63. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Code-name: Graphic Novel Triumph
Director: Edgar Wright (yeah, the same dude who did all those Simon Pegg movies, totally fooled me)
Type: Nerdgasmic Fantasy, Romance, Comedy
Cast:

[Sex Bob-omb]
Scot Pilgrim- Michael Cera
Kim- Alison Pill
Stephen- Mark Webber
Young Neil- Johnny Simmons

[Scott's girlfriends]
Ramona Flowers- Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Knives Chau-Ellen Wong
Envy Adams- Brie Larson

[The League of Evil Exes]
Matthew Patel (the "pirate")- Satya  Bhabha
Lucas Lee (the movie star) Chris Evans
Roxy Richter (bi-curious lover)- Mae Whitman
Todd Ingram (the vegan)- Brandon Routh
Ken Katayanagi- Shota  Saito
Kyle Katayanagi- Keita Saitou
Gideon- Jason Schwartzman

[Others]
Scott's Roommate, Wallace- Kieran Culkin
Scott's sister, Stacey Pilgrim- Anna Kendrick
Julie Powers- Aubrey Plaza
Comeau [knows everybody]- Nelson Franklin

Write-up/Play-by-play:

...is it a little too late to give warning for my NERD ALERT cuz, based on how I over organized the cast list, I've already crossed that threshold :-P
And I practically give the whole movie away, so be warned if you haven't seen it yet.
ample SPOILERS

Something as nerdtastic as this movie, you kinda have to go all out. Or as "out" as you can get even though you hadn't seen the movie in ages.

I remember seeing the trailers and just not getting it. I thought it was going to be so stupid, etc, etc.
I remember the exact night I gave it a chance and changed my mind completely within seconds...

Lady Gaga's Monster Ball was premiering on HBO and I had to kill the 2 hour period beforehand.
Both were clear triumphs in my mind, but there are few things I love more in movies that unexpected pleasures like this. Going into a movie and experiencing it not only made me like it, but I LOVED it.

Apparently it IS based on a series of 6 graphic novels written by Bryan Lee O'Malley. IMDB says he came up with the idea between two notions coming together.
a) if you found yourself having to fight for your life like the "Street Fighter" games you frequently play, and;
b) while dating his future wife, he found out she dated three guys named Matthew... the League of Matthews eventually evolved into the League of Evil Exes

Personally, my gaming style is more on the side of RPG and platform gaming... Spyro the Dragon, Jak & Daxter, and the Pokémon series... as well as some of the old school arcade games like Galaga and Pac-Man
But I can still appreciate the gaming references in this game for the sheer fact I am a bit of a geek :-P

As if some of my recent movie choices haven't given that away entirely :-P

This movie checks into my countdown just ahead of "Zombieland" because it is purely fun geek-dom that I wouldn't mind experiencing 100's of times... opposed to maybe half that with "Zombieland."

It's also a cut above "Zombieland" because the post-production touches go beyond the rules.
Every little second of this movie has some sort of add-in that makes you feel like you're inside a graphic novel. To me, that's just mind-blowingly awesome. There's no way to describe it other than it being a "full-blown nerdgasm"... opposed to the occasional nerdgasm "Zombieland" provides.

The video game references involved range from Street Fighter to Dance Dance Revolution to Zelda to, again, Pac-Man.
Only a dude as nerdy as Michael Cera could think of using the origin of "Pac-Man" as his pick-up line.

And for the record, I did know about that story... how Pac-Man was originally Puck-Man and they changed the name because people could tamper with it to make it obscene :-P
Although I didn't know "Puck" derived to the Japanese word for "to flap one's mouth".

Before going any father, I have to give credit to Nigel Godrich who put together the music in this movie. I'm not a heavy metal or punk type of music junkie, but it works so well in this capacity.
I mean, what's geekier than underground punk music? It's just as much an exclusive club of fans as I understand it.

Sex Bob-omb is such a kick-ass name too. That's a reference to a Mario villain that looks like a bomb with legs and eyeballs.... which reminds me, I forgot that Paper Mario was among the video games I play.
What supposedly sets them apart from the other bands in the underground scene is the fact they have a female drummer... until they go to one of the battle of the bands and finds out one of the other bands has a female drummer.

The previous time I saw Alison Pill in a movie was "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" and her character Kim couldn't be anymore different from Ella Fitzgerald. Kim is a bundle of joy, and I mean that in the most sarcastic way ;) as sarcastic as she speaks her lines, which is VERY.

