Geeky Watcher

Blade Runner has had a very fascinating history. When it first came out, it did poorly at the box office and critics were split on it, either thinking it's a sci-fi milestone or a mess of a movie. But over time, the film started to gain a cult following especially when director Ridley Scott released two versions of his original vision: the Director's cut and his definitive Final Cut for the 25th anniversary. Based on Philip K. Dick's book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (which sounds about as good a title as the original title for War and Peace: War, What Is It Good For? ), the movie takes place in a future where androids known as replicants co-exist with humans. They were designed for slave labor until they revolted, being declared illegal. Officers known as Blade Runners are given the task to locate them and retire them, which is another word for kill. A Blade Runner named Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is ordered to locate a group of rogue replicants who are in...

Of course, a sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man would be a no brainer since it's done pretty well. But instead of getting another Spider-Man 2 , we got another Spider-Man 3 with a bloated storyline and too many villains. Aside from his life as Spider-Man, Peter Parker graduates from high school and tries to keep his distance from Gwen Stacy at the request of her father who haunts him, though he can't resist fully. All the while, Gwen is offered a scholarship to England and can't decide if she wants to go or stay with Peter. Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), an old friend of Peter, returns to see his dying father and catches up with Peter. Harry tells him his father's disease is passed genetically and thinks the blood of Spider-Man can cure him, but Peter doesn't think that would help Harry and refuses in person as Spider-Man. Also, Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), a nerdy engineer, gets electrocuted and becomes Electro. Oh, there's also Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti) w...

After the plans for Spider-Man 4 were scrapped when Sam Raimi couldn't meet the deadlines, Sony decided to go back to square one and reboot their Spider-Man franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man . This time, Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker whom I really admire after I saw him in The Social Network. The story is pretty much the same origin story but with some changes like Peter investigating what happened to his parents who disappeared after they left him with his uncle and aunt when he was young, which leads him into Oscorp where he gets bitten by the spider that gives him his powers. But it goes back to some of its comic book roots like Peter's web shooters are artificial and he makes some quips when he's in action. While Andrew Garfield shines as Spider-Man, I thought he was too cool looking to be an awkward Peter Parker, though his stammering is done in a good way. Martin Sheen and Sally Field were worthy successors to play Uncle Ben and Aunt May. While Mar...

In addition to Spider-Man's 15th anniversary, this year also marks the 10th anniversary of Spider-Man 3 , which a lot of people have called the low point of Sam Raimi's trilogy. In the movie, life is going great for Peter. He's receiving a lot of fame and love as Spider-Man, as well as dating the woman of his dreams. But as always, more conflicts arise for him. Peter lets the attention from the public get to his head, leaving Mary Jane feeling neglected. His friend Harry fights him after finding out his secret identity in an effort to get vengeance for his father's death. However, Harry gets amnesia after hitting his head in the fight, which gives Peter the chance to fix their friendship. Not only that, an escaped convict named Flint Marko (Thomas Hayden Church) undergoes a drastic change when an experiment turns him into the Sandman. Peter learns that he's the real culprit behind his uncle's murder and goes after him. All the while, a mysterious black s...

Spidey swings back into action in Spider-Man 2 , which many consider to be the best Spider-Man movie even to this day. Peter Parker has trouble balancing his normal life with his superhero life, getting fired from jobs, being late for his classes, and not being able to pay his rent. However, he gets an opportunity to meet a scientist he admires named Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina). Octavius shows people his fusion experiment and mechanical arms that help him put it together. But the experiment goes wrong, Octavius' wife is killed, and the arms take control of him. Given the name Dr. Octopus by the Daily Bugle, he sets out to continue his work but make it bigger. At the same time, the stress Peter is facing affects his powers and he decides to give up his superhero persona. But he is called back to don his suit again when Mary Jane is threatened by Dr. Octopus. I will confess I kinda liked the movie when I first saw it, but I didn't like how bad things were constantly ...

"With great power comes great responsibility." It has been 15 years since Spider-Man has swung out of the big screen. Since Spidey is now part of the MCU and is again getting a de novo movie, I figured it would be great to revisit both the Sam Raimi trilogy and the Marc Webb films. The first time I saw this movie was also the first time I went to an Alamo Drafthouse where you can buy food and beer while watching your movies which I thought was really cool. And they have a very strict no talking or texting policy which should please anyone who hates annoying moviegoers who do those things. Initially, I liked parts of the movie but wasn't fully into it. Perhaps because of its PG-13 subject matter and I was only 11. I didn't watch much of it later even though we had it on DVD. But watching it again, I was more invested in it. Tobey Maguire plays Peter Parker a geek who gets ridiculed by his fellow students and even the bus driver. Funny how these cliches still su...

