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Thor is the fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, unlike Iron Man 2, this is one I really didn't dig upon first watch but I learn to love it a little bit more every time I watch it. Upon rewatch this is actually one of the most important films in the MCU as it does a lot to set up The Avengers. Not only does S.H.I.E.L.D. make their presence known the most in this film (via Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson), but this film introduces us to Loki, the main antagonist of both Avengers and this film and MCU'S second best villain to date. Thor opens with a really lengthy introduction to Asgard and the characters who populate it. This takes up 30 minutes of a movie that is less than 2 hours long and isn't even really about any of that, as the majority of the film takes place on Earth. While both sides of the story have interesting elements, there's a disjointed feeling in that the movie never stops skipping back and forth between these two worlds. As far as performances go, Chris Hemsworth really is the best person for this role. He captures the fish-out-of-water essence of the character extremely well and makes you really believe that this guy has never been to Earth before and is a complete stranger to our customs. Tom Hiddleston as Loki is quite a bit smarter than his brother, which just makes him that much more menacing and, as I said before, expertly sets up The Avengers. Thor doesn't touch the first Iron Man with a 10 foot pole but it's a much better film than Iron Man 2 and probably tied with The Incredible Hulk as the second best MCU film up to this point. It's a fun movie, with some fun moments but ultimately it's a movie that exists solely to set up a better one.

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It's a commonly held opinion that the second film in a franchise is never as good as the first. Having said that, there are some that come close and a select few that are even better. Unfortunately Iron Man 2 falls into none of those categories. It is a sequel that had every opportunity to be great and just wasn't. Let's list the things that were featured in this movie, yet vastly under-utilized. Mickey Rourke as Whiplash did the best he could with what he had but the villain just wasn't scripted very well or often enough to make much of a difference. Scarlett Johansson makes a nice debut as Black Widow, but isn't given nearly enough to do and doesn't even make her true character known until over halfway through the film. Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard as Colonel Rhodes was a move I really didn't agree with but Cheadle turned out to be much better for the role. However, needless to say, he wasn't used nearly enough. Last but not least, this film under-utilizes its own director, Jon Favreau by giving him only 2 years to make the film rather than the 3 he said he needed. 3 years between a film and it's sequel really isn't much, and I truly think this film would have benefited greatly from that extra time. I wish I could give you a breakdown of the story but it's almost impossible. There are so many different things going on in this film and none of them are given enough time for us to actually care. Tony Stark is dying, because the device keeping him alive is also very dangerous to his health. Pepper Potts has been promoted to CEO of Stark Industries. The public is questioning the safety and validity of Iron Man. Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer seems to have some weird fetishist vendetta against Stark and Whiplash does some cool stuff for the half an hour he's actually featured in this 2 hour movie. But perhaps the worst thing about Iron Man 2 is that it is about as boring as any movie could be. There are two big action scenes. One during the climax and one about midway through the film. Besides that, there's a lot of depressed, dying Tony to sit through. A lot of cheesy Sam Rockwell speeches. And juuussstt enough Avengers setup to keep us invested. Not only is Iron Man 2 my personal least favorite film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but I actually believe it to be the worst. It has very few redeeming qualities where as its predecessor was the opposite, having little to no bad qualities. Seeing Iron Man 2 for the first time was one of the most dissapointing experiences I ever had watching a movie, however it is important to watch if you're marathoning the MCU films because it's the introduction of Black Widow and does some serious foreshadowing and setup for future installments. That's about all this movie is good for.

