Underrated Soundtrack and Posting Schedule.

Because my posting schedule posts have become rather dull in comparison to my other ones, I have decided to change things up by adding some of my favorite underrated soundtracks. For those that do not know, I am not a fan of most modern or pop music and the like. My favorite music is often film, TV, and video game soundtracks and I am not talking about songs in musicals, but real orchestra or instrumental music. While I have nothing against modern music and other songs, I do not listen to songs all that much, with the exception of a few TV theme song. For this post series, I will usually be highlighting the music that I am listening to most that week, which usually features more obscure tracks. This week I will be highlighting a couple of tracks from one of my new favorite television series, Code Geass. On a side note, I have reviews written for both season one and two of the series. Please comment below with what you think of this new soundtrack idea. Also here is the schedule below.

Monday: Star Wars Origin Films

Tuesday: Top 10 Actresses: Part 2: 5-1

Wednesday: Jack the Giant Slayer Review

Thursday: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Review

Friday: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Review

Saturday: Movie News

 

For a science fiction show, Code Geass' score is incredibly unique. Honestly, it is difficult for me to even categorize the soundtrack into any specific genre of music, maybe Spanish inspired, but I do not know. Despite this, I cannot stop listening to this "Zero" track! The unique combination of instruments work for me for some reason, I love it. Every time the tracks starts in the series you want that Zero is about come up with some clever plan of escape; it fits those scenes so perfectly. Below is an extended version of the song.

 

"Nightmare" is somewhat similar to "Zero," however it is used in a different context. This track is often used during the battle to great effect. Although it might sound odd for an action theme, every time the track starts up it gets me seriously pumped for some epic mech battles. Below is an extended version.

 

Here is the entire soundtrack to Code Geass, enjoy.

What did you think of the music? Is this a worth while idea for future posts? Please comment below.

 

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Harry Potter Spinoff Movie Series Announced.

A Harry Potter spinoff movie series is in the works based on the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" book. The film is set to be written by the creator of the Harry Potter franchise herself, J.K. Rowling. The movie is said to be neither a prequel or sequel to the Harry Potter films, but rather a standalone story set within the Harry Potter universe before the events of the Harry Potter films. According to the description, the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is a book within the Harry Potter book, as well as being a published book, so it is basically "Bookception!" The movie will star the character Newt Scamander. Although I have not read the Harry Potter books, I am a fan of the movies, therefore this news excites me to a degree. Hopefully, the film will continue the darker trend that the franchise took in the last four films and have director David Yates return because he did such an excellent job with the movies. My main concern is that the book has a somewhat childish name, however I am still hopeful that the movie will turn out well. Just a few weeks ago, Shena Tokala and I briefly discussed the unlikelihood of another film set in the Harry Potter franchise in my Podcast, which you can see here. Considering that Man of Steel was not the mega hit that Warner Brothers hoped for, it does make sense to revive the Harry Potter franchise, since it is the highest grossing franchise of all-time. What are your thoughts on this surprising news? Please comment below.

 

 

 

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The Wolverine Review.

Thoughts: After the previous Wolverine movie disappointing, few expected much from the Wolverine, however the movie surprised many by how good it was, particularly me. The Wolverine finally gives fans the Wolverine movie that fans have been waiting for; one that focusing on the character and his inner struggle.

The Wolverine takes place after X-Men: The Last Stand and the movie fortunately does even not reference X-Men: Origins, therefore, if you have only seen the X-Men trilogy, you can watch the Wolverine without any other prior knowledge.

As for the movie itself, the Wolverine satisfies on so many levels, from its brutal action scenes, to the slower moments where the film develops the characters. The Wolverine is loosely based on famous Wolverine comic where he travels to Japan, and while it adapts the source material well, it is more inspired by it rather than holds to it, which is good. Because most of the film is set in Japan, there is a unique tone and feeling to the film that most other comic book movies do not have. While the Wolverine does lean towards the "comic-book-y" story near the end of the film, the rest of it is more of a unique action film with the Wolverine character in it.

The Wolverine does not shy away from the brutality of the character and his violent featuring some impressively violent scenes for a PG-13 film. We finally get to see blood on Wolverine's claws, which may sound morbid, but Wolverine is a brutal character and the film shows that aspect.

