Man of Steel Trailer: My Thoughts

I have to say that I’m impressed with the Man of Steel trailer but of course I still have my concerns.

Let’s start with the trailer we received in the summer before The Dark Knight Rises. That one didn’t give us much and left us wanting a larger trailer that included more footage and some ideas of the plot. Yet, we didn’t exactly get that with this new trailer.

With this one we get a glimpse of the tone of the movie, which is what a teaser trailer really does. We can see that this is going to be a movie humanizing Superman, which can go two ways; it can be interesting or just boring.

You can see that the world they’re creating here is dark, conflicted and there is a lot of doubt. I like this, because where everything is working against the hero it just becomes that more satisfying when he becomes Superman.

The villain, Zod does show up very briefly in the trailer. In briefly I mean we just get a glimpse of his face. I would like to see the next trailer focus a little more on him so we can get an idea of what he's up to.

I really hope that this movie works, because let’s face it, if this movie flops and fails we won’t be getting any more Superman movies for a long, long time.

I enjoy Superman, he’s not my favorite comic to read but I always enjoyed the ones that I did read. There is a lot of potential for a Superman movie and I believe that the tone this trailer set is on the right path, let’s just hope that the plot is worth it.

Man of Steel Trailer

Nit-Picking: The Avengers

Now before I get into this I just want to say right from the start that I did enjoy The Avengers. I thought it was a good movie, which stumbled here and there but was still very much entertaining. Yet, it doesn’t save it from me nit-picking the things that I don’t like and that didn’t make any sense.
SPOILERS are ahead.

Let’s just get right into this, starting with Loki. Loki is back in the first few minutes of the movie and he starts to control the minds of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, notably Hawkeye. Yet, the thing I don’t understand is why in the hell didn’t he just control Nick Fury, you know the director of this agency? If he just controlled Fury’s mind then his plan might have went together better, I mean the Avengers might have never assembled, because it was really Fury pushing for them to come together. If The Avengers never assembled then Loki could have had his aliens invade without any opposition. So, why didn’t he just use Fury or kill him? Oh, wait he did try to kill him, which brings me to my next point.

Why couldn’t Hawkeye kill Fury at point blank? Isn’t his whole deal accuracy and vision? I mean they do call him Hawkeye. Yet, he shoots Fury in the chest rather than just shooting him in the head. If they really wanted him dead how about shooting him not in the chest and then check whether or not he is alive after you shot him? My word no wonder Loki ended up loosing in the end.

While on the subject of Hawkeye, I felt cheated by this character. For half of the movie he’s not himself, and for a character that didn’t get his own movie before The Avengers they really should have developed him more. He basically goes from being good, to bad and back to good. That’s it for him. Hawkeye is an interesting character and I would’ve liked to see him do more as Hawkeye not mind-controlled Hawkeye.

Next let’s talk about the Hulk. The whole movie we see him struggling with not letting the “other guy” come out and how he doesn’t know exactly how to control the Hulk. Fast forward to the end, Bruce Banner reveals his secret of controlling the hulk is that he is always angry. What? He then can transform into the Hulk at will and control him.

So, where was this control when he decided to go berserk on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier? Do you expect me to believe that he just learned to control it while he drove a moped into New York City? Why does he know how to control it now? Well, whatever I guess they just needed the Hulk to fight against the aliens that seem to have no tactics or effective weapons.

Why can’t these aliens kill one Avenger? Or maybe just injure one? The alien army just seems to be getting mowed down left and right. They were just ineffective, you think being an intelligent alien race that they would have more accurate weaponry and effective armor … not the case.

Yet, are Avengers have some great equipment from their suits, to their weapon of choice and don’t forget about the ear pieces they DON’T WEAR.

During the final battle the Avengers are able to talk to one another through ear pieces that aren’t in their ears. I don’t know maybe they are telepathic or the ear pieces were supposed to be animated in later but they just forgot. Any care they don’t have anyway to communicate with one another but they are. It looks funny once you notice this.

Now, I’m going to conclude with Thor. In the movie Tony Stark/Iron Man says that Thor is a demigod. Thor is just a god, he isn’t a demigod. You see in order to qualify as a demigod you need to have one parent who is a god and the other has to be human, that’s how a demigod works. In Thor’s case he’s just a god. His parents were Odin and Jord who were both gods, which makes Thor a god not a demigod. After all it’s Thor God of Thunder not Thor Demigod of Thunder.

I could go on and list every little mistake due to cuts and everything but let’s face it that would be just tedious to read. Yet, there are more than a few mistakes in the movie and if you watch carefully you can spot them.

Nit-Picking: Special Halloween Edition

Since 31 Days of Horror 4 has been delayed this year, I still wanted to bring something Halloween themed to the blog. I decided to do a special edition of Nit-Picking, focusing on the inconsistencies and plot holes of numerous horror movies. It will be fun!

Yet, before we dive into this I want to thank everyone who has been reading the Nit-Picking series and making it popular. I appreciate it.

Now, before we start I’ll explain how this nit-picking will be done. I have chosen a few horror movies and a few nit-picks for each. They’re all divided to make simple and easy to follow.

Friday the 13^th (1980)

Let’s start with one of my very favorites.

