Green Lantern (2011- 105 mins) Ryan Reynolds, Mark Strong, Blake Lively, PEter Sarsgaard

There have been very few times lately where I have gone to the movies and I was just giddy to see the movie. I have been wanting to see a ton of movies in the last few years but the only one’s that I have nearly lost sleep the night before I went were “Lord of the Rings” and  the first installment of the “Transformers” franchise. This was one of those occasions. Growing up I had been a HUGE lover of the Green Lantern and the Green Lantern Corps comics, so this both was one I couldn’t wait to see but also one that had some lofty expectations in my mind to fill. Sometimes movies like these deliver on exactly what you want (LOTR and 1st Transformers) and sometimes they are “ok” but not mind blowing (2nd Transformers). This was INDEED one of those times where the whole movie met my expectations and then some. I had a giddy kid grin on my face the whole time I was in the theater and still as I sit here thinking of the movie I am just amazed at the effects (especially the planet Oa) and acting (especially Reynolds and Strong) and cannot wait to hear the news of them starting to film part 2.

So for those living under a rock for the last 5 months and haven’t either seen the 1000 trailers on TV or haven’t been to this site enough to see most of them here is a bit of a spoiler free synopsis. The Green Lantern Corps is a group of intergalactic police officers charged with protecting the universe from all evil-doers. When a once overwhelming force of evil called Parallax is accidentally released back into the universe, no one is safe even the home of the Corps itself. Parallax takes it’s revenge on the Lantern who imprisoned him and fatally wounds him causing him before he dies to flee to the nearest system and find a proper owner for his ring of power. The ring itself searches for a proper wearer who is worthy of being a Green Lantern. It finds Hal Jordan, cocky, fearless fighter jet pilot to be crowned new Lantern.

It’s from here the movie goes on as it’s now his duty to take on Parallax and grow into the Lantern he needs to be. Basically it’s a origin comic book origin story. Every franchise has a movie like this and you gotta learn about how the hero comes to be and the back story of the powers etc. This is no different but it keeps you interested and invested in the story from all aspects. From Hal Jordan the person, to Hal Jordan as newest member of the Green Lantern Corps. The best effects and eye candy is when Jordan is on Oa doing his training and meeting other Lanterns. You simply are in awe looking at it all trying to take in all the visual spectacle that is the heroic planet.

All in all it’s a good movie. It never over steps it’s bounds to being overly confusing, and doesn’t over stay it’s welcome. It’s got that usual Ryan Reynolds charm to it as well. The little comedic quips and funny looks that just make you chuckle just a little bit. Good enough to make it funny but not enough to make it a farce of itself.  The supporting actors are all good in their roles but Mark Strong as the strong GL Corps General, Sinestro is strong, and very confident. He simply delivers an amazing performance that you will remember as much as you will remember Reynold’s emerald warrior himself.

Verdict–> See this movie now, then see it again later. It was AWESOME. You will get spine tingling goose-bumpy goodness every time you hear the epic oath on screen. It was great in 3-d and I cannot wait to get a chance to see it in IMAX when the local theater moves it over to the one screen they have. Just a fun summer blockbuster and families, fan boys, and casual fans will enjoy. It’s a comic book super hero movie so don’t go into this looking for some convoluted epic drama affair. It does what it does well and you will leave the movie with a smile. Family/ kid wise —> There are a couple of curses, a middle finger and depending on your kids age, Parallax might be a little scary but not overly so. I think any school age kid whom can handle a few curses can see it no problem.

Stay for the end credits as there is a small scene a couple of mins into it but nothing after the credits.

I cannot wait for Green Lantern 2 so we can get a ton of more action and fighting and more glimpses of the Corps. It’s always more of an actiony affair when you don’t have to deal with going full into an origin story.

Again say it with me….

In the brightest day, in the blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!

I promise this will be the last video/trailer I post for Green Lantern. The big day is this friday and I stumbled across this interview/trailer over at superherohype.com (big thanks to them for it) that I just had to post and share. It has some interview moments with cast and crew and some new shots from the movie I haven’t seen yet.

Take a look and then go get your tickets now, it’s going to be a super ride… look for my review this weekend after I check it out Friday afternoon.

Everyone say it with me now….

In the brightest day, in the blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!

