Why your asking do I want it to be May. It’s simple May 4 brings us The Avengers movie and I can’t wait. Yes it will be cheese no I don’t care. I just want to watch it now, and then repeatedly. Why because thats what I do with these kinds of movies. Taking off my shoes and socks I still wouldn’t be able count high enough to tell you how many times I have watched the first Iron Man. same for the second one. Heck I even snuck a Thor line into the new outro for the show. So how can you get pumped up and ready for this well I will be helping with by giving you some animation season from Netflix to watch to get you through the next couple of months. So we might as well start with one that I wasn’t sure if I liked or not, but is definitely at the top of my list in saturday morning entertainment.
Iron Man Armored Adventures (you’re really surprised I started with this one aren’t you) features a young Tony Stark and his dad doing what they love inventing and making the world a better place. But when the plane goes down and Tony is the only survivor. Well lets just say you think you know where this is going. The twist on this one is that Tony, Rhoades, and Pepper are in the same private high school. So yeah they are teens and that is where my initial fear was. I started having this Twilight fear of angst ridden characters. But I was surprised it doesn’t have any of that. They use the school portion of the life to balance Tony. The whole idea of the show being that he wants to avenge his fathers death. He has to graduate though before he gain control back from Stane. Along the way he also takes to the world as Iron Man making sure that the world doesn’t come apart completely.
As with many of the Marvel comics and animated series you get plenty of bleed over from other series, and the occasional episode featuring other characters. I actually thought the hulk episode was good. They did a good variant on Hulk. Which happens on all of the characters. Don’t be fooled this is an alternate reality story line, and because of that many of the characters and plots are different from the ones in the books. So no it’s not in the normal cannon of the character but this started as a what if series. So for just this once let your super hard core fan boy sleep in and watch this with a fresh and open mind.
So Saturday I spent most of the day backing up and rebuilding my home computer. In order to pass the time I was watching my good friend Netflix. I not only found a great show but I watched all of it one day. Now if that isn’t the grounds for me recommending it them I’m not sure what is. The show you must watch, and I mean like right now. No seriously quit reading this and pull up netflix is Weapons Masters.
Okay so for those of you still reading and not believing me here is the premise of the show. Mike Loades Will bring up an ancient weapon at the beginning of the show and explain what it was used for. Then he will challenge the other host Chad Houseknecht to take the weapon and adapt it to the modern times. The best episodes are all of them. But the ones that truly stand out to me are the dueling pistol, the Katana, and the repeating crossbow. That doesn’t mean only watch those three because all of them are amazing. Seriously this show has knowledge transfer to you in how many things work. and while Chad helps you to learn in a very crazy and over the top way. It is perfectly balanced by Mike give you very good material in an easy to understand method. They don’t do a lot of computer generated explanations either. If Chad is explaining why he is using a compressed air tank to reload the string on the cross bow he shows you the actual parts and what they do. Now that’s great because it is something you can see and understand because when you see his final product there are the same parts and you perfectly understand how it works, and what it does.
So lastly in this I know what you parents are going to say, and yes the show is about building weapons. However, don’t just let your kids watch it alone watch it with them. Heck I could believe my eyes when I say Atlatl Bob straighten out a stick over a fire. I mean really you can do that? Use this as an opportunity. While not everything has to be built as a weapon sometimes trying to build things the old way can give you a better understanding of where we get other devices that we use or see everyday. Ponder this how did something like the atlatl which is a weapon used in hunting caveman times lead us to where we are today? With the ability to hunt larger game our ancestors were able to develop writing and audio forms that extend to today. In fact I’m using them right now. How is that for mind blowing?
Matt Bomer of White Collar
Okay so let me start by saying that we here at movienoobie don’t condone illegal activities. However, Lately I’ve been loving the con-man TV shows. I’m going to save my absolute favorite for later. Why because it is very good and I want to finish out the rest of the current season. The great part about TV shows on Netflix is that you can often find stuff that is on cable TV without having cable TV. One of the ones that I have enjoyed greatly recently has been White Collar.
So it is the same basic story we have seen before, but it’s the actors that make it work. A con-man in jail is released into the custody of an enforcement officer or agent. In this case an FBI agent. The con-man in this instance is Neil Caffrey played by Matt Bomer, and the FBI Agent is Peter Burke played by Tim DeKay. These two have great chemistry on screen and the overarching story takes all of the first two seasons before it comes to a conclusion. I must say as well that there was a few times where they had some episode cliff hangers that had me second guessing my thoughts as to what was going on.
Ultimately Neil is in the first episode trying to find what happened to the girl he loved she had reappeared while he was in prison and now seems to be working either willingly or un willingly for some unknown person. All Neil has is a photo of the person’s hand and his trusted mentor Mozzie. Mozzie is one of these characters that many shows currently have where they aren’t pat of the main line of actors, but they make the show, and Willie Garson does just that in his portrayal of the character.
They do a great job of not only moving the story of the girlfriend along but also at the same time stopping other crimes and putting art thieves, counterfeiters, and even some corrupt politicians.You can watch the first 2 season on Netflix streaming and the third season is currently airing on USA. So if you want a good crime drama that’s not all based on TV CSI science give this one a shot it is well worth it.
