[VIDEO] Mooney DashCam is another YouTube channel that has become something of a guilty pleasure as of late. He has a knack for visiting various sites around New York, New York where infamous events took place. In this case he's visiting a film setting a now closed diner in Queens.
This diner was seen in two parts of the movie, one part is referenced in the title. Jimmy Conway and film protagonist Henry Hill are waiting at the diner, Conway goes out to the phone booth and finds out that their hotheaded associate Tommy DeVito was in fact murdered (or "whacked" in mob parlance). Conway and Hill expected DeVito to be a made man in the mob and because of his role in the murder of another made man he paid for that with his life.
I don't want to get too much into it, just go watch Goodfellas. If you like gangster movies or crime drama it's worth it.
Another scene that took place in the diner was when Hill had been arrested by police and seeking support from his former mob associates. He meets with Burke there again and Hill gets a paranoid feeling from Burke. He realizes that the moment that you're killed in that life usually it's the ones you trust the most who'll do you in. So with this scene Burke wants Hill to go on some run into Florida, Hill realizes there is a good chance we might not come back from Florida alive. This leads to him flipping on his former associates.
It's too bad this diner is no longer in business, they could play off on the reference to Goodfellas. And Mooney DashCam looks inside the place and sees it's largely the same from how it looked in the movie. It's almost as if it just closed yesterday.
I finally saw The King's Man on HBOMax and I really liked it. Of course seeing the feedback especially noted on wikipedia it wasn't that great. The cool thing about this film is how it utilized some real historical events as part of the story.
We see that various events of World War One was influenced by this group known as the Flock. They wanted to pit the British, Russian and German empires against each other. And they started with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire then. And the events of that unfortunate event was nailed perfectly.
Did you know that the reigning monarchs of Britain, Russia and Germany were first cousins? That was an important part of the story although the reviews I saw noted the personality differences. British King George V was a lot more reasoned, Kaiser Wilhelm II was very aggressive, and the ill-fated Czar Nicholas II was portrayed as weak as he fell under the spell of Rasputin who was yet another member of the flock. One part of The Flock's goal was to take Russia out of the war and isolate the British Empire to insure its defeat.
I also liked certain other aspects of what happened during the four years of war from 1914 to 1918. For example the Zimmermann Telegram was a real thing which was intended to encourage Mexico to go to war against the USA. And it was also correct that then President Woodrow Wilson was not very quick to join the war. Of course one deviation from history involved another member of The Flock the Mata Hari.
From what I do remember Mata Hari was executed in France for espionage. From what I can tell she never quite made it to the US to seduce and blackmail President Wilson to keep America out of WW1. However that was another important plot of The Flock which was foiled once the the first iteration of The Kingsman led by the Duke of Oxford was able to recover film footage of Mata Hari in the Oval Office of the White House seducing President Wilson.
This isn't exactly a war movie but we do see the devastation of WW1. We also see the loss of the Duke of Oxford's son who was shot being mistaken for a German spy. We see him as a concerned father who wants to keep his son out of the war. And then we see his son become the inspiration for creating The Kingsman spy agency.
And another nice touch as President Wilson debates the Zimmerman Telegram at the White House he asks for a Statesman on the rocks. In the Kingsman sequel The Golden Circle, Statesman is a bourbon whiskey distillery which also doubles as an independent spy agency. Just as the Kingsman is a tailor shop that also doubles as a spy agency.
So a few nice touches that keep this movie in the Kingsman film universe and I see opportunities for a sequel. Who's to say that whatever is left of The Flock doesn't turn around and provoke the 2nd World War? We see Adolf Hitler at the end and once Czar Nicholas and his family is executed, Russia is then under the control of Vladimir Lenin who we also see in this movie once Rasputin fails in his mission.
I can't wait to see if The King's Man will have a sequel. If you haven't seem it check out this trailer. [VIDEO]
Until Rose McGowan appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight this week I had no idea that pop-star Britney Spears was under a conservatorship. I could read this as a court presumably in California has allowed others to be in control of Spears' life and has been true since she was about 25.
What's this IUD mentioned in the blog title? Well it's birth control her conservators doesn't want her to have any children. See having children probably would do no good for her conservators if she has to take a break from performing. I could see this as her conservators see nothing but dollar signs.
