Ok, I have to admit it... I'm becoming a talent show junkie. I now have two shows on my regular viewing schedule, LAST COMIC STANDING and AMERICA'S GOT TALENT.
LCS is in it's fourth season and they've appeared to have changed the format so that it's a much more "fair" system. Previous seasons, they had celebrity judges who thought they were making actual decisions as regards the competing comics. In actuality, a committee of tv executives were making the decisions regarding who would stay and who would go. This pissed off the celebrity judges. Trust me, you do not want to see Brett Butler and Drew Carey angry. You would not like them when they're angry. For more info on last years fiasco, go here:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4483013/
This season, celebrity judges decide who makes the competing cut. All decisions thereafter are made by the audience. This is a good way to go, because it means that the audience, the people who will pay money to see these comics, are making the decisions on who they would be willing to see.
And so far... the decisions, by and large, have been the same ones I would have made. People made it that should have, people were cut that should have. There were a few surprises, but everybody's taste is different and I can accept that.
If you have not seen the show, it's on Tuesday nights, 9 pm (PST), NBC. Watch for stand outs Josh Blue (who, incidentally, has cerebral palsy), Gabriel Iglesias, and Roz. These are the ones I'm hoping will survive through to the final round. And they've got this "Bring 'Em Back" concept online. The internet audience can vote to bring back one of the comics that got cut initially.
The real surprise was watching AMERICA'S GOT TALENT (again, NBC, Wednesday nights, 9 PM PST). It's a Simon Cowell creation and it's really obvious he's had his fingers in this particular pie, but that doesn't sour the show... much. The concept is simple: bring your talent, whatever it is, perform before three celebrity judges, and hope you move on in the competition for a $1 Million prize.
The judges are Piers Morgan, the former editor of the London Daily Mirror; singing sensation Brandy; and Michael Knight... er... David Hasselhoff. The gimick is that these three have no clue as to what they'll be seeing next. It's part Gong Show, part Star Search. LITERALLY.
The acts are wide and wild. Competing on the premier were singers, dancers, a snap artist (the guy snaps his fingers to music - it's pretty wild), the world's oldest male stripper (yes, I said STRIPPER - and, omg, he moved on to the second round!), a rapping granny, a magician, a ventrilaquist, animal acts, and, oh yes, jugglers.
This is where it gets weird. The show is called AMERICA'S GOT TALENT. But it became really obvious that certain acts were less than acceptable. Trained dogs were ok, but trained birds were not. An eight year old stand-up comic was acceptable, but a ballon artist was not. And jugglers... oh my... Hasselhoff went OFF on jugglers. Although three of them moved on to the next round (I think, it got confusing).
To see what I'm blogging about, check this out:
http://www.nbc.com/Americas_Got_Talent/index.shtml#main
I'll continue on watching this, if only because I love variety shows. But it will be interesting to see what moves forward. And when all is said and done, I'm almost willing to bet money that the final winner will be a singer or band. And that it won't be a juggler.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Sample Plate or How Turntablism is Driving Me Mad!
BASS! HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
That line is stuck in my head. Anyone know where it's from?
I'll tell you...
The Album: "It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back."
The Song: "Bring the Noise"
The Artist: Public Enemy
I tell you that to tell you this: it's used somewhere else. The line.
I just don't remember where.
And THAT is driving me crazy.
I've gone on before about how obsessive I get about music. I love music. Every aspect of it. The rhythms, the melodies, the harmonies, the counterpoints. And in this day and age there's even more to it, especially if you listen to rap or techno.
Rap USED to be about a guy talking and a guy laying down some rhythm patterns with a keyboard (typically Casio, cause they're cheap) and/or a turntable via scratching (the term these days is turntablism and it's become one of the fastest growing musical instruments in this day and age). Now, a good DJ (turntablist) will sample bits and pieces of records to produce a desired effect: a rhythm pattern, a string of dialog... Really good DJ's are wizards when it comes to cutting and pasting together samples (my personal favorite is DJ Jazzy Jeff, see HE'S THE DJ, I'M THE RAPPER for examples of his expertise). What makes turntablism fun (for those who tolerate/like it in the first place) is trying to figure out where the samples come from originally.
