Star Trek: Into Darkness Review

A few years ago we were met with an interesting surprise, there would be a new Star Trek film released in 2009. Star Trek had long since been dead, with the last film being released seven years earlier and the show's best days coming almost two decades ago. But upon its release it was met with near universal praise from critics and audiences as well as making almost 400 million dollars at the box office. A sequel was immediately demanded, and it couldn't come soon enough. Well ladies and gentlemen, that time has come. Directed by J.J. Abrams, Into Darkness is the twelfth installment in the Star Trek franchise and easily the most anticipated. Into Darkness takes place a couple years after the events of the original. At this point Kirk has thoroughly established himself as the captain of the USS Enterprise. The film opens up on a foreign planet where the crew of the Enterprise is trying to save the lives of a primitive race. After narrowly escaping death the crew returns to earth only to have Kirk stripped of his title for disobeying orders not to interact with the native people. On the other side of the planet an attack has occurred on a Star Fleet building killing dozens. It is learned that the attack was carried out by a member of Star Fleet named John Harrison. While in a meeting to discuss their options, the high ranking officers are attacked be Harrison who kills several of them. Outraged, Kirk volunteers to go after Harrison to seek revenge for killing a friend; after some thought by the Admiral he agrees. Now the crew of the Enterprise has been tasked with capturing the single most dangerous individual to ever plague the galaxy. I have been waiting four years to see this movie; going into 2013 it was easily my most anticipated of the year. So I was worried that it couldn't live up to its predecessor. Well not only did it match the original film; in my opinion it is even better. I loved everything about the first film, and Into Darkness improves upon it in just about every way. All the actors from the first one reprise their roles and they play out their characters perfectly. The addition to the cast that had everyone talking was highly acclaimed actor Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison. Benedict is most well known for the award winning series Sherlock, and he absolutely kills it in this movie. The biggest problem with the first movie was the villain, he just wasn't special. He was there just for the sake of having a villain. But Benedict's character is on a whole different level. I would say his performance as a villain is comparable to Heath Ledger (the Dark Knight), Javier Bardem (Skyfall, No Country for Old Men), and Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds). He gives an Oscar worthy performance and really does steal every scene he's in. One thing I really want to commend the film on is its incredible visuals. The movie really does look stunning, and I saw it in 3D and in a wide screen format ant it looks incredible. This is a movie that is best watched in theaters. I also felt the writing was actually given a boost as well, especially when it comes to humor. There are a couple scenes where you'll bust a gut. The story is actually more complex than the first one. The movie has layers; it's really not like what you thought it would be. There are some really touching moments through out. This is a fantastic and epic sci-fi adventure. I have been criticized for being overly harsh on huge blockbuster movies, most recently Iron Man 3, and that I only give good reviews to very serious movies like Zero Dark Thirty and Argo. The reason I don't kiss the ass of every big movie is because I have standards. Studio executives think that if there's a movie with lots of actions and explosions people will like it, they don't think it has to be good. But it's movies like Into Darkness that show you can have a blockbuster that isn't just all flash, it really can be great. This is a movie that I would recommend to every man, woman, and child that are interested. Even if you’re not a fan of Star Trek there is a good chance you'd enjoy this movie. Its movies like these that make me love film; it shows that not only artsy tour de force's can be great, but big summer movies as well. Just short of true greatness, this has been one of the best movies of the year and has quickly become one of my favorite movies of all time. And I really hope they decide to make this into a trilogy. 

