Machete Maidens Unleashed

Machete Maidens Unleashed is an Australian produced documentary. It’s about American B movies filmed in the Philippines from the 1960s to early 80s.  We see interviews from B movie master/legend Roger Corman, as well as other B movie stars such as Sid Haig (House of 1000 corpses) Eddie Garcia, Franco Guerrero, Director John Landis (who has some great lines) and Philipino Pioneer Eddie Romero. R. Lee Ermey of Full Metal Jacket fame gets some screen time. Also included are many B movie babes such as Celeste Yarnall, Marrie Lee, Jayne Kennedy, Rosanne Katon.  Also of note are Gloria Hendry,  the first black Bond babe from Live and Let Die, and Trina Parks, a black actress who was not a Bond babe but was the first black actress to appear in Bond film, which was Diamonds Are Forever.

For various reasons the Philippines became a place for maverick film makers to make movies on the cheap. Initially American film makers used the setting to make war movies, but then someone had the idea to make a monster movie. 1959′s Terror is a Man, essentially an Island of Dr. Moreau story of a man changed into a cat like creature, paved the way for countless shlock horror titles, which later led to exploitation films filled with women fighting, getting tortured, and getting naked. Movies mentioned include The Big Doll House, Women in Cages, The Hot Box, Ebony Ivory and Jade, Beast of Blood, Beast of the Yellow Night, The One Armed Executioner, and Black Mama White Mama. Basically these movies had the 3 B’s of B movies, beasts, blood, and boobies. Naturally we see clips from all these films showing the wild craziness of the whole scene, interspersed with quotes from advertisements for these films. They would read something to the effect of “She brings seduction and destruction/they wanted a vacation, they got death” etc etc.

There’s a few anecdotes/wild stories from days on the set, but not as many as you’d think. Stuntmen were dirt cheap. One was in a tower that got knocked over by a vehicle. He was supposed to jump out, but got scared and held on, and tragically fell to his death.

Brief mentions of the Philippine dictatorship are given, such as when it was announced over TV stations that Marshall Law was declared. People would get shot on the street for violating simple rules, but these crazy movies were still allowed to be filmed by Americans.

The documentary is very self aware that its topic is junk culture. John Landis has some great lines about how after a few decades pass people look back and over intellectualize what are simply sleazy sex and violence films. However it is noted that as much as they were junk movies they were the only American movies made with female leads, let alone black female leads. One film was noted for having 4 black females as the lead characters, which Hollywood didn’t do for decades.

Apocalypse now is covered, as it was filmed in the Philippines with cooperation from the government. Stories are told of how the army helicopters got “sick” and for a little cash they would feel better. The shoot was brutal, but Vietnam Veteran R. Lee Ermey criticized the film saying it was Cooplola’s fantasy, and that it was nothing like his experiences in Vietnam.

The governments later attempt to bring respect to the region is covered when they put on a film festival, which it’s breakout movie was For Y’ur Height Only, a Bond parody starring midget Weng Weng. Also covered is a new facility that was built for the festival that collapsed killing many workers. Rumors circulated that not all the bodies were recovered, but actually left in the wet concrete.

All in all it’s a fun movie to watch and makes no apologies in reveling in it’s goofy gory explicit glory. More discerning viewers may ask for further analysis on the political front. No one seemed to have any qualms about exploiting these people that lived under a dictatorship. It’s briefly mentioned how later anti-government demonstrators as well as Muslim rebels in the south (where they’re still fighting today) ended the party, as American film makers grew more hesitant of going there. Also very briefly touched on was the demise of the drive in theaters and the growth of the home video market. More insight on this would have been interesting (especially since B movies lived on in the direct to video market). It’s as if they spent so much time with the beasts blood and boobies that they ran out of space and hurriedly tacked this part on at the end while there were still a few reels of film left.

Still, anyone who is watching this movie is probably watching it to see B movie nuttiness, which is exactly what it delivers. 8.8/10.

I’d like to close with one last note. This was the last film I will ever see at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. I’ve come to this every year since 2007, and it’s been my favorite film fest of Korea. It was always well organized, with a friendly staff and great unique selection of films. I saw some crazy imaginative stuff here over the years. Machete Maidens Unleashed is the perfect choice for my last film. It’s gutsy, daring, imaginative, and in it’s own twisted way, reflects the spirit of what PIFF is all about. Best wishes.