Now I'm sure there HAS to be a web site out there that could be my roadmap to hunting up some of this stuff, but just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about...
Song: Flip Fantasia (Cantaloop) by Us3
The bulk of this song is a sample of Cantaloupe Island by Herbie Hancock. Us3 took the song, sped it up, put some live drums over it, funked it up some, and rapped over it all. It kicks major musical butt (even my wife who LOATHES rap likes this song).
Song: Pop Goes the Weasel by 3rd Bass
Depending upon which version you get ahold of, it has a couple different samples. The one's I noticed were Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. The other is something I've yet to identify by name, but is performed by Stevie Wonder. (I originally thought it was Superstition, but that's wrong.)
Where it really get's tricky is when rap artists sample other rap artists. Or other rap artist's samples... here's an example: again, Public Enemy, song is "Caught, Can We Get a Witness?" They sample a tune by Bomb the Bass called "Beat Dis." What I don't know is this: is the rhythm guitar sound they use original to Bomb the Bass, or did Bomb the Bass sample it from somewhere else, and PE thought it was cool and used it on their album?
Maybe I'm making more out of this than is necessary, but then again, I warned you: I'm obsessive about this stuff.
More examples:
Tone Loc's "Wild Thang" samples Van Halen's "Jamies Crying"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's "Girls are Nothing but Trouble" samples the theme from "I Dream of Jeannie." (there's a DUH!)
And of course, the sample everybody knows (and either loves or hates): MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" is blatently sampling Rick James "Superfreak."
At least Hammer admitted what he did. Unlike Vanilla Ice and his infamous sample on "Ice Ice Baby" of Queens "Under Pressure."
So... Anyone out there know of some more samples, or know of a site that explains where they come from? Let me know.
Please...
That line is stuck in my head. Anyone know where it's from?
I'll tell you...
The Album: "It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back."
The Song: "Bring the Noise"
The Artist: Public Enemy
I tell you that to tell you this: it's used somewhere else. The line.
I just don't remember where.
And THAT is driving me crazy.
I've gone on before about how obsessive I get about music. I love music. Every aspect of it. The rhythms, the melodies, the harmonies, the counterpoints. And in this day and age there's even more to it, especially if you listen to rap or techno.
Rap USED to be about a guy talking and a guy laying down some rhythm patterns with a keyboard (typically Casio, cause they're cheap) and/or a turntable via scratching (the term these days is turntablism and it's become one of the fastest growing musical instruments in this day and age). Now, a good DJ (turntablist) will sample bits and pieces of records to produce a desired effect: a rhythm pattern, a string of dialog... Really good DJ's are wizards when it comes to cutting and pasting together samples (my personal favorite is DJ Jazzy Jeff, see HE'S THE DJ, I'M THE RAPPER for examples of his expertise). What makes turntablism fun (for those who tolerate/like it in the first place) is trying to figure out where the samples come from originally.
Now I'm sure there HAS to be a web site out there that could be my roadmap to hunting up some of this stuff, but just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about...
Song: Flip Fantasia (Cantaloop) by Us3
The bulk of this song is a sample of Cantaloupe Island by Herbie Hancock. Us3 took the song, sped it up, put some live drums over it, funked it up some, and rapped over it all. It kicks major musical butt (even my wife who LOATHES rap likes this song).
Song: Pop Goes the Weasel by 3rd Bass
Depending upon which version you get ahold of, it has a couple different samples. The one's I noticed were Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. The other is something I've yet to identify by name, but is performed by Stevie Wonder. (I originally thought it was Superstition, but that's wrong.)
Where it really get's tricky is when rap artists sample other rap artists. Or other rap artist's samples... here's an example: again, Public Enemy, song is "Caught, Can We Get a Witness?" They sample a tune by Bomb the Bass called "Beat Dis." What I don't know is this: is the rhythm guitar sound they use original to Bomb the Bass, or did Bomb the Bass sample it from somewhere else, and PE thought it was cool and used it on their album?
Maybe I'm making more out of this than is necessary, but then again, I warned you: I'm obsessive about this stuff.
More examples:
Tone Loc's "Wild Thang" samples Van Halen's "Jamies Crying"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's "Girls are Nothing but Trouble" samples the theme from "I Dream of Jeannie." (there's a DUH!)