The original Friday the 13^th made way for ‘80’s slashers, it was really the first slasher to be overly gory. The films that came before it such as Halloween and Psycho weren’t really that gory. Yeah, in Psycho we get the chocolate syrup going down the drain but Halloween really had no gore. So, Friday the 13^th was starting something new that would cause other horror movies to follow. It also has things that don’t make sense.

The first thing I’m going to talk about is the strip Monopoly scene, which always bothered me.

The Dice

During this scene we see the character Brenda roll the dice and she claims to have rolled two sixes, where we can clearly see she rolled a one and a two. Why in the hell are the other characters allowing her to cheat? Do they know how to count?

I know that this was probably not even thought of when they made the movie and they most likely thought no one will notice. Well, I noticed and it’s distracting.

Alice

Alice (Adrienne King) is our hero girl in the movie but some of her decisions puzzle me, especially when we get to the end.

After realizing that Pamela Voorhees is the killer, Alice runs around the camp trying to evade her. She ends up back in cabin where Mrs. Voorhees revealed her true identity to her. I mean really? You couldn’t have gone into another cabin? At least try to make it difficult for the killer to find you, it’s only your life at stake.

Now, after Alice defeats Pamela, she takes a canoe and heads out on the lake for the rest of the night. Why? Why not start walking back to town and getting the police? Maybe she was tired? But if I had a night like hers I most likely would find it hard to rest.

Police

At the end of the film the police show up at the camp and find Alice. Now, how did the police know to go to the camp? Is it something they do daily? Did someone call them? Was there another survivor we don’t know about?

Halloween 4: Return of Michael Myers (1988)

The Halloween film that brought Michael Myers back, hence the name, due to people disappointed about his absence in Halloween III.

The film takes place 10 years after the events of Halloween I and II. Michael Myers who was in a coma, comes out of it to wreak havoc on the town of Haddonfield and his niece, Jamie. Who has been adopted by the Carruthers family after her mother, Laurie Strode, had died in an accident.

The Ambulance

In the movie Michael Myers comes back into action while on board an ambulance. He kills the people that are with him and then we go to a scene with Jamie looking out a window. Outside the window is an ambulance that looks like the one that Michael was in. But how can it be?

A little further into the movie we learn that the ambulance Michael was on is in a river, four hours away from Jamie and Haddonfield. So, did Michael drive four hours to Haddonfield and then drive four hours back to the river to dump the ambulance? Was it a different ambulance? But how convenient is it that an ambulance that looks just like the one Michael was on is parked outside his niece’s house. It doesn’t make any sense anyway you look at it.

Michael’s Knowledge of Jamie

How does Michael know about Jamie and more importantly how does he know where to go to find her?

Michael has somehow found his niece who has a different last name and lives with a different family. Did he somehow find his way to a library, pulled up newspapers and learned the truth about Laurie Strode and also learned about her daughter? Would he really have time to do this? I mean looking at the movie it seems he goes from the ambulance in the river, to a gas station and then to Haddonfield. I guess we’re just supposed to accept that he knows. How he knows is anyone’s guess.

Also, why in the hell would you keep Jamie in Haddonfield? Move the kid to a different town or even better a different state!

The Jumpsuit

In the movie we see Michael at a garage and he kills a mechanic by impaling him in the chest with a metal pipe. He then takes the man’s jumpsuit to wear. Yet, when Michael is wearing the suit, there is no blood or hole on the chest. Detail! Come on guys, how about some attention to detail!

Michael’s Name

Here is one showing my true geekeness. Michael Myer’s full name is Michael Audrey Myers. So, his middle initial would be A. But, in the scene where they’re typing his name on a form we see them type Myers, Michael M. Again with the details! Come on!

Michael’s Mask Hair Color

Michael’s mask hair color has always been brown and in this movie it is still brown until one scene.

Towards the end of the film Loomis and Jamie head into the school to hide from Michael. He of course finds them and throws Loomis through glass doors. During this whole scene you’ll stop yourself and say “is that Michael”, because at first you might think it’s a different character. Michael’s mask hair color goes from brown to a very noticeable blonde and it’s stupid.

Why in the hell didn’t they use the mask with the brown hair? What’s going on? Did they think no one will notice? How could you not notice? It’s very blonde!

Resident Evil Series (2002-2012)

*Sigh*

Everything.

Scream 4 (2011)

I like all the Scream movies but let’s face it there is some great stuff to nit-pick.

The Scream franchise has an interesting premise, the killers and the victims are well aware of horror movies. This is causing the killers to take their revenge on a certain character by structuring their kills on the rules of the horror movies we all know.

In Scream 4 its Sidney Prescott’s cousin, Jill Roberts, is the killer and it attempting the reboot the franchise by making herself the last one alive. Yet, there is some problems with her plan.

Jill

Jill is a psychopath and in the movie we learn she is the mastermind behind all the murders.

Jill and her partner, Charlie Walker, are seen killing people in the movie by stabbing them multiple times. Then when we get to Sidney, the person they want dead the most, Jill only stabs her once in the stomach and leaves her to die. Sidney of course survives, which I’m glad because Jill is nuts, but this just shows how stupid Jill actually was.

For a girl who obviously devoted a lot of time to this plan she just couldn’t execute it in the end.

