Another Round

I know this didn't get over here.

And I knew precisely zero about what the movie was about, all the information I had was Mads Mikkelsen was in it and it was picked for the Cannes film festival. That's really all it took for me to want to see it. It's been a heinously long period since I've seen that flawless handsome man and shock of all shocks delivers another great performance, as a high school teacher named Martin that is having a bit of a mid-life crisis and feels like he's losing his identity when he joins his three friends who also teach in an experiment to study the effects of consistently having a 0.05% blood alcohol level. Now immediately once you hear that it's guaranteed to go to hell in a handbasket, and it's one of the best instances outside of a horror movie where you feel this blanket of dread hang over you just waiting for that other shoe to fall. And the film has these moments, a very particular style of shot where the camera is focused in closeup on Martin's face and there is zero dialogue but you can see so much in his eyes and you know it's all going to end badly. I mean I've heard enough horror stories through my life, especially in reading autobiographies of rockstars, of just how shitty alcohol is. Speaking personally I can't understand the mentality of getting shitfaced drunk, I hate alcoholic beverages that are fermented which pretty much knocks every type off the board, I'm a light mixer kind of guy that drinks like twice a year, so to see this slow downward spiral reaffirmed everything I knew already. But it's the performances that make you want to watch it, the characters are not holding great depths but are easily identifiable and likeable, I mean they have to be likeable for the drama to occur and to where you feel bad for them. It's a pretty slim cast in terms of major players with Mads, Magnus Millang, Thomas Bo Larsen, and Lars Ranthe as our quartet of teachers who are the focal point. The secondary cast consists more of their families and students which we see sporadically throughout as the gauge of their behavior. It is so interesting to see as an american how the attitudes and schooling system is in Denmark, obviously it's not super focused on but I get a kick out of seeing different perspectives and customs anyway, so Denmark and the danish language are welcome sights. Plus as a devout cinema snob, I always love when a movie is foreign even if it's bad. Really neat directing, the vast majority is handheld which flows as freely as the alcohol on screen but knows when to set the camera down for a very nice shot, it gives that loosey goosey go with the flow feel which fits this film juuuust right. Also we get an almost Bollywood style dance scene. Amazing. Ridiculously simple story concept but still is able to craft a very good piece of cinema, I easily can recommend it, and you can watch the whole film free like I did on Tubi. I give it 3 stars, 8/10, and new movie on Friday. What a life to live.

The Dial Of Destiny

So did we end on a high note?

It may not have been the glorious and most grandiose send off for Indiana Jones, but you know what? I'm happy with it, I felt this was a good movie, and I don't mind recommending it. So the year is 1969 and Indy has retired from teaching before getting drawn into this plot with his goddaughter following in her father's footsteps, trying to track down a device that alters history before a certain mister hotsi totsi nazi gets a hold of it. I know that little ipso facto of a device that deals with time will be a hard split for people, and once again like the extraterrestrials last movie, I'm a bit on the fence with it. I actually feel the history and mixing of culture for the crystal skull was done better but it was competently done here centering on ancient greek and roman times, so no huge points taken there. The globe trotting felt very much upped in counterblance, and it was really nice seeing Tangiers, Sicily, and Athens cause you know they legit filmed there. It may sound strange when I say this but for a movie that keeps up a solid pace of action and plot, there isn't a whole lot of gunplay or fisticuffs involved it's much more a chase type of action movie. Decent stuff, they did as much as feasible for real, and nothing seemed horribly farfetched. As one last hurrah for Harrison he does well, I see a lot more of his personality come through Indy but at the same time he doesn't get the full spotlight. That's where Phoebe Waller-Bridge comes in as Helena, and I'll admit this up front I thought she was going to be a straight up heroic companion but she's a bit of a bastard in this movie, very well...Han Solo before he joined the cause, just whatever means I'm on top and get paid at the end. So I wasn't at all feeling it but she almost entirely redeems herself through just one action at the end, so take her with a grain of salt. I also did not like that my handsome man was the villain, granted he can cut a sinister shape and goddamn was he nicely dressed throughout (sans SS uniform of course), but gah I just didn't like that! I will say this movie has zero fucking problem making the bodies hit the floor, there is some gruelling deaths presented so it has that sharp edge, that danger and stakes, I mean innocent parties just get shot in cold blood like it's nothing man. And don't get me wrong I was concerned about this movie, not so much whether it would be good or bad but the concept of the dial itself made me nervous they would lean hip deep in time travel, maybe indulge a bit in needless fan wank, and yeah I was a touch nervous Harrison would bite the dust but thankfully no. They still do stuff with it, but it's not egregious. It's directed well, the performances are legit, the adventure is there, I'd call it decent. Nothing grand or amazing but not a letdown either, 3 stars, 7/10. And mate, if you feel it all should have ended with Indy riding into the sunset in The Last Crusade, I'm with you all the way but it's at least worth seeing once. And that's about it for me for the next 3 weeks, so stay safe, have fun, enjoy your celebratory fireworks if you are proud we disbanded from Great Britain like the rebel scum we are, and I'll see you later.