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When the first Iron Man movie came out in 2008, nobody had any idea that it would be the start of a massive franchise; an interconnected movie universe that was almost entirely unprecedented. In fact, when this movie was first released, most people didn't even know who Iron Man was. It's easy to look back now and identify all the little hints of world building that this film did but, with the exception of the after credits sequence, it was all second watch fodder. Little easter eggs that almost nobody would notice upon a first viewing. And that's fine because, still to this day, this movie stands on its own two legs better than any other film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and there is one major person to thank for that. When Jon Favreau was approached to direct this film, his biggest hit was Elf. Elf is a fantastic movie, but one on a completely different scale from your modern superhero blockbuster. Put simply, Favreau proved himself a household name with this movie. This was Marvel's first attempt at a self-financed film. Because of this lack of experience, the creative reigns were largely handed over to Favreau himself and Iron Man was actually sort of made in the style of an independent film, just with more money. You can thank Favreau for giving us a film that stands on its own thematically and visually, but thank Robert Downey Jr. for giving us a character to care about, even as we shake our heads at his sarcastic, and often straight-up rude, comments. Origin stories are often slogs to sit through. Boring in the first two acts, rushed in the third and overall irrelevant. Downey Jr. understood that to care about a hero's origin, you had to care about who he was before he was a hero. This isn't just an origin story for Iron Man, it's also a redemption story for Tony Stark. The story of him changing the way he looks in the public's eye. The story of him realizing the humanity within himself. That story is just as interesting to watch as the story of how he became a flying superhero in an iron suit. It's also important to note that Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane is not only the best MCU villain to date, but one of the best villains in the history of comic book films. The way the film reveals the true nature of this character is almost melodic. At first seemingly innocent, we see him slowly pushed past his breaking point. He begins to reveal his evil side bit by bit. It's so carefully done, in both the screenplay and Bridges' performance. Iron Man started a tradition that has since been beaten into the ground. But, at the time, it was pretty much unheard of. The first time I watched the movie, I remember audibly gasping at the end when Tony Stark announces to the world, "I am Iron Man." This was a gamechanger. Superheroes didn't just reveal their identities like that! It was the perfect end to a movie so gripping and exciting from start to finish, that my neck actually hurt when I finally turned it away from the screen at the end. Of course that's not to say that the film's "secret ending" isn't just as good. It's certainly every bit as important. Long time comic book fans saw a glimmer of hope they'd never before seen when Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury showed up in Tony Stark's home, and heightened everyone's hopes with one word: Avengers. In a lot of ways, this movie shouldn't have worked as well as it did. But it fired on all cylinders. There is not a single frame of Iron Man that goes to waste and I'm even willing to call it one of the few perfect superhero films, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Batman Begins and Spider-Man 2. In my opinion, it is still the best MCU film and it's very likely that it will never be surpassed. It's just that good. There's literally nothing bad about it.

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So while Fast Five redefined what this franchise was, Fast & Furious 6 is very much a sequel to that film in particular, as well as the fourth one. The plots of the first two Fast films are completely irrelevant at this point but, that doesn’t matter because luckily this is another fun chapter in this story.

Honestly, there are elements of this film that are even better than the fifth one. The characters seem to have more depth than ever, they bring Michelle Rodriguez back and really bring her character full circle, and Owen Shaw is without a doubt the series’ best villain to date.

Having said that, this one is still a few notches below the fifth film because the story is a little more simplistic, and it’s just not quite as fun to watch. The action scenes, while amazing, were a bit more enthralling in the last film.

I would also dock this movie on the fact that if you haven’t seen the fourth one, you’ll be a little confused. Fast Five did a good job of avoiding that and being its own standalone film, this one is a little more connected. And that’s not a huge complaint because what else can you expect from the sixth film in a series?

The end of this movie connects in a really cool, albeit convenient, way to Tokyo Drift. Vin Diesel’s cameo at the end of that film finally starts to make sense.

This movie knows what it is. That’s the best compliment that I can pay the later films in the Fast franchise. They know how ridiculously outlandish they are and, because of that, they allow the audience to have a good time watching them. If we felt that the story was taking itself too seriously, this would be a real headache of a film. Gratefully, it rarely feels like that.

Overall, this is a fun movie. Cheesy and derivative? Yes. But fun nonetheless. I will say at this point in the franchise, you have to either separate your love for the first four from the fifth and sixth, or you have to accept that they are completely different films and learn to love both sides. If you were a fan of Fast Five I have no doubt you’ll enjoy this one too. If you wish this franchise would get back to its street racing origins, this movie isn’t for you.

