Was able to get three more films out of the way for my ongoing goal to see as many 2011 films as possible. After seeing The Artist, Footloose, and Insidious, I have 27 wide releases left to watch as well as a select number of limited releases.
The Artist: I found this to be a decent watch, but nothing more. It starts off pretty compelling, but drags pretty hard in the second half when George (Jean Dujardin) fell from and Peppy (Bernice Bejo) became a star. The story isn't really anything special and it stays afloat on acting and charm alone. It does have an infectious enthusiasm for Hollywood and the magic of cinema which is a big reason why it was so well-received by critics. I don't think it deserved it's Best Picture win, but it's certaintly not a bad film in any way, shape, or form.
3/5 Stars
Footloose: I actually liked this more than The Artist (*dodges tomatoes being thrown in my direction*). Craig Brewer is able to capture the teenage spirit with a light, fun little movie. This film has a ton of energy, charm, likable characters and a simple yet effective story that made it a winner. Newcomer Kenny Wormald shows he has what it takes to be actor with his solid performance in the lead role as Ren MacCormack. Veteran actors Dennis Quaid, Ray McKinnon, and Andie MacDowell fill out the well-rounded cast with some decent performances in supporting roles.I have a feeling this would've been a disaster if it didn't have a excellent director like Brewer at the helm. Can't say how it compares to the 1984 original, but the remake of Footloose is definitely worth seeing.
3/5 Stars
Insidious: Better than expected, but still really average. It does have an interesting concept and it handles demonic possession unlike any film in recent memory, but it falls flat in the execution. Like many other critics before me, I agree the movie really falls apart in the last half-hour or so. The first half had some tension and was mildly intriguing. The second half it becomes really ridiculous and over-the-top out of nowhere. It almost seems like they brought in different screenwriters to finish the film. To top it all off the ending was incredibly obvious and downright stupid. It also doesn't help that that the demons in this film look like Darth Maul from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. I started laughing every time a demon appeared which often was during what was supposed to be the scariest moments of the film. Insidious is a valiant effort, but it ultimately comes up short due to it's ridiculous final act and poor demon design.
2.5/5 Stars
Monday, July 23, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Concert Review: Vans Warped Tour-- Mansfield, MA-- July 19th, 2012
Warped Tour rolled through Massachusetts yesterday and it marked a great start to summer festival season for me. It provided the typical diverse lineup which sets it apart from other festival and was definitely the best Warped Tour out of the two I've been to.
I got there around 12 after getting stuck in traffic for a little bit. My friends and I got inside the Comcast Center really fast and we immediately b-lined to the dude selling schedules. After buying my schedule, I found out that the only bands we had missed were Motionless In White and Falling In Reverse, both of whom I did not care about seeing in the slightest. I also lucked out for the most part in terms of seeing all the bands I wanted with the exception of the conflict between Every Time I Die and A Loss For Words (I was pretty bummed because I really wanted to see A Loss For Words, but Every Time I Die was one of only two bands I was going to choose seeing over them). New Found Glory was the only other band I wanted to see that I didn't get the chance to see, but it wasn't that big of a deal because I am not a rabid fan of them.
The first band of the day I caught was Man Overboard and I wasn't really impressed at all. Just like their studio stuff, they were just alright. I think they are just too sappy, even for pop-punk. I will say they did sound exactly like their studio recordings, so if you're a fan of their music you will love their live show. Not bad, but I couldn't really into their set.
There was a small gap in between Man Overboard and Every Time I Die, so I watched a terrible local metal band (really bad metalcore/deathcore hybrid). After that I went around and looked at merch and the many other tents that Warped Tour has and I ended up buying a pretty sick Every Time I Die shirt. Before too long, Every Time I Die took the stage and killed it. They were just as good and energetic as they were at Warped two years ago the first time I saw them. They played a set consisting of songs off their new record Ex Lives and older favorites from Hot Damn! and Gutter Phenomenon (Surprisingly nothing off of New Junk Aesthetic though). The new stuff sounded great live (Stoked to see "I Suck (Blood)" in there and "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space" is a perfect set opener) and the older songs were equally enjoyable. I really hope I get to see them headline at some point in time, I need to see them play for more than a half hour. Definitely a contender for best set of the day. Stupid, but awesome side note: Keith Buckley was wearing a Free Randy Blythe shirt.