The Whisperer in the Darkness Film

At the Bucheon Film Festival (PIFF) I saw The Whisperer in the Darkness, which is an adaptation of a short story by H. P. Lovecraft of Cthulu fame. The movie was produced by the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, and is actually shot in the style of movies from the 1950s and back. Filmed in black and white, the movie uses no CGI but instead uses puppetry and other special effects early film makers would have used. The film score and the style of acting (over acting in their speaking, etc) is also reflective of this time period. The society previously did an adaptation of Lovecraft’s most famous story, Call of Cthulu, shot as a silent film.

The movie opens with narration from main character Albert Wilmarth, professor of folklore at New England’s Miskatonic Univeristy, a fictitious University and common setting in many Lovecraft stories. After some heavy rains in Vermont, some people claim to sea bodies of strange creatures in the river that are apparently similar to creatures in local lore.

In an inventive deviation from the short story, Wilmarth has a radio debate with Charles Fort, a real life writer who investigated unknown phenomenon. Today the word Fortean is associated with strange phenomenon. After being embarrassed in the debate, we learn that Wilmarth has had a letter correspondence with one Henry Akeley, a Vermont Farmer who claims to have seen these creatures alive.

A skeptical Wilmarth travels to Vermont, where the rest of the movie takes place. Naturally he learns the horrible truth and discovers the maddening plot.

Overall it’s an effective adaptation of one of Lovecraft’s most interesting stories. Some liberties are naturally taken, for instance Lovecraft could not or simply would not write women, so this needed to be corrected. The ending is expanded upon with  nice twist.

To watch a movie today done with pre-CGI special effects that are still effective is quiet satisfying. The creatures have the classic slow reveal, seen only in parts or in shadows. The final reveal however was awkward, as we see many creatures at once and seen from a distance. (There was also a moment when a creature knocked Wilmarth down, but then walked away ignoring him, that was a little confusing.)

Lovecraftian horror is different from other types of horror, in that the fear is not based on death, but on madness. This film does try to convey that type of fear, that sense that there are hideous truths that, if discovered, would drive us insane. There were moments that were generally startling, but there could have been more. Towards the end there’s a lot of exposition, and the pacing could have been sharper to add a few more scares. Akeley’s performance at the end is creepy, except for this strange laugh he did. It was supposed to be menacing, but the audience was laughing.

The narration sounds a little awkward at times, but the leads performance is good. At times he seemed to be channeling John Ritter. One problem his arc had was that he seemed to quick to jump from skeptic to believer. This was the type of movie that could play out that conflict well.

Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos may be fictions first shared universe, predating the Marvel and DC universe of comic books, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. In the beginning there are some references to other Lovecraft stories, (Cthulu is mentioned) but most of them aren’t distracting if you don’t know them. One that is distracting relates to Wilmarth’s supervisor at the college, who warns him not to do the radio debate and to not investigate the Vermont incidents. This is a very strong character, whose apparently had some horrible encounter before, which he has physical evidence for. I’m not sure what story this was referencing, but it was a little distracting and could have been explained better.

I want to coin a phrase for this style of film making, where you purposely make it look like an old movie, but the phrase escapes me. It’s a daring experiment, this type of movie will never be a blockbuster, but it will always have an audience. I hope more movies get made in this style. 8.5/10.

I may have one more review from PIFF this week.

Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival: Child’s Eye and Why?

This year was the 15th Puchon (or Bucheon) International Fantastic Film Festival (PIFF) in South Korea. Covering two weekends and focusing on sci-fi/horror films (but not all their films are of those genres) it is my favorite film fest of Korea. I’ve been to every one since 2007, and this year was my last year to attend. Here are two films I saw.

Child’s Eye,  a 2010 Hong Kong film, is about three couples that are students in Hong Kong. They travel to Thailand on vacation, but get stranded there when anti-government demonstrators seized the airport (This actually happened a few years ago).  Not knowing what to do, they check into a crummy hotel, where strange events occur involving a tragic incident from the recent past. The truth revealed is very bizarre, playing of anxieties of things pregnant women supposedly should not do. It is one of the rare films that effectively use 3D (The horror genre naturally fits with 3D, you’d think more people would realize that.)

Child’s Eye has some interesting moments, but is bogged down by uninteresting characters. 2 of the students don’t even need to exist, and the audience has little to no reason to route for the main couple. It’s got a few scares, but not enough to kill the boredom. 6/10.

