The end, 6 months overdue

This is the End was a comedy about famous people dying during the apocalypse. It's only funny with actors that people don't like.

The Apocalypse, in most cases, isn't a laughing matter, but this one was an exception. The situation was the religious style armageddon with people who had a good soul being sucked up into heaven, and those who didn't would have to try to survive the oncoming disasters that usually included giant demons. The beginning showed an insane party with lots and lots of drug use. It was crazy how many really famous actors and actresses were cast, but, not many of them survived past the first 20 minutes of the film. The whole part with the world ending and everyone running around scared was really intense, but it had a funny ring to how absurdly terrible it was. The time spent trying to survive had it's funny parts, but most of the time, the jokes were too easy to notice, so it wasn't as much of a funny surprise. I found the certain scenes with the guys trying to get into heaven really funny, and throughout, there were random crazy jokes put in. This won't get more than a B from me.

Not all Ado is about something

Today, I'll be reviewing a Shakespeare romantic comedy drama adapted to film by the same guy who directed the Avengers. Interesting combination.

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of Shakespeare's  famous stories are known for being dark and tragic, but this one ends with something good happening. The story had it's ups and downs, but over the course of time it stayed relatively happy. I really liked the Kenneth Branagh adaptations of "Much Ado" and "Henry V" but I also loved this version because of it's modern day take on the story. I didn't mind or really care at all that it was all in black and white, because if it was in color, it wouldn't have had that same feel to it that's impossible to describe, but whatever, I'll try anyway: It felt calm and relaxing, because there was no bright lights or colors, or something like that. I think that it was also a bit funnier than any other version that I've seen. So far, I'd say that the director of this movie, Joss Whedon is a good match for William 

Shakespeare. The one thing I loved the most about this story was all that Claudio went  through to get together with Hero. All these bad things happened, but in the end they were in undisturbed love. The downside is that the plot doesn't base mainly on one story, it's two stories in the the same place with the same people, and you'd think that would be good, but the stories didn't connect in any interesting way, so it would have been better if they had just been connected better. Still, that was Shakespeare's fault, not Joss Whedon's. This movie will be given a B+ by me. Help me decide in the comments whether I should review This is the End, or World War Z next time.

Steel is pretty heavy, too

I saw Man of Steel last night, it's the new Superman movie.  

I was really excited about this movie because I was never a big Superman fan because he was so silly looking in the costume. I couldn't wait to see him in the modern world like they did with Batman in the Christopher Nolan trilogy. I also am a huge fan of the director Zack Snyder, who made the amazing adaptations of 300 and Watchmen, which have both been reviewed by me on this blog. I really liked the battles between Superman and Zod, or one of his soldiers, because on earth, Kryptonians are invulnerable to   normal building cars, and anything else that could hit them while fighting with super strength. They would crash through dozens of buildings face first, and be totally fine. It reminds me of Mortal Kombat games, or Injustice: Gods among us. The villain of the movie is General Zod, who is most well known for his line where he yells:"I WILL FIND HIM!" to Kal El's mother, who had just sent him away for safety. Zod appeared in many comics, and in Superman II, with Christopher Reeves. I loved how much of Krypton was in the movie, because it showed the entire part about Zod's attack on the council, showing that it wasn't just the apocalypse of Krypton that caused Kal to be sent to earth. As a DC comics fan, I really liked all the mythology involved in the Movie. I have to say though, It would probably be slightly confusing to non-comic book fans. Because of that, I'll give it a B+, still, you should definetly see it, because it's still in theaters.

300 awesome helmets

Today, I'll be talking about a movie made entirely with green screens: 300

This is based on the true story of the greek-persian battle of Thermopylae, where, against the will of the sacred council of elders, King Leonidas led 300 of his soldiers against the Persian empire, which ruled much of Europe and Asia at the time. They first came to threaten the greek city of Sparta to surrender, but they weren't Athenians; they had a way of not giving up. Maybe that's because they're known to be history's greatest warriors. Unlike the Hunger Games, no one would say to them "may the odds be ever in your favor" because they fought when they were told not to by the council. Actually, when you watch the movie, you'll realize how close they were to actually winning a battle of 300 spartans against a million persian warriors. They didn't clarify what it was that Leonidas kicked the messengers into. It was meant to be a well, but it looked so big, it was more like a pit of doom. They learned that they were in Sparta just before they fell to their deaths. The battles were magnificent and well made, and they taught you just how powerful the Spartans really were. It was good how it was adapted from the book. The book took me about 20 minutes to read. The movie was extended, so it included a whole important role for the queen, which I thought was a good idea. This entire action film was full of blood, death and sadness, but it also had glory, strength and even b its of comedy. Anyone who dislikes this movie should be kicked down a well too. I give it an A.