The Secrets Of Dumbledore

Thank the gods this was an improvement.

I was actually eagerly anticipating the end credits for this cause I wanted to know two things. Who directed it and who wrote it? David Yates returns to direct but honestly it feels so different and is so visually impressive at times that I thought they did get a different director. And wonder upon wonders, I was right! J.K. Rowling had the help of a screenwriter and worked in conjunction with them, and the script works for the better. It's not as bombastic as you would expect, if anything it sets the board for future confrontations between Dumbledore and Grindlewald as more or less they confront one another and know they will have to fight, while Albus recruits the help of Newt and newcomer to the wizarding world Eulalie to help him gain an edge over Grindlewald. Again, not very big stakes and the best way I can summarize it is the first two movies were more in the tone of Prisoner Of Azkaban whereas this movie seems more Order Of The Phoenix or even Half Blood Prince. Which is odd because you have a fair few cutesy moments, but then you see a magical creature get it's throat slit. It just isn't a fun kids movie series at this point, there is history and intrigue in this period of time and they do want to expand on it which I love. Before seeing this I wanted it to cap off at 3 movies, but truthfully after seeing this bring on the fourth film! It does what any good sequel should do, expand on the story, advance the characters, and introduce new elements. Newt is way more sociable and warm, a far cry from his shy and non-human interest in the first film. Eulalie is a warm welcome to this series, she is lovely, I think she's brilliant, nothing but a joy to watch throughout and I can't wait to see more. Jude is outstanding, having so much more time on screen and delivering his own Albus while staying true to the character we originally met, and the dynamic with him and Grindlewald is the best part of the film. Cause you can tell and infer a great deal from Jude's and Mads' performances, they love each other and would prefer not to fight but you can tell there's so much more behind their eyes. I loved it. Plus, I can never have too much Mads Mikkelsen in my life thank you very much. The visuals and cinematography are leaps and bounds better than I dare even say most of the Harry Potter series, the shots they do in this I wish were in the other movies it's done super well. All I wanted was a good movie and I got a good movie that made me want another. I can't ask more than that. 4 stars, 8.5/10, good end to the week!

Casino Royale

The game has changed.