And of course, the sample everybody knows (and either loves or hates): MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" is blatently sampling Rick James "Superfreak."
At least Hammer admitted what he did. Unlike Vanilla Ice and his infamous sample on "Ice Ice Baby" of Queens "Under Pressure."
So... Anyone out there know of some more samples, or know of a site that explains where they come from? Let me know.
Please...
Thursday, June 08, 2006
The Art of Aging or How Doth the Timepiece Spin
I'm staring at the calendar. It says it's Thursday, June 8th, 2006. This means that today is my fifteenth wedding anniversary.
Let me repeat that: it's my FIFTEENTH wedding anniversary.
I'd say it again, but the horse is long past dead.
How is it that I've been married fifteen years already? I just met this girl at a speech tournament, what? Half an hour ago? She's so cool! She did this piece called "The .38" and in it this girl is assaulted and dragged down stairs and shot and it's really sick and really scary but she did it SO COOL! Yeah, I'm a sick twist but she doesn't know that yet. She'll probably find out tomorrow when we have...
Orange juice and bagels. What any speech geek needs to sustain the creative juices and quick wit. She says she likes the way I did Jabberwocky. Hates the author though. Calls him a drug addicted pedophile. Hmm... I really like this gal, though. I'll have to write her when I get back to campus. And make sure I make it to more tournaments. I like this speech stuff...
She wrote me back! She signed it "Love!" Oh boy...
Whirlwind of time... and suddenly we're getting married. After all the long distance phone calls and the quick weekend visits and the fights with my parents and the fights with her parents and all the other hoohaw... it's happening... it's really happening... she's said yes... she's going to be MY wife... oh boy... oh wow... Nothing fancy... immediate friends and family... and DAVE and Aaron made it!! He said he got the invite at almost literally the last moment. Luckily, he and Aaron had to go pick up a truck somewhere and we/us happened to be between the truck and home (Butte, Montana, can ya believe it?). I'm so thrilled...
... And we're moving to Oregon City... in-laws seem to think I've got a chance at a better job over here. I liked the paint store. Like Jim and Lupe, Vaughn and Sherrie, Bob...Playing Euchre til three in the morning in Jim and Lupe's basement, listening to Pink Floyd, ZZ Top, George "Thoroughly Good" (and no recreational pharmaceuticals... wow)...
... I'm hired!! I'll be the data entry person for ALLEGRO, the largest independent classical music distributor in North America. Not bad for a company that's basically working out of a commercial garage... Oh, we're moving? Ok, that's cool... It's out near the airport? Well that doubles my drive time... Oh well... Oh, you want me to do customer service now? Ok, that's cool... you need a data entry person?... Steph could do this job... She can?!! Cool! We work together! We play together! We... have a kid!?!?!?!!! oh wooooow..... I can't wait to meet
... Douglas Ryan James, born 7:00 pm April 11, 1996, via C-section. I can't believe the nurse, Maria, all four foot nothing of her, was up on top of Steph, pounding - almost jumping up and down - on her, trying to get Doug to let go of Steph's ribs. Doug, being the polite boy he is peed all over the doctor... that's my boy...
... tired of this job and it's bs... Chris and Kat say they've got a lead for me in Seattle. I've got to try. Steph's hesitant, and I should listen to her, but Chris hasn't let me down before....
... there's a first for everything. No job. Barely an interview. Now what do I do?... Dig in and try.... Yes, I have data entry experience... I'm hired!? oh boy... what do you mean, we have ANOTHER inventory?!?! THAT'S THE FIFTH ONE IN THE LAST FIVE WEEKS!!! I am so out of here...
... Think you could use an experience customer service rep? You are hiring?!?! ME?!?! oh wow... THANK YOU, Vince and Rico and Joe... THANK YOU... You won't regret it...
... you're letting me go?... But... Steph's pregnant again... NOW what do I do... dig in and try... Mark, I'll admit, I've got no experience, but I'll give it the old college try... You'll hire me?! Oh boy! I'm a crane inspector! oh boy...
