The Wire (2002-2008)

One of my primary goals involving entertainment in this already fast-moving new year was to catch up on a lot of classic television shows I've never watched before. To kick off a new year also meant to start strong, and what better way to begin that journey with what many people call "the greatest television show of all-time" The Wire. HBO has the well-deserved reputation as the most successful and profitable premium cable network in the entertainment industry, and shows like The Wire are one of many examples to back up that proclamation. Thriving off brisk, gritty realism, supremely well-developed characters, and deep sociopolitical themes of a city that is far more idiosyncratic than it may seem on the outside, this is a show that demands to be seen as both a cultural and learning experience.

But before I really go in-depth with my praising thoughts on this exceptional gem of a television show, I thought I'd do this review in a different format (a format I'll also do for future "series" reviews), because writing a full review on this series would dive into an essay that would cover aspects that could get too far into spoiler territory. Instead, I'm going to lay out the framework of this show in five parts: Summary, Best Season, Best Episodes, Best Characters, and Dear Creator (A letter to the creator(s) of the show reflecting on the series). With that now out of the way, here's my "review" of HBO's The Wire.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Every few years in Hollywood, there is a film that defines a generation. In 2009, “The Hurt Locker” illustrated the intensity and paranoia of scouting for IEDs during the Iraq war. In 2010, “The Social Network” dramatized a new generation of youth that became consumed both positively and negatively by the rapid rise in online social networking. Now in 2012 we have “Zero Dark Thirty,” a film that recounts a ten-year period of time where America was on edge with various nations in the Middle East, and the determined confidence of a young female CIA agent that led to the conclusion of one of the greatest manhunts in world history.

Revolution (Pilot)

Since the conclusion of various shows including "Jericho" and "Lost", numerous projects that followed their conclusions have tried to cash in on the post-apocalyptic genre craze set upon an ensemble of characters that live in a society of little hope and surrounding dangers at every corner. Being that the aforementioned genre has been such a popular one to toy with over the past decade, cliches and stock characters have risen to their highest peaks where the possibilities of innovation have been downgraded to their scarcest levels. However NBC has decided to take on that high risk challenge with their latest series "Revolution", created by Eric Kripke, which is also his first series since leaving showrunner duties from his breakthrough CW hit "Supernatural". Along with big name figures like J.J. Abrams and Jon Favreau who had key involvement in the pilot, does "Revolution" give off a glimmer of hope that the post-apocalyptic genre can be reignited with a fresh spark, or does it foretell its doom as yet another typical one-and-done show for NBC? Hit the jump button to find out!

Looking Ahead: Fall Movie Preview 2012

As we near the end of the August in a matter of days, the fall movie season is about to be bestowed upon us. After a summer season that was full of flops and disappointments, the upcoming fall lineup is very promising as it is composed of potential Oscar contenders and highly anticipated blockbusters. Nonetheless, this year's summer movie season looks strong with what it has to offer, so I'm going to break down my Top 10 Anticipated films for the forthcoming movie season.

Premium Rush (2012)

January and August. What do both of the those months have in common with each other? Well for starters, you can easily take similar climate out of the equation. However, something that these two months do share is releasing movies that are mostly either mediocre or just plain bad. "Premium Rush" fits that example since it was a film that was originally set to release in the second week of January way earlier this year, but then got pushed to the second-to-last week of August. Now that right there folks, is definitely not the wisest of moves to glimmer any hope that a film would be good. So does "Premium Rush" prove that decision wrong, or does it highlight why the two aforementioned months are known to release relished within mediocrity and sometimes more? Hit the jump button to find out!

Side by Side (2012)

 

One of the most hotly debated topics in Hollywood over the past decade is the debate on which film celluloid is becoming more of an endangered means of shooting movies on, and is now giving way to a digital technological takeover. As a fellow enthusiast of cinema, this is a topic that I have cared about to a passionate degree. Even the topic of my final essay as a college freshman dealt mostly with the controversial debate circling both the future and overall consensus of the two. To sum up this popular debate, actor Keanu Reeves and director Christopher Kenneally set out on a journey to provide an insightful and historical account on the transition of film to digital by interviewing various Hollywood directors, cinematographers, editors, film students, and many more to gain their opinions on the digital evolution and how it has affected both them and the film industry as a whole.