4.5/5 Stars

Vice on HBO Review

I respect Vice more than any other news outlet; when it comes to politics, pop culture, and society, no organization does as good of a job or is willing to as go as deep. I don't see the head of Fox news meeting face to face with top Taliban members. For those who don't know, Vice started out as a magazine publication in 1994. It was filled with controversy from the first issue. Vice has always been popular but they've blown up during the last couple years with help from the internet, especially YouTube. Their YouTube channel has gained more than 2 million subscribers over the past 2 years. They've become so popular that earlier this year HBO premiered a televised version of Vice. The shows format is very similar to the documentaries online but at a higher quality. Each episode is half an hour long consisting of two different segments. Some of these included political assassinations in the Philippians, China's ghost towns, conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmiris, the Taliban's use of child suicide bombers, China's population having 50 million more men than women, North Korean run aways being sold into sex slavery by the Chinese, and much more. This show is not for the faint of heart, this show is violent. During the first episode they showed clips of suicide bombings, assassinated politicians, and much more. What I remember most is the aftermath of a suicide bombing where they showed a severed head just lying of the street. The closest thing I can compare it to is like watching an uncensored version of Gangland. But if you can stomach the gore, this is quite possibly the best show currently airing on television right now. Currently on episode six, I've learned more about what's going on in the world right now than I have ever learned in school this past year. The show isn't just informative and educational, it is incredibly entertaining. It shows us what many main stream news sourced ignore. While yahoo talks about what Kim Kardashian is wearing and ABC spends ten minutes analyzing the Cowboys game, Vice has reporters on the ground in Mali in the middle of fire fights between the French and insurgents. The HBO show highlights the best of Vice and puts on some of the best documentaries Vice has ever produced. If you haven't heard of Vice, just go watch some of their stuff on YouTube and you’ll be hooked. And even if you have but you haven't watched the HBO series, you're missing out. I'll include a link to every episode from the first series as well as their YouTube channel and website so you can check them out. Vice consistently brings high quality programming in everything they do and is easily my favorite news outlet. And it's great to see that they are being recognized for what they are doing and have been rewarded with their own show, and they really are making the most of it. 

http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/internet/vice/season_1.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/vice?feature=watch

http://www.vice.com/en_us

The Great Gatsby Review

There are a few things I've learned from the film industry over the past few years, most notably if they want to make some quick cash they just make a movie off a classic book...for the fifth time. The Great Gatsby is directed by Baz Luhrmann (most known for his best picture nominated Moulin Rouge!) and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby himself. The Great Gatsby is based off the novel of the same name written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story is told through a third person view by a character named Nick. Nick recently moved out to New York to be a bond salesman, so he rented a little shack in a rich neighborhood and got his future underway. He has a cousin named Daisy who lives not too far from him with her rich cheating husband Tom. When visiting them Nick learns of an eccentric millionaire who lives right next door to him by the name of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is known for his elaborate parties as well as being extremely mysterious. One day Nick is invited to one of Gatsby's parties, making him the only person to actually be invited. Once there he meets Gatsby, a charismatic young man. Quickly the two become friends, but you can't help but feel that Gatsby is playing an angle. Nick came to New York to make a success out of himself, but instead he gets caught up in a plan years in the making. When I first saw the trailer for this movie I thought it looked great, but the more I thought about it the more I worried. Baz Luhrmann has a unique directing style: it's fast paced, it's flashy, and it's in your face. While it worked for movies like Moulin Rouge!, I was afraid it wouldn't work for this... unfortunately I was right. The Great Gatsby is a story about the characters, about this love that can never be. But Baz made this all about style and ignored the substance. You're supposed to feel something for these characters but you really don't. You root for Gatsby but not because you want to but because you feel like you're supposed to. While this over embellished world worked for the party scenes it subtracted from everything else, also there was way too much green screen. When 70 percent of your movie looks like it was filmed on a green screen and you're not Avatar, you have a problem. Of all the scenes in the movie the ones that looked the best were shot in real rooms with no CGI. One thing that bothered me (this is more of a personal preference) was the amount of modern music used. The soundtrack is great but if you're in a 20's setting and you have like five Jay-Z songs it sounds out of place. On top of that the whole movie was obnoxiously loud. I know it sounds like I hated the movie but I really didn't it's not a bad movie. Leo does a great job playing Gatsby, the movie is true to the book, and Baz's style did work for some of the scenes. While The Great Gatsby didn't live up to my hopes there will be people out there that will really like this movie, but personally I was let down and won't remember this in a couple days (especially since Star Trek: Into Darkness is coming out soon). 