What a stark and memorable way to start an entire new era to Bond. Undoubtedly throughout the course of the series the films have had loose continuity and you can track the career of Bond from the early 60s to after the Cold War, but Barbara Broccoli and the producers of EON took some inspiration from Batman Begins and wanted the series to be rebooted and modernized to staggering effect in my estimation. Casino Royale is an excellent Bond film, the filmmakers knew exactly what they wanted and how to do it. Daniel Craig, despite the howls of heresy and betrayal to have a blonde Bond, is probably the closest iteration of Ian Fleming's books while still having the charm of Moore, the action man status of Brosnan, and the intensity of Dalton, yet nevertheless takes the role as his own and does exceptional work being a much more less experienced, reckless, and cold blooded killer. That's why I really stood up for Dalton cause I knew this was what they wanted and they refined it more for this era. I do truly believe Eva Green is objectively one of the best Bond girls, not only because of her relationship with James and I still to this day stand by the only women he ever loved was Vesper and Tracy, but because they give her such an amazing character with attitude and undeniable charm that compliments Craig so damn well. I'm not even going to spiral down that rabbit hole of praising Eva Green, cause I would be here for the next decade so we will move on. And of course they got my man, my sexy man, Mads Mikkelsen playing the villain. He's perfect, they gave him just enough to make him honestly one of the most striking physiques of the entire series, with the slight Pleasance scar, the blood tears, it's a wonderful performance and will no doubt be incredibly difficult to top in the upcoming films. I cannot even begin to say how happy I am they kept Judi Dench onboard for this revival, they could have so easily recast this role but they brought her back and I can understand why, they needed some familiar face in the production to better gauge the change for audiences. And she is my M, she was the first M I ever saw and is still my favorite though Bernard Lee was grand throughout his tenure, so I'm just so thrilled it wasn't a 4 movie stint for her. I am not even able to discern which is better, the cast or just the total production value. This is the best looking film of the series, and I don't just mean because of the modern age filmmaking, the set design is nothing short of magnificent, the locations could not look better, the action is thrilling with a capital T, I can forgive entirely the lack of gadgets because of how well done these action beats are. You think I would find it inexcusable that we don't have any gadgets, that John Cleese did not get to return as our Quartermaster (which still breaks my heart to this day because he had unconditional love and respect for the part), but I can understand why they wanted to take a very realistic approach and it obviously payed off in aces. It's not even a question in my mind that this is top 10 material, it gets nothing but 4 stars, 8.5/10. This could be someone's jumping on point for the series before they get to something spectacular like The Spy Who Loved Me or more espionage antics like From Russia With Love, so I do believe it deserves the praise and recognition. Will the trend continue? Only one way to find out as we look at Quantum Of Solace tomorrow.

Second Viewing: Doctor Strange

Not my second viewing, but I couldn't think of a better title.

I can't believe how well this works as a standalone movie. Let's set the wayback machine to 4 years ago, I've seen two MCU movies, Iron Man and Iron Man 2, I hear tale of a movie with Benedict Cumberbatch and Mads Mikkelsen two of my favorite actors. The film is called Doctor Strange and the Marvel movies are barely on my radar, but I seek out the movie anyway and review it opening day, my opinions have not changed since then. This is still a high favorite of mine in the MCU, but going back to it after I've digested all this knowledge and inner continuity between films it works incredibly well as a standalone film. Sure Thor pops up at the end but the story and events are pretty disconnected from the other movies so perhaps it was just good fortune that this was the movie I watched above all others. And I felt it would be wrong not to talk about every film in this series even if I have done reviews on it before, and the same will go for Black Panther when we reach that. But Doctor Strange is still a very good movie, it's one of the most interesting, original, and entertaining movies of the series and one of only 2 Marvel movies I own on video. So obviously that out of the blue desire to see it left an impression. And what a perfect catalyst for me as a viewer, almost placed in Stephen Strange's shoes, a normal guy who gets thrust into this impossibly and infinitely large universe as he learns his way about it, now that holds even more meaning now that I've been viewing every one of these movies. Boy did my reaction mirror his when the term Infinity Stone was brought up, that could not have went more over my head if you shot it past the moon. This is a great beginner film for anybody wanting to get into these movies, maybe even more so than the very early films like Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk, I mean hell all you gotta do is turn it off when credits roll and boom, perfect cold opening. I like the villains, the visual style is mesmerizing at times, it doesn't rush things, the characters are easily understandable and have good writing to them, screw it I'm gonna say it. Despite my strong feelings towards certain entries, Doctor Strange upon rewatch is my favorite of the Marvel movies. Is it due to change? Quite possibly! We still have 9 movies left before the end, so it is entirely feasible that this could be toppled. I've written plenty about this movie so for my extended thoughts I have two seperate entries for you to read up on, but the bottom line is this is a very good movie, one of the best in the series (so far), and always a treat to watch again. 4 stars, 8/10! The Guardians Of The Galaxy returns tomorrow so let's see what wild shenanigans it has in store for us.

Polar

I promise this will be our last action flick for awhile.