I didn't think too much of Michael Cera before this movie. To be honest, I still don't. I saw him in "Juno" and thought he was a good guy. He played up the nerdy guy archetype to the max. And afterwards, I took the time to see "Superbad" (which I hated because Jonah Hill played such a jerk) and "Youth in Revolt," which wasn't meant to be a good movie in the first place.
Word is, though, he is great in that 2013  film "This is the End"... until he was a casualty of the impeding apocalypse.
Between him and Jesse Eisenberg, I take Jesse a little more seriously and he's the better looking of the two.

Scott Pilgrim is meant to be the quintessential nerdy guy who is likely to die a virgin because no respecting girl would be with him.
At least that's the way I interpret it... not that I believe all nerdy guys are doomed to die virgins. That's just the wildly accepted stereotype.

However, he begins this movie in a relationship...  with a 17-girl Chinese school girl named Knives Chau.
As a sucker for Japanese animation, I responded to that almost immediately and couldn't wait to see what was next.
Obviously, Ramona Flowers is what happens.

Funny enough, Scott sees Ramona in a dream... so she IS his "dream girl," but it turns out that she's real. Right now, he's into her and more or less forgets he's together with Knives.
He breaks this off sooooo awkwardly, but it certainly isn't the first time we see Knives in the movie. Which is awesome because she's one of my favorite characters. You will never find a more enthaustic fangirl for an underground band nobody's heard of ;)
I also thought her to be the girl in the latest Peppermint Patty ads, but that's another actress entirely :-P my bad... goes to show how much I loved the character and this movie.

Scott meets Ramona, who has pink hair.
That resonated with me because of the sheer fact another movie on my list features a girl who wears a pink wig to hid her identity when she's not posing as someone else.

They don't exactly hit it off right away, but once they do, she tells him that he may have to defeat her 7 evil exes if they're going to be together.

And so it begins....

In the oddest of times, most of which happen the same night Sex Bob-omb has a gig... the evil exes arrive to fight Scott to the death.

Matthew Patel is more of a Street Fight, ending with a direct hit and him bursting into a pile of coins.

Lucas Lee is on the set of his latest movie. Scott happens to be there because she's hanging out with his roommate Wallace (who is gay-stalking him)..
Wallace steals the show more than once, probably one of the most hilarious characters in the movie. He also happens to be at the center of several running jokes in the movie. The one that had my jaw dropping in hilarity was where Scott shoots out of bed, followed by Wallace and his boyfriend(s). What's really insane is when Wallace makes eyes at Scott's sister's boyfriend and within 10 minutes, they're making out. Almost as if Wallace's presence frees closeted gays from the closet.

Scott manages to beat Lucas in a skateboard challenge and wins when Lucas overshoots his bounds and gets himself "killed".
...with the exception of the final ex, there is no blood in any of these altercations.

Another "gag" throughout the movie is Ramona's changing hair color.
After defeating Matthew Patel, her hair is blue the next time Scott sees her. He gets so bent out of shape about it (perhaps more that she's nonchalant about the change and didn't tell him).



Once Knives finds out about her, she dyes her hair half blue in an attempt to win Scott back. Unfortunately, in the one of the "evil ex" confrontations, she gets the dye punched out of her hair. She looked good with the blue, but it is my favorite color.



A few victories later, her hair changes to green, which doesn't look nearly as good as pink and blue.

On multiple occasions, Ramona corrects Scott, emphasizing that she has 7 "exes," opposed to ex-boyfriends... this distinction helps include Roxy in the movie... Ramona helps Scott with that fight because, evil ex or not, he doesn't want to hit a girl.
The "bi-furious" line was the only one I remembered from the trailers and I say, ain't nothin' wrong with that 8-)

Another villain featured in the movie was Scott's ex-girlfriend Envy Adams, who left Sex Bob-omb for another band. For a short time, she holds power over Scott, but after defeating her vegan boyfriend (another evil ex) Todd Ingram, that gets taken care of.
Supposedly being vegan gives you superpowers, but because Scott slips him coffee with half and half, his powers get revoked by the vegan police.
I know, totally weird, but who really cares at this point?

Envy also incurred one of my favorite running gags. She would make a comment about Scott's hair getting shaggy and a split second later, you'd see him hiding it under a knit hat :-P


Not did they have all these cool post-production touches with various words and video-game widgets on the screen throughout the movie, but the editing was so sharp from scene to scene... giving it a pace so fast you can't help but pay attention to everything going on.
Another great moment, which a few people loaded to YouTube, is where Scott jumps out the window to escape facing Knives... a moment later, Wallace says Scott isn't around.