Taking techniques out of Roman Polanski’s filmmaking techniques in Rosemary’s Baby with lots of doors and hallways always blocking your view as you the audience play the part of camera. Paranormal Activity 3 was once again a little bit of a let down to me personally where I feel like art has gotten away from a studio trying to capitalize on a great idea. Continue reading »
Saturday morning cartoons suck. Not in general just the current round of them. When did every show for kids became another opportunity to pump them full of information? I mean what boat did I miss where all the children’s entertainment stopped being entertainment. No wonder kids these days are super smart and more serious than they need to be. I know there isn’t a ton of educational value in watching bugs bunny outsmart elmer found and make his gun blow up in his face. However, it is still funny and does prove that one major thing. You have to be able to shutdown and not think about learning everything all the time. Just sit back and relax. This world can chew you up and spit you out in no time. If you can’t find a way to somehow enjoy the ride then your only function is an organic robot.
So in lieu of the all learning all the time. I’m starting my own little saturday morning lineup. Sure my tastes are different but that is the great part you can mix in some learning with some fun. So here show number one of my line up. Thats right start off right with everyone’s favorite grump. No not Oscar the Grouch, the guy I’m talking about will not only tear that muppet apart but will also leave that trash can he calls a house in shambles. I’m talking about Wolverine. I love this guy he is old as dirt. Has his opinion about everything and isn’t afraid to tell you what it is.
While the list of shows feature him are wide ranged I’m starting with a newer one that has a good twist to it. Wolverine and the X-Men is the story of what happens when Wolverine is in charge of the school and leading the X-Men. I’m not going to give away the entire story to you but know that in true marvel style there is violence in this. It is about people fighting to prevent wars. Oh yeah and imagine this if you watch it with your kids and have a discussion about the content of the show. In this case the equality of people who are different. You get to be involved in the learning instead of just mindless programming. Oh yeah and you get to see wolverine tear apart everything he runs into that deserves being destroyed and some things that don’t. I like the stories in this and they are never far off from the main overlying plot line. I hate that almost more when shows start one main story line and then fill in weeks other stupid plot lines that have nothing to do with the characters main goal. I’m not go to point any fingers (Avatar) because that wouldn’t be fair ( Yu-Gi-Oh) to those shows that do that. Okay seriously it’s not that bad and I understand that the purpose is to help you further identify with the characters. But we are talking about characters that have been in existence since 1963.
Alright I’ll kick this soap box for the time being and look for the rest of my recommendations for saturday morning cartoons in the coming weeks. Don’t worry they will all be available online via netflix, hulu or the iTunes store. I’m always looking for stuff to rotate in to my morning mix as well so top me a line on what favorites you have.
http://www.dcla.net/projects/25_2.html
The E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park is a fascinating place to bring your kids. It’s loaded with different types of small play areas, so the park itself is huge but each section is small. There is a little kid area, complete with swings for those in wheelchairs. It has a small water area, like the other very big water parks in Denver, but it is contained in one little place. No pools or anything but lots of water shooting up – perfect for the smaller kids which is convenient since it is right next to the little playground! There is a giant rock for climbing, a regular playground with plenty of swings and lots of picnic areas. There is even a little circle of swinging benches next to the ‘wavy sidewalk’ which is great for strollers or wheelchairs. On top of all these great but rare features there is also a lake with paddleboats available for rental and even a nice area where kids can ‘fish’. Walk to the other side and you can find a nice little bridge where you might also find some crawdad fishing going on. ALl in all, it’s just a very nice, very different park that if you are in the area, please do visit!!!
Short Film has quickly become one of my favorite mediums of film. There is so much that can be accomplished with a short film however things are usually much more difficult when working with a short since it is well, short. There is much less time to get to know the characters within a short and we usually pick up in the middle of the story of the short to help save time and grab the interest of our audience. Today I am going to talk about one of my favorite shorts, The New Tenants.
The New Tenants is a film about moving into a new home, the history of that new home, cinnamon buns, drugs, and lots of murder. This film is one of my favorite comedy shorts, now I know “how can murder be funny?’ This is a black comedy with the right amount of drama to bring out the humor in the situations of the short film. This short came out two years ago, at least to major release as it won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 2009.
The film starts in a very intriguing way as we are listening to a man go on and on about how things are terrible and we are all going to die in terrible ways. This conversation without going into too much detail about it, as it is one of the early jokes in the film, prefaces the short film perfectly!
That is as far as I will go on the story of the film as it is something that I think really needs to be experienced for yourself and not broken down by some aspiring filmmaker writing articles on a small website on the internet. The writer of The New Tenants, Anders Thomas Jensen deserve lots of praise in my eyes along with everyone else who worked on the film which is why I believe the Academy recognized this.
The cinematography (Pawel Edelman) of the film is key to telling the story since the film takes place through dialogue mostly. This along with the choices made by the director (Joachim Back) to start on close ups of the characters and only slowly pull out to wider and wider shots of the characters and the setting as the film unfolds is like seeing part of a rug rolled and saying that’s an interesting rug only to find that once it is unfurled it is a rug with large amounts of detail and a conversation piece that could possibly tie a room together. Sorry about the Lebowski reference there at the end, however this choice gets me at least very interested in the story and quickly makes me feel as though these two men at the beginning are people that I feel very comfortable with and then when the events of the film transpire I can only imagine that the characters and I are having the same thoughts.
While I believe that this short film is best when it is viewed for the first time it is still a short that I keep on my carousel of shorts that I enjoy watching. I cannot recommend it enough and it is quite easy to find actually, it can be purchased from iTunes here for $2.99 in HD or $1.99 in SD. At a price that is little more than the hot new single do yourself the favor of buying this short film.
