Sorry there haven't been any posts recently, lots of things have got into the way like illness and hangovers. I am also going to be away next week but I will try to put something out ASAP.
Sorry again.
-Joe
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Friday, 24 July 2015
Bond Gadgets Galore
As mentioned in my lats post, Bond is getting gadgets back for the upcoming Spectre, for his car at least.
That inspired me to create this top 5 list on Bond's best gadgets of all time.
5: The multi-touch table, Quantum of Solace.
Whilst this is not specifically Bond's and more MI6's I always found it super cool, definitely the coolest thing from the movie.
Its really smooth to use and can track multiple hands and fingers at once, it can also detect objects that are placed onto it. It looks awesome too and is connected to a wall monitor with the flick of a wrist and when your work is done you can attach a net to it and have the most kick-ass table tennis table ever!
4: Submariner Watch, Live and Let Die
The coolest and possibly the most multi-functional watch Bond has ever had with a magnet (which Bond uses to both annoy M and unzip a woman's dress all in the same scene) and a buzz saw built into the face if it which if you ask me is super unsafe.
Bond uses this watch to save his life on multiple occasions like attracting the shark bullet to himself then giving it to Kananga and also sawing through his ropes. Pretty cool and a bit over the top, so basically its the perfect Bond gadget.
3: X-Ray Specks, The World is not Enough.
I have this one on the list just for the fact that I want a pair really badly. I mean they are glasses with x-rays only able to see below clothes, none of that gross bone stuff normal x-rays can see, just peoples underwear and any hidden guns. Pretty great if you ask me. Bond also uses these is classic Bond style to check out lots of hot women then to get the upper hand on a thug, real classy Bond, real classy.
2: Jet-Pack, Thunderball.
Used in only a small scene it was still clear that this jet-pack is awesome, even if you do have to put a goofy helmet on first. There was nothing too special about this jet-pack (except the fact its a jet-pack), it didn't go fast or high or shoot stuff but instead the reason it stood out is because its, and correct me if I'm wrong, the only working jet-pack on film. Yes, it is actually a working jet-pack and it was actually fired up to get that shot and I think that's awesome!
This is a clip of a similar one flying if you don't believe me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjurw67StXg
1: Aston Martin DB5, Goldfinger
Could it be anything else really, this is the quintessential Bond gadget and is still the best looking car of all time an it has a tonne of gadgets:
Hope you enjoyed the list, I sure had fun making it. I am probably going to see Inside Out at some point in the nest few days so I will bring you the review of that ASAP.
I would love to hear your favorite Bond gadget in the comments below!
-Joe
That inspired me to create this top 5 list on Bond's best gadgets of all time.
5: The multi-touch table, Quantum of Solace.
Whilst this is not specifically Bond's and more MI6's I always found it super cool, definitely the coolest thing from the movie.
Its really smooth to use and can track multiple hands and fingers at once, it can also detect objects that are placed onto it. It looks awesome too and is connected to a wall monitor with the flick of a wrist and when your work is done you can attach a net to it and have the most kick-ass table tennis table ever!
4: Submariner Watch, Live and Let Die
The coolest and possibly the most multi-functional watch Bond has ever had with a magnet (which Bond uses to both annoy M and unzip a woman's dress all in the same scene) and a buzz saw built into the face if it which if you ask me is super unsafe.
Bond uses this watch to save his life on multiple occasions like attracting the shark bullet to himself then giving it to Kananga and also sawing through his ropes. Pretty cool and a bit over the top, so basically its the perfect Bond gadget.
3: X-Ray Specks, The World is not Enough.
I have this one on the list just for the fact that I want a pair really badly. I mean they are glasses with x-rays only able to see below clothes, none of that gross bone stuff normal x-rays can see, just peoples underwear and any hidden guns. Pretty great if you ask me. Bond also uses these is classic Bond style to check out lots of hot women then to get the upper hand on a thug, real classy Bond, real classy.
2: Jet-Pack, Thunderball.
