Release date: July 23, 2014

I AM SO THERE.

Taeng's Down-and-Dirty Review: GODZILLA 2014

 GODZILLA

I'm kinda lukewarm on the reboot of our favorite kaiju. Its different from the first 'boot' by Roland Emmerich, which it seemed was widely panned. I, for one, enjoyed the rollercoaster ride it took me on (the 1998 movie) but I do see the point of the negative reactions, mainly to two facts: 1) The design kinda sucked. It made sense, given the history at the beginning of the movie but it still kinda stank 2) Godzilla was always on the run & hiding VS attacking and mashing foam buildings...and HE was a SHE.
Anyway, the reboot is WAAAY more serious in tone. Gone are the funny characters and the close calls they get into. No high-speed chases and no targeting New York, for once (although our beloved Waikiki gets trashed). This monster movie takes itself VERY seriously. If you smiled at any time during this movie, it was UNINTENTIONAL.
This seriousness can be good and bad. Good because there is finally a Godzilla movie that isn't as hokey as all previous efforts (even the Japanese ones where its OBVIOUS there's a man in a suit). But then again the "hokey-ness" had its charms.
Its a bad thing because, well, there are no jokes and no real levity. Dark is what it is..or maybe a shade or two of gray.

THIS MOVIE IS SO DARK, I HAD TO USE MY FLASHLIGHT..

Add to that is the fact that I only liked ONE character in the movie: Bryan Cranston's Joe Brody. I was rooting for him, feeling for his loss and his determination to find out the truth. But the for 2/3 of the movie its his son, Ford, who is supposed to take the lead. But you know what? So little of his story as a young boy is revealed that I really had no feelings for him. He suffered the same loss as his father and they showed his reaction to this loss...but with Ford we pass over that by fast-forwarding 15 years so that now he's a grown man. Add to that he's pretty stone-faced all the time..we don't even see him cry when he supposed to. Maybe its the army training he had...who knows? But to me it made him robotic...I couldn't get behind him like I did his father.

Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody. Dude I was SOOO rooting for you!

But I wasn't rooting for your son! How sad!

As for the Big G himself, the design is much better this time around and the way they weaved him into the old film footage was a nice touch. And the story about what they were actually doing with those nukes...genius. Adding more monsters was also a nice touch and the grand scale in which we see the kaiju's wake of destruction was cool. The fights themselves seems a bit clumsy and dark (alot of the fights were during the night) but the final jawbreaker move was great.
Yet I am still lukewarm at this reboot because it seemed off-balance emotionally and not quite satisfying when it came to the monster fights.
Bottom line: This is monster movie that takes itself very seriously. For some its a welcome surprise (critic love this movie) but for me it wasn't as thrilling as I'd wanted it to be. I was waiting for something that would make me go "WHOOOOAAA". It never happened.
Not that I could do a better job, mind you. Director Gareth Edwards does a good job...its the characters, both big and small, that I have a problem with.
Would I buy it on blu?  Well, "lukewarm" means it could be yes or no. I really have no idea.

OUT FROM LEFT FIELD: W E R

Hey there, I'm back again with another Out-From-Left-Field movie review. This time its a horror movie that actually hit the mark: Wer.

Short for 'Werewolf', maybe? That's what I thought at first.

But wait let's take a step back a bit so I can regale you on just WHY I was even interested in this: It would be the very hot A.J. Cook of TV's "Criminal Minds" fame. I've always liked her...I even sat thru one of her earlier flicks about alien abduction. I just like watching her. End of story.

A.J. Cook. Yes, please!

 

So anyway I went into this with no prior knowledge other than AJ Cook's hotness so when the story started to unfold,I was intrigued. I was expecting some sort of low-budget monster romp time-suck of a movie. Turns out it was pretty damned good.

A family of 3 (husband, wife & son) vacationing in Paris get brutally slaughtered one night by a very hairy animal-like creature.  The mother  barely survives and claims they were attacked by a hairy thing that walked upright..she claims it was "eating her baby alive' 

GROSS! CREEPY!

It also just so happens that they were filimg their camping vacation so there is some evidence of someTHING attacking them.

