X3 Review
I was prepared to be disappointed, but I wasn't.
The fanboys at aintitcool either loved it or hated it, ...and the haters sounded more convincing that the lovers.
For me, it's probably the best X-Men movie, or a close tie with X1. For me, X2 sucked.
It's true that this movie was rushed, and the lack of attention to detail is evident in this film. The most noticable mistake is the instant daylight to darkness scene. The Golden Gate bridge is moved to connect San Francisco to Alcatraz so all of Magneto's followers can attack the prison to retrieve the source of the "cure". When the bridge is placed on the ground, it is a bright sunny day. Seconds later it is dark as night.
The dialog is not quite there, the humor feels a bit stunted, the new faces are too numerous and too temporary, and the film suffers from the same "twiddling of thumbs" problem that afflicted the first two X-men movies (this is where mutants with incredible powers stand and watch while they could be helping their mates or joining the fight).
And yes, there are parts that don't make sense.
For example, we all know that Magneto could just manipulate Wolverine and spin him like a shredder into his pals, but this never occurs to him. Jean could just kick everyone's ass by dropping a building on them, but rarely does much of anything.
Ok, so those are my problems with the movie, and I should note that except for the sloppiness, all the other X-men films had the same problems.
What I liked:
The quick pace is a welcome change from the dirge that was X2.
Kitty Pride is maddeningly hot, but I still take Rogue in that fight.
There is actual emotion in this film, unlike the others. The death scenes (and they are numerous) are well done (especially the final one).
The fight scenes are really cool.
I like what they did with Beast (except the horrible facial makeup).
I love how they set up the next movies, which I assume will be made.
And I hope that Fox decides to treat this franchise with a bit more respect than they did this time around. As the weekend box office numbers show, the sky is the limit.
My Take on American Idol
Ok, yes. I watch American Idol. My wife likes to watch it and I think it is occasionally interesting, so I watch it as well. I am mostly dispassionate about it, but you can't help but root for some contestants over others.
This year's crop is particularly uninteresting. None of the final four have delivered a memorable performance that would indicate they are star material, but in a stunning travesty,
the best of them was sent home tonight.
The remaining three contestants are a sorry lot.
First, we have my least favorite, Elliott Yamin. The best way to describe his appearance is to imagine tying a toad to the end of a string and whipping it against a wall for 10 minutes.
That's what his face looks like.
But what about his voice? Whether he is speaking or singing, you can actually hear the 9 ounces of saliva in his mouth. You either expect him to slurp or start splashing saliva about the stage. It's unnerving.
But he can hit the notes, there's no doubt about that. The problem is that he projects no personality in his voice, musical arrangements, pained facial expressions, goofy attire, lame mannerisms, in his words, or in his song choices. In fact, last night he sang, "Trouble" and it was absolutely hilarious. The guy with the intensity of
Moleman is singing the lines "I'm Evil. My middle name is misery." And he sang it in a sing-songy fashion like he was seranading grannies on the Jerry Lewis telethon.
Why the judges have been pushing him and fools have been voting for him, I will never know.
My next least favorite is
Katharine "clearly a total bitch" McPhee. Each time a judge dares to say something not completely glowing about the little princess, she scrunches up her face as if to say, "What? I'm not perfect? Daddy says I'm perfect. And you're fat anyway!"
I'm sure she is personally responsible for 70% of the eating disorders at her high school.
She's the type of girl who would act all grossed out if you ever tried to talk her up, as if you were a different (and lower) species.
My next least favorite is Taylor, the guy who's 28 going on 57. As Simon has said, he looks and acts and mostly sings like the old, weird, single, gassy, intoxicated uncle who grabs the microphone at your cousin's wedding.
When he sings songs from past eras, he sounds and looks great. In fact, he did real well last night singing "In the Ghetto".
But when he tries to get funky, it's just a colossal embarrassment.
One of these three will be the winner.
Unbelievable.
Scarface Voice Talent Announced
An all-star cast of voice actors for Scarface the game, due out this fall.
Hopefully they'll have
Bai Ling's likeness as well as her voice in the game.
Pacino won't contribute his voice to the game, but he has licensed his likeness and hand-picked the voice talent to play Tony Montana.
You Tube Monday
Based on this clip, which features dialog and action that is slightly worse than something I would have written at age 12, X3 will suck. Hey Rattner, ever hear of CGI? He's one step away from having Wolverine battle a guy in a rubber lizard suit. Some have suggested that this clip is actually from the "danger room", which would explain the suckiness.
I've been down on the Bond franchise for a while, and all the news and photos from Casino Royale have added to my disappointment. However,
this clip restores some of my faith. Despite what some are saying, I like the way they have changed the look and feel of the movie. True, it doesn't feel like a Bond movie, but it's not 1968 anymore. Time to make a break and modernize. I still hate Daniel Craig's face, though. Doesn't he resemble Judi Dench? Yeugh!
Ted Thompson Has the Shoulders of a Two-Year Old Girl
And I should know because I have a two-year old girl at home.
Seriously, that guy needs to always wear a sportcoat with shoulder pads. He looks like a character in a badly drawn cartoon strip. His already
oversized head takes up 3/4ths of his upper-body width.
It creeps me out.