The Closet

During a scene where Ghostface calls Jill and Kirby, he tells them he is hiding in THE closet. Kirby opens the closet and of course there is nothing in there. He then informs Kirby that he didn’t say THEIR closet. He then jumps out of the neighbors’, Olivia, closet instead and kills her.

Here’s my problem with the scene. Ghostface isn’t being quiet on the phone. So, how in the hell didn’t Olivia hear him talking in her closet? Does her closet have a sound proof door?

Paranormal Activity (2007)

A demonic presence haunts Micah and Katie in their suburban home. But lets be honest it’s a lot of footage of people sleeping.

Why Aren’t They Running?

After the first encounter of this thing why wouldn’t you just leave the house? It’s obviously something terrible is going on … just run.

Alarm System

They have this alarm system in the movie which they set every night. Yet, Katie is walking outside every night without setting it off. I would definitely consider returning it.

Gremlins (1984)

Three important rules get broken and Billy Peltzer’s new pet gives birth to the Gremlins!

Gremlins is a great movie but there is something that has always bothered me about it.

The Water Rule

First, let’s quickly review the three rules for raising your mogwai.

1. Don't expose them to sunlight.

2. Don't let them get wet. 

3. Don't feed them after midnight

Probably not the exact wording but you get the idea. The one I want to point out is “Don’t let them get wet”. This rule was broken numerous times throughout the movie.

The movie is set near Christmas time and there is a lot of snow on the ground. Did they forget that snow is just frozen water? Shouldn’t the gremlins be multiplying left and right? It makes no sense and bothers me every time I watch it.

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Last movie I’ll discuss is a Halloween favorite – Hocus Pocus.

This film is one of those movies that has a large following, and I remember always watching it around Halloween as a kid.

The movie is about two teenagers, Max Dennison (Omri Katz) and Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and Max’s little sister, Dani (Thora Birch) who accidentally resurrect three witches in modern day Salem, Mass., who are bent on sucking the youth out of children.

The Black Flame Candle

In the movie, the heroes find themselves in the house of the three witches, which has been turned into a museum.

In the house there is a black flame candle, which legend says if it’s lit on Halloween night, by a virgin, the witches will come back to wreck havoc on Salem.

Of course, Max lights the candle and brings back the witches.

The problem I have here is that Max uses a Zippo lighter that he gets in the house; apparently they were selling them as gifts. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you need to add lighter fluid to Zippo lighters? How is there lighter fluid in the lighter?

I know it was just to move the plot, but couldn’t they just have Max have is own lighter already?

Also, why is he lighting something that shouldn’t be lit. I get the fact he just doesn’t believe in it, but still just leave things alone.

Jacket

After Max brings back the three witches he uses his lighter to set off the sprinkler system. We see his jacket get completely drenched but once he’s outside his jacket is magically dry. I hate when things like this end up in movie. Same thing happened in Fellowship of the Ring.

Dates

Now let’s get into some history. The witches, or Sanderson sisters, are hung in the beginning of the movie. For me it’s implied that this is happening during the Salem Witch Trials. Yet, let’s look at the date, they are hung on October 31, 1693, The Salem Witch Trials were started and ended in the year of 1692.

There you go some quick nit-picks to some horror/Halloween movies.

To find some horror movie recommendations check out my 31 Days of Horror series, links on the side.

Happy Halloween!

Connecticut Casting Call

Feature Film Shooting in Connecticut Seeks Paid Background Actors

Who: Hollywood Casting Director Judy Bouley

Recently worked on Tom Cruise/Morgan Freeman Film

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0099515/

SAG-AFTRA Low-Budget Feature Film

*SAG-AFTRA signatory status is pending

What: Casting Call for Background Actors to be Paid

Where: 2614 Boston Post Rd (RT 1), Guilford, CT 06437

When: Wednesday, September 12th

Parking: Plenty of Free Parking

Contact: featurefilmct@gmail.com

Hollywood Casting Director, Judy Bouley, who recently work on “Oblivion”

starring Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman, is holding a casting call this

Wednesday, September 12th in Guilford, Connecticut, for paid background actors

for an independent movie filming in the Guilford, Connecticut area in September

and October. Seeking African, African American and Caucasian looking males

and females who are able to portray ages 18 to 70. All must be legal to work in

the U.S.

Auditions for SAG-AFTRA members will be held from 12 pm to 3 pm but

members are welcome between 12 pm - 8 pm. (Bring your membership card).

Non-Union actors are invited to attend auditions from 3 pm to 8 pm.

Casting call to be held at 2614 Boston Post Road (RT1), Guilford, Connecticut

06437. Wheelchair accessible. Plenty of free parking.

Those unable to attend the casting, please submit a current photo and contact

information to featurefilmct@gmail.com. It’s an honor to film in Connecticut.

Nit-Picking: Jurassic Park

*SPOILERS*

Jurassic Park is by far one of my favorite movies of all-time. When I saw this movie as a kid it blew me away, so much so that I wore out the VHS copy that I had of it. Yet, let’s all be honest with each other and point out that this movie does have it share of plot holes and moments where you’ll ask yourself “What?” and “Why?”. So, with that said let’s get right into it.