I went and watched Yellowcard for shits and giggles after Every Time I Die. To my surprise, they were actually pretty good! They were having a great time on stage and their singer sounded much better than on disc. It was kind of surreal seeing a band I listened to when I was 12 or 13 years old years later. The place of course erupted during "Only One", "Lights and Sounds", and especially "Ocean Avenue". Their new stuff definitely sounded weaker than the older stuff and I'm sure that's case even though I haven't listened to any of their records outside of Ocean Avenue. I'm glad I checked out Yellowcard, they were way better than expected.
I went back to the Monster Stage and watched For Today. They were alright, but they are a tad bit generic for my liking. Way too many breakdowns, but they have a decent vocalist and some solid riffs from time to time. One thing that pissed me off about their set was the Christianity rant the singer went on. I know this bands message is to spread the word of Jesus, but this was just ridiculous. He basically yelled at the crowd for 3 minutes about how we were all going to face Jesus and have a path to follow and whatever. I have no problem with someone being religious, but forcing your religious beliefs on others is wrong in my eyes. Other than that their performance was inoffensive, but I doubt I will check out their studio stuff or go out of my way to see them again.
I ventured over to the amphitheater stage to see Miss May I. I missed the first few songs, but they put on a solid show. Levi Benton really knows how to work a crowd and his vocals sounded pretty spot-on as well (I talked to him briefly and he seems like a really nice guy too). They got a pretty ridiculous reception as well and there was a shitload of people there to see them. It blows my mind how big this band has gotten in only a few years. These guys are really young (Most of the members are only a year or two older than me) and they have a long career ahead of them. I thoroughly enjoyed their performance and they're without a doubt a better live band than a studio band
Right after Miss May I, I went back out to the side lot and watched Born of Osiris. They were only band of the band of the day that slightly disappointed me the whole day. They were still very good, but they were ten times better when I saw them at New England Metal and Hardcore Festival last year. Ronnie Canizaro's vocals have definitely taken a bit of a dip since the last time I saw them, but he got better as the set progressed. The new guitarist played Jason Richardson's parts on The Discovery songs well. Those are big shoes to fill when you lose a guitarist that is that good, but he was up to the challenge and did a amicable job. I will absolutely see them again and hopefully they will better than this time around.
After the Burial was on next and they mightily impressed. They were the band I was most excited to see on the day outside of Every Time I Die and they did not disappoint in the slightest. The band was tight as hell and Anthony Notarmaso did a spectacular job on vocals (His low screams were especially impressive). The set was heavy on Rarefrom material which was awesome because that's easily their best album in my opinion. "Berzerker" has to be one of the best live songs ever. The intro comes across even better live ( Rhythm guitarist Justin Lowe was playing his parts behind his head!)and the breakdown in the middle is still the best breakdown ever written. They tore up the tiny Kevin Says Stage and the pretty big crowd was super into their set. I can't wait for them to release a new album and for their next tour. A toss-up between them and Every Time I Die for best show of the day.
Once After the Burial wrapped up I caught the last four songs of A Loss for Words acoustic set in the Acoustic Basement tent. I was happy that I got to see them after missing their regular set earlier and I enjoyed their performance, but it didn't completely fulfill my craving to see them. The tent was packed and I couldn't hear them that well due to all the other stages bleeding in from time to time and people singing the lyrics really loud. It was still cool to see them play acoustically in a really intimate setting and will hold me over until I get to see them play a regular set in the (hopefully near) future.
