Some films do not need sequels...

There are hundreds of horrendous sequels in the film annals. I recently found a real straight-to-video wonder called 30 Days of Night: Dark Days. This "sequel" is quite abhorrent. Not only does it use footage from the first film, but distorts it to include a new actress. Since not-well-known Melissa George passed this gem up, the viewer is in for a real treat. Mia Kirshner of L Word and Exotica fame plays the villain as this sequel moves to the 30 days of dark, dark...Los Angeles. Though attempting to keep the look of the vampires of the first film, there are no truly scary villains here. In fact, the CGI and makeup folks have tons of trouble keeping the eyes of the vampires black, or even dull. The acting is quite atrocious, fitting of a high school class project. Normally I enjoy these flaws, yet in this listless sequel, the only joke is on the viewer. Avoid it. Instead, find Warriors of the Lost World. More fun for all, I swear.

I write a sports blog also.

I write a sports blog for the examiner. Look me up in the New York Sports section at www.examiner.com.

X-Men- Classy!

So I saw X-men: First Class this past Friday. My first thought was "This really isn't near as bad as I thought it was going to be!" You can understand my mixed bag of despair and excitement, given my love of bad films and my hope that there would be a plot. There is! As per the Marvel formula, the creators of this prequel (one of them being Bryan Singer, the director of the first two X-Men films) again cast quite well, and the story arcs are crisp. I recommend the film on the whole, but only for a single viewing. Why, you ask? Primarily so you only concentrate on the stellar jobs of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy (with Kevin Bacon and January Jones giving admirable performances). I have read reviews which have asserted that this film is the best comic adaptation since the Dark Knight...made a whopping 3 years ago...long time there, guys. Seriously, it's up against Punisher:War Zone. Are we gonna compare it to Daredevil next? WTF! OK, in all seriousness, Iron Man made Stark extremely egotistical, and Thor came from the "planet" Asgard. Ok...SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!But there's a character in the X-Men prequel whose name is never used...ever. And "Angel", played quite horribly by Kravitz's daughter, Zoe, who has the wings of a dragonfly and spits fire...not a character I remember. The Angel I know from X-Men was a man, and at times became evil...aka Archangel. I probably have that mixed up, but c'mon, guys! if you're gonna make shit up, maybe...DRAGON FLY would be more appropriate! Oh, and the name wasn't taken already. And who the fuck was "Darwin", whose power was to turn into whatever helps him survive?!? Are you fucking kidding me!
So, I still enjoyed the film, but be warned. See it once. I mean it.