Do Yourself A Favor: Global Warming, Monsters, and Friends

I think it is important for everyone to have strong convictions about what they believe in, and, in turn, be able to back those opinions up with either some good hard facts or editorial pieces. The whole reason YDKS is even here is because of the way Wesley and I felt about cinema and the people who ruin it. So in an effort to make you smarter and just to ramble off some of my important and well sought after opinions, I have decided to start a column where I endorse things important to me. This will include DVD's I think you should buy, videos or movies I think you should watch, and other important things I think you should be aware of.



Global Warming or How I Learned to Stop Watching Documentaries and Love to Read

Today I will be talking about Winter's arch nemesis, Global Warming. Now I have never been an advocate of Global Warming. I did some research as to why I felt it never existed, and was reassured and annoyingly conceited when I found out that my beliefs had actual scientific merit.

Al Gore's fear inducing documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has taken the world by storm since its release in 2006. And while this isn't the first time the world has heard about Global Warming and its supposedly inevitable effects, Al Gore was the guy who won the Nobel Peace Prize for duping the world into believing something that hasn't even been proven. The Academy even jumped on board leading to the most pretentious and politically influenced Oscars Ceremony in recent memory.

Well it turns out that only a short 2 years later, during a span of which two Global Warming Summits were snowed out in Washington D.C. (God has the greatest sense of humor), 2008 has become a record breaking year for snow, cold temps, and other winter related things.

Do yourself a favor and read 2008 was the Year Man-Made Global Warming Was Disproved written by Christopher Booker of the Telegraph.



It is a Good Thing The Monster Squad is Undeservedly Priced

Amazon has the most amazing DVD deals. And if you are a collector and don't visit Amazon's Gold Box on a daily basis, not only are you an idiot, but you are not doing yourself any favors.

It is no secret that we love The Monster Squad here on YDKS. Me and Wesley are probably its biggest fans, and while I can't quite speak for Austin at the moment as to whether he is down with the Squad, I am pretty sure it is in our bylaws that you can't write for YDKS without loving the film.

Anyway, I reserved my copy of The Monster Squad DVD approximately 6 months (if that was possible) through Amazon when it was first released. I am positive I paid around 20 bucks for it. But, that is not the reason I am upset at its now low-low price of $4.99. I am angry that this beautiful movie, and its well thought out and long-awaited DVD are now being reduced to the $5 bin at your local Wal-Mart. What a shame.

Do yourself a favor and buy The Monster Squad for $4.99 on Amazon.



I Can Count the Number of True Friends on one Hand, but I have to Use My Toes to Include My Internet Friends!

If you are a frequent reader, you may have noticed that YDKS is part of The LAMB (The Large Association of Movie Blogs). And, through this association, we here at YDKS have made many friends in the online community. But my favorite of which has to be T.S. of Screen Savour.

T.S. is not only a great writer, but he has great taste in movies. His reviews and analysis of classic cinema are poignant and are must reads for anyone looking to grow deeper in knowledge of such great figures as Charlie Chaplain, Alfred Hitchcock, Charles Shultz, and even Bob Dylan.

Do yourself a favor and visit Screen Savour, read everything offered, and mind your manners by leaving some comments.

9 (The Movie)

Ah well here we go, my first real post:

A few days ago the trailer was released for 9. I had never heard of it before but the trailer quite interested me so I looked a bit more into it. The movie is being produced by Tim Burton and is based off an award winning animated short film by the same name.

Basically 9 is an animated movie that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, and the main characters are a bunch of rag-doll creatures built by humans. The numbered rag-dolls, with the movie mainly following #9, are trying to survive and I guess save the world. Of course, they also got some evil mechanical creatures along the way that try to stop them. You always got to have those around.

Basically, not all too much about the actual plot is shown yet besides the basic fact that there’s a lot of action involved. But the pure visuals alone are why I’m so interested in it. There's a very unique style about the movie and it looks great. It has a very grim and dirty style that you usually don't see in computer animated movies. It's a very nice turn from the norm and I hope it lives up to its expectations.



Here's the original short film as well, just so you can see where this film is coming from:



Source: Kotaku

Blockbuster Endorses Human Stupidity

I have a degree in business. To which you deservedly ask, "But Jason, in today's new world order where the United States is no longer the major world power, and cannot even keep their hegemony in their own sphere of influence anymore due to the boldness of defiant, unchecked dictatorships and the current economic downturn spewing forth numbers not seen since the depression, why on earth would you major in business?" To which I reply, "Because it allows me to awesomely analyze the current state of Blockbuster."

There is a little known myth in business that has been wrongly believed by higher-ups and strongly adopted by customers since retail sprung forth from the primordial soup of the manufacturing age: "The customer is always right." This is not true for an abundance of reasons. Customers are in fact stupid, and they have a nasty habit of making their demands unreasonable. They are also very quick to both speech and anger. The reality is that the customer needs to be told what to buy, and they don't need to have any type of decision in the matter. Henry Ford, the Father of Mass Production, in reference to the Model T was famously quoted as saying, "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black."

So where does this put Blockbuster, and their numerous contributions to fueling myths and, subsequently, consumer stupidity? At the forefront of course!

First, Blockbuster loves cheap labor. They want to get by with paying some high school or college kid hopped-up on celebrity sized cans of filth minimum wage. There are now countless, mindless drones behind the counter recommending Spider-Man 3, Transformers, and Heaven forbid, Indiana Jones and the Curse of George Lucas Saga Additions to the masses.

