Finally watched the pilot to Westworld. Thoughts with minor spoilers...

I largely enjoyed it as the first chapter in an ongoing story, so the slower pacing was tolerable. It did get particularly slow in the middle, but what can you do.

Easily the worst part of the episode was the music - the title sequence felt like a Game of Thrones rip-off (not surprising), the general score was whatever, and then the crowning achievement of crap: the cover of "Paint It Black." It was a bad cover and didn't fit the scene (felt forced). It's like they were going for Battlestar Galactica's "All Along the Watchtower" cover and failed miserably.

Also, there were some stupid (world-building) moments, which presumably will be built on but I'll call out now:
1. The engineer (is that her job?) lady kissing the whore IN THE WIDE OPEN. Unless your job is to QA the bots like that, you're going to be having a talk wtih your supervisor. Skipping the kiss and teasing her intrigue would have been a better way to go.
2. The dialogue writer is shitty with dialogue. This is a multi-million if not billion-dollar experience and they get a hack writer as the lead?
3. Similarly, why introduce a coup/climb the corporate ladder/nefarious ulterior motives for Westworld in the first episode? That scene could have been cut to shave time and placed in a later episode. Let Jeffrey Wright and Anthony Hopkins fuck up a bit more.
4. Back to the business of Westworld - this is a huge, highly resourced entertainment/electronics company and they do no real QA before releasing updates to their consumers? What in the fuck?!

What self-respecting company wouldn't have a beta environment with beta testers to test out the potentially dangerous and life-threatening robots. Maybe if they want to save expenses, but if there are fatal flaws and the company gets shut down, they have no business. I thought Jonathan Nolan had gaming experience...

A couple quick things I liked:
1. The "programmed" state of some of the narratives, with branching options. It was interesting to watch how the robots behaved when new elements would be introduced (e.g. robots being distracted or humans interfering). This helped to show how game-like the world is.
2. The fly narrative. A simple tactic, nicely executed.
3. Ed Harris as the Man in Black. Dig it.

I am definitely curious about the show and look forward to watching the next few episodes. This has me intrigued in a way that Preacher did not.

The pilot gets a solid RECOMMENDATION as a very good episode, just shy of greatness (though it may be arguably great).

Quick assessments of the Princes in Disney Princess movies

For fun and per request from a friend, and as a "sequel" to this column, here are some quick assessments of the Disney Princess movies with regards to their messaging based on the Princes (apologies to my Disney fan friends):

Note: I haven't seen some of these movies in awhile, so these may be off...

Snow White - You only need two skills in life: singing and kissing. You don't need a name, though, but you do get to embrace your necrophilia. Also, be handsome.

Cinderella - Get her some shoes and you'll win her heart. Also, money and charm don't hurt. And be handsome.

Sleeping Beauty - Sometimes your parents can pick out a hottie for you, especially when you come from money. Also, use that money to learn how to use a sword, because you're going to have to fight to protect her. And be handsome.

The Little Mermaid - When the world is at your fingertips, you can wait for the right girl to come to you. Through song (avoid the silent ones). Also, use your money to learn boating. And be handsome.

Beauty and the Beast - It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside, as long as you have plenty of money and servants to help you find a pretty girl who sees the inner you. An inner you who is handsome (with money and servants... and a library).

Aladdin - Lie and manipulate your way to success, until it backfires and you realize being true to yourself is the way. Of course, getting REALLY lucky and having the support of Robin Williams certainly helps. Also, being cute is the poor man's handsome.

Pocahontas - When in doubt, Mel Gibson your way out

Mulan - Be a Man. You must be swift as a coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, yet mysterious as the dark side of the moon. Also, have no respect for women (unless they act like men (and kinda look like one)). And be handsome. And manly.

Princess and the Frog - Don't entirely remember... When you have money (or don't and pretend to), it's OK to be a manipulative, obnoxious and entitled brat and use women for your pleasure/survival. Also, be handsome.

Tangled - Eh... this is taking too long, so... work your way up the ladder of life, keep some secrets, be handsome.

Brave - N/A

Frozen - Be an evil conniving bastard who can sing, dance and has money, or be a total clown dimwit. Either way, have looks.

