Netflix'd: Old Dogs

Old Dogs is one of those movies that you watch because the trailer says "From the makers of ".  In this case, the same team behind Wild Hogs, is back with more old men urban drama in Old Dogs.

Robin Williams and John Travolta star in a movie that feels about 50% complete.  There are some great comedy moments in the movie: the weekend spent camping, child safing the apartment, and the tanning booth.  However, these moments are either too short or jaggedly out of place within the larger narrative.  The entire movie awkwardly jumps around before arriving at a predictable conclusion.

I liked the movie as a family popcorn comedy, but had this not been a Netflix delivery, I would have felt very cheated for the money I would have spent to see it.

Netflix'd Review: Pandorum

There is half of a really good Sci-Fi movie in Pandorum. Read on to find out more, but be aware that minor spoilers are ahead.

The premise of the movie is solid: two flight crew members awake from "space sleep" to cover their shift piloting their ship, the Elysium, as it travels to a second earth-like planet.  However, when they awake there is no previous crew to greet them.  Something is wrong.

The movie title, Pandorum, refers to deep space pilots who suffer a mental breakdown and kill their co-pilots.  As one might guess, one of the two flight crew members turns out to be mentally unstable.  The details of that, I will let the viewer collect, as its the good half of the movie.

Unfortunately, crew member #2 isn't bat shit crazy, but he does get to travel into the heart of bat shit crazy, hyper-evolved space ship people country.  This would be the half of the movie that sucks.  There is no build up or suspense to finding out what is haunting Elysium.  Within minutes of venturing out of the safe hold, crew member #2 is greeted by snarling, flesh-eating creatures.  Then some ninjas come and save him.  Long story short, feeding tubes with evolution juiced turned the ship's inhabitants into mutants.  I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.

My suggestion is to watch this movie as the ending has a good twist, but ignore everything crew member #2 does the entire movie, including the end of the ending.

Netflix'd Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

I love Netflix and since we religiously watch and return our Netflix movies two times a week, I figured I would take some time to write a few short reviews of movies I've "Netflix'd".

The Time Traveler's Wife

This movie caught me off guard as I wasn't expecting much more than a sappy love story. However, time travel is always an interesting plot mechanic, even when wrapped in a chick flick.

For a time travel story, there aren't many twists and turns in The Time Traveler's Wife. The entire story was easy to follow and understandable, which works to the benefit of the movie. The art of foreshadowing is masterfully executed; subtle camera tricks ensure the audience is focused on various clues to the future and past.

The movie was more about watching a story about time travel unfold than it was about the mystery of main character's ability to time travel. At its base, its about a woman knowingly marrying into an extraordinary situation. This leads to the age old question of what knowing one's future does to a person.

More importantly though, the movie follows the effect of this knowledge that trickles down to the friends, family, and wife. The cast of characters take the time travel in stride and before the end of the movie it is an accepted occurrence. Yet throughout there is an uneasy tension around the idea and its great to watch it push and pull the characters apart.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. I would highly recommend it not only as a great date movie, but as a good movie to watch with friends. While there isn't much on the action forefront, there is enough substance to the story and within the characters to make up for it. This movie was a treat.

Well-seasoned Review: Legend of the Seeker (Season 1)

Legend of the Seeker is a TV series loosely based on The Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind.  I would suggest forgetting that connection if you are a fan of the books.  The TV show borrows themes, characters, and locations, but the story is completely different.  However, by the end of first season, I found myself enjoying the TV series for what it was: a weekly, fun fantasy television series.

Sam Raimi, also responsible for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, is heading up the project.  Legend borrows from the heavy handed action and uncomfortable story telling of both series and does it in a fun way.  While some of the dialogue is laughable and poorly delivered, the visuals and action sequences make up for it.  Shot in New Zealand, at a reported $1.5 million per episode, this is the best looking fantasy on TV.

Movie Review: Avatar

Avatar: I should hate this movie.  It depicts a resource-hungry, western-style civilization destroying the native inhabitants of a planet through technological and military might.

The story is predictable and the characters one-sided.  The marine kills, the natives are misunderstood savages.  Everything fits into the expected cliches of a cultural clash on a clandestine planet.

On top of the stereotypes, the hype should have killed this movie, but it didn't.  Avatar is a masterpiece.

Reposted Movie Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I am a Star Wars fan.  I am not a blind Star Wars fan and refuse to blindly love the movies.  I watch them, because I love the universe behind them.  Any glimpse into that universe will get some of my money, but not always my praise.  The Phantom Menace started out good, but fell down in the end.  Attack of the Clones was full of action, but not much else.  Revenge of the Sith made me smile, but only did the end finally make me feel like the actors were earning their paychecks.

My biggest problem with the prequels was the character of Anakin Skywalker.  He was weakly written and horribly acted, which lead to a big gaping whole in all three prequels.  When Anakin finally rose up as Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith and screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO!", I screamed "YES, Anakins gone."  This brings me to my thoughts on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and unfortunately the lackluster Anakin rears his ugly head.

Fortunately, the movie is completely computer animated, so no Hayden Christensen was needed.  Unfortunately, the character of Anakin still feels stiff and forced through the entire movie.  Good thing there is enough action and comedy to save Clone Wars from a failure.  The graphics are cartoony, but believable against vivid backgrounds and settings.  The important note here is that the movie is consistent and easily fits into the epic Star Wars movie saga.

Also, the move to complete computer graphics opened the door for much better action sequences.  I don't want to spoil the movie, but one scene has our heroes scaling vertically up a cliff face while fighting the never ending droid army.  It was believable and did not once feel faked for the sake of a live actor.  That single scene absolutely convinced me this was the right move for the Star Wars franchise.

Overall, the movie was fun, albeit aimed at a younger audience.  The general aim helped me forgive some plot shortfalls and out of place comedy.  The movie was a general mix of the classic Star Wars we all love and the new age Star Wars that is hard to enjoy even as a fan.  I highly recommend a viewing for any Star Wars fan, especially those with children.

Game Review: Borderlands (PC)

Borderlands, from Gearbox software, blends FPS with RPG and tickles the loot center in every gamer’s brain. Borderlands is a good game, but misses greatness in every single category. Fortunately, there is a shitload of guns to make up for it.

Borderlands the RPG

Borderlands has all the makings for a great RPG: interesting characters, progression, and a story. Unfortunately, Borderlands is the king of “almost”.

The characters, like Dr Zed, come with great introduction scenes, but are quickly limited to dialogue boxes only. Other NPCs stand still, not moving, and often blend so well into the scenery that players walk by without noticing them. The only characters that stand out are the R2-D2 inspired robots nicknamed "claptraps" and some random chick that appears on screen to provide dribbles of information throughout the player's journey.

The story is fun to think about, but is not a draw for the game. It ends abruptly and does not make use of the characters or game world very well. The world itself will often make a better story than what is being sold by the random chick that pops up on the screen. The pieces are there, but the story is never put together firmly.

Character progression is handled via talent trees where players can specialize their skills in various weapons and skills. It's a well rounded, but average system. Each character recieves their unique class skill at level 5. After that, there were not any milestones that made me feel like I was achieving an important step in my characters life. Weapon skills are raised by using various weapon types

The loot is really the only RPG staple that stands out in Borderlands. It randomizes the look, stats, and effects of each weapon. With any randomized system, there is a lot of junk that is worthless, but getting a rare weapon is a treat. Getting to use that weapon to take down a giant mammoth-like Rakk Hive is icing on the cake.