Second, many of the Blockbuster franchises are coddling their customers. With the new "You Asked For It, We Got It" feature in many stores, customers can now share all their bad tastes with others on a designated wall designed just for them. In many Blockbusters, these walls double in size every time I see them!

And Lastly, Blockbuster promotes from within. Now, while this is not necessarily a bad thing in the business world, it is an awful strategy for a business whose model is already very flawed. College kids grow up, gain access to more useless celeb knowledge, watch even more crappy straight-to-dvd releases and then become assistant mangers and managers of Blockbuster stores around the country.

The bottom line is this: Blockbuster stores are full of people, both behind the counter and not, who know nothing about movies. All those people then talk about their lack of knowledge to others, and we now have millions of people, who shouldn't even be allowed to reproduce, talking about the great art of film making. Sure, you can make the argument that it is ultimately Hollywood's fault for their recent stream of unending diarrhea they produce (20th Century Fox), but the war has to start somewhere. And the first battles need to start at the front lines inside our local video rental stores.

*A New Writer Has Appeared*

Hello to the readers of YDKS. You guys may very well know me as the official artist of YDKS and one of the YDKS Revolution leaders (power to the people!). Well, yes, indeed you knew all that info already or you should have if you consider yourself a YDKS fan. So right now you are asking “so what?” and “what’s with the post?”. Well, all shall be revealed very soon, so silent your uproar my brethren and listen.

I have heard and answered Wesley’s call to arms for dedicated writers. So you see before yourself the newest writer of the site. In the past, YDKS has had writers or guest writers show up then quickly die away but I will not be one of those. I hope instead to break the “two post” curse (see previous writer Caleb and guest writer Zack for further details) and live on throughout YDKS history as it rises up to fame and reforms the movie society in the way it needs to be. I plan to update as much as I can to keep the site living on and hopefully all you guys will enjoy my posts.

This is a taste of what's to come.

Now a bit of info about myself for you guys who don’t know me or don’t know much about me. I’m indeed a fan of good movies. I’m not nearly as crazy in-depth into movies as Wesley but I’m still very involved. And movies are not all that I’m into. I control the domains of Sci-fi Channel originals, the Discovery Channel and History Channel, comic books, and zombie survival (are you prepared?). As well as all of those things, I’m heavily into video games. I was born and raised on gaming to the point that it naturally influences all things in my life so you can expect some game-related movie posts in the future. I’m also heavily into the Japanese culture and love all their crazy movies…as well as anime. Yes that’s right, I like anime, good anime mind you. There is indeed a difference. I’ll keep from putting too much animated movie-related stuff up here though since I know some people (Wesley) despise it. Despite all that stuff, I’m into anything relatively crazy or odd enough to strike my fancy. Also, I hold unrivaled hatred for certain people, groups, etc, and I will go off on rants at times when such things come up, so I hope that comes off as funny or entertaining or whatever to all you readers. I am here to please my movie brethren after all.

Well now that you all know a good bit about me, probably too much as it is now, I guess I can continue on with being a writer and fulfill my duties of being such. Also, I have invented my own system of rating that I’ll reveal to you guys later. Whether or not I actually explain my system of rating to you guys is still up in the air but, then again, it’s so much more enjoyable when you figure something out for yourself.

Well now that I’ve filled up enough room on your browser, I’ll be off to writing some actual movie related stuff, cause you guys need to be informed for You Don’t Know Sh*t about movies.

Watchmen Might Actually Be Delayed

I post a lot about Watchmen. I'm sorry about that. It is a movie based on my favorite piece of literature so I guess I cannot help it. So if there is any news about Watchmen, you can pretty much guarantee I'm gonna post about it.

Last week, I posted about 20th Century Fox gaining the rights to distribute Watchmen instead of Warner Bros., something that could delay the release of the film if a settlement was not reached or if Warner Bros. decided to go for an appeal.

Well, today Warner Bros. issued this statement:

"We respectfully but vigorously disagree with the court’s ruling and are exploring all of our appellate options. We continue to believe that Fox’s claims have no merit and that we will ultimately prevail, whether at trial or in the Court of Appeals."

I've read a lot of different sites covering this mess and everyone seems to have a different opinion on what's happening or what is going to happen. Some seem to think that both sides are just talking tough right now to force the other side to settle. If this was the case, a settlement could possibly be reached and Watchmen could still come out on March 6, 2009. However, many others really think that this is going to drag out into a trial and that the release date will actually have to be changed (something that is going to cost both sides more money).

I'm sick of trying to figure it all out and who is exactly to blame. It's all Hollywood B.S. sparked by greed and people thinking they are above the law. I hate Fox right now more than anyone but, let's face it, Warner Bros. broke the law. They made Watchmen without even legally owning the rights to it. How does that even happen? Fox sucks a lot for sitting on the rights for so long and then taking forever to take any legal action (maybe before filming started would have been nice) but, the fact remains, they probably should have the rights. That doesn't make me like them as a studio in any way but, as far as the law goes, it does appear that Warner Bros. is in the wrong.

The fact is this- this situation should not even exist. It's ridiculous that it even actually happened and both studios are to blame in some way. The real losers in all of this are the people that really want to see this movie. I don't care if they changed the ending. I don't even care if it sucks (it probably won't). I just want to see the damn thing. That's all. I wanna go the theater on March 6 at midnight, pay $8.50, sit in the center row with all my friends, get pumped up and watch a film adaptation of one of the greatest works of literature ever created.

Is that so wrong?

I should be able to do that. Who knows, maybe I still will be able to. I sure hope I can. But I may not be able to. I may not get to see the movie for years. Maybe I'll never get to see it (though this is insanely doubtful). Who knows?