... there's something wrong with the baby... Steph is freaking, and I'm not far behind... and this nurse!! Ugh!! She going to check for amniotic fluid, and if it's not there, she's going to send us home... CAN'T YOU SEE THERE'S A PROBLEM HERE?!?!... fluid check is positive?! We're staying... Steph goes on the Pit Drip to try and induce contractions... we've gone this route before... what's wrong my baby? Alexandra Noel, born March 14, 1999, not with a roar but with a half-whimper... I thought babies were supposed to cry when they're born? Helps with oxygen and blood flow... like butterflies... you can't help a butterfly escape its cocoon if you want it to live. The struggle to free itself forces "blood" into it's wings, strengthening them. Without that struggle, the butterfly will die, because it can't use it's wings. Can't move, can't escape... why are my baby's eyes crossed...
... doc says it's normal... in a pig's eye it's normal...
... Mark, I hate to say it, but I can't do this work any more. I gave it the old college try and... what's that... thank you for saving you from letting me go?... Oh good...
... 2000! Shouldn't we be making contact with divinities out near Jupiter? Here I am worrying about getting a job... Yes, I have data entry experience... Excel? I LOVE Excel!... a laundry, hm? Cleanroom laundry? Sounds interesting, sure why not... Data entry, customer service admin assistant, AND quality assurance admin assist? Sure, why not... oh, document control AS WELL?!?! Um... ok...
... And Jonathan Drake joins us on September 6, 2001... "This is what a NORMAL placenta looks like"... thanks doc, for verifying that you KNOW that something was and is wrong with my daughter, and the proof was at her birth...
... oh my sweet God... They've crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center... ANOTHER ONE!??!!! And one for the Pentagon... and another goes down in Pennsylvania...
... Rett Syndrome... why that of all things...
... WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE LETTING ME GO?!?! WHY?!?!!! For not sweeping the warehouse?!?! When am I supposed to do the job you hired me for?!?!? Sweep the warehouse... good riddance to this joint... happy Mother's Day...
...Rico?!?! Is that you?... Coffee? Sure... Customer service? You know me... Ah, I can't AFFORD to do this gig, if that's the way the insurance works. I'm sorry, but I just can't do it...
...Do I have call center experience? well, not true call center experience... what do you mean she doesn't think I'm qualified? Let me talk to her, explain my "experience"... I'm hired! Temp work, but oh well! I get to pay for Christmas!... have to let me go... oh... ok....
... Yes, I have data entry experience... a metal fab company, hm?... sounds interesting... nice and quiet... and I've got at least ONE person interested in my music...
... ADP's on the phone?...Would I like to work for you full time?!! Is that a joke?! I am SO there...
... Would I like to live next door to Mom and Dad? Is that a trick question?...
... What do you mean we no longer work for ADP?... Oh, a BILLION dollar buy-out! Wow!... and he's got $6 BILLION backing him!?!?! Holy....
... What do you mean it's June 8th, 2006... I just met this gal, what? Half an hour ago...
Let me repeat that: it's my FIFTEENTH wedding anniversary.
I'd say it again, but the horse is long past dead.
How is it that I've been married fifteen years already? I just met this girl at a speech tournament, what? Half an hour ago? She's so cool! She did this piece called "The .38" and in it this girl is assaulted and dragged down stairs and shot and it's really sick and really scary but she did it SO COOL! Yeah, I'm a sick twist but she doesn't know that yet. She'll probably find out tomorrow when we have...
Orange juice and bagels. What any speech geek needs to sustain the creative juices and quick wit. She says she likes the way I did Jabberwocky. Hates the author though. Calls him a drug addicted pedophile. Hmm... I really like this gal, though. I'll have to write her when I get back to campus. And make sure I make it to more tournaments. I like this speech stuff...
She wrote me back! She signed it "Love!" Oh boy...
Whirlwind of time... and suddenly we're getting married. After all the long distance phone calls and the quick weekend visits and the fights with my parents and the fights with her parents and all the other hoohaw... it's happening... it's really happening... she's said yes... she's going to be MY wife... oh boy... oh wow... Nothing fancy... immediate friends and family... and DAVE and Aaron made it!! He said he got the invite at almost literally the last moment. Luckily, he and Aaron had to go pick up a truck somewhere and we/us happened to be between the truck and home (Butte, Montana, can ya believe it?). I'm so thrilled...