Commando (1985)

In the wake of the recent release for "The Expendables 2," I decided to have all of you vote on several choices of cult classic action movies for me to review. And in the end, the winner was the infamously over-the-top Arnold Schwarzenegger 80s action flick "Commando." After making his American acting debut in "Conan the Barbarian" and "The Terminator," Schwarzenegger established himself as a very promising star in the action department. His acting skills were nothing amazing, but his strong physical build and exquisite line delivery for puns set him apart from most action stars of the 80s decade. However out of all the action movies he starred in during the 1980s, none of them stand alongside the ridiculously over-the-top, yet awesomely bad "Commando." If you're a Schwarzenegger fan that hasn't seen this film yet, you're essentially not a true fan until you sit down and view it for the first time.

The Expendables 2 (2012)

 

When it was first announced, who really thought that a sequel to "The Expendables" was needed in the first place? The insanely hyped 2010 first installment was of the most disappointing action movies ever made, and it was a true shame because it had all the necessary stars, but the film itself was executed so poorly. Suffering from choppily shot and edited action scenes, dodgy CGI, in addition to taking itself too seriously, it was one of those few movies that I was so disappointed with I initially didn't want to admit it. Fortunately though, I got some hope for the sequel when Sylvester Stallone vacated the director's chair to Simon West, in addition to more acclaimed action legends being added to the star-studded cast of manliness and testosterone. In the end, does "The Expendables 2" live up to what the first film should've been, or did Sy and the crew still not learn from the many mistakes made in the first one? Hit the jump button to find out!

ParaNorman (2012)

2009 was the last year that experienced a huge mainstream resurgence in the stop-motion animation field. Now it feels like it has ignited this spawn to occur where three films of the aforementioned craft release every third year after it happened. "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" was the first of the three stop-motion animated films to release this year, which was a pleasant adventure but still a tad disappointing when comparing it to Aardman Animations' past credits. Second in the lineup is "ParaNorman," the LAIKA sophomore follow-up to their 2009 sleeper hit "Coraline." Proclaimed by its co-director Sam Fell as "John Carpenter-meets-John Hughes," does "ParaNorman" live up to that bold summary, or does it tarnish the potential good streak that stop-motion animated films have had this year so far? Hit the jump button to find out!

Magic Mike (2012)

The job of both male and female stripping has been an occupation that hasn't had sufficient exploration or showcasing on the big screen. And yes, I'm even saying that in the context with correlation to the fact that the infamous film "Showgirls" happened nearly twenty years ago. However now, both the nature and lifestyle of male stripping has finally been brought to the mainstream big screen with Steven Soderbergh's latest film "Magic Mike," which itself is partly based off of lead star Channing Tatum's experiences as a stripper in Tampa, Florida during his late teenage years. Tatum's acting has gradually impressed me as the year has progressed, so he along with the rest of the cast and crew had a considerable amount of hype built up to see if a movie about male strippers can appeal to the various cinema-going crowds of this generation. Did it at least live up to my expectations? Hit the jump to find out if it did!

Ted (2012)

Seth MacFarlane has firmly established himself as a definitive comedy magnate in today's entertainment industry, as he is mostly known as the creator of the hit animated comedy series "Family Guy," "American Dad," and the "Family Guy" spin-off "The Cleveland Show." Through the creation of those shows, MacFarlane has had a progressive period of time to increase his profound talent in voice acting, which of course comes from the fact that he voices numerous characters in each of those three aforementioned shows. However, MacFarlane has now made the expected transition to adding the job of feature film director to his extensive resume, as he debuts his infamous comedy brand to the mainstream movie crowds with "Ted." Is the long-awaited hype worthy of being approved by his substantially prodigious fanbase, or does it fall flat like an episode from the past few seasons of "Family Guy?" Hit the jump to find out!