Well McGowan spoke out about this on Tucker Carlson and we learn that Spears who's almost 40 is asking the court to let her out of this conservatorship. She wants to take back control of her life. And from the LA Times article where I derive the title this is a bit striking:
In response to Spears’ rousing remarks, Jodi Hicks, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, called the pop icon’s account of forced contraception “extremely troubling.”
“Planned Parenthood supports her right and the right of all individuals to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health, including whether and when to have children, free from coercion and exploitation,” Hicks said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
“Given what we’ve seen in this case, the state must do better to ensure that stronger protections are in place with regard to reproductive decision-making for individuals subject to conservatorship.”
Wait, Planned Parenthood is arguing for an individuals right to determine whether or not they want to have children? You know I always think of that organization as one that promotes abortion in this case I applaud them for taking a stand for Spears. And this is a strange turn for this case. Furthermore
What was your initial reaction to Spears’ testimony?
[Khiara M. Bridges, a law professor and faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice at UC Berkeley]: It was outrageous. It recalled, for me, the long history of the denial of decision-making around reproductive matters that marginalized people — women, poor women, white women without class privilege, people of color, disabled people, incarcerated people — there’s a long history of denying those marginalized people the ability to make decisions around their bodies, their reproduction.
Do Spears’ conservators have a legal right to limit her reproductive choices to that degree?
My understanding is that conservators have the ability to direct financial and medical decisions of the person under the conservatorship. And so, in order for this to be legal, her conservators would have to make a claim that controlling her reproduction impacts her financial well-being, or it’s a medical decision. And I think they could make those arguments, but it still seems like an incredible overreach of the decision-making power that they have as conservators of her estate.
I think this one way to look at this. Perhaps this could open up the door to a lot of issues that could be at play. Could some authority somewhere make these decisions for someone and not just in a conservatorship in a variety of situations perhaps you're in jail or in a detention for immigration based violations.
What I'd be curious about is the reasoning for placing on on a conservatorship? I see on her wiki page that she had some psychological issues and OK at some point in the 2000s she was spotted having shaved her head. I see that she has two children with Kevin Federline and there were some issues there.
[VIDEO] Remember Sam Neill from Jurassic Park or better yet another one of my favorite roles that he played was on The Hunt for Red October with the late Sean Connery playing a Soviet submarine Captain and Neil played his first officer. Well imagine him as James Bond 007.
Well he'd be in the camp of George Lazenby who's from Australia and Pierce Brosnan who's Irish. Neill is actually from New Zealand. And I think I would've liked his portrayal he almost looked like his former co-star Connery who was the first James Bond in this screen test recorded in 1986.
However, in time for 1987 The Living Daylights he lost out to Timothy Dalton.
I found out about it through ig and it shocked the hell out of me. Boseman who is well known for playing the Marvel Comics superhero Black Panther was still a very young man having passed away from colon cancer. I want to say I had no idea he was ill, but then that's his business and for those that he cares about.
It's been quite a while since I've covered anything going on in Hollywood since I am a film buff. I miss watching a flick and am glad some movie theaters in the city has reopened.
I wanted to opine on what's been going on in sports for a while, and the news surrounding the activism of today's athletes. For me going to the movies are an escape, and for many so is following what's going on in the sports world.
It was great to see a short list of some of Boseman''s films. Unfortunately I never actually seen 42 about MLB hall of famer Jackie Robinson or Get On Up about legendary musician James Brown - the King of Soul. However I have seen Black Panther, he was also in Draft Day, and I wrote about seeing him in Marshall on this blog about Thurgood Marshall a supreme court justice.
BTW, got to note the Howard University connection. One of Boseman's last tweets were to note Howard Alum U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California who is the Democrat nominee for Vice President. Boseman himself graduated from Howard and another Howard connection is Thurgood Marshall who attended the law school there. Yep Howard University has a supreme court justice in their hall of alumni.
Anyway back to movies. The last movie featuring him that I saw last year was 21 Bridges a very interesting crime thriller where he plays an NYPD detective and one who I'd want on my case. And I didnt get to see him in the latest Spike Lee Joint Da 5 Bloods.
However, one movie that did make him famous was Black Panther and while they may have to recast the role if there are future films in development. However his sudden demise bums me out and I really believed him as the King of Wakanda. RIP Mr. Boseman.
