Author thegeekregistry

Green Lantern

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Green Lantern was a much maligned movie that I feel very strongly did not deserve the poor reviews it received. Was it a great movie? No. Was it bad like Ghost Rider? No. It was a very entertaining film that had more good moments than bad.

The positive…

I felt that Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern was a good fit. I do agree with a lot of people that Nathan Fillion would have been better, but with Reynolds they got a very well known actor who did a good job in the role.

Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond was another strong point. You did feel sympathy for him regarding his strained relationship with his father, but he was a creepy villain that you definitely wanted to see get his behind kicked.

Possibly the best part of the movie was Mark Strong as Sinestro. He is not yet the villain, but Strong did a masterful job of portraying a complex character and giving just the right amount of nuance to hint at his eventual turn in future movies.

The not so positive…

Parallax…the main issue is the CGI was just not up to par. He looked too cartoony at times. Also, he is a major villain who affects Hal Jordan in a major way  in the comics and having been relegated to just a one-off in this first movie seemed a real waste. Parallax is a nemesis that should have been built up to in future movies for a much more dramatic final battle.

Blake Lively as Carol Ferris was sort of eh..she was not terrible, but her portrayal of Ferris could have been much better especially since this a major character in the Green Lantern universe and goes though many interesting changes.

The most unfortunate situation with the mostly negative reaction to the movie is we will not get any sequels. Seeing Sinestro’s full turn in a second movie would have been amazing, but we will have too settle for only a small scene in the credits. With a full-on, bad guy Sinestro, the second movie could have taken a huge leap forward in quality in many people’s eyes. I really feel a second movie could have righted the ship for many people and perhaps made this a more viable franchise.

With Warner Bros./DC pushing ahead with a Justice League movie I really hope they include the character of Green Lantern. He is an important part of the League and whether they recast Hal Jordan or go with the John Stewart version, I sincerely hope they do not leave this character out due to the solo movie’s negative reception.

It is a good movie that deserves a viewing no matter what you may have heard about it.

Community

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One of my favorite shows of the past 5 years has been NBC’s Community. Funny, beyond irreverent, tons of in-jokes, and just downright awesome, this was a show to watch for people looking for a truly unique comedy. The hope was for a 6th and final season with a movie to wrap it all up, but that will not occur since NBC cancelled the show and per the creator’s they are not looking to move the show to another viewing option.

Not counting the disjointed season 4, this show always provided great humor and biting commentary. The show is filled with wonderful actors and performances, but the stand out for me was always Abed played by Danny Pudi. Abed was a character disconnected from reality, but who was always there for his friends when it counted. I was always frustrated that Pudi was never nominated for an Emmy because he was truly deserving with his amazing portrayal of a truly complicated character.

The problem the show had was that NBC insisted on pairing it against Big Bang Theory for most of it’s run. No one can or will beat that show in the ratings so I could not help but feel like NBC was trying to make the show fail, but the fans kept it alive as long as possible.

If you have not had a chance to watch this show you can view all the episodes through Hulu Plus. It is worth your time and will probably leave you wishing for a 6th season as well.

WCW Halloween Havoc 1998 & 1999

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My original intention was to review the final 3 Halloween Havocs today and move on to other wrestling PPV’s, but I have had such difficulty getting through the final one in 2000 that I will just go over ’98 and ’99 now and force my way through 2000 for next week. The quality of shows is getting worse and worse.

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1998 actually could have been a great PPV if it was not for one match that was so embarrassingly bad that it brought the rest of the show down.

Starting off with the good:

Chris Jericho beats Raven – Two great characters and terrific performers who started the show off on the right foot. Lots of great high flying spots which ended with Raven submitting to the Lion Tamer.

Disco Inferno over Juventud Guerrera – Disco Inferno was a ridiculous character but he could perform well in the ring. The winner of this match received the right to face Billy Kidman later in the show for the Cruiserweight Championship which leads us to…

Billy Kidman defeating Disco to retain the belt – Kidman was a great wrestler and this match came off great. Fast paced with some great spots with Kidman winning using the shooting star press.

