2012 was a good year at the movies. We saw the culmination of Marvel's cinematic experiment, the climax of Christopher Nolan's Batman epic, and the return of James Bond to silver screens. And as is tradition at the end of one year and the beginning of another, people look back on the year's movies and decide which were the best. Well who am I to break tradition?
Top 10 Movies of 2012
Quick disclaimer. The Serial Wordsmith is not a professional critic, so I don't have a chance to see every movie that comes out. So if you're wondering why something like Zero Dark Thirty or The Master isn't on here, It's because I didn't see them. So without further ado...
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Top 10 reasons Santa is a total badass
Merry Christmas dear readers!
Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, I think we can all agree on spreading generosity and good will toward men. And there's no greater symbol of generosity than the big fat man himself, Santa Claus. Now as I write this, good ol' St. Nick is making his yearly trip around the world. Delivering presents to all good children. Hope you made the nice list all.
But, did you know that much like that other great spirit of Christmas, John McClane, Santa is a complete and total badass? It's true. While he's a jolly old guy most of the time, Santa isn't afraid to throw down when the occasion warrants. So in the spirit of the season, I'm proud to present...
The Top 10 Reasons Santa is a total badass
Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, I think we can all agree on spreading generosity and good will toward men. And there's no greater symbol of generosity than the big fat man himself, Santa Claus. Now as I write this, good ol' St. Nick is making his yearly trip around the world. Delivering presents to all good children. Hope you made the nice list all.
But, did you know that much like that other great spirit of Christmas, John McClane, Santa is a complete and total badass? It's true. While he's a jolly old guy most of the time, Santa isn't afraid to throw down when the occasion warrants. So in the spirit of the season, I'm proud to present...
The Top 10 Reasons Santa is a total badass
Friday, December 21, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Should have sent a poet...
Pacific Rim trailer...
Glorious.
It reminds me of the first time the EVA unit was launched in Evangelion and nearby cars and phone booths were annihilated in the shockwave of its footfall. This trailer gives the robots that same impression of weight and enormity. They feel like giant robots. Bravo sirs.
Glorious.
It reminds me of the first time the EVA unit was launched in Evangelion and nearby cars and phone booths were annihilated in the shockwave of its footfall. This trailer gives the robots that same impression of weight and enormity. They feel like giant robots. Bravo sirs.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Jeans of Steel return
Oh hi new Man of Steel trailer.
Much better. This feels more like a Superman movie. I like the scope, going from a more intimate story with Clark as a kid discovering his powers and expanding out with big superhero stuff as he reveals himself as Superman. And I like that while it's ditched the Christopher Nolan "aesthetic" of dark realism, which wouldn't work for Superman, it's maintained the Nolan "tone" of portent and character focus. This trailer is actually reminding me thematically of Batman Begins, stripping the extraneous material and going back to basics with an iconic character to show why they are so iconic. And it doesn't use the BWAAAAMMMM!!!!!! noise. Good job Warner Bros.
But what's up with Pa Kent saying Clark should have let those kids on the bus die? That doesn't seem very Pa Kent-ish.
Much better. This feels more like a Superman movie. I like the scope, going from a more intimate story with Clark as a kid discovering his powers and expanding out with big superhero stuff as he reveals himself as Superman. And I like that while it's ditched the Christopher Nolan "aesthetic" of dark realism, which wouldn't work for Superman, it's maintained the Nolan "tone" of portent and character focus. This trailer is actually reminding me thematically of Batman Begins, stripping the extraneous material and going back to basics with an iconic character to show why they are so iconic. And it doesn't use the BWAAAAMMMM!!!!!! noise. Good job Warner Bros.
But what's up with Pa Kent saying Clark should have let those kids on the bus die? That doesn't seem very Pa Kent-ish.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Happy Birthday Ada Lovelace!
The Serial Wordsmith wishes a happy birthday to the Enchantress of Numbers, the world's first computer programmer. Back before we technically had computers.
Here's to one of the great women of science!
Here's to one of the great women of science!
Review of the Jedi: A Sunny Day in the Void
Join the Serial Wordsmith every Monday as he recaps and reviews the new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
(sigh) I really wasn't looking forward to this week's review. When I found out we were getting another episode of Gascon and the droids, I almost tried thinking of an excuse to avoid watching it. Despite not hating last week's episode, I really didn't think we needed more of this story. It was a decent one and done story that didn't need expansion. But we did get more. And I said I'd review the whole season, so here I am.
Our episode begins with the droids on their stolen Separatist shuttle heading for Coruscant with the secret decoder chip. R2 and the other astromechs are fixing up BZ after his body got shocked last episode. And despite having his brain taken out, BZ is more or less operational. I'm kind of confused by him. The weird German alien took out his memory banks for Gascon's command center but he seems rather autonomous. How does that work? Wack is piloting when something bad happens. Their shuttle is entering a comet storm. This is really confusing because their ship is going through hyperspace. Doesn't that mean their ship is going at lightspeed? If so, what's the comet storm going to do? If they're going lightspeed they'll pass through before any of the comets can hit them. Maybe I just don't get how hyperspace works.
But I guess this is a problem because Gascon orders them to drop out of hyperspace. It seems like this would make it easier for them to get hit by comets but whatever. And lo and behold, their ship is hit by a comet knocking out their engines. Wack maneuvers them through the comets but if the engines aren't fixed they'll be smashed to bits. R2 and the other astromechs head outside to fix the engines and the one dramatic moment of the episode happens. QT gets knocked off the ship, only to be caught by Lucky the orange conehead, who is knocked off and caught by R2, who is knocked off and caught by BZ. Needless to say, they fix the engines and save each other. Unfortunately, their stabilizers are hit and they crash on a nearby planet.
