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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 7 years

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Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 3: The Queen’s Justice

The pace continues to pick up after this week’s installment of GoT. The story continues to build upon the themes of this young season. Out with the old generation and in with the new, women are bad asses, and you should never underestimate the drive of a Lannister to pay their debts.

The Dragon has three heads

Dragonstone:

Finally after 62 episodes of the most anticipated meeting in Westerosi history, Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons and Jon Snow the White Wolf and King in the North meet. Many fans predicted the ultimate arc of these two would result in the marriage of Ice and Fire (yeah I know they’re related but Targayens are into that) but we are nowhere near that yet. These two started out initially icy but seemed to be moving towards some type of common ground due to Tyrion’s counsel. The question again of what is more important comes to the forefront. Which fight will be more important this season, the fight for the Iron Throne or the Long Night?

Before we talk about everyone else here, I want to focus of Jon and his drive since last season. Though his story doesn’t seem to have changed to much his motivation definitely has. As Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, a title that was thrust upon him not one that he sought, he did what he thought was right, and he tried everything he could to bring as many people together to protect the realm from the army of the dead. He was killed for this, but the Red God R’Hllor brought him back. Since then he’s still trying to protect the realm in much of the same way, but has done so with this overhanging feeling of survivor’s guilt. In the Battle of the Bastards he charged against Ramsey’s cavalry alone. He went to Dragonstone despite his advisor’s wishes. He willingly gave up his weapons on his way to meeting the daughter of the man who burned his uncle and grandfather alive. We’ll see how the rest of this plays out for Jon.

Well before he interrupts Dany and Jon, Varys and Melisandre are speaking about the meeting that is to come. Varys speaks in his typical condescending way, while we see a much different Red Lady. She seems to be done with playing politics, but not with prophecy. She says she’s heading to Volantis where the Red God has the most followers, and adds that she will return to die on Westeros just like Varys. I want to ignore the awesomeness of that prediction, and imagine what it would mean to see her return from Volantis. Followers of R’Hllor in tow with Melisandre as they wield fire to fight White Walkers, seems like it will be epic.

Tyrion continues to play the game well, but is outsmarted again by Jaime (and I’d imagine to a much lesser extent his sister Cersei) as Dany’s camp learn of the capture of their Dornish and Greyjoy allies. He and Jon share some great conversation (”But I’m not a Stark” Jon the unknowing Targaryen says) and his brilliant plan to take Casterly Rock seems way less brilliant by the episode’s end. His plan to take the Rock went extremely well...almost too well. He continually advises the Khaleesi smartly, and seems to be the biggest fan of an alliance with Jon and the North as he ultimately convinces Dany to allow Jon to mine the dragonglass of Dragonstone.

The Citadel and the North:

At the Citadel, Sam and Archmaester Slughorn are reviewing the greyscale free Jorah the Andal. Jorah is proclaimed healthy, gives Sam his thanks, and leaves to go find his Khaleesi. Sam is meanwhile praised for saving Jorah’s life and impressed the Archmaester so much that he was not banished from the Citadel. Now I’m not too sure that greyscale will continue to play a role in the Song of Ice and Fire, but I’m sure that Sam will find more information of the Night’s King, maybe even from the transcripts and scrolls he has to make new copies of.

In the North we see Sansa succeeding in her role as Lady Regent of Winterfell. Advising on the rationing of grain supplies and blacksmithing seemed to come easy to her. Littlefinger gives her what may be her most important piece of advice when he tells her “everyone is ally, everyone is your enemy, imagine every scenario playing out. Fight everyone on all fronts” basically if you plan for everything you will never be surprised...and then Bran showed up to surprise everyone.

Bran definitely seemed serene yet distant, and this distance hurt Sansa. He turned down the notion of being Lord of Winterfell and seemed completely at peace with his role as the Three Eyed Raven. Sansa, and I’m sure plenty of us viewers, was confused by this and was heartbroken when she learned Bran knew what happened to her on her wedding night to Ramsey. Bran mentions in an almost throwaway tone mentions needing to talk to Jon. Now here’s where I break out my tinfoil hat. Bran will tell Sansa about Jon’s Targaryen lineage which Littlefinger will overhear. Somehow, Littlefinger will convince Sansa to turn on Jon (whether this means in support of Jon’s effort vs the Night’s King or from Dany I’m not sure yet) and Bran already knows of this betrayal from his visions from the Weirwoods which would explain his distance. Arya probably won’t be too happy when she arrives home to learn of all this. This is logically the last move Littlefinger has left, unless he’s working with Varys as the leak in Dany’s camp, (which is even more tinfoil-y) and will more than likely die in the North.

