(I apologize for the multiple week-long hiatus. There's no real excuse for it except procrastination. I'll get after myself for it...tomorrow)
One of the subjects I’ve always had a love for over the years is the supernatural. Can’t get enough of it. From ghosts and monsters to more new age-y concepts like mystic places and shamanism, I love reading about it. Do I actually believe any of it? I tend to try to stay on the fence about any paranormal views. It’d be nice if it were. I’d feel it’d make the world a little more exciting if there was a Bigfoot prowling around American woods.
So a book and movie about how the U.S. military was trying to train soldiers with psychic powers definitely caught my attention. Also, the book is nonfiction.
The Men Who Stare At Goats is a 2004 book by journalist Jon Ronson, who after being told that a military base has hundreds of de-bleated goats for experimental purposes, finds himself headfirst in a world of psychic spies, subliminal sounds and using the"I Love You" song from Barney the Purple Dinosaur as torture.
Just imagine this for hours and hours...
The book is an utterly fascinating read. It made me wish that the “supersolider” unit, the First Earth Battalion, was actually being used in the war today, using non-lethal, hippy-ish techniques. I’ve been reading it over the past few weeks on my lunch breaks at work and had a hard time putting it down when I had to clock back in. One of the chapters I found particularly interesting was how because of one former solider in the First Earth Battalion had been indirectly responsible for the Heaven’s Gate cult’s mass suicide.
If there was any complaint I had for the book is that there was no real ending. It just sort of teeters off. But as I understand according to the book that, despite the First Earth Battalion being disbanded, the U.S. military still uses the techniques for some uses, particularly torture. I’d love to see a follow-up by Ronson especially since it’s been 9 years since the book was published and see if there’s been any new developments.
I first became aware of the book, though, because of its 2009 movie adaptation of the same name starring Ewan McGregor, George Clooney and Jeff Bridges. Although the book has no real chronological order, the movie does an excellent job of bringing the book to life, speaking about and demonstrating many of the book’s bizarre subjects and generally, being a good summation of the book's themes .
The movie is about a journalist named Bob Wilton (McGregor) who tags along with a toilet contractor named Lyn Cassady (Clooney) who claims that he was a psychic spy for the military. As they get into many hairy situations in war-torn Iraq, Lyn talks more and more about his time in the “New Earth Army”.
While it has some embellishments when compared to the original book, I really enjoyed the movie. Even if you’re not interested at all in the supernatural like I am, it’s still a really funny movie. One of my favorite scenes being this one:
You can actually buy a predator if you like at this website
Happy New Year's to everybody and I hope everyone had a good time. With a new year comes new beginnings, new promises and, for me, new movies.
While I was making this list, I was surprised at the amount of films coming out this year that caught my interest. As of this writing, there are still some movies that are coming out this year that haven't dropped any trailers such as Thor: The Dark World. I'll get to those on a later post, but for now, on with the trailers!
After Earth
What some of you may not know is that this is a M. Night Shyamalan movie. And as you're aware, his last few movies have not been...well recieved. (Goddammit, what did you do to Avatar: The Last Airbender?! Sorry, had to get that off my chest.) This, as I see it, is probably the make-or-break movie for Shyamalan. He has in his advantage Will Smith in the lead, who by this point is just movie gold. Even the worst film starring Will Smith brings in the millions. Shyamalan aside, I really dig the premise of this film. Though they ruined the classic Shyamalan twist in the trailer. The hostile alien planet is...*GASP* Earth?!
Anchorman: The Legend Continues
To be honest, I was surprised they were going to do a sequel to Anchorman. I thought the first movie wrapped things up pretty cleanly. I didn't think it needed a sequel...but damn if this didn't make me want to see it. You might think at first glance I double posted the trailer but no, they released two different versions at the same time. I couldn't pick between the two of them which to post because both made me laugh uproariously. Which one do you like?
Beautiful Creatures
I'm really not sure what to make of this trailer. I'm not familiar with the books series it's based on, though I have seen the title before. The trailer really seems like just "Twilight...with witches! My bad, 'Casters'!" Plus, there are some parts in the trailer that are making me unintentionally laugh. Like when the woman says, "And look at what I am now." at 0:50 just makes me want to answer "You have spooky Darth Maul eyes". There are the hammy moments at 1:37 with Jeremy Iron's "Get Out!" and the weird twirling table and yelling match at 1:49. I mean, why does she scream? That's just bad debate skills. Plus, I love how Jeremy Irons isn't even attempting a Southern accent.