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So while Fast Five redefined what this franchise was, Fast & Furious 6 is very much a sequel to that film in particular, as well as the fourth one. The plots of the first two Fast films are completely irrelevant at this point but, that doesn't matter because luckily this is another fun chapter in this story. Honestly, there are elements of this film that are even better than the fifth one. The characters seem to have more depth than ever, they bring Michelle Rodriguez back and really bring her character full circle, and Owen Shaw is without a doubt the series' best villain to date. Having said that, this one is still a few notches below the fifth film because the story is a little more simplistic, and it's just not quite as fun to watch. The action scenes, while amazing, were a bit more enthralling in the last film. I would also dock this movie on the fact that if you haven't seen the fourth one, you'll be a little confused. Fast Five did a good job of avoiding that and being its own standalone film, this one is a little more connected. And that's not a huge complaint because what else can you expect from the sixth film in a series? The end of this movie connects in a really cool, albeit convenient, way to Tokyo Drift. Vin Diesel's cameo at the end of that film finally starts to make sense. This movie knows what it is. That's the best compliment that I can pay the later films in the Fast franchise. They know how ridiculously outlandish they are and, because of that, they allow the audience to have a good time watching them. If we felt that the story was taking itself too seriously, this would be a real headache of a film. Gratefully, it rarely feels like that. Overall, this is a fun movie. Cheesy and derivative? Yes. But fun nonetheless. I will say at this point in the franchise, you have to either separate your love for the first four from the fifth and sixth, or you have to accept that they are completely different films and learn to love both sides. If you were a fan of Fast Five I have no doubt you'll enjoy this one too. If you wish this franchise would get back to its street racing origins, this movie isn't for you.

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I won't go so far as to say that Fast Five is one of the best action films ever made, but it is one of the funnest. This movie is just a good time for anyone, whether you're a hardcore F&F fanatic, a casual fan of the series or someone who just likes over-the-top action. What's cool about this installment is that, for the first time, they pull various sidekick characters from the first four films and create a sort of Legacy team. This is the first return to the franchise for Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris since 2 Fast 2 Furious and this movie only makes their characters that much better. Also back is Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster, with more or less the same performances they gave in the other movies so if you liked what they did in those, you won't have any problems here. What really surprised me in this movie was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Obviously, I knew he was going to be in it and I knew he was probably going to kick a lot of ass but his character, while stereotypical, is actually pretty well fleshed out and he does an excellent job portraying this no-nonsense lawman. As for the story, this movie is where Fast & Furious takes a turn for the crazy and all for the better, because it's the best film in the franchise thus far. It's a heist film with cars and the climactic scene (which sees our two heroes racing down the highway dragging an enormous bank vault) is one of the coolest action sequences you're ever likely to see. I enjoyed Fast Five from start to finish. Without a doubt, it's my favorite since the first even though this is probably the farthest the series has gotten so far from its original roots. This movie grabs you and doesn't let you go and, even though it's cheesy and predictable, you won't be able to hide the smile on your face. This is what movies like this are supposed to be. Not super serious. Not perfect. Just fun as hell and a damn good time.

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Strangely enough, the fourth chapter of this franchise was actually the first one I ever saw. I rented Fast & Furious from Redbox one Friday night shortly after it came out on DVD and I remember being devastatingly bored. I wondered where the action was. It seemed like far too much dialogue, most of which didn't even make much sense. What I, for some reason, didn't realize back then is that this movie is a lot better if you've seen its predecessors, particularly the first film. This is a pretty decent sequel to the first Fast movie. It gets the gang back together and answers some questions, but also leaves a lot open for future installments. As for the action scenes, they're not half bad either. There's no big exciting hiests this time around, but some pretty fun races to watch. I also enjoyed the chemistry here between Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Something about it just works, as it did in the original. Overall, I would say Fast & Furious is the second best film in the franchise thus far, after the original of course. I didn't love it, but it was more than okay as a one-time watch and a way of revving the series up and getting it ready for the eventual craziness to come in the next few chapters.

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Tokyo Drift is the third film in the Fast & Furious franchise and the first one to feature neither Vin Diesel or Paul Walker in leading roles. Diesel makes a cameo appearance at the film’s conclusion and Walker doesn’t appear at all.

