Can’t Stop The Wolverine!

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The Wolverine was one of a multitude of superhero movies that came out in the summer of 2013, and for me it kind of got lost in the shuffle.  But recently a friend let me borrow the extended edition Blu-Ray of the film, and considering how bad X-Men Origins Wolverine was, I am glad that he did because this film was much better.

When a man from Logan’s (Hugh Jackman) past contacts him,  The Wolverine will finally be fighting for his life.  He will have to come to terms with his own immortality, and see if there is still something inside him worth living for.

The story is simple.  Someone wants to take the Wolverine’s extended life for their own, and he has to decide that after all these years if he truly wants to continue living or not.  However, the simple setup allows the story to really dig in to who Logan is, and why he has been fighting for so long.

Fox struck gold when they cast Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.  He is perfect for the part, and now that he has played the role five (sort of six) times, I cannot see anyone else take his place.  If he ever decides to walk away from the character I don’t know what they will do.  The rest of the cast is good in this movie as well, but this is really all about The Wolverine, so without Jackman’s perfect Logan, this movie would have not been a success.

The action scenes are also top notch, and they for once let Wolverine loose to slice and dice his way through his enemies.  I guess in the standard cut some of these scenes were cut down so the film could achieve its PG-13 rating, and that is a real shame because the blood really adds to the visceral nature of Logan’s fighting style.  It is a credit to director James Mangold that he was able frame all the action shots so wonderfully.

If I wasn’t excited for X-Men: Days of Future Past before, this surprisingly good movie has amped up my excitement even more.  I can’t wait to see how the Wolverine’s character evolves even more when he is sent back in time to save the future.  This movie shows why Wolverine has always been the core of the X-Men.

Manos: The Hands Of Felt?

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So you may remember MANOS: The Hands of Fate from a review I did earlier, which is one of the worst films of all time, well some crazy people made a puppet play out of it called MANOS: The Hands of Felt.  They are going to sell DVDs of the play, but since I backed it on Kickstarter, I got to download a copy earlier.  I mean how could I not, puppets and bad cinema mixed together and put on stage?  SHUTUP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

So the plot of the play is mostly the some as the movie, with the exception that the story follows the people making the movie who get lost and confused, so they are just kind of making up the movie as they go along while crazy stuff is happening.  Oh yeah, they are also all puppets, so that is a little different.  I am pretty sure that you should at least familiarize yourself with MANOS: The Hands of Fate before you watch this performance.

Granted this movie/play is for a select group of people that enjoy bad films and adore puppets, so pretty much me and all the people that backed the play on Kickstarter.  That would mean there at least 768 of us.  I am glad that their funding campaign was successful because even when it wasn’t making me laugh, it was making me smile.  You can tell they love crappy movies as much as I do, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

If you love puppets and bad movies you should look out for the DVD when it is released, so you can smile along with me.  I hope that the people of the puppet troupe Vox Fabuli continue to make funny puppet stuff, just so I know that there are people like me out in the world.

My Five Favorite Movies Of 2013!

2013 was a pretty good year for movies.  I enjoyed the growing trend of movies turning in to serial franchises so we can see our favorite characters year after year, and we know that the endless sequels are planned and not just an afterthought.   With that being said here are my top five films in reverse order:

5: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

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This movie built on the wonder of the first movie, and they actually gave us a story this time around.  A lot of people didn’t like it since it was mostly fan fiction, but it was well worth the trip to the theaters.

4: The World’s End

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The World’s End did what most comedies can only dream of, and that is to be over the top funny and still tell a story worth telling.  This was the final chapter in the Cornetto Trilogy, and it definitely made me wish there were more flavors in that ice cream.

3: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

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Middle movies are supposed to be lame since they have no beginning and no end, but no one told that to the people making Catching Fire.  It was much better than the first movie, and in my opinion better than the book that spawned it.  This is the best middle movie since The Empire Strikes Back, and I can’t wait to see the next one.

2: Gravity

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This probably was the best movie of the year, but my inner thirteen-year-old made me drop it a spot.  This movie was made for theaters, and when I watched it I felt like I was on the verge of falling out of space.  High concept special effects movies like this are almost never made due to the high cost and low returns, but I am so glad that it was because it was fantastic.  I am pulling for Sandra Bullock to win the Oscar this year!