Why? (Literally translated from Why? in Korean) is a 1974 film about two older South Koreans that travel to Japan and run afoul of North Korean activists who want to steal money for Kim Il-Seong’s birthday celebration. The main story arc is about lost son’s and inheritance. It’s goofy from the get go, with occasional moments of drama and sexual deviance. I’m not giving a rating to this film, as I had trouble following some of the characters, but the audience seemed to enjoy it.

Tomorrow I’ll post a review of The Whisperer in Darkness.

Curse of the 3:

(Originally Published on Myspace on 5/12/2007, updated 5/6/2013)

Transformers 3 was by no means a great movie, but it amazed me in that, being the third entry in the franchise, it was the best in the series. (Not that that’s saying much). It reminded me of an old idea I’d written about a while back on myspace. Said idea is as follows.

It seems to me that many times, especially with big franchise movies, the third entry in a film series is a stinker, not as good as the first two, or at least the point where it starts to go downhill. Why this is, whose to say, plus it’s kind of objective anyway. Especially with big budget series like Spiderman, there is so much money involved and so many people with input on what should be done, that it must be hard to sustain creativity and quality across three entries. There are exceptions of course, and if a real movie buff took a hard look at it they might see it differently. Either way here’s is a list off the top of my head of film series which suffer “The Curse of the Three”.

Aliens

Batman

Blade

Die Hard

Friday the 13th

Iron Man

Matrix

Paranormal Activity

Rambo

Robocop

Spiderman

Superman

Terminator

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Feel free to add your own, disagree, or whatever.

Happy thirds.

Transformers 3: A Franchise Redeemed.

Transformers 3 achieves something possibly unprecedented in the history of film. It is the third entry in the series, and it is better than the first two. Often the third entry of a series begins the decline in quality, but thankfully not in this case, as the first two Transformers movies were so infamously scorned.

I hated the first Transformers movie (from the infamous 2007 where I hated almost every movie). I almost walked out of that scene where the Autobots were at Spike’s house (who was completely unlikeable), because I didn’t pay 8000 won to see a dog pee on Optimus Prime. I refused to see the second one in the theater, and only rented it because a friend was an extra, and I wanted to see that part where they walk out of the Smithsonian Institute and into the Nevada desert.

So I had no plans to see the this movie, but then I saw the ads. Wait, this looks good! How could this be? On to the review.

Transformers 3 opens with the only film sequence I’ve seen worthy of being in 3D (I saw Avatar in 2D). It is a battle on Cybertron and it looks fantastic.

Cut 1961, when the US discovers an alien ship has crashed on the moon. JFK (who is shown on screen but looks a little off, we also see Nixon and Obama) then orders a moon mission, hence we have a secret reason for the space race. Cut 1969 with actual news footage of Walter Cronkite as the moon mission is underway. What is not televised is the secret recon mission to investigate the alien space ship on the moon (Later revealed to be the Ark, which was in the cartoon).  So far the first two scenes of this movie are better than the entire first two movies put together.

Then we get to Sam, who is frustrated as no one knows he’s saved the world twice, and is struggling to find a job and feels the pressure from his parents. He has a new girlfriend, the impossibly hot Carly, who was his girlfriend in the cartoon. However, she’s not an M.I.T. student as in the cartoon and sounds British for some reason. Spike’s dealings with the Transformers put a strain on their relationship, as she has lost a brother who served in the military and is worried for him. Spike is also jealous of her hot shot car collecting boss. Now this relationship is hardly one of the silver screen’s great romances, but it has a tiny bit of dept to it, which is much more than what he and Megan Fox had.

Next we get the real reason behind the Chernobyl incident, as the villains unveil their plot. It involves growing a rift between the humans and the Autobots, hence the villains live up to their name of Decepticons. There’s a betrayal part way in, but that left me wondering why said plot didn’t happen sooner.

Leonard Nimoy does a voice of a Transformer, and there’s a few Star Trek jokes, and a clip of he old show, apparently it’s the one where Spock “goes nuts.” There’s also a neat scene where Megatron takes the giant Lincoln statue in Washington off its seat, and sits in the seat himself. Megatron did that in one episode of the old cartoon.