... And we're moving to Oregon City... in-laws seem to think I've got a chance at a better job over here. I liked the paint store. Like Jim and Lupe, Vaughn and Sherrie, Bob...Playing Euchre til three in the morning in Jim and Lupe's basement, listening to Pink Floyd, ZZ Top, George "Thoroughly Good" (and no recreational pharmaceuticals... wow)...
... I'm hired!! I'll be the data entry person for ALLEGRO, the largest independent classical music distributor in North America. Not bad for a company that's basically working out of a commercial garage... Oh, we're moving? Ok, that's cool... It's out near the airport? Well that doubles my drive time... Oh well... Oh, you want me to do customer service now? Ok, that's cool... you need a data entry person?... Steph could do this job... She can?!! Cool! We work together! We play together! We... have a kid!?!?!?!!! oh wooooow..... I can't wait to meet
... Douglas Ryan James, born 7:00 pm April 11, 1996, via C-section. I can't believe the nurse, Maria, all four foot nothing of her, was up on top of Steph, pounding - almost jumping up and down - on her, trying to get Doug to let go of Steph's ribs. Doug, being the polite boy he is peed all over the doctor... that's my boy...
... tired of this job and it's bs... Chris and Kat say they've got a lead for me in Seattle. I've got to try. Steph's hesitant, and I should listen to her, but Chris hasn't let me down before....
... there's a first for everything. No job. Barely an interview. Now what do I do?... Dig in and try.... Yes, I have data entry experience... I'm hired!? oh boy... what do you mean, we have ANOTHER inventory?!?! THAT'S THE FIFTH ONE IN THE LAST FIVE WEEKS!!! I am so out of here...
... Think you could use an experience customer service rep? You are hiring?!?! ME?!?! oh wow... THANK YOU, Vince and Rico and Joe... THANK YOU... You won't regret it...
... you're letting me go?... But... Steph's pregnant again... NOW what do I do... dig in and try... Mark, I'll admit, I've got no experience, but I'll give it the old college try... You'll hire me?! Oh boy! I'm a crane inspector! oh boy...
... there's something wrong with the baby... Steph is freaking, and I'm not far behind... and this nurse!! Ugh!! She going to check for amniotic fluid, and if it's not there, she's going to send us home... CAN'T YOU SEE THERE'S A PROBLEM HERE?!?!... fluid check is positive?! We're staying... Steph goes on the Pit Drip to try and induce contractions... we've gone this route before... what's wrong my baby? Alexandra Noel, born March 14, 1999, not with a roar but with a half-whimper... I thought babies were supposed to cry when they're born? Helps with oxygen and blood flow... like butterflies... you can't help a butterfly escape its cocoon if you want it to live. The struggle to free itself forces "blood" into it's wings, strengthening them. Without that struggle, the butterfly will die, because it can't use it's wings. Can't move, can't escape... why are my baby's eyes crossed...
... doc says it's normal... in a pig's eye it's normal...
... Mark, I hate to say it, but I can't do this work any more. I gave it the old college try and... what's that... thank you for saving you from letting me go?... Oh good...
... 2000! Shouldn't we be making contact with divinities out near Jupiter? Here I am worrying about getting a job... Yes, I have data entry experience... Excel? I LOVE Excel!... a laundry, hm? Cleanroom laundry? Sounds interesting, sure why not... Data entry, customer service admin assistant, AND quality assurance admin assist? Sure, why not... oh, document control AS WELL?!?! Um... ok...
... And Jonathan Drake joins us on September 6, 2001... "This is what a NORMAL placenta looks like"... thanks doc, for verifying that you KNOW that something was and is wrong with my daughter, and the proof was at her birth...
... oh my sweet God... They've crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center... ANOTHER ONE!??!!! And one for the Pentagon... and another goes down in Pennsylvania...
... Rett Syndrome... why that of all things...
... WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE LETTING ME GO?!?! WHY?!?!!! For not sweeping the warehouse?!?! When am I supposed to do the job you hired me for?!?!? Sweep the warehouse... good riddance to this joint... happy Mother's Day...
...Rico?!?! Is that you?... Coffee? Sure... Customer service? You know me... Ah, I can't AFFORD to do this gig, if that's the way the insurance works. I'm sorry, but I just can't do it...
