Terminator: Salvation
Genre: Action/Shooter
Rating: T for Teen
Platform: Playstation3
Platform: Evolved Games
Publisher: Warner Bros.

As I like to do with just about everything I review, I’m going to open this review up with some full disclosure. I feel it allows you, the reader, to understand more fully where I, the reviewer, am coming from.

Ah, the Terminator franchise. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with it for as long as I can remember. Like pretty much everyone else, I thought the first film was amazing. The premise, the violence, the effects… it all just worked. Then came T2, which pushed the effects envelope even further, turned the story on its ear by making the bad guy from the first film the good guy, and giving Hollywood a much needed badass female lead. But it had Edward Furlong and some goofy moments that kept it from being the classic I thought it could have been. T3 was such a mockery of the first 2 that I pretty much swore the franchise off. And then when McG (god it pains me to even type that as his ‘name’) came on board for Terminator: Salvation, I knew all hope was lost. In a nutshell, I think the franchise had a brilliant premise the collapses under the weight of the time-travel paradox, suffers from being a parody of itself at times, and can’t find the right fit to bring it to the glory it deserves.

All of that being said, I think The Terminator is the absolute PERFECT fit for a kick ass, thrill ride of a sci-fi game. There are so many ways it could go… First Person Shooter, Role Playing, Real-Time Strategy, open sandbox style ala Grand Theft Auto [...]

The Matrix
10th Anniversary Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Starring Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne
Warner Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 31, 2009

Forget for a moment how you felt when you watched The Matrix Reloaded and then The Matrix Revolutions. Forget that those movies may have tainted your feeling on the original. Forget the pseudo-philosophical babble and the height of the story nearly causing the entire thing to collapse on top of itself. Forget that you ever knew the term “bullet time.” Forget all of that and try to remember how you felt back in 1999 when you sat in the movie theater and first saw a stranger new sci-fi action flick called The Matrix.

To call The Matrix a revolutionary film (even for the time) would be to completely miss the point. The Matrix wasn’t anything new — it was just a new way of bringing that style of story to audiences. Anyone that was fond of comics or anime was already familiar with the storytelling style of The Matrix. What it did was introduce that style to the masses. Remember, this was before ‘geek’ was considered cool, so being into comics or anime made you more of an outcast than trendy [...]

Bubba Ho-Tep
Limited Collector’s Edition
Directed by Don Coscarelli
Starring Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Heidi Marnhout, Bob Ivy
MGM Home Entertainment
Available Now

Before I get started, I have a confession to make… I did not grow up worshiping at the altar of Bruce Campbell. I’d heard the name, but I really had no idea who the guy was. And coming from a self-professed cinephile and pop-culture junkie, I know that this information is a big blow to my credibility… In my defense, I have since seen all of the man’s films, read both of his books, and worship at the altar of Bruce Campbell regularly.

But then I read an article in my local paper about a little movie called Bubba Ho-Tep that was going to be playing at our small, alternative cinema. I really couldn’t believe what I was reading as the article discussed the plot of the film. For those who don’t know, in a nutshell the film is about two residents of an old folks home — who may or may not be Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy — who have to team up to battle an ancient Mummy that is stalking the old folks living in the home.

Brilliant, right? But wait, it gets better!

Elvis is played by Bruce Campbell and JFK is played by… wait for it… Ossie Davis! Yes, African American screen legend and civil rights activist Ossie Davis! For those keeping score at home — JFK was about as Caucasian as it gets… Do you see the brilliance at work here? [...]

Let’s get this out of the way upfront — Eagle Eye isn’t a bad movie. I’ve seen it listed on more than a few “Worst of 2008” lists, and I just don’t agree with that assessment. Trust me, there’s much worse floating around out there.

What it is is a middle of the road “Big Brother” paranoia thriller with serviceable acting and a bunch of rather fun set pieces and action sequences. That’s it; nothing more, nothing less. Where it suffers is in its woefully late-to-the-ball timing. If this flick had been released 15 to 20 years ago, it would have worked a lot better.

The film hinges on the audience being pulled into the paranoid realization that we can be watched, tracked, contacted, and controlled at all time due to the alarming amount of technology we allow into our daily lives. The problem is, as a society, we already know that. Who out there under the age of 60 isn’t well aware that much of our lives are out on the internet for the taking? I’m guessing not many… So without being able to build that paranoia in the audience, the “thriller” part of this thriller just doesn’t work [...]