If you read my review of 2 Fast 2 Furious, then you know that I really didn’t like that movie at all. I thought the story was convoluted and the new villain was cheesy and lifeless. Thankfully, this installment doesn’t fall into that trap. Tokyo Drift revolves around a teen who has been kicked out of school after school for getting into fights and inciting drag races. His only choice, if he wants to avoid jail, is to move in with his military father, who is currently residing in Tokyo, Japan. Once he gets there he, of course, falls back into the same behavior that got him into trouble back in America.

Honestly, I really didn’t mind this movie. Some of that exhilarating fun that I had watching the first film, but then wasn’t present in its sequel, actually came back. As far as characters go, our main character doesn’t add a lot to the enjoyment factor mostly due to his very forced Southern accent. However, Bow Wow plays a role in this film as a fellow racer and Army brat and this is the film that introduces the franchise to Han, who I know plays a larger role in the story later on.

There’s no huge over-the-top action sequences in this one but the races are a lot of fun to watch. As far as where this fits into the overall story, I hear it actually takes place in between chapters 6 & 7, so we’ll see if that is alluded to in one or both of those films.

For the most part, I really enjoyed Tokyo Drift. I wouldn’t watch it by itself, but its definitely not worth skipping if you’re watching all of the films in order. Not as good as #1 but far better, in my opinion, than #2.

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3/23/2017: Don’t Call It A Comeback

Holy moly guys, migraines have been kicking my ass lately. For the past few days, when I haven’t had a full-on migraine, I’ve had a headache. So I’ve been staying away from the computer in fear that staring at a monitor would escalate those headaches pretty damn quick.

I have had a pretty great week so far. During the day on Monday I got a job! Just a small part-time gig at Tuesday Morning that I’ll probably be starting mid next week, but it’s a job nonetheless. That night I went to a BBQ at a friends house and it was a lot of fun. I got to hang out with some really good friends and meet some new people as well.

Tuesday and Wednesday were rather uneventful as will be today and tomorrow but, no matter. I’m excited to start the new job and see what the rest of 2017 has in store for me.

Four reviews are on the way, I promise. Like I said, I’ve been trying not to spend very much time on the computer. Hopefully by the weekend you’ll be able to read my reviews of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Kong: Skull Island, Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea. Hope you all have a great day, the weekend is almost here! Buh-bye!

Movie Quote of the Day: “Is that a monkey?”-Weird Guy, Kong: Skull Island.

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3/19/2017: Last Minute

I layed down to go to sleep and realized I forgot to do a blog today. I'm such a slacker. Every fiber of my being wanted to roll over and close my eyes but I knew if I skipped this one, that would be it. I'd lose the will to do it and I really don't wanna lose the will to keep doing this because it makes me feel fulfilled. Even though these blogs suck, and never have much to say, writing them makes me happy. It's the biggest sense of accomplishment I get all day. So I had a really great birthday yesterday. Hands down, one of the best birthdays I have ever had. I got to spend time with family, see a movie, and hang out with my friends. It was wonderful and I probably smiled more last night than I have in months. I feel truly, genuinely happy when I'm with my friends. All of my anxiety melts away and I feel myself. I just watched Moonlight so I'll publish a review of that and Kong: Skull Island tomorrow. I'm still working on my Fast & Furious series of reviews, but it may take longer now because I just got a bunch of new movies for my birthday, including Moana which I am absolutely obsessed with, and I have to watch Hacksaw Ridge and Manchester By The Sea. It is bedtime for me but this is my promise to come up with some exciting stories to tell and things to talk about in this week's blogs. I'll make it good, ya have my word. Have a great week everyone! Buh-bye! Movie Quote of the Day: "Why did you choose me?"-Moana, MOANA.

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3/18/2017: Nobody Likes You When You’re 23

Happy Birthday to me, I am officially in the last year of my early-20s, after that I enter the mids and it’s all downhill from there. Just a joke but seriously, how did I get so old? It flabbergasts me. Yesterday I was walking to high school on the first day of my freshman year and now I’m just some grown-up with the physique and appetite of a teenager and the mind of a 10 year old. Nevertheless, I’m excited for today. I’m going to see Kong: Skull Island this afternoon so I should have a review up for that tomorrow. After that, I’m going out to dinner with my family for Mexican food and then for a small birthday get-together with my friends tonight. I’m incredibly lucky to have all of these things to do and all of these incredible people to do them with. Soooo, I’m gonna go do ‘em. Sorry for the shortness of the blog, everyone have a fantastic day. Buh-bye!

