So this week saw the release of two trailers for some pretty geeky upcoming movies.  Obviously, I have an opinion to share …

So the first trailer I caught was the one for the new Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds.  Now I may not be an expert on the original subject matter, but if the trailer is any indication I don’t think they’ve handled it with nearly enough gravitas.  It’s my understanding that the original tale of Hal Jordan is one of redemption, of his journey to become a hero.  Instead the feeling I get watching the trailer is more of some stereotypical frat guy who just found a spandex suit and wants to wear it to the next kegger.

Indeed watching Ryan Reynolds in the trailer, it feels almost more like his role in Van Wilder with a lot more green tinted CGI.  Don’t get me wrong, I think that playing that type of a character is perfect for Reynolds.  I’ve enjoyed Reynolds in a number of movies even beyond the sarcastic and silly ones, such as the Amityville Horror.  It’s just that I don’t think they’ve approached the material from the right angle.  The character who would almost be better suited for this kind of playfulness … would be Deadpool … which Reynolds was earmarked to play before Green Lantern came along.

So after watching the GL trailer and feeling a bit disappointed I caught the trailer for Cowboys and Aliens.  This one as it turns out is also based on a comic book which unfortunately I’m not familiar with.  Directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, this trailer looked AWESOME.  It was the exact opposite of the GL trailer.  It took a campy concept (I mean, just look at the movie’s title!) and the feel from the trailer was just pure seriousness with a lot of creepy thrown over it.  It’s no secret that I love Jon Favreau and what he’s done with the Iron Man franchise.  He GETS how to make a comic book movie, and that puts him into elite company with names like Bryan Singer and Joss Whedon.  There’s a couple of other directors who I’d throw on that list but unfortunately someone just came by and derailed my train of thought.

So bottom line?  I’m currently jazzed for Cowboys and Aliens … and not so much for Green Lantern.

Sorry for the caps … BUT OMG … Toy Story 3 is coming to theatres June 18, 2010!!!

The best part about that?  Brianna may actually be old enough to go to the show with her parents and enjoy the movie with us!  We’ll need a sitter for Logan tho …

BUZZ IS COMING BACK BABY!!!

OK … so I just read Ebert’s take on the Watchmen … and do you know what I liked about his review?  Aside from the fact that he liked the movie?

Was the fact that he didn’t try and talk about the minor trivialities contained within the movie … which he probably would have gotten wrong … he talked about his impressions of the movie … and that was IT … didn’t talk about big blue naked man parts … didn’t talk about how it didn’t live up to the graphic novel … he just talked about it as a standalone piece of work … and plus he enjoyed it …

Sometimes I’m too sensitive about these things … I think …  I’ll have more to say on all of this once I’ve gone and seen the movie for myself … hopefully this weekend …

OK … so I’ve been reading up a couple of early reviews about this week’s release of Watchmen.  Now as I’ve noted on this site I’ve only recently read the original work … and clearly I haven’t seen the movie yet … but there’s something which is bugging the hell outta me about these early reviews … and it’s not the first time something like this has bothered me either …

As I’ve already stated, I obviously haven’t seen the movie yet.  Therefore I cannot possibly know 100% about what is or is not in the movie and how true it is to the original source material.  But … when I’m reading some of these early reviews … from places like the LA Times, Variety or the New Yorker … these reviewers mention things which are SO far off from the actual plot points that I KNOW that there is no way the film could have veered THAT far off course.

What this ends up doing of course is reducing the validity of these reviews to almost nill for me.  If these reviewers aren’t able to get a detail correct such as the name of the super hero group … calling them the Masks instead of, duh, the Watchmen … then how am I supposed to take their review of the actual substance seriously?

So what am I left with?  A bunch of jerks who seem to obsess over the fact that we see Dr. Manhattan’s junk instead of actually trying to get the facts straight about the movie and delivering an ACCURATE review.

Confusing title?  Well allow me to explain …

Kate and Lee hosted a canal skating party yesterday … which was a lot of fun!  It was a get together for the Craft Class crowd … if you don’t know who that is, then there’s no point in explaining it … … but this represented the longest amount of outside time which the Carders (Oakville Chapter) have had all winter long.  And it was nice!

Brie was out in her little snowsuit … and looked kinda like Ralphie’s little brother from A Christmas Story … she couldn’t get her arms down … she wasn’t too keen on the whole outside thing at first … but she took a turn for the better and was laughing and giggling with the whole crowd by the end of the day … the fresh air totally wiped her out … as she passed out immediately upon being put into the car … and then slept for almost two hours straight for the ride home …

And then the Oscars were on … on the ride home Shari and I briefly discussed whether or not we had any interest in watching them … which we agreed we didn’t … which of course means that we then watched the whole damned show …  I was actually surprised … not only by Hugh Jackman’s stage performances … but also just in the general quality of the show … it was clear that some thought had gone into how to make the show a bit more streamlined and compressed … but yet the overall feel seemed to harken back to the old glamour-filled days … an enjoyable show, and Shari and I are now going to have to take in Slumdog Millionaire …

Alright … I saw it … granted it wasn’t ON opening weekend, but I’m a dad now … I have other responsibilities … besides, I couldn’t get tickets …

Now … I have seen it … and at almost every turn I was surprised … pleasantly … by either a familiar actor playing a bit role … by an unexpected twist in the story … or by a superb portrayal of a twisted character.  Yes, Heath Ledger was off the hook as the Joker … he nailed it, nailed it good … so in the end I would have to say you need to see it … just be prepared to be … twisted …

Random other thought … I’ve been working on a side project here … it’s coming along quite nicely … and yes, it’s all because I switched over to WAMP … it’s an NFL stats database … this is something I’ve tried to do in Domino for years but wasn’t able to … and of course, I switch over to PHP and MySQL and it’s a snap … yes, I shoulda made the switch years ago …

Sooo … do you love Joss Whedon?  Creator of Buffy and Firefly?  Sure you do!

If you do, you might enjoy Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!

EDIT – Just watched both episodes … and all I can say is … the hammer … is my p***s …