A Good Day to Die Hard
Ah, Good ol' John McCLane. It's nice to see you back. This just seems like the ultimate guy movie, doesn't it, what with the explosions, guns, explosions, girls in bikinis, explosions, helicopters, explosions, crazy stunts, and what else? Oh yeah! EXPLOSIONS!!! I showed this trailer to my nephew and he commented, "Everything's blowing up!" I really liked how they had Beethoven's Ode to Joy, one of my favorite classical pieces, playing in the background throughout the trailer. I commend them for using the finale of the piece to good use, a really overlooked part of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
World War Z
When I first heard of the movie version of World War Z, I figured it just be a another standard "Oh no! Zombies are loose!" type of film. But...Jesus. I've seen running zombies before, but these are swarming zombies! A literal wave of zombies coming at you! Look at that image before you press play. That's not a mound of inert dead bodies, that's a giant mound of zombies climbing over each other like f 'in psychopathic ants trying to get that sweet sweet flesh. Why couldn't the zombies in the Dawn of the Dead remake be that resourceful? That sold me on the movie more than Brad Pitt did.
Star Trek Into Darkness
Prior to the reboot, I was never the biggest Star Trek fan. (I much preferred Star Wars, thank you.) But the new movie was just the push I needed to get into the franchise, so I was excited that they were going to do a sequel. I don't know what the exact story is for this film, but crap, the stakes look like they have just been raised for the Enterprise crew. And having just watched the BBC's Sherlock series on Netflix, I was happy to see Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain. Rumor has it he might (keyword being might) be playing the new version of Ricardo Monteblan's Khan. Until we get more info, it's just a rumor for now.
Iron Man 3
Oh, this is a big one. The first post-Avengers Marvel movie to come out. You would think after the victory the Avengers had, Tony would be in a better mental state, but no, he seems really nervous and uneasy. In fact, this movie looks really dark compared to the other two films. I'm really glad they managed to finally get the Mandarin (Ben Kinglsey) on the big screen. For those who aren't comic geeks, the Mandarin is to Iron Man what the Joker is to Batman and it looks like he gives Iron Man one hell of an ass-whooping in this flick.
As an Iron Man treat, I gives you the greatest entrance of all time:
The Last Stand
I never realized until I saw this trailer how much I miss seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger in movies. True, he's a lot older now but he looks like he's back in fighting shape. The movie looks like a lot of fun as Schwarzenegger movies tend to be especially with Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame playing sidekick. Look at him at 1:18. He looks so giddy just feeding bullets.
The Lords of Salem
Damn, this movie looks genuinely creepy. When I first read the plot summary on Wikipedia, I thought it would be more of a slasher film, something's Rob Zombie's done before. Then I saw the trailer. Wow, this looks like an intentionally scary Alejandro Jodorowsky film. It has all the big set pieces and trippy imagery a Jodorowsky film would have. I didn't expect the film would even look remotely like this. I tip my hat to you, Mr. Zombie. You've really outdone yourself this time.
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
This is a movie that, by all accounts, should sound kind of dumb. I remember just reading the title aloud and groaning. But the trailer really changed my mind. This actually looks a lot more bad-ass than what I pictured in my head. Especially the way they dispatch witches. It seems like the next in a wave of movies reinterpreting fairy tales like Red Riding Hood and Snow White and the Hunstman. I'm honestly looking forward to this one.
Man of Steel
This is another of the big films I'm excited for. I really like this trailer compared to the teaser trailer. That one looked like an art film that featured Superman. It seems like the planets are aligning for this film: Zack Snyder's directing, Christopher Nolan's producing and finally some honest-to-god action for Henry Cavill's Superman. There's more action in this trailer than in Superman Returns. And yes, Dad, no Lex Luthor in sight. (He had some issue with the over-saturation of Luthor in the other films. He has a point though. There are plenty of other villains they could use.)
Pacific Rim
Good Lord, I'm excited for this one. Anyone that knows me knows I love me some Kaiju (Japanese for "Giant Monster"), especially Godzilla. But one of my absolute favorite directors, Guillermo Del Toro, directing a big Hollywood movie with Giant Monsters and Robots?! I'm sold.
