over for the goodies.  I love sharing my collection with people and the many cool stories that come along with the many items that I own.  Tonight I thought I would share with you a few random or perhaps odd items that are currently being stored.

Who doesn't know or love this guy?!  Yes, it's Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of films. I'm not the worlds biggest fan of horror but I do enjoy a good scary film.  These films are classics to me so when I saw the doll I knew I had to have him.  He came with no box but seemed to be in good shape otherwise.  He does have a pull string and speaks which is cool.  I really thought the likeness was very close to the movie and his hat even comes off.  His sweater is in great shape and he stands with the help of a doll stand. He's about 12 inches in height all together though he is slightly hunching over in this picture.  I picked this up at a local toy show and considered it a great find for the collection!

Next is this creepy Ronald Mcdonald.  What can you really say about this ugly thing.  I have never been a fan of clowns ever and never too fond of Ronald Mcdonald in general. When I saw him in a friend's toy shop it caught my eye and frankly made my spine slightly crawl. It is so different and strange that I had to have him.  He was already sold.  Turns out the original person it sold to didn't want it and when I returned to the toy shop a few weeks later there he was standing up on the window seal just scratching to get out and go home with someone.  He's pretty clean for his age with no rips or tears in the clothing.  His face is hard plastic and very clean with no smudging or scratches.  He's close to 15 inches in height and never sits still in the right spot.

This guy is a newer toy but as odd and creepy as the rest of them.  This is "Billy" the doll from the Saw film franchise. He stands about 16 inches and literally scares the crap out of my children.  They absolutely hate him and would not be sad if I sold him to someone else.  I don't recall off the top of my head who made him originally but he stands on his own and his red ugly eyes makes you think he is really watching you. With that being said he is super cool and brings a little flavor of something different to the collection.  I enjoyed most of the Saw films so I am pretty proud to have him standing guard to sway away any children who think they might be able to sneak in and snag a random toy for their liking.  Sweet dreams.

What does a killer look like?

So i'm on vacation this week.  I have ample enough time on my hands.  I dusted off my old/new camcorder that I have hardly ever used and penned up an opening scene for a new movie.  Now comes the part of what does the killer look like?

In the past we have usually gone with the black cloak and either a black no face or the Scream Killer mask.  This worked out really well because anyone could put on the cloak and play the killer. I would like to move away from this to more of a defined look.  I've been eyeing this mask or semi variants of this mask at different stores.

What makes this mask cool is that I think it could be seen very well in the dark and covers the face of the actor completely.  It's also very inexpensive which is what we are also going for.  I showed this to my brother and first thing he says is "people don't wanna get killed by Skeletor from Masters of the Universe!".  He does have a point but I still like it.  I did buy another portion of the costume this evening but don't wanna reveal all of my secrets until the film comes out.  I'm really feeling my film making mojo and hope that I can get my friends and family to rally behind me to get this thing done.  I've always felt like I have a super passion for film making and hope to put it to some work this week!

Update! New "News"! I'm still alive!!

I've been thinking about taking some time this week and posting a few new articles. The thing i've noticed is that many blogs that I follow don't get updated very often. Now i'm sure there are many successful blogs but I figure the ratio is very high to blogs that maybe start out on the right foot end up falling into the darkness of the internet. After logging into Blogger it shows me the blogs that I currently follow. A few have disappeared altogether as others haven't been updated in literally years.

Well, I am here to say here is a new update in the world from Seth at Mechamania!  It's been a few years since I have made any kind of videos or short films of my own.  I've actually owned a fairly nice HD camera for a couple of years but never used it like it was intended.  I'm happy to say that I am in the writing process of my next film.  It will be another horror/slasher/comedy with most of the parts played by my good friends.  I thought it was pretty neat that I posted a teaser video of my script and the film director Paul Haggis actually liked it.  Look him up on IMDB to see what films he's made.  He's known for a couple of James Bond films among others.  Check back on the site for more info and updates and check out my Instagram post below.

This is happening. The script to my latest film is being written. Late night session. Hopefully I'll have some video up this week of the opening scene. #movie #film #indie #horror #slasher #comedy #sneakpreview #writing #latenight #inspiration #firstdeath

A video posted by Seth (@sethvan) on Sep 4, 2016 at 1:15am PDT