Category: Movie Review

Mystery Men

mystery men Some love Batman, some love Spider-man. I love Mystery Men.

Mr Furious, The Shoveler, and the Blue Rajah (who doesn’t wear blue by the way) are superheroes in Champion City that get there asses kicked every night while the city’s flagship superhero, Captain Amazing, gets the glory. Well, Captain Amazing is dealing with a peculiar problem: he’s too good at his job and his pot of villains is drying up.So, using his alter ego, he influences the asylum to release his arch nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein. Casanova one ups the Captain and this trio of losers is left to free him. After recruiting The Bowler, The Spleen, and the Invisible Boy and getting a new arsenal and training from the Sphinx, can this team of average Joes save there city and Captain Amazing?

I love this dorky ass movie. Everyone is funny as hell; Ben Stiller is over the top, Hank Azaria is great as the cutlery throwing Rajah, and the Spleen’s killer farts. I love the music and costumes. This is a really cool, underrated superhero comedy with a good message I recommend checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Like Father (2018)

download (3)

Like Father is of course the new Netflix movie, which isn’t saying much as they seem to be multiplying like bunnies in a Viagra factory. This one is the story of a daughter left at the altar ( Rachel played by Kristen Bell) while her dad (Harry played by Kelsey Grammer) she hasn’t in 26 years shows up. They will then go out, get drunk and end up on a cruise together.

The story is pretty cliché honestly, there is absolutely nothing in this story to surprise you except that Seth Rogen (Jeff) randomly shows up as a love interest for Rachel and then just as randomly he is gone. They explain the whole thing just fine, and it’s not badly done. It’s just Seth randomly being in a movie then randomly not which honestly might be the most Seth Rogen thing possible.

Kristen and Kelsey do put on a great show and the take what easily could have been a relatively boring and forgettable movie and make it enjoyable. They feel like a real father and daughter that struggle to reconnect but have a lot in common, right down to both being workaholics to the point of it being almost an addiction. The movie isn’t great and has its issues, but its enjoyable. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Puppet Master: the littlest reich trailer

WTF man, Puppetmaster is back. I was never a huge fan of the franchise but I know many who are. I can say this newest installment looks pretty retro which honestly made me kinda smile. I miss 80’s slasher movies. Anyway, if you’re a fan, what’s your thoughts on the new Puppetmaster? May the gaming gods bring you glory.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse teaser

This maybe a surprise but I’m a pretty big fan of American Horror Story. While not perfect, I love how each season manages to cram in strange and WTF stories and good characters and make them work. So far, I know season 8, Apocalypse, we’re getting mutants and the Antichrist, which was part of the first season. The teaser is cool and I can’t wait to see what we get in 2018. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

teen titans judas contract

After the sad disappointment and utter outrage over the Titans live action trailer I needed some sort of balance to bring me back to my nostalgic teen love of the show. the Judas Contract is one of there most famous storylines, done amazingly on Teen Titans discreetly over 3 seasons. Also in my My Top 10 favorite DC villains- part 1 post, I brought up Terra, who this story centers around. So what makes this a great story?

The Teen Titans are a group of powerful youths out to do good on the world. Led by veteran Titans Nightwing and StarFire, they are joined by Blue Beetle, BeastBoy, Raven, Robin, and Terra who are on a mission to thwart a religious zealot called Brother Blood and his rising cult. While the battle against Blood seems to be going alright, life ain’t easy for the Titans. Nightwing and Starfire announce there relationship to the group, Beetle is distanced from his family by the temperamental alien Scarab that grants  him his power, BeastBoy crushes hard on the rough, edgy Terra who Robin doesn’t trust. Robin’s suspicion turn out to be true when Terra and super badass mercenary Deathstroke take him out; together they have infiltrated the Titans with Terra as a spy, hired by Blood to dismantle them cruelly for his ultimate plan. Hearts are broken and the Titans face a threat from within…

The live action Titans should seriously learn from this movie. Like the early 2000’s show, there’s a well done balance between light and dark moments. The biggest plus is the characters are really well flushed out and the action scenes are pretty epic. I kinda wish Raven had more to do and I think Terra’s betrayal was done a lot better in the show but her back story is dark is hell. What I admire is the movie does go over some really dark shit but it does stay balanced. It’s a really good animated film that’s paced well I recommend checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Mimic

mimic

Before Guillermo Del Toro became a huge name in film with the HellBoy movies, Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim and The Shape of Water, we got Mimic. And no, not the Mimics from the Souls game.

