colbalt91

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8/3/2016 Topic: Suicide Squad colbalt91	This movie starts out looking good. Sort of reminds me of the Lee Marvin in "The Dirty Dozen" war movie from the sixties. Villains are recruited to do good deeds whenever they are needed. Then because there are so many characters it starts to wobble with all the complicated interactions. Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn try to be the main focus. When these two interact the movie seems to move forward solidly. When it breaks away to the other characters the movie is not so solid, as many of these characters' motivations have not been made clear. The movie travels like this until the very end. I remember reading that at the San Diego Con, a trailer for "Suicide Squad" was shown with Harley Quinn's shorts being much skimpier due to CGI than in the movie, but by looking at her shorts in this film I did not see how they could be much skimpier and not have that trailer be X-rated. There is a nice soundtrack(despite Kanye West somehow getting a song into it), and Viola Davis, as Amanda Waller, certainly aids "Suicide Squad" as a no-nonsense type of leader behind the scenes. There is an additional scene in the middle of the ending credits, so you may want to stick around. I will say this for the fans of the movie... the line of people that came out to see this preview was the longest line I have seen in over a year for a movie. Unfortunately, probably half, did not get in. This portends a blockbuster opening.
8/9/2016 Topic: Hell Or High Water colbalt91	Chris Pine's newest movie has got to be one of the dumbest movies recently made. The plot of "Hell Or High Water" is so full of holes they should be drilling for oil in it rather than back towns and the countryside that this movie takes place in. The movie has a dumb stick and constantly pummels audience members. There is no let-up and the pummeling just continues right up to the end. Anyone that attends this movie will certainly leave with lumps. Jeff Bridges and Ben Foster also help out in this ludacris excuse for a film. The basic plot is simply that two brothers rob out of the way banks to help save their family land. And to show that this movie is socially heavy, the director and writer scowl at the banks a lot through the brothers and other characters' interactions. Bad Banks. Banks are bad. Don't trust the banks. There now you have been hit over the head with the social injustice stick. Avoid a head full of lumps and do not bother seeing this movie.
8/10/2016 Topic: War Dogs starring Jonah Hill colbalt91	"War Dogs" is a very good movie. It has a sort of narrative flow that reminds me of "The Big Short" film by Adam McKay. Kind of has that same plot also...two over their head guys chasing big money. In this case the actors are Jonah Hill and Miles Teller. Jonah Hill's character is a fearless sociopath who just plows ahead no matter if it is safe or not. Miles teller's character is just along for the ride and hoping everything turns out for the best. These young men were the best of friends in junior high and had gotten separated in early adult life and are now reunited in the business of supplying weapons to anyone in the world who is willing to pay. Eventually they land their biggest client that turns out to be the Pentagon. Soon they are following their money and weapons through Middle Eastern countries to ensure their profit. Jonah Hill, looking more like an overweight Chris Farley, charges through his role and should be up for Oscar consideration. Bradley Cooper has a small part as a low-key weapons magnate who, like the young men, is interested in keeping an eye on his profits. This is a very entertaining movie and moves along swiftly with its plot. If you enjoyed "The Big Short" then you will enjoy "War Dogs."
8/12/2016 Topic: 1st Appearances VS. Cameos: The Money Books colbalt91	I noticed in our recent price change column that Justice League #40 has gone up in value due to it supposedly being the first appearance of Grail, Darkseid's daughter. Yet, I remember it coming out the Wednesday after Free Comic Book Day a couple of years ago. The significance of this being that DC had released a preview book for free comic book day that had four or five pages of upcoming books and in that book it had four or five pages of Grail being born and the book showed her. So that free book is actually her first appearance by about three or four days. I remember that free book causing havoc among the speculators at the time.
8/16/2016 Topic: Suicide Squad colbalt91	I once went to a 30 Seconds To Mars concert and afterwards the group came out to sign and I got Jared Leto's autograph on my CD and autograph book. The whole group signed in symbols rather than their own signature, so it was his symbol I got rather than his autograph. It was so long ago that Jared Leto was not as famous as he is now even though he had made some films. I just kept staring at him trying to think of where I had seen him before. Later, when I saw another one of his movies, I realized he was also an actor.