Bret Hart taking out Sting – A match that everyone wanted to see for a long time and finally got the chance. Overall, a good match between two legendary performers.

Now for the one match that destroyed it all…

Hollywood Hogan vs. Warrior – Holy crap was this bad. I have heard about this match for years as being possibly the worst of all time and although I cannot confirm that since I have yet to see every wrestling match of all time I can validate the fact that this match is the worst I have seen yet. I would rather watch Al Snow vs. Big Bossman in a kennel match (look it up on Youtube) 100 times in a row than watch this stinker a second time. It was supposed to be a historic rematch for the ages, but the problem was, in my opinion, Hogan. At this point in his career he just could not put on a great match anymore. He needed to have the right person to work with and even though I feel Warrior was perfectly fine in the match, the way it was scripted no one could look good. The icing on the cake is when Hogan attempted to do the old fireball in the face trick and he fumbled his way through it and wound up burning himself in one of the most embarrassing moments in his career. I feel the main issue is WCW itself. The fall of the organization was beginning and bad booking and pure ignorance is what started the fall.

Amazingly enough, there was one more match that night and thank goodness for it…

Bill Goldberg retained the World Title over DDP – Many people consider it the best match ever on a Halloween Havoc card and they are correct. Both guys were in their prime and busted ass to compensate for the previous match that almost destroyed the show. What I did not know was that when this show aired live the people who had paid for the PPV did not get to see the final match. The PPV lasted well over 3 hours and the cable/satellite companies were prepared for 3 hours, which is the standard, so the show ended abrubtly. The match was aired on Monday Nitro the next night for free and WCW had to refund the people who purchased the show the night before.

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1999 was just weird. It seemed rushed together and was just a giant cluster you-know-what.

Eddy Guerrero beating Saturn was fun. Rick Steiner over Chris Benoit was good. DDP getting a big win over Ric Flair was neat. Then there was Hogan being beaten by Sting. Hogan lies down and tells Sting to pin him which he does. No explanation. Everyone in the crowd sat there with blank looks on their faces as did I. Just nonsensical garbage that should have been explained.

At the end of the show was a 3 minute out of nowhere match with Goldberg winning the World title over Sting. Huh?! The outcome of the match was fine but the shortness of it was bizarre to say the least. The longest match was just shy of 13 minutes which gave this show the feeling of being rushed together and everyone involved just wanting to get it done with and get out there ASAP. WCW was now on its last legs and it really shows.

One more Halloween Havoc to go and I can finally move on to the good stuff.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

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Nicolas Cage is an interesting actor. Is he a great actor? No…he is the same person in every role he has ever played. Has he been in more bad movies than good? Yes. Are some of the same movies worth a watch only because of Cage’s over the top and very unique acting style? Hell yes and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is one of those movies.

I keep hoping they will come out with a Ghost Rider movie that really honors the source material. I would love to see something similar to the first two Blade movies. Good quality R-rated horror. Two movies in and we have not gotten close, but since Marvel has regained the rights to the character recently perhaps there is hope for the future. For now we have these Nicolas Cage vehicles which are not good by any stretch of the imagination, but are fun nonetheless.

The first one was okay, but in terms of bad movies Spirit of Vengeance was the superior of the two. Cage was somehow even more over the top than the first film, but it worked in a bizarre way. I am always surprised that he is still a working actor, yet I find myself buying his films and actually enjoying them. I believe Mr. Cage is deserving of a long term, analytical study to determine why many people like myself still watch his work and actually do not feel guilty afterwards as we should.

This movie was strange and seemed like the director did not know what was going on half the time, but I still enjoyed this movie and paid attention throughout. I was going to go into more detail on the storyline, but figured that would be a waste of energy since it seemed to not be a focus of this film.

I enjoyed that there was a pivotal character named Danny who is a reference to the alter ego of another incarnation of Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch. I also enjoyed Idris Elba as Moreau. He was over the top as well, but Elba always adds a gravitas to his performances and it worked.