I admit it – I’m a Brendan Fraser apologist. What can I say? I like the guy. He’s just so damn… likable! I can watch him in pretty much anything and enjoy it. School Ties – Check. Monkeybone – Check. Blast from the Past – Check. George of the Jungle – Check. Encino Man – Guilty. So I look back on the release of The Mummy with fond memories. It was a funny, adventurous rollicking old-school action flick that remembered what made such films work — it was fun. And Fraser captured that sense of “gee whiz” fun playing Rick O’Connell. When The Mummy Returns came out it was disappointing, but not awful. It felt more like an excuse to try to set up a franchise for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson than it legitimate continuation of the series.

So it was with a healthy dose of skepticism that I popped in the Blu-ray of the newest entry into this series — The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. And all I can say is – Brendan Fraser tried. He really, really tried… and I’m sure he’s sorry [...]

Have you ever watched a movie that your conscious mind continually told you that you shouldn’t be enjoying? That the premise was thin, the majority of the acting was way overblown, and that teetered it on the edge of “Scary Movie 15” lameness, yet somehow you found yourself laughing and having a good time? That is exactly the movie that Tropic Thunder is to me.

In order to discuss my thoughts on this film, I’m going to have to delve into some character details that may be considered spoiler territory, so be warned.

Still with me? Cool. Here we go.

Tropic Thunder is one of those “high concept” films that tells the story of the making of a film within the film itself. The idea is nothing new, and neither is Ben Stiller’s desire to skewer the profession he loves. It’s well worn territory. And while I’d love to say that Stiller, who wrote, directed, and stars in this film, walked this well worn territory in a fresh and interesting way — I can’t. The truth is, this film offers us very little that we haven’t seen before.

The majority of the performances are exactly what you would expect, too. Stiller’s delivery is as ham-fisted as it gets. Even when playing a character this is supposed to be an over-the-top stereotype, Stiller is somehow able to bring the extra cheese. Jack Black is manic and goofy, relying on his physicality to carry his performance even though I’ve seen him at his best when reined in to a subtler performance. He needs a director who is willing to tell him that he doesn’t always have to be the Jack Black from the Kid’s Choice Awards in each and every performance. His drugged-out character spends more than half of the film in heroin withdrawal, writhing around and acting… well… like Jack Black. Nick Nolte continues to be nothing more than a parody of his unkempt mug-shot from years back. This once intense actor seems destined to take on roles that allow him to keep his stringy, filthy hair and talk in nothing but simple gravelly grunts [...]

When looking at visionary director Guillermo del Toro’s film versions of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, it important to remember one key point — this ISN’T the same Hellboy universe that Mignola created being put onto film. It differs in tone, story, and execution, and that’s not a disservice to the world that Mignola has created; in fact, it’s at his insistence. You see, one stipulation to Mignola allowing the Hellboy character to be used in different mediums is that each medium stand on its own as a different version of Hellboy. That means that the comic differs from the animated movies, and the animated movies differ from the live-action films. Certain key points remain the same: Hellboy is a demon summoned to Earth to bring about its destruction, he denounces his “destiny” and works for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, and he is friends and partners at the B.P.R.D. with the fire starter Liz Sherman and the amphibious Abe Sapien.

But from that point on, the three different sets of tales shift. And so it is only with the ability to divorce oneself from the masterful comics that Mignola has crafted that one is truly able to enjoy the other versions of Hellboy being presented [...]

After Call of Duty 4 raised the bar for all first-person shooter (FPS) titles — and brought them out of the mire of WWII — I couldn’t help but be wary of the franchise heading back into the trenches for Call of Duty 5: World at War. But after watching the trailers and seeing the amazing imagery coming out of this game (who doesn’t want to fire up those wicked flame throwers?!), it’s hard not to get excited for this title! Add to that a co-op mode for the campaign (the campaign being the weak-link of CoD 4, which looks vastly better for CoD 5), and the already stellar class-based multi-player, and all of the ingredients are there.

With the pieces in place as they are, you’ll be hard pressed to find a FPS fan who isn’t…

Issue #3 of the Jay Carvajal/Marc Borstel comic books series finds our heroes facing down wave after wave of alien invaders.

Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield offer up this webcomic, available for free online now!

Writer/creator Matthias Wolf weaves an origin tale of high school student Heimen Dale in this first original graphic novel from Razor Wolf Entertainment.

Review of the Beowulf video game for Xbox 360, based on the 2007 motion-capture film from Robert Zemeckis.

The Legend of Joe Moon #1 takes the werewolf genre and instills fresh life into it by moving it into the Wild West.