Mimic begins with 2 scientists tasked with killing a terrible epidemic. Their solution is to kill the spreaders, by genetically creating cockroaches to kill off the carrier insects that spread the disease; after a generation, the insects would die and life would go on. Years later, then scientist responsible comes across massive versions of her work, which leads her and her husband to search them out. But unexplained disappearances suggest there creations have evolved to be more than they bargained for, evolving into hideous humanoid creatures under the subway…

This particular review is going to be pretty subjective. I know a lot of people that love this movie as a 90’s cult classic and back in the day, the effects were solid. I don’t have that nostalgia however. I never saw it until a week ago and I ain’t really a fan. The characters are pretty forgettable, the effects haven’t aged very good, and I couldn’t help feeling like it was a poor man’s Alien . While some set pieces and creature designs are very Giger- inspired and hell, you have Charles S Dutton via Alien 3  the script doesn’t have the suspense or characters to hold it up. The movie ain’t terrible, but unless you are nostalgic or curious, I can’t really recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Venom trailer 3

Holy shit, what a turnaround from that first generic trailer. Seriously, I’m really digging where the direction seems to be going. The effects look way better and we get so much more Venom in all his badassery. I do have an issue though: the villain seems generic as hell but with Venom done right, I think it will pull it off. May the gaming gods bring me off.

The Damned (2013)

download (10).jpg

The damn, also known as Gallow Hills, is the story of a family and friends stranded during a storm. Having gone off the road a bit during a flash flood and being trapped the seek shelter and help in a nearby home. The old man who lives there has 1 rule. When that one rule is broken, things go bad real fast.

The rule was actually quite simple, stay here. When nature calls and someone runs to the bathroom she hears a little girl crying for help. When they find a girl boarded up in a room they fear they old man may be pedophile or worse and let her out. This mistake is about to cost some lives.

See this little girl isn’t a little girl at all, and she was locked away for a reason. This little girl is more of a demonic force trapped away for the safety of everyone else. Much like this movie probably should have been locked away. The story itself brings nothing new, and while the acting and visuals are good enough the story has some pacing issues. There is also a plot twist that makes very little difference. Not sense, it makes sense just fine, it just doesn’t matter. The ending also means very little. Also the movie technically starts at the end and is one of them just telling a story, but you will know that from the very beginning. This is actually okay and I liked this at first and it gives nothing away really.  The movie just wasn’t all that interesting. There are far worse movies out there, there are just better movies out there telling better stories. I won’t say don’t watch this one, but don’t expect an instant classic. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

SDCC 2018- Torsten’s Summary

sdcc 2018

SDCC 2018 has been surprisingly epic  and as a nerd and blogger I’m truly thankful. At the end of this post I’m leaving all the links to the posts I’ve done regarding trailers from this year’s SDCC. I’m sure I missed stuff and I know there’s plenty to cover so feel free to leave suggestions in the comments and I’ll be happy to look into it. For right now I’d like to take this time and pretty much just talk about stuff that really popped out to me and bring up stuff I wish we got.

Normally, I’d say let’s start with the positives but this time I want to start with the worst thing I’m pretty sure most of us came out of this year’s SDCC, a trailer the internet, fans, and haters alike have banned together to trash and that’s the Titans live action trailer. Fuck Batman? No, fuck you trailer, enough said.