Yeah John Wick got me in a mood, and me being me when seeing a Mads Mikkelsen movie on Netflix, yeah I had to watch and I'm incredibly happy I did. Polar is...interesting. It's a good movie without a doubt but booooy is it out there! Color palletes go from cold and grey to bright harboring on neon, the movie has a very bizzare and dark style of humor that won me over quite quickly, the editing is quick yet knows when to hold on an important shot, the action is well done though I will admit it is very sparse, so it deals with characters mostly. And the characters are great, we got Mads Mikkelsen as a retiring assassin who for some reason is being hunted down by the head of their I guess you could call it a guild for monetary reasons. And the fact that the head of the hired killer organization is Matt Lucas immediately lets you know what kind of movie you are in for and I know there are tons of people who don't know who Matt Lucas is but he's essentially a british comic who does funny and cute side characters, it's kinda like if you got Gabriel Iglesias to play a drug lord, just plain weird man. But our dear Mr. Lucas sends a group of killers to hunt him down, and in the meantime we get a quite nice relationship building between Mads character Duncan Visla (Yes like the mandalorian Visla.) and a young woman played by Vanessa Hudgens named Camille who has had a troubled life and is a bit meek but they form a nice bond and it's a pleasure to see. And the movie ends pretty much how I wanted it, maybe even better which always gets you bonus points in my book! Not quite sure why the movie is named Polar though....is it because the subject matter is dark and morbid but the color scheme is bright and full in some scenes? There is some snow in the movie but it ain't blood freezingly cold in the film. Maybe it's character significant with how Duncan is trying to establish a normal day to day life and distance himself from the world travelling assassination buisness, hmm those are polar opposites. Yeah let's go with that. The music was also quite nice done by Deadmau5, who makes some pretty dang good music so all in all it's a very good movie, I'm very happy I saw it and would gladly see it again in the not too distant future. So I'm sure we'll have a return to the shoot em' up genre but next time we go to something more family friendly. Until then my friends!

Hannibal: Season 3

Hannibal always makes my life happy when I watch it.

The (hopefully not) last season of one of my favorite shows of all time. What's interesting about this season is, it combines story elements from both the movie Hannibal and Red Dragon. The first half is Will on the hunt for Hannibal after the grisly end of the last season in Florence, and the second half takes place three years later with Hannibal incarcerated and aiding Will in the case of Francis Dolarhyde. It's difficult to say which part is better, but I feel the Red Dragon half is better because the first half wraps up all the story threads from last season so you can fully focus on what is happening. But....the best part, arguably in the whole series is as simple of a scene as you can get, but it's perfect. It's after Will has been hunting Hannibal for awhile, gathering information about Hannibal's past and the two of them sit in an art gallery and discuss their relationship and where they stand. Dear sweet Christmas it is perfect. I can't even nitpick that scene! I almost say watch this season just for that scene but I do highly suggest you stick around until the very end. It was sad to hear this show got cancelled but at least it had a conclusion, it wasn't a Firefly situation and I desperately want it back in my life. The characters are wonderful, it goes less psychological in terms of hallucinations and dreams but the artistic elements are full force with allegory, metaphors, and symbolism. Every episode has something worthy of framing and hanging on your wall. Granted, the only bad thing I can say is I barely like any of the characters. Besides Will and Hannibal, everyone else has gotten bitter and super bitchy (and that's putting it nicely) and I'm really hoping for their death. But even I have to say poor Chilton gets brutalized so much it's almost sad. Almost. It is super nifty to see these potrayals of characters in familiar settings like in the movies. It's like watching the movies again from a new perspective. It's a great series and always makes me smile only the way a cannabalistic serial killer smiles. And yeah, remember how I said Game Of Thrones ain't got nothing on the previous finale? Even I'm 100% sure they don't play the clip show of the Red Wedding time and time again in the next season! So you get to relive that emotional trauma again and again, joy of joys. But all jokes aside, it's a sad but good ending for a show that will come back and I will be ready a thousand times over to see Hannibal again.

Hannibal: Season 2

I blame you Bryan Fuller for making me feel emotions!!