Mrs. GeekJock woke me up at 5am on Saturday morning, and thus the weekend had begun… We were up early to get to the 7am start time for the Susan G Komen race for the cure 5K. We were running in the open competitive part. No, we don’t pretend to be competitive racers we just had waaayyy too much to do on Sat. to run later. Plus it was nice and cool at 7am, we were done, and home, by 9am, and also of the 26k people who ran all day sat. I bet only 5-6k (at most) ran at the 7am start. Which meant it was a bit crowded at the start, but nothing like the crowds I saw pictures of an heard stories of at the later 845 fun-run start. We were in the mid to back of the pack to start and after waiting about 5-7 mins for the people to file out we were back at the start line roughly 45 mins from when it all began. A friend of ours who ran later said she was at the very front of the starting line for the later run and got back to the finish in roughly 30 mins and there were still a ton of people filing to run and even more of a line to go. So good thing were were done and home by this point, b/c the sun was also beginning to get high by then and the NC air was beginning to heat up! If you would like to donate to the Komen race for the cure fun, click on the link above and follow the donate links.I highly recommend anyone who is thinking of doing something like this to just go ahead run a bit at home and even try out the ipad/ipod/iphone app “couch to 5k” it’s a great program and really ramps you up slowly and won’t over do it for you. Also thes types of run through the community are great events for the community. All through the race there were people outside their houses waving, setting up sprinkler points, drink stations, signs and even a chorus singing songs as people passed by. Just a great time to be had by all, from the strictest most competitive runner to the pure walker the whole way. It’s just good being out there for a good cause! Next year I will be setting up a big team for Geek-Gamers for a cure so stay tuned later in the year for the initial push and info to pledging for and being a part of the team.

A huge hats off the my way to hot/beautiful for me wife for doing a great job in the run. She had started training for this run for 4-5 months and ran into a couple of injury snags along the way but she followed thru and ran the race and finished strong! Great job babe!

So after this race it was home for the splitting of the family to start the day for the kids. The Mrs. Had to take our 7 yo daughter to the 10 am B-Day party of her little boyfriend, who luckily enough lives in our neighborhood and it was at our pool. However, I took my little slugger in training to his T-Ball game. I have been helping a buddy of mine, who’s son is also on the team, coach the kids so it’s been a blast being out on the field with DJ (my son) and also helping the rest of the team learn about getting ready for the ball to come to them and other minor techniques. And for only being a bunch of 4year olds, I have to say (biasedly of course) that our team has come about as far as any other team I have seen and has done a GREAT job this season. After this it was now close to 1130 and boy it was hot and time to hit the pool ourselves, so DJ and I ran home and lathered up some sun screen (I burned a little anyway) got our suits on and headed to the pool!

Besides hanging at the pool with the fam and getting some rest from the already busy day, the other good thing about the b-day party was the little boys father is a real nice guy and coincidentally enough a RIFT player as well. He’s also got a level 50 (my highest is something in the range of 35) so it’s always fun to talk to him and shoot the RIFT bull back and forth about the goings on in Telara! After getting entirely too hot at the pool it was time for the Mrs. to take the kids to a haircut and I was going to come home and mow the lawn. Yet, as chance has it, I didn’t mow but instead collapsed on the couch for a nice long nap, waking up just in time to have a dinner with the Mrs. and get the kids to bed in time for us to watch “Tron:Evolution” and head to bed early b/c Sunday was going to be a doozy as well.

Sunday had the wife and I going in separate directions again, but it was a bit easier onthe kids this time. The mother-in-law was in town so thanks to her for making it possible as well. Mrs. GeekJock had to earn us some cash and was working all day so she was up and at it early, and I was up and at it to pick up a buddy of mine and head to our baseball game over an hour away down near Pinehurst NC. A road game and a hot hot hot day made for another grueling day. The Carolina Redbirds would take one on the chin yesterday falling to the Sand Gnats 8-5, but seeing as we were down 7-1 after 3 innings it was quite a decent comeback. B/c of rain and my work schedule I hadn’t been able to play any games yet this year so I had to shake a little rust off of the old bat. Yet, I managed to claw a 1-3 day with a HBP and a run scored in the losing effort. I was more proud of playing a respectable defensive day, playing the how many positions can I play in one game – game… So I only managed 3 yesterday playing RF/LF/2b. I enjoy the heck out of doing that b/c being versitile and good at all master of none is still a blast in my opinion. We have a great bunch of guys on the team and I just love getting out there and playing hard, win or lose.