I have to say my favorite thing to come out of SDCC this year was the Glass trailer. I’m genuinely pumped for that movie and I hope Shyamalan makes a comeback. My close second favorite trailer was for Aquaman and thankfully I don’t think I’ll be disappointed come December.

I was surprised by quite a bit by a lot this year. Shazam looks funny as hell and I’m not even a huge fan of the character so that says something. The same can also be said of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it’s hard to not get goosebumps during the trailer. Alita: Battle Angel I feel could be the surprise gem of the bunch while Overlord’s trailer was the hardest hitting surprise for me.

With the exception of Overlord trailer, I’m a little disappointed at the lack of new horror content. I was hoping for a new Halloween 2018 trailer or a new trailer for the Nun. Predator 4 is shaping up to look sweet and though I’m sure it will dominate next year’s Con, I wish we got a little bit more of IT: Chapter 2.

The lack of Disney/ Marvel presence was sorely missed. Seriously, besides a trailer for Iron Fist season 2 and the return of Clone Wars, that  was all they brought to the table. No Avengers 4 tease, no Captain Marvell tease, no Daredevil season 3 peek, no Star Wars Episode 9 news. Hell, even the Fox part of Marvel was quiet; I was expecting a Xmen: Dark Phoenix trailer.

In the end, it was a great year. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Movies:

Goosebumps 2 trailer 1  Overlord trailer 1  Glass trailer 1  DragonBall Super movie: Broly trailer  Aquaman trailer 1  Shazam trailer 1  Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer 1  Fantastic Beasts 2 trailer  Alita Battle Angel

TV:

The Purge-USA event trailer  Star Wars: The Clones Wars, final season trailer  Walking Dead season 9 trailer  Deadly Class trailer  Legends of Tomorrow season 4 trailer  Black Lightning season 2 trailer  Supergirl season 4 trailer  Riverdale season 3 trailer  Arrow season 7 trailer  Flash season 5 trailer  Titans live action trailer

Game:

Marvel Spider-man SDCC trailer

Goosebumps (2015)

goosebumps movie

Goosebumps inspired the hell out me as a kid. The show enthralled me and the books made me want to read; R.L Stine was one of my first idols. You’d think a big screen adaptation of his work would make my heart a flutter with cosmic levels of joy? Hell no friend! I was nervous as shit. But why? And better question, was my fear justified? Well as R.L would put it, “Readers beware, you’re in for a scare.”

We begin as with a new kid moving into a quiet suburb with his mom and the crush he inevitably forms with the pretty neighbor girl next door. Classic story, including her grouchy dad who just so happens to be the legendary writer R.L Stine ( well, Jack Black playing R.L Stine). Zach, our main character finds himself at ends with his neighbor but falling for his daughter. After discovering his identity as the famous writer, he discovers the collections of his manuscripts and all hell breaks loose when the monsters of ghouls of Stine’s books are unleashed on the town led by the most sinister of them all, Slappy the living Dummy. Can Stine and the group of teens save the town in there own story?

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the movie, but overall I can’t say I’m a fan of it. The plot is interesting and it was a cool trip down memory lane at times. The characters are pretty cliche, though Black is entertaining as Stine while not being so great as Slappy. A big problem I had was some of the creature/ monster designs were way too cartoony for me; I was hoping for some of the darker imaginings from the show. For example, The Werewolf of Fever Swamp looks pretty damn eerie and viscous in the show, where as in the movie he’s wearing basketball shorts and tattered sneakers. Slappy in the show always unnerved me where I wasn’t remotely spooked by him in the movie. The movie is predictable with a decent twist that’s hurt because I wasn’t invested by any of the characters but Stine. A lot of the humor didn’t stick with me but may with a younger audience. In the end, many will enjoy this movie and young or old, there is enjoyment to be had; the truth is I wanted something different from it but I don’t think it’s by any means terrible. It’s worth checking out, if just to form your own opinion. May the gaming gods bring you glory.