King’s Landing and the Reach

It is here, that the episode’s true magnificence. The divide between Cersei and Jaime seems to be written on the wall and it’s spelled E-U-R-O-N. Euron victoriously marching his war trophies: his niece Yara, Ellaria and Tyene Sand, through the capital. Euron gives the last two Dornishwomen to Queen Cersei who is oozing with gratitude. Euron wants Cersei, both as an ally and a wife, and she knows it. The alliance is Ironclad, but Euron must wait until after the war for anything else. Cersei’s willingness to be with Euron is apparent though and Jaime sees this. This is where I still see some influence of the book series on the show. Cersei when she ascends to the height of her power begins taking on various lovers, while Jaime remains faithful throughout the series. I believe all of this is going to come to a head and Jaime will ultimately be the Valonqar from Cersei’s prophetic childhood meeting with Maggy the Frog. We also learn of Cersei’s torturous plans for the Sands, Tyene in the same way that Ellaria poisoned Cersei’s daughter Myrcella in a bit of circular justice from the Queen. Ellaria will be forced to watch her rot, and I’m sure the Mountain will be invited to play a role here. I’m hoping Bronn somehow repays Tyene and saves her life for some more “bad pussy”

Sidenote: Ellaria has way better abs than I do and I hate myself a little bit because of it

In the reach we are “surprised” to see the bulk of the Lannister Host marching on Highgarden. Jaime, Lord Randyl Tarly, and most importantly Ser Bronn of the Blackwater easily take the castle and defeat another key ally of Dany’s. With Olenna’s death and the defeat of the Tyrells, the Lannisters masterfully consolidated their power, found resources for their army, and took out the two strongest allies of the Khaleesi. I’ve spoke to a few friends and my sister about how surprised they are by Tyrion being outsmarted by Cersei and Jaime. I disagree with this sentiment. First of all, I think Cersei is kind of an idiot. She is everything we hated about Joffrey, the same spoiled brat who was never punished by her father Tywin. Tywin was a mastermind who worked endlessly to put his family in this position, Cersei is merely benefitting from this and taking way too much credit. Jaime however I believe to be much wiser. He learned from his mistakes from fighting Robb Stark, he’s seems much more honorable than Cersei (not that it takes much) by making sure Olenna’s poison won’t be painful, he was the youngest member of the Kingsguard and he was able to gain the trust of the only man to beat Robert Baratheon in combat Randyl Tarly who seems to be much more reliable than Euron. Jaime was raised to take his father’s place as this great general, not Cersei and definitely not Tyrion. Tyrion who lucked into Bronn winning in single combat, and was saved by the Tyrells and his father at the Battle of Blackwater is no great general and it is showing. He’s read a bunch of books, chose a tactic that is obvious, and it shows.

We end with the death of Olenna Tyrell. Her death means the end of Tyrell dominance in Westeros, and the rise of the Tarly’s in the South. Her last conversation with Jaime was an amazing scene. I can’t think of a better word than gangster. They talk about Cersei and how awful she is, both as a person and for the realm. She seemed at peace with her coming death, but also sad seeing how lost Jaime was in his love for his twin (gagged a little writing that). To watch her mention poisoning Joffrey in a throwaway manner as she drinks her own death was one of the most satisfying scenes I’ve seen in a long time. I’m personally longing for a Jaime and Cersei confrontation, and hope this fuels the fire. We also learn that Jaime is using the other half of Ice, as he has Joffrey’s “Widow’s Wail” for anyone like me who wants an update of the whereabouts of all Valyrian steel weapons.

Sansa, Jon, and Daenerys are turning away from their parents legacy/traditions, while Cersei is trying to be her father’s daughter. We’ll see how this plays out, but as I said earlier...out with the old and in with the new

RIP Olenna

Predictions for Next Week:

Dany switches up her plan, she will probably mount Drogon in battle shortly while Tyrion will redouble his efforts to recruit Jon Snow to the dragon cause

Based on the preview for next week, Jaime seems to be heading to a desert which can only mean Dorne (ugh) is coming up. Still hoping for a Bronn and Tyene union to rule down South.

Theon shows up somewhere, presumably Dragonstone

We see the ominous dagger which will either be in the possession of Littlefinger or Arya are going to kill someone, and Sansa seems near tears either from Ramsey flashbacks or from Bran’s news.

Brace yourselves the Field of Fire 2.0 is coming

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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 7 years

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Dunkirk: A Review with Spoilers

When I was in High School my sister and I went to the movies. She’s one of the coolest people on Earth, and this movie trip is one of my fondest memories. She took me to see Borat and we both laughed until we cried. It was great. Then being the rebels that we are, we snuck into The Prestige. I quickly forgot every memorable quote that 2006′s favorite man from Kazakhstan ever said.The Prestige changed the way I watch movies. The revenge plots, the abstract timeline, the perfect bittersweet ending. It was The Prestige that made me say I will see every movie Christopher Nolan is involved with for the rest of my life. The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, and my personal favorite Interstellar have all been amazing. I personally force my advanced students to watch The Prestige and Interstellar after testing season. As a teacher this means I watch the same portion of these movies multiple times in a row over multiple days. Interstellar is one of the few movies to give me chills, make me laugh, and bring me to tears (the pathos trifecta) every time I watch, (including the teacher sessions where I watch the same 45 minute portions) this movie is probably perfect. Based on all of this, my expectations were through the roof for Dunkirk. Surprisingly it, just like Ron during his OWL’s, exceeded expectations.

