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There has be a lot of movies released over the time of my hiatus or should I say that I've seen quite of a bit of movies. More and more I try to avoid any movie that I feel will be generic or just another cinematic universe building film because I just don't care about those anymore. Not to say that I am staying away from superhero films because superhero films aren't the only ones trying to stay in the cinematic universe building game.

Recently I have just watched Logan for the first time and I while I really enjoyed it I can't help but feel like it was a end of an era. That same feeling of having to move on. Modern movies have certainly lost their edge compared to what they used to and that not to say that they have become worse. That statement just isn't true as there will always be bad movies but the good ones will continued to be remember and often looked at when movies are released that year. No what I am talking about is the "playing it safe" factor that I see in so many modern movies.

I mention Logan because it reminded me of why I like when movies take chances and try something new even at the cost of a marketable film. After watching X-Men: Apocalypse last year I said to myself "its time to end the X-Men movies" After watching Logan, I said the same thing, but the meaning was completely opposite to prior statement. The prior, a sense that this franchise and others like it have plateaued and no longer had anything new to offer. The former, a satisfying conclusion to a long running story that now has come full circle. Nothing else it needed to tell after its already been done.

Now I know there will continue to be X-Men movies. Even as I am typing this the studio is probably announced a whole slate of movies planned to 2030. But that doesn't necessarily mean I have to watch them or even considered them a continuation. Now I days I find myself deciding when and where a movie series should end even though more sequels are released to follow.

Naruto is a long running franchise that I have kept up with for close to 13 years now. But, similar to X-Men, the series has ended. Well not exactly. The story contributed by the original creator has ended. But the "story" goes on in the form of the "Next Generation" by the studios that know Naruto makes money. I know I don't have to watch it and I don't plan to, as for me the story has ended.

Which makes me think about the future of movies, of course we will still get great stand alone films but more and more are we getting movies that are made by a chart that says what the average person does and doesn't want to see in a movie with an end result of mediocrity. Where as just a few years ago I was going to the theaters as much as I could to see every movie was that released to today where I see maybe one or two movies actually in theaters.

Sword Art Online is an Anime that had one of the most interesting premises that made me really want to check it out. A very good premise can really get someone hooked onto the start of a show but its up to the story and character to keep someone invested all the way to the end. Unfortunately Sword Art Online doesn't do this which does suck because the premise of this show did suck me in right away.

What is the Premise the show? Well it revolves around a concept that people who play a VR game are stuck inside of the game until they can beat the game. The twist is that if they die inside of the game they will then die in real life as well, adding a bit of suspense to the choices everyone makes.

Now we follow Kirito as he was a beta player from before the game is released, so he has a bit of a lead against everyone else. He mostly decides to play the game alone, but we get to see what the world is like by how he explores the world and eventually helping out other player who may not be as strong as he is. He even teams up with a few other high level players to defeat bosses that unlock the next level for them so they can get closer and closer to beating the game.

That is pretty much how the first 7 or 8 episodes of the show start out and that is also the only positive things I can say about this show. From this point on the show becomes something completely different and only goes down hill from there.

What happened? Well very early on we are introduced to a loner character named Asuna, who ends up teaming up with Kirito to beat a couple of bosses in the game. With this they end up developing a liking to each other, trusting one another more so than other players in the game. At some point these two end up having a relationship within the game. This is not a problem but what becomes a problem is that they stop the entire show and plot just to focus on these two going on a vacation within the game.

Again this isn't a problem by it self but what becomes a problem is that it goes on for way to long. To the point that while watching it you don't even know if you are watching the same show anymore. They even adopt a child AI in the game and they go on a side story plot to find her identity. Now this isn't the point where the show took a dive and turned into a show not worth watching anymore, mostly because it still had some interest in the characters, mostly Asuna, who looking back actually is the best character in the entire 1st season.

Now from this point on we reach the second half of the season. Which honestly is so bad that its not worth talking about because its been said and explain so much well else where. (check out digibro's video)

What happens is, around a couple of months after the sword art online incident, Kirito tries to find a way to bring Asuna (who is still trapped in the game) back to the real world. This leads to a whole new game that is no where near as interesting we have to enter into as well as a weird side plot with his step sister that creates this really weird love triangle that isn't worth going into. It becomes the basic plot of saving the princess, expert here its just not interesting. It feels like this was a rushed plot that they had to come up with quick just so they had an excuse to continue the show.

