STRANGE LOG:7-31-2015

So before I head off to work I figured now would be a good time to sit down and talk to ya'll for awhile so I can explain what's coming down the pike for me, the blog, my Youtube channel and what's been going on. Check it out after the break.

LOTS to get to and unfortunately, I'll have to get to all of this here since I have very little time to do much as I'm working 9am-5pm Monday through Friday and am pretty much tired as balls by the time I get home and I just wanna veg.  Anyways gotta a few VERY important trailers to get to namely, "Suicide Squad", "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice" and although not a trailer, the first images of Apocalypse from "X-Men: Apocalypse" has surfaced and we'll discuss it. So right off the bat, the second a "Suicide Squad" movie was announced I immediately thought "Instant failure" and from seeing the trailer I'm more firm in that belief than ever.

While bits and pieces of the cast seem to work the most glaring issue seems to be Will Smith's portrayal of Deadshot. Will Smith hasn't had much luck in the way of superhero films, "Hancock" did him NO favors and Will Smith isn't a vanishing actor and being the most well known actor in the cast and having top billing (while being a member of what should be an ensemble cast) I feel like he's going to out shadow the entire production. I can only imagine they plan to use him for a single movie since a sequel hasn't been announced and I don't think he'd be able to organically cameo in any of the other DC Cinematic Universe films...unless they plan to use the "Suicide Squad" as villains in the "Justice League" film (which I highly doubt).

The whole thing just seems rag tag and reeks of desperation. The entire production just seems congested with too much going on. You got The Joker (who's more than likely NOT the film's main villain) and whoever the hell the main villain IS probably won't be much (maybe some DC Universe Organization). I don't know guys, I just have a really bad feeling about this entire thing. The cast doesn't seem to mesh well, and despite them looking somewhat great in their costumes...all except for...

Whorely Quinn

...and this isn't a slight on Margot Robbie, I'm 100% certain she's a fine actress and if given the REAL, ACTUAL, CORRECT Harley Quinn, she might do a fantastic job, but as it stands, in order to make the film "dark" and "edgy" they went with Whorely Quinn instead...*sigh*, who basically looks like she was attacked by Zombies at a Kesha concert. Maybe I'm wrong but, deep down, I really don't think I am, and again, the fact that there is no sequel planned or in talks and the fact that the likelihood of these guys showing up in anymore DC movies damn near nil, I'm not holding my breath for this to break any box office records. Marvel Studios EARNED "Guardians Of The Galaxy", you guys couldn't even do "Wonder Woman" and now you're doing a Suicide Squad movie? Case rested.

As far as "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice" (Hate that title, should've gone with either "Dawn Of Justice" or "Man Of Steel II: Dawn Of Justice") is concerned. Looks...strange to say the least. While I enjoyed "Man Of Steel", I wasn't entirely polluting my trousers with delight. It did everything a Superman movie needed to do but at the same time putting Superman in a movie with Batman before he's completely gotten his sea legs as Superman is...well...not sure what to call it. Ben Affleck continues to baffle me as Batman, he might make a good Bruce Wayne, but as far as Batman is concerned (and YES, THEY ARE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS) that remains to be seen. Anyone can look good in a Batman suit if their built enough for it but to actually BE THE BAT is a science all on it's own and I have yet to see in a complete trailer if Ben has the chops to be Batman. While in my opinion Christian Bale had the best Batman (and I've seen them all), Val Kilmer is still my favorite Bruce Wayne. Maybe Affleck might be a great Bruce Wayne, but Batman, remains to be seen.

That being said, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor looks fantastic, and he seems to be the main issue that EVERYONE seems to have with these films. I liked what I saw in the trailer. I like how his hair looks, I like his voice and I like the fact that he's smarmy. I just hope that he manages to impose some sort of dominance in one way or another, I hope they showcase just how intelligent and powerful he is. In the trailer there's a scene where Superman in kneeling before him and I hope that's the scene where we meet the Real Lex Luthor.