Positives:

Where do I begin? I’ve watched many war movies in my 27 years on Earth. None of them have made me feel the tension that Dunkirk did. From the opening bombing raid to the closing dogfight, my jaw was dropped and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The dogfights in particular were so unique. The way Nolan shot it made me feel as if I was actually in the plane. The score, as it is in all Nolan films, set the tone for the whole movie. The ticking of the clock mixed with the ominous tones further upped the intensity. The pace of this movie was so fast. There was not a moment to rest, and none of the plot focused on character development nor dialog and I loved every second of it. The effects were great, and the Nolan abstract timeline made it even better.

What made this movie truly great was the truth behind it. The tale of Dunkirk is more of a blurb in American History. In advanced classes, Dunkirk is noted as one of Hitler’s two biggest blunders in the European theater. In general education level classes it’s not even mentioned. This does none of the justice that the events of Dunkirk deserves. With the British and French surrounded on the French shore of the English Channel, the soldiers had nothing to do but wait to be evacuated. They were saved not by the Americans, (as we tend to believe was the case of all World War events) nor by brilliant military strategy, but by the altruism of the British people. Regular people answered the call of their government to sail into a warzone to rescue their soldiers. Churchill hoped to rescue 30,000 men, but these regular citizens rescued more than ten times the number. Seeing this movie in light of our current President tweeting ideas to further divide our country filled me with hope. It was the perfect movie to see at the perfect time.

Negatives:

The popcorn at Waterford was stale. I saw a trailer that has Tom Cruise in it. It’s a negative that he still gets work. Negatives about Dunkirk...I’ll let you know if I think of one.

Overall:

This movie, much like Rihanna, is a ten. I’d see it again in a heartbeat. I may be a prisoner of the moment, but I think it’s the best war movie ever made. My dad and I tried to rank them and we agreed it was better than Platoon and Saving Private Ryan. Valerian may be the next movie to review, until then I will just bask in the excellence of Christopher Nolan. See you at the movies

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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 7 years

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Game of Thrones Review Season 7 Episode 2: Stormborn

After last week’s typical season premier tradition of reminding viewers where everyone is, we had a much quicker paced episode last night. This episode was full of what makes this show so near and dear to all of our hearts: witty banter, boobs (Missan-damn), schemes unfolding, old friends reuniting, and best of all Fire and Blood.

At Dragonstone:

Everything is thrown onto the table, literally and figuratively. The Khaleesi and her advisors quickly hash out many (though not all) things that could potentially create wedges among the group. Varys and his ever shifting support of monarchs, be they Targaryen, Baratheon, Lannister, and now Targaryen again. Ellaria speaks of the Dornish hatred of all Lannisters including Tyrion because of Oberyn’s death.

Tyrion shares this contempt towards his sister, but also towards Ellaria for the death of his innocent niece Myrcella (sorry you don’t get a pic Princess). The Khaleesi forgives Varys, welcomes the Red Woman Melisandre to the fold, and demands that the Greyjoys and Martells respect her Hand Tyrion. We learn of the two pronged Targaryen assault; Tyrells and Martells siege King’s Landing (hearts and minds of the people as the number 1 priority here) and the Unsullied and Doth Raki head west to take Casterly Rock to set up for the Field of Fire 2.0. We end with wise old Olenna telling Dany that she’s lived this long because she ignores clever men like Tyrion, one more possible wedge within the Dragon Brain Trust, and Grey Worm and Missandei finally getting together, though we still are not sure if the masters take the pillar and the stones from the Unsullied.

Maester’s Note:

The Field of Fire was one of the most epic battles to take place during Aegon’s conquest. Aegon, his two sisters, their 3 dragons, led a host of conscripts from the Stormlands against King Loren Lannister and King Mern Gardener of Highgarden. Though the Targaryens were outnumbered by nearly 5x, their air superiority led to a decisive victory. The Gardener family became extinct and were replaced by the Tyrells at Highgarden. King Loren, who retreated through the flames on horseback, knelt and became known as Loren the Last. This was the only time we saw all three dragons fight during Aegon’s conquest. I imagine Dany and her dragons will be heading to Casterly Rock in the near future, and we all saw Jaime riding on horseback through a field of fire in the trailer a few weeks ago.

In the North:

Wedges are the theme of this episode. Tyrion writes to Jon, Sam writes to Jon. Both require him to go to the same location. Dragonstone. Does he head East for an alliance that will surely help them when the true war begins (dragonglass and dragon fire vs the Night’s King) and possibly lose the Knight’s of the Vale? Will threatening the de facto Lord of the Vale Littlefinger comeback to bite him? Will the Lords of the North rally around Sansa the same way they did Robb and Jon? Will Davos cause problems in Dragonstone when he sees Melisandre and ruin the alliance before it can start?

We also saw Arya continue her journey and encounter her long lost Direwolf Nymeria. The last line “that’s not you” after she asked Nymeria to head North reminded me of a conversation she and Ned shared. Ned said something along the lines of “you are to grow up and become a lady” and “that’s not me” Arya replied. Nymeria already has her pack, and Arya seems to be on her way to return to hers.