I caught Transit afterward to pass the time and they were pretty good. Their performance was definitely comprable to their set at the Glamour Kills Tour in March. The band was really into their performance and the singer even dove into the crowd during the last song. Just like the last time I saw them, the hometown crowd was going nuts for them and that definitely added to the experience. Their studio stuff still does nothing for me and there definitely better pop punk bands out there, but they still put on a pretty good show.
Next came the biggest surprise of the day: Four Year Strong. Holy shit these guys were fucking great! I never got into their studio stuff, but their performance yesterday makes me want to revisit that. They had some pretty killer riffs and their pop punk/hardcore hybrid was just so too much damn fun live. They were having the time of their lives on stage and were so appreciative of the hometown crowd coming out and showing their support. I am going to be honest these guys had a similar vibe to A Day To Remember and if the quality of their live show is any indicator, they are a better band in my opinion. I still can't get over how good they were and they were definitely in the top tier of performances for the day.
The Ghost Inside closed out my day at Warped Tour and they were quite good. Their style of melodic hardcore/metalcore is made for a live setting. They kind of remind me of a tamer, more melodic version of Hatebreed. The energy from the band and the crowd was relentless and it made for an infectiously fun performance. They got a huge circle pit going around the sound booth during their second to last song which put the rest of the circle pits for the day to shame. The Ghost Inside may not be the most musically complex band on the planet, but they are great at what they do and they closed out Warped Tour on a high note with one of the stronger performances of the day. Warped Tour was a great fucking time and I hope next year has a good lineup so I can go again.
Scores:
Man Overboard 5/10
Unknown Shitty Local Metal Band 3/10
Every Time I Die 8.5/10
Yellowcard 7/10
For Today 5/10
Miss May I 7.5/10
Born of Osiris 8/10
After the Burial 8.5/10
A Loss For Words (acoustic) 7.5/10
Transit 7/10
Four Year Strong 8/10
The Ghost Inside 8/10
Setlists:
Man Overboard (jacked from setlist.fm, could be wrong):
Rare
Real Talk
Dead End Dreams
Something's Weird
Fantasy Girl
Atlas
World Favorite
Every Time I Die:
Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space
Holy Book of Dilemma
Floater
No Son of Mine
Kill the Music
Bored Stiff
We'rewolf
I Suck (Blood)
She's My Rushmore
Ebolarama
Yellowcard included:
Always Summer
Lights and Sounds
Only One
Ocean Avenue
For Today (jacked from setlist.fm, could be wrong):
Seraphim
Saul of Tarsus (The Messenger)
Under God
White Flag
Fearless
Devastator
Miss May I (partial):
Forgive and Forget
Our Kings
Hey Mister
Ballad of a Broken Man
Masses of a Dying Breed
Born of Osiris:
Follow The Signs
Ascension
Open Arms to Damnation
Empires Erased
Abstract Art
Bow Down
Recreate
After the Burial:
Fingers Like Daggers
Berzerker
Encased in Ice
Cursing Akhenaten
Aspiration
A Loss For Words (acoustic, partial):
Hold Your Breath
Wrightsville Beach
?
Mount St.Joesph
Transit:
All Your Heart
Listen and Forgive
Long Lost Friends
Please, Head North
Skipping Stone
Stay Home
Four Year Strong (not 100% on the order, but I know these songs were played):
Tonight We Feel Alive (On A Saturday)
Stuck in the Middle
What the Hell is a Giggawat?
Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die
Heaven Wasn't Built To Hold Me
Maniac (R.O.D)
It Must Really Suck to Be Four Year Strong Right Now
Wasting Time (Eternal Summer)
The Ghost Inside:
Unspoken
Faith or Forgiveness
Slipping Away
Chrono
Downbeat
Outlive
? (I don't believe they had played this song on the tour so far before yesterday)
Between the Lines
I got there around 12 after getting stuck in traffic for a little bit. My friends and I got inside the Comcast Center really fast and we immediately b-lined to the dude selling schedules. After buying my schedule, I found out that the only bands we had missed were Motionless In White and Falling In Reverse, both of whom I did not care about seeing in the slightest. I also lucked out for the most part in terms of seeing all the bands I wanted with the exception of the conflict between Every Time I Die and A Loss For Words (I was pretty bummed because I really wanted to see A Loss For Words, but Every Time I Die was one of only two bands I was going to choose seeing over them). New Found Glory was the only other band I wanted to see that I didn't get the chance to see, but it wasn't that big of a deal because I am not a rabid fan of them.