The police officers arrest a suspect with a serious medical condition who lives less than 2 miles away. And he's hairy.

You know what they say about guys with big hands...

Attorney Kate Moore (AJ Cook) comes to the man's defense. Joining her are Eric (he's the information dealer, gets all the facts) and Gavin (forensics..and a previous love interest of Kate's). The suspect in custody is named Talan Gwynek (keeeeeen name!) and the dude's a scarey looking sasquatch of a man, bearded and yes, hairy.

Eric, played by Vik Sahay (Remember the TV series CHUCK?)

Gavin, played by Simon Quarterman

Things start at a slow-boil from there and escalates to absolute ape-$h*t proportions. I mean, I thought I was watching Law & Order until the beastly reveal...then I'm like "Oh damn, I forgot it was supposed to be horror flick!"

Obviously, the operation DID NOT go well...

There are a few side story type things thrown in to justify some people's actions, while condemning others (namely the police & the government...things are corrupt even in France?? Mon dieu!) but I tended to file those events away becuz I was waiting for more info..I really wanted to know if it was "true" about Talan. I also felt for Kate as she tries to give Talan the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty and all that.

The last act is something of pure WTF...I mean the events leading up to it pretty much made it a little predictable but it still managed to find a little twist to make it not so cliche. But then again, not much of this (other than the 3 or 4 "jump scares" that were predictable) is cliche. Its a fresh take on the werewolf lore, explained by science, which somehow makes it seem possible. It seemed so.."X-Files"-ish to me but in a good way.

I know I'm not saying a whole lot (how unusual for me, right?) but I DO NOT want give anything away.

The camera work is a bit shaky, more documentary-style (it is NEVER bolted down) and there is also closed-circuit cameras used. Some may think that it detracts from the movie-watching experience but I'm used to it.

All in all a pretty fun romp. The acting is just enough and not over-the-top. You really feel for Talan as a misunderstood misfit. AJ Cook is fine as always and she spouts only ONE s-bomb in the whole movie. The special effects were definitely high-quality stuff but used sparingly. The morgue scene was especially chilling, as it shows the aftermath of the vacationer's attack.
Now the big question:Would I buy it on bluray? Probably not. As much as I enjoyed the movie, there's no surprises if watched again. But nonetheless it wasn't a waste of my time, either. Now when that 2nd Sharknado movie comes we'll see an actual time-suck movie in action.

Swiss surrealist, HR Giger, passed away Monday, May 12th

H. R. Giger, a Swiss painter, sculptor and set designer who created the title character in the 1979 hit film “Alien,” died on Monday in Zurich. He was 74.

Hans Rudolf Giger, artist and set designer, born 5 February 1940; died 12 May 2014

Taeng808's Rant: The South Korean Ferry Disaster

(Thanks to Mr Random Eclectics for letting me post my thoughts. He doesn't necessarily agree with everything I say so this doesn't reflect his views or opinions. It's all me.)

I'm feeling a little rant-y today...need to blow off some steam. As the site name implies, the following are random thoughts that are in no particular order. It starts wherever my line of thought does.

When I first heard about the Sewol-ho ferry incident, it didn't seem like it was that big of a deal...until you find out the details.

Now, to be truthful, I wasn't aware of the sheer scope of this snafu until I realized, quite selfishly I admit, that my kpop entertainment had stopped being updated. Sure there are some music releases but the variety shows had stopped and the bigger comeback acts were nowhere to be seen.

So in an effort to find out what was going on, I checked kpop sites and visited a Korean news channel on YouTube.

The news was devastating. Seriously...I couldn't even fathom what it was I was seeing. Just had a hard time processing it.

200+ students...gone. TWO-THIRDS of the Junior class...gone. WHAT?

The footage is difficult to watch when you know it doesn't end well.

And then there's the footage of the captain of the vessel entering a lifeboat as the passengers await on a capsizing ship. That just pissed me off to no end. Then we find out that he wasn't even at the helm, it was one of his suboordinates.

The passengers were told to stay put, presumably by crew members. Meanwhile most of the crew members didn't stay put.