...Do I have call center experience? well, not true call center experience... what do you mean she doesn't think I'm qualified? Let me talk to her, explain my "experience"... I'm hired! Temp work, but oh well! I get to pay for Christmas!... have to let me go... oh... ok....
... Yes, I have data entry experience... a metal fab company, hm?... sounds interesting... nice and quiet... and I've got at least ONE person interested in my music...
... ADP's on the phone?...Would I like to work for you full time?!! Is that a joke?! I am SO there...
... Would I like to live next door to Mom and Dad? Is that a trick question?...
... What do you mean we no longer work for ADP?... Oh, a BILLION dollar buy-out! Wow!... and he's got $6 BILLION backing him!?!?! Holy....
... What do you mean it's June 8th, 2006... I just met this gal, what? Half an hour ago...
Sunday, June 04, 2006
X-Men 3 - Last Stand or Calm Before the Storm
There's been a lot of hullabaloo about X-Men III: The Last Stand. (Not as much as DaVinci Code, but that's another post). Is it the last X-Men movie? Did Brett Ratner ruin the series? If so, can it be salvaged?
Personally, I don't think this is the last film. I think it was a "filler" film, which is not a good reason to make a film, but it does what it's supposed to do: entertain.
X-Men III: Last Stand centers around the premise that a pharmaceutical company has discovered a "cure" for mutation. This cure happens to be secretions from another mutant. On one side is the ever-afraid humans, seeking to destroy (or at least control) that which they don't understand. On another side is Magneto, long time friend of Charles Xavier, long time foe of the X-Men. He and his Brotherhood, heartily oppose the cure, claiming the humans will use it as a weapon against mutantkind in order to maintain the current power structure (in this, Magneto is not wholly wrong). On a third side (or rather, caught in the middle, as usual) are the X-Men, who's goal is harmonious existence between human- and mutantkind. Led by Charles Xavier, they battle those foes who would destroy mutants for the sake of their mutation, as well as mutants who would try to destroy those humans. "Can't we all just get along?" is an implied battlecry for the muties in black.
The sub-plot is a carry-over from X-Men 2: X-Men United. In that film, Jean Grey, a powerful mentalist and student of Xavier's, has died in a sacrifice to save the rest of the team from a flood from a burst dam. Her love, Scott Summers, Cyclops, has not taken this well at all. Scott leaves the school because he thinks he's hearing Jean call him. Traveling back to Alkali Lake, he can't handle the voices and lets loose with a powerful optic blast into the lake. This burst release Jean, like the Lady in the Lake, and they are reunited... briefly.
We find out that Jean is a Class 5 mutant, the most powerful kind, and that Professor X put some heavy duty mental blocks on her when she was a child, to protect her (and the rest of the world) from her tremendous power. In the process, he created a schism, a secondary personality called the Phoenix, a personality of all passion and rage with no restraint. It was implied in X2 that events in X1 weakened those protective barriers and that the finale of X2 burst them. So when the X-Men recover Jean, she is in constant battle with Phoenix, trying desperately to keep it under control.
Ok, purists are going to see this movie and be disappointed (they always are). "That's not how Jean became Phoenix!" You know what? You're right. That's NOT how Jean became Phoenix... in the books. But this is not the books. It's the movies, and the movies have to do things very differently.
In the books, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler and Collosus were recruited by Xavier to help save Cyclops, Havoc, Iceman, Polaris, and Angel from a killer island named Krakoa. That wouldn't have worked for a movie. In the books, Jean becomes Phoenix flying a space shuttle back to Earth through a deadly solar flare. While they could have done that in a movie, it would have been expensive. In the books, Kitty Pryde is recruited in a bidding war between Xavier and Emma Frost, White Queen of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. In the movie, she was recruited, but without the drama and action that went with Kitty in the book series.
The movies are a universe unto themselves. They function well against each other, even this movie. I'm a little disturbed by how certain characters react to certain situations in this film (specifically Rogue), but by and large I feel the series is not ruined, as some opponents have decried. Brett Ratner, better known for the Rush Hour movies, has made a film that works (and I feel works well) within the framework built and established by Bryan Singer.
Some opponents are upset with the overnumber of mutants and the lack of background. They're upset by the amount of explosions and not enough explanation. To those folks I say this: IT IS A COMIC BOOK MOVIE. Most of these characters only need explanation if you haven't seen the other two movies (or haven't read the books).
