CD Giveaway - 33Miles, "One Life"
Ends Aug 4, 2010
The country-pop sound established in their eponymous debut is a mainstay for this album as well, and even adds a little more southern flavor.
CD Giveaway - Phil Wickham, "Cannons"
Ends Aug 3, 2010
With an opening shot that hits the sonic pinnacle, this collection of spiritual Brit pop/rock is heavily influenced by Keane, Travis, Coldplay, and U2.
I've been reading comics for over thirty years, so try as I might, I can't help but have high hopes for comic book adaptations. When "X-Men" bowed in 2000, I was elated. I feared that the studio wouldn't "get it" and try to cheese things up--it had happened before, as those unfortunate few who suffered through Stallone's "Judge Dredd" would know. But Fox and director Bryan Singer made a gem of a film in the comic genre. When Singer left the franchise for the ill-fated "Superman Returns" (which made some money but was a disappointment) I was one of the few, it seems, that was actually pleased with Brett Ratner's "X-Men 3: The Last Stand." I had come to understand that the film was it's own continuity, drawing inspiration from the comics but offering it's own unique vision. After all, Singer and Ratner weren't Stan Lee and Chris Claremont.
As Hollywood is so keen to do these days, 2009 brings us the fourth X-Men franchise installment in the form of a prequel. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" highlights the life of the most popular X-man of all time, again pulling in bits and pieces of various comic stories to please the longtime fans while creating a tale all it's own.
If you're a veteran Marvel reader, you're enjoyment of the film will vary with your enjoyment of the comics that director Gavin Hood ("Rendition") draws from. I, for example, think the definitive Wolverine origin story is one of the worst stories to see print in the last ten years (right up there with the more recent Spider-Man: One More Day storyline, but don't get me started on that). However, the classic tale of how Logan received his adamantium skeleton, originally serialized in Marvel Comics Presents by the great Barry Windsor-Smith, is one of my all-time favorites. Both are represented here. So is Logan's love life, echoing the story of Logan's romance with Silver Fox.
Of course, Wolverine isn't about childhood reminisces and unrequited love. He's about being the best there is at what he does, and what he does isn't so nice. A lifetime of fighting and killing -- and by lifetime I'm talking over 100 years here -- is a feast for the action fans. I felt like Gavin Hood might have pulled his punches a few times here. He shows a lot of violence but very little blood, and let's face it, swinging what amounts to six short swords from your fists is messy, bloody work. Considering the occasional profanity and the periodic bursts of graphic violence -- decapitation, point-blank shootings -- the film should probably fall somewhere beyond the PG-13 rating it actually carries. When the childhood relationship of Wolverine and his arch nemesis Sabretooth moves from friendly rivalry to full hostility, the movie really kicks into high gear.
The cast is lead by Hugh Jackman, reprising the title role he held in the X-Men films. He's still perfect in the role, and they could keep making Wolverine movies until he's tired of playing the part and keep raking in big bucks. The "X-Men" Sabretooth played by Tyler Mane gets a bit of a makeover with the recasting of Liev Schreiber. Schreiber isn't a small man, but compared to former wrestler Tyler Mane's more monstrous version, Sabretooth comes off a bit more like a werewolf with mild lycanthropy than a cat-like man-beast. Still, Schreiber's more vocal role and his serial-killer menace serves its purpose. Danny Huston brings the mutant hunting William Stryker back from "X2" where the roll was held by Brian Cox. Huston's Stryker is a bit more conniving, by I felt that Cox brought more anti-mutant fervor. Other notable characters include Black Eyed Peas musician will.i.am as John Wraith, a minor character from the printed page that had the audience buzzing after my showing. Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) manages to make my least favorite character, the Cajun card shark Gambit, tolerable -- perhaps even likeable. Tim Pocock plays a younger Scott Summers, barely in control of his powers. The biggest disappointment was Ryan Reynolds, who was perfectly cast as Deadpool but not given enough screen time to be effective. I had hopes that they might spin him off into his own Deadpool movie, but there's so little here for him to do that I can't see it happening now.
For the action film fans, there's big explosions (a little too-obvious CGI effects at times) and fun -- if somewhat tempered -- fisticuffs. For the comic folks, it's a fun remix of every Wolverine origin story you've ever read, with something to please nearly everyone. If only there was more Deadpool, Wraith, and a bit more to Sabretooth's appearance, it would have been pure gold. I guess I could always assume that Magneto somehow activated a secondary mutation between the end of this movie and the beginning of "X-Men." Even film franchises need some continuity.
, tolerable -- perhaps even likeable. Tim Pocock plays a younger Scott Summers, barely in control of his powers. The biggest disappointment was