Thankfully there’s not jokes about pot and masturbation like the first two. Spike’s mom makes a joke about his manhood, but it’s real fast and subtle. Also one of the Autobots almost says clusterf&*k.

The problem this one has, is a similar problem for the whole series. We don’t get much of the Transformers personalities. Shockwave appears and has no personality, he’s just another grunt, not the cold logical warrior. (Maybe Nimoy should have played him instead) He also has this big tentacle thing, I couldn’t tell if this was a Decepticon being or just some weapon. Bumblebee still hasn’t had his voice repaired yet, how long has it been now?

Finally the big action scene at the end mostly has the humans fighting the Decepticons. Now I like seeing some of this, and I  like knowing humans can take them down, but we’re paying to see robots fight.  For instance we get told that a bunch of Autobots got captured, but we don’t see that happen at all (And one part where Optimus fights actually looks like it’s framed wrong). It’s strange because most fx movies that fail do so because they focus on the fx and not the characters, but with this franchise the fx are the characters.

Still it is an incredible improvement over previous entries. It leaves us with a sense that the series could end here. Looking back, it’s so disappointing how the series turned out. There’s such a rich mythology to this franchise. To me it always made perfect sense to have the first movie on earth, the second on Cybertron, and the third have Unicron, the giant robot planet. I don’t know what the future holds for this series. Maybe in 5 years it will be rebooted into something greater. (Personally I’m hoping for a Hasbro Cinematic Universe similar to Marvel’s, with Transformers, G. I. Joe, M.A.S.K. and Inhumanoids, but that probably won’t happen.)

No matter what happens, we’ll at least have this one. 8/10

Green Lantern

Green Lantern is Warner Brothers’/DC Entertainment’s attempt to start another superhero franchise outside of Superman and Batman. (Past attempts included Catwoman, Jonah Hex, Steel, and the aborted Wonder Woman TV show) I’m going to do this differently from my other reviews, I’m just going to break down the good and the bad, because there’s plenty to be said for both.

The Good:

Like the best FX/Franchise/Blockbuster movies, the story tries to be about something other than action and FX. The main theme of Green Lantern is fear, and how we face up to it. The main character, Hal Jordan, puts up a front of never showing fear, which originates with his relationship to his father. Of course under the surface he’s filled with fear, which hurts his relationships with his family and potential love interest. Hal’s victory over Parallax, the main villain, is at least partly based on facing his fear, as opposed to mere fisticuffs.

The basic concept of the Green Lanterns is explained in a brief opening monologue, almost reminiscent of the Superman movies exposition scenes with Marlon Brandos’ Jor-El.

There’s an earthbound villain that, in classic superhero style, has parallels with the hero, regarding father figures, and failing to live up to expectations.

The story makes basic sense, in that Parallax is using fear, and the Green Lantern Corps’ (aliens who also have the super-powered rings that are used to keep the universe safe) failure to deal with that lead to Hal Jordan becoming the first human ring bearer.

The Bad:

My biggest complaint is that, for as much money was spent on special effects, some of the effects looked really goofy. Both villains heads looked goofy, the council of the Corps looked really goofy, and many of the outer-space scenes  looked like a video game. This is the inherent problem in scenes that are %100 CGI, it takes you out of the movie. As opposed to say Thor, which had actual built sets with accompanying CGI. Also, Hal’s debuts his heroics on earth by stopping a disaster that’s almost laugh out loud funny.

Hal Joran was not unlikeable enough in the beginning. We see he’s a tad irresponsible, but that’s not enough. He’s nowhere near the total jerk that Tony Stark is, nor is he AS arrogant as Thor, or as selfish as Spiderman was initially.

His romance wasn’t strong enough, we’re not rooting for them as much as a couple. Also we see Hal’s family in one early scene, then we completely forget about them.

Finally there’s little things in the plot that don’t make sense. Hal fights the Earthbound villain, then the two are separated for no good reason. Did Hal just let him go? We see there are thousands for Corps members, but only a few (of the best) go to fight Parallax (and die). Wouldn’t thousands and thousands of Corps members be able to beat him?

Also, early on we are told, TOLD, that Parallax destroyed 2 planets or something like that. Why did the TELL us this, why did they not SHOW us? That could have put Parallax over as a dreadful villain. Speaking of which, for a villain that is based around fear, he brings no sense of dread to the screen.