Moana - Be The Rock

Feedback is welcome in the comments.

Quick assessments of the Disney Princess movies based on the lead

For fun, here are quick assessments of the Disney Princess movies with regards to their messaging based on the lead protagonist (apologies to my Disney fan friends)..

Note: I haven't seen some of these in awhile, so they may be off (friend corrections are noted below the list)

Snow White - Dated and no

Cinderella - Being oppressed sucks, but wishing for a man to save you vs taking your own actions? No (*friend correction below)

Sleeping Beauty - HELL NO (yay being molested while sleeping)

The Little Mermaid - Fuck you, Ariel, you entitled child. Keep changing yourself for your man more, you stupid piece of shit

Beauty and the Beast - Stockholm syndrome. No (*friend correction below)

Aladdin - Lie and manipulate your way to success, until it backfires and you realize being true to yourself is the way. Of course, getting REALLY lucky and having the support of Robin Williams certainly helps

Pocahontas - Eh... there's a degree of empowerment, but it's for the purpose of romance... Also historical inaccuracies

Mulan - Being empowered, yes and breaking flawed norms/traditioms. This is good

Princess and the Frog - Indifferent/don't remember (*friend correction below)

Tangled - Largely OK? Characters seem independent, yet also goofy/dorky

Brave - Not too shabby. Wanting independence, with a focus on family bonds

Frozen - Eh... the sisterly message is great, but both characters are pretty bad

Moana - TBD

I'm very curious about Moana, particularly since there's apparently no romance element.

Friend updates
When I first posted this list, a few friends had pointed out some corrections for the following (these are verbatim and definitely welcome feedback; the above were admittedly flawed quick thoughts for fun):

*Friend 1: Princess & The Frog - work hard to make your dreams come true - you can't wish on stars - but don't let the joys of life pass you by. Best Disney Movie.

*Friend 2: That is a misunderstanding of Cinderella on a core level. She was not waiting for anyone, let alone for a man, to save her. She was trapped in an abusive household, and she wanted a night off of being a slave to her family to be happy - and equal - for once. She did take her own actions whenever she could, and then used the support system she had when she couldn't. Excellent.

*Friend 2: Ariel wanted to be human long before she met Eric, and Part Of Your World is about how she, existentially, feels complete among humans and not merpeople. Eric gave her a focus point, but she would have made that deal sooner or later. And the thing is... she didn't change for Eric at all, really. She changed her body for her, but her personality remained exactly the same. Eric fell in love with her genuinely. (Sidenote: the entire story makes more sense once you realize it is a metaphor about class relations (HCA original) or a queer coming out story (Disney). Can elaborate on that one.)

*Friend 2: Beauty and the Beast is definitionally not Stockholm Syndrome, as Belle never considers the Beast an authority figure and does not align herself with him over the course of the movie until he changes his behavior. In fact, because Belle is actually in charge in their relationship and the Beast aligns himself with *her*, you could make an argument for Lima Syndrome, if you wanted. But that still rests upon the Beast holding her captive, and it's established very quickly that "holding her captive" is a flimsy formality in their relationship. Belle does whatever she wants from day one.

*Friend 3: Beauty and the Beast is in no way Stockholm Syndrome. Belle is actually one of the strongest feministic characters Disney ever created. She is intelligent in a world that only respects brutality, she is kind and loving, she fights WOLVES head on, and every action she does for the first two acts of the movie are to protect her family and her town. The third act was to literally break out of a prison cart and prevent a mob from murdering an innocent man.

TL;DR: Belle's a badass and a nerd, and easily one of the greatest female characters created.

Also, debunking your Stockholm Syndrome: http://thefederalist.com/2016/08/10/7-reasons-beauty-and-the-beast-is-not-a-tale-of-stockholm-syndrome/

*Bonus: Here is the version with regards to messaging based on the Princes.

Jaws (1975) movie review

For a film from 1975, Jaws still largely holds up very well. It has a pretty classic structure that can be found in films made after, such as Predator (which I'd argue perfected the idea in this movie) and Jurassic Park (which was Spielberg's SIGNIFICANTLY improved attempt).

