Chuck's Movie Breakdown

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Now, before we begin, let me just say this: I am not a fan of reality television. I find it idiotic, especially with some projects like Jersey Shore and Keeping Up with the Kardashians . However, when I saw the advertisements for one being aired on Fox called Stars on Mars, I had to make an exception. Why? Because it's sci-fi themed, and I'm a big fan of sci-fi.           So, just how can I describe Stars on Mars? Well, if you were to combine Celebrity Big Brother with Star Trek, you're pretty close to figuring out the concept of Stars on Mars.  The series is set at "the Hab," which is a simulated habitat set up with living space, a room for growing crops, workout equipment, a kitchen, and of course an onboard A.I. Now, obviously, they didn't actually film on Mars, but in the desert outside of Coober Pedy in Australia. The terrain said desert was chosen to simulate the Martian terrain.  ...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and I just went to see the new movie Gran Turismo, based on the PlayStation video game franchise of the same name, directed by Neill Blomkamp, and starring Archie Madekwe, Djimon Hounsou, Orlando Bloom, and David Harbour.           So, the movie tells the real life story of Jann Mardenborough, who was an avid player of the driving simulator Gran Turismo on PlayStation, entered the Nissan GT Academy, and won an opportunity to race professionally. And, I'm not going to lie, this was quite honestly the most gripping underdog drama I've seen this year. Archie Madekwe did an excellent job with his portrayal of Jann Mardenborough. And fun fact, the real life Jann Mardenborough acted as his own driving double in this movie.          Some of the other performances I enjoyed came from David Harbour as Jack Salter and Orlando Bloom as Danny Moore. Both actors are the anchor point of the...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and I just got back from seeing Blue Beetle, the latest film from DC Films, and the penultimate film for the DC Extended Universe. The film was directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, with a screenplay written by Gareth Dunnett-Alcocer, and stars Xolo Maridueña, Adrianna Barraza, Raoul Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, George Lopez, and Becky G.         Okay, so the movie centers on Jaime Reyes, who has returned home to Palerma City after graduating from college, and his encounter with an alien scarab, which bonds with him and gives him a protective battlesuit and an arsenal of weapons. Unfortunately, the previous owner of the scarab is Victoria Kord of Kord Industries, who wants to use the scarab's code to power an arsenal of high-tech combat suits known as OMAC.          Now, what made me enjoy this movie as much as I did was the interactions between Jaime and his fam...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and nine years after finishing out the Lord of the Rings trilogy with 2003's Return of the King, Peter Jackson returned to the world of Middle-Earth with The Hobbit trilogy. Released from December 2012 through December 2014, this trilogy was one I actually DID see in the theaters, and of course I own the Extended Edition box set of the entire trilogy on Blu-ray.           However, Peter Jackson initially wasn't interested in making a live-action adaptation of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, and director Guillermo del Toro was looking to direct. Ultimately, del Toro opted out of directing in favor of making his 2013 film Pacific Rim, and Peter Jackson came in and directed the films, with del Toro being credited as a writer.          So, much like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit trilogy, which consists of the films And Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle...

         Hey guys, Chuck here. We all love the works of Stan Lee, don't we? The plethora of characters he created for Marvel Comics are still beloved to this very day. But, in the late '90s and early 2000's, Stan Lee also created a quartet of flash animation web series, with the most notable of these series being called 7th Portal .        So, in the universe of 7th Portal, the universe is made of seven dimensions, with the most dangerous of them being called Darkmoor. Ruling over Darkmoor is the evil Lord Mongorr, who is joined by his army, the Nullifiers: Vendetta, Bearhug, Whipsaw, Krog, Slyme, and Vultura. To protect the Earth, which is the last dimension Mongorr needs to conquer, a mysterious man named Izayus gives an international group of Beta Testers a game disc for a video game called The 7th Portal.  These six Beta Testers, the Data Raiders, choose their respective superhero avatars, which gonas follows: Peter Littlecloud from ...

       Hey guys, Chuck here, and it took me a while, but I finally got to see Haunted Mansion, Disney's second big screen film based on the Disney Parks attraction of the same name. This movie was directed by Justin Simien, and stars Rosario Dawson, LaKeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jared Leto, with appearances by Winona Ryder and Hasan Minhaj.         So, the movie centers on Gabbie and her son Travis, who have acquired ownership of the Gracey Mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana. Unfortunately, however, the mansion is haunted by ghosts of all sorts, and Gabbie seeks the aid of a group of experts to cleanse the mansion of all the ghosts, especially a malevolent spirit called the Hatbox Ghost.         Okay, so one of director Justin Simien's main goals with making this movie was to make a better Haunted Mansion movie than the 2003 version with Eddie Murphy. And, I will s...

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Y'know, I didn't think I would find a streaming series that could possibly top History of the World, Part II as my favorite new series of 2023. But, I think I found it. Twisted Metal, currently streaming on Peacock, is based on the PlayStation video game franchise created by Scott Campbell and David Jaffe.           In this series, America has fallen into a post-apocalyptic hellhole called the Divided States of America. There are a series of Colonies like New San Francisco and New Chicago, which are walled off and protected for the people who live within their walls. Outside of the walls of the Colonies is the Wasteland, filled with psychos, vultures, and deranged individuals who live on the roads. Hell, even the people who are trying to bring back law and order in the Wasteland are batshit insane. However, a few brave individuals called Milkmen journey the open road making deliveries to the Colonies i...