The first band of the day I caught was Man Overboard and I wasn't really impressed at all. Just like their studio stuff, they were just alright. I think they are just too sappy, even for pop-punk. I will say they did sound exactly like their studio recordings, so if you're a fan of their music you will love their live show. Not bad, but I couldn't really into their set.
There was a small gap in between Man Overboard and Every Time I Die, so I watched a terrible local metal band (really bad metalcore/deathcore hybrid). After that I went around and looked at merch and the many other tents that Warped Tour has and I ended up buying a pretty sick Every Time I Die shirt. Before too long, Every Time I Die took the stage and killed it. They were just as good and energetic as they were at Warped two years ago the first time I saw them. They played a set consisting of songs off their new record Ex Lives and older favorites from Hot Damn! and Gutter Phenomenon (Surprisingly nothing off of New Junk Aesthetic though). The new stuff sounded great live (Stoked to see "I Suck (Blood)" in there and "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space" is a perfect set opener) and the older songs were equally enjoyable. I really hope I get to see them headline at some point in time, I need to see them play for more than a half hour. Definitely a contender for best set of the day. Stupid, but awesome side note: Keith Buckley was wearing a Free Randy Blythe shirt.
I went and watched Yellowcard for shits and giggles after Every Time I Die. To my surprise, they were actually pretty good! They were having a great time on stage and their singer sounded much better than on disc. It was kind of surreal seeing a band I listened to when I was 12 or 13 years old years later. The place of course erupted during "Only One", "Lights and Sounds", and especially "Ocean Avenue". Their new stuff definitely sounded weaker than the older stuff and I'm sure that's case even though I haven't listened to any of their records outside of Ocean Avenue. I'm glad I checked out Yellowcard, they were way better than expected.
I went back to the Monster Stage and watched For Today. They were alright, but they are a tad bit generic for my liking. Way too many breakdowns, but they have a decent vocalist and some solid riffs from time to time. One thing that pissed me off about their set was the Christianity rant the singer went on. I know this bands message is to spread the word of Jesus, but this was just ridiculous. He basically yelled at the crowd for 3 minutes about how we were all going to face Jesus and have a path to follow and whatever. I have no problem with someone being religious, but forcing your religious beliefs on others is wrong in my eyes. Other than that their performance was inoffensive, but I doubt I will check out their studio stuff or go out of my way to see them again.
I ventured over to the amphitheater stage to see Miss May I. I missed the first few songs, but they put on a solid show. Levi Benton really knows how to work a crowd and his vocals sounded pretty spot-on as well (I talked to him briefly and he seems like a really nice guy too). They got a pretty ridiculous reception as well and there was a shitload of people there to see them. It blows my mind how big this band has gotten in only a few years. These guys are really young (Most of the members are only a year or two older than me) and they have a long career ahead of them. I thoroughly enjoyed their performance and they're without a doubt a better live band than a studio band
Right after Miss May I, I went back out to the side lot and watched Born of Osiris. They were only band of the band of the day that slightly disappointed me the whole day. They were still very good, but they were ten times better when I saw them at New England Metal and Hardcore Festival last year. Ronnie Canizaro's vocals have definitely taken a bit of a dip since the last time I saw them, but he got better as the set progressed. The new guitarist played Jason Richardson's parts on The Discovery songs well. Those are big shoes to fill when you lose a guitarist that is that good, but he was up to the challenge and did a amicable job. I will absolutely see them again and hopefully they will better than this time around.