[VIDEO] Having subscribed to CBS All Access I need to do some catching up on Star Trek Discovery. I've already enjoyed the first season of Star Trek Picard. During the second season of Star Trek Discovery the titular starship was commanded by legendary Capt. Christopher Pike. For those of you who aren't familiar with Star Trek canon, Pike preceded Kirk as Captain of the USS Enterprise.
This has been speculated and certainly more accurate people have been calling for this new Star Trek spinoff which has been announced on Friday. You see John Campea further discuss this news in the video above.
We never really had much material involved Capt. Pike on Star Trek. There was a pilot that was unaired known as "The Cage" which featured Pike, his first officer a woman known as Number One, and a curious but well known alien named Spock. That Pike was portrayed by movie star Jeffrey Hunter.
In Star Trek's first season Capt Kirk's Enterprise was essentially hijacked to a forbidden planet under the penalty of death (I'm glad Starfleet didn't go through this) in the two-parter "The Menagerie". Anyway the mission was to deliver a now disfigured and essentially paralyzed legendary Capt. Pike to this forbidden planet to live out the rest of his days under the illusion of full autonomy. Jeffrey Hunter was replaced by another actor Sean Kenney however this episode although footage with Hunter as Pike from "The Cage" was reused as evidence for a court martial scene, remember, the Enterprise was going against starfleet orders to travel to this forbidden planet.
In 2009 Star Trek and in 2013 Star Trek into Darkness Christopher Pike is played by Bruce Greenwood. He recruits the delinquent James T. Kirk to attend Starfleet Academy is the first Captain of a newly launched USS Enterprise and was taken prisoner by a time traveling Romulan. He eventually is promoted to admiral and made a brief appearance in into Darkness however his character was killed off during the movie.
And then we see Pike and Spock and Number One during the second season of Discovery. Pike is portrayed by Anson Mount and per Starfleet orders Capt. Pike is ordered to assume command of USS Discovery by the end of the season he continues his adventures abord the USS Enterprise during the final episode of the second season.
I haven't been able to see when this series will be ordered - and I'm sure it's noted that it probably won't start shooting until we're out of current circumstances. Still it would be cool to see adventures only hinted at not only during the 1960s Star Trek run, also during the course of Discovery's 2nd season. We get to see more of an Enterprise captain whom Trekkies have never really had the chance to get to know.
[VIDEO] Remember Biff Tannen from the Back to the Future franchise? The bully of Marty McFly's father who as it turns out with the help of time travel became less of a bully towards his father?
The man who played Biff - Tom Wilson - has his own YouTube channel where he does "vlogs" about various aspects of his life and career. He starts off by making light of this pandemic noting his master plan. I have to get over the fact that he's aged since the mid to late 1980s. And starts off noting that he had dyed his hair gray so that he can play parts in commercials geared for the elderly.
Pretty funny stuff but he goes from that parody to going on set and later explaining that he hoped to have these videos for his descendents. Though I hope you were entertained by this episode.
[VIDEO] I saw the documentary Apollo 11 on Friday and it was great to see archival footage and even some modern graphics depict the mission that landed men on the moon. I can't believe it's been 50 years since that historic achievement in human technological history. The greatest engineering and technological challenge had been achieved and the names Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin will forever be part of human history.
It's fascinating to see the trip happen in just about real time, the trip to the moon from launch until lunar orbit was three days for Apollo 11. It was fascinating to see the Saturn V launcher being moved to it's launch pad, it was cool to see the preparations for this historic space voyage, it was amazing to see everyone there for the launch of this mission, and then all the footage in space. It was interesting to see the Apollo spacecraft probably filmed through a telescope of some sort get propelled towards the moon on their three day journey.
I can only imagine that the animations were with the voice overs were made by a public relations officer with NASA who described all the maneuvers the astronauts were expected to make. These maneuvers ensured that the astronauts will make their flight objectives. They get to their destination and they don't veer off course from getting to the moon and returning to earth safely.
I was almost reminded of the movie that was released last year with Ryan Gosling playing the Apollo 11 mission commander, Neil Armstrong - First Man. It's great to see the real story as it was shot back in 1969 shown to the public.
