Batman V Superman: Special Simplistic Reviews Op-ed Edition (4-5)

Batman V Superman:
Special Simplistic Reviews
Op-ed Edition

Part Four:
Lex Luther

The follow contains both official information and photos. Some fan made photos and my thoughts on the rumors.

Do you remember where you were when on the day... You heard Jesse Eisenberg was cast as Lex Luthor?

I could never forget that day. The ground rumble from the cries of fans and non-fans of the character from all around the world. Those rumbles still tremble to this day. I myself was taken back, not with hate but surprise. Never in my mind did I ever think to cast Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. He seems so small and under built, I say this by the way because I imagine Lex straight from Superman the Animated series. To me this is my favorite version of the character for both Superman and Lex. 

Sure, it looked great on TV but Lex is known for his smarts, his intellect is at a genius level. Using his skills in engineering he creates war suits and weapons that stand up to the god known as Superman. Luthor in the flesh doesn't need to be tall, strong or speak with a deep voice, he just needs to come off like like the evil genius he is.

With Jesse Eisenberg you get that both in his voice and the visual expression he creates. But again what about looks? This is a movie after all. I couldn't see it, Eisenberg? No! No Way

... Well the studio did want Tom Hanks to portray Lex Luthor. :|

Then the internet happened. And listen sometimes there are these moments the internet makes me proud, sometimes it works for the good of mankind.

So what do I mean by this? Ladies and Gentlemen of Movie's and TV. I come here today to make my case. Jesse Eisenberg will be the best Lex Luthor to ever grace our eyes. Yes you heard me, Eisenberg will be amazing and if the following is anywhere near true to life then we're in for one fun ride. 

So I present exhibit A

Yes that's right, you thought this was from a comic, and no it is not. That is the internet showing just how great this could be.

But what about the other side. The side about the script, which could make or break everything?

Lets play devil's advocate and present a bit of news that could make things go south. Recently it has come out that the script was not fully a-o-k-a-y with a certain cast member... 

Ladies and Gentleman, exhibit B!

"Ben Affleck 'Wasn’t Thrilled' With the 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' Script — and Rewrote It Dressed As the Superhero!"




Yes Affleck himself was not happy with the script and decided to rewrite it dressed as mofo Batman. This is the one news that made we shake in my boots. David S. Goyer apparently wrote the story and when Affleck came on board he brought along Chris Terrio. Goyer has his issues and that is what has me worried. Goyers writing with Esienberg's delivery is what I'm most afraid about. I think we will get a great Lex Luthor, one we haven't seen before. With all the trailers, TV spots and photos Batman V Superman is gearing up to be a fun watch. Movies have lost some fun lately, Star Wars and Deadpool has brought us back to the theater. Batman V Superman and Captain America Civil War is doing the same.

Damn 2016 is becoming a hell of a year in movies. 

Next up...

Part 5 - Batman V Superman: The Review.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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Trailer Hot Take: Captain America: Civil War (Final Trailer)

Matt again, with another Trailer Hot Take. I mean, in all honesty, we all know that "Captain America" Civil War" is going to be awesome. It's going to be everything that "Age of Ultron" wasn't. The expectations almost seem impossibly high this time, and while "Ultron" was just an appetizer, this is going to be the entree that all MCU fans have been waiting for. Let's go to the pictures:

This is shortly after an explosion in the trailer in some sort of UN-style conference, and from the looks of it, this looks like T'Challa, aka, Black Panther, Prince of Wakanda was present.

Fancy underwater base? Check!

Cap is chasing T'Challa who is chasing Bucky. The CG is a little weak right now, but I'm sure they'll fix this up before May

It's always been said that Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful MUTANTS, yes, I said mutants, not Miracles (screw that) and what she's doing to Vision right here is downright dirty

Hawkeye lets loose a barrage of arrows, and look who's riding one of the, our good friend Scott Lang!

It's so awesome to see Crossbones in the MCU finally. Just a bad-ass character

AND HERE IS THE MONEY SHOT

 Hey everyone......

"Captain America: Civil War" swings into theaters May 5th

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3 Simplistic Things: February 2016

Matt here again with 3 Simplistic Things that I'm sure you heard happened in February, but I"m going to tell you anyway.

 1. Launch of Viceland

This is something that I'm sure a lot of people missed, because honestly, if you could find me three people that watched H2 (History Channel's sister station) I would call you a liar. VICE, on the other hand, is pretty much a household name, thanks to HBO's weekly news show. Now, H2 is a distant memory and enter, Viceland. Full of original, compelling content, including weekly shows featuring rapper Action Bronson, LGBT crusader, Ellen Page, and much more, Viceland is TV at it's finest.

