So I am pretty sure that everyone has heard about Prometheus, the next Ridley Scott joint, which was supposed to be the prequel to Alien, but ended up being branched off into a separate story. That alone makes me excited just because Ridley Scott has always been a great director, and if anyone can actually bring a good story together and make it visually appealing without having to Michael Bay the crap out of it, I’m game.It’s never good when nowadays, you have Spielberg trying to out-Spielberg himself constantly.
I am really excited for this movie because I think if Alien was the most underrated sci-fi flick of all time (mostly due to the superior ‘Aliens’ from Mr. Titanic/Avatar himself). Plus the cast is not one to sneeze at with Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Wilson, Logan Marshall-Green, and Noomi Rapace. So yeah, seeing the teaser, it looked awesome. Plus co-written by one of the creators of Lost (Damon Lindelof and John Spaihts being the other co-writer) it promises to be good times. Below is actually the new international trailer and I have not watched it yet. Shall we do that right now after the break?
So that was a subtle trailer. Just let you know that stuff is about to go down, maybe a face hugger or two, maybe some psychological issues, and some giant ass monumental about to wreck your crap. I’m sold. Even if I can’t tell if it comes off more Alien than Event Horizon…which isn’t a bad thing because Event Horizon still creeps me out. Just sayin’. I just expect raptors to show up and clever girl people when Sam Neill is on the screen.
There has been little news on the upcoming Mad Men season five beyond the release date, and that’s the way the shows creator Matthew Weiner likes it as he continues his reign as the Bill Belichick of TV production. Roger Sterling especially might remember the term “Loose Lips Sink Ships” but in this case I suppose it would be more along the lines of “Slipped Spoilers Mars MadMen” that’s being enforced.
That being said, a lot of extrapolation is coming out of comments made by Jon Hamm about the upcoming season, and the potential for relations between Don Draper and Christina Hendricks’ Joan.
It’s the pairing that fans of the show have most been salivating for as Don and Joan seem to be the two most likely candidates to hook up, but somehow always keep their worlds apart, or at least their bedspreads. Personally I don’t see it happening this season.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance easily surpasses it’s predecessor, but not by much. They definitely ignored events of the first one and started from scratch, getting straight to the point with the opening sequence. Given that, it still seemed like the filmmakers were sort of relying on you having seen the first movie so you had a better understanding of what the Rider is even though they explained everything in five minutes. Nicolas Cage is at his quirky best in the film, acting half crazed in several scenes as he struggles to keep Ghost Rider within himself.
The plot of the movie reminded me a lot of the plot from Drive Angry, another Cage starring flick involving a satanic cult attempting to take a child that will be used to bring the devil to our world and create hell on Earth. The premise was the same in Spirit of Vengeance, but the execution was less ridiculous than it was in Drive Angry. The devil himself walks the Earth in Spirit of Vengeance, played by Ciarán Hinds. Hinds, who has most recently appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy seems to be wasted in the role of the devil. (Or Roarke as he is known in the movie) I remember back to when Rome was still on HBO and he played the role of Caesar and just can’t pinpoint why he would accept this role except for the cash. The same could be said for actor Idris Elba, but he seems right at home in the role of Moreau, the French, wine drinking holy man who assists Johnny Blaze in trying to regain his humanity in this installment of Ghost Rider.
Nicolas Cage used to be a great actor, but now he has become a sort of caricature of himself in many ways. It’s known that he had financial troubles in recent years and it’s now common knowledge as to why he releases nearly six movies every other year. I’m not saying I won’t go see any Nicolas Cage movies anymore, I’m just saying he’s no longer the actor he once was, we just can’t expect anything spectacular out of him anymore performance wise.
Even though the movie’s plot was dog crap and typical of many supernatural movies in recent years, the special effects in regard to Ghost Rider himself were excellent. The first time you experience him in the movie he is definitely a creepy sight to behold as his movements as he walks toward a victim are choppy and erratic. His head tilting and screaming were also a bit disconcerting. This wears off later in the movie, but I thought they couldn’t have done a better job with the character who is pretty one dimensional in the comics anyhow. The action sequences weren’t all that bad either and was one of the main things that even kept me awake during the movie. I loved the concept of the Rider being able to change any vehicle he rides into a flame spewing death machine.
*Minor Spoiler*
I never looked much into the origin of Ghost Rider aside from his human host making a deal or being cursed, but in the movie we are treated to one. It turns out the Rider was formerly an Angel called Zarathos, the Spirit of Justice, who was sent to Earth to help mankind. Unfortunately he was driven mad after being captured by the forces of hell and now in his form as Ghost Rider he punishes everyone no matter the severity of their crime. I thought that was an interesting take on the character.
Overall I give Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 2 out of 5 grizzlies.
It wasn’t as good as I expected, but it was definitely better than the first Ghost Rider movie. I honestly hope at this point that they might be done with trying to make Ghost Rider something more than he is. I wouldn’t think they would make yet another movie to attempt correcting the things wrong with this movie, but it is Hollywood so you never know. I think Ghost Rider is in the same boat as Punisher, he has a faithful following but not enough to elevate him into the box office smash hit like Spiderman or Iron Man. It was a nice try for the studio to make up for the first Ghost Rider though.
This episode began right where episode 8 left off. Rick, Glenn and Hershel are in the abandoned saloon. The three of them are waiting by the door to the bar because the friends of the men that Rick shot are looking for them. Rick yells to the men that their friends drew on them and they begin shooting into the bar…
Lori flipped her car into a ditch last episode, and is still there. A walker tries getting through the glass and as glass scrapes his skin off of his face, she grabs a sharp object from her car and stabs him in the eye. As she exits her crumpled up vehicle, she forgets that zombies are sneaky and doesn’t check her surroundings. Another walker attempts to attack her, and she hits him in the head with a rim. Fantastic.
As the rest of the group sits down to dinner, Shane realizes that it has been a long time since anyone has seen Lori. Shane takes the car and heads out to find her. He finds her walking down the road and tells her that Rick and the boys are already back and safe. She trusts him… because he has never lied to her before, right?
As the boys try to get to the car from the bar, the dead men’s friends are shooting at them. Hershel shoots one of their friends, and the rest of the guys decide to get out of there. One of the group jumps off of the roof and (surprise!) hurts himself. His leg was pierced all of the way through by the top of a gate. Rick and Hershel attempt to cut his leg off while Glenn watches out, but the place is crawling with walkers, so Rick rips his leg off of the gate and they head out. [It was AWESOME.]
Grizzly Bomb 