King’s Landing & The Citadel:

Cersei gathers the Southron Lords and asks for their fealty during an anti-dragon propaganda filled speech. The most noteworthy of them all being Randyll Tarly. Lord Tarly and his son Dickon (not Rickon) are approached by a surprisingly pragmatic Jaime who asks him to lead his army against the Targaryens. Despite the obvious contempt he receives as the “Kingslayer” Jaime masterfully mentions everything Lord Tarly needs to hear. Jaime uses the foreign threat of the Doth Raki to sway this wildling hater, and uses his pride “the Tarly name means something” Randyll states, though it would mean much more if he was the Warden of the South as Jaime promised. Using the us vs them mindset we’re all too familiar with in the real word is a great way to gain the support of the belligerent House Tarly whose words are “First In Battle”

At the Citadel Sam Tarly and Archmaester Slughorn study Ser Jorah and his Greyscale. The Archmaester says it can’t be cured so naturally Sam tries to cure it on his own using dragonglass presumably. It was gross. Cersei and ex-Maester Qyburn go for a walk in the dungeons and look at the dragon skulls from the old Targaryen dynasty. Qyburn’s master (or is it maester) plan is...to shoot it in the eye with a big arrow...oh..that’s cool I guess.

We end with a new battle in Blackwater Bay. Prior to a brief makeout sesh between Yara Greyjoy and Ellaria Sand, Yara declares Theon her protector and the little sand snakes squabble over who gets to kill who (or is it whom) and the beautiful foreshadowing envelops us all. Euron attacks and smashes Yara’s fleet. He also kills the two sand snakes that wanted to do the most killing. RIP Obara and Nymeria. Ellaria and Tyene “Bad Pussy” Sand are captured and likely to be the gift to Cersei because of the whole murdering her daughter thing, and yes I am shamelessly hoping for more of Tyene and Bronn together. More Bronn in general tbh. Euron captures his niece Yara and cackles as Theon jumps overboard to swim away, great laugh, great scene, not so great protector. Loved seeing Euron’s crew cut out tongues. Great shout out to book fans like me. Sidenote: I rewatched this battle 8 times now to try to confirm that I saw a kraken, and sadly I did not see one.

Predictions for next week:

Euron is a hero in King’s Landing and ingratiates himself to Cersei, which pisses Jaime off.

Ellaria will be given to the Frankenmountain a cruel end for Oberyn’s lover.

Jon will talk about the great war, while Dany will focus on the 7 kingdoms. They won’t see eye to eye right away.

We have to see Bran, Beric and The Hound as they were all absent last night.

And my bold prediction is that we’ll see some Gendry, and it will be amazing.

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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 7 years

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Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 1: Dragonstone

After more than a year of anticipation, theorizing, yearning, over-analyzing, and re-watching, Winter is finally here. I want to take time to both analyze the episode, and hypothesize about what is coming next. If you haven’t watched yet, mind the meme above, Spoilers are coming.

In King’s Landing:

We see Queen Cersei, first of her name, speaking with the commander of the Lannister forces Jaime Lannister.They converse about being surrounded on all sides by enemies (Olenna Tyrell to the West, Jon Snow to the North, Sand Snakes to the South, and Dany and Tyrion to their East). Jaime points out that they have no allies, nor heirs for this new dynasty, Cersei says something about being the queen anyway and that she has an idea. During this whole conversation I thought of this...

To me Cersei is everything we feared Joffrey would be. She’s unpredictable, lacks diplomacy, and doesn’t seem to have a plan that doesn’t involve killing all who oppose her. We then get a smash cut to Euron Greyjoy pleading his case for an alliance (and a marriage which Jaime wasn’t crazy about) with the Lannisters. We hear about commonalities between the two (traitorous family members) and more importantly we hear of some of Euron’s backstory.

Maester’s Note:

Euron was a major part of the Greyjoy Rebellion which took place roughly six years after King Robert’s Rebellion. Euron and the Iron Fleet destroy the Lannisters ships and sack Lannisport (the trade hub of the west). Balon declares himself King of the Iron Islands. King Robert sends a force consisting of Stannis Baratheon, Eddard Stark, Tywin and Jaime Lannister to crush the upstarts from the Iron Islands. The end result was a Greyjoy defeat. Euron was exiled, and all but one of Balon’s sons were killed. The surviving son Theon was given to Eddard Stark as a hostage.

Now in KL Euron was not able to gain the alliance he desired initially, but vowed he would not return until he had a “priceless gift” for Cersei. What this gift may be has many fans hypothesizing. Many that I’ve spoken to think it’s going to be Tyrion, but that seems both too obvious and way too difficult (more on Tyrion later). My sister thinks it will be one of the spare Sand Snakes to go after the vengeful Queen’s heart. But I think a much more perfect target will be fan favorite Olenna Tyrell. She’s old, she has no family, she is presumably in Highgarden still, and her death will be both extremely satisfying to Cersei, and actually help their cause of feeding their troops during the Winter.