Directed by: James Mangold
Genre: Action, Action Adventure, Comic Book,
Release Date: July 26, 2013
Running Time: 126 minutes
MMPA rating: PG-13


The Good: Surprisingly deep character development and themes, Brutal and violent, Incredible action set pieces, Gritty and realistic tone, Hugh Jackman is even better than usual, Great soundtrack, Nice slower section, Humanizes the character, Japanese setting, James Mangold's direction, Epic after credits scene, Outstanding sound design, Believable romance, A lot of practical stun work, Easy to invest in the character and story,

The Bad:



Plot: The following plot summary is copied from Wikipedia.com.
In 1945, Logan, the Wolverine, is held in a Japanese POW camp near Nagasaki. During the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Logan rescues an officer named Yashida and shields him from the blast.
In the present day, Logan lives as a hermit in the Yukon, tormented by hallucinations of Jean Grey, whom he was forced to kill in X-Men: The Last Stand. He is located by Yukio, a mutant with the precognitive ability to foresee people's deaths, on-behalf of Yashida, now the CEO of a technology corporation. Yashida, who is dying of cancer, wants Logan to accompany Yukio to Japan so that he may repay his life debt.
In Tokyo, Logan meets Yashida's son, Shingen, and granddaughter, Mariko. There, Yashida offers to transfer Logan's healing abilities into his own body, thus saving Yashida's life and alleviating Logan of his immortality, which Logan views as a curse. Logan refuses and prepares to leave the following day. Watch the movie to see what happens next.


Plot: 9.6/10- The Wolverine's plot is a deeper character study rather than a big flashy comic book film, which worked to the movie's favor. During the Wolverine, I was completely invested in the character throughout the entire film. I was completely involved in the story wondering what was going to happen next. The Wolverine is a much smaller scale film compared to most others in the genre, which is rather refreshing. Do not get me wrong, big epic movies like The Avengers and the Dark Knight Rises where an entire city is in danger is great, but the Wolverine gives us something new and original in that respect. To my surprise, the romance was actually really well done and very believable.
Because of the Japanese setting, the tone and setting reminded me of a samurai film and I loved that because I am a fan the genre and the Japanese warrior culture. I was surprised by much of the movie was set in Japanese, and while I am not crazy about subtitles, they gave the film an authentic and realistic feel. Also the movie contained a few western motifs, which were great. My only real problem with the plot is that the villains where a little underdeveloped and not as good as they could have been. However, the film places the focus where it should be, on Wolverine's character.

Action: 9.7/10- The Wolverine's action scenes are raw and intense. While there is an occasional shot or two that could have been framed better, the majority of the action and its directing was spot on. Logan finally has the chance to unleash his full fury with somewhat realistic action scenes up until the final Act. The final battle was impressive and fun to watch, even though it was a departure from the more grounded action previously setup in the film. Despite how terrible the train fight scene looked in the trailer, it was actually an awesome action scene.

Acting: 9.3/10- Hugh Jackman as the Wolverine is the modern definition of manliness; the dude is seriously bada**. After 13 years of playing the character of Wolverine, Jackman still has it in him and he gives the character more depth than ever before with his performance. It is refreshing to see many new faces from the predominately Japanese cast. Tao Okamoto delivers a compelling performance as Mariko, and she has great chemistry with Jackman. Rila Fukushima as Yukio was great! She turned out to be one of the better characters in the movie. Svetlana Khodchenkova as Dr. Green / Viper was not bad nor was she all that great either; she was just kind of there.

Special effects: 8.8/10- Shockingly, the Wolverine does not rely heavily on big flashy special effects as other superheroes movies do, which is kind of cool actually. There are a lot of practical effects and stun work used during the action scenes, all of which was excellent. The train fight that looked terribly fake in the trailer actually looks realistic and believable in the movie, one of the better action sequences.

Soundtrack: 8.8/10- Marco Beltrami's score perfect compliments the Wolverine tone and setting. The music sounded as though it featured many Japanese tunes and instruments, which added to the Japanese setting.

Comedy: 7.5/10- While the humor is not prevalent throughout the film, Jackman has several hilarious and memorable moments throughout the movie.

Would I Watch This Again: The Wolverine is a film that I will definitely be buying on Blu-Ray and one that I will watch many times.

Overall: 9.6/10- Overall the Wolverine perfectly portrays the character as well as producing something new and original in the genre. The Wolverine focuses on the character's inner struggle and smaller more personal story that surprisingly turned out perfectly. Although I know that I am in the vast minority when it comes to my opinion of the Wolverine, I do believe that James Mangold made a film that stands up on multiple levels, even if the ending was a little lacking.

