Heroes: The Eclipse Part 1

So I actually dozed off during this week's episode. That's a first. It wasn't long...maybe a few seconds, but I'm still a bit confused about what's going on. Perhaps I should have rewinded. But I didn't really care enough to. What are Peter and Nathan up to? Why are they being chased through the jungle? The 10-year-old Hiro thing continues to be frustrating. At least Parkman realizes his potential. But I get the sense that the writers are sending Hiro on another wild goose chase. Another thought. The eclipse takes away their powers. Is there any guarantee they'll get their powers back? I kind of think it would be cool if they were all granted completely new powers. Or swapped powers. It would definitely be a cool way to re-shuffle the deck. But I seriously doubt anything that drastic will occur. The appearance of Seth Green as the comic shop owner could go either way. I'm hoping it's a bit more than a cameo. Re-grounding the series back in the 9th Wonder comic would be a step in the right direction.

Max Payne

So you'd think a movie based on an M-rated game would be rated R. After all, you have to be 17 to play the game, shouldn't you be 17 to see the movie? At least that was my assumption. But I was wrong. Max Payne is PG-13 for some reason. This became immediately clear within the first 20 minutes or so. The first clue was the complete lack of f-bombs. Noticeable, particularly given the cop-on-the-edge/revenge genre, but something I can live without. Another clue was the tame action sequences. Now the game is brutal, with blood splattering everywhere as Max blasts his way through level after level utilizing a bullet time-like feature that slows down the action, giving the player time to score devastating (and messy) headshots while diving laterally...very John Woo. Some of the bullet time stuff made it into the movie, but there was virtually no gore, even when Max takes out some bad guys at close range with a shotgun. Still, even a hard R rating couldn't have saved this movie. For an action flick, there's hardly any. Most of the movie consists of Mark Wahlberg sulking from one scene to the next attempting to solve a puzzle that an infant could piece together in a few seconds. Who killed Max's family? You'll know the killer's identity as soon as he appears on screen. So aside from some interesting visuals, including lots of shots of snow falling in slow motion, this one's a complete turd.

The Fall

Remember The Cell? You know, the Jennifer Lopez flick with that dude from Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show? Anyway, The Fall was directed by the same guy, Tarsem Singh. It's really an amazing looking film, especially on Blu-Ray. That's mainly why I picked it up. The clarity of the black & white opening sequence will make your head explode. The story isn't bad either. Set in a LA hospital around the 1920s, it sort of follows a Princess Bride "tell me a story" template with a young migrant girl filling in as Fred Savage and an injured motion picture stuntman taking on the Peter Falk role. Okay, maybe that's not a fair comparison, but that's all I kept thinking about while I was watching it. The girl even interrupts the story, just like Kevin Arnold. Anyway, it's worth a look especially in HD.

Chinese Democracy

Speaking of comebacks, Chinese Democracy is streaming on GnR's MySpace. There's no way any album 17 years in the making can live up to expectations so I wouldn't be surprised if the album gets slammed in the media. One reviewer pointed out that if you had bought a kitten on the day the Use Your Illusions albums were released, your cat would be dead by now. I recommend listening to the entire album in one sitting if you can. It has a rock opera feel with more ballads than radio friendly tracks. Overall it's pretty good and the more I listen to it the better it sounds.

Mickey Rourke is The Wrestler

So how many comebacks does Mickey Rourke get? I've heard a lot of good stuff about this movie and was totally sold when I saw a still in EW a few weeks back. Now the trailer is up and it looks great. Just perfect casting. Sort of reminds me of Beyond the Mat. Looks like he has a Jake "The Snake" Roberts thing going on. I know at least one of us will be seeing this movie...

Welcome to FilmRantz!

This has been a long time coming. Like 8 years or something. Anyway, I decided to put this up today while on the treadmill at the gym...a great place to brainstorm, though still inferior to the bathroom. So what's the point? FilmRantz (formerly MovieRantz) is a place where my friends and I can keep in touch, discussing what movies, tv shows, music, games that we've watched/listened to/played. Why? There's just not enough time to experience everything so this is an attempt to cut through the dense clutter of pop culture. What's good? What sucks? What must be avoided at all costs? Most importantly, I trust the opinions of my friends more than I do anyone else. They know what I like and I know what they like. This is not a normal review blog and we aren't striving to demonstrate any sense of objectivity. Instead, it's more of a stream of consciousness approach, much like the e-mails we write back and forth to each other. This is just a more permanent home for our ramblings.