Movie Quote of the Day: “I’m not even supposed to be here today.”-Dante Hicks, Clerks.

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3/17/2017: The Fat & The Fabulous

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! As a kid, I used to say this was my favorite holiday for one simple reason: it’s the day before my birthday! By all accounts, today should have actually been my birthday but I guess I just wasn’t ready to come out yet. I’m wearing green shorts today, but you might think that the holiday I’m celebrating is Christmas since MY EYES ARE RED AS HELL.

I don’t think it’s pink eye, because I don’t have any of the other usual symptoms. I’ve had a cold all week long so I’m hoping that the red eyes are just a by-product of that because the last thing I want is to be locked up in quarantine on my birthday tomorrow, which is pretty much how I’m spending my day today. I don’t mind being sick, but I feel an enormous amount of guilt when I pass an illness on to other people.

So earlier this month, I rewatched and reviewed all 8 of Quentin Tarantino’s movies and I had a blast reviewing a group of films in a series like that. I wanted to do it again and, for whatever reason, I chose the Fast & Furious franchise. I have never really liked these movies. I think that the later films in the series are especially outlandish and I genuinely thought the second trailer for the newest film was an SNL skit. It is that laughable. But I have a reputation for only reviewing films that I love or have seen a thousand times. This is a challenge for me and I think, as a writer, challenges are important. Such as the challenge to keep a daily blog which I really didn’t want to do today, because I feel like garbage.

Anyways, so I watched the first two Fast & Furious movies yesterday, and I genuinely enjoyed the first one from start to finish. It’s a little predictable, but overall a really fun movie. Then I watched 2 Fast 2 Furious and had the exact opposite experience. It wasn’t terrible, but it was more or less what I had expected going into the series so, after being surprised by #1, this was a pretty big letdown.

I’m more excited for my birthday this year than I have been in a super long time. I’m going to see a movie with my dad, to dinner with my family and then to a party with a bunch of my friends. That’s the most eventful birthday I’ve had in many years and I feel so happy and lucky that I have so many amazing people to spend it with. Truly. I often take for granted all of the people in my life but, when push comes to shove, I’m so lucky to have them and I wouldn’t trade a single one of them for the world.

I hope everyone has a fabulous St. Paddy’s Day and a terrific weekend. To those of you who actually take the time out of your day to read this blog, just know how much I truly, deeply appreciate you. You da best. Buh-bye!

Movie Quote of the Day: “I live my life a quarter mile at a time.”-Dominic Torreto, The Fast and the Furious.

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2 Fast 2 Furious is one of the most dissapointing, lazy and downright boring sequels I've ever seen. If I had to liken it to another movie I'd pick Next Friday, and trust me when I say that is not a kind comparison. For starters, you only have one major character returning, which is always upsetting. Paul Walker has more than enough charisma to hold a movie, but when the script is lackluster there's only so much he can do. It would at least help if the new characters were interesting. With the exception of Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson as Tej and Roman, respectively, all of the new characters are cookie cutter. Dom Toretto was such a great character in the first film because he was more than just a villain, he was a real person. It brought a certain amount of depth to the film that wasn't necesarry, but appreciated. This time around, the villain is totally boring. He's so unforgettable that I already forgot his name. Even the racing scenes are less exciting in this one, which you would think would be the one thing they'd be able to get right. They're just not very fun to watch and when boring action sequences combine with a muddled story, it doesn't make for a very good time for anyone. I was so pumped up for this series of reviews after watching the first film this afternoon and this sequel completely dissipated all of that anticipation. I can understand why this is the lowest rated film of the series and I hope Tokyo Drift is at least more exciting.