After the Burial was on next and they mightily impressed. They were the band I was most excited to see on the day outside of Every Time I Die and they did not disappoint in the slightest. The band was tight as hell and Anthony Notarmaso did a spectacular job on vocals (His low screams were especially impressive). The set was heavy on Rarefrom material which was awesome because that's easily their best album in my opinion. "Berzerker" has to be one of the best live songs ever. The intro comes across even better live ( Rhythm guitarist Justin Lowe was playing his parts behind his head!)and the breakdown in the middle is still the best breakdown ever written. They tore up the tiny Kevin Says Stage and the pretty big crowd was super into their set. I can't wait for them to release a new album and for their next tour. A toss-up between them and Every Time I Die for best show of the day.
Once After the Burial wrapped up I caught the last four songs of A Loss for Words acoustic set in the Acoustic Basement tent. I was happy that I got to see them after missing their regular set earlier and I enjoyed their performance, but it didn't completely fulfill my craving to see them. The tent was packed and I couldn't hear them that well due to all the other stages bleeding in from time to time and people singing the lyrics really loud. It was still cool to see them play acoustically in a really intimate setting and will hold me over until I get to see them play a regular set in the (hopefully near) future.
I caught Transit afterward to pass the time and they were pretty good. Their performance was definitely comprable to their set at the Glamour Kills Tour in March. The band was really into their performance and the singer even dove into the crowd during the last song. Just like the last time I saw them, the hometown crowd was going nuts for them and that definitely added to the experience. Their studio stuff still does nothing for me and there definitely better pop punk bands out there, but they still put on a pretty good show.
Next came the biggest surprise of the day: Four Year Strong. Holy shit these guys were fucking great! I never got into their studio stuff, but their performance yesterday makes me want to revisit that. They had some pretty killer riffs and their pop punk/hardcore hybrid was just so too much damn fun live. They were having the time of their lives on stage and were so appreciative of the hometown crowd coming out and showing their support. I am going to be honest these guys had a similar vibe to A Day To Remember and if the quality of their live show is any indicator, they are a better band in my opinion. I still can't get over how good they were and they were definitely in the top tier of performances for the day.
The Ghost Inside closed out my day at Warped Tour and they were quite good. Their style of melodic hardcore/metalcore is made for a live setting. They kind of remind me of a tamer, more melodic version of Hatebreed. The energy from the band and the crowd was relentless and it made for an infectiously fun performance. They got a huge circle pit going around the sound booth during their second to last song which put the rest of the circle pits for the day to shame. The Ghost Inside may not be the most musically complex band on the planet, but they are great at what they do and they closed out Warped Tour on a high note with one of the stronger performances of the day. Warped Tour was a great fucking time and I hope next year has a good lineup so I can go again.
Scores:
Man Overboard 5/10
Unknown Shitty Local Metal Band 3/10
Every Time I Die 8.5/10
Yellowcard 7/10
For Today 5/10
Miss May I 7.5/10
Born of Osiris 8/10
After the Burial 8.5/10
A Loss For Words (acoustic) 7.5/10
Transit 7/10
Four Year Strong 8/10
The Ghost Inside 8/10
Setlists:
Man Overboard (jacked from setlist.fm, could be wrong):
Rare
Real Talk
Dead End Dreams
Something's Weird
Fantasy Girl
Atlas
World Favorite
Every Time I Die:
Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space
Holy Book of Dilemma
Floater
No Son of Mine
Kill the Music
Bored Stiff
We'rewolf
I Suck (Blood)
She's My Rushmore
Ebolarama
Yellowcard included:
Always Summer
Lights and Sounds
Only One
Ocean Avenue
For Today (jacked from setlist.fm, could be wrong):
Seraphim
Saul of Tarsus (The Messenger)
Under God
White Flag
Fearless
Devastator
Miss May I (partial):
Forgive and Forget
Our Kings
Hey Mister
Ballad of a Broken Man
Masses of a Dying Breed
Born of Osiris:
Follow The Signs
Ascension
Open Arms to Damnation
Empires Erased
Abstract Art
Bow Down
Recreate
After the Burial:
Fingers Like Daggers
Berzerker
Encased in Ice
Cursing Akhenaten
Aspiration
A Loss For Words (acoustic, partial):
Hold Your Breath
Wrightsville Beach
?