The mother in law had a hard enough quest on her own. She had to get DJ to his learn to play (ice hockey) session up at the Ice House. It is now his 3rd time going and he is loving every second of it as well. He may only be 4 but all the skating he has been doing up until this point has really helped him out and he is amazing for a kid his age out there, even skating doing drills with kids 4-5 years older then him doesn’t intimidate him at all. Bad part is proud poppa bear wasn’t able to be there to see it yesterday.

So after I got home and grabbed a shower watched the Mrs. help the kids out with some homework and then get them to sleep, and grabbed a shower, it was time to relax with the Mrs. again in front of the tube. The bad part being once you stop going all weekend you realize how amazingly sore you are and almost pass out from all the exertion.

Bottom line is a great weekend no matter how hectic and any hectic weekend beats a weekend of WORK for sure!

The Dilemma (2011– 111mins) V. Vaughn, K. James

Ronny (Vaughn) and Nick (James) are best friends and as close as brothers. Being such close friends that they are even partners in their business. So when Ronny sees Nick’s wife cheating on him he has a huge “Dilemma” as to when, if , and how to tell his best friend the truth, as he knows it will completely kill him. This then starts the whole thing I like to call the Three’s Company effect. Where we get the whole misdirection,misunderstanding and ultimate resolution of a ton of problems. Perfect examples of other movies that fit this are the whole “Focker” franchise. Where they use embarrassment thru the eyes of the main character to draw laughs and feelings of sympathy from the audience. As much as I love these two guys in movies, and thought this would have been the perfect buddy comedy for them it just falls flat. It’s yet another example of almost all the funny parts in the whole movie being in the trailer. I kept wanting it to be good and more then it was, and on the other hand just wanted it to wrap up and end.

Sure there’s some funny lines and a great 10 min part for Queen Latifah, who, as always is great, but the laughs generally are few and far between. Winona Ryder and Jennifer Connelly play the guys significant others, with Ryder being the source of the adultary, and Connelly being Vaughn’s girlfriend who he is trying to find a good way to propose to her when he stumbles upon the dastardly act. Unfortunately other then these women looking good in their parts, they just feel mailed in and watered down in this movie. Sorry Ron Howard, comedy feature films just don’t seem to be your thing.

Verdict–> Most people will prolly want to see it for themselves and make their own decisions but I would recommend against it. It’s an all too long movie which isn’t as funny as you really want it to be. You will have spotty patches of hard laughs, but I think you will still come away feeling like you were cheated out of what could have…. nay should have, been a great movie.

The Mechanic (2011– 93 mins) J. Statham, B. Foster

Jason Statham is a fairly typecast guy with good reason. He kicks ass, delivers some funny lines and is generally likable. If you think about it, so was Van Damme, and so was Segal. I am hoping we don’t tire of Statham doing his thing b/c I tend to really enjoy his movies. If you have seen “The Transporter”, “The Expendables”, “The Italian Job” or “Crank” you pretty much know what to expect from this movie. It’s a high octane shoot em up affair with the usual fights and car chases. Statham is Bishop an assassin who gets all his top secret gov’t missions from a handler. When the apprentice he takes on turns out to be the son of his mentor, whom he was forced to kill, things get a little sticky as they both want the parties responsible for his death to pay.

It’s a fairly straightforward spy/assassin/car chase faire and it doesn’t over stay it’s welcome. I enjoyed this movie b/c I’m a guy and like “Drive Angry”, it’s a blatant testosterone affair. Lot’s of guns lot’s of explosions and some witty lines. I don’t think women will particularly like it b/c it’s not a very deep movie but some will , b/c it has Statham and Foster in it.

Verdict–> Like most mindless action movies,  it’s pretty mindless fun,not a very deep plot driven movie, and I liked it. It’s a good rental for a double feature to counter act that rom-com your date is MAKING you watch on a sat night. Also a perfect watch for a guys night for some action. Good Recommendation from me on this one.

