Screaming, and Loving It

Ridley Scott, for some strange reason, has gotten into the habit of switching gears completely during the production of his films. Recall that Robin Hood was initially supposed to be told from the perspective of the Sheriff of Nottingham, rather the the green bedazzled outlaw. That final product didn't turn out to be all that, so you'd be forgiven for being worried about Prometheus. Prometheus started life as a basic prequel to Scott's legendary sci-fi/horror masterpiece Alien. Somewhere along the way though, Scott's ambition got bigger. Rather than simply tell where the xenomorphs come from and how that ship ended up on LV-426, Scott is going for something much bigger, and more cerebral. In a film that is equal parts philosophical character study, horror movie, and effects vehicle, Prometheus asks tough questions. Questions about life, human nature, God, etc. And while it runs into some bumps, the ambition and scope of the project cannot be overlooked, and Prometheus delivers the goods and turns in a thought provoking, engrossing, and chilling sci-fi epic.

Hopped Up

Strange as it might be to hear coming from the... fingers of a person with somewhat refined taste in film, the fact remains that I dig the kind of movies that Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor make. Though they have their names on some stinkers, I thought Crank was a fun, if formulaic flick. Crank 2, on the other hand, was the single biggest "fuck you" to mainstream action movies ever. Pretty much every single stupid thing you could imagine being packed into an action movie, Crank 2 had it. And I loved every single ridiculous inch of it. So, when I heard that Neveldine/Taylor were taking on the derided Ghost Rider franchise, my ears went all perky. Ghost Rider is the kind of comic book character that these guys were made for, totally insane and over the top. Now, the first Ghost Rider movie is one of the worst comic book films I've ever seen, so there wasn't much in the way of expectations for this one. That being said, there are elements to enjoy here. They are few and far between, and even though Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance doesn't quite get a recommendation from me, it does so in a very half hearted manner.

This is me on a good day!

In Need of a Horse

Time to break out my prediction hat, because Summer 2011 has begun. Though I am late to the party on this one, I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to judge. Anyway, as you no doubt are aware, I make a habit of predicting how the summer will turn out, movie-wise, based on how the first big show stopper does. Now last year, I royally screwed the pooch by predicting that, with Iron Man 2 starting things off strong, the season would be good. As we all know, Summer 2010, Inception notwithstanding, sucked a big fat one. Well, I hope I'm not wrong again, because if the kick off is anything to go on, Summer 2011 should be great! The kick off is Thor, the latest entry in Marvel's elaborate and ambitious cinematic universe. It's campy, over the top, and ridiculous. It's also spectacular!

Squeeze your belly!