Mount St.Joesph
Transit:
All Your Heart
Listen and Forgive
Long Lost Friends
Please, Head North
Skipping Stone
Stay Home
Four Year Strong (not 100% on the order, but I know these songs were played):
Tonight We Feel Alive (On A Saturday)
Stuck in the Middle
What the Hell is a Giggawat?
Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die
Heaven Wasn't Built To Hold Me
Maniac (R.O.D)
It Must Really Suck to Be Four Year Strong Right Now
Wasting Time (Eternal Summer)
The Ghost Inside:
Unspoken
Faith or Forgiveness
Slipping Away
Chrono
Downbeat
Outlive
? (I don't believe they had played this song on the tour so far before yesterday)
Between the Lines
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Album Review: The Contortonist-Intrinsic
Intrinsic sees The Contortionist making a pretty dramatic shift to a more straight-forward progressive metal sound while still retaining the death metal/deathcore sound they had in the past. It was refreshing to see a band change their sound while maintaining the quality of their previous music. The Contortionist definitely put an end to the trend of band's changing their sound while sacrificing making good music in the process (I'm looking at you Baroness). The Contortionist gets their most daring and experimental song to date out of the way first with "Holomovement". This song sees vocalist/ keyboardist Jonathan Carpenter capturing his inner Paul Masvidal as he showcases his much improved clean vocals over extremely melodic guitars and atmospheric keyboards. It will definitely immediately capture the listeners attention and sets the tone for the album. The Contortionist's trend with experimentation runs through the whole album. There is some great use of vocoders, synths, and even some jazz-fusion and post-rock melodies thrown in for good measure. Even with the all the experimentation going on during this album, The Contortionist doesn't forget what they best at: Combining progressive and death metal influences. The grooves/breakdowns and the melodic riffs on this album are top-notch. Almost every melody on this album is stunning (just like it was on Exoplanet) and the breakdowns hit pretty hard. "Causality" is the prime example of the two sides of The Contortionist coming together perfectly. It starts off with a heavy section full of groovy guitars with Carpenter screaming his lungs out and descends into a stunning melodic section with an incredible riff and great basswork paired with a couple of brief sections of clean/electronic vocals. "Causality" without a doubt rivals "Contact" off of Exoplanet for my favorite Contortionist song to date.
Intrinsic is the next logical step for The Contortionist as a band. They have matured and become a more progressive and experimental band with better songwriting, but they also not forgotten where they came from and that's what makes Intrinsic such a great record. They haven't lost the heavy/progressive edge they showed on Exoplanet and they have introduced a ton of new ideas for their sound with Intrinsic. This a band that is clearly going places and it's going to be exciting to watch where they go from here.
4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Casuality
2.Geocentric Confusion
3.Sequential Vision
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Movie Review: Ted
Ted is completely hilarious throughout. This is 100000x better than the best episode of Family Guy. MacFarlane has finally created a piece of work that is consistently funny and entertaining with absolutely no down time at all. He still uses his trademark blend of wide-appealing sexual and toilet humor with obscure pop culture references, it's just better than ever. I especially enjoy his pop culture references and I found myself to be the only one in the theater laughing at a lot of them. Personally, I don't think you can fully appreciate this film if you don't get at least half of the references. They elevate this film from being a great comedy to a landmark comedy. Besides the fact that almost everything that comes out of Ted's mouth is hilarious, the cast does a great job. MacFarlane surrounded himself with most of his cronies ( Mila Kunis, Patrick Warburton, Alex Borstein, Ralph German), but he also made some solid choices outside of his circle with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role (he never fails to impress in comedies) and Joel McHale as Milla Kunis's character's pervert boss. Perhaps the most impressive and surprising is the scene-stealing extended cameo from Sam Jones of Flash Gordon fame. I never expected to see Jones in another movie again and his appearance is absolutely priceless and provides some of the biggest laughs in the whole movie. The only thing that prevents this from being better than 21 Jump Street, this year's other landmark comedy, is the stupid subplot with Giovanni Ribsi, who plays a man obsessed with getting Ted for his son. It's completely unnecessary to have his character in the movie and the final third of the movie where his character is the most prominent is easily the worst part of the movie. Besides that tiny flaw, Ted is still an extremely enjoyable film. This is an elite comedy that holds up well on repeat viewings (I've already seen it twice) and it should be remembered for years to come.