In the North:

Bran, Meera and the vastly underutilized Dolorous Edd are at the Wall. Bran mentions Hardhome and the army of the undead to seemingly convince the Night’s Watch to allow the two safe passage. Word of Bran will surely reach Jon at Winterfell and could further complicate things.

Jon and Sansa have their first argument in regards to the Umbers and Karstarks, in which ultimately Jon overrules her and forgives the children of these traitorous houses. Sansa and Jon have an extremely tense conversation about this decision. Sansa believes Jon is being too soft and seems to be channeling her inner Cersei “Be smarter than father and Robb” though if we think of their mistakes Robb killing papa Karstark for defying him and killing the young Lannister cousins, and Ned both failing to side with Renly, ordering Sandor Clegane’s death, and trusting the wrong people. Jon seems aware of this and understands the two bigger pictures. The Night’s King and the White Walker army, and another thing that reminds me of the great Tywin:

Littlefinger tries to deepen the wedge between Sansa and Jon. Tormund flirts so hard at Brienne, Lyanna Mormont shows she’s the baddest motherfucker in Westeros, but not much else of note happens in Winterfell.

In the Riverlands:

Arya continues to warm all of our hearts by killing the Frey’s and then she runs into Ed Sheeran and other Lannisters men at arms. Arya seemed surprised by how human and how likeable these men are. The novels do a great job of this with Daven and Genna Lannister while Jaime helps them take back the Riverlands. Arya vows to kill Cersei, all laugh, and I’m left longing for a Nymeria reunion. Further North, and presumably to the east towards the Vale, we see The Hound, Beric Dondarrion, my dog Thoros of Myr, and the rest of the Brotherhood without Banners heading north. We learn that their purpose is to stop the army of the Night, and they are heading for Eastwatch-By-The-Sea which will lead to the Brotherhood meeting up with the Night’s Watch, and hopefully Jon.

Everywhere Else:

Samwell Tarly is in Oldtown training to be a Maester (and you thought you had a shit job) and we learn 3 things. Jorah is being studied for his Greyscale. There is a mountain of Dragonglass at Dragonstone. Finally the Maester’s believe Sam, but they see this as no major threat as long as The Wall stands. (spoiler alert this means the wall will fall)

I’ll end this with where the episode ended it. Dragonstone. Daenerys finally walks on Westerosi soil. She’s accompanied by her usual crew. They tear down the Flaming heart of the Rightful King Stannis Baratheon, and get to work. Based on their location, I imagine them plunging further inland than marching straight to King’s Landing. I see a battle at Harrenhall coming, which would lead to a beautiful parallel with the books, and the past. It was at Harrenhall where Aegon the Conqueror scorched the great fortress during the first Targaryen Conquest.

Predictions:

We see Ellaria and Yara enjoying a smooch, then Yara demanding they march on King’s Landing...cool...more importantly we see Northern lords saying the Targaryens can’t be trusted. Another possible wedge between Sansa and Jon will come up. Will Jon mirror Torrhen Stark and be the Stark King to bow to the Targaryens? Or is marriage going to be the next most likely option? I can’t wait for this season.

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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 7 years

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Spiderman: Homecoming: A Review With Spoilers

Saw this movie yesterday and though it did not live up to the hype of my best friend (who admittedly hates most Marvel movies and sent me 6 fire emoji’s to describe it) I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised by a question that this movie made me ask...what makes a villain great? Is it absolute power? Ruthlessness? Supernatural abilities? Ability to instill horror? No, these attributes make good villains, but greatness takes more than one, or many, of these mentioned requirements. True greatness from a villain requires just one thing, (and I’m ignoring the obvious great actor) relatability. It is this reason alone that leads to great villains towering over the good villains. If you don’t believe me look at one of the most perfect superhero franchises The X-Men. Think of the multitudes of villains in these movies, cartoons, and comics. I’d venture to say that 90 of 100 people would agree that Magneto is by far the best villain. Strongest? No that’d have to be Apocalypse. Horrifyingly devious? Probably Mr. Sinister. Most relentless? That’s the Juggernaut bitch. But it is relatability that leads the majority of people to choose Magneto as the best of the bad. Magneto, after surviving the Holocaust is now in a world where his people (mutants) are being singled out, discriminated, and targeted for violence/jail/etc, and Magneto is pushed to a point where he wants to fight back for the survival of his people, by any means necessary! Though not to this extreme, most of us can relate to some level of this feeling. I say all this because Spiderman: Homecoming surprised the hell out of me by making me feel this way about Michael Keaton’s Vulture. He is easily (and some may argue there’s not much competition) the best villain to be in any Spiderman movie. A regular Joe, pushed around by the government, screwed over by the rich, takes matters into his own hands to provide for his family, and to secure that piece of the pie that is the American Dream for himself, by any means necessary! Another feeling that most of us have felt, or are currently feeling today. Now let’s get to the rest of the movie...

