Category: Reviews


Green Lantern

Filed Under: DCU, Movies, Reviews by zackery — 1 Comment
06.15.2011

So… Green Lantern… Probably one of the most anticipated movies of this summer, which has also made it one of the easiest to hate prior to its release. Last year around this time I was as stoked as any other random comic geek about this movie. How could a movie about who was probably at the time DC’s most popular character staring some of my favorite actors (Ryan Reynolds, Mark Strong, Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard) ever be bad?

Then the stills started trickling out, followed by the trailers and finally the news that an extra nine million dollars were being added to the film to fix special effects. All signs pointed to Hal Jordan’s F-16 starting a nose dive into a disaster.

So tonight with a dim glow of hope dulled by low expectations I left to see Green Lantern and I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised. The movie, while not being the summer blockbuster that it should have been, was not a hundred percent horrible either. The CG sequences, especially the ones in the beginning with Abin Sur look amazing, as does most of the planet OA. The characters were likeable and made you care about them with their banter between each other that was often times more interesting than the action scenes.

Despite surpassing my expectations, there are a few downsides to the film. In the beginning it feels super slow, like so slow you consider going out to the lobby for some more popcorn slow. There also is never a real sense of danger in the movie. The embodiment of fear is attacking earth while the guardians bicker and seem mostly not worried about it and Ryan Reynolds is like, “Meh, I got this!” The final downside to this film is that it blows away all DCU cannon. The characters are there, but I don’t know where they got some of the plot they put into this movie.

So we’re left with the question, “should you see this movie?” In my opinion yes, but I wouldn’t make it a super high priority this weekend, just wait a week or two and see it at your leisure (and without the insane crowds)

(Three out of Five Stars)

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Movie Review: Thor

Filed Under: Movies, Reviews by zackery — Leave a comment
05.04.2011

Truthfully I wasn’t really expecting anything from a movie based on Thor. I mean he’s the Norse god of thunder, he has a hammer and I’m sure his shiny blonde hair is really soft…

And yes, those traits are all definitely true of the Thor of this movie, but unlike the comic book character or Norse god, by the end of the movie I found myself actually caring about this character and his plight. It also helped that this movie had some super talented actors and pretty amazing special effects on its side.

I felt that Tom Hiddleston really stood out, in the role of Loki, among the actors in this film and provided an excellent performance.

The city of Asgard is beautifully rendered as are several effects regarding travel and the planet of the Frost Giants. Despite how some may feel, these effects were enhance by seeing this movie in 3-D

The costumes of both the Asgardians and the Frost Giants were also remarkable in that they were able to keep the costumes with the comic book color palette without making them seem too over the top or unrealistic. I was especially impressed by the Frost Giant’s weaponry. The only thing that I felt crossed this line was a helm worn by Loki at one point in the movie.

So the question remains, “Should you see this movie in theaters this weekend?”

My answer is, “yes.” This was a really fun movie and despite a few cheesy parts, felt very solid.

I’d also note that it’s probably okay to take your little kids to this as well. There wasn’t a lot of cursing that I recall and I feel like they’d enjoy the action sequences.

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Grammy Nominations, Winners and Who I Think Should Have Won

Filed Under: Music, Reviews by zackery — Leave a comment
02.14.2011

(*) = Actually Won
(<3) = Should have won (if there is no <3, then I disliked all of the nominees)

Record of the Year:
* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
Nothin’ On You, B.o.B. feat. Bruno Mars
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem feat. Rihanna
F*** You, Cee Lo Green
<3 Empire State of Mind, Jay-Z and Alicia Keyes

Album of the Year:
<3 * The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
Recovery, Eminem
Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

Song of the Year:
* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
Beg, Steal or Borrow, Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs
<3 F*** You, Cee-Lo Green
The House That Built Me, Miranda Lambert
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem, feat. Rihanna

Best New Artist:
* Esperanza Spalding
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence and The Machine
Mumford & Sons

Best Pop Vocal Album
* The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga
My World 2.0, Justin Bieber
I Dreamed a Dream, Susan Boyle
<3 Battle Studies, John Mayer
Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
* Lady Gaga, Bad Romance
Sara Bareilles, King of Anything
| Beyoncé, Halo (Live)
Norah Jones, Chasing Pirates
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
* Bruno Mars, Just the Way You Are
Michael Bublé, Haven’t Met You Yet
Michael Jackson, This Is It
Adam Lambert, Whataya Want From Me
<3 John Mayer, Half of My Heart

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
<3 * Hey, Soul Sister (Live), Train
Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version), Glee Cast
Misery, Maroon 5
The Only Exception, Paramore
Babyfather, Sade