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There's a certain stigma that goes along with the Fast and Furious franchise nowadays. People love to make fun of these films for being outlandishly over-the-top. However, that doesn't change the fact that the first one is actually an extremely fun movie. From a story standpoint, The Fast and the Furious is pretty simple. It's similiar to Point Break, and it's pretty predictable, but that's fine for this type of movie. The performances are adequate and the action sequences are superbly choreograpged. I'm at something of a loss for words because I'm not used to reviewing action movies, but I'm glad I'm challenging myself. I would definitely recommend The Fast and the Furious. It's a fun watch.

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3/16/2017: Migraines & Me

I’m not really sure what to write about today. But I feel like it’s almost more important to write on the days when you don’t know what to say because it challenges your perspective. Normally I would go into a blog knowing exactly what I want to talk about and that gives me the upper hand, but writing without purpose automatically transfers that power to the reader.

Think about it. For one, they might get bored before finishing even the first paragraph and opt not to read the rest. They might deem me uncreative for not being able to think of something to say. When I have a really interesting topic to write about, I hold the power because I know how to word it and form it in such a way where the reader will be intrigued and invested in what I’m saying.

The truth is, I’m actually a little scared to be writing this right now because I spent almost three hours working on yesterday’s blog and then I got a migraine. Migraines have plagued me my entire life and, rest assured, when I say migraines I mean migraines. Not headaches. A headache is a slight discomfort, a migraine is an illness. It’s a sharp pain at the forefront of your head, a sickening crawling sensation in your stomach and, at least for me, it’s when all of your senses get dialed up to 11. The last time I had a migraine before yesterday, I ended up tearing off all of my sheets and pillowcases because I couldn’t stand the smell of them. Furthermore, I was on the top floor in my house and could clearly hear what was happening in the basement.

The best and worst thing about living a life with migraines, is that I’ve become expertly equipped on how to spot them coming on and how to deal with them once they arrive. Generally, I get spots in my eyes about 45 minutes before the migraine sets in. Sometimes they’re barely noticeable, sometimes they’re so bad that I can hardly see. As soon as that starts, I pop some ibuprofen as a precautionary measure. It’s never helped me completely avoid the migraine, but it does make it less severe. Furthermore, hot showers are an absolute lifesaver. And I’m talking HOT SHOWERS. Like, so hot you can barely stand to be in there. So hot that your skin is going to be red for the rest of the day. I don’t know if it’s the steam that the hot water creates, but I always feel the pressure start to leave my head when I do this. Again, this won’t make the migraine go away, it’ll just make it more manageable.

Another helpful tip in dealing with migraines, and headaches in general, is CAFFEINE. As a matter of fact, the only time I’ve ever prevented a migraine was by chugging a bottle of Mountain Dew and taking four ibuprofen at the same time. I happened to be halfway through a shift at work this particular day and there was no way I was getting through the second half of my shift enduring that torture.

Well this blog is extremely lame and I apologize for that, but I think that’s all I have to say for now. Gonna take some time to relax today because the next few days will be quite eventful. Taking my sisters to the park and out to eat tomorrow and then Saturday is my birthday. I’ll be having dinner with my family and hopefully hanging out with some friends after that. I hope that happens because I could really use a night with friends where we can just act goofy and not have a care in the world. I miss those nights. Anyways, as I said, tomorrow will be busy so the blog might be a little later than usual but I promise to still get it up. Till then, buh-bye!

Movie Quote of the Day: “This isn’t flying. It’s falling with style.”-Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story.

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3/15/2017: Something’s Lurking

So today, like most days, I’m suffering from writer’s block. There’s no worse feeling than knowing that you have an awesome story to tell, but being unsure of how exactly to tell it. Because I can’t write my story, I thought instead I’d talk about what it is I’m writing and why I like to write in the first place.

I’ve enjoyed making up stories for as long as I can remember. Some were written, some were simply told to unsuspecting classmates who couldn’t tell the difference between reality and obvious fiction. I remember telling someone once that when my little brother was born, he pulled a pacifier out of my mouth and hit me in the face with it and I started crying. This never happened to me, but it did happen to Tommy Pickles in The Rugrats Movie. When my stories weren’t directly stolen from movies and books I’d read, they were definitely inspired by them. In 4th grade I wrote a 20-page epic about Captain Underpants and, I swear to God, it bears a striking resemblance to the seventh book in the series, which wouldn’t be released until a couple years later.