Somewhere (2010– 97 mins) S. Dorf, E. Fanning

Ahh Sofia Coppola, how ye go out of your way to be mysterious and metaphorical, and sooo cutting edge of writing/directing. Yeah sorry I just don’t get it. Sure “Lost in Translation” is widely considered a masterpiece. And you want to keep some more Indie Cred. I get it, but it just ceases to be overly enjoyable. This is a REAL hard movie to pass complete judgement on. Mainly b/c if I was to explain it and talk about it, it might not sound so bad of a movie, but to sit through it makes me think of how LOONNNGGG and drawn out the movie is. And it’s only 97 mins! That’s not long at all!

Stephen Dorf plays Johnny Marco, a famous semi-washed up actor who juggles his job, partying and women, each on a whim and fancy. When his 11 year old daughter is left with him for a longer period of time then he is used to, it makes him take stock of his life. Like I said decent enough premise and should be good on film. However, Coppola takes a decent enough plot and has to throw in abstract movie making and drawn out shots to tell the story. With all the extra time she spends on still shots and drawn out scenes with no dialog, she could have thrown in a couple of more scenes with substance and rounded out the plot into something more enjoyable. It’s not the performances, as they were both good (Dorf and Fanning) for what they were given. Which is, probably 2 pages of dialog each. It’s that she tries too hard to be technical metaphor film guru. Sorry Sofia I just can’t get behind this film enough to recommend it to the general public.

Verdict–>A movie that should be shortish at 97 mins feels like a marathon 3 hour ordeal. With too much time spent not talking and trying to make metaphoric points. You quite literally could get up to get food,a beer and use the bathroom and not miss one single thing. Only the people who ALREADY think Coppola is a brilliant film-maker need to apply. All the others who like movies, and actually want to enjoy watching them pass this one up.

Drive Angry (2011–104 mins) N. Cage, A. Heard, W. Fichtner

Some of my best movie watching memories as a child were when I visited my father on the weekends and we would watch some of the BAD BAD BAD B-movies late nights on USA Up All Night. The bad was truly cheesy goodness with hosts like Joe Bob Briggs, Elvira, and Rhonda Shear. The moves were heavy on the bad fake gore, the bad puns and of course T & A. All of it in one package was just a guilty pleasure and fun every time. You didn’t think it was going to be movie masterpieces and none of them would be mistaken for Oscar worthy but you loved it none the less.

“Drive Angry” is a send off to these awesome 80’s cheese B-movies. Don’t be fooled by the awful trailer and overwhelming feeling that it’s just another crappy Nicholas Cage movie. It’s not, it’s actually another mindless fun cheeky movie. It’s got a lot of gore, a lot of so bad it’s funny dialog and yes some beloved T & A. The plot is simple enough as always in these movies… Cage is Milton, a man who escaped from Hell (yes you read that right), to avenge his daughter’s heinous murder and to find his infant granddaughter before she is also killed. Amber Heard is the ridiculously hot chick he picks up along the way, and Fichtner is “The Accountant” a denizen of hell released to bring Milton back to where he belongs.

The whole movie is one laugh out loud action scene or cheese-ball line after another. But Cage and Fichtner deliver them with such blatant fun in their eyes that you can’t help but enjoy the ride. As always with B-movies it’s not Oscar worthy but you will come away laughing and thinking that it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would have been. A truly perfect example of don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

Verdict–> As with many movies it’s not for everyone. But I enjoyed the movie a bunch. People who want a high adrenaline, care free action romp in b-movie goodness then it’s for them. The dialog is funny and the fake blood is plentiful and did I mention Amber Heard is crazy hot? Yep, I think I will recommend this one to b-movie lovers everywhere.

And a special bonus here is the trailer!

Yeah I know I said I was tired of too much released from Bioware but I knew there would be a nice showing at E3 thisweek. And they haven’t disappointed. Watch this trailer from SWTOR and try and contain the drool.

As always WHEN will we get a feature length movie by the guys who do these amazing cinematics???

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Gulliver’s Travels (2010– 85 mins) Jack Black, Jason Segel, Amanda Peete, Emily Blunt

This is inevitably going to be another GeekJock rant on why movie critics both ones who get paid and ones who don’t yet still take themselves too seriously (and aren’t named The GJ) simply SUCK.

Let’s take “Gulliver’s Travels” for instance. It got KILLED in the press. Let me quote two outlet’s who take themselves way too seriously. First (both via meta critic) Variety–> “The story grows more desperate as it goes on.”

Second my beloved magazine of choice, even tho their movie reviewers all kinda blow, Entertainment Weekly

“Strips the source material down to its recognizable parts and then builds something completely new out of them. Unfortunately, the result is entirely Lilliputian in ambition, even for a children’s movie.”