There's even footage retrieved off of a recovered student's cellphone...I don't think anyone in the footage survived. That's a hard thing to watch. One of the students is heard leaving a voicemail saying "I love you both" to his parents.

The vice principal of Danwon High School who was rescued from the ferry, commited suicide out of guilt.

One student gave up his life jacket to another and didn't make it.

Teachers (at least two) rescued some students and went to back to help and didn't make it.

Three crew members died helping people escape.

Most of the crew have been arrested, the ferry company is being investigated for making modifications to the ferry but cutting corners on safety measures that go with those modifications. And supposedly they didn't take the time to properly fasten down the heavy equipment in the cargo bay so when the ferry met with rough seas causing it to turn, all the equipment shifted to one side, effectively tipping the ferry to capsize rapidly.

At one point I wanted to beat the sh-t out of the (former) captain. But I believe the sheer loss of life weighs heavier and hurts more than any punch anyone can deliver....times INFINITY. The most damning person will be...himself.

Support continues to pour in in the form of donations from idols, entertainment companies, cast and crews of dramas, comedies & variety shows, actors & actresses as well as from around the world. And these people also visit Ansan, where a memorial has been set up for the victims. Many are relatives, many are not.

This incident had affected an entire nation and I finally understood just how devastating this is. But the realization and understanding (such as it is) doesn't dampen the loss or my perception of it. I do not have a personal stake in this incident but I am affected, regardless. Yes, it because I'm not getting my entertainment updates...but that is NOT the only reason. Some of us are just good at hiding things like emotions.

The Yellow Ribbon campaign was started to bring the mourning people of Korea together through the belief that “a small, unified movement can create a big miracle.” 

Only two other national/global incident ever affected me like this: 9/11 and the Sendai tsunami. But somehow this feels worse...probably because it could've been avoided. It's frustrating to think about.

Survivors were rescued on the Thursday & Friday the ferry began sinking. No living being has been recovered since.

I have no words to describe the sadness.


From THE KOREA HERALD:

[Kim Seong-kon] To young students under the sea

Dear young students under the sea, please forgive us for not being able to rescue you from the ill-fated ferry Sewol. As you have found out by now, we adults are so incredibly incompetent and irresponsible that you cannot count on us in times of emergency. When the disaster happened, we were hopelessly sloppy in the rescue mission, press releases and broadcasting. And we were flustered by the wrong information about the passengers.

To your disappointment, we were incredibly slow to act as well, even though we were notoriously quick-tempered. For example, we wasted the crucial first two hours when the ferry was still afloat and the first day when the sea was relatively calm and the current was rather placid. We lost the golden opportunity to rescue you from the sinking ship. Instead of launching a prompt, large-scale rescue operation, we just moved around this way and that in confusion, not knowing what to do. As a result, not a single passenger was rescued after the second day. Our incompetence and tardiness broke the hearts of your parents and siblings, who were desperately waiting for your safe return.

Dear young students under the sea, we were also appalled to learn that the captain and his crew abandoned the ship and fled without any attempt to rescue you. How he could be so irresponsible and cowardly is beyond us, but surely this reflects a chronic problem of our society. When the Korean War broke out, for example, our political leader hastily escaped to a local city, destroying the Han River Bridge, so no one else could escape from Seoul. It was good to see President Park rush to the accident site and meet with the victims’ angry parents to comfort them, which obviously was not an easy thing to do.

Dear children trapped in the sunken ship, please accept our heartfelt apologies for the tragic accident. We should not have let the ferry leave port and begin the perilous voyage in the first place. Reportedly, the departure was delayed for a few hours due to foggy weather. Then, before the departure, we should have checked whether emergency gear such as life vests, lifeboats and emergency sliding devices properly worked. But we were completely negligent. A ferry full of young students should be treated like a treasure ship to be handled with extra care. Instead, we treated you as if you were cheap cargo on board at a group discount fare. Our indifference culminated in assigning a 69-year-old substitute captain to your ferry.

