Tune-In Tuesday - The Return: And Now I'm Poor

It was a total aPOPcalypse today!  Ugh!  My poor debit card!

First, the debut album by Carley Rae Jepson, singer of "Call Me Maybe" THE most infectious pop song in like... forever!  (Although those One Direction guys gave her a run for her money.)  Her follow-up, "Good Time" with Owl City is damn near close!  One of those rare artists that can score two "songs of the summer" in the same summer.  (Kinda like... well, we'll get to that...)

The new album by P!nk, the baddest bitch in pop music.  I don't think she gets enough credit.  "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" is poppy and radio-friendly, but this lady has depth and one of the most soulful voices around.  Done!  (Also both these albums are available at target with four extra songs a piece!)

Finally, speaking of having two songs of the summer, this artists is practically synonymous with that expression...

Katy Perry's behind-the-scenes documentary Part of Me also came out today.  I saw it in theaters and it was VERY good.  It's surprisingly emotional, because she doesn't hold anything back and you really get a look at her struggle to get where she is and... well, of course you get to see the breakdown of her marriage to Russell Brand, who is tellingly absent from most of the film.  The drama is punctuated with live performances from her "California Dreams" tour which lasted roughly a year and took her all over the world.  Definitely two thumbs up!

Here's the trailer:

Rewatching it, I just realized that they guy dancers' pants are totally designed to draw attention to their butts. And the dancer in teal is totally hot.

The Extremely Late 'Dark Knight Rises' Reaction

Oh look a post with actual words and no pics of shirtless celebrities!  Wait, where ya going...?

Okay, so... it was good.  I know, right?  NO ONE had that reaction.  People consider these the best super hero movies ever.  I don't know that I can even consider them super hero movies!  Batman wears a mask, yes, but his suit is otherwise... like a real suit of body armor.  Like people actually have this.  SWAT teams and soldiers and such, right?  The entire movie... all three of them are like that.  Everything is just realistic.
 But comics aren't realistic.  That's the whole point.  Well, super hero comics anyway.  There are true crime comics and military comics and stuff... I don't read those, I read super hero comics.  Batman might just be human, but he fights Killer Croc and Clayface and super human creatures.  Everybody in these movies is just human, even Bane.  In the comics, Batman is in the Justice League, which has a base in outer space.  He travels through time and into different dimensions.  That's what made "Batman: The Brave & The Bold" so great!  They didn't shy away from every outrageous aspect of the character's history and universe.  The movies?  Nothing BUT shying away from the source material.

Case in point, the villains.  Ra's Al-Ghul?  Nothing like the comic character.  Bane?  Very little like the comic book character.  Catwoman?  Yes, very much like the comic book character, who like Batman is an ordinary human.  Now some of the characters are pretty accurate.  Alfred and Lucius Fox are great.  Commissioner Gordon is pretty accurate, but how annoying was that part where he finally "realized" Batman was Bruce Wayne?  Didn't he already know that?  Weren't there already clues that he knew?  Isn't it a given?  I didn't get that at all.

Who the hell is John Blake?  Screw that guy.  Same for Rachel in the previous movies, whoever she's played by.  That's another problem I have... they just make stuff up.  These movies aren't adaptations of the comics, they're inspired by the comics. 

Back to the realism thing, I've never liked the tanks they use in these movies.  They're realistic military type weapons, but... none of them was really a car.  They never used the word "Batmobile" in any of them.  Maybe that doesn't bother everyone.  I guess it makes more sense, because the idea of Batman sitting in traffic is kind of ridiculous.

Maybe I'm just old and crotchety.  I mean, the movies are good, but there's no wonder or fantasy in them.  I just don't see enough of the source material in them.  There's no way in hell this version of Batman would work in a Justice League movie.  It would be like throwing the 1960s Adam West Batman into this movie universe.  It just wouldn't fit.  It would make no sense.  So despite John Blake's actions at the end of this movie, I hope this is the last we see of this universe.