Let’s start with the actual cloning of the dinosaurs. In the movie it was made clear that there were gapes in the dinosaur genetic code that they took from the mosquitoes. This caused the scientist to go on and mutate the code and blend it with frog DNA.

Did you get all that?

Now, in the movie we also learn that all the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were purposely made female. This was done so that there would be no unauthorized breeding in the park.

I can buy that.

Moving along, we have a scene late in the movie where Dr. Alan Grant, Lex, and Tim come across dinosaur eggs. Dr. Grant goes onto explain that “Some West African frogs have been known to spontaneously change sex from male to female in a single sex environment”.

Um, what?

So, you’re expecting me to believe that a group of very intelligent scientist, that want to control breeding, did not look into the habits of the frogs that they were splicing into the DNA of the dinosaurs? I mean this is a HUGE problem. Were they under the gun and just didn’t have the time to look into the frogs? Were some of their funds cut? This seems like a very important detail they should’ve known about.

Let’s keep going and talk about the whole T-Rex enclosure.

When we first see the T-Rex’s cage they try to coax out the giant dinosaur by offering her a goat to eat, which comes out of the ground. During this scene we can clearly see that the goat is on a ground leveled with the base of the enclosure.

Later on, during the scene where the T-Rex escapes; we can see that the dinosaur is walking on a ground leveled to the base of her enclosure. Now, once the T-Rex attacks the car with the kids in it and eventually pushes the car over the side, suddenly the ground that the goat and T-Rex were once on has disappeared and now in its place is a giant hole that goes straight down. What happened to the ground? Did it sink? Why is there a giant drop off all of the sudden? It makes no sense.

Let’s just say that giant drop off existed originally. There would be no way for the tourists to see the goat or the T-Rex. It would be a terrible design decision, almost as bad as a small thermal exhaust port, connected directly to the main reactor of a massive battle station (HA! Star Wars reference).

Focusing on just the T-Rex now, I want to talk about all the vibrations the dinosaur causes when it starts approaching.

Before the T-Rex escapes we see a cup of water vibrating in the car Lex and Tim are occupying. This gives them a heads up that the dinosaur is on its way.

Not to long after this scene there is another scene where Dr. Ian Malcolm is in the back of a Jeep Wrangler. He starts to hear the T-Rex approaching and sees a puddle of water on the ground is vibrating. Yet, at the end of the movie where our heroes are surrounded by Velociraptors, the T-Rex is able to sneak in and save them without anyone noticing he’s coming.

Now, maybe they were all too busy in trying to survive that they didn’t notice, but you’re telling me that the raptors didn’t sense a larger predator was coming and didn’t get the hell out of there?

Also, how did he get into the lobby? In the movie I did see plastic where he’s emerging from. Maybe there was an unfinished wall or something.

Staying at the end of the film; there is a scene where Lex is trying to get the park back online while Dr. Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler are holding a door shut, keeping the raptors out. We see Dr. Sattler struggling to reach a gun with her foot, but she is having no luck. The other person in this scene is Tim, who is doing NOTHING to help. He’s just jumping up and down with his hands on his head as Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler struggle to keep the raptors out and Lex tries to get the park’s network back up.

You would think that Tim would pick up the gun and give it to Dr. Sattler … nope he just watches as the raptors try forcing their way into the room. I mean he does eventually give Lex moral support but getting the gun would have been more helpful.

Lex does eventually get everything back online, which allows the locks to be used again, which brings me to my next point. Are all the locks in the visitor center electronic? Why aren’t there any backup locks that aren’t electronic? You know locks that would be useful if the power goes out and the dinosaurs escape their enclosures and try to eat you. I mean come on.

Then there are the locks or lack there of in the cars. Why is it so easy for tourist to jump out of a moving car and enter dinosaur habitats? Wouldn’t you think if they can move a car without a driver, dispense of a goat remotely, and create dinosaurs, that the cars would have locks controlled by the control room? I mean John Hammond says “We spared no expense”, but let’s be real. I think you sparred some expenses when it came to park security and research.

Do you know how many lawsuits they would have if regular tourists just jumped out of the cars? Honestly who in the hell built this park? It’s just one giant death trap.

Getting back to Lex, the “computer genius”; if this girl is so smart why in the hell did she shine a light on the T-Rex, attracting her to their car? She’s the reason the T-Rex attacked them and if her brother died it would’ve been all her fault. Maybe it was just her being scared and not thinking, but even if I was scared I wouldn’t be turning on a flashlight and attracting the giant, meat eating dinosaur. I’d probably be hiding under a seat or something.

I can continue and point out numerous mistakes the movie has but they aren’t necessarily that interesting. The points I brought up above are the ones I feel are the more interesting ones to read about.

Now, don’t let this nit-picking keep you from seeing Jurassic Park. Like I said at the start, Jurassic Park is a great movie and everyone should see it.

Jason's Mask is Wrong on Box Set

I was at Best Buy the other day and came across a DVD box set of all the Friday the 13^th movies.

The first thing I noticed about this set is how wrong they got his hockey mask on the front.

How hard is it to actually get the mask right? All you would have to do is actually watch one of the movies! I mean the mask never looked like that in any of the Friday the 13th movies.

Now, that I got that off my chest, when are they going to release a blu-ray box set for Friday the 13th? I know you can get the first three on blu-ray individually, but I want them all ... in a box set.