Dear young students under the dark sea, we are so ashamed to confess that we were not prepared for such a disaster at all. When Japan was hit by the tsunami a few years ago, our newspaper columnists derided the Japanese people by writing, “The Japanese are people who follow the manual faithfully. Therefore, when an accident not described in the manual happens, they are at a loss.” Now we come to realize that we do not even have a manual to follow, or ignore the manual if there actually is one. Besides, the Japanese disaster was a natural one, but ours was caused by human error.

Dear young students under the cold sea, we are also ashamed of ourselves, because we do not possess the proper sense of safety. Traditionally, we think that being cautious about safety is not manly. In order not to look like sissies, therefore, we have always deliberately ignored safety measures. Consequently, we let you go down under the deep, dark sea without a chance to be rescued.

Now we belatedly realize that the Ministry of Security and Public Administration should change its name to the Ministry of Safety and Public Administration, so it can concentrate on the safety of the people, rather than on national security. The Ministry of Education should also abolish totally unnecessary student field trips once and for all, so this kind of tragic accident won’t happen again in the future.

Dear children, please understand that our Coast Guards and divers did their best to rescue you despite high tides and roaring waves. Nevertheless, it was a shame that South Korea, a country famous for its shipbuilding and advanced technology, was totally incompetent when faced with the disaster. We hope that the sunken ferry is not a microcosm of our society. We now realize that it is not K-pop or IT that makes Korea an advanced country. We should overhaul the system and effectuate the Sewol-ho law immediately, so no similar disaster happens in the future and no sea captain abandons his ship before rescuing all his passengers.

Dear young students under the sea, we adults are grief-stricken and will suffer an unmitigated sense of guilt for the rest of our lives. You may not be with us anymore, but surely you will live in our hearts in the years to come.

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.

OUT FROM LEFT FIELD: LEGENDARY TOMB OF THE DRAGON...or something...

Let's make it a double feature, shall we? I think the writing is much better for this one...

This time its another creature feature...and I loooove monster movies. This one's not overly gory and really not all that scarey, either but I enjoyed the somewhat disjointed ride it took me on. Boasting (?) a cast of nobodies (Dolph Lundgren included, altho' for some odd reason I have a soft spot for the dopey guy), but at least it kept my interest because of the passion that Scott Adkins' character Travis portrays. He also kinda looks like a beefy Ben Stiller. That could be a deterrent for some of you..

Beefy Ben Stiller-like Scott Adkins as Travis

The name of the movie is "Legendary Tomb of the Dragon" and it seems to be a joint British/China/(maybe)U.S. project. Don't let the "dragon" part fool you..its not what you think...sorta.
The movie starts off with an expedition in-progress introducing the aformentioned Travis and his team: animal pathologist Katie, Tech Wiz Brandon (a Chinese guy..stereotype? Maybe...), their guide, some French dude who was quite panicky, Chuck (don't know this forte) and Dolph Lundgren as egotistical mercenary/security Harker.

Dolph...still working after these...decades...

I just realized that half the characters do not have last names...

The expedition is tracking what seems to be a large animal and come across a fresh kill so they stake it out in case the animal comes back. It does, and a conflict ensues over Travis' plan to tag the animal versus Harker's plan to take it down. The resulting clusterf**k ends with Chuck Nolastname's untimely demise.

Fast forward (no timeframe given) and we see that Travis is pacing in his office, a couple of lawsuits strewn across his desk shows the fallout from the expedition. A knock at the door hails a suit-wearing gent and Travis smells lawyer all over him...and he's not wrong. But this lawyer has nothing to do with Travis' current problems, as he comes bearing footage of something Travis has never seen before. And we're off to get the band (what's left of them) back together on another cryptozid hunt.

Travis, Katie and Brandon arrive in China and meet up with lawyer, Doug and his translator (the VERY cute) Bai Xi. Together they set off to set up base on the riverbank where the creature-in-question has been seen. The team is essentially here to find out what has been attacking the local townspeople and well as workers on the nearby oil pipeline.

Yang Caiyu as Bai Xi...forget the rest...

Meanwhile another attack occurs and Travis, Doug and Bai Xu head for the attack site. But guess who's already set up camp? Harker, with Lan Zeng, she's a spunky Chinese scientist unfortunately assigned to help Harker track the beast.

