Movie Review: MIB III *slight spoilers*

Alright. Men in Black III. It has been a ridiculously long time since Men in Black II came out - 10 years, actually. And it's probably been 10 years since I've seen the 2nd one, and possibly even longer since I've seen the first one. I probably should have watched both of them again before seeing the new one, but as it is, I really have no comparisons between the movies because I can't even remember what happened in the first two. I do recall liking them, but that doesn't say much.

Anyway. The basic premise of the Men in Black movies is that there is a secret organization that keeps track of and polices extraterrestrial activity on Earth, which there is way more of than any human would ever guess - aliens are everywhere. The movies follow Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) on their missions. In Men in Black III, Boris the Animal, an evil alien that Agent K arrested in the 60s, escapes from his high security prison and travels back in time to kill K before he has a chance to shoot off his arm and arrest him. Agent J wakes up one morning and is the only person that remembers K. He must travel back in time to save his partner and kill Boris the Animal before he gets to K.

My impression of this movie is that it was kind of ridiculous. Maybe that's what happens when you take a movie that was popular in the 90s and try to do a sequel of it in 2012. The dialogue was especially corny, and it felt like a movie that belonged in the 90s when that was the norm. Imagine trying to do another Austin Powers movie today - it just doesn't fit in with the current culture. Dialogue aside, the story was okay, but also silly. I think it's definitely a movie more suited to kids, who would get a kick out of humans who are actually aliens in disguise.

Negativity aside, I did like how they went into Agent K's past and showed a whole different side of this usually-super-serious character. And I especially liked the ending that involved J as a kid - not going to give any more than that away - which made me a little teary-eyed.

All-in-all, it wasn't a terrible movie, but I'm also glad I didn't have to pay to watch it. I've heard a lot of people say that they did like it, so maybe I'm being a bit too critical. Just not my style, I suppose.

Movie Review (sort of): The Avengers

Yes. I finally got around to watching the Avengers. I know that it's been out for 3 weeks already, and I know that I work at a movie theater and therefore should have seen it before now... but at least I did see it, right? Anyway, it was fantastic, and I'm so glad I did see it in theaters. I wasn't sure if I was going to, since I hadn't seen Thor or Captain America, and still haven't, but after hearing from so many people about how great it was, I knew I had to.

At the beginning of the movie, I was so confused as to what was going on. I had no idea what the cube thingy was, or how Loki came from it, or where Loki came from. Loki also seemed a little ridiculous to me, especially when he was in full 'god' or whatever gear. I still think that, but whatever, it's okay. Anyway, the story wasn't too hard to catch onto, and I quickly got into it. I loved how there was so much comedy in the dialogue, it definitely added to the movie. Then again, with Robert Downey Jr. As Iron Man, it was expected. However, Bruce Banner and Thor had some good lines as well.

I personally like superhero comic-book type movies; I have ever since the first Spiderman movie of that series in 2002. But, if you're a girl and are not sure if you'd like the comic-book based movies, I say give it a shot. For one thing, with all the guys in this movie, there's enough eye-candy to get you through the 2 and ½ hours, even if you do think the storyline is a little bit silly. Robert Downey Jr. As Iron Man, obviously; Chris Hemsworth as Thor, obviously; Chris Evans as Captain America, obviously; and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye – never heard of him before, and still really don't know much about his character, but, whatever, amazing! Haha. I also really like Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Mark Ruffalo) and Scarlett Johannson (Black Widow) as actors, and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) is amazing, of course.

I do wish I had watched Captain American and Thor before seeing Avengers, though. I felt like I was missing a lot of background info on their characters, and I think it would have helped me to grasp it a little bit better. And I found that I really, really liked Thor's character! So, I'll definitely have to catch up on those two movies, and then maybe re-watch Avengers with a new perspective.

All-in-all, the actors in the Avengers are amazing, as was the action, and the dialogue. I still think the whole premise is a little bit ridiculous but I can definitely get past that, because I did enjoy the movie immensely.