More after the break,
(sigh) I really wasn't looking forward to this week's review. When I found out we were getting another episode of Gascon and the droids, I almost tried thinking of an excuse to avoid watching it. Despite not hating last week's episode, I really didn't think we needed more of this story. It was a decent one and done story that didn't need expansion. But we did get more. And I said I'd review the whole season, so here I am.
Our episode begins with the droids on their stolen Separatist shuttle heading for Coruscant with the secret decoder chip. R2 and the other astromechs are fixing up BZ after his body got shocked last episode. And despite having his brain taken out, BZ is more or less operational. I'm kind of confused by him. The weird German alien took out his memory banks for Gascon's command center but he seems rather autonomous. How does that work? Wack is piloting when something bad happens. Their shuttle is entering a comet storm. This is really confusing because their ship is going through hyperspace. Doesn't that mean their ship is going at lightspeed? If so, what's the comet storm going to do? If they're going lightspeed they'll pass through before any of the comets can hit them. Maybe I just don't get how hyperspace works.
But I guess this is a problem because Gascon orders them to drop out of hyperspace. It seems like this would make it easier for them to get hit by comets but whatever. And lo and behold, their ship is hit by a comet knocking out their engines. Wack maneuvers them through the comets but if the engines aren't fixed they'll be smashed to bits. R2 and the other astromechs head outside to fix the engines and the one dramatic moment of the episode happens. QT gets knocked off the ship, only to be caught by Lucky the orange conehead, who is knocked off and caught by R2, who is knocked off and caught by BZ. Needless to say, they fix the engines and save each other. Unfortunately, their stabilizers are hit and they crash on a nearby planet.
More after the break,
Friday, December 7, 2012
Star Trek into Dark Knight
So we've had the first poster and teaser for JJ Abrams' second Star Trek sequel dropped on us. And yes, it is called Star Trek Into Darkness without a colon. As stupid as that is.
Anyway the poster. It's okay. Nice and ominous, with Benedict Cumberbatch's villain standing amidst wreckage and a big Starfleet insignia hole. Not very revealing plotwise, which is what everybody's really interested in because Abrams and Co. just won't fricking tell us anything. And like I joked in the title, this poster totally rips off The Dark Knight's poster. Big recognizable symbol hole, and the bad guy with his back turned and coat billowing much like the Joker in the other Dark Knight poster. But whatever, it's a teaser poster. Those are mostly just to remind audiences the movie is still coming out and get them interested.
Teaser and speculation after the break
Monday, December 3, 2012
Review of the Jedi: Secret Weapons
Join the Serial Wordsmith every Monday as he recaps and reviews the new season Star Wars: The Clone Wars
We take a break from our usual war antics this week with something a little different. The Republic has managed to intercept one of General Grievous' encoded messages but without the key they aren't able to decode it. Guess they don't have an Enigma machine. But they have learned that the Separatists' decoder chip is onboard the cruiser Dreadnought and have come up with a daring if unorthodox plan. Four astromech droids will infiltrate the Dreadnought and steal the decoder chip. The idea being that the battle droids won't suspect other droids to be working for the Republic. Not a bad plan actually. In addition to our four astro droids (R2, a pink girl droid named QT, an orange conehead and a green one called BZ) on this mission are a pilot droid named Wack and Col. Gascon (we'll get back to him). Wack is the only droid who actually talks so of course he's an annoying fuckup. His arrogance and slapstick get grating after not too long, though he gets less annoying as the episode continues. Col. Gascon is, well...
Tiny. Like less than a foot tall tiny. He's a little slug/frog alien who's orchestrated this secret mission. After Wack gets off on the wrong foot with him, Gascon leads the astros to get some special upgrades. From a weird tentacly German-sounding alien doctor. Seriously, he sounds like a stereotypical Nazi mad scientist. This guy comes out of nowhere and is only onscreen for a single scene but it's really immersion breaking. Anyway, the weird German alien gives R2 new rockets, QT a flying magnet in her head and the conehead a powerful laser. What about BZ? He hollows out his head so Col. Gascon can drive his body around as a disguise. And sounds way too happy about taking the poor droid's brain out.
More after the break,
We take a break from our usual war antics this week with something a little different. The Republic has managed to intercept one of General Grievous' encoded messages but without the key they aren't able to decode it. Guess they don't have an Enigma machine. But they have learned that the Separatists' decoder chip is onboard the cruiser Dreadnought and have come up with a daring if unorthodox plan. Four astromech droids will infiltrate the Dreadnought and steal the decoder chip. The idea being that the battle droids won't suspect other droids to be working for the Republic. Not a bad plan actually. In addition to our four astro droids (R2, a pink girl droid named QT, an orange conehead and a green one called BZ) on this mission are a pilot droid named Wack and Col. Gascon (we'll get back to him). Wack is the only droid who actually talks so of course he's an annoying fuckup. His arrogance and slapstick get grating after not too long, though he gets less annoying as the episode continues. Col. Gascon is, well...
Tiny. Like less than a foot tall tiny. He's a little slug/frog alien who's orchestrated this secret mission. After Wack gets off on the wrong foot with him, Gascon leads the astros to get some special upgrades. From a weird tentacly German-sounding alien doctor. Seriously, he sounds like a stereotypical Nazi mad scientist. This guy comes out of nowhere and is only onscreen for a single scene but it's really immersion breaking. Anyway, the weird German alien gives R2 new rockets, QT a flying magnet in her head and the conehead a powerful laser. What about BZ? He hollows out his head so Col. Gascon can drive his body around as a disguise. And sounds way too happy about taking the poor droid's brain out.
More after the break,
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