The Beanster Blog

X-Men Days of Future Past (2014) [ IMDb ] [[WARNING: SPOILER ALERT]] In the future mutants be dying!!! Dismemberment, burned, stabbed, melted. Very violent deaths. Good to see familiar mutants but half of the dying people I did not know. Parents use your best judgement.  Kitty Pride has a new power (invented for this movie?) which projects someone's consciousness to the past. And this is where the story is hitched. Flimsy, but hey it's a comic book movie.  Huge Jackman (did he & Chris Evans finish all the steroids in Hollywood?) who plays the most popular mutant of all. The Wolverine is sent back in time to fix things. Also ladies get to see his butt. Jackman is great as The Wolverine.  Back in 1970's Professor X is a junkie. Magneto is in prison. So Logan has to get both in shape to find Mystique/Raven and this is where we are introduced to Marvel's Flash rip-off, Quicksilver. I really liked the Quicksilver scene. Best action scene in the ...

[ Godzilla (2014) ] -- it is good to see the King of Monsters that looks like the man in a rubber suit version we all grew up with. Fat with short arms but HUGE, not thin like an iguana [Godzilla (1998)] . WARNING MINOR SPOILERS ALERT I think this film suffers from the same problem with the Michael Bay transformer movies.  TOO MUCH HUMAN STORY IN A MONSTER (or ALIEN ROBOT) MOVIE. I went to see a monster movie and instead we got an American soldier trying to get back to his family meanwhile there were rampaging Kaiju and they went the same direction.  They changed his origin story instead of being born of nuclear experimentation this time he is an ancient radiation eating animal. In the 1940s they nuke him and I guess the shock waves drove him into hiding and he reemerges in current day because another nuclear eating Kaiju which happened to destroy a nuclear Powerplant is out on the loose and Godzilla being an alpha predator has to hunt both motu....

Watching Senate Murders and it seems to me that Senator Bail Organa’s blaster looks like Phaser from the Star Trek franchise. Looks like a friendly nod to the competition.

Category: Movies Genre: Comics Adaptation Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman In the DC Universe Batman is one of the most well known characters. I like him because he is a hero who doesn't have super/mutant/magic/alien powers. He just uses his gadgets and brains to defeat his opponents. He is one of the most driven heroes you will ever see. I daresay he is among 1 of my fave heroes. What I liked about BMTDK, Heath Ledger gave an amazing performance as the Joker. I mean if you entitled this movie as 'The Rise of the Joker' I wouldn't mind at all. Ledger really shined in this movie and I'm not saying that because this is his last film. I also liked that Caine, Freeman, and Oldman came back to lend their talent to the film. I felt that Aaron Eckhart did a good job as Harvey Dent/Two Face. I did not like the actress change for Rachel simply because it was so glaring and the character h...

Category: Movies Genre: Book Adaptation / Remake Starring: Brendan Fraser I didn't quite enjoy this movie. Well maybe because I read the book. I felt... that the movie was entertaining, the effects were very very well made BUT somehow I felt that the movie was too dumbed down or made to commercialized to get maximum viewership and not really expressed the essence of the book. I hear it is better on IMAX but I am not complaining about the effects here I am complaining about story and character build up. I'd say watch it if you're extremely bored or if you can catch it on IMAX for the FX.

Category: Movies Genre: War / History Starring: Jet Li / Andy Lau / Takeshi Kaneshiro This movie was really nice and dealt with a lot of complex human emotions ranging from war, the greater good, ethics, brotherhood, trust, betrayal and much more. It's basically a 'based on' type of film. Tracing the 18th century exploits of a General and 2 bandits who swore a blood oath of brotherhood. Their backgrounds, hopes, aspirations clash eventually. My only complaint would be was that it was released dubbed instead of sub titled. I still feel that since it's native tongue was Chinese it should have been released sub titled. The action sequences were both phenomenal and some of the scenes raised very good points about ethics and morality. A good watch.