4.5/5 Stars
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man would've been more accurately titled The Frustratingly Average Spider-Man. With the exception of some good acting ( Andrew Garfield is a solid Spider-Man and Emma Stone steals the movie as Gwen Stacey) this is a mind-numbingly average reboot. It is more faithful to the comics than the original series and there are a lot of nice ideas on display here (Showing how strong he is/every scene where he is discovering his powers, Spider-Man's sarcasm, the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey, Peter finding about his father, plenty more), these ideas are just poorly executed. The weak script really kills the whole movie. It tries to establish a dark, gritty tone (a la Christopher Nolan's Batman movies), but it's such a ridiculous movie that it completely cancels out the dark elements. It takes itself way too seriously (which Sam Rami's original franchise never did) and that is a huge drawback for this film. It also doesn't help that The Lizard is one of the worst villains in the history of superhero films. He has no motives or legitimate reasons behind his actions which makes the whole conflict between him and Spider-Man completely stupid and pointless. Good villains are a vital part of superhero films and without a menacing and/or memorable villain it makes it a lot less fun to watch and The Lizard sure as hell is not a good villain. The CGI is also pretty bad for a film with such a high budget. The Lizard is one of the stupidest and unrealistic looking CGI creations of the past decade. Hell even Green Lantern (which had pretty unimpressive CGI as well) had better CGI than this. Another huge drawback was the lackluster direction from Marc Webb. Webb is a talented director, but this is so far out of his comfort zone and his skills are not on display here at all. He has no idea how to handle action. The action scenes here are terribly shot and really mediocre. Webb was the complete wrong choice for this movie and hopefully he isn't asked to come back for the inveitble sequel.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a useless and underwhelming reboot. The filmmakers did put the effort in to try to make it a more faithful adaption of the comics, but it was all for not due to the poor screenwriting and directing. The actors really do try their best and they are the primary and pretty much sole reason this film is even somewhat watchable. The Amazing Spider-Man is far inferior to any of Sam Rami's original franchise (yes even 3). Rami's films might not have 100% accurate to the comics, but at least they were well-written, engaging and fun films with great action scenes and excellent villains (save for the third one). The reboot has none of that and if this series continues (which is bound to happen) I hope they fix the giant mistakes that this film got bogged down with.
2.5/5 Stars
Saturday, July 14, 2012
10 Most Underrated Superhero Movies
To celebrate the release of The Amazing Spider-Man and the release of The Dark Knight Rises on Friday, I figured I would throw together a list of the ten superhero films I feel are the most underrated. Keep in mind, this is not my ten favorite, just the ten that I feel are deserving of more respect than they get. Without further ado, here are my picks for the most underrated superhero movies of all-time.