The Katayanagi twins show up at another battle of the bands and take on Sex Bob-omb. It's a battle of guitars vs. keyboards, monsters vs. dragons. Ultimately, Scott comes out on top again, only to lose Ramona to Gideon... who happens to be Gman, the person Sex Bob-omb was hoping would sign them to his record label if he liked them.

Gideon would prove to be the toughest ex to defeat (also one of the coolest characters, even with how annoyingly arrogant he can be) and it would take EVERYONE to defeat him... including Knives, who fights alongside Scott in the style of their favorite arcade game, which combines ninja skills and dance dance revolution.

Once it's all finished, it felt like a very open-ended deal. Would Scott choose Knives because their final battle showed them to be the better team? Or would he choose Ramona, who he fought this entire movie to be with?
Knives makes the final choice and pushes Scott to Ramona... and there you have it.

64. Zombieland (2009)

Code-name: survival guide

Director: Ruben Fleischer
Type: comedy, spoof, zombie apocalypse

Cast:
Columbus- Jesse Eisenberg
Tallahassee- Woody Harrelson
Wichita- Emma Stone
Little Rock- Abigail Breslin
Bill Murray as himself

[Program Notes]

I felt bad that my "Inception" discussion wasn't as good as it could have been, so I decided I'd do two reviews this week... both are of movies that allow me to nerd out like nobody's business.
Both also happen to feature nerdy young actors who get thrown together in the same conversation because they happen to do the same types of movies.

...except Michael Cera wasn't nominated for an Oscar... on that alone, I pretty much spoiled my next review :-P but I don't really care.

How I Arrived

This movie wasn't based on a novel (graphic or otherwise), but written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.
One of the messageboards on IMDB labels is as "America's answer to 'Shaun of the Death'.."
I saw half of that movie and one of these days, just for the heck of it, I'll see the rest. Most likely this upcoming Halloween, seeing as that was the other time I tuned in.

I was attracted to this movie for a number of reasons and ultimately its contents were what brought me back for the future engagements.
Only 2-3 times in total, so bear with me if my memory isn't great.

First of all, it sounded like something I could get into due to the sheer fact I am NOT a fan of the horror genre. I don't like gore or anything likely to keep me up at night.
My biggest weak spot on those grounds are psychological thrillers that involve possession.
That's right: I didn't sleep after seeing "The Exorcist" but it took me 2-3 hours to fall asleep after seeing "Nightmare on Elm Street".

"Zombieland" was a clever premise in my view because they spoofed the genre, but not to the point where it was super goofy, therefore unwatchable.
If I see a legit zombie movie, I have my eyes on the original "Dawn of the Dead" because it takes places in the mall... in the daytime. (In other words, I have no notions about seeing "Night of the Living Dead"...

Second of all, I liked Jesse Eisenberg. I saw him a couple of times previous.
"The Emperor's Club" is a great "inspirational teacher" story, but it came out long before his name stuck with me.
Then there was "Adventureland"... these two movies end with "land" by pure coincidence and happen to star Jesse Eisenberg.
Sure, he's a bit of a jerk in "The Social Network," but he has this awkward sort of charisma that I can't get enough of.
I guess you could say I'd consider him my type, if my taste at that particular time was for nerds.

Thirdly, I watched it (and rewatched it) in parts thanks to Emma Stone. A couple years ago, when she'd just become my new favorite young actress, I was seeing her in nearly everything.... like "Superbad" and "Crazy, Stupid, Love" (although it was a dual effort between her and Steve Carrel to pique my interest).

Why I Stuck Around

NERD ALERT!

This is where I'll start to nerd-out... just a little bit.

and as always- spoilers are afoot so tread lightly

I love it when I start watching a movie and within seconds, I know for a fact I'm going to love it and come back for multiple helpings.
Up front, I thought to myself how much I loved the post-production department in this movie. This goes hand-in-hand with my favorite feature in the movie:

Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is the type of guy who I describe as a shut-in suffering from pantophobia... the fear of everything (credit goes to Charlie Brown Christmas Special for teaching me that at such a young age :-P).
Then again, he does live in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by zombies, so who wouldn't be? (Well, I can think of one person, but he comes in a paragraph or two).
He is so uptight and freaked out that he developed his own rulebook.

I haven't read the best selling "Zombie Survival Guide" that predates this movie by quite a few years, but this was coolest thing since the idea for that book's creation.