The whole thing is just frustrating and stupid.

Source: Filmdrunk

Speech of the Week #23

Hey guys, welcome to a column here on YDKS Movies entitled Speech of the Week! For now on, every Monday I will post a new scene from a movie that features a speech of some sort being given. After all, there are a lot of famous scenes in film where characters give an influential speech of some sort. Then again, there are also a lot of scenes where characters give a speech and it just comes off cheesy and lame. In this section, you will see both kinds. That's right, people, I'm giving you the good and bad of film speeches all wrapped up in one great big package. I hope you all enjoy.

This is my favorite speech that I've ever put on here. I actually wanted this to be one of the first speeches I did but, for some strange reason, I couldn't find it online anywhere. Well, I finally found a version so here it is.

To me, this is the scariest part of Jaws. In this scene, Quint, Brody and Hooper get drunk on the open ocean one night. After awhile, things get real when Quint (the brilliant Robert Shaw) recounts his experiences on the U.S.S. Indianapolis, which was sunk and the survivors had to fend for themselves in shark infested waters. His descriptions of this event are pretty vivid and more terrifying than any shark attack in the movie. Robert Shaw had a lot to do with the writing of this speech and he deserves a lot of credit. As far as I know, it's my favorite speech in any film I've seen.

Watch it below.

This Pretty Much Sums Up The Spirit

It's been a few days since I've seen The Spirit and I still have an awful aftertaste in mouth. It's very rare that I see a movie so bad that it haunts me for days afterwards but The Spirit has managed to do that. So, I guess I have to give Frank Miller credit for that. His movie was so awful that I just can't get it and its insanity out of my brain.

Anyways, I've been reading multiple reviews of The Spirit in my time of healing to learn of others' similar experiences of watching this piece of crap. In a way, this movie has become an uniting experience. Everyone who has suffered from it seems to have gone through the same thoughts, confusion and despair. 

As I was searching for people who went through some of the same things I did as I watched this "movie," I found this video review on YouTube that pretty much sums up the entire thing for me. So if you don't want to take the time to read my passionate review on why this movie is terrible, I guess you could just watch this video. It definitely gives you a feel of how retarded this thing was. The only thing I don't like about the video is that the kid in it refers to Marley and Me as one of the good holiday films out. Granted, this movie is probably a lot better than The Spirit but that doesn't make it good. Everything else in the video is pretty spot on. The comment about the toy dinosaur kills me. What the hell was that about?

One thing's for sure... after this seeing this "movie," I'll never view eggs the same again. I even had some for dinner last night (breakfast dinner). They just didn't taste the same.

Damn you, Miller. What have you done to eggs? What have you done?

I Really Like Twin Peaks

I have a really short post for today. As I stated in the article "Wesley's Christmas Wish-List," I have been wanting to watch David Lynch's television show Twin Peaks for some time now. Well, I received the Definitive Gold Box Set of the Entire Series for Christmas and today I got up bright and early to watch it.

Well, I got up at 9:30 and I have basically been watching the show all day today. It has been pretty addictive. It's basically what I hoped it would be and a little bit more. I love how warm and fuzzy the show (and its setting) can be, masking all the crazy, dark stuff that is hiding behind everything. 

Obviously, I'm not that far into the show (I'm about to finish up Disc 2) but so far I really like what I'm seeing. It definitely reminds me a lot of Blue Velvet, which is one of my favorite David Lynch movies. It definitely has a similar tone with all the warm, fuzziness masking seriously messed up stuff. Plus, it has a scene with a midget talking backwards (with his words played in reverse) and dancing awkwardly. Yeah, it's pretty obvious that David Lynch was behind all of this.

If you're not familiar with the show (or David Lynch for that matter), I've included a clip at the top of this article that showcases the importance of coffee on the show. It's pretty funny and you should check it out.

A Review of The Spirit

Holy crap.

I've made a few posts about how The Spirit was going to be really bad. However, no bad review could have prepared me for what I saw a few hours ago.

The first thing I said upon leaving my screening of The Spirit was, "I feel like I just saw Frank Miller have a mental breakdown on film."

This was not exaggeration. No words can capture how truly awful, insane, and nonsensical this movie is. It's not even really a movie when you think about it. The tone is nonexistent. The acting is emotionless, stiff, stale, and just plain terrible. There is no plot. The humor is some of the most painful stuff I've ever had to sit through. 

Upon leaving, my friend Caleb said that he felt disillusioned. I kind of feel the same. I don't know if The Spirit was the worst film I've ever seen (Manos, Hands of Fate kind of takes that crown) but it was definitely up there (or down there depending on how you look at it). It was definitely one of the least entertaining films I've seen. I was hoping it was going to be in the "so bad it's good" section of bad cinema. Well, it wasn't it. It was just so bad that it was terribly uncomfortable. Our screening was filled up. I felt bad for everyone else in the theater. Everyone was silent for the whole thing. The scenes where Miller attempted humor were so hard to watch, especially since no one ever laughed or even made a chuckle. I tried to laugh at just how bad the film was but even I couldn't do that.

I honestly feel shell shocked. What the hell did I just watch?

I don't even know if I can write a review for this thing. It really doesn't have a structure. It's just all over the place. It's the least enjoyable thing I've seen in ages. It is the definition of self-indulgent filmmaking. How did this even get made? I feel like someone had to be there thinking, "Hey, this doesn't make any sense." Someone had to know. Someone had to know that none of this was working. Still, it all got finished. Lots of money was spent. It shows: the visuals are pretty amazing. I'll give the movie that: Bill Pope's (a talented man who should have had nothing to do with this crap) cinematography was wonderful. All the graphic novel-like visual effects looked pretty great. But everything else was so awful it just didn't matter.

