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Showing posts from January, 2023

Breakdown - James Gunn's DC Studios Reveal

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and isn't it a great time to be a fan of DC? No, seriously, I mean it. Over the past decade, the DC properties have been, well, hit or miss. A lot of this is due to a lack of direction, a lack of proper planning, and too much studio overhead from Warner Bros. executives clashing with the vision of directors like Zack Snyder and David Ayer.          Well, all of that is in the past, and Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav has promised a bright future for DC. Unfortunately, this did come at the cost of two announced films, Wonder Twins and Batgirl . However, the genius of Zaslav came with just WHO he decided would oversee DC Studios, a newly formed entertainment division at Warner Bros Discovery with one singular focus: DC movies and television. And leading DC Studios would be none other than Peter Safran and James Gunn. Yes, the same James Gunn who in 2021 released the movie The Suicide Squad, and is also noted for the Guardians of the Galaxy franchi

Review - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're just days away from the start of Disney Renaissance Month, which in turn is part of a much larger celebration of one hundred years of Disney. So, for the last review before we get to the Disney Renaissance, let's take a look at 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  Based on the mystery novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolf, this movie was produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Robert Zemeckis, and features a cast that includes Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd.          So, we actually open with the production of Something's Cookin',  which is a new cartoon starring Baby Herman and Roger Rabbit. Unfortunately, Roger fails at his lines after getting nailed on the head by a refrigerator, where instead of seeing stars as in the script, he sees birds instead, infuriating the directions, Raoul. The production of Something's Cookin' is observed by private detective Eddie Valiant, who used to work with his brother

Review - Tron (1982)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and after talking about anime yesterday, it's nice to get back to talking about Disney. For today's review, we'll be taking a look at a sci-fi movie that Disney released back in 1982, and is one of my favorite movies in the cyberpunk genre. I am, of course, talking about Tron, directed by Steven Lisberger and starring Jeff Bridges, Cindy Morgan, Bruce Boxleitner, Dan Shor, Barnard Hughes, and David Warner.           So, the world of Tron is divided up into two worlds: the User World, which is the real world, and the Game Grid or simply The Grid, which is a digital landscape within cyberspace that is inhabited by programs. And in the world of the Grid, video games are massive gladiatorial death matches in which the loser faces de-resolution. Each program is given an identity disc, which is programmed with base information and programming information about the program it belongs to. Losing a disc or failing to follow commands results in de-resolu

Review - Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night (2021)

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and I back again talking about the anime franchise Sword Art Online . This time, however, we're going to be taking a look at the 2021 movie Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night , which is actually the first Sword Art Online title I ever actually watched, and of course I saw it in a movie theater.         Now, unlike the anime series which is told from the perspective of Kazuto Kirigaya/Kirito, Aria of a Starless Night instead puts center focus on Asuna Yuuki. Yep, this movie explains how Asuna got into the world of Sword Art Online in the first place. It turns out that Asuna was, in fact, an avid gamer, and often played various video games along with her close friend at school Misumi Tosawa, who much like Kirito is a former BETA tester. Anyway, Misumi convinces Asuna to give SAO a try, and she does so after picking up a copy of the game, as well as a NerveGear rig. Upon launching the game, she bases her avatar on her real life appear

Review - Sword Art Online (2012)

       Hey guys, Chuck here, and with a new movie in the long running anime franchise Sword Art Online  hitting theaters in February, I decided to take a look at, at the very least, the entire first season of the anime series Sword Art Online,  which aired originally in Japan in 2012, but aired in the United States in 2013.         So, in the world of Sword Art Online,  virtual reality gaming has advanced to a new stage: Full Dive VR gaming. To this end, a company called ARGUS, based in Japan, has developed the NerveGear, which transmits signals into the brain to allow for full immersion into a VR environment. Specifically, the video game built to be played on the NerveGear: Sword Art Online. On November 6th, 10,000 players log in to the game for the first time, some of whom are former BETA testers. One such a former BETA tester is Kazuto Kirigaya, who takes on the Avatar handle Kirito, which is what we'll call him throughout the review. In the virtual world of SAO, which is set in

Review - Mary Poppins (1964)

       Hey guys, Chuck here, and yeah. In a year celebrating one hundred years of Disney, there was no way I was leaving this one off of my list. Widely considered as a genuine Disney classic, Mary Poppins is based on the literary character of the same name created by P.L. Travers, and stars Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Ed Wynn, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber, and far too many others to name off.         So, the movie is set in London in the year 1910, where apparently Jane and Michael Banks, children of George and Winifred Banks, have disappeared during an outing in the park. The Banks family nanny, Katie Nanna, has grown fed up with the children disappearing on her watch, and has decided to resign from her position, much to the dismay of Mrs. Banks. Upon the return of Mr. Banks from his job at Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, he attempts to call the police, when Constable Jones of the police department arrives with Jane and Michael, who only wandered away from

Retrospective - John Wick (2014-2019)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. In anticipation of the new movie John Wick Chapter 4 , hitting theaters this March, I've decided to put together this retrospective of the first three films of the John Wick franchise starring Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane.        So, the first John Wick was released in 2014, and along with Reeves and McShane also starred Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Lance Reddick, Adrianne Palicki, Toby Leonard Moore, Bridget Moynihan, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe. The movie focuses on ex-hitman John Wick, whose wife had just passed away from a terminal illness. On the night of her funeral, John receives a delivery of a letter from his dead wife, Helen, and a puppy, Daisy. John spends the entire next day bonding with the pup while driving around in his vintage 1969 Mustang. The car, unfortunately, draws the eye of a group of Russian mobsters looking to buy the car, which John refuses. That night, however, they break into his home, beat him up, kill his dog, and st