Witnesses to an attack: Ooh, that's gotta hurt...

 A tug-of-war game between Travis and Harker is renewed and of course, Harker can only follow Travis as he and his team figure out what the creature is doing, where it might live, etc. Clues are left in the creature's wake and it seems only Travis' team knows how to decipher them. Many more clashes between these two alpha males occur, one ending in Lan Zeng being abandoned by Harker's men when the creature attacks. Lan Zeng ends up joining Travis' team as a big f**k you to Harker.

Tee-totaller no more: Lang Zeng takes a swig after Harker's men abandon her during an attack.

Eventually we get to see the creature and, well, things get wrapped up fairly quickly after that.

Now this is by no means a big-budget flick, although the camerawork was above average for this type of fare. Acting was passable..and Lundgren can play a greasy self-centered egomanic well. I really wanted to punch him myself. This was just one of those really, REALLY out-in-left-field, under-the-radar movies...and some will say it should stay that way. But b-movies are what keeps the industry going when Hollywood churns out less-than-stellar product. What I liked about it was the "monster" factor and the fact that Travis was so gung ho about catching the creature. The peripheral characters, namely Lan Zeng, made the movie bearable (pun?) because of her spunkiness...and she was just as gung ho as Travis. The love interest card was not played heavily, just hints and quick glances, nothing more.

This can make, like, a 100 pairs of shoes, dude!

The fx were terrible-to-OK. The underwater CGI needed to be better but the on-land fx were better, especially the confrontations in the creature's cavernous lair. There was some fx goofs in there that were glaring..don't know how that got by the director..unless that was the best they could do. I still enjoyed it enough to watch the whole thing. That's gotta count for something.

Yeah. Pretty much going back to being random and my posts will probably reflect that

Yeah. Pretty much.

OUT FROM LEFT FIELD: BLOOD GLACIER [ENGLISH DUMBED VERSION]

(Oh ho, back from the dead and still not sure of what to do...)

Let it be known: I love creature features.

Nature gone amok. Cryptozoology. Chest-bursting xenomorphs. Mutated alligators in NY sewers. Giant ants borne from nuclear testing. Love it all.

So when I read the synopsis for a movie called BLOOD GLACIER, I'm thinking "That sounds pretty damned cool!' And it is...until people start talking.

BLOOD GLACIER takes place in some snow-encroached research station that consists of 4 scientists and one tracker who basically lives there while scientists rotate in and out at yearly intervals. One day the tracker and one of scientists head up to a satellite post set up next to a mountain when they notice that that same mountain of ice has red streaks running thru it, as if it were bleeding. Hence the title BLOOD GLACIER. The scientist takes some samples back to the main research station and its determined that they contain organsms that are incubators and mutators, combining that DNA of anything within the host's body.
EXAMPLE: A fox eats wood lice and beetles..organism comes in contact with the fox and all the contents of its stomach, it proceeds to combine fox, lice & beetle DNA into a new lifeform.
And if you ate popcorn and nachos and met this organism, would you become that newest taste sensation at the theatre? Do tell!

Got a cherry to put on top? Yum!

(Insert montage of river flows tinted in red that happened overnight. Convenient!)
The original samples began dying off so the tracker and another scientist go back to glacier the next day only to find all the red substance drained from the glacier. Surpriiiiiise!
(I seem to be in an MST3K-tinted sarcasm mood)
But wait there's more: The tracker decides to take a leak on the mountain (wait, there's a river near there...) and in mid-stream is surprised by a fox-lice mutant roughly the size of a Korgi when its curled in a ball. Pissed off that it was pissed on...

Open wide, Mr. fox-lice thingy...

Now they have proof that their DNA mutator organism is real.
From there the plot thickens with the impending visit of 6 more (delicacies) people, one of them a former love interest of Yanick, the tracker. You want drama, we got it.

Yanick's ex: She's a babe!

The wild life start to make their presence known in the form of attacks on anyone in the daytime & nighttime. These attacks are hard and fast and most are fatal. Don't you hate it when the fox-lice thing you wanted to exploit for monetary value and fame suddenly eats your face off?

