Fantastic beasts and where to find them

Hey guys, Joe here.
I just seen Fantastic Beasts and where to find them. Fair warning this review is going to have some spoilers. I will do my best to keep them minimal.
First off this was a good movie. It wasn't great and doesn't quite live up to the past movies.
I feel like we don't get to spend enough time with Ezra Millers character. For as important as he is and becomes to the plot you don't get to know who he is and you don't feel for him at the end when he is attacked.
Colin Farrell does a alright job but it is very predictable as to what is going on with his character. Although there is a twist that i didn't see coming it felt like a bit shoe horned in.
Eddie Redmayne did a wonderful job in his roll but it was very 2 noted. There is the "awe look, magical creature." and "people, i better become introverted and hope they befriend me." I think they need to work harder on bringing out more of his character and evolve him more.
As for the side characters i hope that we get to visit them in the next 4 movies. They were the driving force for the movie sadly.
Lastly i want to talk about a character that they hinted at. if you haven't heard any of the stories around Grindelwald then don't read further. Ok, So Johnny Depp plays Grindelwald and he is only in it for a few seconds. He will of course play a huge rolls though out the rest of the movies. It will be very difficult to get a read on how well he will do just on this. But the look they went with is a bit over the top and so is the accent that he chose to go with. Only time will tell how he will be.

Over all score for this one is a 8/10. So go give this one a watch and enjoy.

Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic

What's up? I'm coming with some prog for you.

Between the Buried and Me's "Coma Ecliptic"

Now I know what you're thinking, "It's BTBAM! It's fucking great!" Yeah alright sure, you probably think I'm going to verbally blow them with this review but honestly this album doesn't grab me at all. I've listened to them when "Aspirations" and "Naked by the Computer" were the bangers. I'm not saying it didn't grab my attention because it wasn't heavy either. Being heavy is one thing but Between the Buried and Me aren't super heavy, they're great musicians.

One thing that has bothered me about their albums after "Colors" they all kind of follow a formula. But "The Great Misdirect" is my favorite album. Again, not really super heavy. But I feel like ever since Mike Portnoy showed them love the band just tries to stay in the same place. Just merely changing and adapting the songs a little but following similar formulas.

So when I read what Dan Briggs had to say about the album saying it drew influence from The Who’s Quadrophenia and The Wall by Pink Floyd, I was really wondering how they were trying to accomplish their "Rock Opera" goal. But as I listen through the album I don't see the connections and I don't feel the music "working together". If anything Parallax 1 & 2 were excellent in achieving these points. Parallax 1 was the set up, Parallax 2 gave you the entire picture and kept reoccurring musical themes and phrases. Though slightly different and morphed these melodies gave you the sense of the connection, the feeling that all this music was telling you a story beyond words.

I mean there's a lot for the album to offer but it never keeps me intrigued. I'd suggest Dream Theater's "Scenes from A Memory" if you want a great recent rock opera.

Hear the album for yourself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S4_4A2Ei0o

Buy ALL of BTBAM's merch here: http://www.merchconnectioninc.com/collections/between-the-buried-and-me

Get ALL the info you need at: http://www.betweentheburiedandme.com/

Suicide squad movie review

Just finished watching the suicide squad movie and i actually really liked it. Im going to go ahead and give you my score up front and say its a solid 8 out of 10 movie. I cant understand why the critics hated on it so much. Now despite how much i liked it i do have a few issues with it. The first is the biggest issue i have and that is we dont get an ensemble movie like in avengers. We get a harley quinn and deadshot movie that happens to have a few other character. I would of liked to get more time with killer croc, katana, el diablo, captain boomerang and Slipknot. Especially since the first death from the squad happens kinda early it would of been nice to have more background to make us either feel bad for them or feel happy to see them go. Another problem i have was the joker. The performance i didnt have a problem with and i can look pass the tattoos evem. But with how they portray him i dont know if they can use him for a major villain in a batman movie. I feel like he can be a background character. Harley Quinn was actually well done and i look forward to seeing more of her. One of the even greater things of the movie was the soundtrack.