POSITIVES:

One of my favorite students of all time told me that “remakes are always better” and though that’s not always the case, Poseidon (2006) vs. The Poseidon Adventure (1972), it is definitely true in this case. FINALLY, Spiderman is the sarcastic, quick-witted, teenage genius that I grew up on. As a kid I remember watching the Spiderman cartoon and loving it. Spiderman, Ironman, and the X-Men all in the Fox Box...

and to me this movie was the best representation of this character. One huge positive for this movie was that they didn’t bother with the Spiderman origin story. We all know it, we’ve all seen it in various forms of media, and we don’t need a third reboot to talk about it. Instead the story of how he got his powers was a throw away line. Thank you. As always anytime there’s a heavy dose of Tony Stark/Ironman (portrayed by the great Robert Downey JR.) it’s gonna be awesome. Seeing Tony as the father figure he felt he never truly had was a unique and untapped story-line. Because of all of this, Spiderman: Homecoming would be a solid movie...and then there’s Vulture. I soliloquized earlier about how great of a villain he was, but there was a particular scene that I can’t stop thinking about. While trying to step back and not be a prisoner of the moment, I still came to the realization that this movie offered what may be one of my top 3 favorite movie moments of all time. There was a scene, and if you missed the fact that I have spoilers in the title please stop reading dude, where Peter is riding in a car with his date to homecoming, and being driven by her father. Her father of course is the everyman villain played by Michael Keaton. This scene made my jaw drop to the floor because of the way it combined that awkward feeling almost every guy gets when meeting his date’s father (what’d I say about relatability) with the knowledge that this father, is also the homicidal arms dealer and thief you’ve been trying to thwart throughout the movie. Combine that with the way that Adrian Toomes (Keaton) slowly pieced it together that Peter was his nemesis, the rising tension during the ride to school, and the climax of the father cliched “man to man” talk with his girlfriend’s date was cinematic gold. “Know that you’re only alive because I’m letting you live. Now show my daughter a good time...but not too good” all while brandishing a gun in front of both Peter our 15 year old hero and a school.

Negatives:The biggest negative to me was the major climactic fight scene at the end. It was simply too dark. It was difficult to see the action, and despite the fact that it was taking place in the sky hanging from a Stark Jet, it seemed too small. I may be nit-picking here but there were few negatives to find in this movie. At the beginning of the movie I thought that Tom Hardy (who will be playing Venom) was making the ultimate cameo as one of Toomes’ scavengers, but as the movie developed I recognized Logan Marshall Green and was pissed the fuck off. Not because it wasn’t future Venom Tom Hardy, but because LMG played Ryan’s older brother Trey. The older brother who was supposed to watch out for Ryan and be a role model, who turned into a petty criminal and inevitably got Ryan into trouble, then tried to take advantage of Ryan’s new opportunity and almost ruin everything the Cohen’s did for Ryan. Fuck you Trey Atwood.

(you will always be my spirit animal Seth Cohen)

Overall:I think this movie is a very solid 8.5. When looking at Marvel movies I compare everything to how I felt after seeing Ironman for the first time (which I saw in theaters 4 times during my senior year in high school) and this was no Ironman. I’d definitely see it again, and look forward to the next installment. After the last few Marvel Movies, I now can’t wait for the Infinity Wars. Seriously though, I dare you to tell me that there’s a better Marvel villain than Keaton as Vulture. Off to DC tomorrow so it may be more than a week for my next review. Sorry to all of my half dozen followers.

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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 7 years

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Baby Driver: A Review With Spoilers

Saw this movie Sunday after reading great things about it. From what I understood when I saw this trailer for the first time, the movie had some great ingredients. Kevin Spacey is one of Earth’s finest actors. Edgar Wright is one of my favorite directors. Car chases. Bank heists. All of these had me feeling like Fry...

Positives:

What may have arguably been my favorite thing about this movie was the trailers. 4 Phenomenal trailers. The Foreigner starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan seemed like an awesome theater movie with a bunch of explosions and a GOT alum appearance by Roose motherfucking Bolton. A remake of the highly underrated Flatliners. Now the original has some ingredients for movie magic: Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, a Baldwin, and a great Psychological plot that was so well written it made me tolerate Julia Roberts. The remake seems to push it towards an even further psychological/scary level and no Julia Roberts so I’m down. The next two are adaptations of two of Stephen King’s masterpieces. It seemed just the right level of creepy, and The Dark Tower (which is on the same level as Harry Potter and A Song of Ice and Fire) gave me absolute chills.

Now about the actual movie that I enjoyed:

Edgar Wright has been taking my money since Shaun of the Dead and will continue to do so. I was intrigued when I saw he was doing this because I expected there to be a more silly vibe to the plot. All though there were a few laughs (Shane from the Walking Dead, and J.D.’s Mike Myers masks come to mind) this had a much different feel to it than the rest of his movies. One similarity was the amazing soundtrack. This reminded me of Guardians of the Galaxy, the music tied into the plot in just a great way. Wright also shot this so well! The opening chase was unique, which is hard to do since movies have been copying Bullitt since 1968, but there was also a very David Lynch-ish Twin Peaks vibe to it as well whenever our protagonist Baby envisioned his love interest Debora.

Even finding these pictures to use I find another similarity since both waitresses help the character with hearing problems! So great!

