- Wow, tough game for the Celtics last night. I think a lot of people expected that last night's game would be a tough one for the Celtics to win, but still, the nice cushion that Boston has gets that much smaller with each loss. At this point, tomorrow's game now becomes a true "must-win" for Boston. If the Lakers can somehow get to a Game 7, then Boston will find itself in a place it most assuredly does NOT want to be. Still, there is cause for hope on the part of Boston that Game 6 will see a championship win for the C's. The team has been near-unbeatable at home, and being in Boston has been a consistent jump-starter for the bench. Still, I feel like KG has got to step up in Game 6. We've yet to see him have a truly monster game in this series, and its time that he fully exploited his advantages over the Lakers' D and terrorized them in the paint. Tuesday is now absolutely huge, and for The Celtics, it's time to close this out.
- I will say, for about a minute there it was great to see Bill Walton back on ABC during halftime of Game 5. He became his usual slightly-annoying self pretty quickly, but he is the type of annoying that you can't help but love to hate. At least he shows some actual personality, in contrast to ABC's usual gallery of drab talking heads. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing him call some games again next season, so that we can once again hear his over-the-top hyperbole and cries of "throw it down!", "terrible pass," and of course, "get a rebound!".
- Man, it was a rough Friday following the news of Tim Russert's passing. Take a look at my previous entry for more on him, but I would like to take a moment and praise NBC News for their great coverage of the untimely death. I can't imagine going on the air and reporting on the death of your own friend and colleague, but somehow Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, Keith Olbermann and the rest did it and helped to create a number of fitting tributes to Russert.
- There was also another really sad piece of news today, another untimely death that is truly a devastating loss for anyone who loves great movies. STAN WINSTON died today, and that is just a true tragedy for the entertainment industry. Winston was, of course, one of the great pioneers in the world of special f/x - in fact he was THE man behind the magic of many of the most memorable film visuals of the last few decades. His resume speaks for itself: Aliens, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, Iron Man, and many, many more. Before the days of CGI, Stan Winston made the fantastic possible on-screen with hard work and ingenuity, and without his work the fantasy and sci-fi genre would never have gotten to where it is today. So le't take a moment and pay tribute to one of the great wizards of movie magic, a guy who made special f/x truly special.
- Overall, a good weekend was had. I have to give a shout-out to Carlos M., former NBC Page and current Ellen staffer, for throwing another one of his signature parties on Saturday. Much Rock Band was played and crazy good times had down in Pasadena. I also partook in some marathon X-Files viewing with the G-Man in preparation for the upcoming movie, with a handful of monster-of-the-week episodes that still ruled it after all these years. Yep, I'm happy to report that even in 2008, Eugene Victor Tooms is still one creepy bastard. I'm also working hard to try to do some upkeep on my apartment. It's tough because I'm in a studio and the more stuff I accumulate, the more overcrowded it becomes, and there's not a lot of storage space to move things in order to keep things feeling open and spacious. So I'm trying to do some shifting of items, reorganization, etc. It's tough because at some point, it just becomes inescapable that my relatively small apartment will become a bit cluttered, but I'm trying to delay the inevitable a bit.