8/18/2016 Topic: Hands of Stone colbalt91	"Hands of Stone" is a boxing movie that centers on the real life of Roberto Duran, a Panamanian boxer who made it to the world stage only to embarrass himself and boxing in the ring. The pop singer Usher plays Sugar Ray Leonard, a boxer Duran has to face twice. Robert De Niro stars as Ray Arcel, a boxing manager who comes out of retirement as he is so impressed by the young Roberto Duran. Robert De Niro has one of his daughters starring somewhere in the movie, also. Any movie coming out in the latter part of the year with a major Oscar contender like De Niro is usually seen as a movie with Oscar potential. This is not that movie. Just sticking Robert De Niro in the movie does not automatically give him Oscar credibility. This is a movie that wanders. It cannot make its mind up whether to concentrate on the Mafia's influence in boxing with the Ray Arcel angle or dabble in the Panamanian / American politics of Roberto Duran's Panama that is separated by the 'colony' called The Canal Zone run by the US government. And then,of course, there is Roberto Duran's own life to meander through. Further complicating things for this review, is the fact that I lived in Panama during the sixties and early seventies. So, when the director tries to show that there is a fence separating Panama and the Canal Zone I know there wasn't a fence during that period of time. Panamanians were free to go into the Canal Zone anytime they wanted and vice versa, for Americans into Panama. And then there's a scene where a young Roberto Duran has avoided the U S military police in order to steal mangoes off of a mango tree to help feed his family. Well, I know mango trees were as plentiful as weeds in Panama and very prolific in their fruit so I did not see this scene as actually being real. The Canal Zone was separated into military bases and civilian areas so why not just walk into a civilian area and knock some mangoes down from the multitude of trees. Definitely helping out this movie is Ana De Armas. You may say who is Ana De Armas? She is in the movie "War Dogs" playing the wife of one of the two entrepreneurs. In that movie you are impressed by her smoldering eyes and in this movie you are impressed by her smoldering body as she has a very hot nude scene as the wife of Roberto Duran. I hear she is supposed to appear in the upcoming Blade Runner sequel, so, you will probably be impressed again. Overall "Hands of Stone" is an adequate movie, but not an Oscar contender in any way. edited by colbalt91 on 8/18/2016
8/21/2016 Topic: The Nice Guys colbalt91	As I mentioned to watch out for Angourie Rice... she is now in the new Spider-Man Homecoming movie, said to play Betty Brant.
8/24/2016 Topic: Suicide Squad colbalt91	Last Wednesday I went to see another movie at the Metropolitan movie theater here in Austin, Texas and I noticed that three large/huge buses pulled up to the movie theater and just stood waiting. After a while the University of Texas Longhorns football team came out wearing civilian clothes and filled up the buses. The coach was also there and some regular people got his autograph and posed with him for pictures. After the team had left someone went inside and asked why they were there and someone inside said that had come to see "Suicide Squad" in order to see how a group of people could pull themselves together as a team. During the last two years this Longhorn football team has had some dismal seasons, so I guess, the coaches we're hoping to have this team have a good year by watching "Suicide Squad." Anyway, as an after effect of this, it is just possible the University of Texas football team helped "Suicide Squad" maintain its ranking as the number one movie for the third consecutive week. edited by colbalt91 on 8/24/2016 edited by colbalt91 on 8/24/2016
8/24/2016 Topic: Don't breathe colbalt91	At first I had some trepidation about seeing this movie because it had received a bunch of praise at some obscure film festivals, and normally no film ever lives up to word of mouth or the critics' glowing reviews. That is because I feel that the audience roots for the small guy or underdog and 'overlikes' a film. That is not the case for the movie "Don't Breathe." This film lives up to everything that has been heard or whispered. In fact, upon seeing this film I do not think there are enoug accolades that can be said about " Don't Breathe." The one bad thing about trying to write a review for this type of film is that someone will yell spoiler. I will then simply say that the basic plot of this movie is that some bad people meet an even badder person. One of the main characters is played by Jane Levy, who has blonde hair in this film. I later recognized her as the young teenage high school girl from the television series "Suburgatory." She had a head of red hair then. I sort of half liked the series as I felt she seemed too mature to play a young high-school girl. At the same time I felt that Jeremy Sisto, who played her father, seemed too young to play his role. I had remembered him from his younger days in some horror movies that he never made it halfway through before meeting a horrendous end. Everyone has heard that cliche about being 'on the edge of your seat.' Well, for this movie that is exactly the phrase that is best to describe what will happen to an audience member throughout the entire film. There is no letdown. You will be on the edge of your seat. I, myself, had thought I had become too jaded from seeing so many movies, but "Don't Breathe" proved me wrong. "Don't Breathe" is a movie that I cannot recommend enough. Definitely go out and see this film. You will not be disappointed. edited by colbalt91 on 8/24/2016
9/1/2016 Topic: Jenny Frison Spider Gwen t-shirt colbalt91	I saw that they are releasing a Spider Gwen T-shirt with Jenny Frison' s version from the variant cover on it. This could cause the variant comic book of Spider Gwen to start moving. I have always thought that variant cover was the most beautiful of the covers done.