Used in only a small scene it was still clear that this jet-pack is awesome, even if you do have to put a goofy helmet on first. There was nothing too special about this jet-pack (except the fact its a jet-pack), it didn't go fast or high or shoot stuff but instead the reason it stood out is because its, and correct me if I'm wrong, the only working jet-pack on film. Yes, it is actually a working jet-pack and it was actually fired up to get that shot and I think that's awesome!
This is a clip of a similar one flying if you don't believe me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjurw67StXg
1: Aston Martin DB5, Goldfinger
Could it be anything else really, this is the quintessential Bond gadget and is still the best looking car of all time an it has a tonne of gadgets:
- Front machine guns
- Rear shield (which I never understood as its mentioned to have bullet proof glass)
- Oil slick
- Revolving number plate
- GPS tracking
- Tire slashers
- Smoke screen
- And most importantly, the ejector seat
That is a lot of stuff to be crammed into one car and the ejector seat is now one of the most iconic scenes in movie history! All the gadgets are also used perfectly in the car chase that happens in and around the Auric Goldfinger compound. How can this not be #1.
Fun Fact: In Thunderball it is seen to also have rear shooting water guns.
Hope you enjoyed the list, I sure had fun making it. I am probably going to see Inside Out at some point in the nest few days so I will bring you the review of that ASAP.
I would love to hear your favorite Bond gadget in the comments below!
-Joe
Wednesday, 22 July 2015
New Spectre Trailer: My mind has melted!
So as I have previously mentioned, the Bond movies are my favorite franchise of all time and they were a very important part of my child hood so when MGM announces a new one I get beyond excited.
It was no exception for Spectre , especially since I think Skyfall is the best one so far, and this new trailer just heightens my excitement even more so I'm going to do a shot for shot analysis for it. Stick around folks, this is going to be a long one!
The trailer starts with Bond basically being told off by the new M (Ralph Fiennes) because he went to the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico to do something, we don't know what yet, without authorization.
It shows Bond in a skull mask and top hat which is cool because we rarely see Bond in disguise. It then shows him jumping between rooftops and exploding a guy in a window with some sort of weird gun.
I have no idea what this could possibly be about but I love how the location and setting really harkens back to Live and Let Die's voodoo aesthetic. It's also quite reminiscent of the scene from Thunderball in which Bond is running through a parade. Fun fact, Live and Let Die is director Sam Mendes' favorite Bond film.
We then get taken back to London and Eve/Moneypenny is talking to Bond about how he's 'finished', this seems like it could sort of be a nod to Licence to Kill where he got disavowed.
The next bit is more interesting though, the car. It shows Q and Tanner showing it to Bond and mentioning it has 'a few tricks up her sleeve' and then we see a short clip of it driving. This is definitely one of the coolest cars Bond has ever had. That's mainly down to the fact that it has been specially designed by Aston Martin for the film which makes it a one off (probably excluding the fact they probably had multiple ones that undoubtedly got wrecked during filming). We also get a sneak peak at a gadget on the car (yes, finally Daniel Craig has a gadget filled car!) in a later scene where he shoots flames out the back of it! Hell Yeah!
He then asks Q to make his 'disappear', this won't be the first time Bond has gone rouge. It then shows him going to the same hut with Mr White in that we saw in the teaser trailer. Then we get a shot of Bond with the new Bond girl, Lucia Sciarra (played by Monica Bellucci). I think it was a good idea to cast a bit older actor as the Bond girl as it fits in well with Craig and that fact that he doesn't exactly look young himself. She is also very glamours looking which is a quality that has been missing from the Bond girls as of late (with the exception of Vesper and Severine) and give this a more classic Bond feel.
The next bit is really interesting, we see the henchman Mr Hinx (Dave Bautista) killing some dudes and he really looks like a force to be reckoned with. What I'm hoping for however with his character is that we get a quirk like we have done with old henchmen such as Oddjob or Jaws, having one would really make him a classic henchman especially since his name seems like something a character back in the days of Sean Connery could be called.
We then get some action shots in the mountains with clips of Lea Seydoux's character Madeleine Swann (another great name) having a heated discussion with Bond. It really looks like these two could work really well together in the movie and be almost like a better version of Bond and Camille from Quantum of Solace.