The exposition transpiring through the first 2 minutes of the movie is nothing but Columbus's rules.
(Not all the rules are listed in the movie, and some are out of order, although rumor has it several promotional videos were released by Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson on YouTube)

1) Cardio
- you gotta be able to outrun zombies in order to survive (yes, these ARE fast zombies)

2) Double-tap
-my personal favorite, which I quote all the time in random movies
-ALWAYS double-tap, when you deal a deadly blow to the head of zombie, hit him twice to make sure he stays that way

3) Beware of bathrooms
-they show how one dude died in there because he didn't check all the stalls and lock the door

4) Seatbelts
-it goes without saying, really

7) Travel light
-live your life out of a suitcase, more or less

17) Don't be a hero
-as much as Columbus is into Wichita, he doesn't want to violate this rule because it might compromise the need to stay alive
-by the end, it is changed to "be a hero"... can't do much else when you forgo your own safety for the sake of young love. Thankfully, nobody dies in this movie but zombies

18) Limber
-the same as cardio, but Columbus uses a break in the action to stretch
- LOVE how the words "Limber Up" are jumping back and forth on screen

31) Check the back seats
- this was added at the end of the exposition
-you never know who might be lurking in a vacant car

32) Enjoy the little things-Tallahassee brings this up, probably after he reminiscing about his love for twinkies (more on that in a bit)

I don't just love the fact that the rules actually appear on screen, but the fact they come every time :-P
Little nerdtastic touches like that make my movie-watching experiences all the more enjoyable.

Once again, Woody Harrelson steals the show for me.
Definitely one of best unexpected pleasures I'd experienced over the past couple years.
He is SUCH a bad-ass in this, almost to the point where I'm tempted to use his performance to rate all bad-ass-ness in film.
He always carries plenty of ammo and isn't shy about using it. Sure, sometimes he takes it a little too far and you think he's a little demented because he enjoys it so much... but that's part of the deal.
As much as his love of Twinkies.

C'mon, I dare anyone who saw this movie to tell me they weren't thinking about this movie when Hostess went out of business.
Because it was the first time to come to my mind when it happened.
Now people like Tallahassee can rejoice because Twinkies are back in full force... although I'll admit, they do taste a little different. Maybe he'd throw a fit all the same because something tastes a little off nowadays with the Twinkies.

Probably the funniest scene is where the two of them find an overturned Hostess truck full of nothing but Sno-balls.
I remember my dad joining us for the second watch, and he said "ew" during the Sno-Balls scene... apparently they frequented his home during his childhood, no matter how much he disliked them.
Yep, getting the last box of Twinkies was his ultimate goal... kinda like Harold and Kumar with White Castle, except this was more of a side-quest.

The main objective of Zombieland is to stay alive.
Supposedly the disease generated when someone ate a burger made from a mad-cow-disease suffering cow and it escalated from there.

As much as I love Emma Stone, I found her a little abrasive during the first 15-20 minutes of her screen time.
She and her sister are together, but they operate like outlaws.
When they meet, she's saying how her sister has been infected by the disease and asks them to help "put her down." Then she changes her mind, saying she'll take care of it. Columbus hands her the gun... and they turn it on them and take everything they have, including their kick-ass Hummer.

The Hummer came from another great scene where Tallahassee says "Thank God for Rednecks"... the car was abandoned with tons of guns and ammo in the backseat.

The next couple times they meet, the girls outsmart the guys and take everything they have.
By which point, I'm like "for the love of God, just work together already!!"
It was frustrating as hell, man.
Luckily, my wish was granted, but it took longer than it should have.

After the foursome officially join forces (although their trust remains displaced for quite some time), their goal is to see Pacific Playground, a theme park said to be zombie-free.

Hilary ensues along the way as they have to fight their way through zombies to get to the park... of course, it isn't entirely zombie-free, so there's one last huge battle.

Best of all, Tallahassee gets to enjoy his Twinkies :w00t:

Final Mentions

In my first review of this, I actually made a comment that Jesse Eisenberg's character "looked like something written with Michael Cera in mind" and "the similarities were glaringly obvious and I've found no reason to put the two actors together in a thought before"

Interestingly, I made a comment recently that I know there's a distinct difference between the two. They don't always do the same types of movies, although the Michael Cera movie I have coming later this week is pretty darn close to this... if not more awesome.

Of course I can't finish this off without bringing Bill Murray into the mix...
while the foursome is out in Hollywood, they grab a star map and stop by Bill Murray's mansion.
I was just as shocked as Tallahassee when Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) said she didn't know who he was. They ended up going to a screening of Ghostbusters in the movie room, At least they started to.