9/4/2016 Topic: Don't breathe colbalt91	I see that "Don't Breathe" is going to come in for the second week in a row at number one at the box office.
9/22/2016 Topic: The Magnificent Seven colbalt91	Here is the original 'Suicide Squad' movie. This is a remake of the 1960 movie by the same name starring Yul Brynner. In this movie Denzel Washington has the Yul Brynner part. And, of course, preceding both of these movies was the original Japanese movie 'The Seven Samurai' from 1954. This western is not as good as the 1960 version. It has a sort of rushed feel in certain parts as if the producers or director was worried that the audience would be bored if it went on too long. And yet the movie is only 93 minutes long which by today's standards is somewhat short. An example of this rushed feeling is that at the start of the film the camera tries to laconically pan a rustic Western scene and yet at the same time the camera seems to be impatient and leaves the scene behind rather quickly. The movie spends more time with a sexy actress named Haley Bennett, who plays the character of Emma Cullen, then it should. It has been a long time since I saw the original, but I do not remember a female running loose in the film. Perhaps the director fell in love. Since the film is not as long as it should be, some of the necessary camaraderie is not exploited successfully. For one brief moment Chris Pratt's character seems like it might try to hook up with Haley Bennett's, but then that is all there is. At times I thought some of the talking was garbled. That does not help the movie either. And then, the main hero vs villain matchup does not feel right. The villain is shown for a brief time at the very beginning and then virtually disappears until almost the very end of the picture. Not helping the picture, is the stupid way the villain meets his end. Despite all this, the movie does seem to fulfill the necessary action quotient and will not leave people with a bad taste in their mouth. It has been a long time since a real western movie has come along so many people will be satisfied with this version of 'The Magnificent Seven.' edited by colbalt91 on 10/6/2016 edited by colbalt91 on 10/6/2016 edited by colbalt91 on 10/6/2016
10/6/2016 Topic: The Girl On The Train colbalt91	Emily Blunt plays the girl in "The Girl On The Train." Her character of Rachel is an alcoholic who has nothing better to do then take a train to New York everyday and wander around in order to pretend to her sister that she still has a job. In the course of this occupation she has time to notice houses in a neighborhood that she used to live in with her now ex-husband, as the train passes. She sometimes fantasizes about the people and their relationships and in one particular relationship... what might have been her life if things had worked out for the better. So, she is totally distraught when she sees this particular relationship seemingly on the rocks and the desides to personally investigate. Yes, indeed, she has nothing better to do then butt into other people's lives. But since she is barging into other people's lives in the same neighborhood she used to live she gets caught up in her old life, too. There is a possible killing and so the game is afoot. Rachel stumbles about drunkenly causing upheavals in many people's lives while at the same time accidentally investigating a possible murder. Women are sure to like this movie as it deals with relationships. And there is even a baby. The tone of the movie is kept in a very sullen mood. Most of this is due to Rachel's alcoholic condition. For the guys there is Haley Bennett. She is the actress that in my opinion single-handedly almost destroyed "The Magnificent Seven" as that director seemed more interested in her then the western itself. In this film she is once again playing sexy... very sexy. She has some very sexy... almost nude scenes. Somehow her arms and the camera interfere with total nudity except for one scene where you see her from behind. There are a few logic problems in this film, but overall it is the mood that keeps the film going. It is a sad mood, which is more likely to appeal to women than guys. Just think Debbie Downer playing the role of Miss Marples in a murder mystery. And like I said earlier, for the guys, there is the sexy Haley Bennett. edited by colbalt91 on 10/6/2016
10/10/2016 Topic: Doctor Strange 15 Minute Exclusive Trailer colbalt91	Tonight I saw and IMAX 3D exclusive look lasting 15 minutes of the upcoming Doctor Strange movie. It starts out with Benedict Cumberbatch standing around and talking about the Doctor Strange movie in civilian clothes. And then it starts going to preview events in the movie. It seems like in this version the early Doctor Strange has a somewhat flippant sarcastic wit. This was unlike the early comic book Dr. Strange. It appears like the same sort of origin as he is a hot shot brain surgeon very full full of himself who crashes in a car and damages his hands among other body parts. The CGI scenes were fantastic. This all bodes well for the upcoming Doctor Strange movie.