-Joe

Xmen apocalypse movie review

Hey guys, Joe here with a review of Xmen Apocalypse. All in all it wasn't bad. Aside from the normal fails that they x-men franchise has the story was pretty solid. They did a great job with Nightcrawler and Quicksilver. The character development that they were given was outstanding. Scott Summers AKA Cyclops was so so. I'm not really sold on how he was introduced. He doesn't really have much character growth. Jean Grey was a surprising outcome. She seemed like she was suppose to be the focal point but that really doesn't come through till the 3rd act. Oscar Issacs as Apocalypse was really well done. They played him quite nicely. But they screwed up The 4 horsemen. The 4 horsemen that they chose screwed with their timeline. which they constantly screw up. Would give it a 7.5 out 10. Watchable but not extremely great.

Captain America : Civil War review

Going to do my best to keep this spoiler free. This movie did what batman v superman tried ti do. Show 2 superheros go head to head. But they gave them a more plausible reason behind it and the character development throughout was superb. Tom Holland as spiderman was wonderful. He nails peter parker and spiderman. The black panther was also well casted and look so forward to sing both standalone movies. Highlight is the airport fight scene for me. Seeing them all work together and fighting against eachother. The pacing was done perfectly. Even though it is two and a half hours it doesnt feel like it. You get lost in it. Enthralled by it. The only downside i have with it is it didnt end how i wanted. But the ending was done perfectly if they hadnt gone my way. 9.9999 out of 10.

Demolition movie review

Just finished watching demolition starring Jake gyllenhaal and was pleasently pleased. I went it half expecting it to be a tear jerker that has a kot to do with explaining dealing with grief and how we all do it differently. In the end i seen a surprisingly funny movie with a lot of heart. Jake did a wonderful job portraying the emotion  (or lack of) and transitioning to a different emotional state. But the actor who stole the show was the child actor Judah Lewis. He doea a great job. Sadly i cant go into explaining what and why i feel this way because it will give some of the story away. So i do recommend people to check this one out. Im going to rate it 8.5 out of 10.

Batman V Superman review

Hey guys. Joe here and i just seen Batman v Superman:dawn of justice. Gonna be honest here. I didnt love it. But i didnt hate it. I go back and forth between giving it a 7 and a 8. So will meet in the middle and call it a 7.5. Im gonna break down what i like and what i dont without giving spoilers. Lets start with the cast. Im a believer in Batfleck. I feel he did a great job portraying batman. His Bruce Wayne however i will hold judgement on. The little we see him trying to portray the billionare playboy was very limited and i felt like it was lacking. Which is the opposite of how i felt about Christian Bales batman. Gal Gadot did a decent job but i found her character lacking overall. Not fully sold on her just yet. Will see how she does with the solo movie. Lex Luthor however was a complete fail. Could not stand it. Im not hoping for a recast or anything. But i want them to make change in how Jessie Eisenberg portrays him and speaks. His character should not be the comic relief. The story is long and at time i find certain scenes needing to be cut out. A couple of them are the nightmare dream sequences. My other big issue is the amount of gun usage batman does. (Not the one you see in the trailer. That actually makes sense and im goid on that) and lastly i was let down on the batman superman fight. Feel it could of been better. All in all i liked the movie. Am looking forward to see how they co timue the franchise. Preferably without zack snyder.

10 Cloverfield lane

Hey guys. Joe here. Just seen 10 cloverfield lane and oh my god. I dont want to give to much away but from what i can tell you is that john goodman and 2 others are trapped in a bomb shelter. And the female character tries to escape. The story keeps you guessing as to what happened and if it really happened. Based on what i seen i dont think it is a sequel or prequel or spin off of the original cloverfield movie. I think its more likely the production studio used the name to throw people off. But this movie was amazing. Acting was perfection. John goodman gives one of my favorite performances of his in this one. The story was perfectly told and spaced out. Everyone needs to check it out.

Watching a classic

Rewatching one of my favorite movies from back in the day. Who Framed Rodger Rabbit. This movie is a true work of art and could never be done again in this day and age. The character licenses in themselves would be the first of many hurdles to cross if they ever wanted to do a sequel or remake. Not to mention all the drinking done and character designs and the story in itself. This movie is a once in a lifetime thing. Not to mention ground breaking in its time with the mixture and interaction with the live action human characters have with the animated cartoons. They did versions of it in marry poppins and puff the magic dragon but never to this extent i find it baffling that this movie is a Disney movie.

Joe