Avengers (extras) Assemble!

I woke early this morning, to attend the casting call for extras in the new Avengers movie to be filmed in downtown Cleveland in August.  Since I missed the call yesterday, this was the last chance.  The only request was to dress in business attire.  So I went with by recently pressed black suit, and bold blue dress shirt with a colorful tie, and my black patent leather shoes.

 I arrived early for the 10:00AM start (I thought), arriving at the hotel before 9:30AM, but should have known when I was already re-directed out into another business parking lot, that I was going to be far back in line.  At the time I had no idea how far back in line.

But everyone was in good spirits, despite the high temps, beating Sun, and hot pavement.  Much talk about movies, and in particular superhero movies, kept things lively.  About halfway though the waiting line, the hotel staff sent out some employees with a cart of cool waters for $2.00.  They radioed back that they needed more.

Finally at about 12:45PM my group of 30 was allowed in the hotel.  We filled out an easy application sheet requesting only the most basic of contact information (blue sheets for boys, pink for girls!), age, height, etc.  Then they had everyone line up, take a number (mine was in the 2200's, and I think they started the morning at 0001!), and two at a time they snapped our photos.  Then I was done.  This part of the process only required about ten minutes.  I was back in my car by 1:10PM. 

Whether or not I actually get called, it was just fun to see the process, and have tried out.

McDoogle

Movie Review: Green Lantern

It was a cloudy Saturday afternoon as I paid for our tickets to 'Green Lantern'.  I was expected it to be a little more for the 3D showing, but $10.25 per ticket?  For the matinee?!    That said, if you're going to shell out a few extra bucks for a movie, Green Lantern is an excellent environment for 3D.  Space scenes, fighter jets, and a large space villain.  Also, I thought the Guardians of Oa, looked realistic is 3D.  In the closing credits, as the galaxy was spinning behind the credits, I really did feel a little dizzy.

Acting wise, I've never liked Ryan Reynolds in anything he's even been in (2 Guys, A Girl, and A Pizza, etc.).  Always seemed like a real hack of a cornball.  But, surprisingly, he really did a decent job as Hal Jordan.  Fearless and cocky when necessary, yet authentically humble at the right times.  Reynolds made a believer out of me - good choice for GL!

The performance that really stood out was Peter Sarsgaard's performance as Hector Hammond.  Yes, he turned out to be a villain, but Saragaard, really had me pulling for the poor guy, to the bitter end.  Misunderstood genius.  A little off the norm, so not one of the 'in' crowd.  Not handsome, slightly hunch backed, but a decent guy trying to make something out of life's many lemons.  Just SO believable.  Excellent work Peter Sarsgaard!

None of the other performances really stood out.  Well, perhaps Mark Strong as Sinestro.  He did had a strong performance too as the GL who seemed to be the elder leader, and the strength and determination to never give in to fear of all of the GL's, standing up to the Guardians.

 

Story wise:  I did know the origins of Green Lantern, having collected his comics from as early on as issue #9.  The movie did an accurate and interesting portrayal of Hal Jordan becoming the next GL for Space Sector #2814 (of 3600).  I don't recall the villain Parallax.  The broken pillar in the sphere of Guardians was a nice effect to represent the wayward Oa Guardian.  I liked the story tying in Hal's indecisiveness and inexperience with being a Lantern, with evolving of the character Hector Hammond to evil, with the threat of Parallax to the whole earth.   I don't think the movie tried to pull off too much.  It seemed 'just right'.  And I loved Hal's solution in defeating Parallax.  Great creativity with his new skills as a GL, and nice effects too!  Liked it very much.

As we roll the credits, stay seated, and learn the secret of Sinestro.  I already known the secret having been a fan, as mentioned earlier in the classic Green Lantern #9.  But J was not aware of the storyline and was heard to exclaim: 'No!'.  Don't miss it.

My recommendation is to go and see Green Lantern.  And the extra $3.50 for the 3D is worth it in this case.

Grade: B+

McDoogle

Your Challenge:  Create your own power ring out of string, pop tops, egg shells, or orange peels.  Then use your will power to create a small poodle, and perhaps a can of Alpo.

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes

We went to see Sherlock Holmes on Christmas day, not realizing it was Opening Day. The theatre was packed. No wonder.

But I don't think anyone was disappointed. Sherlock Holmes was a great film. Not too cheesy. Not too corny. Not over the top in violence and unnecessary fight scenes.

The musical score for perfect for the setting and tone of this film.

I don't think it's a spoiler alert to say that the movie starts out with Sherlock outracing the police to the scene of a crime, to save a young lady from being an unwanted sacrifice for the evil villain Lord Blackwood. The staging of the opening appears as if Sherlock is on the run from the police and they are racing to capture him.

The villain is mysterious and appears to return from the dead to haunt Sherlock, Watson, and everyone else who caused him trouble while 'he was alive'. It becomes a bit of a magic vs. science theme, with Sherlock and Dr. Watson on the side of 1890's science.

The 1890's setting, played out with the London Bridge being built in the background and later in the foreground was excellent.

Robert Downey Jr was excellent portraying a more moody, gritty, not your Grandmother's kind of Sherlock Holmes. But more along the lines of what I thought Sir Conan Doyle intended with his character. Still amazingly intelligent, quick thinking, observant, and logical. This Holmes is also, moody, a fighter, and a bit smelly and unkempt - especially when bored and in-between cases.

Dr. Watson by Jude Law was also well done. Not the usual pastie we've grown accustomed by some who does have his own strength of convictions, is intelligent, and can stand up to Sherlock.

I was unfamiliar with the character of Irene Adler, having read one set of Sherlock Holmes stories previously in the 'Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes', but don't remember running into her character as the women who once bested Sherlock Holmes... twice! Irene was well played by Rachel McAdams.