[VIDEO] I think I actually saw his video shown on TV one the morning of Xmas Eve. Didn't quite get the context and I thought he was largely blackballed after allegations of sexual harrassment. Remember he was even edited out of a Hollywood release All the Money in the World where he played J. Paul Getty. He was replaced by Christopher Plummer and select scenes reshot.
With this article from the Daily Mail there's some more context to this video.
Wearing a Santa Claus apron, he is seen preparing Christmas dinner in a smart kitchen.
'They're going to say I'm being disrespectful, not playing by the rules. Like I ever played by anyone's rules before. I never did. And you loved it.'
His monologue is delivered straight to the camera, just like his character famously does in House Of Cards to make viewers complicit in his immorality. 'They're just dying to have me declare that everything said is true and that I got what I deserved.'
He goes on in Frank's unmistakable Southern states drawl: 'You wouldn't believe the worst without evidence would you? You wouldn't rush to judgments without facts would you? Did you? No, not you, you are smarter than that. I can promise you this… I'm certainly not going to pay the price for the things I didn't do.'
With a final glower followed by dramatic music, he asks: 'Miss me?' It was classic Frank Underwood — menacing, malevolent and creepy — all the more so when it became clear that Spacey wasn't talking as his fictional character but as himself, and that the footage appears to be an aggressive riposte to news of an impending court appearance.
The Oscar-winning star played Underwood, a conniving schemer who resorts to murder on his path to the U.S. presidency, in five seasons of the award-winning Netflix thriller (based on the 1990 BBC adaptation of Michael Dobbs' novel) before he was embroiled in sexual scandal in October last year.
Without this context, I was believing that he was portraying a character. He was not being himself. Although I wonder if what happened to his career last year is what inspired this most recent video.
And looking through to his YouTube channel, this is his first video in a year. I'm guessing if he used this to publicize his work, he took a year break after some long ago sexual harrasment allegations come to light which you will read from the Daily Mail.
[VIDEO] I sat on this post for a number of months and it's time to share. This is one of my favorite films of all time and have only seen it on the big screen once. The year is about over so it doesn't look like I'll find a 50th anniversary screening of this Stanley Kubrick classic anytime soon.
I had a psychology teacher in high school - GO FALCONS - who gave me a basic explanation of this movie. Well it disappointed me at the time, but now I get it - that man has become the tool. Man has grown dependent upon the tools he created.
Let's think about this it starts with our primate ancestors after encountering this mysterious object known as a monolith they use a bone from a dead animal carcass to not only hunt, but to assault another group of our primate ancestors. This primate ancestors throw this bone in the air and suddenly this bone becomes a satellite. So the tools of humanity evolves and become technology that we depend on.
Thankfully we haven't created this all-powerful human like computer that could prove capable of killing its own human creators. Hopefully 2001 with is slow pace, pre-Star Wars special effects, lack of dialogue, or even stunning visuals will be cautionary tale about the evolution of the computer. The computer which is just another tool created by man.
Here's an homage to 2001 from the YouTube channel VideoSpaceFX who recreates the intro of this classic film. You see an eclipse from a perspective beyond the moon. [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] Having seen the recent Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 11/9 a few points the movie made.
To start how did we get a President Donald Trump, I'm thinking Moore's point with that is the Democratic establishment blew the 2016 election. Besides the inevitable first woman President was expected to have it in the bag right. No one believed Trump could win it.
Next how did we get a President Trump if America is really a nation that trends to the left. We want universal health care for example. I could debate this I wonder what was the basis for the polls Moore cite to come to that conclusion about America's political leanings. And yes I know Moore himself is a lefty he's been around for years obviously.
Next and this is something I do agree with. I used to eschew this, but Michael Moore solidified this with me. America has a ruling class or perhaps a political class - I don't think Trump is part of that clique actually - regardless the influential who likely are very wealthy are the ones who are turning the levers of power in America. And I could conclude that they do this in a variety of ways perhaps economically and certainly through control of the media.
Here's another thing that makes sense to me the Democrats blew the 2016 the moment they "rigged" the nomination process to insure the inevitable woman President gets the nomination. I didn't know that although Sen. Bernie Sanders had won all the counties of West Virginia, the Democrat delegation to the 2016 convention threw their votes to Hillary Clinton.