Category: Movies Genre: Super Hero / Action / Comedy Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman -- Hancock. The hero who doesn't give a shit... -- Was really expecting more from this movie. There were a few pretty funny [some are totally gross but funny] situations that are portrayed in the movie. Entertaining but towards the end I felt it was kind of a stretch. Do not take children into this movie. I don't know what rating it got from our MTRCB but this is definitely not for children. -- Lower your expectations or just get it on DVD.

Category: Movies Genre: Action [adapted from Graphic Novel ] Starring: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman -- A very action packed and visual movie. It did show some signs that it was directed by Timur Bekmambetov the same person behind the Day and Night Watch movies. James McAvoy held in there and was a worthwhile leading man. Jolie was very very hot [I think I'm in love] and Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman. Wanted is fast paced action with a lot of guns and pretty wild stunts with cars. Worth the watch if you like things that are not overly complicated.

-- This movie starring Steve Carrel (The Office US) really cracked me up... Lord knows I needed a good laugh. Anne Hathaway is hot hot hot! Also in the film are: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and the Great Kali [dunno his real name] both are wrestlers from the WWE. The film is actually a big screen adaptation of a 1960's Mel Brooks (Men in Tights) and Buck Henry TV sitcom. Funny film :)

Category: Movies Genre: Animated Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie -- This movie had me laughing all the way [Lord knows I've been needing to laugh]... a great movie for kids of all ages. I was amazed with the animation, man cartoons have really come a long long way. Go and see it! -- Fave scene: @ the peach tree of wisdom @ the jade palace just before the final battle with tai long.

Indiana Jones was entertaining and it stays true to both the franchise and genre. I think some people are put off by some elements but these are more of personal biases and shouldn't have been taken against the film. I liked the little nods to the preceeding films and characters. Top marks for effects of course. Harrison Ford may be acient but he still has that Indy charm. Still this is just my personal opinion I hope you go see it and decide for yourself. -- Vincent Benedict Py Castro / Bny / 王清河 via HTC TyTN II + Google -- The FORCE Will Be With You Always...

[Optimus Prime: Primed for Battle!] -- Category: Movies Genre: Animated Series Adaptation Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Bernie Mac, Jon Voight [Mr. Anaconda], John Tuturo [Mr. Very Very Sneaky!] -- The movie was AWESOME nay it was: LEGEN... wait for it... DARY! SFX were over the top! The way they transformed was really really really cool. The movie was action packed and entertaining at the same time. A lot of comedy was blended really well with the action. I'd go see it again! Can't wait for the sequel... Soundwave anyone? How about the Dinobots [Me GRIMLOCK hahaha]? After seeing this movie I suddenly want a Camero, and maybe Megan Fox in the passenger side seat as well hehehe [she is smokin' hot]. [To quote Borat: Wawa-wee-wa!!!] -- Michael Bay and Spielberg did well with this one... Yo Steve before you produce the sequel get together with George and make/finish Indy please hehehehe. -- Roll out and watch this movie.

Category: Movies Genre: Drama Starring: Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall What could've been a good poker movie became a cheesy love story and eodipus themed film. I think the love angle was definitely added to expand the demographic of this film but I think this crippled the flm too much. Watch when desperate [i.e. willing to see anything].

Category: Movies Genre: Action/Drama Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Topher Grace, James Franco. Ok I catched this movie last Friday. I've been stewing on it for a few days and decided to write up this review. I've decided to do a bullet review since I'm still too sleepy to write in proper coherent paragraphs. ***SPOILER WARNING*** What Rocks! The Visual Effects - as expected Effects were top notch. Action Sequences - also very well done. I especially like the fight scenes and the crane scene. VENOM - Venom rules, I wish they scrapped Sandman and made it Spidey vs Venom all the way! What Sucks! Too Much Cheese - The movie is too mushy for it's own good, and this made it a bit dragging for me. Disco Symbiote - I don't know why Parker became 'Discofied' and was dancing on the streets of NYC. Disco isn't dark at all. Hob Goblin Turns Good - WTF? Call me a purist but I think this twist was uncalled for. 'I Forgive You' - Again WTF? Did you g...

