REVAMP

                  Hey there folks, it's been a long while since I posted stuffs. And I want you to know it's all been for a good reason. I've been thinking of how I can better the blog, and I realized that most of you don't want to read an entire summary of a movie, that's what the movie's for.

                  So I've decided to go back to the beginning of when I started to blog. That's right, WAYYY back in the day we're going. I'm going to restart, writing like an actual film critic. But don't worry, I'll try to not be pesky about it.

                  The idea is that for every post I re-write, I will delete the old one. And I also realize I've given a false sense that I will be able to review every single new movie that comes out... which you all know by now to not be true.

                  So starting from the beginning of the blog gives me a lot of content. And if I do review a more recent film, you'll know. I'll still review video games and trailers and whatnot, but now I'm going to get into a weekly rhythm of blogging. I want to blog 4 to 6 times a month, so you'll never be bored! And once I start feeling the groove, we'll make that number bigger.

                  That's about it, but stay tuned to my YouTube Channel too because I'm gonna be doing 2 videos a month as well. I'll be a busy bee pumping stuff out for y'all, so watch out!

And stay frosty.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Official PoC Review

WARNING!

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

G U A R D I A N S   O F   T H E   G A L A X Y

V O L.  2

                  The movie starts with the Guardians fighting a giant octopus-looking monster that's trying to take some batteries. It's pretty nasty, and it's got some pretty tough skin. The only thing that's vulnerable about it is it's underside. So you can imagine that the Guardians are having a tough time. And Baby Groot is just running around and jamming out to some music.

                  After they beat the giant octopus thing, they go to the people that hired them, the Sovereign. They're like golden people. It's pretty cool. In exchange for defending their batteries, the Sovereign give the Guardians Nebula. So Nebula tags along with the Guardians as their prisoner. As they're leaving, Rocket steals some of the batteries to sell on the market.

                  Obviously, the Sovereign figure that out and, as you can imagine, are pretty mad. So they send their fleet after the Guardians. And it's pretty cool how the fleet is operated. They have pilots, but they pilot the fleet from a room that looks like Mission Control at NASA, and they're controlling the fleet from there. It's almost like they're playing a video game.

                  So, naturally, the Guardians get outnumbered and they have to crash land. Now, there's these things called "jump points", where a portal of sorts allows interstellar travelers to jump from one galaxy or planet to another with ease. Rocket and Quill get into a fight over who should be piloting the ship, and that's eventually what gets them crashed.

                  Not long after they land, a ship follows them onto the planet, and an older looking man called Ego emerges from the ship. He claims to be Peter's father, and takes him to his planet. Spoiler,

Ego is a living planet, as you can see to the right. This leaves Rocket, Nebula, and Baby Groot to watch the ship.

                  At the same time, Yondu is on a different planet, and is at a bar with his Ravagers. He's been disowned as a Ravager, meaning that he won't have an honorary Ravager funeral once he dies. He's reminded of this by Stakar (played by Sylvester Stallone). Fun fact: Stakar is actually one of the original Guardians of the Galaxy in the old Marvel comics.
                  But anyway, Yondu finds out about a bounty on the Guardians from the Sovereign, and that's how he gets entangled in this whole affair.
                  That's as far as I go, but just know that the film is great fun. There's a lot that's revealed about Peter's origin and his potential as a very important contender in the final battle with Thanos. The movie is also a lot about family, and that's quite apparent as it goes on, especially between Peter and Yondu. By the end of the movie, you've been tear-jerked, shocked, angry, and on the edge of your seat, and then the credits roll and you're left to watch the five after credit scenes. Don't worry, you'll have time to digest everything. Cuz there is a lot!
                  Still, go see it. You won't regret it.

G U A R D I A N S   O F   T H E   G A L A X Y

V O L.  2

Looking for the ratings? Look at the previous post! It's also on the featured post tool bar to your right. Enjoy the Guardians 2 soundtrack above!


Bibiliography:
"Guardians 2 Soundtrack" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-yjQ7zJTjo&index=1&list=PLDXurPErd9cMilZUmtM1rnQX2hPDjzop2>
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Wallpaper" <https://picfiles.alphacoders.com/356/thumb-35660.jpg>
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Ego the Living Planet" <https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CsWi5dlVUAAFB_x.jpg:large>

Kong: Skull Island

I saw this movie the other day as a birthday gift from my parents. 17!!!