If you have Netflix and 96 minutes to kill and are not worried about losing a few brain cells, watch this movie and revel in the fact that Marvel has the rights back and will hopefully give us a great Ghost Rider movie in the future.

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Kirby Krackle

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Just a quick post today to send you in the right direction for finding good music.

One of my favorite current bands is Kirby Krackle. I first heard of them on a podcast I listened to regularly called Comic Geek Speak. There music is referred to as ‘nerd rock’ since the topic of their songs usually covers video games, comic books, and anything one would consider geeky.

Their debut self-titled album came out in 2009 and was a great start, but their second release, E for Everyone, was where they really hit their stride. The song Ring Capacity has to be one of the catchiest songs of all time. After hundreds of listens over the past couple of years I still have not gotten tired of the song.

You can purchase their albums and other merchandise at their website, http://kirbykracklemusic.com, or visit iTunes.

If you like catchy pop rock music and are into everything geeky then you will not be disappointed.

WCW Halloween Havoc 1997

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The 1997 edition of Halloween Havoc was another good one. WCW did have some truly good years and deserved to have a short reign at the top of the pro wrestling ladder and this PPV was a good example of why.

The highlights:

Yuji Nagata over Ultimo Dragon – An exciting match between two very talented cruiserweights. Ultimo Dragon was a solid performer and had many memorable matches in WCW.

Chris Jericho beats Gedo – Nine times out of ten Jericho has a great match and this was no exception. This is the first time I have ever seen Gedo and he worked quite well with the future Y2J.

Rey Misterio, Jr. defeats Eddy Guerrero – Two of the most talented wrestlers of all time. They were both great athletes and rarely had bad matches. They had a terrific in-ring chemistry that left you wanting both to win.

Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page – Another fun match between two guys that worked well together. It ended with interference from a fake Sting which surprisingly did not take away from what was a good match with a good story.

The lowlights:

Lex Luger losing to Scott Hall – Could have been a decent match if not for all of the interference. We are starting to witness the major issue with the NWO angle, it made no sense. Okay I get it, they are pretending to be an invading group trying to destroy WCW and from time to time they should get the upper hand. The problem is they got the upper hand way too often and made the rest of the roster look weak which does not help to sell an angle.

Roddy Piper vs. Hollywood Hogan in a steel cage match – it was okay, but seemed to go too long (even though is was only a 16 minute match) with more interference from the NWO which made me roll my eyes.

Despite those two matches it was another solid Halloween Havoc.

The final 3 will all be reviewed in next week’s post. 1998-2000 had some memorable matches, for bad or worse. This is when the wheels were coming off and WCW was nearing the end of it’s existence.

It is always nice to have competition no matter what industry you are in, but WCW really deserved to be put out of their misery which can be seen in the last 3 Halloween Havocs.

The Amazing Spider-Man

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With the recent release of Amazing Spider-Man 2 (which I have yet to see) I figured I would give my opinion on the first movie in the Spider-Man relaunch.

My first reaction to this movie was just how impressed I am by Andrew Garfield’s interpretation of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. For the most part I enjoyed the original Sam Raimi trilogy, but did not like Tobey Maguire’s performance. I thought he never got the character’s intricacies correct and just played him like the stereotypical nerd who just happens to get super powers. He never seemed comfortable when firing off Spider-Man’s trademark quips and in my opinion was not very believable in the dual role. Garfield is now the quintessential live action Spider-Man.

He nailed Parker’s awkwardness and the tragedy of his Uncle’s death, plus he perfectly captured the freedom the character feels dressed as Spider-Man with his snappy one liners and seemingly carefree attitude. In my opinion he was as perfect for the role as one could be. We will see him for at least 3 movies and I really look forward to his character progression.