Safe (2012)

Since "The Transporter" franchise kicked off by releasing in 2002, Jason Statham has been heavily typecasted in lead roles for action movies as the obligatory "macho man who kicks ass." Since the typecasting began, he's had a fair share of success with the "Crank" franchise, but hasn't found that same acclaim with any other film he's done besides those two aforementioned franchise. However we now have "Safe," which from the trailers just looked like "Jason Statham with his fists and guns Part 39." Surprisingly though, "Safe" is actually one of the much better action showcases for Statham, and it brings me one step closer to forgiving him for his latest duds such as "The Mechanic" and "Killer Elite."

The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

 

In the earliest days of cinema, one of the first innovations in animation came from stop-motion claymation. However in today’s age of cinema, its relevance has rapidly gone downhill, but there is one filmmaker every few years that takes the bold challenge to show that the subgenre isn’t dead.

Furthermore, what better way for the person to bring it back again than the present day stop-motion master himself, Peter Lord. The latest release that he and the hugely underrated Aardman Animations Studio bring us is “The Pirates: Band of Misfits.”

God Bless America (2012)

If there’s anything in this world that I’ve grown to hate over the past few years, it’s the downward spiral that the American popular culture scene has taken. And for awhile, I had been waiting for a bold filmmaker, especially one that has previous experience as a satirist to end up making a movie on the subject. Thankfully, one has been able to take on the controversial challenge of doing so, and that film “God Bless America” turns out as one of the most defining satires of our time.

American Reunion (2012)

Finally after nearly ten years of waiting, the most likely final entry in the cult "American Pie" series has arrived. Before seeing this film, I had only seen 1999's "Pie" and nothing else. However a week after attending an early screening for this film, I had caught up by viewing the whole series of films beforehand in only a matter of hours. Now with a full knowledge of the entire original trilogy, I can safely proclaim that the original "American Pie" series is the ultimate knife in late 1990s to early 2000s nostalgia for the best reasons. And thankfully, "American Reunion" ends as what should be the best way possible imagined for the series to close on both a very raunchy but still lighthearted note.

The Hunger Games (2012)

 

To make a quick disclaimer, I'm not a die-hard fan of "The Hunger Games" novel trilogy. I've read half of the first book that this film adapts to the big screen, but what I did read in those first 12 chapters was quite thrilling and enthralling within its immense detail. However, it did put me into place of the insane hype surrounding the film's release, and that feeling did create some doubt on whether the overwhelming amount of hype will lead to a certain amount of disappointment in the end. In the end though, I feel like I made the right decision on leaving off on the point that I was in the book because no matter what, this is the first solid blockbuster of the year.

Project X (2012)

Party movies have been a dying breed in cinema, and the last film that really hit home with the majority of audiences was the beloved summer 2007 hit “Superbad.” Arriving to try and steal its thunder though, is the raunchy found footage party movie “Project X.” Vastly marketed as “the party movie to end all party movies,” Project X though is a tragic portrait of the stupidity of certain teenage demographics that really shows how downward this current generation has gone in terms of both culture and intelligence.

Trio Review: Act of Valor, Wanderlust, and Goon

During the last weekend, I didn't have time to write three separate reviews, so here's a new structure where I'm low on time for that: a trio review. This last weekend, I saw Act of Valor, Goon, and Wanderlust, so I'm going to break up my thoughts on these three movies into much shorter reviews than my familiar reviewing style. Without further to do, enjoy the first edition of the Trio Review.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

No matter what you can say about Nicolas Cage, he manages to entertain you in some way whether he's in a good or bad movie. Even when you watch him in an awful film like The Wicker Man, his over-the-top acting entertains the hell out of you. The first Ghost Rider movie didn't really showcase that exquisite talent of Cage's, but it's sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance certainly showcases it! Directed by the frenetic style of the cult favorite Neveldine/Taylor duo, does this sequel fire on all cylinders, or should it have been extinguished before production went underway?

This Means War (2012)

The romantic comedy-action genre blend has been one that is very tough to pull off, unless it's handled by a competent crew of filmmakers. The two films that have gotten it the right way are 1993's True Romance and 1994's True Lies. However since the 1990s decade, there hasn't been a film of the same genre mash that's had the ability to stand alongside those two. This time around, director McG tackles on the challenge with the star power trifecta of Tom Hardy, Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon in the newest of several new releases this week titled "This Means War."