10/17/2016 Topic: ATX Auctions- starts tomorrow on October 18th colbalt91	www.atxauctions.com has a huge comic-book lot available starting on October 18th. This is a local comic shop that is going out of business and it says they have 1500 long boxes in their inventory. Plus other stuff. Just letting you know in case anybody is interested. There is even a phone number 512-568-6925.
11/3/2016 Topic: Doctor Strange colbalt91	Disney/Marvel has another winner with Benedict Cumberbatch's "Doctor Strange" movie. This movie stays pretty close to the original comic. Of course, the Ancient One is now a woman played by Tilda Swinton. The original arrogance of Stephen Strange is still intact at the beginning of the movie as it was in his comic book origin. Somehow he still makes it to Tibet to find the ancient one and Mordo is also there as an advanced student of the Mystic Arts. A slight departure is the romantic interest of a fellow doctor named Christine Palmer. This Christine Palmer is causing the comic book Night Nurse to go up in value as speculators can only hope that she will make more appearances in other Marvel/Disney ventures. With the PC world we live in she could no longer be just a nurse and is now a doctor. This also happened with Jane Foster in the Thor movies This movie is alive with CGI and viewers will be very satisfied with all the dimensions and portals that Doctor Strange passes through to vanquish the villains. Some of the CGI that causes buildings to bend and twist will remind some of the movie "Inception." Apparently the powers-that-be are not worried anymore about getting their dollars worth repaid to them in a Marvel superhero movie's box office return. If I have one gripe it is that the villain is not a very worthy opponent for Doctor Strange to fight. It is obvious by the movie's end that the main villain from the Doctor Strange's comic is being saved for a future movie. And there is mention of an infinity stone which would tie this movie into the regular Marvel Universe. There were mentions of the superhero Marvel Universe before this though. As for the usual, Stan Lee makes an appearance which supposedly will be his last in a Marvel movie. When the ending credits flow there is a pause in the middle and some future revelations are made and then at the very end of the credits another revelation for the future of Doctor Strange is made.
11/4/2016 Topic: Problems being redirected colbalt91	It just happened to me twice while I was trying to answer. I have had something similar to this and other web sites, but never twice in a row.
11/22/2016 Topic: Bad Santa 2 colbalt91	Well the holidays are here and out come the usual holiday pictures. "Bad Santa 2" has joined this year's deluge. I was not that much of a fan of the first one though I did find this one more interesting. I said more interesting not necessarily more funny. Billy Bob Thornton is back as Willie Soke and so is his midget sidekick Marcus. Raunchy is the name of the game as it was in the first movie. However there is no female nudity as one would expect to find in a really raunchy movie that means to offend. So, in other words this movie is trying not not to that offensive to the female audience. And since raunchy is what this movie is known for then it has an obvious failing. And the two main actresses in this movie are a little bit chunky anyway. Chubby chasers will rejoice. It has an interesting plot, but does not delve into too much detail as the movie progresses. Everything seems to be skimmed over as the movie races to its end. It seems like this movie was meant to be longer but was cut back as it is not really that funny. Kathy Bates is in "Bad Santa 2" as Willie's mother who turns out to be one of the worst mothers ever and also a career criminal who needs Willie to help her hit a big haul and head down to Mexico. So, now the movie overindulges in bad mother issues that show how bad Santa came to be. Also, in this somewhat interesting movie is the character of Thurman Merman, that weird kid from the first movie. He seems to be a sort of Pillsbury Doughboy type character that just walks through different parts of the movie being an antithesis of everything that is going on elsewhere. He stands out and when his character sings in a choir it is very beautiful. Thurman Merman is a ray of sunshine in the very dismal world that Willie he lives in. As I said at the beginning of this review, this is not that funny of a movie but I did find it very interesting and though some people may say it seems long I wish there would have been more time spent elaborating on all the events that had been put into the plot. edited by colbalt91 on 11/22/2016 edited by colbalt91 on 11/22/2016
11/29/2016 Topic: Which grading company to use? colbalt91	What happened after CGC changed their case. You did not mention that, just that you do not like it.
1/3/2017 Topic: Jenny Frison Spider Gwen t-shirt colbalt91	I just saw in today's section of Film on Bleeding Cool that Spider Gwen is expected to show up in a future animated cartoon series along with Miles Morales. This is all as a follow-up to my 'You Can't Stop Spider Gwen Theory.'