Come on people… REALLY? REALLY? “Gulliver’s Travels”, a movie that has been done and re-done countless times, and this one stars JACK BLACK and Jason Segel. Let me REPEAT this.. and louder…. THE MOVIE STARS JACK BLACK… Not Lawrence Olivier, not Orson Wells, not Carey Grant…. JACK FREEKING BLACK…. What in the name that is all holy did you expect a kids movie starting Jack Black to be like? Sure, there’s potty humor and dumb jokes around every corner. There’s supposed to be. Sure Jack Black does air guitar, and funny faces and falls on his face. HE’S JACK BLACK.

Dumb critics everywhere bash this movie for being what it is. A funny at times cheezy over the top kids movie. Is it the funniest thing I have ever seen? Of course not. But it was quite entertaining and I thought the jokes were modern and all made me laugh. It’s a decent entertaining movie and I recommend it to my readers. I don’t care what these idiots who get paid to review movies think. They all want to sound so sophisticated and pad their view of themselves loving nothing but movies like “The Piano” and “Out Of Africa”, but as always I say NAY! Stop paying attention to those idiot naysayers and come back to the independents who tell you what is just plain enjoyable like THE GEEKJOCK #blatantplug

[[steps down off soap box]]

Ok back to the issue at hand… “Gulliver’s Travels”. For those of you who are either sheltered or never seen ANY of the previous making of the movie I will enlighten you. Jack Black is a slacker mail room guy who manages to get the trial job of his career. To check out and write about the Bremuda Triangle. Things go horribly wrong and he gets shipwrecked onto a remote island. This island happens to be inhabited by humans who are only inches tall compared to a normal size man like Gulliver. They all talk like olden Shakespeare types and have weird rules and laws and it all leads to some funny jabs at the world and talking like that etc. Gulliver must inevitably get a backbone he never had and learn some lessons in life which he never did being a slacker.

So not only do we get some hilarity, but we get the underlying “be all you can be” lesson to the movie. It’s good for kids and fun for the family. (I think there was only one or two questionable sentences or word choices but nothing too bad that I would even prevent my 4 year old from watching).

Verdict—> Don’t believe the nasty hate hype out there this is a funny kids/family movie. It’s a Jack Black flick so don’t expect there to be too much seriousness and it will be slapstickish in nature. I liked it and I recommend it to anyone who wants to have some mindless fun and laugh a bit. Also Emily Blunt and Jason Segel are good in it,  and appear to be having a good time at it.

Flipped (2010– 90mins) M. Carroll, C. McAuliffe

Flipped is a cute coming of age family movie. It takes place in the 1960’s and has that easy going tone of “Stand by Me” or “A Christmas Story”. As  a film it does well getting away from heavy conflict and just gives us various stories from the growing up of two kids, Bryce and Juli. Ever since they first met Juli has had a certain crush on the new kid on the block Bryce. Yet, he hasn’t quite found out that he too really does like her too, until the day he “flips”. The unique thing about this film is we get every scene/story from the perspective of both kids one after another. It’s a cute way to see how the other sex as a child looks at the same exact situation, especially being unsure of their real feelings and going through all sorts of changes in childhood.

There’s not big bad, no mcguffin, and no body to find, but it still endears itself as a sweet movie that’s easy to watch. The children are excellent in their roles and overall it looks like an authentic view of growing up in the 60’s (not that I would know but hey I bought it). We also get some good performances by Aidan Quinn and Anthony Edwards. They play the relative polar opposites as fathers of each of the children. Quin is the liberal art loving father of Juli who’s life has revolved around taking care of his mentally handicapped brother. Edwards plays Bryce’s conservative father who has become a shell of his former self and not loving life any more, as he has become numb to it all in trying to provide for his family and stay PC for all too long. It’s also a subtle undertone of two kids from opposite sides of the track and a whole opposites attract thing as well.

Verdict–> All undertones and life lessons aside it’s a good movie. I loved the way they show each scene from both children’s point of view, I thought that was a great touch. I recommend this movie as both a good family movie or a movie for anyone who is saturated by the summer blockbuster season and just wants to sit back with a relaxing mindless flashback type movie. Family wise I would think that 8+ years old is possibly a good range.