While on the subject, here my two cents on Green Lantern.  Hard reboot.  From scratch.  Bye Ryan Reynolds.  He wasn't awful or anything.  I didn't even dislike the movie as much as most people did.  But the movie has come and gone.  No one remembers it.  No one wants more.  It didn't even find a second life on home video.  It's just faded from memory.  So let's just let it go and start over.  Maybe even focus on a different Lantern.  John Stewart still resonates and worked excellently in "Justice League Unlimited." 

Hmmm, oh that? ^^^  Just thought something was missing from this post.

Tune In Tuesday: Rock of Ages

This weekend, Cathy and I watched Rock of Ages.  We both had reservations.  Neither of us has seen the stage musical.  We're not exactly metal heads.  Plus, the day before, I got the new Entertainment Weekly and they gave it a C.  (I didn't read any further.  I wanted to see the movie and form my own opinion.)

Well... we liked it!  The reviews are tepid at best and it took in a disappointing $14 million, but we enjoyed it!  I hate Tom Cruise and his singing voice is kind of odd, but he did a great job in the role of Stacee Jaxx, a thinly-veiled Axl Rose-type rocker that is so sheltered he's lost touch with reality.  I was surprised that Stacee Jaxx was more of a supporting character.  Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta are the real stars as dewy, fresh faced Sherrie and aspiring rocker Drew.  They're an attractive couple.  Diego, obviously was especially appealling to me.

Julianne's voice isn't the best at times.  "Sister Christian" is borderline shrill.  But the rest of the cast delivers some pretty tight vocals, considering most of them aren't singers.  the exception is Mary J. Blige, who has a fairly small role, but she KILLS every line she sings!  She seems tailor made for rock music.  I would love her to do a whole album with a rock vibe!  The best two musical numbers are the ones in Mary's strip club, where no one ever actually strips.

The plot isn't particularly fresh or... hell even that important.  When I read the negative comments, I kind of shrug and admit I can't disagree with what they're saying.  I just don't care.  There are flaws, but it's just so much FUN!  Great songs, fun choreography, just a fun, entertaining movie!  I'm definitely buying the BluRay when it comes out!

Oh Right, This Exists - The RETURN of MANic Monday

I haven't blogged since November, roughly around the time I started writing for ScienceFiction.com.  For one thing, I spend so much time doing that, I didn't really have the spare time and honestly, the subject matter, since all things nerdy go to that site which PAYS me for that stuff.  But I'm going to try and get back into this, with one of my most popular features, MANic Monday.  This editon is slightly nerdy, but mostly manly. 

It's funny, but the cast of the 'Avengers' featured two true Adonises, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth, but for me, my eyes were glued to Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.  It's odd.  He doesn't have the best looking face, but he's cute.  And those arms!  Hemsworth's might be bigger, but Renner's are for me!  (This plus my love for Darryl Dixon on 'The Walking Dead' are leading me to suspect I have a weird rcher fetish I never knew about.)  Enjoy!

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made it an extra large offering today to make up for being gone so long.  Hopefully there are still people out there!

MANic Monday: Charmed, I'm Sure

So I watched Once Upon a Time last night. It was about blah blah blabbity blah and Fables and fairy tales and the real world and why is Carey Mulligan Gennifer Goodwin doing TV? Actually I wasn't paying much attention because I was distracted by Prince Charming, played by an older Chord Overstreet Josh Dallas!
Also, I didn't realize this, but he played Fandral in Thor. That is because I was distracted by Chris Hemsworth's pecs and biceps. You'll forgive me. Heh, he's cute there, in a vintage Carey Elwes kinda of way.

The Immortals

Without a doubt, the most anticipated movie of the year (by my loins), is The Immortals! It's about blah blah blabbity blah and Henry Cavill and Kellan Lutz and neither shirts nor pants were invented yet. Okay, so which is cheaper, buying out the whole theater so I can have it to myself or bail money if I go see it with the general public and my pants magically fly off?
Soooooo much handsome. Too bad he doesn't seem to take his clothes off more. So, movin' right along...

I love when a man realizes what he's got working for him and flaunts it. I want to lick that vein on his arm and give it a nickname.

Oh look, here's a video: