Dave Bautista’s STX Comedy ‘My Spy’ Pushed to 2020 (EXCLUSIVE) — Variety

Dave Bautista’s action comedy “My Spy” has been moved off of its August 23 release date, numerous individuals familiar with the film’s studio, STX Films, told Variety. The family-centric tale about a hardened CIA operative and his unlikely 9-year-old sidekick is seeking a new date in the first quarter of 2020. It could open as…

via Dave Bautista’s STX Comedy ‘My Spy’ Pushed to 2020 (EXCLUSIVE) — Variety

Super Smash Bros 64

super smash bro

I may not be a hardcore fighting game fan but damn I loved me some classic Smash Bros. On Nintendo 64 I first encountered this classic which brought such iconic Nintendo characters together like Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Kirby, Yoshi, Star Fox, Samus, and Pikachu to battle each other in classic settings from there respective games. Besides fighting one another they also faced new threats like Metal-Mario, Giant Donkey Kong – which required two other fighters to help take down, as well whole teams of Yoshis,  Kirbys, and Polygons all culminating in the ultimate fight against the Master Hand. Besides your powers, you have a series of cool weapons at your disposal like Poke balls, the Star Wand, Mario’s hammer and even the Star from Mario Kart 64. Unlike most fighting games, depleting your health doesn’t kill you; the more damage you take, the easier it is to get smashed off the map which makes for some intense fights, especially between friends. Honestly Smash Bros 64 is my favorite fighting game ever ( I’m untouchable with Pikachu). The maps, the characters, the weapons, and music are ingrained in my memory long after my childhood and my N64. I seriously recommend this game, especially with a friend, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Planet of the Apes 2001

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes wasn’t the first reboot of the Planet of the Apes series. The first reboot was a remake from visionary director Tim Burton, the man who gave us Batman and Beetlejuice but also gave us oddities like Batman Returns and Mars Attacks! . So which side did the Apes remakes fall on?

Leo is a astronaut on a space station in the future. His job is to train chimps for flight missions into space. During his chimp’s test flight, a huge electrical storm closes in and Leo rushes to save his chimp. Caught in a wormhole, there ships crash on a strange world much like Earth ruled by tyrannical apes. On this planet Apes are intelligent and keep humans as pets and slaves, and Leo is cast into slavery with a group of others. With the help of Ari, a sympathetic ape daughter of a politician, they set off to recover Leo’s emergency beacon while being hunted by the the fierce Attar and the violent General Thade. Can the humans be saved from the planet of the apes?

Despite Tim Burton being one of my favorite directors and a great characters, this movie ain’t that great. While the setting is great and the ape make up is pretty fair but its still goofy to see grown ass adults acting like monkeys.  The acting is mostly bland except for a few fun over the top performances but honestly I rooted for Thade the whole time. The story is meh with a really lame couple of twists at the end and the pacing is off and with a lack of action, the movie feels longer than it is. In the end, Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake is a pretty forgettable sci-fi movie that’s OK to skip. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Angelina Jolie Returns to Her Wicked Ways in Disney’s ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ Trailer — Variety

Angelina Jolie unleashes her wrath as in the new trailer for Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” The sequel picks up several years after the events of 2014’s “Maleficent.” The dark fantasy became a box office smash, grossing over $750 million at the global box office. The original “Maleficent” told the story of “Sleeping Beauty” from…

via Angelina Jolie Returns to Her Wicked Ways in Disney’s ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ Trailer — Variety

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

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I found myself taken by storm after Rise of the Planet of the Apes and in 2014 I was eagerly awaiting the sequel. Once again, I found myself blown away by one of my all time favorite sequels…

A decade has passed since Caesar and his fellow apes fled into the woods and the mutagen that made them smart spread, decimating a huge portion of man kind. Caesar is now the lead of a village of apes, content with there peaceful life in the woods. Tensions rise when a group of surviving human is spotted by the apes trespassing into there territory. They mean to restart power from a nearby damn, but the apes don’t want them near them near. While Malcolm, head of this human group insist they mean the apes no harm, Dreyfus believes the apes caused man’s near destruction. Caesar tries to be fair with the humans but Koba, one of his best friends and former test subject, refuses to see peace and sees an end to the cruel animals who scarred him in sight. With both sides in turmoil and prejudices ablaze, can Caesar and Malcolm find peace when war is so close?