Everyone was bad in this movie. Everyone knows that Sam Jackson has just become a caricature of himself in recent years but he's even worse in this. Scarlett Johansson (one of my dream girls) is so painfully awful and awkward. Eva Mendes is bad. Everyone is so bad. 

However, Louis Lombardi takes the cake for the worst actor in the movie. I've seen Lombardi before as a small role in the Second Season of The Sopranos and he really wasn't that bad. Under Miller's direction, however, Lombardi fails in every way. Lombardi plays a bunch clones that The Octopus (Sam Jackson) has created. Most of these clones are brainless and are annoying in a way that I think was supposed to be funny but instead is just painfully awkward. 

Did I mention that this movie has a scene where Jackson creates a Lombardi clone that is a foot with Lombardi's head attached to the top that hops around while Jackson comments on how "damn weird" it is a thousand times? How many drugs was Miller doing while writing / making this movie?

The humor in this movie is terrible. What was with the Octopus's fixation with eggs? He keeps talking about having egg on his face and how he hates brown eggs from a certain chicken (a piece of dialogue so bizarre that Caleb started to laugh at its insane nature... I think we were all starting to lose our minds by this point). Once again, I think this was all supposed to be funny but I truly cannot tell you why.

Miller's script is simply atrocious. The dialogue is flat, doesn't make sense, and is without any emotion. His attempt at hard-boiled noir dialogue is ludicrous and overdone. Miller pulled off this kind of dialogue perfectly in all the Sin City books but he just went way too far here to the point of self-parody. His characterizations were terrible. His attempt at writing and directing a scene that was supposed to be emotional failed so bad that it had me putting my head in my hands. 

If you haven't figured it out yet, this movie was terrible. Will Eisner must be rolling in his grave.

I have a lot of respect for Frank Miller for what he did in the realm of comics and graphic novels in the 1980's and 1990's but he should never, never be allowed to write and direct a movie by himself again. He obviously has no idea what he is doing. None once so ever. This was inexcusable and unforgivable. Much like Sam Jackson, I feel like Miller became a parody of himself with this movie. All of his usual elements were there: the black and white style, the hard boiled dialogue, the fixation with beautiful, irresistible women but it was all taken to a point that it was just damn ridiculous and unenjoyable to experience. I feel like he injected something into each scene to make it uncomfortable and awkward. There wasn't one scene in this movie that didn't feel really off. I just don't know what he was thinking. And I don't know what Lionsgate was thinking letting him go through with this. Someone had to know how this was gonna turn out. All they had to do was read the script. 

I know this review has been loose and all over the place but, considering what I just watched, it is all justifiable. Personally, I feel like I have spent way too much of my time on this "movie" already. 

Please, someone keep Frank Miller far away from a film camera for the rest of his life.

1/10

Updates on the Site and Random Thoughts

I've had quite the day today. I woke up this morning at 7 am and threw up snot from my chest. Yes, that is disgusting but let me tell you this: I'm not exaggerating. I literally threw up a lot of snot and fluid for about five minutes. I did not know it was possible for the human body to store up so much nastiness. Well, it can. It was quite the wake up call. 

I've been sick for a week now and, instead of getting better, I've only gotten a lot worse. It started as a sore throat and has become congestion, stopped up ears, and a God awful cough (in other words, a full-blown sinus infection). In this time period, I have not been able to get one decent night of sleep. I feel like a zombie. 

Anyways, because I'm stupid, I forced myself to get up at 7 this morning so I could get to Best Buy when it opened with my brother to get Blu-ray versions of The Dark Knight, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Speed Racer. While I was there, I also ended up getting The Nightmare Before Christmas as well. 

Once I got home, I immediately realized that I did in fact need to go to a doctor. I really hate going to the doctor's office. Personally, I have a belief that you get even more sick by sitting in the waiting room for hours with people who probably have worse illnesses than you do. Today's doctor run was the worst one I've ever had. It took 4 hours to see the doctor. Four freaking hours. That's B.S. Never go to MEA people. Never. I knew it was going to be bad but I had to do it. I was going to go to my grandparent's doctor but the office was closed till Monday. So I bit the bullet thinking that it couldn't be that bad. I got there at 9. I left at 1:10. Bullsh*t. I should have known what I was in for when, after waiting for 2 and a half hours, I got my name called only to go into the back to wait in another, much smaller waiting room for another hour. I almost left 3 times. It was maddening. And you know how long it took for the doctor to look at me? 3 minutes. I timed it. It was ridiculous. Once she brought up the prospect of getting a shot, I cut her off, quickly stating, "Stick it in me." Never have I been so urgent to have a needle injected into my flesh. 

Anyways, I got my shot and a bunch of pills. One of them is for helping me sleep. God, I hope it works. I cannot tell you how bad I need it to. 

The rest of the day wasn't so bad. I watched The Dark Knight on Blu-ray with my grandfather and my brother. I've seen the movie five times now and I'm still shocked how it has an emotional impact on me every time I see it. It's amazing like that. My friend Rebecca Goysich once put the movie down on her favorite movies list on Facebook months before it actually came out. I have to say that she was wise doing that. I felt like this would be one of my favorite movies just from watching the trailers and I have to say that the final product still surpasses any ridiculous anticipations I had for it. This film will probably end up at the top of my favorite films of 2008 list. Speaking of that, here's some updates and more random thoughts to finish this rant / article up:

-My Top Films of 2008 List

My first post on YDKS Movies was my favorite films of 2007. So, naturally, I will be doing a top film list of 2008. However, I am waiting until after January 16th to do so. Why? Because that's when Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler cames out where I live. Yes, it's being released in Mississippi in 2009 but it's a 2008 film. I feel like it will be one of those movies that is high up on My Top Film List (heck, it might even take The Dark Knight's spot... pretty hard thing to do though). Last year, I did the list without seeing films like There Will Be Blood and I have always regretted that. So, to remedy that, I'm going to wait a little longer this year. 