There’s a really great movie hidden somewhere in Green Lantern, but it just doesn’t get there. I’ve always been a Marvel fan, but I don’t dislike DC. DC comics has great characters. Green Lantern is a great character with a rich mythology. In a way it’s like Star Wars with superheroes. I want to see DC make other film franchises besides Superman and Batman. I’ve wondered for years why we don’t see a DC Cinematic Universe to compete with Marvel’s. Unfortunately Green Lantern is just not going to do it. By the way, to the best of my knowledge, there were no references to anything else in the DC Universe, nothing about Gotham, Metropolis, Martian Manhunter, New Gods, etc.

Green Lantern is a combination of the traits of a really great film, mixed with the traits of  a really bad film. I’ve never seen anything quiet like it actually. 7/10.

Super 8

Super 8 is director J. J. Abrams homage to Steven Spielberg (who produced Super 8 ) films like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Taking place in Ohio in 1979, it opens with a young boy named Joe whose mother just died in a factory accident. His father, a policemen, is left alone to raise his son, and there is a rift in their relationship. That summer Joe and his friends are filming a monster movie. They ask Alice, an older neighborhood girl, whom Joe has a crush on, to play a part.

One night the kids sneak out late to film a scene by the train tracks, when an Air Force trains goes by. Suddenly a pickup truck purposely drives on the tracks causing it to derail. Apparently this train was transporting an alien creature, which now has escaped.

Over the next few days strange occurrences take place. People disappear, car motors vanish, there’s power outages, and we have a few brief scares.  The Air Force, the kids, and the Joe’s father are all trying to figure out what happened.

Super 8 starts off very strong. The kids are really fun to watch and listen too. There’s lots of cultural references, music etc. In the kids bedrooms are old models, posters for Halloween (which came out in 78) Dawn of the Dead, comic books, etc. It’s a kind of movie they don’t make anymore, about a bunch of kids going out having an adventure. The movie is first and foremost about Joe, his mourning over his mother, and his relationship with his father and Alice.

Unfortunately it loses steam toward the end. The climax attempts to emulate the awe and wonder of the end scenes of E.T. and Close Encounters. It fails to do so, partly because the camera is focused on the effects of what’s happening more than what’s happening.

The monster was smartly revealed very slowly, in classic monster movie style. Upon final reveal it looked a little too goofy. Even more so in the scene where we’re supposed to sympathize with it when it suddenly has the big round Disney eyes. (See Red Letter Media’s review of Avatar) Also it’s explained why machinery is missing, but I was a little confused as why it took people. I think it was quickly mentioned that it eats people in it’s lair, which brings me back to the Disney eyes.  “Don’t mind me I’m just a big scary monster that wants to eat your neighbors,  just look into my big round cartoon eyes and feel sorry for me.”

Also regarding the change of sympathy, there was a scene/story beat missing between the kids face to face encounter with the alien and the climax. Related to that the fathers of Alice and Joe arrive at the end scene but needed something to do.

Finally I want to address the train crash. Again Super 8 is a throwback to the Spielberg films of the 80s, and the camera work and look of the small town remind us of that era. However the train crash was so modern film like, it was completely over the top. It was really hard to believe that a pickup truck would derail a train in such a spectacular fashion (not to mention all the kids survived, also there’s no bodies in the wreckage, was the train empty except the alien?) Also the kids knew the driver of the truck, who should have had screen time before that scene. A train would have plowed right through the truck, so it’s a bit of a stretch that it would have derailed in the first place, so the complete destruction we saw was just too much.

These flaws aside it was mostly an enjoyable movie, it just could have been more. 8.25/10

X-men First Class

X-men First Class is a prequel to the X-men trilogy, primarily focusing on the relationship between a young Charles Xavier (Professor X) and a young Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto), from their friendship to their eventual rift.

The source of that rift is Erik’s quest for vengeance. The film opens with the concentration camp scene  from the first film, only it is elaborated on more. Meanwhile we also get a glimpse of Xavier’s childhood, where the seeds are planted for his later role in life.

Cut to 1962, Erik, now a young man, has been traveling the globe hunting down escaped Nazis, seeking vengeance on those who killed his family. One of the things I liked most about first class is we see Magnetos true potential for violence.