Finally Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - a not quite ready for prime time congressional candidate from New York - is what Moore hopes is the future of the Democrat party. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic socialist and is one of a number of candidates who are seeking seats in Congress. And Moore makes the case through media clips that the establishment (or the so-called ruling class) doesn't want them either. The Democratic socialists are too far to the left for America and seemingly those pundits even if they're not top Dem politicos are saying this on what I may consider liberal cable news networks.
I know that Moore makes more points than this in his movie. I think he made some great points to consider in addition to bringing to light more information on the Flint, Michigan water crisis which he claims was orchestrated by Gov. Rick Snyder. He throws in the activism of students who attended Florida's Parkland High School which unfortunately was the site of an active shooter. And of course promoting union activism - which is likely how Moore got his start in filmmaking.
One of the things Moore asks is how did a nation that trends left get Donald Trump? Perhaps America isn't that much of a leftist nation in the first place. Perhaps we could believe the hype that America wanted something different a President with very little political experience. Perhaps it was just Trump's time and it wasn't time for the first woman President. And certainly the inevitable first woman President Clinton and her team thought it was in the bag that she didn't have to really work for it. While on the other hand, Trump did the work he needed to do to win.
What this movie reminds me of is, some aspects of politics aren't as black & white. Perhaps a conservative in a red state probably has the same issues with the so-called ruling or political class as a leftist in a blue state. With that said, now we know why we do have a Ocasio-Cortez who defeated a longtime Democrat politico in New York.
With this film which is a take-off of Moore's earlier effort released during the Iraq War - Fahrenheit 9/11 - seems not to pull any punches. The label doesn't matter - Republican or Democrat - Moore didn't pull his punches.
[VIDEO] Within the DC Comics Extended Universe the Joker made his first appearance in 2016's Suicide Squad. It was cool to see Jared Leto play the role however I recognize how he just didn't fit in that film. He was there for his comic ally Harley Quinn - who was at first a creature of Batman: The Animated Series. Beyond that he was there so that we could see the Joker in that very young DCEU.
While this film reportedly isn't intended to be part of the DCEU, however, it's interesting that they got Joaquin Phoenix in the iconic role of the Joker. Joker has been played by such actors as Caesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamil (voice on Batman: The Animated Series), and of course more acclaimed by Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight). And Phoenix is a great actor so I can only imagine his own take on Batman's most dangerous foe.
Thanks to this video from John Campea we learn more about this future project.
This intrigues me. Kind of like what they're doing with Star Wars with a Han Solo movie being released next month. It seems the Star Wars universe isn't just concerned with the two trilogies that were released in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s.
There are plenty of stories to be told out of the Star Wars universe and so will there be plenty of stories to be told out of the Star Trek universe. So whatever Tarantino is coming up with, I'm interested! Read this post from TrekMovie
Also check out this satirical version of a potention Tarantino Trek movie. Pretty funny but for now we can only imagine how an actual movie trailer is going to look like. [VIDEO] I know this is an obscure reference, but I really miss Cinescape magazine. It got be exciting for a lot of coming movie projects and news of them!
[VIDEO] On a whim I saw the film on Friday, and not long after writing yesterday's post about the SJWs complaining that the film didn't contain much representation of LGBT people. I will add my own thoughts about the film as we go along here, however Anthony Brian Logan shares some of his own thoughts in video above.
Now there were some SJW elements in the movie and he says they weren't overwhelming. There was a mention of ancestors who died in the ocean - he's talking about the Atlantic slave trade. There was a pro-Black message imo, however, this is still a superhero movie above all. So yes, we have a movie featuring a Black superhero who rules an African nation that is a modern technological marvel (no pun intended).
Some of what Logan discusses in this video was reports - probably through social media especially - was that there was a lot of "cosplay" (and I have no idea what that really means other than people dress up like their favorite comic book character). Logan reports that throughout the nation many dressed in some form of African garb. In some cases some walked around banging on bongo drums. I've seen African dancing in a theater on FB. When I went to a theater in downtown Chicago, this wasn't something I experienced although there were people who were about to see the movie that did sport some African garb.