-My First Impressions of Blu-ray

I've had a Blu-ray player for one day now. Wanna know what I think? It is absolutely amazing.

Last night, I watched the DVD version of The Incredible Hulk and the quality was so good that I could have sworn it was a Blu-ray disc. Well, that was until I saw what the quality of a Blu-ray disc looked like. This morning, right before going to the doctor, I put in the Dark Knight.

Holy crap. When the first IMAX shot of Gotham City hit my TV screen, filling all 40 inches of it up, I was blown away. The image was so pristine and clear. It was so sharp and vivid. It looked beautiful. Granted, the non-IMAX sequences in the film do not look nearly as good but they still look great. I do have to admit that it does become distracting as the aspect ratio constantly shifts from being in the 1:78:1  full screen, IMAX mood to the regular 2:40:1 letter boxed mood. Still, it isn't too bad. The IMAX stuff really does look beautiful. I didn't really notice the difference on the theater screen (I saw it in a regular projection) but it really stands out in this Blu-ray disc. I'm now completely for Chris Nolan shooting an entire movie in IMAX. Go for it you brilliant, brilliant man. 

I also tried out the Blu-rays for Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Speed Racer. They all looked great as well, with Hellboy II really standing out due to its beautiful visuals. 

So, yeah, so far, I'm completely in support of Blu-ray. We'll see how that changes in the future (in other words, if my player suddenly stops working like all the other players in my house).

Also, I've only had a Blu-ray player for a day but I've already spent a 100 bucks on buying Blu-rays for it. I kinda hate myself for it but I blame Amazon.com. They're having a sell on Blu-ray discs right now, some of which are 50% off. How could I say no to that? All I can say is I cannot wait to see Blade Runner in HD. It's gonna be amazing.

- I am looking for new writers

I could really use some help around here. Jason still posts every now and then but he hasn't in some time. Zach, our guest writer, only did a whopping two posts. It's incredibly hard to update this place everyday, especially when I'm hard at work at school. Heck, even posting during breaks can be difficult. Still, I've managed to do a decent job but it's getting harder. Although I'm not taking many classes this upcoming semester, I'm going to making my new movie so most of my free time will go into that. Also, I'm going to be busy chasing women.

So, if you know me in person (yes, that's the catch; I'm trying to keep YDKS Movies a very close-knit / personal thing between writers) and have a good taste in movies, please contact me. I think a female writer would be a nice addition. It could definitely spice things up around here. 

Still, if you don't know me and wanna convince me that you're good enough anyways, email me at wescald715@gmail.com. I'll hear you out. 

- I want a new site design / layout

Anyone who knows anything about website design or editing html please contact me. I like the way our site looks but I would really like a change of some sort. It is just getting old. I want something that really makes us stand out from the rest of the sites that work off of Blogger. Once again, my email is wescald715@gmail.com. If you know me in person (*cough* Guy ; Amy ; Stephen *cough*), just tell me you'll edit my site. That would be a nice thing for a wonderful friend to do. Especially since I have a Blu-ray player that you can watch movies on now.

- Give me comments

If you read the site and don't give comments (which is a lot of people according to our larger than usual numbers as of late) please leave a comment of some sort to say what you thought of the article. It doesn't have to be long. It would just make me feel better. I put a lot of time into this place and don't get much feedback. So be a good site reader and make me feel like I'm doing something useful with my time.

- A much delayed review of Punisher: War Zone is coming

Yes, I actually saw Punisher: War Zone. And yes, I will review it. Why did I see it? Well, you'll just have to read the review (whenever it is that that comes out). I just haven't had the time or been in the mood lately to write it. But I will review it for all of you wonderful people. I promise. So, yes, it's coming

Well, that's about it. Thank you for all reading these updates / rants / random thoughts. I hope that it has all be insight and maybe even a little interesting. 

And remember, never go to MEA. It's not even a real doctor's office. Four hours...

Fox Gets the Rights to Watchmen

You remember that lawsuit between Fox and Warner Bros. over the rights to Watchmen that could possibly delay the release of the film? Well...

In a surprise ruling, a federal judge in Los Angeles said he intended to grant 20th Century Fox’s claim that it owns a copyright interest in the “Watchmen,” a movie shot by Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures and set for release in March.

The decision was disclosed in a five-page written order issued on Wednesday. Gary A. Feess, a judge in the United States District Court for Central California, said he would provide a more detailed order soon.

At an earlier hearing, the judge said he believed that issues in the case could be settled only at a trial, which was scheduled for late January. On Wednesday, however, Judge Feess said he had reconsidered and concluded that Fox should prevail on crucial issues.

“Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the ‘Watchmen’ motion picture,” the ruling said.

In ruling on Wednesday, Judge Feess advised both Fox and Warner to look toward a settlement or an appeal.

“The parties may wish to turn their efforts from preparing for trial to negotiating a resolution of this dispute or positioning the case for review,” he said.

So what does this mean? Well...

If no agreement is reached in two weeks time, the film could be delayed from it's March 6th release date to a possible summer date.

