What If...?: Batman vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice

What If Batman vs. Superman was Good? No, like really Good. I'm Ugo Strange and welcome to "What If...".Now we all can agree that Batman vs. Superman was a cluster of ideas executed horribly and presented in the most boring fashion possible, But I'm not going to review it, enough people have flayed that movie, I'd recommend Movie Bob's critique of the film as the most entertaining. Rather, this is a re-working of all the elements in Batman vs. Superman and making them Good. But before we dive into that,let's do some housekeeping:

The "Grimmest" Dilemma

So 2 Years ago, I've written two articles (Here & Here) about the pitfalls of NBC's series "Grimm" and unfortunately, this article will be making new points as to why "Grimm" seriously needs some refocusing in the writer's room, especially with this current season and I'll elaborate more after the break.

STRANGE LOG: 3-19-2016

So it's been awhile since I've updated...well...anything that wasn't my Facebook and it's high time I talk to you lot and tell you all what's going on. Lots and oddly enough not a lot to get and we'll address all that and more below the cut.

Kylo Ren's Turn To The Dark Side And Why He Is The Force Awakens

Okay, now that the "Star Wars" hype has sort of died down and everyone's on the same page, I'd like to talk about "The Force Awakens" but more importantly, I'd like to address one of the most fascinating character in "Star Wars" canon and that's the character of Kylo Ren. If you haven't seen "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" I suggest you go and see it, I enjoyed it very much and I'm not just fanboying all over it. In this article I wanna talk about my theory in regards to Kylo Ren's turn to the darkside and how I think he could be a cleverly veiled metaphor for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" it's self. I will be going into some heavy spoilers so if you haven't seen "The Force Awakens", go see it and if you don't care about spoilers then whatever, welcome...and now, the article proper.

Final Thoughts On Superman vs. Batman: Dawn Of Justice

So I watched the trailer last night and watched it again not too long ago to maybe absorb what I may or may not have missed and while my initial reaction was...well...underwhelmed, I unfortunately remain underwhelmed. Let's talk about the positives. For starters I'm still liking Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. We've seen the brooding, cold, calculated Lex Luthor. Superman's elder who's fixated on power and control. Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor is less of a physical presence and more of intellectual titan. His first appearance on the screen he's visibly small in size and stature to both men, his voice is higher pitched and he's much more jovial than either of them, however he is completely self-absorbed and is delightfully devious. I think I will enjoy this Lex Luthor...and that's about the ONLY positive I have to say.

The Strange Review: The Gift

Good Gravy was this a damn good movie! I happened on this little gem when I caught the trailer when trying to watch a video on Youtube and two things stuck out to me: 1) Jason Bateman was FINALLY in a serious drama and I've ALWAYS said Jason Bateman would be AWESOME in a serious drama (Newsflash, he kicks ALL kinds of ass in this) and 2) From what I gleamed from the trailer this was gonna be one of those REAL thrillers, a real slow burn that when it gets there IT F*CKIN' GETS THERE! Well, this movie F*CKIN' GETS THERE and it gets there HARD! Quick summary, Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall plays Simon & Robyn Callum, a couple who just moved to Los Angeles to start over and because of Simon's new job. While out buying stuff for the house, Simon runs into Gordon a.k.a Gordo played by the film's writer and director Joel Edgerton.

Upon meeting Gordo, Simon has no clue who he is, but starts to remember, with some coaxing that Gordo is someone Simon knew back in high school. Gordo is a kind of social awkward guy and he starts bringing gifts over to Simon's house and showing up uninvited. After awhile, it becomes clear that there's more to the story than just a few gifts. That's ALL I can say without spoiling anything! Honestly, this is the kind of movie I adore! Once again another CHARACTER driven story that doesn't require big budgets and CGI, NOPE, just great characters and a good story. Everyone brings their A Game here and it shows.  Jason Bateman, who normally plays the social awkward guy is AMAZING here. This whole movie is GREAT from start to finish. Honestly, if you like slow burning thrillers that don't turn into sh*t by the 3rd act, you'll LOVE this. Can't recommend it enough! Okay, on to some spoilers!

The Strange Review: Coherence

The term "indie movie" gets thrown around a lot, but no one can quite explain what exactly constitutes an "indie movie". After all, many a movie with small budgets and unknown actors manage to break into the mainstream: "The Blair Witch Project", "Paranormal Activity", "The Babadook", "It Follows" the list goes on and on, and while those films may have gotten where they are by excellent word of mouth, a realistic mystique or an endorsement from an established Hollywood mucky-muck, this film has none of that going for it. You'd think that'd hurt it but "Coherence", at least to me captures the full essence of what people mean when they say "indie movie". No, it's not dealing with themes of sexuality, no it's not a coming of age story like so many indie movies are and no, it's not a horror movie.

"Coherence" is a down-to-earth sci-fi/mystery film that manages to do SO much with so VERY little. The driving force of this movie isn't action sequences or well known actors (bare in mind the only "well known" actor in this film is Nicholas Brendon, and if you didn't have to Google him, then understand that you're in the minority) the driving force of this film is the characters. I came across "Coherence" completely by accident on IMDB of all places. I can't exactly explain how I came across it, but I did and just from a brief synopsis of the plot "Friends at a dinner party endure strange occurrences during a meteor shower", I knew I had to learn more. I went into this movie as cold as I possibly could and enjoyed every minute it. If you haven't seen "Coherence" I REALLY suggest you check it out, it's slow burning but it's all for a reason and you won't be disappointed if you're looking for a good sci-fi/mystery that doesn't get bogged down in science jargon that it can't tell a good story. To say more would be to give spoilers so I won't, go see "Coherence" now! After the break I WILL be talking spoilers!