I didn't win passes to Bridesmaids this week... but I did get to see Priest 3D! YAY! Besides, I will gladly pay to see Bridesmaids, I hear it's awesome. And it stars my wife...
Well, this is better than that. Some decent action. No real character development. You see one of the twists a mile away and it "ends" ready for the sequel. In fact, at 87 minutes, they probably had time to wrap up the sequel in this run time.
Can we talk for a minute about how unscary fake CGI monsters are in general? I Am Legend. The book is great and creepy. The movie: a big turd. The Thor snow monster? Crap (but is killed in a cool fashion). Sightless, eyeless vampire monsters that just kind of "ROAR" at you constantly. I'm not shaking in my boots, that's for sure.
The 3D conversion was okay. Even with dark scenes, everything was visible (enough). Still, if you have the option, I'd say go 2D. And if you really have the option, go see Bridesmaids instead of this. It was written by Kristin Wiig and produced by Judd Apatow and rated R.
Did you enjoy it?
Eh.
Would you see it in theaters again?
No.
Would you buy it?
No.
Would you rent it?
No.
Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Nah. Well, maybe.
Last night was interesting. Let's start with the most interesting. After losing our last volleyball game of the regular season (scheduled at a dreary 10:20pm start time) Mrs. Nugget and I exited the Drucker Center to find about 15 cops arresting someone in the parking lot. I heard someone say "Do we have the victim?" as we passed. Everything seemed to be under control, so we headed out to the North/Clybourn stop. When we get to the south platform stairwell, we see a jacket and backpack on the ground. As our train arrives we see the police arrive to pick up the items and search the platform. Word on the street (J.Miller reporting) is that it was an armed robbery.
A View to a Kill
Now we travel back in time to 7:30pm the same night. We're watching Dexter season 2 on Netflix instant (the TV won't play the netflix app, so we're forced to use the non-HD version on the Wii). With about 5 minutes left in the episode we lose power. At first I assume we blew a fuse. That seems pretty crazy for a big complex like our building to lose power, but hey it might happen. Then we hear the fire trucks. We go out to the porch to discover the whole building is dark. I go into our hallway and it is pitch black (no windows in the hall). There is periodic black smoke coming out of the loading dock, which also happens to be where the stairwell exits.
We hang out on the porch to watch neighbors gather on the 3rd floor patio. It seemed like all of the residents who had dogs were the ones trying to flee, everyone else was just hanging out and watching the action. The firemen were walking, not running, usually a good sign things are fine.
It is funny how quickly you realize what you can't do without power.
1. Use the elevator (a few people got stuck, that would be the worst)
2. Use most of our security doors that open with a FOB (all propped open with fire extinguishers)
3. The lobby doors (motion sensor activated, no door handles, also propped open with fire extinguishers)
We got out through the stairs (thank you flashlight app) and walked past the firemen as they left. Of course we assumed the power would be back on by the time we got home at 11:30, but that turned out to not be the case. Some lights had been restored in the common area (hallways) but the stairs were still dimly lit with the emergency lights at each level flickering like in a horror movie (that's real!).
Power was restored at 3:30am. I know because I was made aware by how bright my alarm clock is (apparently) and the TV coming back on (weird). With everything else on, we're back to normal, right? Nope. When leaving for work this morning, the elevators buttons don't light up. So it's down the nine flights of stairs once more. I'm gonna have sick calves in time for swimsuit season.
Marvel Comics have done a great job of getting their "second tier" comics to the big screen. Who really knew who Iron Man was prior to 2008? It was all part of their plan. Get good actors and good directors to bring their characters to the big screen. This year they have two movies that help blaze the trail for The Avengers next summer.
Looking at their stable of cartoons, Thor always seemed the most risky. They made Iron Man rooted in reality, similar to Batman. In the case of Thor, he's a Norse God. So, it's hard to make that based in reality. But that's kind of the point. It's a cartoon character. And that's how they play it. The best comparison would be to Superman Pt II (the one where he loses his power). And you know what, it's pretty good.
The biggest issues I have with the film have little to do with the content itself. One, as usual, the 3D aspect is garbage. The first action scenes take place at night and you can't see anything that is happening. If you plan on seeing this film, skip the 3D version. The second issue is the way it is shot. Dutch angles constantly. I understand wanting to do something different, but I don't think having the camera askew all the time is the best way to accomplish that. It's super annoying.
What I was most afraid of was Thor's wig. It looked pretty terrible in the trailers, but it looks pretty good in the film. They also did a great job in casting. There are good actors filling in all the roles large and small. It's the little things like that they get right. They also find a better balance of having S.H.I.E.L.D. involved without overtaking the plot (which is what happened to Iron Man 2). Apparently Thor mythology has something called a rainbow road that could have looked super stupid, but is dealt with well.
P.S. Don't forget to stay through the credits to see the scene where they tie this film to Captain America and the Avengers.
Did you enjoy it?
Surprisingly, yes.
Would you see it in theaters again?
Yes. The screening was in 3D and I would like to see it in 2D.