If Warner Bros. tries to go for an appeal, the film could be held up in legal battles for years and could possibly be denied a release until 2011.

Fox could simply not release the film.

I try not to cuss on here but... f*ck.

Sources: New York Times, /Film

Merry Christmas from YDKS Movies

Me and my new baby boy around 7 this morning.

Hey everyone and Merry Christmas. I hope that you all are having a great day.

I had a little surprise this morning. For some reason my parents went out and bought me a Blu-ray player and a new 40 inch HDTV for Christmas despite that I never asked for either. Sure, I had joked about them getting me one and I had talked about the possibility of me purchasing one with my own money but I never asked for it. Still, they got me one. I don't get it. They're weird like that. Then, they act like I forced them to get it and talk about how we're going to lose our house, times are tough, etc. I hate spending money and definitely hate it when people go out and spend a lot of money on me (because I don't think it's necessary) so I never ask for anything expensive. Still, they randomly go and do things like this.

I guess it's because they're f-ing awesome and kind of insane. I need to remember to do stuff like this for my kids. 

Today has been kind of intense though. We've had to move out the old front room TV, the old DVD player and the old surround sound system. In the process, I've seen more dust than I've ever seen in my life. Considering that I'm OCD, I've basically lost my mind. Plus, I've been sick since last Saturday so I've been coughing up a lung as all the dust has been building up in the front room. However, everything is all set up now and, although we don't have any Blu-rays yet (trading in my new Dark Knight and Hellboy II: The Golden Army DVDs for Blu-ray versions tomorrow), regular DVDs look pretty awesome on the player. 

I'm just praying the thing doesn't break. You have to understand, I have terrible luck with technology.

Anyways, hope you all have a great day and that you got some cool new toys. 

I Have No Interest in Valkyrie

Honestly, I didn't think I would say that I had no interest in this movie. When I first read the plot synopsis, I was quite intrigued. I am a fan of all of director Bryan Singer's movies up until this point and I was looking forward to seeing what he could do with this material. I wasn't crazy about the casting of Tom Cruise (was anyone?) but I thought I could let it slide. However, as we get closer and closer to the movie coming out in just two days, I really gotta say- I'd rather see the terribly-reviewed train wreck that is The Spirit.

What was it that killed my anticipation for this film? Was it the months of bad buzz leading up to its release? Was it the controversy sparked by Germany's initial refusal to let filming occur in their country because of their disapproval of Tom Cruise and his Scientology faith? Was it the fact that Tom Cruise is playing a German with an English accent? 

I'm not sure. Maybe it was a little of all of those things. But honestly, the moment I stopped caring was when I saw the final trailer of the film (you can watch it above) in the theater a few weeks ago. It's not a bad trailer per say and the movie looks decent but it also doesn't look that great either. It just looks kind of generic. That and the fact that they used the music from the end of the first Saw movie just makes the whole thing just seem kind of off. For some reason, it just feels like a generic thriller. I've seen a couple of TV spots using the same forum and music and they make it look even more generic.

In the end, Valkyrie probably isn't that bad of a movie. Right now, it has pretty mixed reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and is sitting at 58% (though it has been in the 60-70% range for the past few days). So, as far as I know, it's not supposed to be that bad. It has some really talented people involved behind and in front of the camera. However, I just can't get into it right now. It just kind of looks generic and overall, I just think I'm really sick of Tom Cruise. Ever since he kind of came out as a crazy Scientologist a few years ago, I just haven't been able to enjoy him in anything. It's sad but it's true. Oh well.

In the end, I'll probably just wait to check this thing out on DVD.

Wesley's Christmas Wish-List

With Christmas right around the corner, I thought it might be nice to share some of the things that I've asked for or that I wouldn't mind getting. Since most of these desired gifts are movies, I figured this was YDKS Movies related. Just think of this as a list of things that an obsessive movie nerd like myself desires. Enjoy.

Things that I've asked for:

1. The Dark Knight- Two-Disc Special Edition DVD

The Dark Knight was and still is my favorite movie that I've seen this year. It would be a no brainer that this would be at the top of my Christmas list. I can think of no better way to spend the night of Christmas than sitting down and watching this great piece of filmmaking one more time (after all, this will be my fifth time to see the movie). I really look forward to getting this one.

2. Mystery Science Theater 3000- 20th Anniversary Limited Edition Box Set

Mystery Science Theater 3000 was one of my favorite television shows growing up. My brother and me would watch it every week it came on. So, when I heard that there was going to be a Limited Edition 20th Aniversary Box Set released with five specially selected episodes, I knew that I had to ask for this for Christmas. This is easily one of my most anticipated gifts that I have asked for. I cannot wait to get it.

3. Absolute Watchmen

Watchmen is not only my favorite graphic novel of all-time: it's my favorite piece of literature period. I have been in a Watchmen mood ever since I saw the first trailer for the movie attached to The Dark Knight this summer. Since then, I've re-read the book again, talked all of my friends (and English teachers) into reading it and made it the focus for my Comics class that I took this past semester. So, when I saw that Amazon.com dropped the price on the Absolute edition of Watchmen from $75 to $50 on Black Friday, I knew that I just had to request this for a Christmas gift. 

For those who don't know what an Absolute edition is, it is basically an oversized edition of a popular DC Comics graphic novel that often features pages of bonus material, re-done artwork, a hard cover book and a hard cover slip case. So Absolute Watchmen is basically just the IMAX version of the original trade-back edition of Watchmen.