A threat falls upon an area, with a key person trying to rectify the threat, while facing some opposition from the local community, which allows for some solid social commentary on greed, with a cartoonish-yet-human mayor (the suits!). It then comes down to a few people taking on the thread heads-on. It's a very reasonable structure that mostly does what it needs to do.

The only real flaws stem from the films tonal shifts. Though starting out as a potential horror movie, the film then turns into a bit of a buddy/adventure movie. While the comedy and human bonding during this portion is excellent, the shark-chasing parts with the more upbeat musical score took me out of the movie. By the time it got to the ending, a good degree of the drama and tension was removed. Combined with the rather abrupt editing (particularly the death of Quint and actual conclusion by Brody), it felt rushed.

Then again, when viewed as a product from the 70s, leniency can be given.

Jaws was absolutely a precursor for both Spielberg and Williams, which is probably the most special reason to watch it, at this point. With Williams score, he has hints of so many of his big movies to come: Superman, Raiders, Star Wars, Last Crusade and more.

Best parts of the movie:
1. Human dialogue throughout (it's really good)
2. Quint
3. Richard Dreyfus
4. John Williams' score
5. Roy Scheider (his understated performance may be slightly higher)

Worst parts:
1. The occasional awkward editing
2. Some tonally out-of-place Williams music

It's a classic for a reason and RECOMMENDED at the very least from a film history perspective. It's not perfect, though, so expect some elements to be a bit dated, such as a relatively even or slow pace.

Clue remake casting

Slightly old news that Clue is being remade (which I'm fine with), so here's my current casting thoughts, which were actually made with friends in the summer of 2015:

Mustard - Nick Offerman
Peacock - Kristen Wiig
Scarlett - Tina Fey?
White - Julia Louis Dreyfus
Delivery lady - Kristin Chenoweth
Yvette - Kate Upton
Green - Robert Downey Jr or Aziz Ansari
Wadsworth - Tom Hardy, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio or Colin Firth
Mr. Body - ?? (Christoph Waltz?)
Plum - Jonah Hill? Maybe Chris Pine

Thoughts? And yes, while the above cast is fairly white, non-white actors are 100% welcome (these were just quick-thoughts from more than one year ago). Stephen Root and Kate McKinnon would also be great additions.

The World is Made of People

Controversial (not really?) rant of the day:

Can we please stop saying how either "politics" or "the system" is broken? That oversimplifies the actual issue:

People don't know how to communicate or work together

If everything is a social construct, which it largely is, the root of that is PEOPLE. People have created basically everything on this planet. It requires people working together to do so.

If something isn't working, it's more than likely because the people aren't working together, for potentially a variety of reasons.

Politics isn't working? Perhaps because certain people are stalling the process. Perhaps because certain people don't know how to listen or keep an open mind. Perhaps because people don't know how to communicate or do what's best for the future/collective rather than just the present/individual.

This works similarly to any large organization. Whether it's a corporation, a city, a school - any sort of collective where people are unwilling or unable to work together will stall progress.

People are the greatest resource on this planet. If we can learn to work together, then we can achieve almost anything.

The Mermaid (2016) movie review - STEPHEN CHOW!!

STEPHEN CHOW!!

The trailers (American?) did not do The Mermaid any justice, presenting it as more of a hard action movie. In actuality, this is more of a return to form for director Stephen Chow, returning to his 90's comedy-romance(-action) roots.

One could argue that if you've seen one of his 90's comedy-romance movies (whether he acted or directed), you've seen them all, but The Mermaid has a few nice differences.

For one, it feels more cohesive. There's a core story that flows very well, with each of the main characters feeling fleshed out and motivated.

Two, there are some great themes, such as the most obvious environmentalism, commentary on wealth and class, personal growth and love.

Three, while his 90's films typically feature an amazing guy who may be down on his luck falling in love with a "loser" girl (somewhat haphazardly), this one features a woman who isn't anything close to a loser. She's dedicated (to her family, friends, self), strong, funny, can fight and more. There may still be some cultural challenges, but it's a refreshingly different direction. The guy is still on the wish fulfillment side, though, but is also the protagonist who grows the most during the journey.

Long story short, it has some great visuals, GREAT comedic sequences (Chow would be a perfect choice for Looney Tunes), great themes and is a LOT of fun.

