DMZ

DMZ written by Brian Wood and illustrated by various artists.

I heard a lot about how good this series was.  I was intrigued by the premise.  It had a sort of Escape from New York feel to it but I've got to admit the execution of the idea dragged on as I could only get half way through this series when I just got bored.  I just found the main character a stagnate and he started to feel more like a prop than an actual character as the series went on. 

The series which started out with an arc, then started to dive into the monster of the week syndrome.  This is a shame because the story initially built itself on a cause and effect basis but this seemed to evaporate as the story went on.  The world building, which started out good, but seemed to forget itself as it started to feel like it was being made up on the fly instead of carefully planned out.

I've read far better series than this and do consider this one of the more overrated comics I've read.  It reads sort of like a Marvel or DC version in a gritty world with violence, sex, language, and more adult stories but still stuck in the clothes of superhero story telling.

The Expendables 3

The Expendables 3 directed by Patrick Hughes, starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and actually I don't care because this movie was so bad.

I didn't even watch the last 45 minutes of this movie I was so bored. I hated how they took everything the first two movies built on and then destroyed them in this movie when a character almost died.  Then it was like now Stallone has a heart and doesn't want his "old" crew to go on missions with him anymore because they might die.  They are called the Expendables for a reason.  This reasoning completely rang false and ruined the whole movie.  Stallone said the reason the movie didn't make as much money was because of the PG-13 rating - no it was because this decision to have characters act in completely different ways then they had previously done before.  So the sniper of theirs that got killed in second movie wasn't as bad as Crews almost getting killed in this one?  This makes no sense.  Even for an action movie there still has to be some foundation of sense to ground things.  The previous Fast and Furious movies prove this.  They are completely insane and over the top but they keep their characters grounded with believable actions and decisions - The Expendables flushed all of this down the toilet with very sub par and boring movie.

Love Actually

Love Actually written and directed by Richard Curtis, starring Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Keira Knightly, Alan Rickman, Rown Atkinson, and Martin Freeman.

Easily one of the best writer, directors out there.  I've enjoyed everything he's done from Black Adder to all of his movies.  He creates some seriously genuine characters and can flat out write some funny scenes.  He has become fascinated with the subject of love, with the many movies he's done over the last couple of decades focusing on this subject, which is I think a subject that easily connects with anyone.  He explores this theme with some keen insight and populates his stories with some great characters.  His ability to collect actors and actresses to flesh out these characters only makes his movies that much more entertaining.

This movie is no different as it tells multiple stories about people falling in and out of love and how their lives are affected by love.  I bought into it, although some stories aren't fully explored as other are but it still didn't sway how much enjoyed this movie.  Watching all of the actors maneuver around Curtis' dialogue and scenes only added to the pleasure.  And it's a good Christmas movie. 

Interstellar

Interstellar directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Cain, Casey Affleck, Ellen Burstyn, John Lithgow, Wes Bentley, Matt Damon, Jessica Chastian, and Topher Grace.

I've been composing my thoughts on this movie ever since I saw it in glorious 70mm IMAX.  I'm a huge Nolan fan and a huge sci-fi fan so my thoughts on this film will be a little bias.  There is such a lack of really good original sci-fi films that come out that when one comes out I will give it a little lee way even if it is not perfect.  This movie is not a sequel nor is it related in anyway to comic book franchise.  It is its own beast full of its own ideas and not trying to start another series of movies, for this I will continue to give this movie credit.  But after saying all of that this is by no means Mr. Nolan's best film and would rank lower on his list when compared to his other movies.  Even after saying all of that I will still take a not perfect Nolan film over some of the better films that Hollywood has to offer.  As before with any Nolan movie, this movie is perfectly cast (see the cast list above) and as before with any Nolan movie, he gives his actors and actresses plenty of time and scenes to act in.

This movie is full of ideas and that is where the trouble begins.  Too many ideas is like too many villains or too many antagonists, there is a hard time focusing on what is going on screen which leaves the story feeling a little jumbled.  The heart of this movie is family, specifically the relationship between a father and a daughter - when the movie focuses on this it is good and feels genuine.  I will say this I was wholly invested into this relationship, so for the most part what happened next in the movie I was bought into because the foundation set between the father and a daughter.  

This is the best movie I've ever seen  to deal with the time debt of space travel.  I've read about it in many sci-fi books but had never visually seen it portrayed on screen.  Kubrick briefly touched upon it in 2001: A Space Odyssey but this movie brings it to a whole other level, which was a wonderfully, beautifully thing to experience on screen.  The comparisons to 2001 can't be ignored nor do I think Nolan is even trying to distance himself from them because this is the closest I will ever get to seeing 2001 on an IMAX screen and for that I will be forever grateful.

Overall despite its flaws I did like this movie and I enjoyed seeing a more tender, emotional side of Nolan and am looking forward to his next movie.  In Nolan I trust.