The other improvement this movie made was in the female lead. Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane in the original 3 movies was a terrible choice. Mary Jane is a character that has personal issues but always hides it behind this perpetually positive attitude and outward confidence. Dunst clearly had no clue about the character and portrayed her as a brooding, emo girl which was a terrible decision on her part. To go with Gwen Stacy as the initial female lead in these new movies was not only a great idea, but the casting of Emma Stone was pure genius. Not only does she truly capture the character, but her chemistry with Garfield (I am sure dating in real life helped) really made this movie work on many levels.

Ryhs Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard also worked well despite the CGI for the villain being a little off in places. He was a sympathetic villain and played his part in the movie quite well.

The rest of the cast really rounded out the movie perfectly. Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Ben and May Parker was a great casting choice as was Denis Leary as Captain Stacy. Stan Lee’s expected cameo was also entertaining as always.

As for the movie itself, it was a great start for this reboot. I initially felt it was way too soon to completely recast the movie and pull the Hollywood reboot routine, but it worked out well and I am really looking forward to future installments.

With mixed opinions on the sequel and the fact that the studio seems to be going a little overboard announcing Venom and Sinister Six movies so soon, I cannot help but be a little concerned with the directions the franchise may be going in, but I will remain positive and look forward to more Spider-Man goodness for years to come.

FCBD 2014

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Free Comic Book Day was last Saturday and it was a blast. We visited two local comic book stores and got quite more than a few freebies with my favorites being the following:

2000 AD Special                            Archie Digest #1                           CBLDF: Defend Comics

2000AD                    Archie                    STK634409_TN

There were many more great comic books, but these are the 3 that really stood out for me.

One of the things I enjoy the most about FCBD is getting to learn about local artists I may have not heard of and this year was no exception.

A gentleman by the name of Josh Kirby had a table set up in our first stop of the day, Gotham City Comics (https://www.facebook.com/gothamcitycomics). He was very polite and not pushy about buying his artwork (which are always two major plusses for me). He has a unique art style that I absolutely love. His very interesting take on well known characters is fun and crazy and I made sure to buy a print from him to add to my ever growing collection.

He has his own comic creation called Rebel Girl that he is currently working on and you can learn more about it at http://www.therebelscomic.com.

Definitely check this guy out because you will not be disappointed.

Another FCBD has come and gone and I cannot wait until the 2015 edition!

 

 

WCW Halloween Havoc 1996

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Now things are getting interesting in WCW.

This is the year when the NWO angle started which helped WCW to have a 2 year or so run as the top wrestling promotion in the U.S. Even though it was a huge angle that lasted a few years too long, the true key to WCW’s success at this time was the new crop of wrestlers they had on their roster and this Halloween Havoc was a great example of this.

The PPV started off with Dean Malenko defeating Rey Misterio, Jr. to win the Cruiserweight Championship – This was a great example of the talent level WCW had at this time as these two got the show off to a fantastic start. Two top notch wrestlers who had differing styles that worked perfectly together.

Diamond Dallas Page over Eddy Guerrero – Eddy Guerrero was a great mix of high flyer and mat wrestler. DDP was a guy who got his start in the business at a later than normal age, yet kept himself in shape and worked hard to put on some classic matches that defied time. This was a terrific match that really showcased both performers.

Syxx over Chris Jericho – Never really liked Syxx/123 Kid/X-Pac/Dumbass (not an official name), but he could put a good match when he tried and with Chris Jericho at the top of his game this was another excellent match from an overall great show.

The Outsiders beat Harlem Heat for the Tag Team titles – Excellent match from four big guys who could put on a great show when they worked at it. Harlem Heat always seemed to work hard and put on good matches. The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) got lazy towards the end of their WCW run, but when they put out the effort, as they did in this match, they really showed everyone how talented they truly were.

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After all of these good matches you cannot help but be concerned about the main even featuring Hollywood Hogan and Randy Savage. Even though Savage was late in his career, he still put on some classic matches, but Hogan was definitely past his prime. Fortunately, this match was worked perfectly with a bit of comedy thrown in. Hogan came out wearing a hair piece that came into play during the match when Savage pulled it off and wore it himself. Overall, this was a good, solid main event despite Rowdy Roddy Piper coming out at the end and giving one of the most boring promos ever. I love Roddy Piper. He was a great wrestler and terrific promo guy. This was a poor example of it. It went so long the PPV just abruptly had to end which was great, since it got to the point of embarrassment.