Then we are shown some dialogue about how Bond 'links it all together' and some stuff about Spectre. We also get conformation that it was Christoph Waltz playing that shadowy guy from the teaser trailer who's official character name is Franz Oberhauser but he is assumed to be Blofeld, we also see him later on in a very Blofeld-esque shirt that was reminiscent of what he wore in You Only Live Twice, but you never know I suppose. Some have said that Andrew Scott's character could turn out to be Blofeld.
We then get the obligatory action montage with the overlapped dialogue, not much to talk about there. We then see a sweet stunt with a helicopter which is a little bit like the stunt from The Man With the Golden Gun where they corkscrew the car over the river (I just hope they don't play a cheesy sound effect with it this time).
Oberhauser then says that he has been 'the author of all your pain' to Bond. I really hope this means that everything that happened in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall has been down to him because that would really connect Craig's films nicely and make them seem like one continuity more than they do now.
Then there is more of the action montage and the trailer ends on the Spectre logo.
The cinematography in this trailer is really wonderful and clean, it looks like Sam Mendes has done it again. The acting also looks great with maybe the exception of Naomie Harris, that's probably only because I really didn't like her from Skyfall.
The only thing I would say is wrong with this trailer is that it may have given us a bit too much, especially with that 'author of all your pain' line. They really should have done what DC did with the Batman V Superman trailer and just shown imagery and not too much dialogue.
Great trailer nonetheless and I'm super excited! and I especially love the nods to all the older Bond movies, this could be a real classic!
Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTDaET-JweU
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. The schedule that I'm following now (about 1 post every 2 or 3 days) is what I'm going to be sticking to for a while just to inform you.
-Joe
It was no exception for Spectre , especially since I think Skyfall is the best one so far, and this new trailer just heightens my excitement even more so I'm going to do a shot for shot analysis for it. Stick around folks, this is going to be a long one!
The trailer starts with Bond basically being told off by the new M (Ralph Fiennes) because he went to the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico to do something, we don't know what yet, without authorization.
It shows Bond in a skull mask and top hat which is cool because we rarely see Bond in disguise. It then shows him jumping between rooftops and exploding a guy in a window with some sort of weird gun.
I have no idea what this could possibly be about but I love how the location and setting really harkens back to Live and Let Die's voodoo aesthetic. It's also quite reminiscent of the scene from Thunderball in which Bond is running through a parade. Fun fact, Live and Let Die is director Sam Mendes' favorite Bond film.
We then get taken back to London and Eve/Moneypenny is talking to Bond about how he's 'finished', this seems like it could sort of be a nod to Licence to Kill where he got disavowed.
The next bit is more interesting though, the car. It shows Q and Tanner showing it to Bond and mentioning it has 'a few tricks up her sleeve' and then we see a short clip of it driving. This is definitely one of the coolest cars Bond has ever had. That's mainly down to the fact that it has been specially designed by Aston Martin for the film which makes it a one off (probably excluding the fact they probably had multiple ones that undoubtedly got wrecked during filming). We also get a sneak peak at a gadget on the car (yes, finally Daniel Craig has a gadget filled car!) in a later scene where he shoots flames out the back of it! Hell Yeah!
He then asks Q to make his 'disappear', this won't be the first time Bond has gone rouge. It then shows him going to the same hut with Mr White in that we saw in the teaser trailer. Then we get a shot of Bond with the new Bond girl, Lucia Sciarra (played by Monica Bellucci). I think it was a good idea to cast a bit older actor as the Bond girl as it fits in well with Craig and that fact that he doesn't exactly look young himself. She is also very glamours looking which is a quality that has been missing from the Bond girls as of late (with the exception of Vesper and Severine) and give this a more classic Bond feel.
The next bit is really interesting, we see the henchman Mr Hinx (Dave Bautista) killing some dudes and he really looks like a force to be reckoned with. What I'm hoping for however with his character is that we get a quirk like we have done with old henchmen such as Oddjob or Jaws, having one would really make him a classic henchman especially since his name seems like something a character back in the days of Sean Connery could be called.
We then get some action shots in the mountains with clips of Lea Seydoux's character Madeleine Swann (another great name) having a heated discussion with Bond. It really looks like these two could work really well together in the movie and be almost like a better version of Bond and Camille from Quantum of Solace.