There are only a couple of blatant errors that I could see on the initial viewing, and one of those errors was a book vs. movie change that I personally didn't care for regarding Juggernaught. The other is regarding Angel and flight speed. I'll just leave it at that and let you, the audience, decide if I'm being picky.
Again, I thought this was a great movie. If you go, stay for all the credits. There's a little twist after the credits roll that tells me we haven't seen the last of the X-Men on film.
Four and a half stars (out of five).
Personally, I don't think this is the last film. I think it was a "filler" film, which is not a good reason to make a film, but it does what it's supposed to do: entertain.
X-Men III: Last Stand centers around the premise that a pharmaceutical company has discovered a "cure" for mutation. This cure happens to be secretions from another mutant. On one side is the ever-afraid humans, seeking to destroy (or at least control) that which they don't understand. On another side is Magneto, long time friend of Charles Xavier, long time foe of the X-Men. He and his Brotherhood, heartily oppose the cure, claiming the humans will use it as a weapon against mutantkind in order to maintain the current power structure (in this, Magneto is not wholly wrong). On a third side (or rather, caught in the middle, as usual) are the X-Men, who's goal is harmonious existence between human- and mutantkind. Led by Charles Xavier, they battle those foes who would destroy mutants for the sake of their mutation, as well as mutants who would try to destroy those humans. "Can't we all just get along?" is an implied battlecry for the muties in black.
The sub-plot is a carry-over from X-Men 2: X-Men United. In that film, Jean Grey, a powerful mentalist and student of Xavier's, has died in a sacrifice to save the rest of the team from a flood from a burst dam. Her love, Scott Summers, Cyclops, has not taken this well at all. Scott leaves the school because he thinks he's hearing Jean call him. Traveling back to Alkali Lake, he can't handle the voices and lets loose with a powerful optic blast into the lake. This burst release Jean, like the Lady in the Lake, and they are reunited... briefly.
We find out that Jean is a Class 5 mutant, the most powerful kind, and that Professor X put some heavy duty mental blocks on her when she was a child, to protect her (and the rest of the world) from her tremendous power. In the process, he created a schism, a secondary personality called the Phoenix, a personality of all passion and rage with no restraint. It was implied in X2 that events in X1 weakened those protective barriers and that the finale of X2 burst them. So when the X-Men recover Jean, she is in constant battle with Phoenix, trying desperately to keep it under control.
Ok, purists are going to see this movie and be disappointed (they always are). "That's not how Jean became Phoenix!" You know what? You're right. That's NOT how Jean became Phoenix... in the books. But this is not the books. It's the movies, and the movies have to do things very differently.
In the books, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler and Collosus were recruited by Xavier to help save Cyclops, Havoc, Iceman, Polaris, and Angel from a killer island named Krakoa. That wouldn't have worked for a movie. In the books, Jean becomes Phoenix flying a space shuttle back to Earth through a deadly solar flare. While they could have done that in a movie, it would have been expensive. In the books, Kitty Pryde is recruited in a bidding war between Xavier and Emma Frost, White Queen of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. In the movie, she was recruited, but without the drama and action that went with Kitty in the book series.
The movies are a universe unto themselves. They function well against each other, even this movie. I'm a little disturbed by how certain characters react to certain situations in this film (specifically Rogue), but by and large I feel the series is not ruined, as some opponents have decried. Brett Ratner, better known for the Rush Hour movies, has made a film that works (and I feel works well) within the framework built and established by Bryan Singer.
Some opponents are upset with the overnumber of mutants and the lack of background. They're upset by the amount of explosions and not enough explanation. To those folks I say this: IT IS A COMIC BOOK MOVIE. Most of these characters only need explanation if you haven't seen the other two movies (or haven't read the books).
There are only a couple of blatant errors that I could see on the initial viewing, and one of those errors was a book vs. movie change that I personally didn't care for regarding Juggernaught. The other is regarding Angel and flight speed. I'll just leave it at that and let you, the audience, decide if I'm being picky.
Again, I thought this was a great movie. If you go, stay for all the credits. There's a little twist after the credits roll that tells me we haven't seen the last of the X-Men on film.
Four and a half stars (out of five).
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