Quick Note

General Zod (Superman II) is Chancellor Valorum (Phantom Menace).
How have I not realized that before???

In Defense of the 4th Movie - Alien Resurrection

The first Alien is a fantastically dark and atmospheric sci-fi horror film. Aliens is a slam-bang actioneer courtesy of James Cameron. I have no idea what the crap is going on in most of the third Alien movie, but I give Fincher a pass and place the blame on an interfering studio. For the Franchise Killer, we got Alien Resurrection.

Ripley's back, and that's about all you need to care about, story-wise. All we want is to see some nasty aliens chasing Ripley and her fellow human companions. Well, as Alien 3 proves, a mildly coherent and understandable story wouldn't hurt. On those bare requirements, Resurrection delivers.

It's not as good a movie as the first two entries in this film series, but it's obvious already that I think it's superior to the 3rd film. So in that respect, it's a success! Fincher's film should have logically killed the franchise, but they brought the face huggers back for one more round and, more or less, it worked.

So what's so good about this movie, other than Sigourney Weaver returning again? Well, it's got Winona Ryder, so that doesn't hurt. Ron Perlman is also in it, which is always fun. (Perlman is always distinctively Perlman, except for when he's Hellboy. I know it's Perlman underneath the makeup, I can sense and tell that it's obviously him, but all I see is Hellboy. Grand stuff! Man, I hope that franchise makes it to four del Toro-riffic movies!) We also get an underwater scene, and aliens swimming is far cooler than it sounds. Of course, there's the nifty and incredibly disturbing scene with all the failed Ripley clones. It's some pretty sickening stuff. Delightful.

As far as movies in general go, it's a pretty average, though solid, film. It's a good one to watch in one's leisure time. In the Alien series, I rank it third, after the first two. I would recommend not even bothering with the third film at all, except a major plot thread in this movie hinges on the climax of its predecessor.

Plus, thanks to the inclusion of this movie, we now have the wonderfully made-up word "quadrilogy." Thank you, Alien Resurrection. Thank you for quadrilogy.

Best in Series: No.
Worst in Series: No.




7.7/11.3 Toddsperience

SHM

I've created a new blog for my non-movie related ramblings. If you care, check it out over at Smitch Hates Movies.

That is all.

In Defense of the 4th Movie - Rambo

This may be a bit of a cheat because, technically, I've never seen Rambo III, so I can't really compare the 4th installment of this franchise to it's immediate predecessor. But I'm going to assume it just upped the 80's cheesiness of the 2nd movie and, with the 20 year hiatus until Rambo, it made everyone ok with leaving John Rambo alone. Potentially forever.

However, in 2008 Stallone brought the character back and, instead of being a Franchise Killer, it was a whopping Franchise Resurrection! Rambo isn't an Oscar-caliber movie, but it is a dang fun movie. As far as I'm considered, this entry is the most enjoyable film in the series (noting that I still haven't seen Rambo III).

First Blood was a serious and sober look at a special forces soldier returning from Vietnam. The second movie tossed that aside for a more over-the-top action focused war movie. I believe the third movie followed suit. Rambo follows in the pattern of the other sequels as well, but with extreme gusto! Stallone basically made an 80's action movie...in 2008! That means we get 2008 style, technology, and special effects to solidly frame the excessive, hyper-realistic gore and mayhem that John Rambo dishes out in the jungles of Burma.

So, it's a wonderful romp of action and violence. But what about the story? Who cares! It's got something to do with rescuing missionaries in Burma. But no one saw Rambo because of the plot, story, or acting. People went to see John Rambo blow stuff up and kill a lot of people. And boy, does this movie deliver! While he only killed 1 person in the first movie, Rambo kills 83 in this one. A total of 236 people are killed throughout the duration of the movie, averaging to about 2.59 people killed per minute (source).

A lot of these kills occur during the climax while our protagonist utilizes a mounted machine gun on the back of a jeep. This is surely one of cinema's finest sequences!

So how does this fare, overall? First Blood is still the superior movie, but Rambo is definitely the most fun. The other two fall somewhere in between, I'm assuming. If anyone out there has seen Rambo III, go ahead and tell me if I'm right or wrong. But I'm right.

Best in Series: No.
Worst in Series: No.

In Defense of the 4th Movie

Movie series always have their ups and downs. One or two of the entries are great while the others are either lackluster or just plain dreadful. The first movie is always the best, with the sequel paling in comparison (except for Wrath of Kahn, Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, Terminator 2, etc. Okay, so sci-fi movies seem to pump out some exceptional part dos entries). The third movie is usually, at best, a grudgingly acceptable conclusion to the trilogy.

If the studio is greedy, though, they'll push for the unwanted fourth movie, with disastrous results. These, beloved readers, are the Franchise Killers. Little thought and effort is put into them other than finding a way to make another buck off of an already established and, usually, concluded film series. If they don't outright flop, they're met with such critical lambasting and fan derision that the franchise is essentially buried with that last, lingering entry besmirching the entire series.

But The Smitch is a cinematic optimist, and he loves him some movies. So I intend to embark on a series of entries examining various 4th movies (in no particular order) and trying to find the good in them. This won't be so difficult with some movies. For others, it will be dang near impossible. But, just for fun, let's try to stand up for the Franchise Killers.

Baysplosions!

Because I'm psyched for the Transformers sequel (I know, it'll be loud and pointless noise...but oh so cool), here's Robot Chicken's wonderful ode to Michael Bay.

Space Battle! Star Trek Style.

I liked the new Star Trek movie. I would gladly watch it again. I would also gladly watch this video twenty times over without pause. I'm sure you will do the same.

Fedcon 2009 Opening Ceremony Star Trek Animation from Tobias Richter on Vimeo.

Maybe this is what they should have done with the Star Wars prequels. Lots of awesome space battle glory shots without any, um, "dialogue." Though, I suppose the world would be a much darker place without the incessant jabbering of Jar-Jar and Darth Vader shouting "NOOOOO!" like an asthmatic emo kid that's going to cry in a corner and cut his robotic wrists.

No Way!

IMDB.com is neat. You can just go link hoping for hours and come across all sorts of neat connections. Here's one I recently discovered: Lost's Dr. Chang is the Shredder!!!

François Chau, who plays Dr. Pierre Chang (the dude from all the DHARMA initiative films and the father of Miles) played the Turtles' number one nemesis in The Secret of the Ooze. That's the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action movie for the uninitiated out there.

Just look into the man's eyes. It's full of cold, menacing hate for anthropomorphized, mutated turtles and plane crash survivors from the future.

Romance

This may be the most romantic thing ever written.

Why So Serious?

From Batman 681

Never drink coffee with Bruce Wayne.

My Name is Guybrush Threepwood.

E3 is great, isn't it folks? Forget about all the fancy new technology and doo-dads. The only piece of real big, clap your hands with joy, do an Irish jig, news is nearly 20 years in the making. First off, a new Monkey Island game is coming out in episodic format, much like the recent resurrection of the Sam & Max video game. As cool as that is, it gets better. LucasArts is releasing a special edition of the original Secret of Monkey Island, with beefed up graphics and complete voiceover work.

Check out this short little documentary about the revamped game.




How sweet does that look? I especially love the fact that, at the touch of a button, you can switch to old style Monkey Island. Now that is just appealing straight to my nostalgia loving heart.

KOTOR MMO

I've never tried my hand at an MMO, what with the need for monthly subscription fees and all that, but I did love both KOTOR games. So...this might be good? In any case, this little trailer may be just about the coolest thing I've ever watched.