Logan also addresses reports of harassment and while it's not entirely clear whom was doing the harassing and whom was being harassed I have little to say about other than this. It's a shame when people can't just enjoy a movie in peace. Knowing that Black Panther is a movie that is produced, directed, written, and acted by Blacks - though certainly it wasn't produced and distributed by a Black production company - one segment of the population aren't the only ones who enjoy the movie. And also it's also been reported that some harassment were proven false.
As far as my own thoughts, it was a great movie. Very action packed as comic book movies are and if most saw this as a reflection of African culture - or certainly the best of it - it did it's job. I'm tempted to write a post on my neighborhood/community oriented blogs with regards to how Black neighborhoods could be transformed into a Wakanda (the fictional African nation where the "Black Panther" rules). Sure there are some political messages of not being isolationist or protecting the borders. Certainly in having a hand helping the world solve its many issues.
Regardless if Black people were looking for another positive portrayal Black Panther is one. Though lets not forget that this is a comic book movie. Someone out there will see this movie and find an issue where Black Panther is a featured character (if not with his own comic book) and they'll want to be him. Perhaps they won't be king of an African nation though they'll always fight for what's right.
[VIDEO] On Tuesday I saw 12 Strong which is dramatization about the first American response after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It's a real life story about a squad of special forces soldier who were the first in Afghanistan to fight Al Qaeda and the ruling Taliban. And Al Qaeda thanks to the events of this film suffered a major defeat at the hands of Afghan rebels against the Taliban and these special forces soldiers.
BTW, on Al Qaeda I just had to tweet this out upon seeing a few captions at the end of this film. I have it in my head that while Radical Islam/Islamic Fundamentalism isn't entirely dead as a violent force Al Qaeda is largely a dying force.
#12Strong so Al-Qaeda considers the battle they fought in that film to be the worst one they lost and then I realize....There’s still an Al-Qaeda?
All the same I wanted to compare this with a similar film 13 Hours directed by Michael Bay and released just about two years earlier. 12 Strong and 13 Hours are similar movies in different contexts.
12 Strong was America's first response to a very deadly terrorist attack on NYC and the Pentagon. 13 Hours involved the death of an American ambassador and violent attacks on US diplomatic staff and a CIA operation. While the men who were fighting this battle weren't active duty military at that time, they were former special forces soldiers who just so happen to be contractors to help protect the CIA operation.
Oh yeah, this was this Benghazi you might have heard about during the 2016 campaign. Resultantly 13 Hours is a drama about survival against the very violent attacks of rebel groups in Libya after the fall of Col. Qaddafi. This movie unfortunately depicted the deaths of four Americans.
With this movie in a very untrustworthy or unforgiving environment of Afghanistan these 12 American soldiers were successfully able to provide the first victories in the emerging War on Terror. And while many Afghan rebels died fighting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, none of those 12 American soldiers depicted in this film were killed.
Between 2001 to 2018 what's changed? Well we're still concerned about Islamic fundamentalism (which could be called Islamofascism, Radical Islam). There were some terrorist plots or actual acts of terrorism in NYC last year - a car running down people similar to what happened in London and an attempted suicide bombing at a train station. It's still unfortunately a concern even if America did essentially eliminate Al-Qaeda as a force.
While we may still be fighting this dangerous ideology the front seems to have gone from the many battlefields in the Middle East to the issue of immigration. The need for extreme vetting, the need to limit undocumented immigrats in America.
Thankfully we've yet to see another attack on America as seen as 2001. Hopefully we can keep it that way.
Man this movie might actually get me excited although the idea of an rated R Trek is an odd one. I can only imagine the violence, language or nudity. Although I hate to bring up Tarantino's foot fetish, it has come up in a few of his movies.
To me Tarantino has a strong affinity for those old style 1970s motif (I hope I used that correctly). Pulp Fiction was full of that 1970s style with hatchbacks. Often he also seems to go for those old school "blaxploitation" style which we may see in Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown or even Django Unchained. Also think about the Kill Bill movies which I certainly loved especially the first one, he seems to be a fan of B-movie action and portrays them very violently.
And now Star Trek. Will he give Star Trek a retro feel? Would this new Trek be far more violent than most Trekkies are used too? Will the sex be turned up on high in a new movie?
BTW, I didn't know this Star Trek Beyond didn't make money last year. The 50th anniversary movie lost money and to be fair I liked it but was it a great memorable movie not as much as the 2009 Stark Trek. Which reminds me...