Despite the ending promo, this was an excellent show that proved WCW could be a very good promotion when they tried.

1997 was pretty solid as well and will be the sole PPV featured next week.

 

Star Wars…Nothing But Star Wars…

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This is posting the day after a terrific weekend that started with Free Comic Book Day 2014 and ended with Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you).

The very first movie I ever saw in the theaters was Star Wars (back then it was not referred to as Episode IV: A New Hope). This movie left an indelible impression on my life that has stuck with me for many years. It was fun, exciting, well written, and something very new that paved the way for all science fiction movies to come.

I will give just a brief opinion without spoilers (not sure if there is anyone left who has not watched these movies or at least knows all the details about them) of all six movies starting with the original trilogy.

Episode IV: A New Hope – Simply WOW. As a little kid my parents figured this movie kind of “flew” over me since I did not react much to our first viewing. When we went to see it a second time I was giving a scene by scene replay of the majority of the movie before anything even occurred on the screen. This movie impacted a lot of ’70’s/’80’s kids in a positive way and I was no exception. I actually feel this movie led to my eventual love of Star Trek since it really opened my eyes to the excitement of science fiction.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back – For most original trilogy fans this is the best in the series and I can see why. It really delved in to the background of this universe and gave us some very shocking and impactful moments. From beginning to end it was exciting and getting to meet Yoda and Lando Calrissian was the icing on the cake.

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi – This was my absolute favorite of the 3 original movies and one of my favorite movies period. It was exciting from start to finish and I do not find the Ewoks annoying at all. It had a great ending that really wrapped up the storyline and was a very fitting conclusion in my opinion.

One brief aside…the above opinions are based on the original, un-bastardized versions of the movies. The repeated Special Editions were unnecessary and blasphemous in my not-so-humble opinion. Especially when they added in a Force-Ghost version of Hayden Christensen to ROTJ.

Which leads me too (drum roll please)…the recent trilogy.

Hmmm…I was very excited when these movies were announced, but overall disappointed. And no, it is not because of some wistful look back at when I was a child (I feel the two recent Star Trek remakes are terrific), it is because they are not as good as the original movies.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace – I was so excited to see this. I just knew it was going to be great. Oh well, that is what I get for blind faith. The extreme CGI took out the organic feeling of Star Wars that made it so appealing. The acting was overall wooden. Jar Jar Binks was just plain stupid. Jake Lloyd’s Anakin Skywalker was an embarrasment and almost destroyed Darth Vader’s mythos. That kid is the worst child actor in history and should be shunned for all time. I liked Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn, but thought the character was wasted. Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi was so-so, but that will change in the next movie. Ray Park’s Darth Maul was the best thing in that movie, but still felt wasted. Not a good start to modern Star Wars movies.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones – Better than the first, but still not as good as any of the originals. Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Queen Amidala got increasingly better in these movies, but was overall wooden. For such a good actress she did not really seem to give any effort in this trilogy. Hayden Christensen as an older Anakin is better than Lloyd, but still made the future Darth Vader look like a pansy. McGregor really owned the character of Obi-Wan in this movie. He really seemed to understand the character better and did a great job. I enjoyed learning more about the future Boba Fett and how the Stormtroopers came to be. Overall, it was better than Episode I, but still not worthy of the Star Wars name.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – The best of the new trilogy by far. Christensen was much more convincing in his role. Obi-Wan got to kick some serious butt and we got to witness some key Star Wars lore that was hinted at in the original trilogy. If the effort that was put in to this film was put in to the previous two, we could have gotten a trilogy that may have rivaled the original films, but that was not meant to be.

I for one cannot wait for Episode VII. I feel that J.J. Abrams will do an excellent job with the franchise and make us forget about Episodes I-III. If he does not, he should be banned from making movies ever again.