Just one thing though, makes sure if you're going to put the hockey mask on the front (they probably will) you HAVE to get it right.

Nit-Picking: Spider-Man 3

*SPOILERS*

The Amazing Spider-Man will be hitting theaters on July 3^rd, rebooting the series, so, I thought it was only right to go back and nit-pick the worst film of the original Spider-Man trilogy – Spider-Man 3.

I liked the Spider-Man movies, mostly Spider-Man 2. Yes, Spider-Man is a little dated now and doesn’t really hold up as well as Spider-Man 2, but it’s still a fun movie. Yet, Spider-Man 3 was a huge disappointment. I mean what happened?

After the fantastic Spider-Man 2 I was, like many, pumped to see where the third one will take us. They seemed to understand how to direct and write these movies and I had a lot of faith that they could give us something just as or even more memorable than Spider-Man 2. I was wrong.

Spider-Man 3 was just all over the place and because of this there were a lot of things that just didn’t make any sense.

Let’s begin with Flint Marko/The Sandman and his run in with the particle accelerator.

In the beginning of the film Flint Mark is running away from the cops and ends up falling into this particle accelerator filled with sand, which is being used in an experiment at the time.

The Scientists running this experiment notice that there is a weight change and they pass it off as it being a bird. Really? How about you go out there and check if it’s a bird. Are they really this lazy? Are you telling me that they don’t have security cameras out there just incase someone jumps a puny fence and finds their way into their testing ground? What the hell?

So, Marko is in the accelerator and, of course, they start the experiment. Marko ends up turning into sand. Yes, his body and clothes all turn into sand, but this locket he carries around with him that is perfectly fine. *sigh*. You’re telling me that his bones and organs are affected by the accelerator but a small locket it not? In what universe does that make sense?

Moving on, let’s focus in on Harry Osborne/The New Goblin. Harry has the pumpkin bombs that his father, Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin, had and he uses them to fight, obviously. That’s all good and dandy until the screenwriter realizes he wrote himself in a corner and starts to make these bombs do a host of different things.

In the beginning we see Harry attack Peter and he throws these pumpkin looking things at him. They only appear to be some sort of knife; then at the end these same things are thrown and they blow up to kill Venom. I could be wrong, these things could be two different pumpkin bombs that Harry has, but why do they look all the same? If they are different why not make them look different? If I was The New Goblin I would not know which pumpkin thing cuts or which one blows up.

And why when one of these pumpkin bombs blows up near Harry it only scars him? Then, when it blows up the same way near Venom it obliterates him? Is there a way to up the damage with these things? I don’t know … it’s probably just sloppy writing again.

Now, after Harry ruins his friendship with Peter and scars his face, his butler just decides to tell him a secret. At the end of the movie the butler tells Harry that his father was killed by his own glider. This is another case of the writer not knowing how in the hell to make Harry good again so they throw that in, which makes no sense.

You’re expecting me to believe that his butler watched him risk his life in trying to kill his friend and said nothing? What kind of person is this? Is he in Harry’s will and knows if he dies he would get something? It just doesn’t make any sense that the butler would wait this long to tell him. It just boils down to sloppy writing again.

Now let’s move onto Venom. What happened with Venom? Why is Venom saying “I”? In the comic books Venom always says “We”, because it’s both him and Eddie Brock in there. The symbiote is a being that feels just as betrayed as Brock does when it comes to Peter Parker and they both want to get revenge, which makes sense when they would say “We”. Yet, in Spider-Man 3 they never say “We” and Brock just says “I”. This annoyed me, a lot.

Next, why does Eddie Brock want Peter Parker dead so bad? I mean he was humiliated because he provided a false picture himself, he did it to himself. Maybe, he was pissed that Parker was interested in Gwen Stacey and he liked Stacey? But we never see them establish some sort of romance, they’re only briefly on screen together. In the comics Venom is a better villain because he has more of a reason to hate Peter Parker in this movie he’s really there to be there.

Another thing that annoyed me about Venom is how they bring the symbiote into the story. It just so happens that a meteorite just falls into Central Park right next to Peter Parker and Mary Jane. The symbiote then crawls from the rock and attaches itself to Peter’s scooter. Well, how wonderful is that? An alien being lands on the planet right next to the guy who has superpowers already? Couldn’t we be more creative about this?

Those are the big problems that Spider-Man 3 has. Some of them might seem small, but anything that starts to make you think “what” well that’s not a good sign. Of course these aren’t the only problems the film has. You might ask “what else is there?” Well let’s list them.

-         The symbiote making Peter Parker act like a complete idiot, fool, and ass.

-         Killing Venom

-         Giving the Sandman more screen time than Venom.

-         Not really completing Sandman’s story.

-         A script that has way too much going on.

-         Three villains.

-         Mary Jane.

-         Casting Topher Grace as Venom.

-         Gwen Stacey. Why was she in this movie? She should have been the girl Venom kidnaps in the end. It would have given her more of a reason to be around.

-         The guy shooting spit balls at Peter in the classroom. What? His spider sense didn’t sense that? Come to think of it, he had no spider sense when Harry attacked him either. Maybe it’s because he has become so smug. Oh no, I’m making excuses for them.