3/5 Stars

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review

This game is so over the top, it makes Saints Row the Third look like Shadow of the Colossus. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a standalone downloadable game based off my pick for best game of 2012, Far Cry 3. The game is only 15 dollars and is available for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. I'd love to tell you what it's about but I'm not even going to lie, I have no f*cking clue. The story is so convoluted and crazy it makes no coherent sense. The game is an open world first person shooter; it takes place many years in the future where apparently everything is neon. It's formatted the same as Far Cry 3 for the most part, there's a main mission and several side quests. As far as missions go the game is much more limited than Far Cry 3, beating all the missions will take 8 hours max. Like Far Cry 3 there are enemy bases all around the map that you need to clear out to take over. The main difference is that in Blood Dragon these bases are significantly larger with many more enemies. That leads me to my biggest problem in the game, it almost discourages stealth. In FC3 I played the game stealthy the entire time, while it was easier to run in guns blazing you were rewarded for playing it stealthy. In Blood Dragon, the bases are so big with so many enemies it felt impossible; on top of that most bases had a heavy soldier which you can’t take out stealthily until level 15. Probably the biggest difference in the game is how you level up. In FC3 you were given a skill tree to pick and choose your skills, in Blood Dragon skills improve automatically as you level up. Also in Blood Dragon you only have a few weapon choices, but they are more customizable. As you can tell by its name a new type of enemy was introduced into the game, the Blood Dragon. Blood Dragons are essentially neon dinosaurs, they are mean and tough as sh*t. The thing that Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon has going for it is that the entire game is a throwback to everything 80's cheese. It's all the action movies and cartoons of the 80's thrown into a game, and it's fantastic. They even give you Robocop’s gun, which is as awesome as it sounds. The biggest complaint that people seem to have with the game is that it's short, which it is. But people need to realize it is a 15 dollar downloadable game, it's not a full price game. You pay 1/4th the price you're going to get 1/4th the play time. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is awesome; it is everything I love about Far Cry 3 with some really cool new game elements. For the price you can't go wrong, and it's become a contender for best downloadable game of the year.     

4.5/5 Stars

Iron Man 3 Review

The long awaited Iron Man 3 has finally arrived, riding the coat tales of the Avengers it looks to get this next generation of Marvel movies out the gate with a bang. Iron Man 3 takes place not long after the events of the Avengers, and one thing that is apparent quickly is that Tony Stark is not the same man. He's suffering from anxiety attacks, he's not getting along with his girl friend, and he can't even sleep. On top of that some terrorist known only as the Mandarin is causing havoc all over the world. He seems to have some sort of new bomb that can cause massive damage without leaving a trace of what it is. After one of Tony's friends is seriously injured in one of these attacks, Tony refuses to take it lying down and openly challenges the Mandarin. So Iron Man sets out to not only stop one of the deadliest terrorists the US government has ever, but keep what is left in his life together in the process. Iron Man 3 changes upon the formula somewhat from the previous two; it is a little darker and they put even more humor in it, which is actually my first problem with it. While many of the lines are funny they are given at odd times. Like Stark will be in the middle of a fight, inches away from death, and he'll crack a one liner. Probably the coolest aspect of the movie are the fight scenes, they're pretty badass. And with the addition of the best visual effect the series has seen makes them a feast for the eyes. While aspects like these are very enjoyable, the movie has some faults. Other than Robert Downey Jr. no one gives an overly good performance. One thing that really seems to have divided people is the direction they took the Mandarin in; people ether hated it or just went along, I hated it. I won't spoil anything but in my opinion it's pretty dumb. For a while I really liked Iron Man 3, but around the hour mark things started to take a turn for the worse. The movie just falls apart during the second half and by the end it's just unsalvageable. There are a couple plot points that are just really stupid and defy the laws of physics (even for a superhero movie). I know it sounds like I hated it but I actually enjoyed Iron Man 3 for what it was, a summer popcorn flick. But I am disappointed, coming off the Avengers I was hoping for more. If you ask me, Iron Man 3 is better than Iron Man 2 but still inferior compared to the original.

3/5 Stars