Xavier, on the other hand, is a hot shot womanizing PHD student who is researching on genetic mutations. This puts him in contact with CIA agent Moira MacTaggart, who discovered strange phenomenon while investigating the Hellfire club, which is suspected of communist affiliations. The Hellfire Club in fact is a secret group of mutants attempting to manipulate the Cold War so that mutants will rule the world.

This investigation intersects with Erik’s quest for vengeance, which allows them to cross paths. From here other mutants are found, and while they don’t get as much screen time, do they have their own character beats. However the film’s focus is the relationship between Charles and Erik.

The historical backdrop of this story is the Cuban Missile Crisis. There’s a lot of buildup to it, including how the US put missiles in Turkey (which in actual history prompted the Russians to go to Cuba). We see Kennedy speeches on black and white TV, as well as news footage from the time.  That was a great touch.

The comic book beats are touched on. We see why they where the yellow suits (as they did in the first comics), why they train at Xavier’s home, how they got code names, why they’re called X-men. It all makes sense and feels very natural. Also the origin of Erik’s helmet was interesting. The only one I thought was a little forced was how Cerebro came about.

Like the best comic book movies, First Class is a character piece first, and an action movie second. It’s interesting to watch the ideological differences between Erik and Charles, and Erik’s viewpoint is shown to be completely understandable. We also get to see the young mutants grow more confident in their abilities while in training. One difference from the comics which is a positive is Mystique’s relationship with everyone, especially Charles, then later Hank McCoy and Erik. We understand why she chooses the side she does. It’s about accepting her for who she is.

First class is easily the best X-men movie, and is actually one of the best comic book movies made. 9.4/10.

MINOR SPOILERS.

There is a cameo by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. It has nothing to do with the plot and is just for laughs, and it is hilarious. We see Hank McCoy’s transformation, and it makes perfect sense. Xavier gets paralyzed, which calls into question him walking in Wolverine. Finally at the very end we see Magneto in his traditional red and purple outfit and it actually looks nice.

Thor Review, non-spoiler.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe expands with the new addition of Thor. Here we are introduced to Asgard, the mythical realm of the Viking gods (we get an explanation as how they were seen as gods). The basic story is the fall and redemption of a hero. Thor, son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), out of arrogance and brashness reignites and ancient war with the Frost Giants. As punishment, his father banishes him to earth, specifically New Mexico. Odin also sends Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, to the same area, where no one can lift it. Thor cannot lift it until he proves himself worthy.

On Earth Thor meets Jane Foster, who is studying atmospheric phenomenon that relates to Asgard. Helping her are another woman named Darcy, and Erik Selvig. Here we get some humorous moments, seeing Thor as a fish out of water, not understanding the world around him. My favorite moment being when he walks into a pet store and asks for a horse. Thor attempts to get the hammer back while learning the true meaning of sacrifice, and must stop dark forces from threatening Asgard and, to some degree, Earth.

The strongest point of this movie is the Asgardian characters and their relationships, mainly the family of Odin, and his two sons Thor and Loki. In brief moments we forget we’re watching a summer blockbuster/comic book/fx movie, and think we are watching Shakespeare. This was done on purpose by having Shakespearean director Kenneth Branagh. Among comic fans Thor was often thought of as Shakespeare with superheroes. There aren’t many surprises plot wise, but the acting amongst the supporting cast, Hopkins, Portman, etc, is really solid. The lead villain is a great character to watch. One scene where he’s beginning to manipulate Thor is framed excellently. Thor’s redemption scene is just a tad weak, but not by much. There isn’t much to work with on the Foster/Thor relationship, but it works for what it is. It’s not full on romance, but they both look at the other as someone completely unique/unlike anyone the other has ever seen.

Many action movies have useless enemy henchmen that have no chance of beating the hero. In Thor the heroes actually have a chance to be hurt. On earth, someone with the right training can get a few shots in on Thor when he’s without his hammer.

The special effects mostly were pretty good. The giant robot at the end looked great. Also cool is a shot of how the galaxies are actually shaped like the Norse mythological tree of life that holds the 9 realms. A few shots of Asgard looked really CGI-ish, but that’s really hard to avoid. As usual the 3d effects added nothing, and in fact may have hurt the overall look of the FX.

Before commenting on Marvel Easter eggs I’ll say over all it a higher quality movie than you might expect from a summer blockbuster. 9/10

Regarding the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe that’s being built, there’s actually very few Easter eggs to catch, and none of them really affect the plot. MINOR SPOILERS.