After long, long last we return to Hannibal. I know it's a matter of opinion which season of this show is the best, but to me it's this one. Every facet and aspect of season 1 has been built upon, expanded, and improved. Hannibal is the only show I've seen where it knows it is a visual medium and takes it to incredible levels. It's such a rich series, with beautiful cinematography, editing, and compositing. You know how you go into a bookstore and they have these huge books, "The Art Of (insert title here"? Whether it be Blade Runner 2049, or Ghost In The Shell it has purpose and meaning, not everything deserves a book solely devoted to the art of that particular subject. But Hannibal does! It deserves practically an Academy Award, I've seen entire films that don't take such time and effort into visuals as one 45 minute episode of this show does. Needless to say I do love it very much, but why? It takes liberties with the stories but doesn't insult it, the characters are still as they should be and are tweaked slightly but it's to enhance the story they are telling, every case is interesting in it's own demented macabre way although more emphasis is on the overall story than just the case of the week. In fact, there's only one thing I can nitpick at and it's at a character thst I despise! Freddie Lounds, oh boy do I hate this lady. Now I'm sure her actress is a lovely lady, but this character.....you know exactly the kind I refer to. It's the character you so desperately wish to die and yet they persist on and on, she is the bane of my existence and she should be dead five times over or more! It seems she meets a serial killer everyday before brunch and yet comes completely unscathed every single time. I just don't understand. But it's kinda the point, you're supposed to hate her. But I seriously digress. Because we have good characters, great characters, slightly campy characters, and dumb characters. Not to bash the story but there are some lapses in good judgement to carry the story on. But ehat is the story you might ask? Well, Will Graham has been incarcerated for multiple murders seen in the last season and he desperately tries to prove his innocence for at least half the season but he soon gets out and sets his sights on taking Hannibal down but still holds a deep bond with him that could prove disasterous to his life. Of course Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen are still top form as always, bringing depth to the characters while expanding on their previous performances. And yes, I do ship murder husbands. And the ending is rough. It is emotional. You can keep your red wedding Game Of Thrones fans, it's like they watched that epsiode and said, let's make it harder to watch. And they do. Now I don't watch Game Of Thrones and that was a suspenseful and hard thing to watch, but this makes it more emotional and graphic to be honest. I never saw much blood even though those stabbings man. Jesus. But this tops it, it's heartbreaking before the blood starts pouring. It is not suspense, but emotional breakage that it focuses on. It's rough man, and yet it still holds more than just shock value, the music is gorgeous and the visuals are unforgettable, and it just ends with you desperately wanting more. Which saddens me even further how the show goes, but that is a discussion for later this week. Again, not for the squeamish or the passive but still holds much to be admired and loved. I am simply dying for more.

In Retrospect: Doctor Strange

More magic filled movies, what's not to like?

Doctor Strange might well be my favorite Marvel movie of all time, I mean it's got Benedict Cumberbatch, Mads Mikkelsen, a great retelling of an origin story, outstanding effects, surprisingly philosophical and spiritual overtones, all done so well. It's a really good movie, and the one good thing I can say about most Marvel movies is the fact almost every movie is a standalone movie. You don't need to watch all the movies from Iron Man to Doctor Strange, you could just watch Doctor Strange! Skip the after credits scene, and voila! A solid superhero movie that stands alone. The story is very interesting, mainly just due to the fact of Stephen Strange's training in the mystic arts. Doctor Strange, the only superhero who got powers from reading books. All jokes aside, it is the best part of the story in my opinion, and yes while the rest of the story is fine, that was the part that still grabs me and pulls me into the movie. All the main actors do great jobs, and the comedy didn't actually grate on me that much this viewing around. Not sure why, maybe I just accepted it and moved past it, knowing damn well there is nothing I can do to change it, so why complain? The really bad part is, I looked up the full list of films in the Marvel cinematic universe, and there was only....3 I would watch, and only one in the future that I want to see. Now granted, I'm not much of a Marvel fan, I hardly know anything about characters or certain stories first hand, 99% of my knowledge stems from comic reviews and these movies. But I will admit I do want to read the Doctor Strange comics from the 60s just to see what it was all like. Beyond that, it's just another Marvel movie but a damn good one that I can safely say I will enjoy in the future.

