Saturday, January 30, 2016

My Top Ten Movies Of 2015

Well, it’s that time again where people fumble through the list of movies that have come out in the previous year and cobble together a top ten list of their favorite movies from said year. Like so many others, I am no different and have slapped together my own top ten list. As per usual, this is not a definitive list as I may see another movie from the la!st year that I may enjoy more than what I already have on here. For example, I haven’t seen The Martian as of yet, and I hear that could be a contender for a top ten list. With that point made, on to the list.

10) The Avengers: Age of Ultron
            I almost feel like I’m doing this movie a bit of a disservice by putting it at only number 10. The Avengers: Age of Ultron was pretty much everything that a super hero movie should be. Good action, good story, good heroes, an interesting villain.  As far as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is concerned, we have new characters, deeper character development from and between the characters we already know and love, and further advancement towards the next phase.

9) Terminator: Genisys
            The Terminator franchise is one that has pretty much been written off ever since T2 in the eyes of many fans, and this movie pretty much does the same, pulling the same trick as the Star Trek reboot did years ago by kinda sorta rebooting the whole damn thing while still keeping it all there in continuity if you want it to be. It is a risky move but since the series deals with so much time travel anyways they were able to get away with it and in my opinion, though I seem to be one of the few who sees it this way, they pulled it off. Sure Jai Courtney leaves a lot to be desired, he makes Kyle Reese seem like a bit of a moron who has no idea about anything and his acting is often times best described as ‘blah’, I did enjoy this movie quite a bit (which is why it’s on this list) and I really hope they don’t pull a Salvation here and do yet another franchise reboot after this one because it didn’t get the response they desired. Instead, I hope they stay the course and keep going on as planned.

8) Spectre
            Aside from Quantum of Solace, the Bond franchise has been knocking it out of the park since Daniel Craig took on the role of the famous British super spy and Spectre is no different. Spectre continues exploring Bond’s origins, this time bringing in his most formidable foe, Blofield played by Christoph Waltz. While it may not have hit the heights of Skyfall, for me it was still a great entry into this everlasting series that leaves me wanting more.

7) Star Wars: The Force Awakens
            Yes, sure The Force Awakens was very similar to a New Hope in terms of plot and pacing and all that stuff but you know what? That movie is one of, if not THE most popular of all time so why not copy your own success when trying to bring this franchise back for a new trilogy? Its not like everything was the same by any means… the new characters were pretty much all great and fit in wonderfully with the heroes from the originals. Also, you know what? It was Star Wars and it was good, what more can you ask for after those prequels?

6) Chappie
            The first movie I saw this year that I really enjoyed stayed the test of the year and remained one of my favorite movies of 2015. Ne il Blomkamp proved that he wasn’t a one hit wonder with this movie. District 9 was amazing but Elysium left me wanting so much more - which is what Chappie delivered for me. It was a great sci-fi/action movie and one that should not be forgotten when people think of the best movies of 2015.

5) Creed
            Fun fact, my favorite movie franchise of all time is Rocky. That being said, I was happy with the series and its ending with Rocky Balboa. I was happy to never return to the world of Rocky Balboa and willing to leave it where it ended in that movie. When I heard that there would be a spinoff series I was at first skeptical, but that lasted for all of five minutes as the thought of seeing the further adventures of Rocky, even if he wasn’t going to be the main focal point anymore, was enough to give me wet dreams. More Rocky is always a good thing. Who wouldn’t want another incredible motivational Rocky speech or Rocky montage? I thought this movie did an excellent job handing off the baton from Sylvester Stallone to Michael B. Jordan, Rocky Balboa to Adonis Johnson (or “Creed” if you will). The performances were great, with Stallone delivering his A game and Jordan showing that (despite the misstep that was the new Fantastic Four) that he is an incredible actor who deserves some real recognition.

4) The Revenant
            I wasn’t really expecting much out of this movie before seeing it, I pretty much watched it just because Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy starred in it and boy did they make me thankful of that decision. The first thing that I have to mention in this movie is the cinematography, now usually cinematography is just something that I don’t really notice in movies but this one MADE you take notice of it, it is beautiful. In fact, it might have been the most beautiful movie of the year if not for the number one movie on this list (that’s a hint in case you haven’t already figured it out.) The acting is great too with DiCaprio kicking all the ass (unless you’re a bear) in a role that often times left him not talking at all.  I don’t want to say it’s a safe bet because you never know, but I’m betting this is the year that DiCaprio finally meets that ever elusive Oscar that he has been after.