K   O   N   G

S K U L L   I S L A N D

                  I was very impressed with this movie overall. The CGI was phenomenal and I really like that I got to see so much of Kong. It seemed like the CG Artists forgot virtually nothing when constructing his physique and movements.

                  Overall, character development didn't seem like a very important thing. It seemed like they just wanted to show off a giant ape, giant spider, giant grasshopper, and whatever the hell the

"Skullcrawlers" were. However, Kong was portrayed as a "good king. Keeps to himself", and he protects the native inhabitants of the island who are human. It was like Kong understood that the people didn't want to hurt him at all, and he inherited his duty to protect the natives from his murdered parents.

                  The story to get to the island was quick, underdeveloped, and rushed. The opening sequence was cool though, going from World War II to Vietnam through a series of clips and reels that set the stage nicely for when Kong was first discovered. How he will resurface for his big fight with Godzilla though is a good question that I hope the writers for that big film address.

                  Alright, characters: John Goodman played a man obsessed with the idea of giant monsters being the original inhabitants of Earth before mankind came on the scene. What isn't really explained is why the monsters went into hiding once man "took over". Maybe they were alive when the dinosaurs were so they went into hiding during the meteor shower.

                  Samuel L. Jackson is a general that was originally stationed in Vietnam. And he's just itching for a fight. Sam basically played himself, screaming at everyone and making sure that the giant monsters don't hurt anymore people.

                  Tom Hiddleston is supposed to be an explorer that can handle himself in uncharted jungle terrains. His abilities aren't really showcased, but he looks pretty cool with a sub-machine gun and not a staff (for those Marvel junkies out there, I'm one of y'all).
                  Brie Larson is an anti-war photojournalist who actually contributed to the public's outrage over the war in Vietnam. At this point in the movie, American troops are being pulled home from Vietnam, and Brie is pretty happy about that. She's got a pretty nice camera, too.
                  Those are the main folks, and I'm dipping my toes in the waters of actually going for reviews rather than giving y'all a synopsis of what happens. So we'll see how you like it. If you don't, please comment and I can go back to telling you the movie.

K   O   N   G

S K U L L   I S L A N D

Ratings:

Family Friendliness: 7/10 Helicopters I was rather impressed with the whole movie being relatively kid-friendly. I mean, apart from short sequences of people getting eaten and blood spattering, it's pretty clean. I don't really remember any cursing, but don't take my word for it. I'm sure Samuel L. Jackson would be the one to drop a language bomb.

Story-line: 7/10 Mountains Not really much to go on except for the fact that they just want to get off the island. I guess that's easy to follow, so I gave it a decent rating.

Story-Action Balance: 7/10 Islands I guess there was good balance. We meet an old World War II vet that's been stuck on the island for about twenty or so years and he basically gives the gist of Kong's background and his role as king and protector of the native people. I'm glad that not all of it was shooting and fighting, but there was definitely a good chunk of it.

Acting: 8/10 Monsters Don't gemme wrong, each actor lived up to their character, but because the characters weren't that well-developed, there wasn't a lot of acting to fill into their characters.

Intensity: 8/10 For sure, I was on the edge of my seat for all of the monster fights. At one point I was really worried about Kong, but then I remembered that they're going to do a fight between him and Godzilla so I was okay. But still, all the fights were intense.

Rewatch Probability: 7/10 I probably wouldn't rewatch this as much as I would Hacksaw Ridge or something along those lines, but it's still a decent film overall.

Overall: 7/10

Bibliography:

"Kong Trailer" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP0-9FBs2Rs>

"Kong Brie Larson" <http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/07/23/23/368ACCF900000578-0-image-m-78_1469312651675.jpg>
"Kong Skull Island" <http://artofvfx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/KongSkullIsland_Final_trailer.png>

Don't Breathe

Alright, so this is going to be the first review of 2017!!! First of all, Happy New Year everyone. Sorry I didn't do an official New Year's Post, but I was in NYC for the Ball Drop and to visit my cousins who were visiting from Texas. So let's get goin'.

D  O  N  '  T     B  R  E  A  T  H  E

                  Rocky, Alex, and Money are three friends who live in Detroit, Chicago trying to make a buck. What do they do? They break into people's houses and loot them of valuable items to sell. Alex is the hacker that can disable any house alarm system just with the push of a remote button.

Money is the one with the tips of the valuable houses, and Rocky is the pretty girlfriend to Money.

                  Money gets a tip for a house that has $300K in cash. That much money would allow the trio to get out of Detroit and go wherever they want. Alex doesn't want to do it because having that much money as a trio of kids from Detroit would raise major suspicions in states abroad. But he does it anyway, and researches their guy.