The aforementioned villain is Lord Blackwood, played by Mark Strong. He was very believable, and had the right mixture of creepy and evil glint in his eye.

Of course, the real mastermind, Professor Moriarity.... we do not see! Not his face anyway. And of course he always gets away to test Sherlock Holmes again in future movies (sequels!).

I really enjoyed this movie.

Grade: A-

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

The new Dark Knight has dawned.

As a devoted Batman fan since I started reading comic books at age 6, I've felt compelled to watch every Batman movie version that gets plastered to the silver screen no matter how bad (i.e. the George Clooney Batman). The movies had been on a downward spiral. So, I didn't expect much when we went to see the new version, 'Batman Begins' a few years ago. But it was surprisingly the best Batman of them all to date. Christian Bale is an excellent Batman. And Ras Al' Ghul, while unknown to the novice Batman viewer, was a classic villain for veteran Batman fans.

Now the long awaited 'Dark Knight' with the Heath Ledger version of the Joker has arrived.

The acting in excellent. Take the back seat Jack Nickleson, a new Joker is in town. Also great acting from Aaron Eckart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. I enjoyed the aspect of the storyline that Batman is waiting for another hero in Gothom - someone Gotham can look up to - so he can step down. And Harvey Dent as the tough District Attorney is that man.

The gangsters teaming up and becoming more desperate due to the arrival of Batman and the impact it had on their 'business' was also realistic.

Batman's new high tech toys (the sonar glasses, the cell phone matrix, and the bat-cycle) were great. My favorite scene is when Batman retrieves the crime lord from Laos from the high rise building by blowing out the windows, jettisoning a weather balloon, and getting hooked by an aircraft that resembled a white C-140 carrier. The bat gliding scene previous was also pretty cool.

What I didn't enjoy about the movie was the typical Hollywood influence of most movies. The fight scenes were fast, furious, and overblown. I can never tell what's going on in those. Wake me when they are over.

<* Spoiler Alert! *> The movie was also somewhat predictable. Who really believed the passengers in either ship would blow the other up? And Commissioner Gordon dead? Never! No surprise when he shows up again.

Overall Rating: B

McDoogle

PS. Your Challenge: Make your own Batsignal by pasting shapes to a flashlight. At midnight turn the flashlight on and wave it in the night sky (cloudy nights work best). Wait for 10 minutes. See who shows up.

Solaris!

Planet of mystery.

I finally managed to rent a DVD copy of the movie Solaris. The 2002 version with George Clooney. Based on the book of the same name by my all-time favorite SF writer: Stanislaw Lem.

Yes, the movie was a bit confusing, but overall, I kind of liked it. To me it made sense that the movie was confusing, since I read the book twice and still wasn't sure what was going on.

I thought George Clooney actually did a decent job in this movie as the space psycho-analyst Chris Kelvin send to out to save the Solaris mission.

But the best acting was from Jeremy Davies who portrayed Snow. The hand gestures, speech patterns, eye movements - all very odd, and perfect for his character.

Is Solaris really just a planet? Or a sentient being capable of reaching into your subconsious past and 'creating' visitors for you? Kelvin's wife Rheya had committed suicide. And now (after Kelvin wakes up from a nap)... here she is - living and breathing! But is she human, or alien sub-matter? And how human can someone culled from the limited memory of the sleeping dreamer be?

<* Spoiler Alert! *> We later find out that Snow is the 'visitor' who survived an attack from his original self soon after he is 'created'. In self defense the original Snow is killed and stuffed in a vent by the visitor Snow. But he's cool with it.

Overall I rate the movie: B+

McDoogle

PS. Your challenge: Discover a new planet of your own. Note any anomalies. Report back to base camp - ASAP!

Movie Review: Iron Man

I hesitate going to movies of comic book heroes I enjoyed as a youngster, because some of the movie adaptions have been just horrible. Case in point: the Batman movie with George Clooney. Ugh! And last few Christopher Reeves Superman's. Zzzz! Then one of my all time favorites... The ThunderBirds. What a disaster! So, with Iron Man being one of my all-time favorite characters (I had over 250 issues of Iron Man starting from #6), I was a bit worried about what Hollywood would do to Tony Stark's armor.

I've seen the Iron Man movie twice now. And it was just as good the second time around. In fact, Excellent! Great job of staying true to the original origins of Iron Man, yet updated to the issues and current world economy. Originally Tony Stark is injured in the Viet Nam war (in comic book land), and invents a chest plate to keep his heart beating. In the movie it's Afghanistan. And it's the original grey armor. Nice! Once back in the States, Tony perfects his design with the classic gold and scarlet titanium armor. With the villain of the piece, Obadiah Stane creating the massive 'War Monger' battle armor. Great storyline. Very realistic.

Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of the womanizing booze hound, yet electronic genius of Tony Stark was spot on. The quick witted humor and jabs were fast paced, and nonstop.

The flight scenes were amazing, and perfect for the big screen. I couldn 't get enough of them.

Gweneth Paltrow brought a softness to the character of Pepper, which in light of Tony's brashness was a good counterbalance.

The second time through I did stay past the credits to view the 20-30 second bonus clip, but wasn't sure if it was really worth it. I've never been a fan of Nick Fury, nor the Avenger's. This snippet appeared to be a teaser for an upcoming Avengers movie, which doesn't especially excite me. I'm anxiously waiting Iron Man II however!

Grade: A! I loved it!

McDoogle

PS. Your challenge: Get down in that basement tonight, and build a battery powered suit of armor. Include a searchlight, terrain following radar, and a Heads Up Display (HUD). Post pics of your creation in the Comments section.