All that aside, it looks just as congested as "Suicide Squad". Because we don't know who the main villain is for the film (Doomsday was rumored) and we have Wonder Woman apparently fighting someone in the trailer and her involvement is also strange considering everyone (myself included) thought that it'd just be a cameo, but nope, she's in full Wonder Woman gear throwing bows with someone. Will she be the equalizing force to bring Batman & Superman together to fight on the same side? Who knows? The air of mystery surrounding this film is somewhat frustrating. Anyone who knows anything about me knows I HATE anything where heroes are fighting with each other for extended periods of time (one of the things that made "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" so insufferable) and if Batman & Superman are duking it out for the majority of the film, I'll be exhausted REAL quick! Time will tell. Until then, I'll check it out.

Now let's talk about the still from the latest "Power Rangers" film and...oh wait, this is a still from "X-Men: Apocalypse" and I'm being told that the Ivan Ooze rip off is apparently my favorite villain of all time, En Sabah Nur  a.k.a "The First One" himself Apocalypse. Words cannot tell you how disappointed I am in this. In a previous article I wondered if Apocalypse would be a CGI mess or live action and while I'm glad they're doing a live action Apocalypse...the results...*sigh* let's just say it's a shame when cosplayers do it better than Studios with millions of dollars at their disposal.

That being said, Bryan Singer has done an excellent job with the "X-Men" universe so far, it'd be crazy to doubt him now, but considering how 3rd films aren't usually as good as the previous films and Apocalypse does look like a rejected Power Rangers villain, I'm little skeptical on how this'll turn out, but we'll see.

In other news, I've gotten back to playing video games. Not many games on the PS3 interest me. I've played "WWE2K14", "The Last Of Us" and I have "Disney Infinity" (not get any of the expansions, screw that). But I my personal opinion "Saints Row 4" is probably the best game for the PS3. I haven't played any of the other "Saints Row" games, but I know a bit about them, and "Saints Row 4" is just a game for fun and nothing else. The missions never feel stale or boring, you get to create your own character...okay think GTA but with super powers, a lot more humor and an alien invasion and you got "Saints Row 4". I really love this game and I'm having fun playing it. So that's where I've been spending most of my free time. I highly recommend it and you don't have to play any of the other "Saints Row" games to fully appreciate it as much of the history of the characters will be explained at various parts of the game.

Getting back to the blog, I won't be adding any other reviews after "Hannibal" concludes it's finale season...still utterly enraged and saddened by that. Seeing as how I'll be working 9am-5pm, the "Pretty Little Liars" are barely getting by as they are and while "Hannibal" has switched to Saturdays, adding anything else to review during the week would be too much. UNLESS and that's a BIG unless, something comes along that screams "REVIEW ME!" but with the latest crop of shows coming out, nothing is really shouting at me to do so and plus, reviewing a show (at least for me) takes a certain amount of care, intelligence and humor that I really seem to tap into whenever I review "Pretty Little Liars" because for as much as I love the show, I do rag on it for being absurd at times and I enjoy mocking some of the characters, plus I think the jokes I make in those reviews are bar none! So maybe when a show comes along that has the right mixture of being taken seriously while openly mocked, maybe I'll give it a whirl.

DUDE, I am so high right now!

Coming up later on the blog are a few Strange Reviews I've been meaning to get out, one for a British film called "Exam" another from my Films I Want To See list "Project Almanac" (previously titled "Welcome To Yesterday") and for a much ballyhooed horror film called "It Follows" that I purchased on DVD not too long ago. So I'll be writing reviews for those in the near future, so sit tight for those.

Last but not least I am announcing my official Political Blog, The Conservative Strange. Lately I've been thinking a lot of political things and while I do run a Christian Blog, that's primarily for apologetics and addressing Biblical issues or issues with theology. But for certain aspects of discussing political ideologies, gun control, race relations and all that jazz, I figured I didn't wanna muddy my entertainment blog (this one) with too many articles about serious topics and I didn't wanna bellyache about something political on a blog that is supposed to be lighthearted and more or less a place to just talk movies, video games, TV and just what in the hell is up with DC/Warner Bros. (seriously guys, what the hell?). So I'm launching a political blog where we can talk politics and I can get somethings off my chest and into the air. So that's all the news for today, here's a GIF of the reaction of John Cena making Kevin Owens tap out, why? Because I've been feeling like the Kevin Owens fans a lot lately. Peace, ya'll.