The cast of this movie was great too. As stated before, Spacey is other-worldly and if you need convincing watch The Usual Suspects, K-Pax, Se7en, House of Cards, or American Beauty. Ansel Elgort was perfect as the lead in this, the kid who’s good at his job, forced to do bad, but his conscience wants him to be good. Conflict ensues. Though he’ll always be Gus from A Fault in Our Stars he was great in this. Flea was great in his cameo. Jon Hamm is always good and played the unrelenting bad guy extremely well. Also Jamie Foxx died, which was awesome as he played a character who may have been a manifestation of a true bag of dicks.

Negatives:

This movie went a bit long in the middle. I know that it was for the purpose of character development, and to make Baby complete his own version of Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” but it just seemed to drag during the rest of the quick paced movie.

One of my biggest beefs was Doc’s (Kevin Spacey) quick change of heart. The movie goes out of its way to prove that he’s a ruthless/heartless crime boss. He has one guy killed for leaving a gun behind, he forces Baby to work for him to pay off a years long debt, he has the goonish Ham and Fox beat up a deaf guy, but then on a whim, his heart grows 3 times its normal size and he lets Baby go free.

Overall:

I’d give Baby Driver a solid 9. I enjoyed almost every second of it, definitely worth a rewatch. I know I’ve been slacking on movies lately, July feels like it will have plenty more coming.

Oh also Eiza Gonzalez was in this movie, and she’s super hot. See you at the movies

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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 7 years

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How I feel I should look after the gym vs what I really look like after the gym

#fitness #david beckham #michael cera #body struggles

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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 7 years

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13 Reasons Why

As a teacher I was completely moved and have not stopped thinking about this show and it's profound ability to mirror relatable issues. As a lover of TV/Film I can't stop marveling at the writing and acting. As a basketball coach I can't stop critiquing Zach's terrible shot form. It's completely broken. He has no shot at playing at a D1 team with that form.

#13 reasons why #zach dempsey #teacher #high school #Netflix #response #omg #basketball

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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 8 years

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The Belko Experiment: a movie review with spoilers

During the worst spring break in the history of spring breaks, I had one brief shining moment. That moment was the majesty of the Belko Experiment. This movie, written by the amazing James Gunn, had everything I wanted in a story: psychological wtf moments, gratuitous violence, really good looking hispanic women, and amazing character actors. A great part of this experience for me was being one of 3 people in the theater. The lack of body heat and people shouting on their cellphones was a great compliment to my Oreo’s Dippin Dots. As always...

This was a movie all about a random government company that relocated Americans to Bogota Colombia. I’m sure this happens, outsourcing is still a thing right? Anyway this company was kind of vague, it seemed like they could be any other office where any type of work can be happening. Vagueness = relate-ability. The caveat here is the fact that every employee has a GPS tracker implanted in them, the explanation seemed fair enough, there’s a lot of kidnapping in Colombia and the US values their people so the GPS trackers are set up to protect them. Then things get kind of wild, a deadly social experiment ensues where there was just 1 survivor. Also Adria Ajorna is super hot, she needs to be in more movies/tv/dreams of mine...Let’s break this down

POSITIVES:

James Gunn is one of my favorite writers in Hollywood right now. Dawn of the Dead, Slither, and my favorite Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy are just a few of my favorites. Belko was right in line with these as we had a great mix of humor and some good horror violence.

The cast was perfect. With no overwhelming stars of the movie, everyone just seemed to fit together. The biggest stars were either President Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) from the vastly overrated Scandal, Jim Harper (John Gallagher JR) from the preachy hindsight Newsroom, or the ageless wonder who you probably remember as Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) from scrubs. Seriously he looks like this now...

and he looked like this in Platoon 30 years ago...

We need to figure out his diet...

Anyway my favorite part of this movie was what made the first Saw so good. This movie made feel feel all kinds of empathetic realism. Throughout the movie I was questioning whether or not I would be able to go through with this experiment. Would I be able to kill my coworkers? Would I be okay with taking human lives? Where would I stand when my fight or flight instinct kicks in? I’d like to think my answer is an unequivocal yes, and I chuckle at the thought of my apathetic colleagues being put in this position, but the fact that a movie in which people are killing each other with basic office supplies (seriously I’ve been waiting to see someone use the blade from the guillotine like paper cutter as a weapon since I was in middle school) made me think this deeply and question myself days after watching it either says something about how well put together that movie was, or I’m a flawed individual for relating more to a movie like this than Sleepless in Seattle or The Breakfast Club...

Last I want to make a special shout out to Brent Sexton. The name doesn’t stick out, but he’s this guy....

And he’s a dick in almost everything he’s ever been in. Except for this show The Killing. The first two seasons of that show are absolutely perfect and inspire me to write. It’s dark, depressing, there’s so many twists, I cried at the finale. Literally all the feels possible from this show. Check it out on Netflix.

Negatives:

There are only two blatant negatives from this movie going experience. I loved this movie. I plan on owning this movie. The plot is great, the acting was great, the script was phenomenal...except for the last exchange between our protagonist and antagonist. I’m completely cool with the ending, but their verbal exchange was the equivalent of a playground “I know you are, but what am I?” and that just hurt my soul. Not enough to ruin a movie, but it could’ve been better.