I said I wasn't going to get too much into the second half, and I won't. To sum it up, its bad, and you shouldn't watch it.

If I were to recommend this show to anyone it would be for the first 7 episode of the show, but even looking back it makes me question whether a show is worth recommending if I am no recommending the show in its entirety. So on that basis, this isn't a show I would recommend because of the invest you get from the start of the show and the ultimate disappoint that all that investment leads to.

Rating:

PG-13 | 92 min

Genre: Adventure, Animation, Drama

Writer & Director: Satoshi Kon

Plot: On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo find a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

Tokyo Godfathers is another film directed by Satoshi Kon, it follow three people who are homeless who stumble upon a baby and then precede to look for its parents.

What I noticed about the movie was how dark it was. The film mostly takes place at night but the actual look was very dark and grainy but very much felt realistic. The background look fantastic and even blends well with the moving animation which I think kept everything look natural. Not a lot of movies in animation look like this and its nice to see that at least one film has done it and made it work.

This is definitely Satoshi Kons most straight forward movie, doing nothing special in terms of twists and turn that most of his movies do. This one rather focuses on the characters and the situations they get into on the way of finding this babies parents. It wasn't until after I finished the movie that I realized that there aren't any movies out there that I know of that have a group of homeless as their main protagonists. Even portraying them as just normal people and not at all in a negative light. You get a feel for their life and as soon as the baby shows up in the story I got sucked in.

I would say this is the most character developed film that Satoshi Kon made and it helps with getting involved with the story. Everyone has something in their past that makes them interesting, and even more when certain situations force them to confront their past. Characters want to have better lives but lack the motivation to really do something, but you see as they change as soon as the baby shows up in their lives. They're all very likable and that makes you root for them when they get stuck in bad situations in the film.

Satoshi Kon has proved that he can tackle a wide variety of genre in Anime. Having this film be more toned done in terms of style and story really shows that he knows what a film really needs. When a animated movie can make me forget I am watching hand drawn characters, its done a pretty good job at what its doing. This is one film of his you should check out, even if your a fan of Anime or not, this one is a good blend of both.

Rating:

The 2009 Star Trek reboot turned a franchise that I wasn't always completely on board with into one of my favorite movies, most entertaining movies I've seen in a long time. So as soon as I heard they will be making a sequel to this movie, I couldn't wait to see what they will be doing with this new universe now created. Star Trek Into Darkness was definitely one of the movies I was looking forward to the most this summer. Before seeing Star Trek I was pretty optimistic that I was going to see a good movie.

My assumptions of seeing a good movie were correct, but I had a problem with this film, which is similar to the problem I have with many of the summer movies this year. This problem is regarding with the second half of the movie. I can agree that the film was entertaining throughout as well the first half being very new and original to the series, making me wish the rest of the movie could continue that or at least end it where the movie felt like it end and turned into something else.

Now to address my problem with the second half of the film. Its not that the second was bad, but it was how it looses its creativity and just becomes a retread of past Star Trek movies. The iteration of the main villain Kahn, was one of the situations where is was a good and bad. I didn't mind that they were going to put Kahn in this movie, my only hope was that they weren't going to just reuse Kahn to be just like the Kahn from the Original Series.

While watching the movie, I thought Kahn was used very well in the first half of the film, especially from the point and beforehand where the audience didn’t really know that who he was. Even when they did reveal that John Harrison was in fact Kahn, It didn’t bother because of the way they were handling the character. Following the events of the reveal, I liked that they were taking a different approach and how it showed that this wasn’t the same as the other universe.

Not until the movie takes a turn a puts Kahn in essentially in the same position as the villian in Star Trek: Nemesis, a movie that was made not to long ago. This was one of the first things when I notice the direction everything was going. As the approaches essentially, its climax, there comes a point where they do away, at least they make you think, with the character of Kahn. Up to this point of the film, I have enjoyed every part of it including the minor retread they took. Everything that happens after this point was when the film became nothing but retread and quite dull even though there is much going on.