A solid RECOMMENDED (with a personal bias towards HIGHLY because it's Stephen Chow). Catch it as soon as you can.

X-Men: Apocalypse movie review

Where to begin with this dud-filled piece of dudly crap that is X-Men: Apocalypse... perhaps with some positives:

1. The costumes were generally pretty good
2. Storm - she gets a solid yes

And those may be the only good things I have to say about this movie. I'll give some neutral credit to the music and music selection, though the X-Men series on the whole, for something that's a good 6-plus movies in now, has still FAILED to create a proper score with recurring themes, leitmotifs, etc. The closest thing to is it John Ottman's title credits theme (done with wonderful aplomb in Days of Future Past).

The X-Men series has a great distinction, to me, of having every entry be generally entertaining, though flawed in various degrees. Yes, even both X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were fun (though perhaps the heavily negative bias set my expectations super low); the musical scores of both definitely helped, as well.

Yet here we are with Apocalypse... I was excited for the film when the teaser at the end of DoFP first played, but shortly after had a sinking feeling in my gut when it was announced that Bryan Singer was returning to direct.

Bryan Singer is not a good director.

At the very least, not anymore. Or if he is, he certainly needs a LOT of help with writing and should consider changing some of his Hellfire Club (inner circle); they are doing him no favors. For example, DoFP's future sequences were the best parts, but the 70s-set character driven story with Magneto, Professor X and Mystique was boring as hell. The one great sequence being Quicksilver, which was a mere 40ish minutes into the movie and created such a stupid loophole that was underutilized (recruit the damn guy!).

Which leads us to the convoluted, poorly edited, mediocre-acted mess that is Apocalypse.
Point blank: who's story are we following? I don't care about anyone or anything that's happening due to three reasons:

1. Recycled storylines/a sense of been there, done that
2. Too many characters/not enough screen time
3. Things happening for no good reason

There's no point in going into the details for any particular character, as they're all underwhelming and poorly developed, save for maybe the new gen of kids. As well, any time something interesting is about to happen (e.g. Quicksilver and Magneto), the story goes into the wrong direction.
Mystique/Jennifer Lawrence doesn't care at all about being in the movie, followed closely by Magneto/Fassbender (though whether he's acting as a burnt-out character or just being himself is another question). McAvoy as Prof X has never really done anything for me (save for Fassbender's Magneto). Neither of the two have the gravitas of Patrick Stewart of Ian McKellan, story taking place earlier in their timelines be damned.

And FFS Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse... So much wrong. The writing is certainly the biggest travesty, but Isaac himself was miscast. Such a thankless role. The creative direction here, again due to the writing, was so bad that it's hard to really properly comment. The changing consciousness, absurd power levels, random story direction and lack of actual comic book characterization similarities form a giant suffering of underwhelming (I have no idea if that sentence/phrase makes sense, but I'm going with it). Michael Clarke Duncan would have been awesome. The Rock would have been awesome. Hell, James Earl Jones in makeup would have been awesome.

Also, why are we even leaping decade by decade? Who oversees the story direction for this franchise? Are they trying to make it like a TV series or movie serials? Gah...

The editing is bad, jumping around with poor character choices. Again, convoluted. Hell, it's so bad it's making my review convoluted. I have no idea what direction I'm going in, the film has rubbed off on me that much...

Psylocke. Have to mention her, so she can be just as "there" as she was in the actual movie.
For a film that goes out of its way to make fun of X-Men 3 and the third entries of trilogies, I'd rather watch that one any day. Singer even re-used some of the same ideas fans hated about that entry! What stupidity is this?

Apocalypse is a hot mess of a movie and a great example of how important story construction and paying attention in the editing room needs to be - so much to cut from this film, yet I'm not sure if there's enough of a core story present to save it.

Bland, unfocused, messy, stupid.

I watched the extended cut of Batman vs Superman after this, which looks like the Godfather in comparison.

You know what would have been better than this? Hire Stephen Sommers to remake his remake of The Mummy but using X-Men, with Apocalypse as Imhotep. Follow the young kids as they're on a random trip to Egypt and accidentally summon Apocalypse, who falls in line with the Brotherhood as they piece him back together, etc. etc. Make it more of an adventure/event movie.