10.Superman II (1980)
9.Blade (1998)
8.Hellboy (2004)
7.Super (2011)
6.Hancock (2008)
5.The Punisher (2004)
4.The Green Hornet (2011)
3.The Incredible Hulk (2008)
2.X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
1.Thor (2011)
10.Superman II (1980)
9.Blade (1998)
8.Hellboy (2004)
7.Super (2011)
6.Hancock (2008)
5.The Punisher (2004)
4.The Green Hornet (2011)
3.The Incredible Hulk (2008)
2.X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
1.Thor (2011)
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Album Review: Baroness-Yellow & Green
The two halves, while somewhat different (Yellow is primarily psychedelic pop-rock, while Green is primarily indie folk), suffer from many of the same problems. The biggest issue is the lack of energy or uniqueness put into their songs. Almost every song bleeds into each other with a lack of interesting riffs or melodies that drove Baroness in the past. Giving guitarist Pete Adams so little to do is seriously a crime. He sits back playing boring-ass two-chord acoustic riffs while his excellent guitar playing is being completely underutilized. The few moments he gets to let loose ( end of "Little Things", "Cocanium", beginning of " The Line Between") are some of the best moments of the record, but they are far too few and far between to break up the monotony of this record. Vocalist/ rhythm guitarist John Baizley kind of drones through everything with none of the emotion that he had in the past. He becomes really monotonous and seems like he is just going through the motions the whole time. It also bothered me that neither half flowed together. In the past, the interludes and the like made Baroness's albums flow so much better and it gave them this really special and cool cohesive feeling. The fact that both albums lacked songs that tied together really bugged me. It was a trademark of Baroness and the fact that it's gone made me dislike the new material even more. The last thing that I really didn't like here was the Green half of the album. Not that I love Yellow, but at least that half had a few cool parts to it. Green is just straight-up awful. The style of folk that is played just fails on every level. The sound is 100% aimed at hipsters and I thought I was listening to The Antlers or the Fleet Foxes or another one of those too cool for school, ironic bands. It makes me really sad that Baroness made something that sounded like this, it's honestly embarrassing ("Foolsong and "Collapse" especially). Baizley doesn't have the capacity as a vocalist to handle this type of stuff (The monotone stuff I mentioned earlier applies here even harder). The dude isn't Tommy Rodgers or Jesse Leach, he can't sing that well. His voice is best suited for progressive/sludge metal and it's not really that good if you take him out of his comfort zone and the Green half of this album hammers that point home. You don't see bands like Kylesa or Black Tusk trying to making folk songs and Baroness shouldn't either. The album's one redeeming track comes near the end of the Yellow half with "Sea Lungs". "Sea Lungs" is the only song that is good all the way through on the whole album and it sound like it could've have been either of the older albums. The riff is actually cool and Baizley's vocals are up to par unlike the rest of the album. It's a pity that is the only song I will find myself revisiting on a regular basis.
Yellow & Green is a bloated, lifeless double album that is about as interesting as watching paint dry. The spark and creativity that ran rampant through the rest of their material is thrown to the wayside in favor of a sound that is done by dozens of hipster alt-rock/folk bands. It's fine they were done with metal and wanted to change their sound. I have no problem with bands changing their sound, Hell I actually enjoy it as long as the quality of the music stays in tact, but that's not the case at all with Baroness. It almost seems like they deliberately tried to write a non-metal album and kind of just threw it together with little to no effort in the songwriting department. There were many times during both albums where I felt like I wasn't hearing the finished product and this was just a early, bare-bones demo. It kills me to see a band that I've sung the praises of for so long make an album that I dislike so much. If this is the new permanent direction for Baroness, I'm done with them for good. What really gets me even more than the music especially is how ridiculous some Baroness fans have been treating fans that don't enjoy the new material. I went with an open mind and I just happen to really not like the record. I am not trashing Baroness for not being heavy anymore (They weren't that heavy to begin with), I am trashing them because they aren't making good music anymore. They went from being such a creative force to writing some of the most dull, uninspired music I've heard in years. Sorry Baroness, I just can't back your new sound. This kills me to say, but Yellow & Green is worst album I've heard so far in 2012 by far and is a colossal letdown that will probably not be matched any time soon.
Yellow: 2/5 Stars
Green: 1/5 Stars
Overall: 1.5/5 Stars
Standout Track
1.Sea Lungs
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