4. Twin Peaks- Definitive Gold Box Set Edition (The Complete Series)

I have to admit- I've never seen one episode of Twin Peaks. However, I am a big fan of pretty much everything that David Lynch has done (except Easerhead). My friend Caleb and I have been wanting to get this set for a year now but have always never made the plunge to do so due to its extremely high list price ($100). However, when Caleb saw this go down to $49.99 on Amazon on Black Friday, he sent me a text message telling me to buy the thing. In the end, I didn't buy it. I did the more logical thing- I asked for it for Christmas. I just hope it's worth the wait (and price). However, something in the back of my mind tells me it will be.

5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army- 3-Disc Special Edition

I was really surprised at how much I really enjoyed Hellboy II: The Golden Army. It had a lot of movie magic in it, something that I haven't felt in a film in quite some time. Unfortunately, some of my friends didn't feel the same way (Blossom and Jason included). Still, I look forward to re-watching this one and adding it to my ever expanding DVD collection. Anything that Guillermo Del Toro does deserves to go in there as far as I'm concerned.

6. The Incredible Hulk- 3-Disc Special Edition

I realize that The Incredible Hulk was not one of the best movies ever made but I still found it incredibly (pun?) enjoyable and entertaining. It was basically everything that I could ever want from a Hulk movie. Plus, last night a couple of my friends and I re-watched the ending from the original Hulk movie on the Sci-Fi channel. It was pretty bad and I'm one of the people that actually defended that movie when it first came out. So one thing's for sure- this re-invention / sequel is a thousand times better than Ang Lee's Hulk.

Things I didn't ask for but wouldn't mind getting:

1. Absolute Kingdom Come

If you haven't noticed, I'm on an Absolute graphic novel fix right now. I just finished reading Absolute Batman: Hush and Absolute DC: The New Frontier over the past few days and I have to admit: I love the Absolute edition lay-out. The oversized artwork really makes a difference to the reading experience. It just makes everything so much more vivid and engaging. So, if there was one Absolute book that I could get for Christmas (other than Watchmen) it would have to be Absolute Kingdom Come. I've heard the story is amazing and the artwork by Alex Ross is simply beautiful. To see it in full Absolute size would be wonderful.

2. Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween

Yes, another Absolute. What makes this one so special? Well, I have read a lot of Batman graphic novels. And, although I really love Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, I would have to go with Batman: The Long Halloween as my favorite Batman graphic novel. The story is pretty amazing and I really like Tim Sale's artwork. To have it all together in an Absolute Edition would make Christmas even more awesome.

3. Adventures in Babysitting DVD

I caught this movie on TNT the other night and ended up staying up to 3 in the morning to finish it. I hadn't seen it since I was a little kid. It's absolutely ridiculous but it's also a lot of fun. I mostly want it just for the nostalgic value.

Well, that's the end of my Christmas Wish-list. I hope you have enjoyed reading it. Feel free to post your own wish list in the comments section. What do you all want for Christmas?

Impressive Fan-Made Thundercats Trailer

I've seen this posted on a few different movie websites today so I figured it'd be good enough to post here. I'm honestly not even a fan of Thundercats (I just didn't grow up watching it) but even I found this fan-made trailer for a Thundercats movie very impressive. It was made by WormyTV (a San Francisco-based graphic artist) over the span of a year and a half using Adobe Premiere. The trailer was made using clips from other films, adding in multiple effects frame-by-frame in photoshop. It features stars such as Brad Pitt (via footage taken from Troy), Vin Diesel and Hugh Jackman. 

The thing is- this actually looks like it could work. I would go to see this movie. Watch this and then watch the trailer for Dragonball: Evolution (yeah, it now has evolution in the title... not a good sign of quality). Which one would you rather see? Of course, the trailer doesn't take itself too seriously. The inclusion of Snarf was hilarious in an almost intentionally cheesy kind of way. Still, I would see this any day over films like Dragonball: Evolution, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and even the upcoming G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra (no, I haven't even seen footage of this but the still pictures and Stephen Sommer's involvement is good enough to make me want to steer clear).

Watch the fan-made trailer below.

Speech of the Week #22

Hey guys, welcome to a column here on YDKS Movies entitled Speech of the Week! For now on, every Monday I will post a new scene from a movie that features a speech of some sort being given. After all, there are a lot of famous scenes in film where characters give an influential speech of some sort. Then again, there are also a lot of scenes where characters give a speech and it just comes off cheesy and lame. In this section, you will see both kinds. That's right, people, I'm giving you the good and bad of film speeches all wrapped up in one great big package. I hope you all enjoy.

The picture at the top of this article may be a little deceiving once you realize that this speech comes from the last half of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 2. In this scene, Bill gives a speech on the mythology of Superman and how Clark Kent is actually his costume, not his Superman persona. He uses this mythology to parallel the identity crisis that the Bride has and how, in the end, she really is just a killer. It's a pretty good speech that is well acted by David Carradine and well written by Tarantino. The reason I decided to pick it for this week is because I have been reading a crap load of graphic novels since getting out of school and have superheroes on the brain. 

Enjoy.

M.A.N.T.I.S. Finally Coming to DVD

I know that I'm probably the only one who remembers this show but I couldn't help not posting an article about it. Honestly, I had forgotten about this show for years. Then, about a year ago, my brother Austin went, "Do you remember that show with the black, crippled guy who was a superhero?" At first, I was incredibly confused. However, after a few minutes, it all came back to me. Yes, I did remember this show. The strange part about the whole thing was not only could I not find anything on the Internet about it but that Sam Raimi, the director of The Evil Dead series and Spider-man, was one of the show's creators (he was a producer on the pilot episode). 