2. The Return of Broad City

Abbi and Illana are back for more New York adventures as season three of Broad City returned to Wednesday nights on Comedy Central. While I can honestly say the season premier was a little bit of a letdown from the series premier and the season two premier, episode two was a vast improvement. I guess my issue with this season so far as been that two of the three highest rated episodes of the season have been this season. Has no one seen "Pussy Weed" or "Kirk Steele" or "Hashtag FOMO?" Oh well, maybe I'm just cranky....

3. I guess we won the Deadpool

Who'd of thought that an R-Rated Comic Book flick is, and quite possibility could be one of the highest grossing films of the year? I didn't that see that one coming from "Deadpool." What can be said about "Deadpool" is that they got it right. Fox had a property that they chose to take a gamble with, and let it become an organic thing in-and-of-itself, and it's paying off....and paying, and paying, and paying.

That's it for this month, kthnxbye!

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Trailer Hot Take: Ghostbusters (2016)

It seems the Internet has been in a tizzy today after the release of the first of what will likely be quite a few trailers for the new"Ghostbusters" film. While some of the reaction has been positive, there are still quite a few people out there up in arms that their beloved quartet of proton pack-wielding demigod killers have been replaced with what could be a new beloved quartet of proton pack-wielding demigod killers.

While my initial reaction was somewhat positive, in case you don't listen to our podcast you know the three of us have been pretty gun-shy to say this film will be any good, and yes, after immediately seeing the trailer some of my worries for squashed, but upon another few viewings, a few things starting sticking out to me to really did give me this "meh" feeling.


Here are a few things to consider:

I like seeing the old firehouse from the original films, it's a nice piece of homage.

Now this is when things not so great.....I hoping there will be some work done on the CG, because this really isn't cutting it....

More weird ghost CG.....

 I do like Kate McKinnon, a lot. I would assume she is playing the role of an Egon Spangler-type this time, but she looks like she might be stealing the show in this one.

This iteration of Ecto-1 (if that's what they are going to call it) looks pretty good and I like it swerving past the arc near Washington Square Park

 The uniforms look pretty good, no real complaints here

 Again, more suspect CG....and......3D might be looming....oh boy.....

I guess this is supposed to be funny and/or sexual based on what McKinnon's character is supposed to be developed into. We'll see.....

 The proton pack beams do look pretty legit

My main gripe is the overall tone of the trailer, as it kind of gives you a little bit of the new with some weird new tones. I hope the "possession" angle of the film isn't a major plot point and just happens to be a small scene. But we'll see in July....

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The Simplistic Reviews 2016 Oscar Prediction Podcast (Ep. 65)

FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY

You've heard from the experts...now hear from the madmen from Simplistic Reviews as they predict who will and who should win at the 2016 Oscars.  Don't worry, the boys do their best to skate around the #OscarsSoWhite issue.  What, are you kidding?  They tackle it head on with enough irreverence that even Spike Lee flinch.  They also tackle other topics like R rated animation, Jennifer Lawrence on the precipise of being hated, and Harvey Fierstein...a lot of Harvey Fierstein.  All that and more on the Simplistic Reviews Oscar Prediction Podcast


NOTES
Harvey Fierstein in Independence Day
Morgan Freeman Car Accident

MUSIC
Hot Shot By Saun & Star
Across 110th Street By Bobby Womack
Strawberry Letter 23 By The Brothers Johnson

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Simplistic TV: 11/22/63

PROMISE

11/22/63 - Promise

Not many reviews of any kind grace the pages of the site much anymore, mainly because we either get around to talking about it on the podcast, log them on Letterboxd (on occasion), and the fact that every other site on the Internet talks about the same stuff over and over ad nausea, so what's the point? However, since the Grammys are on, and who really gives a crap about seeing 1,000 cut-aways to Taylor Swift being "happy" for every single artist that has ever stepped in front of a microphone, I thought I'd dust off the old writin' fingers and give a few thoughts on the surprise Hulu Original, the James Franco-led "11/22/63."

Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, this eight-part series features a time-traveling portal that takes the user back to 1960. Al (Chris Cooper), the proprietor of the diner in which the portal resides, convinces Jake (Franco), a schoolteacher, to travel back into time and stop the assassination of John F Kennedy. With hesitation, Jake enters the portal and is transported back to 1960 and travels to Dallas, Texas.

Most of the time, when King's works are put to TV or celluloid, the results are mixed. Most of the miniseries' that aired on network TV back in the 1990s and early 2000s had solid starts, and quickly fizzled out (I'm looking at you "Storm of the Century"). And of course for every "Stephen King's It" you have duds like "Dreamcatcher," but being that this is the golden age of TV is almost seems time to see more of King's work on platforms like Hulu; they can take chances, there are no limits, and with audiences moving to cutting the cord and watching shows on their own time, this might be one of the biggest success stories for any of King's works and could lead to a revival of "The Stand" or any other work of his that at one time was seen as unfilmable and too big for TV. If anything, at this point in time, in order to tell the story completely, his stories are too small for the silver screen, and perfect for the small screen.