At this time, we see the very obvious resemblance of Wrath of Kahn which leads to what was one of the most unemotional emotional scene I have probably ever scene, and everything done in reverse. Even after the film doesn’t seem to pick up enough to stay as exciting as It did before. It became a point where the movie seemed to be much longer and to be going on much more than it should’ve been, not making it boring, but tiring.

I will give credit to the very end of the film, where we finally see the characters at a point where they should’ve been in the beginning of the film and where the TV show takes place. It actually made me wish I could see what will happen next because the last half of the film seemed to be just stalling till this point. Overall, Star Trek Into Darkness was a good movie for what it was, which was a Summer Blockbuster, and on that aspect did deliver everything I wanted to see aside from the problems I had with the film in a Star Trek since. I still am very curious to see where they take these characters next, especially with a new director helming the next film. I just hope that they can leave the past where it belongs instead of redoing something that worked well back then and it just laughable now.

I finally saw one of the movies that I have certainly been waiting for and anticipating for a long time now. Even though I tried to go in without having any high expectations like others previous films I have done that with, this was one of, it not the most anticipated film I have been wanting to see all year. I grew up watching the older Richard Donner films, so watching a Superman movie without any of the old John William theme scores or Christopher Reeves as Superman did feel a pit different at first but i got over it after a while.

The Man of Steel for a while was thought to be a much more of a Christopher Nolan film than a Zack Synder film, and I must say it was way more of a Zack Synder film than a Christopher Nolan film. Which I actually did see as a problem to an extent. Some of the problems I did have with the movie were more toward just problems I found myself. Some of the problems I had were the lack of personality and character development I would’ve like to have seen in the film. Which is why I wish Christopher Nolan had a part in the writing process for this film, which is what I think it need most to become a much more film with depth.

This is most definitely a summer action movie first. The visuals are fantastic and the actions scenes are very over the top, something that did lack in the older Superman film. The film does a take a different approach at the origin story of Superman and does do it differently even to feel fresh and new. That being said, the first half of this film is much stronger than the second half is. The second half has so much action that you kinda loose a lot of what you enjoyed about the first half, but it doesn’t do it so much that it ruins the movie.

Overall, Man of Steel is a very enjoyable film for the summer, especially if you enjoy lots of action. I would still like to see more characters from this new universe that has been created and possible cameos from other superheros in the sequels to come.

Just Finished watching the latest installment of the 007 franchise. I must say, it is easily one of the best bond movies. I could help but notice how remarkably well done this film is, even through both technical and entertainment.

Sam Mendes takes on 007 as director to create his own take on the characters, the action and the allure of bond throughout the film. Right from the very first opening sequence, it captures you right in. Which brings me to the biggest stand out of the movie, the cinematography. Roger Deakins, shoots one the of most thrilling and beautifully cinemographed shots I've seen all year. Aside from looks, it was hard to find a scene that wasn't the slightest of tension building, all this given help to the plot of the film. Skyfall focuses its story more on the past of M, along with the relations between her and Bond. One of the things you will notice about this movie is how much darker and different it is from the other Bond films.

Something that couldn’t go without notice, was the great performances by just about everyone. The lead actor Daniel Craig, is great, in my opinion the best portrayal of the spy. Javier Bardem takes himself to a new level with this movie, both as an actor and character. Making this one of the most remarkable performances of the film. Especially since, Skyfall is the first bond film to bring us a true villain that is at times in par with Bond himself. Everyone else had solid performances as well.

After everything positive I’ve said about this movie, i do however, have problems with it. The story of the movie doesn’t hold up from what is shown before hand and by the final act, the film feels no where as entertaining after all the sequences shown. Another problem I had was how this movie tends to become more of a Hit-man movie and an actual spy movie. And it could go without notice how this movie have very obvious similarities to The Dark Knight , which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Skyfall is great movie and in terms of being a bond film, is one of the best. It may have missed a few marks and it may not go to height of which Casino Royale did, but it definitely come close. This film was one of my favorites of the year. Also, i did very much regret missing it in IMAX.

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