Book/Movie Review: American Psycho

April 3rd, 2011:
For a long time, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis has been on the top of my 'to-read' list. I got my hands on it a few months ago, and finally got around to reading it recently. I'm not really sure what I was expecting from it. I knew it was supposed to be horrifying, and I've heard people say that they've had to stop reading it because they were so disgusted at what the main character was doing to his victims. I thought I could handle it, that it couldn't possibly be so bad. To be completely honest, it was an amazing book. It definitely lives up to its reputation of being horrifying and disgusting. Even someone like me, who has read so much horror and watched so many bloody movies, had to stop reading at times because the amount of detail in which the things Patrick Bateman does to his victims made me feel sick at times.

It is also a completely absurd story. There is no reason that he does any of the things he does, except for that he wants to. Some of Bateman's victims are random, people that he doesn't even know – these mostly consist of prostitutes and homeless people on the street. Others are his friends, who are really more like acquaintances, because his group of 'friends' really can't tell the difference between one another. This causes some confusion, and at the end of the novel, I wasn't really sure if the main character had actually killed anyone at all, and was just completely insane, and inside his own head. But I think what really happened was that he did kill everyone he described killing, and the reason for the confusion is because of the anonymity in society. The man he confesses to killing is seen in London multiple times by several people, but it is not him – it is someone else from the same high-class society who looks the same and acts the same but is not in fact the same person. Through the horror of the book, it also had me laughing SO many times. The way he describes his emotions and experiences is just so ridiculous. Almost every chapter, usually at the end of the first paragraph, the narrator describes what the topic of the Patty Winter show that morning was. There are also several chapters devoted to musical artists, each of their albums and descriptions of every song that they've done.

After I finished the book, I immediately watched the movie, just to see the comparison between the two. Even though it is pretty spot on with the actual events that happen, it really doesn't even compare. There is no way to depict in such detail the horror and absurdity in the movie as can be done in the book. Christian did do a pretty good job as Patrick Bateman though, and the part that made me laugh the most was when he had the 2 prostitutes over, and instead of paying attention to them during sex, he was flexing his own muscles and admiring himself in the mirror. One thing that annoyed me was that they changed the names of a couple of the characters – Tim Price became Tim Bryce, and Paul Owen was Paul Allen. I'm sure there was a reason for it, but since I don't know what it was, it annoyed me. Anyway, yes – the book was definitely better than the movie, which is no surprise. It also surprised me how horrifying it actually was, even after all the warnings about it, which is impressive to me. Even though I hated a lot of it, just because of the way Bateman and his friends acted, which I guess was the whole point, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it still a week later. Definitely a good commentary on modern society.

Lady Gaga - Judas

April 16th, 2011:
I LOVE THIS SONG – which is actually such a relief to me. I have to admit that after Gaga's release of Born This Way, I was a little bit nervous for the rest of the album. Sure, it was catchy and it was fun, and it also had a great message, but I didn't feel like it was original (I listened to it against Madonna's Express Yourself, and it really does sound so similar). It also was definitely not a song I could listen to over and over again without getting sick of it. Within about a week of it being out, I was bored of it, and by now, I'm actually pretty tired of hearing it, and skip over it almost every time it comes up on my iTunes. I'm actually surprised it became a number 1 hit, but I think it was more the anticipation for it that made it happen, than the actual song itself.

I personally did not have as much anticipation for Judas as I did for Born This Way. Maybe that's why I'm not disappointed. Or maybe it's just a better song. The first time I listened to it yesterday, I didn't really pay much attention to the lyrics, and didn't feel like it was that memorable. However, that's also how I felt the first time I listened to Bad Romance when it was released, which went on to become one of my favourite and most-listened to songs. Today, I sat down and really listened to Judas – the lyrics, the melody, the way it all comes together. After that, my opinion of it rose immensely. Obviously there is a huge biblical reference, and I love how she ties it into the entire song and makes it work so well. I also really like how she sings the verses – it's different, which makes it unique from other songs, which makes it good, at least to me. And the chorus is super simple, but super catchy, and I love it.

 I'll say it again. I love this song. I don't feel like I will get sick of it very quickly either. I am once again excited for the Born This Way album to come out!