- Speaking of acquiring stuff, I finally caved in, cashed in a boatload of loose change, and ordered myself a Playstation 3. With the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 and the new 80 gb bundle which includes it as a pack-in, I figured now was finally the time to make the upgrade. I realize that the PS3 is far from being the dominant console so far in this generation, as the PS1 and PS2 were back in the day. But to me it's always been about the games, and while there are a few killer apps each on XBOX 360 and Wii, the PS3 remains home to the franchises that I simply can't go without. My preference has always been towards the platform, adventure, fighting, and Japanese RPG genres, and I've never really warmed up to the first person shooter phenom. So I'm not too broken up if I miss out on the latest Halo or Gears of War. Sure, if I remain XBOX-less, I'll be a little envious that I don't get to play bigtime games like Mass Effect, Ninja Gaiden, and others. And of course, I would love to delve into Mario Galaxy, but then I look at what's on the horizon for Wii and see practically nothing much of note, with Nintendo having seemingly abandoned real gamers for the Wii Fit / Wii Sports crowd. But with the PS3, there are just too many of my favorite franchises of the last several years that are exclusive to the console. Ratchet and Clank and Metal Gear, for example. New God of War and Final Fantasy are on the horizon, as is the potentially groundbreaking Little Big Planet. There are some recent games like Uncharted that really intrigue me, and multi-platform favorites like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, GTA, Star Wars, and a few upcoming titles that I personally am psyched for, like the Bionic Commando reboot, and Brutal Legend, from Tim Schaefer's Doublefine studios. And of course there is the added benefit that the PS3 doubles as a Blu-Ray player, and one of the few that is upgradable thanks to online software updates to boot. So yep, in a few short days, if I seem to be MIA, it may just be that I'm immersed in the world of Solid Snake. Snake? Snake! Snaaaaaaaaaaaaake!
- Anyways, onto a review for this past weekend's biggest "smash" hit ...
THE INCREDIBLE HULK Review:
- Well, I was actually a fan of Ang Lee's HULK ... I thought it was a solid film that featured a great cast, thought outside the box of what a typical comic movie could be, and was suitably intense from start to finish. Was it a flawed film? Sure - it lacked a riveting climax and took itself a bit too seriously for a movie about a giant green superhero. But I enjoyed it nonetheless, and was surprised it received such a backlash following its release. That being said, Marvel and Universal's lastest Hulk reboot is an entirely different beast. It fits squarely in the new Marvel movie cannon, right alongside Iron Man. Not only does the new Hulk literally exist in the same universe as Tony Stark, SHIELD, the super-soldier serum, etc., but tonally, this Hulk feels like a Marvel comic book. I believe Marvel's Kevin Feige likened Ang Lee's version to a prestige-format one-shot, whereas this version was the in-cannon, mainstream Hulk, and I think it's an apt analogy. Because, while perhaps not as psychologically deep as the previous film, this one plain and simply delivers on what any real fanboy wants to see in a Hulk movie: a great cast, tons of high-octane action, and overall, two hours of over-the-top escapist adventure. Like I said, this is the Marvel universe on screen. The same Marvel universe invented by Lee and Kirby in the swinging 60's, that read like the acid-laced, adolescent wish-fulfilment fantasies of two Jewish kids from New York. Let's face it, that Marvel Universe is a place of crazy heroes and villains, rampant alliteration, and colorful history. And man, has it been fun seeing it in all of its goofy glory in Iron Man and now The Hulk.
That's not to say that The Hulk is all comic book cheese. The cast is excellent from top to bottom, and compares favorably to Ang Lee's similarly high-profile lineup. Really though, I can't think of a better person to play Bruce Banner than Ed Norton. In movies like FIGHT CLUB, he's shown that he can do the whole Jekyll / Hyde, super ego / id thing. As always, Norton was great in this movie, bringing an everyman quality to Banner yet making him a believable conduit for the Hulk's rage. While not as singular a performance as Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man, Norton here was totally seamless and extremely engaging as the iconic Marvel hero.
The rest of the cast really got the job done. While Jennifer Connelly was good but perhaps a bit too dour as Betty Ross in The Hulk, Liv Tyler is far spunkier here - a much more prototypical comic book girlfriend, to be sure, but she makes the most of the part. As I see it, she's there to ground the story a bit and set up some conflict between Banner and her father, General Ross. Speaking of whom, he's played by William freakin' Hurt, what do you expect? The man is a walking badass, and I liked how the character was played up in all of his comic book-ish glory, outdated mustache and all. I mean, it wouldn't be a Marvel comic if it didn't feature a grizzled supporting character with gray hair and a cigar - am I right? Tim Roth also did a really nice job as Emil Blonsky, who eventually becomes the monstrous Abomination. Roth didn't have a ton of time to flesh out his character, but with his eyes alone we pretty much knew all we needed to know about Blonsky - he was a past-his-prime soldier who, once he got a taste of super-human power, couldn't help but hunger for more.
