Category: Review

House of Cards Season 3: Episode 1 Recap

Post author By iamgurujay
Post date February 28, 2015

BY: GURU JAY

Photo By: Wikimedia Commons

Kevin Spacey, who plays President Francis Underwood, kicks off the season with an iron foot. In the beginning, Underwood visits his father’s gravesite and urinates on the tombstone. This is just the tip of the iceberg foreshadowing future events.

Former White House Chief of Staff Doug Stamper survives last season’s devastating injuries and awakens from a coma. It is December 2014 and Stamper must regain his motor skills and memory. After Stamper starts functioning, First Lady Claire instructs him to lie to investigators.

Unsurprisingly, while at the White House the President loses his temper. Underwood is upset that unemployment has spiraled out of control. Furthermore, there are 10 million jobless Americans, who are clearly frustrated. Therefore, Underwood wants to overhaul programs, slash entitlements, repeal policies, and reform. The President assembles an economic team to solve the financial crisis.

But team leader Paul mistakenly interrupts the disciplinarian executor. And current White House Chief of Staff Remy Denton immediately fires Paul for speaking out of turn. Obviously, the executive branch won’t tolerate disapproval.

Meanwhile President Frank Underwood monitors Doug Stamper’s situation making sure authorities don’t discover the truth. Underwood has a secret closet filled with skeletons and his devotee Doug feels guilty. Clearly, the President is spying on Stamper but the blind follower can’t distinguish reality from fiction.

The President’s approval numbers have plummeted to single digits. What is more, he has an unhappy First Lady who desires the United Nations ambassadorship. Still determined, Underwood tells his wife he will not go down in history as a placeholder president. But Claire keeps pressing the issue and Frank finally responds.

Michael Kelly is House of Cards’ diamond in the rough. In the first episode of Season 3, Michael shined brighter than everyone except Spacey. I will watch this episode again, largely because of Kelly’s brilliant performance. I am Guru Jay launching off into orbit in 5-4-3-2-1!

Actors Andy Serkis box office results Dawn of the Planet of the Apes fantasy Hollywood Movies Review Rise of the Planet of the Apes science fiction

Review: DAWN of the Planet of the Apes + Commentary on RISE

Post author By iamgurujay
Post date July 22, 2014

BY: GURU JAY

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes SPOILER ALERT

Photo By: Wikimedia Commons

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is now playing. The second installment is an absolute must-see summer fun movie. I highly recommend you see Rise of the Planet before Dawn.

I reluctantly went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes three years ago. It wasn’t on my radar at the time. Still, the Planet of the Apes proved to be worthy of our recognition.

I’d never seen another movie like it. I couldn’t criticize this if I’d tried. I gave Rise five stars because six is an anomaly.

Rise Vs. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Whoever says Dawn of the Planet is the best is sadly mistaken. Have you seen the Rise of the Planet? You can’t make this comparison unless you’ve seen them both.

Watch Rise again before you pick sides. Maybe, you can build a better case for Dawn. I’d like to hear it.

Here are the official trailers for both movies. Which movie is your favorite- Dawn or Rise? It’s a clear choice for me.

Rise had more power to its punch. The human actors were more talented. The script was flawless. The story was spotless. I feel Dawn had too much speed and no haymaker.

I give you that the apes were more believable in Dawn. I won’t argue that point because Koba ruled with an iron fist. It’s a damn shame that Koba killed Ash.

Luckily, good won over evil. Koba got what was coming to him. In the long run, things fell apart and came together.

I’d like to combine Rise and Dawn into one. Rather than choose one over the other, let’s view the two installments as a single unit. Planet of the Apes is a powerful plot.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes the torch and lights a fire. It is an outstanding interpretation of the original. Unfortunately, the writing was lackluster.

I loved everything about Dawn except the writing. At times the apes were incoherent. In the original they spoke like English professors. Now, they speak like two year olds.

My advice is to stay true to the script. Don’t leave any areas open for interpretation. Next time aim for precision.

Dawn begins with little explanation of events. They give us snippets aka ‘tokens of depreciation.’ Blame screenwriter Mark Bomback. Mark did not participate in Rise.