Then we are shown some dialogue about how Bond 'links it all together' and some stuff about Spectre. We also get conformation that it was Christoph Waltz playing that shadowy guy from the teaser trailer who's official character name is Franz Oberhauser but he is assumed to be Blofeld, we also see him later on in a very Blofeld-esque shirt that was reminiscent of what he wore in You Only Live Twice, but you never know I suppose. Some have said that Andrew Scott's character could turn out to be Blofeld.
We then get the obligatory action montage with the overlapped dialogue, not much to talk about there. We then see a sweet stunt with a helicopter which is a little bit like the stunt from The Man With the Golden Gun where they corkscrew the car over the river (I just hope they don't play a cheesy sound effect with it this time).
Oberhauser then says that he has been 'the author of all your pain' to Bond. I really hope this means that everything that happened in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall has been down to him because that would really connect Craig's films nicely and make them seem like one continuity more than they do now.
Then there is more of the action montage and the trailer ends on the Spectre logo.
The cinematography in this trailer is really wonderful and clean, it looks like Sam Mendes has done it again. The acting also looks great with maybe the exception of Naomie Harris, that's probably only because I really didn't like her from Skyfall.
The only thing I would say is wrong with this trailer is that it may have given us a bit too much, especially with that 'author of all your pain' line. They really should have done what DC did with the Batman V Superman trailer and just shown imagery and not too much dialogue.
Great trailer nonetheless and I'm super excited! and I especially love the nods to all the older Bond movies, this could be a real classic!
Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTDaET-JweU
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. The schedule that I'm following now (about 1 post every 2 or 3 days) is what I'm going to be sticking to for a while just to inform you.
-Joe
Monday, 20 July 2015
Ant-Man: A Surprising Hit!
There has been a lot of trouble behind the scenes of Ant-Man for quite a while, mainly director Edgar Wright stepping down and Peyton Reed filling in for him, so its safe to say not a lot of people had confidence it would be any good.
Boy were they wrong!
*Possible spoilers ahead*
Ant-Man is one of the most sincere Marvel movies yet because of its emotional core of Scott Lang, played to perfection by Paul Rudd (Role Models, The 40-Year-Old Virgin), longing to be able to spend time with his Daughter Cassie, played by Abby Ryder Forston (Playing it Cool), after just being released from prison.
As mentioned, Paul Rudd does an excellent job portraying Scott Lang. His comedic timing is spot on and there is always something funny happening or going to happen when he is on screen. He also manages the more emotional/serious moments well but never plays them off too straight faced.
This has got to be the funniest Marvel movie yet, with the funniest lines coming from Luis, knocked out the park by Michael Pena (Fury, Shooter). Pretty much everything he says is hilarious and works so well in the movie and mixing so well with Rudd's more sarcastic and blunt style of humor.
The other characters of Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne, played by Michael Douglas (The Game, Basic Instinct) and Evangeline Lilly (Real Steel, Hobbit 2&3) respectively, also work well in the film and they have a great tension between them over the real cause of their mothers death which plays out intriguingly and both gives depth to Pym and sets something up that is used later in the movie really well.
The action, as you would expect, involves lots of shrinking an growing between lots of punches and Peyton Reed handles this very well with some unusual camera work and inspiring fight choreography and settings, the final fight being the highlight of the movie.
At its core however this is not really an action movie, its a heist movie with action in. This creates an interesting structure we haven't really seen in these movies since the first Iron Man, where the majority of the movie is light on action with a big all out finale. This is good for the movie because it give plenty of time to explore the characters in depth and to get the audience liking them. It also means we can have a lot of really cool sequences where Scott is learning to use the suit with varying degrees of success for hilarious results, once again, much like the first Iron Man.
Its not all good however. The villain Darren Cross/Yellowjacket is very forgettable and his motivations are not really ever that clear. His portrayal by Corey Stoll (House of Cards, Non-Stop) is quite average as all he is really doing is playing the average evil guy that we see in so many movies. Another thing that is kind of under par is the out of action cinematography as some of the shots used seem quite flat and most are very standard shots we see in every other sort of movie, I feel this is something we would have avoided if Edgar Wright had stayed on as director.