Here's a synopsis of the show:

Dr. Miles Hawkins was a wealthy, mild-mannered doctor who was shot in the spine by a criminal. Paralyzed from the waist down, he uses his company's resources to invent a powered exoskeleton that not only enables him to walk but gives him superhuman abilities. He utilizes a vast array of technology, including a large underwater lab and a hovercraft called the Crysalid to fly around the city. With his newfound power, he vows to fight crime and assumes the hidden identity of the vigilante "M.A.N.T.I.S." (Mechanically Automated NeuroTransmitter Interactive System).

At the time, the show was unique not only for having a black superhero but confronting racism head on (he was crippled by a racist cop who used illegal ammunition during the post-Rodney King verdict LA riots). Unfortunately, the show only lasted for one season and had drastic changes done to it in its last half due to poor ratings. Honestly, I don't even really know if this show is any good because it's been so long since I've seen an episode but I cannot wait to re-watch it all come January 29 when it is released on DVD. I can remember watching this thing every week it would come on as a kid. I'm going to buy it for pure nostalgic value. Did anyone else watch this show? I cannot find anyone who is familiar with it other than my brother and me. Please leave a comment if you remember it.

I tried to find a clip of the show but all I could find was footage of the opening title sequence. Enjoy.

The Spirit is Going to Suck

Earlier this summer, I posted an article about news coming from the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con and one of the biggest stories was how awful the panel for Frank Miller's The Spirit was. The footage shown looked really bad and the tone was all over the place. Mostly, it was supposed to be unintentionally and painfully funny. Still, deep down, I hoped that all of this was just a fluke and that Miller still had a decent movie waiting for us come this Christmas. After all, the teaser trailer for the movie was pretty awesome.

Well, early reviews have been hitting the web and they are all bad. Really bad. Like bad to the point that this is being compared to Battlefield Earth. 

AICN says: “I’ve seen something that has taken the top prize from “Battlefield Earth.” … “Okay, Mr. Miller. Let’s get it on.” … “Seriously, it’s not. You clearly don’t have any idea what you’re doing. Someone, ANYONE, over at Lionsgate should have known this. F*ck, it’s their JOB to know this. But they didn’t.” … “Folks, this movie is that bad. I heartily recommend it if you have a strong stomach and an even stronger sense of Bad-Movie-Love. Otherwise, steer clear.”

Variety says: “Frank Miller’s solo writing-directing debut plunges into a watery grave early on and spends roughly the next 100 minutes gasping for air. Pushing well past the point of self-parody” … “There’s a lot going on here, but none of it sticks — not the shopworn plotting nor the arch, stilted dialogue. The actors often seem to be delivering their lines in ironic quote marks, suggesting a straight-faced sendup of noir and comicbook conventions that, whatever the intended effect, falls mostly flat.”

The Hollywood Reporter says: “Truly a mess. Fans of Sin City and 300 will populate theaters for the film’s opening, but box office will fall quickly. The film’s campiness might then pull in a different sort of aficionados — those who celebrate films such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show for their silly acting and overripe dialogue.”

Unique Geek says: “The Spirit starts off crazy when we expect serious, then tries to pull it back in, then goes for weird juvenile sight gags then tries to be tough, and we’re disoriented. Theres also a pathlogical fascination with a prop photocopy of Mendes’ rump. If you took a shot every time the camera cuts to it, you would be wasted by the third act, and maybe “wasted” is the right word to end with here. There’s a lot of work and opportunity that went by the wayside here, a lot of talented people and some great source material that never quite gels. The parts that look good, look good, but maybe next time, they’ll hire a fox to put it all together.”


So yeah, this movie is supposed to be God awful. This is a shame, it really is. Deep down, I really wanted it all to work out for Miller. However, I cannot say this is a total surprise. Everything that Miller has been working on as of late has definitely been lacking in his usual quality. I think 9/11 really messed the guy up. He was in New York working on Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again (the long awaited sequel to his groundbreaking Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) when the attacks occurred. The incident made him drastically change the last half of this series into an incredibly angry and pessimistic revenge fantasy. I have not read this book but I've heard its pretty terrible, mostly due to the drastic change at the end in which heroes basically start to kill people. 

Most recently, Miller wrote the story for DC's All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder. Although the book has been praised for Jim Lee's gorgeous artwork, Miller's story and take on Batman has been ripped apart by critics and fans. I've read this book and I definitely had problems with most of it, though I must admit that I began to warm up to it towards the end (that scene with Batman, Robin and the Green Lantern at the very end was classic). Still, Miller presents Batman as a Dirty Harry-like character who has complete disregard to the health of anyone around him, enjoys breaking the limbs and causing physical pain to criminals and who, in one scene, leaves Robin in the Batcave with nothing to eat except for rats. The portrayal is just too extreme and sadistic. He basically just turned Batman into an angry a-hole. However, the biggest controversy to come out of this series was the line you can see in the picture above: "I'm the Goddamn Batman!" Most people tend to summarize this series with that one line. Why? Because it's something you'd never hear Batman say... well, ever. Still, Miller has him say this more than once throughout the series. 

I was really hoping Miller would be able to regain his footing with The Spirit. It doesn't look like that is going to happen. It's really sad- Miller has created some incredible works in the comics industry. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was one of the most brilliant pieces of comic writing that I've ever seen. Miller's Sin City series basically got me into graphic novels and comics period. The man is a legend and he deserves to be. But I have to admit, he is slipping.

Today, it was announced that Miller is going to be making a remake of Buck Rogers. If The Spirit is as bad as they say, I cannot see this project being any better. Still, I'll see The Spirit myself and tell you all what I think.

Sources: /Film, Filmdrunk