While I undoubtedly had a passion for writing as a child, my number one passion was still film. I always looked forward to Friday nights with my grandparents when we’d go to the local video rental store and pick out 2 titles. One kids movie, and one movie from the adult section that my grandpa helped me choose. This is how I discovered movies like Back to the Future, Home Alone, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the Don Knotts classic, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. And while I loved going to Video Depot what I looked forward to even more was making a trip to the movie theater. Going to the theater to see a film has always been, and will always be, a religious experience for me. The smell of stale popcorn, the sounds of muffled chewing and wrappers opening. Even that one annoying guy with the nachos (I’ve been that annoying guy quite often). It’s all part of the experience.

I know I went to the the theater before this but the first movie I actually remember going to to see in the movie theater was Toy Story 2 back in 1999. Imagine my dread when that movie lets you falsely believe, for a split second, that Buzz Lightyear is dead, only to reveal that we’ve spent the last 5 minutes watching a video game. I remember that millisecond of shocked dizziness so vividly it’s scary.

So while Toy Story 2 is the first film I remember seeing in the theaters, the first one I truly remember every second of happened three years later, in 2002, when Sony released their very first Spider-Man movie. Sitting in the theater that night, something clicked. I think a small part of me realized that this was the ultimate form of storytelling. Everybody was laughing at all the same moments, gasping and jumping in unison whenever something shocking happened. I discovered that film has the unique ability to capture a large group of people at the same time, but for different reasons. For example, I might have cried during Uncle Ben’s death because it was a wake-up call for me as an 8 year old kid. A realization that anybody can go at any minute. However, other viewers probably found the same amount of emotion from the scene, but maybe because it reminded them of something that had actually happened in their real life. That’s the true power of film and it took a grown man in tights, climbing up walls to make me recognize it.

So I knew I loved movies and I knew I loved to write, but it would be a long time before I’d realize that the two could actually go hand-in-hand. I remember once playing with a McDonald’s toy that resembled a dirtbike. I told my grandmother, “When I grow up, I’m going to become an author and write a book called Biker-Man and then they’ll turn it into a movie and I’ll make a million dollars. That was how I thought it worked. “They” made movies and we watched them. I had no idea who “they” was or that I’d eventually spend the rest of my life trying to become one of “them”.

Clerks was the movie that changed everything for me. Growing up, my mom was a massive Kevin Smith fan and the walls of the stairwell that led to our basement were covered in posters, action figures and bumpers stickers featuring various quotes and images from his films. I grew up surrounded by (and somewhat fascinated by) these characters but, because of their mature content, was never allowed to watch them. That is, until my fifteenth birthday when, with a few exceptions, I was granted permission to watch R-rated movies. The first one I watched, as soon as I got home from dinner that night, was Mallrats, because I had seen it when I was really young and had obsessed about watching it again ever since. And I thoroughly enjoyed it but it didn’t do anything to change my perspective or alter the way I thought about film. Clerks did. I watched Clerks about a week later and I left that film a different person than I was when  I pushed play. It was the first movie I watched that truly seemed like art. Suddenly, it all made sense. Movies weren’t made in some factory, they were made by people. And knowing the backstory of this particular title helped even more. Clerks was made for only $29,000 and, while that still seemed like a fortune to a 15 year old kid, it seemed accessible. Clerks was a life-changing movie for me, but also a dangerous one. What I had woken up that morning considering a fantasy, now seemed incredibly real. If I worked hard enough, and wrote as much as possible, I could one day be a filmmaker like Kevin Smith. My movie obsession and love for writing had finally met, and it felt great. Now, it was time to write.

To my name, I only have one completed feature-length screenplay. I wrote the whole thing freehand and it’s sitting in a box somewhere. I find it and read through it about once a year and, although its not very good, I’m still impressed with a lot of the dialogue and the characters that I managed to create. The script is called Happy Thursday and it was my attempt to make something in the vein of Clerks, which is to say, witty, vulgar and cheap as hell to make. The movie revolved around two high school Seniors ditching school and walking around town talking. There’s some really good stuff in there about being afraid of what will happen after school and entering the real world, and that’s because I was nearing the same point in my life when I wrote it. That dialogue came from a very real place and it’s still one of my favorite scenes I’ve written.