1: Pacific Rim

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I haven’t been this giddy watching a movie in the theaters since I was a kid, and that feeling is why this movie is number one on my list.  It made me gawk at the epic battles before my eyes.  It so clearly understood the type of movie that it was, and it played it up beautifully.  If you didn’t see this movie in theaters I feel bad for you.

So what were your favorite movies this year, or why is my list completely wrong?  Leave a comment below and let the world know.

Enjoy The View From Up On Poppy Hill!

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From Up On Poppy Hill is a 2011 Studio Ghibli written by Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) and directed by his son Gorō Miyazaki (Tales from Earthsea).  It was distributed in the United States by GKids in early 2013.  It is a slice of life movie, so it may not be for everyone, but I quite enjoyed it.

The story is about a teenage girl named Umi Matsuzaki who helps her Grandmother run a boarding house while her mother is away studying in the United States.  While Umi is at school she runs in to the impulsive Shun Kazama who is trying to save his clubhouse called the Latin Quarter from demolition by people who are trying to update Japan in time for the Olympics.  Can they save the clubhouse, and can their relationship survive the trials ahead?

The story is slow, but it is nice to see a little of what it was like in post war Japan, and how people lived during that time.  The country is trying to surge forward leaving their past behind, but that is leaving some people in its wake.  It is not a story that will blow your socks off, but it will try and charm them off.

The best part of this movie is by far the animation.  The movie looks great.  Bright lush colors and beautifully drawn scenery.  It is wonderful to look at, and gorgeous in motion.  The slow story may not always be engaging, but the art always is.

The English voiceover cast does a good job with Sarah Bolger as Umi, and Anton Yelchin as Shun Kazama, and they do their best in this confused teenage romance.  Much like any Studio Ghibli film there are a lot of well known actors filling in the supporting roles, and it is always fun to see if you can pick out who they are.

This is not Studio Ghibli’s best movie, but it is fun to watch, so for anyone that loves their work it will not let you down.  Be charmed by the light story, but fall in love with amazing art.

Spending Some Time With The DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection!

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The guys and gals over at DC Universe have made a quite a few good animated films, so when I saw Superman and Shazam: The Return of Black Adam on Netflix I decided to give it a watch.  It turns out that it was actually a collection of DC shorts called the DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection.  It was a cool way to see a few characters that don’t get a lot of coverage.

On Netflix there were four shorts: Superman and Shazam: The Return of Black Adam, The Spectre, Jonah Hex, and The Green Arrow.  If you check this out on DVD/Blu-Ray there is also a short Catwoman feature, but since I didn’t see it, I can’t review it.

Superman and Shazam: The Return of Black Adam is the longest of the shorts clocking in at twenty-five minutes.  It features the origin of the new Captain Marvel (different from Marvel’s Captain Marvel, yes it is very confusing) as he enlists Superman’s help to take out Black Adam.

The Spectre is different from most of the DCU stuff because they set it in the 70’s, and it follows The Spectre as he terrorizes the people that killed a movie mogul.  The Spectre unlike most DC Heroes has no problem killing guilty people.

Jonah Hex rides in to town to find a bounty, but it turns out he will have to take out a gang that has been killing rich people and stealing their money.

The Green Arrow is planning a special night with Dinah Lance/Black Canary when Merlyn the Magnificent shows up to kill the Princess of Perdita, so it is time for a Green Arrow versus Black Arrow shoot off.

All of the shorts are well done, and like I said before it is fun to check out some of the lesser DC Heroes.  You almost never hear about The Spectre, and after the awful Jonah Hex movie is great to see him in something good.  It is also nice to see a more true to the comic book Green Arrow over what is presented by the TV showMarvel’s Captain Marvel is better, but DC’s is still good, and I was happy to see him.

DCU continues to pump out great animated flicks, and I stand by my assertion that they should be heading up DC/Warner Brothers live action super hero movies because everything that I have watched that they have done has at least been interesting.  But I guess we will see how the new Batman versus Superman movie turns out before I get too judgmental.  Maybe.