I don't think a can of RAID is gonna do it...

Beetle-Goat-Fox, at your service!

There are several situations created to build tension but they sorta fall flat.

The movie culminates in one of the most craziest, unforeseen, weird twists that left me saying to the TV "You gotta be kidding me! What? REALLY?" Trust me, it was pretty f'd up.
This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the movie. It does have its momemts and Yanick is pretty much the coolest character even if he can be a little unstable (but who isn't?). And his dog Tinny (didn't sound like Timmy, so there!) plays his role to the hilt. I got a little teary, I admit.

Yanick & Tinny: Best Buds for Life

Also, the mother of the director who plays one of the visiting people was also a surprise as she had some choice lines (but that banana line was just plain weird) and also manned-up alongside Yanick when it counted. And she's a surgeon, to boot! (We think)

One Beetle-Goat-Fox lobotomy coming up!

Now for the bad: I was only able to see this with a badly-written and badly dubbed English language track. I think it would've been better had I seen it with the original German dialog & English subtitles. The English translation was horrible and outright stupid in some cases. Add to that the voices didn't match the characters and the dubbers sounded like they literally didn't want to be dubbing this movie. Most dialogue missed the emotional beat of the situation and the fill-in lines like "Stop eating that banana while you're crying!" really disrupted what little tension there was.Unglaublich.

"STOP EATING THAT BANANA WHILE YOU'RE CRYING!"  I kid you not. And where'd she get the banana?!

All in all, its not a bad creature feature..but sometimes the humans get in the way and maybe even deserved to be attacked. Being attacked is a bad thing...
rating: B : could be better but not in English! Fun to watch but it does need some help.

Google more apps for your drawer

Ok. Google. Now really?!?
I appreciate the fact that the latest update allows for better document editing. But did we really need separate apps? I just counted the "Google" apps that come preinstalled on my phone. 15. 15 apps from Google.
1. Chrome
2. Gmail
3. Google
4. Google Settings
5. Google+
6. Hangouts
7. Maps
8. Play Books
9. Play Games
10. Play Movies & TV
11. Play Music
12. Play Newsstand
13. Play Store
14. Voice Search
15. YouTube
And you want to add more apps to this collection. Not just 1 app suite but individual apps for each task. Documents. Spreadsheets. And coming soon Presentations. Oh joy. I can hardly contain myself. So now that's 3 more added to the 15 for a total of 18. Of course this isn't including the App for Drive which I have installed nor the App for Blogger. Which brings me to 20.
And since we're going around the merry-go-round again. Docs to Drive back to Docs (plus Sheets and soon Presentations).
Then there is QuickOffice. This is great! Offline office suite. Pretty good MS Office editing. But now I have TWO QuickOffice apps! One came preinstalled on the tablet and the other downloaded because its the full version for free. WTH?!? Really...

Why I don't care for cloud storage...

AT&T HTC One M8 users see their Google Drive bonus wiped out, to return in May

Excerpt:
.. It seems that a "glitch" has deactivated the extra storage offer for AT&T customers, leaving them without the 50GB of space (Google Drive still comes with 15GB free on the base level). While Ed Kuhner, HTC VP of Customer Experience, promises that a fix is in the works, a resolution and the restoration of the missing 50GB isn't expected until mid-May:

    "A minor technical error has temporarily deactivated the Google Drive cloud storage offer for the AT&T HTC One (M8). Please be aware that we are working to fix this error, and the 50GB of Google Drive storage space will be available by Mid-May for this device."

So just a heads up, if you're running an HTC One M8 on AT&T, don't be alarmed if you notice that your Google Drive storage allotment has dropped considerably. It's coming back. Eventually.

And HTC has confirmed to us that the glitch only affects the actual AT&T version of the M8, and not the unlocked or developer versions (which are based on the AT&T SKU)...
-- Adam Zeis, androidcentral.com Apr 23 2014 | 5:29 pm (http://www.androidcentral.com/att-htc-one-m8-users-see-their-google-drive-bonus-wiped-out-return-may)

Now, why would you purposefully put YOUR data on someone ELSE's computer. And then be at THEIR mercy if they mess up.