I can’t tell you what impressed me more about this movie, the depth of the story or the effort to bring the apes to life. The story brilliantly  carries over the emotional depth and characterization from the previous movie and takes off with it. Once again I found it hard to believe the apes weren’t real and the actors deserve to be commended. Serkis again is great as Caesar but I have to also give it to Toby Kebbell as Koba, who is a great, sympathetic villain. The humans are solid in there roles as well. The climax is really satisfying and pretty epic. In the end, I highly recommend Dawn as one of the best sequels I’ve seen since The Dark Knight and it’s well worth a watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

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Daymare 1998 gameplay demo

This game was brought to my attention by my good friend Autobot when we watched a smaller version of this demo together. This game was announced about 3 years ago and here we have a damn good look at the gameplay. While the graphics are pretty nice, I can’t help but feel a huge inspiration pool from Resident Evil, perhaps a bit too much. Still, it looks like a alright horror game that has some tense atmosphere. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Lee Daniels Promises Fans ‘Star’ TV Movie After Series Cancellation — Variety

Canceled Fox musical drama “Star” appears to be making a comeback – as a televised movie, according to co-creator Lee Daniels. “The bad news is that ‘Star’ is not getting picked up for series,” said Daniels in a video post on Instagram, calling the explanation “too long of a story to cry about.” “The good…

via Lee Daniels Promises Fans ‘Star’ TV Movie After Series Cancellation — Variety

Christine

christine book

It’s been a long time since I did a dual layered book/ movie review. My earliest ones such as A Clockwork Orange , The Hellbound Heart , and Cujo were pretty popular. Since King’s adaptations are awesome once again, let’s look at a different kind of love story from the master of horror…

Arnie Cunningham is a typical nerdy teenager. He works his ass off to save money for college, is packed with extracurricular activities, and gets bossed around by his parents. His best friend Dennis is your typical good looking high school football player. One day while driving home, they stumble upon a peculiar piece of scrap- a red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury. Arnie immediately falls in love with the hunk of junk. Arnie goes out of his way to get the car from the old man who owned it and essentially he gives away most of his money for it. Dennis ,Arnie’s overbearing parents, and not even Leah, Arnie’s pretty new girlfriend seem to like his new car named Christine. Arnie puts every bit of his energy into the car, restoring her to her prime until the asshole bullies that plague him destroy Christine. Leveled, Arnie’s heart breaks because the car meant freedom, opportunity and in the weeks that lead there, Arnie grew a pair. But that was all gone, or was it? Christine rebuilds herself right before his eyes, and Christine wants to take Arnie for a bloody ride…

I love the book and the movie pretty equally but for different reasons. The book doesn’t really feel much like a horror story, more like a relate-able teen drama until the first death scene in the second act. The book goes into some way darker territory towards the end and I prefer that ending to the more “Hollywood” ending of the movie. Also the dude who sells Christine to has way more to do with the plot than the movie would have you believe as well as a pretty messed up backstory which helps Arnie feel more in danger later. The only drawback is that the book is much more of a slow burn which will turn some off but the payoff is well worth it.

The movie is one of Carpenter’s best in my opinion. Keith Gordon does an amazing job playing Arnie as a lovable but frustrated geek while the rest of the cast is solid. The effects are pretty badass, especially for the early 80’s, and Carpenter’s eerie electronic score is iconic. The scene where Christine rebuilds herself is my favorite. There are some haunting moments with the car that genuinely freaked me out and Carpenter is great at making her feel unstoppable. The only drawback I have with the movie is it feels rather short and bare bones compared to the book and I would’ve liked a grittier ending like the book had.

Regardless it’s a awesome story from book a legendary author as well as a legendary director and either way I can highly recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory and on Christine’s good side.

christine movie

Soul To Keep (2019)

Soul to keep is the story of a twin brother and sister that inherit a house in the woods. They invite some friends to come up and party for a bit. You know the horror movie deal, alcohol, sex, and drugs. Their grandfather that left them the house tho was a bit odd and for all their lives had a locked door that leads to the basement. Of course, it wouldn’t be all that long until they ended up down there.

In true horror movie fashion, there is a book that lets them summon a demon. Beelzebub to be specific.  They will, of course, try to do it and it won’t work. Until it does work and people start dying. Go figure right? Anyway, the movie isn’t bad up until this point, just a bit cliche. But things are usually cliche because they work. The movie is passable until you get to the final act where stuff starts happening in an  M Night style twist ending that makes no real damn sense. I won’t spoil it for you in case you decide to check it out but everything that happens is just ridiculous. Usually, with a twist ending you can go back and see the signs of these things coming and think well damn, why didn’t I notice that. That is actually the key to a good twist ending. That isn’t here tho. It just feels there for the sake of being there, and it killed what should have been a decent movie for me.

Not to be outdone, they ended it after the twist ending with another standard horror movie twist further cementing it as dead for me. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mulan trailer

I’m going to be honest, I never watched Mulan as a kid but a vast majority of my friends have. I don’t think the trailer looks bad by any means, it’s filmed nicely and I like that it seems to have a darker tone but I’m likely not going to watch it the same as I haven’t watched the other remade live action Disney classics because I don’t see the point in them. The classics were classic for a reason after all. It still looks promising regardless, and may gaming gods bring you glory.