There is also a small gripe I have with this movie about the physics of shrinking in the Ant-Man suit, it is never explained fully and they seem to change form scene to scene. This will by no means ruin the enjoyment of the movie but on reflection it bugs me slightly (no pun intended).
This is probably the third best Marvel Cinematic Universe movie after Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier and is well worth a watch in theaters as it is such a visually interesting movie, the likes of which have rarely been seen due to the way the shrinking is filmed. I would also recommend seeing it in 3D as it really lends great depth to the shrinking parts and does enhance them a lot. And do please give this movie the money it deserves as its doing worse than all the other Marvel movies have except The Incredible Hulk which is a real shame.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, sorry this isn't as long as my Terminator: Genysis review its just I don't want to spoil any of it as it really is a spectacle to watch knowing nothing about it. Oh and there are mid and post credit scenes so be sure to stick around, they are pretty great ones.
-Joe
Boy were they wrong!
*Possible spoilers ahead*
Ant-Man is one of the most sincere Marvel movies yet because of its emotional core of Scott Lang, played to perfection by Paul Rudd (Role Models, The 40-Year-Old Virgin), longing to be able to spend time with his Daughter Cassie, played by Abby Ryder Forston (Playing it Cool), after just being released from prison.
As mentioned, Paul Rudd does an excellent job portraying Scott Lang. His comedic timing is spot on and there is always something funny happening or going to happen when he is on screen. He also manages the more emotional/serious moments well but never plays them off too straight faced.
This has got to be the funniest Marvel movie yet, with the funniest lines coming from Luis, knocked out the park by Michael Pena (Fury, Shooter). Pretty much everything he says is hilarious and works so well in the movie and mixing so well with Rudd's more sarcastic and blunt style of humor.
The other characters of Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne, played by Michael Douglas (The Game, Basic Instinct) and Evangeline Lilly (Real Steel, Hobbit 2&3) respectively, also work well in the film and they have a great tension between them over the real cause of their mothers death which plays out intriguingly and both gives depth to Pym and sets something up that is used later in the movie really well.
The action, as you would expect, involves lots of shrinking an growing between lots of punches and Peyton Reed handles this very well with some unusual camera work and inspiring fight choreography and settings, the final fight being the highlight of the movie.
At its core however this is not really an action movie, its a heist movie with action in. This creates an interesting structure we haven't really seen in these movies since the first Iron Man, where the majority of the movie is light on action with a big all out finale. This is good for the movie because it give plenty of time to explore the characters in depth and to get the audience liking them. It also means we can have a lot of really cool sequences where Scott is learning to use the suit with varying degrees of success for hilarious results, once again, much like the first Iron Man.
Its not all good however. The villain Darren Cross/Yellowjacket is very forgettable and his motivations are not really ever that clear. His portrayal by Corey Stoll (House of Cards, Non-Stop) is quite average as all he is really doing is playing the average evil guy that we see in so many movies. Another thing that is kind of under par is the out of action cinematography as some of the shots used seem quite flat and most are very standard shots we see in every other sort of movie, I feel this is something we would have avoided if Edgar Wright had stayed on as director.
There is also a small gripe I have with this movie about the physics of shrinking in the Ant-Man suit, it is never explained fully and they seem to change form scene to scene. This will by no means ruin the enjoyment of the movie but on reflection it bugs me slightly (no pun intended).
This is probably the third best Marvel Cinematic Universe movie after Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier and is well worth a watch in theaters as it is such a visually interesting movie, the likes of which have rarely been seen due to the way the shrinking is filmed. I would also recommend seeing it in 3D as it really lends great depth to the shrinking parts and does enhance them a lot. And do please give this movie the money it deserves as its doing worse than all the other Marvel movies have except The Incredible Hulk which is a real shame.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, sorry this isn't as long as my Terminator: Genysis review its just I don't want to spoil any of it as it really is a spectacle to watch knowing nothing about it. Oh and there are mid and post credit scenes so be sure to stick around, they are pretty great ones.
-Joe
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