The coolest thing was Bill Murray had the perfect survival plan... he did his own make-up and acting to blend in with the zombies so he wouldn't get eaten...
but the suckiest thing was he got killed... all because Tallahassee wanted to play a prank on Columbus

DUDE, don't scare a guy who's aimed!!
like, seriously... that was even more cringe-worthy than Emma Stone's earlier screen time... stuff that could be avoided if you don't neglect the obvious

Kinda like that AT&T commercial:



Girl: I'd rather be a slow turtle... I know why... because if you're slow, you don't get into the street as fast and get ran over
AT&T guy: but if you're in the middle of the street and you're slow, what happens? Austin?
Austin: :facepalm:
AT&t guy: exactly

Theatrical Review: Percy Jackson- Sea of Monsters

Date: August 10, 2013
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Time: 11:55am
Party: 2 (my sister and I)

Director: Thor Freudenthal ("Diary of a Wimpy Kid")
Type: YA, book-to-movie adaptation, sci-fi/fantasy, adventure

Length: 106 minutes (+3 previews)

Cast:
Percy Jackson- Logan Lerman
Grover Underwood- Brandon T. Jackson
Annabeth- Alexandra Daddario
Clarisse- Leven Rambin
Luke- Jake Abel
Tyson- Douglas Smith
Chiron- Anthony Head
Mr. D[ionysus]- Stanley Tucci
Hermes- Nathan Fillion
Polyphemus (voice)- Robert Mallet

Previews

2 new, 1 old

The third preview was for "Catching Fire"... the same I saw during "Now you see me"... not that I mind seeing another trailer, but I heard that they released a new one recently.
(Btw, they just announced the other day that "Now you see me" is getting a sequel... to which I say, just as long as it still includes the four horsemen and Mark Ruffalo, I'm a happy camper)

First up was for the next installment of "The Hobbit" trilogy.
And it looks like Orlando Bloom is back to resume his role of Legolas
:happydance:

Then was the sequel for "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".
I hadn't seen the original yet, but I dunno, there was something awfully intriguing about it. Supposedly the main character and a couple other people are going to find themselves in a land of creatures made of food.
I'm sure if my dad say it, he'd immediately blame it on drugs, as he does with a lot of things that don't make sense.
But they had a monster called "Taco-dile Supreme... apparently a killer taco.

I'm sorry, but that sounds AWESOME!!

...I wouldn't go as far as say I'm attracted by shiny objects, but I get a real kick out of the little things in life. Things that, by definition, are just "crazy enough to work" for me.

For the record, we were the only ones in the theater until at least 10 minutes into the movie. One or two people who brought a kid.
You hardly noticed they were there.

Faithful to the Book? Not So Much

Based on the look of trailers, I thought my greatest worry was that the movie wouldn't have the same feel as "The Lightning Thief." Heck, the slow motion and special effects looked like they might be a little goofy, as if they were thrown together like a cheesy Syfy Channel original movie.

Way back when "The Lightning Thief" was coming to theaters, I bought the first book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Much to my chagrin, I was unable to find "Sea of Monsters" for several months because, apparently, everyone else had the same idea. I did pick up "The Titan's Curse" and "Battle of the Labyrinth," but refused to read them until getting the next book in sequence.
Being a huge fan of Greek mythology, I devoured the book series.

I haven't reread the books since, so I knew there was a lot I wouldn't remember about this story.

In the long run, it will affect my rating somewhat because I like movies to be close to their work of origin.
While "The Lightning Thief" made a handful of chance to key plots points (the 2nd pearl's location being at Nashville rather than the St. Louis Arch; the lightning bolt coming from Luke's shield instead of Ares' backpack; Grover staying behind in the underworld instead of Percy's mom; location of the final battle scene occurring AFTER returning the lightning bolt)...

The only things in "Sea of Monsters" true to the book were the surprise ending, the origin of the barrier protecting Camp Half-Blood and the location of the Golden Fleece. Most of the time, they hit the right locations, but different things happened.
Almost as if this Thor Freudenthal dude didn't want to follow the book at all.

But after rereading the synopsis of the book on Wikipedia, I'll probably end up giving it up to "apples and oranges."
I will like certain things in both versions and pick and who did it best.

A Word for the Cast

With one exception, all the key players returned for this movie.

Pierce Brosnon was replaced by Anthony Head as the centaur camp leader Chiron. (It was a little odd, but kinda nice, to see Mr. Head in a nicer role. Unlike [the future King] Arthur's father in the BBC series "Merlin"... the ending of the series is still very bittersweet after all these months).