[VIDEO] John Campea was debating a Tarantino Trek. Perhaps Paramount who owns this franchise might want to shake things up and find a new direction. Think prior to 2009 it was considered unthinkable not only to recast the original characters with new actors as they had in the JJ Abrams Trek. It was also unthinkable to even tweak the design of the original USS Enterprise.
It would be quite interesting to see Tarantino's take on Gene Roddenberry's universe. Will it be faithful? Or will it simply be a Tarantino story set in Roddenberry's universe telling his own story? All we can do now is wait...
I also want to note the new Trek series Discovery. My initial take on it is that the show started off interesting with the pilot that aired on CBS. It ended with the Captain asserting her authority against her first officer who essentially wanted to contradict her C/O in handling the newly revamped Klingons. I have no idea about this f-bomb Campea said occurred in the series and he also claims Trekkies took issue with the insertion of that.
[VIDEO] Spider Man Homecoming is a movie I enjoyed seeing twice. The iconic Marvel Comics superhero is essentially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Tony Stark featuring heavily as something of a mentor to this young teenage meta-human. And yes for the most part comic book fans already know his origin.
When you think about it, this isn't an origin film. Basically the movie starts after Spider Man's cameo appearance in Capt. America: Civil War facing off against needless to say Capt. America and his allies. Then back to NYC where Peter Parker is juggling adolescence, superhero business, school, etc.
Even weirder Spider Man's suit is the coolest suit ever seen and near the end he had it taken away from him. Parker had to rely only on his meta-human abilities and identity essentially concealed by a homemade customer consisting of sweatpants and a hoodie. The suit is made by Tony Stark and has all types of cool bells and whistles which for a brief time was also taken away from him.
BTW, this movie's version of Aunt Mae, I'd be trying to gain favor from her also. The youngest and most prettiest incarnation of her ever. Although for most of her portrayals she had little clue of Parker's double-life. Time may tell if future movies go with this, but it looks like now she knows!
How this film was portrayed? Well you're reading the blog of a man who used to be a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I wanted to know martial arts like they did and wanted to be a hero. A kid likes to think about heroes and probably wishes they could be like Peter Parker with heart and the ability to beat bad guys.
I feel as if I gave away some plot points, but before that film leaves theaters near you go see it. Spider Man Homecoming essentially is the third superhero move of the summer. I was glad to see almost two months after a June release Wonder Woman is still going strong and having seen Guardians of the Galaxy which was also a good movie to see.
And I almost forgot about Logan which is a movie that rubbed me the wrong way. Main thing about that movie was that it ended on a depressing note and it was mostly a very dark feature. Although to be fair perhaps a fitting note to end Hugh Jackman's time as Logan/Wolverine.
[VIDEO] Wednesday I was watching the classic western programs you would find on Me-TV. Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and The Rifleman. On this particular afternoon an episode of The Rifleman caught my eye.
The episode is question is entitled "The Indian" and features Michael Ansara - who played a Klingon in Star Trek - as an Apache US Marshal who as the story progresses arouses the suspicion of the people in North Folk. Ansara's character Sam Buckhart was about to be the subject of a lynch mob if it wasn't for the quick action of the title character Chuck Connors' Lucas McCain.
We see the issue of racism or prejudice as shared in the context of a western show. Westerns weren't always about the cavalry chasing the Indians or cowboys/ranchers fighting the Indians. In that 1959 episode of The Rifleman a minority in the fictional town of North Folk was able to convince most of this lynch mob that it wasn't worth it to go up against some of their own people and an Apache US Marshal.
It lead me to a conclusion about so-called Hollywood activism. It seemed at one point the liberals of the 1950s and 1960s were on the right side of history. For example even though I may know Charlton Heston as a leader of the National Rifle Association - and may well consider him a right-winger - he was at the March on Washington.
The Civil Rights movement, was truly a necessary movement in the history of a country. Unless you accepted some of the injustices that lead to the boycotts and the marching how could anyone be opposed to any American seeking equal rights or even equal opportunity?
How can anyone be opposed to insuring that everyone has equal opportunity to a good education in a public or private school? How can anyone accept that a certain segment of the population had to be subjugated to a more favored segment of the population? If all men - well all people - are created equal how can we accept this?