-         The movie going over the top with its “silly” moments.

-         Harry’s creepy faces.

-         Peter’s hair.

-         All the scenes containing Peter dancing.

-         The scenes where anyone else dances.

-         Dancing.

-         The scene where we hear the audience clapping but when we see the audience they aren’t clapping.

-         Sandman punching a police dog. What an ass.

CHECK OUT NIT-PICKING: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES at http://jamesentertainmentedge.blogspot.com/2013/03/nit-picking-dark-knight-rises.html

Valenzuela And His Creation Baby Jones

Daniel Valenzuela is taking his love of animation and comics and creating something that is original, fresh and thoroughly enjoyable.

Valenzuela was born in Los Angeles, Calif., in 1980. His parents were immigrants from Mexico. His mother worked in a factory and his father was an amateur boxer. He lived with his family in Mexico for a few months and then they moved to South Chicago, where they lived for ten years.

“I grew up in a rough neighborhood,” said Valenzuela.

After living in Chicago the family moved to San Antonio, Texas, where his family still resides.

Valenzuela then moved to San Francisco, where he now lives, to attend art school.

“I moved here in my mid-twenties and fell in love with the city,” said Valenzuela. “It has a good energy,” he added.

Valenzuela never finished art school; he dropped out, but continued to peruse a career in comics and animation.

His love for animation started at a very young age.

“I started to pick things up with classic animation. My parents had a VCR and I would pause it to look what was happening in the middle, all of the little tricks,” said Valenzuela. “My father was obsessed with Golden Age Animation and turn of the century entertainment which I ended up falling in love with,” he added.

His father has had a large influence on his work. His main character, Baby Jones, is a caricature of my father.

“It’s an exact representation of what my father is like,” said Valenzuela. “And the little guy ended up consuming my life,” he added.

Baby Jones, is a very complex individual and can be best described in the description given by Valenzuela below.

“The unholy entity that has been with us since the beginning of time. Eternally trapped in a baby's body but blessed with a mustache that was handed down by the gods themselves. After gaining the title of Champion of the World, Baby Jones then dedicated his time to torturing humanity, time traveling and obsessing over the trappings of Pop Culture. 

His dead, hollow eyes are always watching.”

Baby Jones continues to keep Valenzuela busy; he is still self-publishing comics, which he started to do four years ago.

“My first comic was a horrible, sappy comic series titled, American Objects that sold 13 copies and I kind of learned the ropes along the way,” said Valenzuela.

Comics aren’t the only thing that Valenzuela has worked on. He does some random freelance illustration projects for small companies. He has also inked one superhero comic, which he won’t talk about.

“I did it for money, which was a huge mistake,” said Valenzuela. “I respect the work that DC and Marvel do, but it’s too machine like for me,” he added.

He also randomly contributes art work to various galleries around California.

Valenzuela keeps himself very busy and he keeps producing quality comics.

Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles

So, most of you will already know that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are returning to the big screen for Christmas 2013. The problem is that these won’t be the mutated turtles we remember from our childhood, they will be aliens from another planet … um, what?

Yes during a Nickelodeon event Michael Bay, the films producer, stated the following: “When you see this movie, kids are going to believe one day these turtles actually do exist when we are done with this movie,” said Bay. “These turtles are from an alien race, and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely loveable.”

Are you *bleep*-ing kidding me. What the hell is going through this man’s head? You can’t just take the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and totally obliterate their origin story that we all know and love. Yeah, we love the origin story to Ninja Turtles, we would pay to see that story not some stupid turtles from space crap.

My head hurts.

After this news was released, of course, it was met with widespread negativity from fans. Bay then released another quote on his website.

“Fans need to take a breath and chill,” said Bay. “They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of 'Ninja Turtles' to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world.”

The thing that worries me here is when he says “complex back story”, because lets face it Bay and his team are not the best with coming up with stories. I would give you examples but if you’re reading this you probably already know what I’m talking about. (Mainly the Transformers movies)

So, if they are making the turtles complex expect a confusing, convoluted story that makes no sense and crushes everything we grew to love about the series.

You might say I’m overreacting, but I don’t think I am. I’m tired of people taking franchises and ruining them. Making the turtles aliens is NOT a good idea. I know they want to give it more weight and make it more believable. Yet, having them mutate is much more believable than believing that there is a planet out there that is populated by giant turtles. I mean, where do Splinter and Shredder fit into all of this?

Just give us the TMNT story we want. It's not broken so don't try to fix it.

Strange Happenings at Old Bristol House

By James Drzewiecki
Staff Writer

BRISTOL — Voices, knocking and strange lights are common in a home located at 443 Burlington Ave. and the family wants answers.

Jamie Perchiano moved his family in four years ago and ever since then they’ve been experiencing what they believe to be paranormal activity.

"We just started hearing random noises, like knocks and ticks," Perchiano said. "I spoke to my landlord about it, and he had told me that the house is over 300 years old. He then explained to me that there was an underground tunnel used for slaves."

The tunnel underneath the house runs the entire perimeter of the foundation. In the tunnel Perchiano has found several different items, including animal bones, broken plates and even a shoe.

All these things intrigued Perchiano, but one thing that does bother him is when his 4-year-old son, Aidan, is bothered by whatever is happening inside the house.