In the first episode, you really get a taste of things to come in this short series. The world seems fully realized in recreating the 1960s with a combination of small town rural and big city Dallas. The creepiness factor moves in with Kevin J O'Connor as the so-called "Yellow Card Man" and the reoccurring comment to Jake; "You shouldn't be here."

The early comments are me are as follow; How are they going to show how time travel affects the present, and will eight episodes be enough to tell this story? To the first comment, that is a resounding, "we'll see" it was partially explained within the first 20 minutes or so, but I'm interesting to see how the bigger implications come into play. As far as the eight episodes, the novel was 800+ pages, so if you figure 100 pages an episode, hopefully it should work, take into account that I've never read the novel, so hopefully people loyal to the book will agree on that.

Lastly, you can't talk a Franco-led show or film without some pretty funny Francoism, and this episode has two whoppers. Early in the show, when Jake first enters the portal, he mentions that there better not be any spiders, and later on, while in 1960, he's eating pie and mentions how the pie is. Of course this could all be coincidence, but I like to think that Franco is making a concerted effort to relive/make fun of his days in the "Spider-Man" series. Speculation of course, but I like to think that's what Franco was trying to do.

Overall, from a production, acting, and story standpoint, "11/22/63" is almost unsurpassed. I love the look, I love the tone, and I simply think this is a well crafted and well made adaption of a novel (of course, like I said, I haven't read the novel, but it looks good) that might have eagles eyes on it from die-hard fans, and TV people alike. Hell, if this works out, we might be looking at more King work going to a studio that knows exactly what to do with it. Don't mess this up Hulu!     

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The Simplistic Reviews Podcast (Ep. 64) February 2016

FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY

On this Law & Order/Valentine's Day-centric episode of the Simplistic Reviews Podcast, Jay Cluitt from Life Vs. Film and the Lamb joins the boys to discuss important topics like Earl Grey, Parliament, Paul Giamatti, Mr. T, and Christopher Walken.  Also the boys take some time to admit some of their worst movie and television sins in another edition of Simply Ashamed.

All that and more on the Simplistic Reviews Podcast

NOTES:
FX Film
Life Vs. Film
Earl Grey
Billions

MUSIC
My Flows Is Tight By Lord Digga
It's A Shame Remix By The Spinners
Law & Order Theme By Mike Post

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Love/Hate: "Valentine's Day Double Feature Movie Commentary" (Ep. 62 Police Academy 3: Back in Training & Ep. 63 Malibu Express)

Love/Hate

"Valentine's Day Double Feature Movie Commentary"

(Ep. 62 Police Academy 3: Back in Training & Ep. 63 Malibu Express)

 Ep. 62

Police Academy 3: Back in Training

 

 

  

Ep. 63

Malibu Express

 

 

 

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3 Simplistic Things: January 2016

The new year begins, and while it might be new, the old saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same." With that, here are three things to take away this past January.

1. The X-Files Return:

After nearly a year of build up, "The X-Files" returned and our favorite believer and skeptic, Mulder and Scully, respectively, look like they haven't missed a beat.

After their last venture, the mix-reviewed "X-Files: I Want to Believe" it seemed like the X-Files were buried, but since everything that's old is new again, the iron was struck while it was hot, as they say. The two-part premier at the end of January was a welcome return to form for the agents, but of course controversy was added after word leaked that Gillian Anderson was supposedly offered half the salary that her counterpart, David Duchovny, for the revival. Either way, with four episodes remaining, and fan interest reignited, could it be possible that more X-Files could be on the way.

2. #OscarsSoWhite Controversy:

Well, this was a big one, and for reasonably good reason. After the Oscar nominations were announced, the Internet exploded with news that there was not a single non-White actor or actress awarded a nomination. Enter #OscarsSoWhite.

Two arguments can be made for this, and both create great debate: Perhaps there simply were not enough "great" roles by non-White actors and actresses in 2015, and that brings me to the bigger question. Why? Why, were there not enough great performances by non-White actors? The simple answer is that because Hollywood is not making these roles available and great actors and actresses are being wasted. Granted, yes, Idris Elba not being nominated this year for "Beasts of No Nation" will be discussed for quite a while, but why are we talking about a single performance, when we should be talking about numerous non-White actors being nominated? There is your core problem, not just the Academy, but Hollywood as a whole.

3. Agent Carter Returns:

In a TV world crammed with male heroes, it's great to see a female heroine come back with a vengeance. "Agent Carter" returned, and after some questionable promos that I saw about this season being a little too silly, I'm sold that Hayley Atwell is back and better than ever. Moving from NYC, and trading the concrete jungle for the palm trees of Los Angeles, "Carter" introduced some new Marvel lore (hopefully) and set the tone for the introduction of some mystical and spacey things to come.

That's it for this month, let's see what kind of love we get in February.

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