While it’s easy to point the finger, Director Matt Reeves is the boss. So, let’s be fair to the screenwriters. The nature of show beast aka business is cutthroat and coldhearted.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has been number #1 at the box officefor 2 consecutive weekends. If the song of the summer is “Fancy” than the movie of the summer is Dawn.

Keep in mind the frontrunner Transformers: Age of Extinction had a $210 million budget, while Dawn spent $170 million. Dawn is more successful in my book. The marketing was more assertive and less aggressive.

Plus movie executives saved $40 million. Profit is the bottom line. Dawn appears to be more profitable than Transformers. We’ll wait and see what happens.

SPOILER ALERT

Koba stole the show. Call him a gorilla because this chimpanzee acts like King Kong. Koba reminds me of a ruthless being like Frank Underwood from House of Cards.

I wasn’t surprised he shot Caesar, because Koba got his ass kicked by the Emperor in the beginning. Karma comes back with a vengeance. So Caesar made a crucial mistake.

The Emperor had it coming. Koba saw an opportunity to defeat him; and he pounced on it like a cougar. Here is where I thought the movie could have been better.

Koba tricks the apes into thinking a human killed Caesar. But, is Caesar really dead? Read on for more.

Koba ruled for a split second. From this point on, the movie moves too quickly. To sum it up, Dawn progresses too slowly and ends too abruptly. Blame Bomback and Reeves.

Andy Serkis performed brilliantly in both Riseand Dawn. He is the key to their success. It was great to see his return.

If James Franco embodies the art of acting, Andy Serkis is a mad scientist. Take a look behind the scenes.

During Dawn the apes evolve while the humans devolve. It is actually the apes that are more civilized. It is the humans that want to go to war and annihilate all the Little Caesars.

Caesar’s son -Blue Eyes- is the last hope. While chaos erupts, Malcolm informs Little Caesar that his father is still alive. Blue Eyes goes bananas when he sees his dad.

Caesar calms him down, and tells his son the truth. After speaking the facts, father and son concoct a scheme to reclaim their throne. Fortunately, the plan works.

Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman work well together. If Clarke is Houdini, Oldman is David Blaine. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a magical experience.

It is rare to see a sequel achieve great critical and financial success. For that reason, Dawn is the movie of the summer. Although the film is a remake, it is by no means a copycat.

I give the film four stars. The Rise of the Planet of the Apes was better. Still, Dawnis an exceptional motion picture.

Planet Hollywood

Hollywoodgets a bad rap. Think about it for a minute. Can you imagine how hard it is to produce an original movie?

Give the Dawn the benefit of the doubt. Steven Spielberg is a juggernaut, so he is an easy target. Check out his filmography at IMDB. Whether we like it or not, directors rule Planet Hollywood.

Dawn of the Planet director Matt Reeves dropped the ball. Yes, he was above average. But for a movie of high caliber Planet Hollywood demands greatness.

The Hollywood landscape never stops changing. The stars constantly shine. Blockbusters are the new normal. Nowadays, you need at least a $50 million budget with 3D in order to compete.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes beat their competition like the heat. I am a Movie Analyst not a Movie Critic. Despite my rants, Dawn is still the movie of the summer.

This is The Guru Jay launching off to outer space in 5-4-3-2-1. Feel free to comment and ask questions. Thank you for reading and sharing. Meet me @ Mars.

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Review of X-Men: Days of Future Past SPOILER ALERT

Post author By iamgurujay
Post date June 1, 2014

BY: GURU JAY

Review of X-Men: Days of Future Past SPOILER ALERT

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a masterpiece. Go see it. You will love it!

Hugh Jackman takes over as Wolverine. Jennifer Lawrence shines ‘bright like a diamond’ as Mystique. And, James McAvoy steals the show as Professor Xavier.

All in all, the cast is a great ensemble. Michael Fassbender makes his mark as Magneto. And, Evan Peters makes us chuckle with his interpretation of Quicksilver.

You’ll laugh. Maybe, you’ll cry. And, you’ll have fun.

It’s a good family movie. It’s well written. It’s unforgettable.

The beginning of X-Men is like a video game. I call X-Men the video game movie. If you’re a gamer or a comic book collector, this is a must-see.

The X-Men comic strip is all about teamwork. It’s not X-Man. It’s X-Men.