There’s an offhanded remark about Stark.

Erik Selvig knew Bruce Banner, but not of his true fate.

Hawkeye is seen briefly at the SHIELD base.

There is a post credit scene but it’s not something you can guess.

2012 in Film: The Biggest Year Ever?

UPDATED 9/11/2011

I originally posted this a few months ago, and updated it a few times. Here it is, 2012 is going to be the craziest year ever for movies. There’s never been one year where so many big characters and franchises have an entry. What follows is a list of movies and their release dates. Note, I am not saying that these will be good movies, please don’t comment saying x-movie is going to suck, that’s not the point. My point is in one year we will see the most popular characters in modern fiction.

January 20th:      Underworld 4

January 27th:      Amityville: The Lost Tapes

February 10th:    Star Wars Episode I in 3D

February 17th:    Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance

March 2cnd:         Hansel and Grettle: The Witch Hunters
AND
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

March 9th:    John Carter of Mars (From the creator of Tarzan: Edgar   Rice Burroughs)

AND

The Raven:  In this movie Edgar Allen Poe goes after a serial killer.

March: 16th:    Untitled Snow White Project

March 30th:     Wrath of the Titans (Clash of the Titans sequel)
AND
Pirates. The plot, according to Wikipedia-”A group of  swashbuckling pirates team up with different historical and fictional characters and attempt to help them in their adventures and travels.

April 4th: The Three Stooges

April 6th: Titanic 3D (Not a character/franchise but it’s the 2cnd biggest movie ever)

May 4th:  The Avengers (Starring superheroes Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, and Black Widow, vs the villain Loki)

May 11th:     Dark Shadows (Adaptation of popular supernatural soap opera from the 1960s)

May 18th:     Battleship (Based of the Milton Bradley Game)

May 25th:     Men in Black III

June 1:           Snow White and the Huntsmen (Note, this is a separate  movie from the above untitled Snow White movie.)

June 8th:       Madagascar 3
AND
Prometheus (Alien Prequel)

June 15th:     Jack the Giant Killer (Based off the English Fairy Tale)

June 22cnd:  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

June 29th:     G. I. Joe: Retaliation (Starring the Rock)

July 3rd:      The Amazing Spiderman

July 13th:     Ice Age: Continental Drift

July 20th:     The Dark Knight Rises (Batman)

August 3rd:     The Bourne Legacy
AND
Total Recall (Remake)

August 17th:   The Expendables 2 (I’m counting this because 2012 will have  all of the above (and below) characters, along with a movie starring (presumably) Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Jason Statham, Jet Li,  Dolph Lundgren and who knows who else)

September 14th:    Resident Evil: Begins

September 21rst:  Hotel Transylvania: (Starring Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, and the Wolfman)

AND

Dredd (About Judge Dredd, a popular British comic book character. There was also an unrelated Judge Dredd movie in 1995 starring Sylvester Stallone)

October 5th:    Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D

October 26th:  Halloween 3D

November 9th:  Untitled James Bond film

November 16th:  Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2

November 21rst: Rise of the Guardians (Starring Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost vs The Boogeyman.)

December 14th: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Lord of the Rings Prequel)

Together that’s 38 movies. My theory has been diminished slightly, as originally Superman and Star Trek were to have entries in 2012. Superman got pushed back to 2013, and Star Trek’s status is TBA. Disney also had a Lone Ranger pic slated for December, but that has been shelved. There was also talk of a Wolverine sequel and a Godzilla film. Wolverine starts filming in the fall of 2011, so it probably won’t be out until 2013. Godzilla’s current status is unknown. To my knowledge the only other possible addition would be if a Paranormal Activity 4 is made.

Still even with the above absences there will never be another year in film where we see Spiderman, Batman, G. I. Joe, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, James Bond, Jason Bourne, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, the Alien, Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, The Mummy, Michael Meyers, Leatherface, Hansel and Grettle, Snow White (Twice) and Santa Clause. That by itself would be the biggest year ever, let alone a movie with historical figure Abraham Lincoln, Poe, and whoever appears in Pirates, along with children’s literature and fairy tales, 2 popular board games, 2 popular kids film franchises, Men In Black,  Twilight, Resident Evil, and a movie starring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarchzenneger, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Randy Coutre, Jason Statham, Jet Li,  and Dolph Lundgren. 2012 looks to be the year to rule them all.