Can't believe I forgot to post this on my blog.

During this decade, Disney has been following the gimmick of remakes. Whether giving us re-imaginings or trying to replicate what was animated to live action, they admittedly make billions at the box office, love them or not. Most of the Disney remakes didn't intrigue me like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella , but then the remake of The Jungle Book won me over with its cast and FX that are beyond impressive. Still, when it was announced that there was a remake of Beauty of the Beast coming soon, doubt lurked in my mind. I didn't think they could recapture the enchanting wonder the original animated classic had, but then again I am a very open-minded person. When I finally saw in the theater, my doubts were partially confirmed but some elements stand out well. The original Disney story is very much followed the same in the remake, giving us some small changes and, to its credit, even answering questions we might have like how di...

My first video review on Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Another year that proved to be ultra successful for Marvel was 2014. Not only were there surprise hits like Captain America: Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, but Fox gave us X-Men Days of Future Past. Bryan Singer, the one who has done the X-Men the most justice, at last returns back to the director's chair to not only give us probably the best movie in the franchise but to make up the sins of the past. Also, the original cast members return, as well as the cast of X-Men First Class , so this was indeed a big deal. The world is now a very grim, dystopian future where mutants and even humans are hunted by powerful machines named Sentinels who can adapt themselves to any mutant power. We see our old heroes like Charles Xavier, Magneto, Storm, Kitty Pride, Colossus, Iceman and of course Logan/Wolverine, along with some newcomers like Blink, Warpath, Bishop, and Sunspot. With the help of Kitty, Logan is sent back in time to prevent this world happening. It all began ...

After Thor , Marvel Studios' next movie would take a dive into the past with Captain America . Cap has had a very interesting history, being conceived about 75 years ago. He was perhaps the first big star on Marvel Comics, which was Timely Comics at that time. He even had a film serial in the '40s. So I can assume people had their doubts that Marvel could bring the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan on the big screen in a good way, what with the costume being considered ridiculously outdated today. There has been a movie in the '90s with Matt Salinger in the role but that was when Marvel movies sucked and DC films usually ruled, But again, with a very strong lead and cast, along with good production values, I'd say they gave Cap a good amount of dignity. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) wants to enlist in the Army, but he gets repeatedly rejected due to his small stature. But he manages to get in, thanks to a doctor named Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who admires his persistence....

Wolverine is given another chance for another solo film. Taking place after X-Men The Last Stand , Logan is in the woods for his Revenant audition. There's even a bear who urinates instead of fighting him. Real classy. He's very despondent about killing Jean Grey, and even sees visions of her very often. But things begin to turn when a mysterious woman named Yuriko comes to him. In a flashback at the beginning,  in a POW camp in Japan during WWII, Logan saves a Japanese soldier from an H-bomb dropping. It turns out the soldier named Yashida is dying and wants to see his mutant saviour. Logan reluctantly agrees to go to Japan with Yuriko who has her own power of seeing in the future. When he meets with Yashida, Logan is offered a chance to have his powers removed and become human. He refuses Yashida's offer. However, his healing is slightly stalled by another mysterious woman named Dr Green who has the power of spreading toxins in people. Not only that, Yashida's gr...

After one successful movie, one average movie, and one subpar sequel, Marvel's next entry would be centered around the God of Thunder. Thor is the first time in the MCU where we'd see bigger, different worlds. This would continue with other movies and expand possibilities. In the world of Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is being named ruler by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins). However, after disobeying Odin to fight back enemies after an invasion, he is banished to Earth where he runs into an astrophysicist named Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), along with Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) and her quirky assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings). Along with him, his hammer Mjolnir is shot down to Earth where some people tried to lift it with no avail, and later SHIELD, led by Agent Coulson, come in to build a facility around it. But Thor's brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is behind an evil plan to seize control of the throne of Asgard after learning he was adopted and Odin falls into a ...

SPOILER WARNING Even though Buffy's first season wasn't great, it did end on a relatively strong note. And fortunately, the show received a second season with 22 episodes and it manages to take everything in entirely different directions. A lot of people say that this is the point where the show reaches its peak and cements itself as one of the best and most influential shows ever, and I can't argue with that. However, it takes awhile and you'd have to sit through some more average/bad Monster of the Week episodes, but we do get some gems in the first half. The season begins with a tradition of opening every season in a cemetery. Xander and Willow are walking together, eating ice cream and playing a game where one says a movie quote and the other has to figure out which movie it came from. My friends have created a game like this for me to test my movie knowledge. Even though I know pretty much every famous movie quote, they would stump me with some obscure ones. ...