"My son has been waking up every night," Perchiano explained, "that’s why my wife and I decided to call a paranormal team from Seymour and we did an investigation. They checked out the basement, they checked out the tunnel and we left a voice recorder in my son’s room."

The voice recorder did pick up some strange things, according to Perchiano who played a tape where sounds like a very strained voice saying "Aidan" can be heard.

The owner of the house, Brian Milano, lived there with his parents years before the Perchiano’s moved in. He didn’t have many experiences in the house, but he did have one that really stood out.

"I do remember seeing an image in the corner of a room," Milano said.

Milano explained how his mother, Marilyn, would always talk about the house having a ghost, but she wasn’t scared of it and believed it to be friendly.

The house, known as Rausley Upson Place, according to the records, was built circa 1830 and stands on what was once a part of the Upson family farm. The land was owned by Asa Upson, who never actually lived in the house. Asa died from a fit in 1807, about 27 years before the house was built.

Following Asa’s death, tragedy seemed commonplace in the Upson family. A year later, Asa’s grandson, Job Upson, cut his own throat, according to Congregational Church records. No one knows where exactly Job died, but because his death was deemed a suicide, he wasn’t allowed to be buried on consecrated ground.

"Most of the members of the Upson family at the time were buried in the Old North Cemetery," said Jay Manewitz, the historical research librarian at the Bristol Public Library.

"I could find no documentation that Job was buried in that cemetery or any other one in Bristol," he said. "I’m wondering what could have been the cause of the suicide. Maybe Job received a much smaller portion of Asa’s estate than he felt he deserved. This, of course, is speculation on my part."

Job’s death wasn’t the last in the records. Asa’s two sons, Samuel, age 12, and his infant brother, Samuel A., both died of typhus fever.

"It’s possible that their spirits inhabit the Upson property," Manewitz projected.

The tunnel beneath the house is believed to be tied to the underground railroad, but there is no evidence that the house was a station on the fabled route used by slaves eluding capture.

Yet, the Upson’s Congregational minister, Leverett Griggs, was an abolitionist.

"It would not be surprising if some members of his congregation felt as strongly as their minister concerning the issue of slavery and actively supported runaways," Manewitz said.

It’s a long and interesting history tied to the land, the house and the Upson family, a history, the Perchiano family, hopes will shed some light on whatever is happening in their home.

"I just want answers," Perchiano said bluntly. "I want to know why and who’s getting in contact with my son?"

Nit-Picking: Scream

*SPOILERS*

I love movies, but what I love more is nit-picking them. I don’t care if it’s the best movie in the world I will still nit-pick it. It’s just something I enjoy doing.

So, I’ve decided to share my nit-picks with you and the movie I chose to nit-pick first is one of my favorite horror movies – Scream.

Let’s get right into it. The first scene I’m going to cover is the opening scene with Drew Barrymore’s character, Casey.

The scene has a few things I’m going to pick at.

First, why in the hell wouldn’t Casey call the police after the third phone call from the killer? Instead she engages him in conversation about scary movies, yeah because that’s normal. Let’s talk to a complete stranger, who has a creepy voice about horror movies. Why isn’t she seeing any red flags here?

Casey continues to talk to the killer, not knowing it is the killer, and he then says “I want to know who I’m looking at”, she immediately tries to bust him on it and he quickly covers it up. We then hear a dog barking outside. She gets freaked out and then hangs up the phone on the killer. Yet, does she call the police now? NO!

The phone continues to ring and the killer goes from being calm to hostile. Casey now becomes frightened and tells the killer she is two seconds away from calling the police. Um, why didn’t you call the police already? Why are you two seconds away? Why aren’t you on the phone with the police right now?

The killer doesn’t seem fazed by her threat in calling the police, because he explains that they’ll never make it because they’re out in the middle of nowhere. Well that’s great; you know they would have made it if you called them sooner, like when the creepy voice called you for a third time. Yeah if you called then and said I’m being harassed instead of talking to him about horror movies there might have been a chance for you.

Getting further into the scene, the killer tells Casey that she can save her life and her boyfriends if she answers his questions, questions that turn out to be horror movie trivia.

This part is always fun to pick at; Casey is able to get her first question right, correctly answering “Name the killer in Halloween?” The killer then asks for the killer in Friday the 13^th. Without thinking she jumps to her answer saying Jason, which is wrong. Even though she claims to have seen the movie 20 times; either Casey is a complete idiot or she never seen the original Friday the 13^th.

Now, let’s analyze this question. We all know that the killer in Friday the 13^th is Pamela Voorhees, Jason’s mother. The killer goes onto say that Jason doesn’t show up until the sequel, which is very wrong. Yes, Jason doesn’t start killing until Friday the 13^th part II, but he shows up at the very end of Friday the 13^th, he jumps out of the lake. So, the killer would be wrong too. If Casey knew that she might have been able to beat the killer at his own game. I mean the killer doesn’t even use Pamela’s full name, he just calls her Mrs. Voorhees. Does the killer know Mrs. Voorhees full name? These are the questions I’d be asking the killer.

The killer then asks what door is he at and the chase begins.

