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Rise of the Planet of the Apes

This series has had so many entries in it that it’s hard to keep track of them all. That majority of the entries have not been that good to begin with. This hopes to change that.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes attempts to do a prequel to the original Planet of the Apes, using much of the same mythology while attempting to reboot the story previously set up by Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. So is this just another entry to a series that has been losing steam for a while in which the only option seems to be a reboot?

Short answer… yes. This movie is awesome. The film centers around a scientist played by James Franco (Spiderman, General Hospital) who is attempting to find a cure to Alzheimer, the same disease that plagues his father. After testing on apes he find that it not only cures faults in the brain but makes them smarter. Then a series of unfortunate events leads to the end of this prequel and the start of the series we all know. Not only is the revolt o the apes itself interesting to watch, but the first two acts of lead up that show everything that lead up to it was fascinating to watch. And if you aren’t interested in any of that, I can assure you that the scene in the trailer of the Gorilla attacking the helicopter is in the movie, and it’s awesome.

Get the soundtrack and book to Planet of the Apes.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes completely gets rid of the humans in ape suits look. Instead they CGI, as well as the technology and actor (Andy Serkis [Lord of the Rings, King Kong]), use to make Gollum from Lord of the Rings to make realistic looking apes. This technology allowed the film to use no real animals during filming, which to me worked. These apes look real, the way they move and act is great. And watching them plot against the humans was eerie to watch.

If you had a interest in this, go see it. If you loved the original, go see it. If you like good movies, go see it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Cowboys and Aliens

If the title Cowboys and Aliens doesn’t spark something in you, then your imagination might need some tweaking. Just the idea of it was enough to get me interested from the start, then I saw the trailer and saw the people who was involved and I got really excited. So what happened?

The film revolves around Daniel Craig as a cowboy with amnesia and a mysterious weapon attached to his wrist. And it’s not long before the aliens from the title make a appearance and the major conflict begins, bringing together western archetypes together to do what we all came for, kick ass. So with this all going on why was I just entertained by this film and not in love with it?

Like to read before you watch? Get the Book Cowboys and Aliens

I think it can be summed up in one word; potential. The main problem had to do with the characters. Aside from a couple stand out characters (such as Harrison Ford), none of them were all that interesting. Most of them never broke out of the archetype they were introduced as, they seemed to just be filling the generic ‘doctor’ or ‘preacher’ role. Even Daniel Craig’s character who started off very interesting ended up becoming less and less so the more we figured out about him. One of the biggest character reveals can be guessed from the beginning of the film, way before the person was supposed to ‘shock’ us with it.

The action was fantastic. I loved seeing the gritty cowboys fighting against the superior technologically advanced aliens. Whenever any of those scenes started and the clash between these two groups happened, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for more.

The story isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. At no point in this was I bored or was wondering what I’d be doing after the movie. It’s just that it seems they could have done more. There is a point where the cowboys meet another group and anyone paying attention could draw some similarities between the present situation and one in the past, but the movie never does. I’m not saying it needed to be included, just seemed like something that would’ve been mentioned and might have made for more interesting character arcs.

If all you’re looking to do is have fun at the movies, this is a great one to do so at. If you’re looking for the movie to go beyond the appeal of it’s title for deep characters and story line, this isn’t it. Definitely see this one if it looked cool to you.

Geekazine Says

I enjoy being able to create comics. Of course, I have talked about Bitstrips in the past and also about GoAnimate! for video cartoons. But I have found a program that will let me make comic pages using pictures. That is called Comic Life 2.

I can take pictures as I go, or use existing photos. Put in a couple effects and I have a comic look to myself. Add a speech balloon, adjust for size and where my mouth is and write what I want to say.

Create multiple pages, like if you were making a comic book. Post to Facebook or another favorite Social Network.

The parent company – Plasq – has versions of Comic Life for Windows, Mac and iPad. There is also an iPhone application that lets you caption pictures. You can get those programs right from the App Store.

Captain America

This is it, the last of Marvel’s single superhero focused movies that started way back in 2008 with Iron Man in a attempt to bring them all under one universe and set up The Avengers. So how does Captain America, a hero that could be argued is nothing more than a walking flag stand up to the other giants that have come before him?

Plain and simple, this movie is fantastic. The movie’s pacing is absolutely brilliant, giving us plenty of time with pre-super serum Steve Rogers to learn what is behind the iconic Captain America. We are given a show of what a good and courageous person he is and why he was chosen above others who were much more qualified for becoming the first super soldier. That doesn’t mean this movie is without it’s action. From moments after Steve Rogers is injected with the serum the movie is action packed with Captain America taking down the bad guys with his shield.

This movie has things for everyone. I went with a mixed group of people who enjoy comics, die hard fans of Captain America, and those who haven’t picked up a comic before in their lives. Everyone walked away happy. It not only does a great job as a super hero movie, but it’s a good movie in its own right. Giving people who aren’t familiar with the source material time to catch up, and giving comic fans plenty of Easter eggs if you are looking hard enough. (Hint: it starts early)

Now all we have to do is wait until next summer to see all of these movies hard work be put to the ultimate test with The Avengers. I know I’ll be lining up day one. Oh, and if you don’t already know; wait until after the credits, you’ll be glad you did.

I get many USB drives. Most of them get put to the side. Only a couple I end up taking with me. One in particular is the Verbatim Tuff N Tiny drives. It’s small and fits on my keychain. But I may trade up for this one.

Verbatim Store N Stay

It’s called the Store n Stay. The drive is the size of a dime and the best part is it could stay in your computer. It can also be put into your car’s USB port and hold four to six albums. You can also plug it into a printer, the side of a TV or even a Roku player with your family pictures.

“The low-profile, snag-free design makes it the optimal USB flash drive choice for laptop users who want the ability to transfer, store and share their favorite files on impulse,” said Mark Rogers, Verbatim Product Manager, Flash Memory. “It’s meant to be left in the USB port for always-ready  storage, and can be easily removed to share videos, photos, and music whenever the occasion arises!”

The drive comes in 4, 8 and 16 GB sizes and prices start at $20. While it’s a great drive, I can get a 4 GB drives for a lot less. I want a 32 GB or better drive. Then I can plug it into my computer and really use it.

It does mean drives are getting smaller and more functional in any of your devices. We are not really ready to make the full move to the cloud, so a device like this comes in really handy. Just don’t loose it.