Closing comments: For those who are not fans of the character, the movie would rate more around a 8.5/10 in terms of being a great action film with a deep character driven story; fans of the character, however, should love the movie as much I do did.

Recommended for: Comic Book fans, Hugh Jackman fans, X-Men fans, Wolverine fans, Action fans, Samurai film fans,

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Star Trek Into Darkness Review.

Thoughts: J.J. Abrams' fun 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise made the franchise relevant for the modern era, and four years later we finally have the long awaited Star Trek Into Darkness, but was it worth the wait?

After hearing of the mixed to positive reviews, my expectations for Into Darkness where mixed, I did not know what to expect from the movie. Upon watching it, I have to say that it did not disappoint in the slightest. While some of the die-heart Trekkies that are still mad about Abrams' reboot will have nothing new to enjoy, more open-minded fans of the franchise and fans of the reboot will have plenty to love, because Into Darkness was a blast! Although I did quite enjoy Abrams first Star Trek film, it lacked a strong villain that it so sorely needed, but Into Darkness completely kills it in that respect. Benedict Cumberbatch is far and above the best part of the entire movie; he absolutely killed it in his mysterious role as the film's villain and because the character's identity is a mysterious, I shall refer to the character as Cumberbatch. Despite this, Cumberbatch should have had much more screen-time because his character needed it. Cumberbatch played a rather compelling villain and throughout most of the movie I was actually more on Cumberbatch's side than Kirk and Spock's because he had justification for his actions. Thus far in 2013, Cumberbatch is the best villain of the year, although he will likely be bested by Hiddleston in the upcoming Thor: the Dark World by Loki/Tom Hiddleston.

Even though I was unfortunately spoiled as to the true identity of Cumberbatch's character, I already had my suspicions, so that did not detract from my enjoyment of the film. Star Trek Into Darkness is a film that deserves a full spoiler discussion, however this review will be spoiler free and, if the readers are interested, I will write a full spoiler discussion on the film in the future.

Being a fan of the franchise, Into Darkness featured many references that only those that have seen some of the old movies/TV show can appreciate, or, in the case of some Trek purists, despise. If you are one of those fans that dislike the movie because of the attempts to mimic the original, that is understandable.

Something of major importance to mention is that J.J. Abrams is directing Star Wars Ep. 7, which everyone already knows. Because of this, I was hoping to see if Abrams has the directing chops to pull off Star Wars and I have to say that Into Darkness' direction was rather impressive. Except for a few too many dang lens flares, Abrams did a great job.

One a side note, why is there no colon between "Trek" and "Into" in the title? I looked it up, the official name has no colon, so that makes the movie's title look weird.

Directed by: J. J. Abrams

Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Action Adventure,

Release Date: May 17, 2013

Running Time: 133 minutes

MMPA rating: PG-13

The Good: Benedict Cumberbatch completely steals the show, Relentless pacing, Impressive action sequences, Superb directing by Abrams, Compelling villain, Tribble!, Several homages to classic Star Trek moments, Hilarious sense of humor, Brings back previously fantastic cast.

The Bad: Occasionally predictable, Minor plot holes,

Plot: The following plot summary is copied from Wikipedia.com.

In the year 2259, the Federation starship USS Enterprise has been sent to the planet Nibiru to study the development of primitive cultures. Captain James T. Kirk and Spock attempt to save the planet's inhabitants from a volcanic eruption. When Spock's life is endangered, Kirk violates the Prime Directive to rescue him, exposing the Enterprise to the planet's civilization. Kirk accuses Spock of showing little morality when they argue over the decision.

Summoned to Earth, Kirk loses command of the Enterprise as a result of his decision and Admiral Christopher Pike is reinstated as its commanding officer. When a secret Section 31 installation in London is bombed, Pike, Kirk, and Spock meet with Starfleet commanders to discuss the hunt for the culprit, Starfleet agent John Harrison, but Harrison attacks the meeting in a jumpship. Kirk destroys it, but Pike is killed and Harrison escapes by transporting to Kronos, the Klingon homeworld.

Watch the movie to see what happens next.

Plot: 8.1/10- As compelling of a villain Cumberbatch was, Into Darkness did have a great deal about Spock and Kirk's relationship. While that part was handled well, it is somewhat of a backtrack to what happened in the previous Trek movie with Spock and Kirk bickering. There where a few other minor aspects that where retreads of the previous Star Trek film as well. As for the main plot as a whole, it was quite good and well paced, even though some may not like the lightening pacing as much. Towards the end, there where a few minor plot holes and predictable parts that kind of detract from the movie. Other than those grievances, the rest of the plot is great and filled with fun and snappy dialogue, even if it is not as "deep" as some fans would like.