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
* Imagine, Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare
<3 Airplanes II, B.o.B, Eminem & Hayley Williams
If It Wasn't For Bad, Elton John & Leon Russell
Telephone, Lady Gaga & Beyoncé
California Gurls, Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg

Best Dance Recording:
* Only Girl (In The World), Rihanna
Rocket, Goldfrapp
In For The Kill, La Roux
Dance In The Dark, Lady Gaga
Dancing On My Own, Robyn

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
<3 * Tighten Up, The Black Keys
Ready To Start, Arcade Fire
I Put A Spell On You, Jeff Beck & Joss Stone
Radioactive, Kings Of Leon
Resistance, Muse

Best Hard Rock Performance:
* New Fang, Them Crooked Vultures
A Looking In View, Alice In Chains
Let Me Hear You Scream, Ozzy Osbourne
Black Rain, Soundgarden
<3 Between The Lines, Stone Temple Pilots

Best Rock Song:
* Angry World, Neil Young
Little Lion Man, (Mumford & Sons
Radioactive, Kings Of Leon
Resistance, Muse
<3 Tighten Up, The Black Keys

Best Rock Album
* The Resistance, Muse
Emotion & Commotion, Jeff Beck
Backspacer, Pearl Jam
Mojo, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Le Noise, Neil Young

Best Alternative Music Album
* Brothers, The Black Keys
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
Infinite Arms, Band Of Horses
Broken Bells, Broken Bells
<3 Contra, Vampire Weekend

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
* Wake Up! Everybody, John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Commo
Nothin’ On You, B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
Deuces, Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem & Rihanna
<3 Empire State Of Mind, Jay-Z & Alicia Keys n

Best Rap Song:
* Empire State Of Mind, Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem & Rihanna
Not Afraid, Eminem
Nothin’ On You, B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
<3 On To The Next One, Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz

Best Rap Album:
* Recovery, Eminem
The Adventures Of Bobby Ray, B.o.B
Thank Me Later, Drake
<3 The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z
How I Got Over, The Roots

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals:
* As She’s Walking Away, Zac Brown Band & Alan Jackson
Bad Angel, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert & Jamey Johnson
Pride (In The Name Of Love), Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury & The Punch Brothers
Hillbilly Bone, Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins
I Run To You, Marty Stuart & Connie Smith

Best Country Song:
* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
The Breath You Take, George Strait
Free, Zac Brown Band
The House That Built Me, Miranda Lambert
I’d Love To Be Your Last, Gretchen Wilson
If I Die Young, The Band Perry

Best Country Album:
* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
Up On The Ridge, Dierks Bentley
You Get What You Give, Zac Brown Band
The Guitar Song, Jamey Johnson
Revolution, Miranda Lambert

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Review – TotalFinder

Filed Under: Apple, Reviews by zackery — Leave a comment
02.07.2011

Since I started using Firefox something like six years ago and discovered tabbed browsing I began to demand this feature in every app that I use. I use pidgin for tabbed chat and now I use TotalFinder to add tabs in finder.

Before I found TotalFinder I would always have something like four or five finder windows open and would get confused and move files to the wrong window and eventually get frustrated at the time wasted.

Being the child of the internet that I am, I did a google search for “tabbed finder” and came across TotalFinder. Total finder was the answer to all of my prayers and then some.

Suddenly the clutter of all the apps I was running plus all of the finder windows I had open had been significantly reduced and on top of that I can use the visor to instantly bring up a finder window on top of everything rather than using expose to show all of my open windows and then try to figure out which window I was actually looking for.
Another note worthy feature of TotalFinder is that it will arrange all of your folders at the top of the window instead of spreading them out alphabetically amongst the other files, something that has always annoyed me.

I highly recommend this app to all users of OS X, trust me, it’s def worth the $15 to eliminate the headaches not having it can cause.

TotalFinder can be purchased here – http://totalfinder.binaryage.com/

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Playing Catch Up

Filed Under: Comics, DCU Online, Reviews, Video Games by zackery — 1 Comment
01.26.2011

Somehow with the “hustle” of life I managed to get behind on comics and I mean WAY behind!!! Currently I’m in the process of catching back up and hopefully should be finished by the beginning of February. My plan at that point is to begin doing my one line comic reviews on a weekly basis again. I’ve also updated the comics page on the site to list my pulls for February, so you can know what to expect for the month.

In other news, Michael and I started playing DC Universe Online and at the moment I’m def preferring it over WoW. We’ll see how long it lasts, when you’ve played Warcraft for as long as I have, it’s easy to get momentarily caught up in new games.

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