But the so-called "star power" was restored by casting Stanley Tucci as Mr. D (a.k.a. Dionysus). Don't get me wrong, I love me some Tucci. He's a great guy, but I didn't think they needed him just for the sake of having a professional actor on set.
The way I remember Mr. D in the book, he was scrappier, feistier and copped a helluvan attitude. Instead, they have him wise-cracking, not fully remembering names and passing off Annabeth's suggestion to find the Golden Fleece as his own idea.

Did you really need to play into that cliché, guys?

I didn't get why Alexandra had to dye her hair to play Annabeth. Was she described in the book as being blonde? Didn't they think the continuity would have been nice between the movies?
Although I love the character Tyson in the movie, I can't help but feel he was nothing like that in the book. I certainly don't remember him having any degree of eloquence in his speech.

I will, however, give a nod to two newcomers:
Leven Rambin as Clarisse- I mentioned her briefly in my "Hunger Games" review. Again, really cool to see Lily Montgomery ("All My Children") in such a strong role.
...although I can't shake the feeling that all the props Clarisse got for all her quests was added just to make her Percy's biggest demigod rival...

and Nathan Fillion as Hermes...
sure, they didn't introduce him as a jogger on the beach, but after taking a minute or two to take everything in, I had to agree their method worked just as well.
The only negative I can draw was that he was only in ONE scene in the entire movie...
I'm a HUGE fan of "Castle," love that show.

I tacked Robert Mallet at the end there because he played the 7-foot tall Blackwood henchman Drudger in Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes"... good performance here as well, even if it is just his voice doing all the work.

The Story

Spoilers ahead... unless of course you read the book

No matter how many ways they mistepped or took liberties and whatnot, what ultimately matters is that they kept to the main points.

• Percy finds out he has a half-brother, Tyson, who is a Cyclops
• We find out that Luke and Annabeth arrived at Camp Half-Blood under attack and their friend Thalia died in the altercation. Zeus turned her into a tree, which powers the barrier, protecting the camp from humans and enemy mythological creatures.
• The Golden Fleece is the only thing that can save Thalia's tree, which has been poisoned
• Clarisse is chosen to go on the quest, but Percy, Annabeth and Tyson make their own way
• They meet up with Hermes, who gives them gifts to get them to the Sea of Monsters.
• They arrive on Polyphemus's island where they rescue Grover and retrieve the Golden Fleece
• Luke and Percy have another third act battle where Percy's party eventually comes out victorious.*
• The Golden Fleece not only heals the tree, but revives Thalia

*The battle worked out completely differently
In fact, it had me worried that they'd completely resolve the plot here and they wouldn't bother with the rest of the movies.

But seeing as it's made so little at the box office so far, I'm a little worried about whether they'll get the chance... "The Titan's Curse" was my favorite book in the series.

I suppose they needed the finale to be so big and pull out all the stops, but they went too far in certain places. Especially with the clichéd "almost ending" of Annabeth getting killed by the manticore... really wasn't necessary.

Part of a review on Wikipedia comments that it is CGI heavy and there are "worse sequels"... another commented that fans will be unhappy with liberties taken like with the original.

Not entirely true. I accepted, often gladly, the differences between "The Lightning Thief" and its source material. They didn't take nearly as many liberties as they did here.

Final Words

By the end of the movie, I'd taken my grain of salt and accepted that some of the differences made for just a good a story. The mythology shook out the way it should have and in some areas, they were quite clever with the storytelling.

Like the idea of Hermes, messenger of the Gods, running a UPS-type business and also loved the fact the two snakes on his staff, the caduceus, had personalities.

oh sorry...

 

NERD ALERT!!

lol... even if I only took one class in college, I pride myself on knowing quite a bit about Greek mythology.
But every now and then, I double-check myself to be on the safe side.

What else can I say?
I did have fun watching the movie, had a good time getting back to some great characters I enjoyed reading about, and hopefully I'll get to see more of Thalia along with Apollo and Artemis in the film adaptation of "The Titan's Curse."

Rating:
As a fan of the book- B
The movie itself- A-
Total- B+

67. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Code-name: "comic" sequel

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Type: Sci-fi/Fantasy, comics, drama, adventure

Cast:
Hellboy- Ron Pearlman
Liz Sherman- Selma Blair
Abe Sapian- Doug Jones (actor AND voice)
Johann Kraus- Seth McFarland (voice), John Alexander & James Dodd (actor)
Prince Nauda- Luke Goss
Princess Naula- Anna Walton
Tom Manning- Jeffrey Tambor
Professor Broom- John Hurt

Notable Nomination:
Oscar-  Best Makeup

[Write-up]

Incoming: Nerd Alert!!