The other screaming flaw that hurt my brain was the trailer to Fast and the Furious 8. The fact that there’s 8 of those movies is soul crushing. It makes me feel completely existential and question the meaning of life and doubt the existence of any kind and altruistic deity. Have our school systems failed this much where this is popular? Is our culture this flawed? Vin Diesel showed more emotion voicing over Groot than he does in these movies. They bring everyone back from the past films, but Eva Mendes? What is the thought process of Hollywood? A fucking submarine and a tank are racing through what may or may not be polar ice caps. That shit makes me root for global warming. Fuck those movies.

Overall:

This movie was a solid 8.5. It bums me out that this movie went so under-promoted and generally unseen. I would definitely see it again, and would recommend it strongly to anyone seeking a different, psychological thriller. Ghost in the Shell may be the next review, I’ve been really into robots and trippy time travel-ish stuff latley. Did I mention what a smoke-show Adria Ajorna is?

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dizknowzmoviezandtvshowz · 8 years

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Kong: Skull Isand: A Big Review with Spoilers

On St. Patrick’s day I embraced my Irish heritage the best way I knew how, no it wasn’t drinking a Pint O’Guiness and complaining about the King’s high taxes, but I went and saw King Kong with my Dad and cousin. Now we saw King Kong together a few years ago starring Jack Black

who’s clearly surprised he was in the movie, and a personal hero of mine Adrien Brody who is a king among men for what’s below

sorry got Halle sidetracked again…

Anyway the King Kong in 2005 was fairly awful to me. It just seemed like it tried to CGI the shit out of the same movie from 1933, and I’m sorry but the Gatsby era sucked big time. (thanks a lot Coolidge)

Skull Island however, attempted to modernize a view on the big ape. The film was unique, had a great cast, great special effects, and room for a sequel.

Positives:

We’ll start first with the cast, which was absolutely phenomenal. I’ve never been a fan of movies where they try to bombard you with a myriad of A list celebrities who seem to just be in the movie together to hang out ie The Oceans trilogy and any of those terrible Chick Flick’s that were named after a holiday. Skull Island had a great cast who all fit together. No overwhelming stars, just great actors left and right who played the shit out of their parts. Sort of like the San Antonio Spurs, you’re not wowed by one individual but the system is just beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, we have to talk about Brie Larson. She’s an amazing actress, who can literally play any role and has this mixture of smart and sexy and sarcasm that is beyond perfect. Not to mention there’s always this on my mind…

If you haven’t seen United States of Tara you are failing at Netflix. Shea Whigham (son of Police Chief Clancy Whigham), John C. Reilly, Tom Hiddleston, Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell (they get to have the NWA reunion that the real world never will have) all work great together, but they are dwarfed compared to the two titans of Hollywood…John Goodman and Samuel L Jackson.

John Goodman is easily the most underrated actor of ALL time. Name a movie he wasn’t great in? You can’t. He’s been in un-great movies sure, but you can’t tell me he wasn’t one of, if not the, best part of everything he’s ever been in. Argo, Roseanne, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Big Lebowski, Damages, The West Wing (as un-hateable Republican on that super liberal show), Flight, Monsters Inc…the list goes on. John Goodman is a deity and may be compromised of all that is good in the world…and then there’s this guy…

Whether its a big gorilla and his helicopters, or snakes on a plane, you do not want to fuck with him. Sam Jackson was angry, crazy, irrational, belligerent, and everything else you need to make the Rowdy Rough Boys. He was mad about being taken away from the Vietnam War too soon so he took it out on a primate. Mace Windu/The Octopus/Jules is pretty much the man when it comes to most things.

Negatives:

Personally I hate that everything needs an origin story. King Kong has been a part of our modern lexicon/collective consciousness since the Great Depression. He’s a big ass orangutan, we get it. Let’s just fast-forward to where he’s fighting Godzilla.

My dad said this movie felt like a Sci-Fi Original script. I can sort of see where he was coming from. The deaths were pretty awful. They straddled the gory/campy/stupid and I wasn’t a fan of them. I’m sure there was an attempt at nature overcoming industrialism symbolism but it was weak.

Wasn’t a fan of the skull crawlers nor the WW2 Japanese pilot and American pilot work together trope. One scene was even a pretty blatant rip off of 300. It made me question if I disliked the movie because I was jaded from 27 years of life on Earth, or if it just wasn’t that good.

Also they killed John Goodman, so fuck you movie.

Overall:

This movie felt like a 5.5. It’s been 3 days and I’m still not sure if I like it…which probably means I don’t like it. The effects were great, the cast was phenomenal, but the story was the mediest of ocres. (mediocre) I don’t really feel the need for anyone to see this simple simian in theaters, though the idea of him fighting Godzilla in 3 years does sound the kind of thing to disappoint me…stay tuned my baker’s dozen of followers. The GF wants me to take her to Beauty and the Beast tonightt which sounds like all kinds of fodder for a review

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