In my Scream 4 review I discussed the Ghostface mask. I said “First, why in the hell are people still running away from Ghostface? Haven’t people learned that the Ghostface mask has limited visibility? Come on I know everyone has tried one on by now, they’re all over Halloween stores in October. I’m surprised Ghostface isn’t running into more walls. Just find somewhere to hide and stop screaming.”

That is what people need to do in these movies. But they don’t.

Casey is able to get out of her house and instead of running like hell; she finds it more enticing to look in the windows. This makes the killer spot her. What she should have done is run and hide in what looks like a cornfield right next to her house. Why wouldn’t she do that? Hide in the corn until the killer becomes frustrated and looses interest.

The scene comes to an end and Casey dies, because she did nothing right.

The next scene introduces Sidney and Billy. Billy sneaks into Sidney’s room through a window, nothing much in that scene.

Then we make it to Woodsboro High School and we see Gale Weathers, with a name like that why isn’t she a meteorologist? That’s not the thing that strikes me with Gale though; the thing that strikes me is her bright green or yellow outfit. Who in the hell told her that looks good? Why would someone wear that?

Moving on, we see Sidney get interviewed by the police and the principle (aka Fonzie) who touches her face in a creepy way and we’re introduced to all the main characters. We have Stu, Randy, Tatum, Sidney and Billy. All right lets move onto the killer’s next appearance.

The killer comes around again at Sidney’s house and she falls in the same traps as Casey. First of all when the killer first calls Sidney she assumes that it’s her friend, Randy, who happens to be a horror movie fanatic. She doesn’t call the police she just continues talking to killer not even seeing the threat here. Let’s review what has just happened in this town, two people were just violently murdered! Come on Sidney just call the police, even if it turns out to be your friend, just call them to be safe. That would be the logical thing to do, but this is a horror movie.

Sidney continues to talk to the killer, challenges him and then gets chased around by him. And after all that Billy shows up in her window and drops a cell phone. Do we really need anymore clues that he’s the killer?

Billy is then arrested and interrogated by the police. The police ask him about the cell phone, obliviously, and he responds that everyone has them. Um, this movie was released in 1996. I was in school and no one had a cell phone, people didn’t really start having cell phones to school until after 2000. It could have been different in other places, but that’s what it was like where I grew up.

After all this Billy is cleared and Sidney runs into him at school, a scene that makes Billy very inconsiderate.

Billy’s whole goal in this movie is to get Sidney to sleep with him. Sidney won’t sleep with him, because her mother was brutally murder only a year ago. Billy finds this frustrating and when they run into each other at school, after the arrest thing, Billy tells Sidney that it’s time she gets over it. Really? I mean come on man, her mother was murdered. He then goes onto compare her situation with his, yes Billy’s mother is gone too but she not dead she just left him and his father. SO, really these two situations aren’t the same and Billy doesn’t see that. He does eventually apologies but the damage is done buddy.

After that the killer is still at large and so the police set a curfew on the town, to keep everyone safe. Yet, Stu is having a party and invites everyone and everyone shows up. Again, really? Do any of their parents know that a psychotic killer is at large? Did all these kids sneak out? What is wrong with the people in this town?

The final scene of the movie goes on for 40 minutes and to Sidney’s defense she really puts up a great fight, better then the one before and a lot better than Casey’s.

Now after the killer chases her around we final get to the confrontation between Sidney and the two killers Stu and Billy. This scene I love to nit-pick the most.

OK, so in this scene Billy and Stu explain that all the killings really stemmed from Billy’s mother leaving him and he blamed Sidney’s mother, that’s why he killed her and wants to kill Sidney. They then explain how they kidnapped Sidney’s father, cloned his cell phone so they can make calls and are eventually going to pin all the murders on him. It sounds like a solid plan but they forgot one thing, they aren’t wearing gloves. They are touching the knife, the cell phone, Sidney’s father and Sidney leaving their finger prints behind. So, it doesn’t matter if Sidney won or not these two idiots would have gone down anyway after the police dusted for prints.

Then another thing that always bothered me was why they chose to purposely stab themselves, to make it look like they were attacked, before they killed Sidney and her father. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad Sidney and her father live, but these two killers seemed to have a plan but in reality these two guys really have a problem with executing that plan logically. Stabbing yourself is only giving Sidney and her father an upper hand, only shooting yourself in the foot some more.

The last thing that bothered me in this scene was when Billy and Stu explain how they formed their plan, by watching horror movies. OK, but you can’t say Pamela Voorhees first name in the opening scene? And why are they asking their victims the simplest horror movie questions? Why can’t they ask harder questions? I mean if you studied horror movies for a long time then you should form questions that are complex. If I was in Scream I would survive, because not only can I answer their simple questions I would avoid the following: going to a party when a killer is running around, making noise when hiding from the killer (remember the killer is as blind as you in the dark and the mask makes it harder for them to see, so find a hiding place and shut the hell up), never assuming that the creepy voice is one of your friends and realize in a situation like this that everyone is a suspect!

With all nit-picking aside, Scream is a very good movie. It’s well written, directed and acted. It’s one of the better slasher movies and should be seen by anyone, not only horror fans.

Follow this link http://jamesentertainmentedge.blogspot.com/2008/10/31-days-of-horror-scream.html to find out more of my thoughts on the Scream.