3) Inside Out
            Pixar is a great studio that must have one of the best track records of any studio out there. The last couple of outings have been great, but I find there has been something missing since movies like WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3. Inside Out, however, brings that back in full force. What is it that I’m talking about? Well, I’m talking emotion, which is quite fitting given the movie. This movie brought on all of the emotions - mostly the two that are most featured in the movie – Joy, and Sadness. Watching this movie, I felt the joy and laughed happily. but I also felt the sadness and cried. A Pixar movie hasn’t made me cry since Toy Story 3. Well done, Pixar!

2) The Hateful Eight
            For some reason I have been hearing a lot of dislike for this movie, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why. It has a solid cast, an intriguing story, great character development, beautiful visuals despite taking place almost entirely in one tight confined place and of course an incredible script (but that should go without saying, given that it is a Quinton Tarantino movie, after all). The Hateful Eight surpassed all of my expectations and shot up on my list of favorite Tarantino movies near the top, which is quite the achievement with his filmography. So people dislike this movie? I don’t get it. But then again, those who dislike it will in turn also not get why I enjoyed it so much.

1) Mad Max: Fury Road

            We all know that Mad Max: Fury Road is completely amazing and it seems to be a pre-requisite that any top ten movies list for 2015 needs to have Mad Max: Fury Road not only on it. but near the top, if not at the top. Well, as you can see, you can add me to the list of people who will put a pillow on the floor so that I don’t get rug burn on my knees since I love this movie so much. What else can I say that hasn’t been said about this movie by everyone else a hundred times over? Well, nothing, so I won’t. Simply put, I love Mad Max: Fury Road, it was my most anticipated movie coming into 2015 and it exceeded every expectation I had for it. What more can I ask for? I love this movie, if you are one of the few people who have yet to see it, then you should go do so immediately. 


Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Bond-Tastic!! Has Returned

Hello everyone and welcome back to the long dormant (My count is just under THREE years since the last update, not counting the “Bond-Tastic will return” teaser from last week.) Bond-Tastic!! I guess this all begs the question “Why?” As in why no updates or why even bring it back in the first place since its been gone for so long? Well let’s get to those answers.

So why no updates? I guess its easy to just say sometime along the lines of “Life got in the way.” Which I guess is partially true but its not just that, you can also blame changes of interest, not really having enough to say about any certain thing, and yeah after it being left alone for so long a feeling that I should just leave it be. Mostly though I was also going through a bad time in my life when the last thing I wanted to do was worry about updating a blog and what to update it with and since Bond-Tastic!! Was never supposed to be about me putting my personal life out there for all to see the updates stopped.

As for why bring it back? Well that’s simpler, because I wanted to. Because I do have things to say again (More on that later.) Because it feels about right. Because it is a great outlet to say stuff and its great to get my mind off the more pressing matters in life if for only a short time allowing some relaxation time. Bonus, it helps with my typing speed which is always great for someone who supposedly has a career in Records and Information Management.

So what’s going to happen with Bond-Tastic!!? Well there will be more of the same as well as some new stuff altogether. If you look through the archives you may notice that there is quite a bit missing. Namely ever movie review I posted on here has been removed except for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory just because I love that one. The reason for this is because I post movie reviews on Letterboxed, so if you want to check those out you can just click here. Now that is not to say I will never talk about movies on here, I very much well, in fact you can look forward to my top ten movies of 2015 on here before to long. What else will we be seeing? Well the wrestling content will continue but once again I doubt there will be any reviews of any shows themselves save for maybe a WrstleMania or something like that. Comic books topics will naturally still be discussed. More so I will talk about the product and how I feel about it with a list or two thrown in for good measure. There will be other stuff I have never tackled before as well such as music, as of right now I plan to do a list of my top ten personal favorite voices in music or top ten favorite Funko Pop figures among other things. No worries though there will likely never be anything to serious on here this is a place to have fun.

I know this all sound positive and that there will be a ton of new content coming and yes, there will be plenty of new content, in time. That is to say it will be on my time. Sometimes there may be a couple updates a week other times there may be nothing for a short period of time. What I’m saying is it will be update but it will be sporadic so don’t expect that every single time you come here there will be new updates as that likely wont be the case.


Well that’s about it for now, Bond-Tastic!! Is officially back in business and very much looking forward to bringing you some new content. Now lets get out there and spread the word that its back and most importantly, lets have some fun.