Alright, that's enough In Retrospects for awhile and this Friday it will be a new movie in theaters. Until then, catch you later on down the trail.

In Retrospect: Rogue One

You may fire when ready.

I forgot how amazing Peter Cushing was in this! I don't care if it's cgi, it's Peter Cushing back to do another movie. Automatic 12 stars out of 10, when you add Carrie Fisher in this as well. I love Star Wars, the original 1977 Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw if you have somehow forgotten that, I already talk about it enough. But it was the first time I saw these actors in my life, and then through the years I saw them in more things. And they are gone now, so it was both triumphant and crushing to see them in this movie again. So Rogue One is still a great Star Wars movie, now that I have watched Rebels, I noticed several more easter eggs that flew by me the first viewing in theaters. It was a lot of fun, the characters in my opinion got better with repeated viewings. Now that I have the ability to rewind and pause, I could gather much more evidence of good performances in this movie. Jyn Erso still feels like an outsider to it all but becomes a true Rebel as the film progresses, Cassian Andor is this hard edged, no nonsense captain willing to do shall we say...morally ambiguous things. In fact, the Rebel Alliance isn't all comradery and heroes and doing the right thing no matter what. They do bad things in this movie, which is very much more like a real war, not everybody believes in their side and does things they may not be proud of. That is a great aspect. Krennic is a backstabbing son of a mother, has no respect or anything for other people, so he gets under your skin quickly. All the side characters like Baze or Ip Man (Yeah I know his name is Chirrut, but it's Donnie Yen so he's Ip Man!) got a lot better as well. Everyone says the Battle of Scarif is the best space battle in Star Wars, I would still say either of the Death Star assaults but it is pretty spectacular. I still am not a fan of Vader's castle on Mustafar though, now people would argue "Well it's on Mustafar because that's where he lost everything. Being there taps into his anger, and pain, therefore making him more powerful in the dark side." and I don't like it. I loved the idea he had this castle on a remote, desolate ice planet, more desolate than Hoth that he could retreat to away from the Emperor. The imagery alone in my mind makes it so badass but whatever, I didn't make the movie. The ending scene was still unbelievable, and it does indeed just keep getting more awesome every time. So worth buying it, so awesome still, Rogue One makes a fine addition to my collection. Will it be part of yours too?

Rogue One

I'm not disappointed.

New Star Wars movie!!! How was it? They did a very good job with it, it was a well made, well put together movie that encapsulates what happened before A New Hope. I enjoyed it, the story I totally rolled with, it was very believable that this is how the Rebels got the Death Star plans. The cast was great, even though I'm not the biggest Felicity Jones fan but Mads Mikkelsen and Donnie Yen and James Earl Jones were fantastic, and I have to say we see some unexpected faces in this movie. I was stunned to see so many familiar faces from the series. Senator Bail Organa from Episode 3 made an appearance, Darth Vader obviously, those two hecklers in the cantina from Episode 4, mentions of Obi-Wan, but most shocking of all was Peter Cushing. I was wondering if they were going to put Tarkin in the movie but...there he was! Peter Cushing as I live and breathe! It looked just like him, it sounded like him, I was freaking out in my seat whenever I saw him! That was positively shocking, the effects in this movie were so outstanding that they brought an old friend back from years gone by. Speaking of which, the film looks amazing with plenty of space battles, and blaster fights throughout. I was wondering if they were almost going to do a straight up war movie, and while it did have it's moments it still felt like Star Wars. They didn't screw around with the continuity, in fact they got it down impeccably with the attention to detail in all you see and remember from the original Star Wars. I'd like to see someone whine about that exhaust port on the Death Star now. What was surprising most is, most of the footage in the trailers is NOT in the movie. A good 80% of all the trailers look drastically different from the finished film. Now other films were like this, like Suicide Squad, the movie looked ever so slightly different from the film (Don't worry I still need to look back at Suicide Squad, I haven't forgotten.) but with this movie you might as well have not seen the trailers. Great movie, definitely go see it, I know I probably will again! Thanks for reading, enjoy the movie, and I shall see you guys next week.