I watch movies with an eagle eye. Not a bird’s eye…not a hawk eye…but an eagle eye. From start to finish, the video game movie is brilliant.

I’m not exaggerating. It is almost perfect. I would have written it a little differently though.

There are some great lines in the film. However, some things could have been said better. The screenwriter should be more concise.

I take my hat off to director Simon Kinberg. I feel he is doing the X-Men franchise justice. I don’t have any complaints.

What is X-Men, really?

There is more to it than meets the eye. Yes, X-Men is a comic strip with a political statement. Yes, X-Men is a movie with an important message.

X-Men are mutants. They are classified as nonhuman. Yet, they are more humane than humans.

You can define them as gifted, supernatural, or a danger. In actuality, they represent a challenge to the status quo. The message is: it’s okay to be different.

Hugh Jackman

Photo By: Grant Brummett

As a boy, I grew up loving Wolverine. When I was around eight years old, my sister got me a Wolverine action figure for my birthday. I played the mess out of that toy.

I identify with the Wolverine character. Like me, Wolverine is tough as nails. ‘What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.’

Hugh Jackman is the embodiment of toughness. I remember the first X-Men movie. I said to myself, man that guy Wolverine won’t back down from anything.

Hugh brings Wolverine to life. He is to X-Menwhat Pierce Brosnan was to James Bond. Replacing Jackman is a difficult task.

Jennifer Lawrence

Photo By: Mingle MediaTV

Last year Jennifer Lawrence was the 2^nd highest paid actress behind Angelina Jolie. This year I think she’s number 1. We’ll have to wait and see.

Like her character Mystique, Jennifer Lawrence is virtually unstoppable. You can get in her head all you want (Professor Xavier), but she is determined to stop Bolivar Trask by all means. X-Men allowed Jennifer to demonstrate her superpowers on the silver screen.

You’ll love Jennifer Lawrence after seeing this movie. She takes on the hardest role and plays it easily. She is my de-facto choice for best leading actress.

James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart

Photo By: Georges Biard

Teamwork takes synergy. James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart both play Professor Xavier. I think that their synergy is damn near perfect.

Give credit to the casting department here. They found the right man for the job. The actors complement each other.

McAvoy is the past and Stewart is the future. Wolverine travels back to the 1970’s to find the X-Men crew. He has to convince Professor Xavier and the others to join forces.

Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen

Photo By: GabboT

Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen are the antagonists. They play Magneto. The moral of Magneto is, we are our own worst enemies.

Michael and Ian are in perfect harmony. It’s rare to see two movie stars in sync. They have you guessing the whole time.

This character is unpredictable. He keeps you in suspense. You don’t know what to expect from him.

The Plot Thickens

Magneto is imprisoned at the Pentagon for killing JFK. Wolverine and the X-Men plot to break him out. It doesn’t go smoothly.

At one point, they are trapped. The fun starts here. You’ll have to see it for yourself.

This scene is a work of art. The spotlight shines on Evan Peters. Quicksilver uses his abilities to the core. This is the highlight of the movie.

Time is the underlying theme. While Wolverine travels back in time, the X-Men are on edge. He’s the last hope.

The world has been tormented by war. Peace is not anywhere in sight. But, where there’s a will there’s a way.

X-Men is the best! “I’ll try my best. Your Best is enough.” That’s one of my favorite lines from the film.

Go see X-Men if you want an action-packed and futuristic motion picture. It takes cinema to the next level. The plot thickens.

X-Men: The Video Game Movie

I vouch for X-Men. It’s in a class of its own. The stars gave 110 percent.

My only issue with the acting is Ellen Page. I understand why they chose her. But, I feel she overacted.

Don’t get me wrong, I like her. However, I would have selected someone like Emma Stone. That’s my opinion. Take it for what it’s worth.

Have you seen any other X-Men films? I liked X-Men First Class. Click here for more information about the whole franchise. I look forward to a video game.

The film is visually pleasing. If you’re hard to please, you’ll love this because the producers make it look easy. It’s the best movie that’s now playing.

I give X-Men: Days of Future Past 5 stars. It is the best. You are the best. Thank you for reading and sharing. I appreciate your comments and questions.

I am Guru Jay launching into orbit in 5-4-3-2-1…