                  He's an army veteran that got a Veteran's compensation of a handsome sum, and is living modestly in his neighborhood. So the trio set up a camera to watch the house for five days. Their guy doesn't leave, and on the sixth day, they're in a car across from the house in question debating when they're going to pull their heist. They see their guy walking his dog, but he's blind. So they decide to go in that night.

                  At 2 A.M., the trio walks up to the front door and find it has four locks. Alex suggests the side door and throws a little something to the blind man's bulldog to make it fall asleep. They find that the side door is barred and locked, so they try the cellar just to the left of it. That's locked, too. However, there's a window just up and to the left of the cellar that Rocky can fit into.

                  She climbs in and shuts off the house alarm and then lets the other two in. The house is all hardwood, so they take off their shoes to avoid making a lot of noise. Money cooks up a little concoction that, when released as steam, will cause the blind man to sleep heavy-like. So Money goes upstairs to find the blind man's room which has a television running, and stabs a pencil into the water

bottle and then looks up.

                 The blind man is sitting up. He picks up a remote and turns off the t.v., then goes back to sleep. Money lets the concoction loose and heads back downstairs. They try breaking into the cellar, which has a lock to it, and Money can't get it open with a crowbar. So he whips out a pistol.

                  Alex freaks out and says he wants no part of this if there's a gun involved, so he leaves. Money then shoots the lock and is about to open the door when he and Rocky look right. The blind man is standing in the doorway that leads to the upstairs.
                 "Who's there?" he asks.
Money holds up his hands and backs away from the door. "Look man, I was high, and I just stumbled in here, so that's my bad. I'll be going now." The man starts walking towards Money with his hands raised, and Money points the gun at him.
                "Whoa now, don't move. I'll shoot you." The man keeps pressing forward.
                "I swear to god old man, I'll shoot you!" He keeps moving forward, and Money shoots a nearby pipe. "I'll shoot you! Back off!"
                When he's close enough, the old man grabs the gun with one hand and Money's throat with the other, pointing the gun at Money. Then he pulls the trigger.
                Outside, as he's walking home, Alex hears the gunshot. He books it back. At the same time,

the old man begins making his way to his front door. Rocky then moves to a nearby closet. Alex walks in, closing the door behind him silently, then turns towards the hallway and sees the man walking straight for him. He presses himself up against the hallway wall, and slips on by to the bathroom.
                The old man locks his door with all four of the locks, then just as he's about to walk away, he stops. He sniffs the air. Then he sniffs again. He crouches to the floor, sniffing like a dog, and finds Rocky's and Money's shoes. He takes a good whiff, and he's aware that he's got at least one other person in his home.
                 So begins the struggle to escape this unnamed blind veteran's home. He's a merciless killer, and he will stop at nothing to kill every last intruder.

D  O  N  '  T     B  R  E  A  T  H  E

Ratings:
Family Friendliness- 4/10 BIG no no for anyone below the age of 14. I'd even go so far as to say this is not appropriate for 15 year olds. But then again, it's your judgment. Just please watch it first before showing it to your younger kids. ****There is a scene where the old man is going to place his sperm into Rocky in order to have a child through her because his daughter was killed in a car crash, so he just wants another kid. Super gross, but just had to letcha all know.****
Story-line- 6/10 It's kinda the cliché Chicago kid story. They're poor, wanna get rich quick and get out, so they do something stupid and dangerous and end up, well... you'll have to see the film. It's very suspenseful and stressful though. So if you're into that kinda stuff, this is the movie for you.
Suspense- 7/10 I get very stressed out very quickly during films, and this was one of those extremely stressful films. I recently saw "Split", and I'll tell ya that this film was stressful, but "Split" was a brilliant stressful. Stay tuned.
Overall- 7/10 In terms of the math, this movie is not the best that I have ever reviewed. It's a nice Friday night film to watch with your friends when you're all bored, or if you're having a Halloween Sleepover like I often do. The math was actually supposed to come out to a 5.6, but I gave it grace because this kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a little graphic and suggestive, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.


Bibliography:
"Don't Breathe" <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/Don't_Breathe_(2016_film).png>
"Don't Breathe Old Man" <http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories//2016May/3_090316114656.jpg>
"Don't Breathe Old Man (2)" pic of the trio <https://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DontBreatheHP-1200x630-e1472769485847.jpg>