The two funniest actors in one movie

Here's another recent movie I will review: The Campaign

This comedy is outrageously funny. Zack Galifianakis is a man who has no political experience at all, but would do anything to make his dad proud. He is then given some advice on how to be good in an election. He also has a really weird family. His opponent, played by Will Ferrell is also kind of weird because he becomes crazy when he has an opponent in his election for the first time. The movie also has a little part of the story involve a minor character like Marty Huggins' wife. The story switches between Marty winning and Cam winning, and it becomes hard to tell who would end up winning the election. It has the type of humor where it's really unexpected, and certain characters have their own theme of comedy that they repeat in different ways. The story also reveals how savage some politicians can become when they are desperate. The entire movie was hilarious, so much that sometimes I didn't have time to laugh at one joke because I was laughing so much about the last. The story wasn't very well organized, so This will get an A-

I Watch the Watchmen

So, I know this isn't a recent movie, but I just recently saw: Watchmen, and just to start, I have to say I LOVED this movie. The trailer is here:

The original graphic novel this is based on was written as a miniseries by Alan Moore in 1986-87, so the movie takes place around then, but most of the time, I forgot that, because of all of the advanced technology used in it. The whole story was based around three things: Dr. Manhattan, the suspicions of nuclear war, and the murder of a certain important character in the first ten minutes of the film. The story is very dark and complicated, so you'd have to pay close attention to understand it. There are so many really interesting superheroes. It's also extremely violent in certain places. One of the reasons I enjoyed it so much is because it's so majestic and thrilling. This fits perfectly with the character's tones because the all act either really intense or really grand. I also thought the symbolic smiley face with the blood drop from the original book cover was well used throughout the movie. If you've seen 300, then you would have noticed how great the image quality was, and it's similar to that in Watchmen. Also like 300, they have scenes that are exactly like they were in the book. That's probably because they're by the same director, Zack Snyder, who is also the director of the upcoming Man of Steel movie. I have really high expectations for any action movie done by Zack Snyder, and any Alan Moore book. If you are interested in Alan Moore, see and read V for Vendetta, and if you are interested in Zack Snyder, see and read 300 (the book of 300 was written by Frank Miller) I would definitely give Watchmen an A.

The OK Gatsby

Spiderman is in this movie

So, yesterday I saw The Great Gatsby, which was a 3D, FX heavy emotional drama. One thing I notice about all famous stories is that at least one of the main characters dies at the end, which is why I am not a huge fan of Romeo and Juliet. I enjoyed how this remake was so dramatic, and I wonder if the book and the older movies can give me the same feeling -- the sense of drama and grandeur -- about it. I found it slightly unrealistic that Gatsby could throw such big parties every weekend, even if SPOILER ALERT he was in the business of selling liquor during the days of Prohibition. The big question is why Nick Carraway wrote a whole book about Gatsby when he had sort of given up on writing. I also couldn't understand why Myrtle SPOILER ALERT ran out into the middle of the road. If she really wanted to get the car's attention, she could've just waved to it on the side. Nothing works out perfectly in movies. So many people have read the book, even my Mandarin teacher, who, in high school, read it in Chinese. This is a world-famous book that was written in America. I really got attached to what the characters looked like, and how the actors portrayed them, so I'm scared that if I see the older versions of the movie, that image will be changed. The most interesting of the characters was, of course, Gatsby, who was played by Leonardo DeCaprio. He was so rich and powerful, but acted so timid to Daisy after he hadn't seen her in five years, like a normal person would. In summary, I would give this one a B+