(If you don't feel up to bearing with me, feel free to scroll down)

I think this might be the first time while doing this list where I have a big ol' story to go into before the movie discussion itself.
That's part of why I love movies as much as I do.

This came out 5 years ago when I was on the brink of the best part of my life so far... all thanks to the number of friends I was making. The pinnacle of my social life came about when the leadership of my college's animé club came into the best hands possible.
Nothing against our former presidents, but not only were boyfriend & girlfriend Rob and Kelly present at every meeting (Wednesdays from 8 to 10pm), but they left the choices for the shows/movies we watched each night to the rest of the club... and they came up with ideas for things we could do off campus.
Because of them, we went to a midnight showing of "Twilight" (which I would have gone to see eventually, but the experience was just HUGE, my first ever midnight movie premiere)... but more notably and relevant to this entry, we had the trip to Comic-Con.

Granted, I was one of only four people that went, but it didn't matter. I had an absolute blast.
We stayed overnight at my friend Andrew's and took the train to New York Saturday. It was at the Jacob Javis Center. My friend, TJ, went on the whole time about meeting Selma Blair, who was there promoting this movie. Then after he got the chance, he wouldn't shut up about recounting the experience. He probably also took the most pictures of any of us, mainly of female cosplayers with excellent costumes.
Out of it, I got three action figures (for whatever reason, I have yet to open the boxes... maybe cuz I have nowhere to put Cloud, Sephiroth or Sora) and "FullMetal Alchemist The Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa" (the supposed final chapter of that particular animé series).

Of course I still kinda regret that I didn't at least pick up a throwaway camera because I had a chanced encounter of my own.
Anyone who watched the Pokémon television series would recognize Rachel Lillis and Veronica Taylor. With Veronica, it was a moment I'd waited 7 years for, and it was the best closure possible... considered how I stopped watching the series the year before on the grounds she was no longer dubbing Ash Ketchum. Unfortunately I can't find the autograph I got from her, but getting to tell her how much I loved her performances... priceless...

For the record, I still play the games and if I'm in the mood, I'll rewatch old reruns.
One thing you should know about me: when they change the cast for my favorite series, that's when I stop watching... Pokémon, Power Rangers and Sailor Moon are just a few examples... and I also haven't bothered to see the third "Mummy" movie because Rachel Weisz wasn't in it.

End of Nerd Alert

 

Sorry about that for all you non-nerds out there... now onto the actual movie.

It's based on a series of comic books by Mike Mignola from Dark Horse Comics.

 

For the record, I have seen the original... recently, in fact. I just wasn't as crazy about it.

The plot was much darker. The story didn't capture my imagination quite the same way. After rereading the premise, I think a great deal of it had to do with Selma Blair. Liz wasn't nearly as strong in the first movie. Her special ability is pyrokinetics, so she can burst into flames and use said flames as a weapon. In the first "Hellboy," though, she had trouble controlling her powers and was plagued by self-doubt and depression.

 

What propelled me into enjoying "Hellboy II" was a combination of a great storyline, imaginative characters and creatures and the relationship between those characters.

 

Hellboy and Liz make for a helluva couple who, according to Abe, have "their good days and their bad days" and after the back story, we're reintroduced to them on one of their "really bad days."

After my brief explanation, it really should go without saying that you don't want to mess with Liz when she's angry.

 

[The Plot]

 

The "golden army" mentioned in the title is explained in the form of a bedtime story by John Hurt to a young Hellboy. Way back when, man was at war with mythical creatures, particularly a race of elves. The king had a golden army built to overtake man, but he quickly regretted his decision. So he instated a truce where the creatures kept to the forests and man kept to the cities. He also split the crown needed to control the army in three pieces. Two went to him and one went to man.

 

At present day, his son, Prince Nuada returned from his self-imposed exile (he didn't trust that the truce would be honored) to exact revenge on man, whom he believes did not hold up their end of the bargain.

 

His first stop: an auction where the third crown piece is up for bid. He unleashes thousands of "tooth fairies," who consume flesh until nothing's left.

Next: his father's court where he defeats the bodyguards and kill the king for his crown piece.

 

His twin sister Nuala holds the final piece, but before he can take it from her as well, she runs off.

Sure, the character development with the prince isn't all that great, doesn't have a lot of dimensions to it. But he was still an excellent villain because the dude had mad fighting skills, almost like a ninja, his martial arts were a thrill to watch.

I also got into the twin aspects between them, which went far beyond just twin-telepathy. They can see what the other sees when they're apart. Notably, when pain is inflicted on one, its felt by the other.

Important point there.

 

Hellboy, Liz and Abe are part of the BPRD, the bureau of paranormal research and defense. They're in charge of dealing with mythical creatures and unexplained phenomena, almost like the people who work on the down-low in Area 51. But to the bane of Tom Manning, one of the dudes in charge, Hellboy seems hell-bent on letting people know what they do. In other words, he doesn't seem to know the meaning of keeping a low profile.

 

They're called into the auction house to deal with the aftermath and find out what happened to the people. Chaos ensues because the tooth fairies are still lingering and Liz has to do her thing to destroy them. But this explosion of sorts also lands Hellboy outside into the crowds. Cover blown.

 

This is why the people up top bring in Johann Kraus to take control of things.

He's described as a "disembodied ectoplasmic spirit with psychic abilities who maintains a tangible form via a containment suit." Strictly by-the-book type of guy, so Hellboy isn't crazy about him (part of it might be because he's German and Hellboy came into being when the Nazis were taking over in WWII).

 

After temporarily reviving one of the "tooth fairies" Liz fried, they search for their source: the troll marketplace. Think of it as Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter series, but with mythical creatures rather than wizards and witches. It is just a feast for the eyes for anyone with a shred of nerdyness in them, but there is too much to keep track of to single much out.

 

They do find out about Prince Nuada. Abe finds Princess Nuala and brings her back to headquarters for her protection. Of course she knows it's futile because of the twin-telepathy thing. But during this time, Abe falls in love with her as they're kindred spirits. Both are exceedingly intelligent and share a love of the arts.

 

While he's not fighting with Johann Kraus, Hellboy spends this time trying to figure out what's wrong with Liz... who seems a little distant and angrier as of late.

In the tooth fairy scuffle, Abe discovered that she was pregnant and she spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to tell Hellboy.

 

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when the two guys get wasted and go on about how crazy they are about their respective women. And all the while, they're singing along to "I can't smile" by Barry Manilow, somewhat of this movie's theme song (played here and with the credits).

 

Unfortunately, the plot resumes and breaks up the harmony. The prince kidnaps his sister, gravely injures Hellboy and demands they bring the last crown piece to him. On their way to find the prince, they meet the Angel of Death (also played by Doug Jones) who agrees to remove the shrapnel from the prince's blade... all the while reminding Liz that he is destined to bring destruction to the universe and she'll suffer the most of anyone.

Naturally, this is the moment where she finally tells him about the baby. However cliché it is, it works well enough.

 

Indeed, the golden army proves to be as indestructible as the legend tells. Amazing special effects, as there are throughout the movie. The heroes do come out on top, but I won't give away how it happens. I thought it was a really good twist ending, although a little bittersweet.

But there's a light note afterwards with Hellboy and Liz that ends things off nicely 8-)

 

[Other Notes]

 

Guillermo del Toro certainly is a heck of a director with an amazing imagination. He also has a way with mythical creatures. I have yet to see "Pan's Labyrinth," but I'd heard nothing but good things about it.

 

In my case, whatever movie in a series I see first is almost always my favorite... namely because it sets up expectations and be wary if those expectations aren't met by its successors.

And it's rare when I love the second movie more than the first... "Spider-Man 2" is the only other case I can think of where this occurred.

 

The characters are super memorable and of course, I can't see them doing anything else. I wouldn't think of seeing Ron Pearlman without the Hellboy make-up. But I have heard his voice a couple times, particularly in the Nicktoon "Danny Phantom" where he plays the English teacher Mr. Lancer, who name-drops book titles at moments of astonishment or anger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evYlP1tMpp4

[this is a rough compilation someone posted]

 

Selma Blair, I got to know as the designated-bitch-turned-bestie in "Legally Blonde"... as I'm sure was the case for a lot of people.

 

I like all the main cast, but Abe has to be my favorite. He's a blue amphibious type of creature with a humanoid intellect, but it's his love for the arts that just fascinates me. Almost like he's a higher being, wise beyond any number of years us humans can reach.

 

I also tend to have a weak spot for the epic fantasy realm clichés... involving mythical creatures and saving the world and all that... I'd done that quite a bit in my own writing, but not as much as I used to.

 

[Final Head's Up]

 

Not next week, but after that, there will be a couple incoming nerd alerts... although not likely to this vast degree.