Long story short... NOT RECOMMENDED, with a Bret Hart-approved 4/10.

The Power of Music and Visuals - Star Wars and James Bond fan edition

LATE one night, my friend Richard and I both happened to be up. We were discussing the following student-made video, which creates a James Bond-inspired title sequence for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (though it borrows from the original trilogy) and features Radiohead's alternate title song for Spectre entitled "Spectre":

The video above lacks the audio track due to Youtube's fun, however, the full version can be found at Vimeo here. Second however, the above video being muted helps, as this whole post is about alternate songs that could work for the above video and was the reason my friend Richard and I stayed up until 4am or so one day.

We tried numerous videos, some for their general sound and others for their themes, starting them at various points in both videos to try and see what syncs best. I've included some starting points, but feel free to experiment. Regardless, it's a fun educational example of how impactful audio and visual syncing can be.

Without further ado, here's essentially an adaptation of our conversation... (personal favorite is probably #5)

1. "Skyfall" - Adele
Richard started the night (or morning) out strong, as, surprisingly, or not, the song syncs almost perfectly. It helps that both versions of Spectre (Sam Smith's and Radiohead's) continue in the vein of Adele's deservedly multi-award-winning tune.

2. "Live and Let Die" - Paul McCartney and Wings
As Richard said, " apparently, James Bond music is so formulaic." As the songs typically revolve around the basic Bond theme, that holds true. It also helps that "Live and Let Die" is one of the best Bond songs.

3. "Nobody Does It Better" - Carly Simon
As a personal favorite Bond song, I was curious how this one synced. If you start the song when it first cuts to the lightsaber, it has only a few blips, but hot damn that ending.

For other Bond songs, Richard said Goldfinger works, but both Goldeneye and Casino Royale break the formula. I'm abstaining on links in order to move onto some more experimental fun, such as...

4. "Thunderstruck" - AC/DC
Something was telling me this could be a fun song and it didn't disappoint. Start the actual song as soon as the SW video starts. It misses spots, but syncs really well with others.

5. "Simple Man" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
My next submission. This one is thematically really fun. It can be started at various times, either with the beginning of the video or when cutting to the lightsaber; the latter of which syncs better at the end. As Richard said, "Lol, wow, Simple Man totally changes the genre of the film."

6. "Uno" - Muse
Richard: "I'm enjoying this Muse song starting from the shot of the lightsaber from the front."

7. "The Dark Knight Theme" - Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
Switching to a different film franchise, Richard suggested starting the video about two seconds ahead of the song.

8. "Cat's In the Cradle" - Cat Stevens
Another thematic one. This one has some EXCELLENT moments, particularly in the middle, if started from the beginning. Syncing from the lightsaber also works ridiculously well. As Richard said, "Awesome. My judge of a good match now is whether or not a big beat lands right on the laser shooting from Vader's eye, and Cat's in the Cradle does not disappoint."

9. "Danger Zone" - Kenny Loggins
Richard: "Oh man, WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS SOONER."

With that, Richard was tapped out, but his final contribution inspired me to try one more song...

10. "Push it to the Limit" - Paul Engemann
Start the song a smidge before the video. Side note: Paul Engemann went on to be part of the band Device, which created the spectacularly awesome 80's album 22B3 (partially streaming on Amazon Prime). Highly recommended.

That ended our late night of fun music and video syncing.

But wait!

There's more...

Coda, courtesy or Richard; "The video also goes well with The World is Not Enough, as well as the top two tracks from "Iron Eagle" - One Vision by Queen, and Iron Eagle by King Cobra. Lol, just in case you're still not sick of this."

And with that, I hope you've enjoyed the ride.

The Omega Men - comic book review

The Omega Men is a wonderful example of a comic book that's an allegory for what's going on in the world today - our obsession with war and materialism, how they drive us, how we're being led by narratives to fight each other, that many see the world in black and white when there are MANY more options, that war and violence beget war and violence.

If we want to break the cycles, we truly need to find other ways.

Excellent pacing, art direction and use of the medium. It's a solid story, for which The Omega Men is HIGHLY recommended.