Category: Movies Genre: Action Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Heady, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro Based on Frank Miller's [Sin City] Graphic Novel, 300 which is about the Battle of Thermopylae . Vastly outnumbered, King Leonidas and 300 Spartans confront the Persian invaders in a magnificent display of Courage, Tactics, and Valor. I've been wanting to see this movie ever since the first teasers surface online last year. The anticipation was not wasted. It is a great movie. Kudos to the cast and crew! The visuals and the sounds contribute immensly to the film. The fight scenes were awesome. If you're going to see one film this year watch this one [get the rest in DVD].

I haven't watched any good films in quite a bit... Good thing we saw this tonight! -- It stars: Hugh Jackman [X-men], Michael Bale [Batman], Scarlet Johansen [um... dunno] and Sir Michael Cain [a lot of films!] -- Synopsis: Two aspiring magicians go head to head... their passion for 'magic' turns into an obsession and heated rivalry which may destroy them both. -- I love the story,the twists and turns in the whole movie. If you like movies with a lot of twists then you must see this film. Both Jackman and Bale give stellar performances and of course I think Cain shines in this one as well. Honestly I think Cain may have inspired the two younger actors to give more to their performance. Also it's nice to see them in roles other than being super heroes or mutants... although they have done some other work in the past Jackman and Bale are most probably remembered as Wolverine and Batman respectively. All in all this is a great film. Go see it!

Category: Movies Genre: Action/Espionage Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames Ethan Hunt of the IMF is back, slowing things down a bit he stays on as an instructor, trying to live a normal life he intends to marry his girlfriend, but when his student gets caught by a nasty arms dealer he is thrust back into the game. First off this movie is definitely fast paced and action packed, a plus for adrenaline junkies. As usual Mr. Hunt chose to accept the mission and in the end does the impossible [pardon the lame play on words]. I did find it lame however that this action/espionage movie became a boo-hoo-hoo mushy movie during some parts [I honestly though Mr. Hunt would jump up a car and start punching his fist in the air whilst laughing and screaming that he's in love ;-)]. I also can't help but think that JJ Abrams leant too much of an Alias feel to it [a LOST feel would not really be apt, would it?], I mean the main themes of the movie are sort of ripped ou...

Category: Movies Genre: Action/Fantasy Starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving Based on a comic book. V is a freedom fighter who uses terrorism to attain his goals... he finds an unwilling ally in a girl he rescues. Now I haven't read the comic book so I don't know if the movie adaptation was true to it. The movie was pretty entertaining. The action sequences and the dialogue were not boring. Some parts of the film were needlessly dragging though. V for Vendetta has a very strong political message and the themes of the film are quite relevant to what is happening in the world. Go and watch this film if you want to be entertained.

Category: Movies Genre: Horror Starring: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson Backpackers out to have fun in Europe, are directed to a small town in Slovakia it seems like paradise at first... This film is pretty straight forward and has no sudden twists and turns. No mind boggling super secret identity of the killer or anything like that. It lends to it being more realistic. It is peppered with nudity [specially in the earlier scenes] and gore [later parts]. Eli Roth must have used a lot of fake blood to make this film. I didn't enjoy the film as much as I had hope for though and left the theater disappointed. Watch this if you are an adolescent who has never seen tits before... a lot of em in there... other wise you can skip this movie and watch it in moments of extreme boredom on DVD.

Category: Movies Genre: Action/Suspense Starring: Bruce Willis, Mos Def, David Morse An old detective is tasked to take a witness to the courthouse. Fellow cops are out to get the witness cause he will be testifying against them [the cops]. This isn't exactly your traditional Willis film. It has a slower pace and lends to the character of Willis as being old and tired. Sadly the whole film feels old and tired. It's sort of like DIEHARD on an OD of Valiums. Mos Def's stuttering doesn't really help I wouldn't know if the character really needed to be a semi-waterhead with a shrieking voice. I wouldn't recommend this if you are tired or sleepy, you might fall asleep in the theater.