Doctor Strange

Wow. Okay, first Marvel movie I have seen since Iron Man 2. Boy howdy was that different.

Doctor Strange, very good superhero movie based off of a lesser known Marvel character, how does it hold up? Well it's no secret the visuals in this movie are brilliant, with colors, and patterns, and psychedelics creating a truly mind bending experience. Casting was quite good, Benedict Cumberbatch is a no brainer in my head for a hero like Doctor Strange, although he's very Sherlock in places which makes me laugh that much more, Mads Mikkelsen was a treat to watch as always, dare I say those are the main reasons that I wanted to see this movie. It's not a big surprise that I am mainly a DC fan and not a Marvel fan, obviously I have been several years late to this cinematic universe, so I was trying to acclimate myself to this with mostly sound success. I sympathized with Stephen, was interested by the magic, blown away by the visuals, liked the mythos, but sometimes...the comedy just rubbed me the wrong way. Now I get it, Marvel is very lighthearted, it cracks jokes, I get that but there is a difference between comedic relief and shattering the mood. Several times I got thrown off, just by the excess humor during what should be a serious scene. Is that a thing in most Marvel movies nowadays? Cause...we might be having problems with that. I appreciate humor, I laughed several times, but they need to work on balancing humor and drama. I'm not saying it should be completely serious and dark, far from it, just tone it down a bit. Beyond that one little issue, I enjoyed the movie. It's not going to make me a Marvel fanboy, I barely stayed past the credits, I know, blasphemy!! Heretic! Don't care that much! The story was well put together following a very Cumberbatch surgeon (Is that a noun now? That should be a noun.) who following a brutal car crash, has lost the ability to use his hands. He seeks a man who has overcome an impossible medical disability who tells him to search for a temple. He travels there and slowly learns more about everything he knows about life is merely microscopic compared to the innerworkings of the multiverse. He learns spells, fights corrupt magic users, and even throws down with a multi-dimensional conqueror of worlds. It's pretty thrilling. Final sum up, go see this movie if you are interested. I know I was and am quite happy to have seen it, so I say go for it. You never know what you may learn...

Hannibal: Season 1

Oh yeah, here it goes. First television review. Woohoo!

I have actually decided to review television shows, specifically in a season by season format. Because there are many television shows to be talked about just as much as movies, and I think it would be rather fun. So with that comes the review of an exquisite television show, with murder and cannabalism for all. So Hannibal is the hit TV show that proved 3 things: One, Mads Mikkelsen is an amazing Hannibal Lecter if not the best. Two, you can have a different kind of police drama that makes you want more because of the vastly different cases. And three, it proved me entirely wrong. When I first heard about this show being made I thought it would be a disaster. Come on the main villain from Casino Royale is going to be Dr. Hannibal Lecter? You people have lost it! But I bought this show on a pure gamble near Christmas time years ago, and I was a devoted fan after the third episode. This show combines mystery, horror, atmosphere, and great characters all set in the world that Thomas Harris created. It follows behavioral scientist, Will Graham as he is hired by Jack Crawford of the F.B.I to hunt down various psychopaths and killers. And he has a partner in crime-solving that follows too closely in the footsteps of the people they apprehend. Dr. Lecter has been assigned to analyze Will and see if he is fit to work for the F.B.I but has an ulterior motive to help drive Will over the breaking point. And I have to be honest, I enjoy the series almost more than the films with the exception of Silence Of The Lambs. Through nothing more than how the characters interact and the choices they make which shapes the future of the entire series, plus the dialogue is friggin' awesome too I find myself more invested as to what is going on and what could, and will happen next. The series does take notes from the novels but mainly follows it's own story and I highly applaud them for that because they didn't just make a straight up television series of the novels. This show is freaky man, like you cannot be faint of heart or sheltered when it comes to blood and horrible murders. Like it shocked me that they included so much gore in a public televised series. This was not made for HBO or Showtime or something like that, this was made for NBC! That took some guts and they pulled it off. If you are a fan of crime shows, or anything Hannibal Lecter you might really like Hannibal! It's for a specific crowd but anyone can join. Give it a watch and see if you are hungry for more.