While Happy Thursday is the only script I’ve ever completed, it’s not the only one I’ve ever written. I have dozens of other incomplete projects including three TV shows called Boarders, Final Bell and Video Depot, and a bunch of movies, a select few of which are a Drake & Josh reunion movie, a remake of the movie Good Burger, a spoof film called That Buddy Cop Movie and my attempt at making a modernized action hero, in the vein of Indiana Jones, Lance Walson. 

I love all of those ideas, and I think about them often, but it’s my most recent attempt that I’m the most excited about and I’m dead set on making it my directorial debut one day. It’s called Something’s Lurking Outside of Video Depot and it’s a balls-to-the-wall crazy comedy/sci-fi/coming of age film that takes place in a video store in 1996. While Netflix’s series Stranger Things acted as a cinematic love-letter to the 1980s, Something’s Lurking is my attempt to do the same thing with the decade of my birth, a period of time with which I’ve always been somewhat fascinated.

I’ve been slowly but surely writing Something’s Lurking since October and there isn’t a single doubt in my mind that it’s the best thing I’ve ever written. Even on the page these characters have chemistry. They’re funny, witty and clever and have a fantastic back-and-forth with one another. This film is also my first attempt at writing a really strong female character. Her name is Alice and she’s an absolute badass. There is a small romantic subplot between her and one of the boys but it doesn’t feel forced and it definitely doesn’t feel like it’s her only purpose in the film.

As for the story, I don’t really want to share much yet, but I will say this one has more twists and turns than I’ve ever dared to attempt and I like to think that it’s virtually impossible to get ahead of this plot or see where it’s going before it gets there. It begins with two characters finding a dead body in the woods, and entering a multi-page discussion over whether or not they should tell the police, or move him first because that’s where they hide their booze.It’s darkly funny and it only gets crazier from there. It’s also a chance for me to express my love of a film in a film, in the style of Quentin Tarantino movies and Kevin Smith’s Clerks, which I love so much.

Well folks, I promised a longer blog today and I think I delivered on that promise so I’m gonna go for now. It looks like it is going to be a fairly uneventful Wednesday for me. Job hunting and snack eating, as per usual. Have a great day and remember, we’re only two days away from the weekend which just so happens to begin on St. Paddy’s Day this week! Make it through the next couple of days and then prepare to let loose on Friday. Buh-bye!

Movie Quote of the Day: “For the past 13 years, I’ve dreaded coming to school. Now that it’s over, I dread what’s going to happen when I don’t.”-Zack, Happy Thursday.

[darthmallrat37-blog]

Every so often a franchise film comes along that not only changes the face of the series it’s a part of, but changes the filmic landscape in general. A movie that exists outside of its sequels and prequels and spinoffs and can be enjoyed by itself, for exactly what it is. LOGAN is that movie.

In my opinion, Wolverine stands with the likes of Rocky Balboa as far as characters that can never be portrayed by anyone else. Even if they are, it will never be the same. Hugh Jackman defined this role back in 2000 and has spent the last almost two decades elevating the character even further. This film being his last hurrah as Wolverine is more than fitting.

Patrick Stewart is also fantastic in this film as Charles Xavier. It’s without a doubt his best performance in the X-MEN franchise and maybe the best performance of his entire career. Rounding out the three main characters is X-23, a silent but deadly kid companion who is incredibly fun to watch.

This is a HARD-R rated movie. I never would have expected quite the amount of bloody voilence and profanity that is utilized in this movie but I loved every second of it. Hearing Professor X say the f-word is exciting and the action is very well-directed by James Mangold.

I’ll just put it out there. LOGAN might be my favorite comic book movie ever made. This movie doesn’t waste a single second of its runtime, I never took my eyes off the screen and I would recommend it to comic lovers and casual movie-goers alike. SEE LOGAN.

Rating: A+