Action: 9.2/10- Abrams has really stepped up his action direction skills with Into Darkness. Most of the action sequences where riveting and well directed. There were only a few shots that were poorly framed or darkly lit. Cumberbatch's character was a beast in the action scenes and he was the main reason why many of the action scenes where as awesome as they were. Never before has there been this quality of action in a Star Trek film.

Acting: 8.5/10- As stated before, Cumberbatch was freaking awesome in his role. He had a menacing screen presence and made the character very compelling, although this is no surprise since Cumberbatch is amazing as Sherlock Holmes. The entire cast of the Enterprise from the previous film is great, without a single miscasting. Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk is even better than he was in the previous Trek film, and Zachary Quinto as Spock is good, but not particularly great in his role. Alice Eve, aka "Thumbnail Chick," was neither bad nor good in her role. Although no one else was noticeably bad, aside from Cumberbatch, the acting is not particularly special.

Special effects: 9.2/10- Although some of the effects are obviously CGI, the movie still looks great! The effects and setting are much improved compared to the previous Star Trek film. Fortunately, Abrams used a surprising amount of practical special effects and fully built sets, opposed to going all green screen.

Soundtrack: 9.2/10- The rendition of the classic Star Trek theme is done perfectly by Michael Giacchino and a few other tracks are homages to other Star Trek tracks from the past.

Comedy: 9.3/10- Star Trek Into Darkness is an often hilarious movie filled with humorous banter and quick quips.

Would I Watch This Again: While I would not consider buying the movie on Blu-Ray/DVD, Into Darkness was a lot of fun and certainly worth watching again.

Overall: 8.5/10- Overall Star Trek Into Darkness is a blast to watch and a fun space-adventure romp, however Cumberbatch is the main reason to watch the film because both his performance and character are the main things that make the movie memorable.

Closing comments: Some hardcore Trekkies and those who are not fans of Abrams first Star Trek will find little to like in the film, everyone else should enjoy the fun ride.

Recommended for: Sci-Fi fans, Star Trek fans, Cumberbatch fans, Action fans,

Please check back tomorrow for my review of the Wolverine.

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If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Cumberbatch in Star Wars, and Star Trek and the Wolverine Reviews Upcoming.

Benedict Cumberbatch is rumored to up for a role in the new Star Wars films! Although he had denied that he is involved in the film, Cumberbatch has said that he wants a part and has discussed the idea with J.J. Abrams. Considering that they worked together on Into Darkness, the idea is not entirely out of the question. It was also announced that Tom Hiddleston is replacing Cumberbatch in Del Toro's film, Crimson Peak. According to reports, Crimson Peak and Star Wars Ep. 7 are scheduled to be filming at the same time, therefore some have spectulated that is why Cumberbatch has left the project, although he claims that he had no knowledge of when Star Wars was filming. Now that the possibility is out there, do we actutally want Cumberbatch to play a part in the new Star Wars film after playing such a big part in Star Trek? Rumors are that he would play the villain in the Star Wars film. While Cumberbatch is a brilliant actor, particularly in the Sherlock TV series and Into Darkness, should he really play the villain in Star Wars? If he where to be cast in the Star Wars film, I would much prefer him to play a hero, thus against type and therefore would not be compared to his Trek counterpart. However, I would much prefer Tom Hiddleston to play a protagonist in the Star Wars film, but that is another discussion entirely.

 

Last night I rented Star Trek: Into Darkness and watched it, which my Twitter followers already know. The other news is that my local theater finally got The Wolverine, so I am going to see it tonight or tomorrow after over a month of waiting. Therefore, reviews for both films are going to be coming tomorrow, Friday, or Monday, depending upon how long it takes me to review each film and what time I have the reviews finished. Depending on which day my reviews of the films are posted, my aforementioned Firefly post will be on the day that the review is not posted on. After the reviews, I shall continue with the posts from the Reader's Choice picks, which you can still vote on if you have not already. As you might remember, one of my best friends Jamie, already wrote a guest post review for Star Trek: Into Darkness, which you can see here.

So what are your thoughts about Cumberbatch in Star Wars? Please comment below and check back for my upcoming reviews.

 

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.