I also have to mention how many fun cameos were in the movie. Lou Ferrigno, looking as jacked as ever, had a really fun role. Stan Lee had a really funny cameo. Robert Downey Jr. picked up right where he left off in Iron Man, and completely stole the show during his brief appearance as Tony Stark. All that was missing was Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury - on the DVD, perhaps? Overall though, there was just that real sense of fun and joy here. This isn't Batman where you want it to be dark and brooding - this is THE INCREDIBLE HULK - a concept that is at its best when its played for high drama and comic book thrills.
It was also pretty refreshing to finally see a comic book film that was NOT an origin story. I know there was some controversy over the script, with Ed Norton's pseudonym eventually denied a screenwriting credit. But I really had no problems with the finished script. To me, there was plenty of character drama mixed in with - finally - some really fun comic book dialogue. I'm not sure the movie would have benefitted from being any longer - it felt just about right, and did a great job of presenting not the Hulk's origin per se, but the story of how Bruce Banner went from simply fighting the monster inside of him to accepting it and learning to use it for good. I thought that overall character arc was really handled well, and really laid the stage for some cool Hulk stories in the future, whether they come via a sequel or in an Avengers film that has now been heavily foreshadowed.
Okay, so the plot and cast are both way above average, but what really made this movie pop was the action, which quite simply kicked some Hulk-sized ass. Look, a big part of the appeal of The Hulk is that he is the embodiment of all the anger and rage that most people have to internalize and subdue. When the Hulk hulks up, it should be catharctic, brutal, and savage - and here, it was. Louis Letterier does a fine job directing the mayhem. He ratchets up the tension that precedes the action, and then unleashes chaos in numerous, gloriously-choreographed pieces. From the Hulk's stealth attack early on, to his battle against Blonsky and General Ross' army, to his final, brutally epic battle in the streets of NYC against the Abomination, Letterier has to be commended for creating the most badass Hulk-smashing scenes of carnage ever brought to the screen. At times, the CGI was a bit cartoonish, but in the end I didn't mind. You're never going to get a Hulk that looks 100% plausible in a real-world setting, so why not create a more stylized Hulk with muscles that look like they were drawn by Dale Keown? I did think Letterier did a nice job of framing some really nice, more serene scenes as well, with a few that brought to mind the likes of King Kong, with the Hulk as misunderstood monster. Between the jungles of South America to Mexican villages to hi-tech labs, there were some really cool locations on display.
Not eveything 100% worked. The movie did have a bit of a jumpy quality to it at times, and it did tend to slow down a bit when it focused on the romance between Norton and Tyler. As I mentioned, Blonsky as a villain felt like his character arc was slightly rushed, though he did feel developed compared to Jeff Bridges in Iron Man, so overall I thought they did a nice job with him. There were also some slightly goofy scenes with Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns (there's that alliteration again - Stan Lee you're crazay!). I definitely heard a few groans during the over-the-top sequences with him, but I actually didn't mind them all that much - like I said, the movie definitely had some lighter moments to contrast the relatively dark subject matter, and to me it was in keeping with the spirit of the comics.
In the end, I came out of this movie feeling pretty pumped, and that to me is a sign of a Hulk movie done right. From its hardcore action to its stirring score, from Ed Norton's great turn as Banner to the Hulk finally getting to say "Hulk Smash!" with pitch-perfect dramatic timing, this was just a fun movie that got me more excited about the character than I've ever been. So bring on a sequel, bring on Captain America, bring on The Avengers. Marvel is officially on a roll.
My Grade: A -
- Alright, time to Hulk smash outta here, True Believers. Until next time.
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