Perhaps now the issues aren't much different. The issue may be less race/ethnicity than perhaps income. I hope I can be a rich man one day, but at this point that ship seems to have sailed. I'd be more than satisfied to at least eke out a middle-class lifestyle and I believe that should be relatively easy to attain.
Either way I can't say how this episode was received in the late 1950s other than perhaps most TV viewers of that time saw it as just another western TV episode. Westerns often did involve interactions between for example American Indians - or if you prefer Native Americans - and their interactions with European Americans. So who knows if episodes such as this made an impacts on their audiences.
Unfortunately the pendulum has swung directly in the opposite direction. My only concept of 21st Century Hollywood liberal activism is seen on FOX News. Perhaps today it's hard to do an episode about being fair to a person of a different ethnicity to whoever is the prevailing majority. Just as easily as we want to talk about fair play perhaps today's Hollywood activists are shoving their own agenda down the throats of the public.
I could ask if middle America thinks that Hollywood is out of touch with regular everyday Americans? As a person far removed from Hollywood and maybe even middle America I'm a long way from answering this question.
It just recently occurred to me that Hollywood has always had activists in some form whether they're the actors, directors, producers, or even writers. They created works of art perhaps showing how we can be fair to be people of different ethnicities. How it's certainly wrong to treat different people with outright scorn and disrespect.
Perhaps one day Hollywood will be on the same side of the issue of the day with most Americans. Perhaps one day taking a stand will not be equated with badmouthing other Americans - especially the ones that patronize your products.
After touring the White House last Saturday I just had to watch this movie. I also hadn't seen this one in years but not because of a broken VCR (as I had this film on VHS) but due to the real life consequences of September 11th. Before then I liked to pop this movie in every chance I got, a distinction only held by my Star Trek movies.
Anyway I popped this movie in as soon as I returned from Washington, DC. This was a good movie. It was written by West Wing creator and scribe Aaron Sorkin. It was basically a political movie with a romantic comedy plot.
Now consider this. The year was 1995 and I can't say that the President we had at that time exactly made me proud, but Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) was a President I can look up to. Yeah he was a Democrat but he wasn't a bad leader (and that's only because he was written that way). All the same I loved the discussion of policy in this film.
Then he meets Sidney Ellen Wade (Annette Benning) who visits the White House as part of her job. Then she catches the eye of the leader of the free world and the most of the film has him juggling his duties as President as well as maintaining a romantic relationship with a woman whose job it was to get tough with him in the first place.
In the course of this movie the President is pounded by a Republican Senator (Richard Dreyfuss) who wants to take his job. By the end of this movie the President rips the Senator a new one and just as he starts to lose momentum, he regains it by the time the movie ends at the state of the union.
This is a great movie and it without a doubt gives you that great patriotic feeling. Even if you may not like the fact that the President has a girlfriend or that she might spend a night at the White House.
Another movie I haven't seen in a while. This is one of those message movies we hear about. This movie is about a group of friends two are fairly decent and the other had spent time in the pen. We start with them very young and then we see them later as a group of teenagers.
There are a number of issues present in this film. Teenage sex, gentrification, gang violence, father & son relationships, to name those that I can easily identify. But there is one issue that I'd like to talk about.
Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnutt) are brothers. However, their mother had them by two different fathers. Because Doughboy's father wasn't liked much by his mother she doesn't like Doughboy much. She tells how he won't amount to nothing and he isn't going to be "shit". She talks him down good. When Ricky gets killed near the end she blames Doughboy. It may be as much about his criminal lifestyle but it may just be a symptom of how differently she treats her boys.
The best part of this movie was the relationship between Furious (Laurence Fishburne) and his son Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.). At the beginning he was living with his mother but as per a "contractual agreement" he acts up in class and gets sent to live with his father. The idea here is that only a man (preferably his father) can teach a young boy to be a man. The difference between Tre and say Doughboy was that he had a father to teach him some responsibility. And what this kid got from his father showed. Apparently he's the only man raising a child on his block in South Central Los Angeles.
I was astonished to find out on Wikipedia that Boyz N The Hood was deemed culturally significant by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in National Film Registry back in 2002. The director John Singleton did an excellent job in this film.
