“Heroes on Both Sides” is an episode largely devoted to the politics of ending the war between the Republic and the Separatists. The Trade Federation and the Banking Clan are pushing for further deregulation of the banks in the Senate so that they might profit from more war spending. With the Republic’s credit running dry, Padme sees this as a perfect opportunity to negotiate with the enemy. When no one listens, she and Ahsoka decide to visit one of Padme’s old friends who happens to be a Separatist.

I know a lot of people have had a hard time with the politics heavy episodes, but I thought this was a brilliant critique of representative bodies and war and enemies and those standing in the way of the cessation of conflict because they have some way of profiting off of it.

It’s also a very subtle critique on the legislation we’ll pass to expedite a war, even though it’s not in the best interests of the people.

You can see the will of the real representatives of the people, Padme and her Separatists analog, working for that peace, but Sidious, Dooku, the Banking Clans, the Trade Federation, and others, working to undermine it.

Dooku goes so far to prevent the vote on this opening of negotiation between the Separatists and the Republic that they hatch a terrorist plot to disguise battle-droids that turn into bombs as maintenance droids in order to infiltrate and destroy the power grid on Coruscant.

The entire episode is a very powerful indictment of the difference between governing with the best interests of the people in mind versus the kneejerk reactions that lead to things like the Bush tax cuts that do us more harm in the long run.

This was by far and away the best political episode of the show so far.

Having said that, this was also the debut of the new Anakin and Ahsoka models on the show and I have to say I’m impressed, although they didn’t really get a chance to do anything. Anakin was seen doing nothing but walking down a corridor. Ahsoka had a little more to do, and they showed us that she now has two lightsabers, but she didn’t ignite them once.

The models and animation have taken a quantifiable leap forward, though. Ahsoka wears a cloak with a hood that she actually pulls up over her head. The side characters are more fully designed and believable. The lighting and sets are much more diverse and landscapes breathtaking.

In fact, there is one shot in particular that stood out as a particular work of art. It was the first shot after the first commercial break and it was a ship landing on a platform on Raxus. It was fall and the trees and mountains with the beautifully sculpted building they were landing in front of shining with majesty. It reminded me of a painting I can’t quite put my finger on. Any frame in that sequence could be put on a print and framed.

Overall, I think this was a very solid episode and a shining example of how politics and corruption can be done right. This episode puts Season Three’s Mandalore arc to shame.

Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner is a terrific first-person space-shooter that has just hit the Apple App Store for iPhone. If you have ever wished you could blast away incoming TIE Fighters (and eventually the Death Star) anywhere and any time you please, then this game is certainly for you. The objective is simple: defeat wave after wave of oncoming TIE’s from the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon.

The controls are simple. Rotate your iPhone left, right, up and down to move the Falcon; use your left thumb-stick to aim your blaster, hold down the right thumb to blast away (but keep in mind, your gun can over heat). While the controls are simple and responsive, it will take a few waves to get used to them, but once you do, you’ll be blowing TIE Fighters out of the sky as well – if not better – than Han or Luke. As you play through the game you earn credits that you can use to upgrade the Millenium Falcon for better armor, stronger, faster blasters, and add missiles and tractor beams to your arsenal to make disposing of the enemy even better. If you don’t want to simply play the game to earn credits, you can upgrade any of these options via in-app purchases for $.99. But honestly, save yourself the couple bucks and  just play the game, you’ll earn enough credits to upgrade the Falcon in due time.

One of the big and fun aspects of Falcon Gunner though is the Augmented Reality version of the game. Simply turn on that function on the homescreen and the space background is replaced by your actual surroundings via the iPhone’s camera. Take out TIE Fighters as they invade your backyard, place of work, or even just your living room. I actually found the controls in this mode to be a bit more user-friendly. Instead of tilting the iPhone to aim, you literally just point your iPhone where the radar tells you the TIE’s are coming from and fire away; word to the wise you, you’ll need to be standing to play this mode as it utilizes a full 360 degree environment – so if they are flanking you from behind you are going to have to turn yourself around to do battle. This is probably one of the more fun augmented reality games I have ever picked up for the iPhone – it’s pretty fun watching TIE Fighters fly over the roof of your house trying to kill you. You can also utilize the augmented reality setting you let off some steam by pretending to take shots at your nagging wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband – but I’ve found that a distracted gunner is a dead gunner, so it’s best to stay focused on the mission at hand and take out those oncoming enemy Fighters.

Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner is bit more expensive than your standard game in the ap store, and is currently gonig to set you back $4.99. Honestly, I have rarely spent more than $.99 on any app for my iPhone, but I felt like I had the five bucks to spend on this game, and I haven’t felt ripped off in the slightest. iPhone users know though, wait long enough and almost every app goes on sale in the app store eventually. Even at it’s current price though, Falcon Gunner would make a fine edition to any iPhone users game library, whether you are a fan of just a fun first-person space-shooter game, or someone longing to channel that inner Han Solo and do some work against the Empire.

Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner is available now in the App Store for iPhone.

First off, let me preface this review by saying that this Harry Potter is the best out of the series, save one (The Prisoner of Azkaban) and it’s too bad that they’ve finally hit their stride as the end draws near. They’re learning to add emotional moments into the climax of the story, which is something that has been lacking over the last few films.

The death of Sirius Black in the fifth film was a bungled mess leaving audiences to scratch their heads and wonder if it really happened. The death of Albus Dumbledore in the sixth film was a marked improvement, but still lacked some of the gravitas required.

Not since the Prisoner of Azkaban has a Harry Potter film lived up to the potential of storytelling and brought me a well-told, logical story with an emotional heart that mattered.

A particular highlight of the film was the animated sequence explaining the Death Hallows. It was a tremendously well done sequence (even though Death did look a lot like General Grievous.)

The acting of the kids and supporting actors has improved dramatically, though I must say Emma Watson needs to rely on her eyebrows less. Jeez. If she ever won an Oscar, they’d have to give her one full size statuette and two miniature ones for each eyebrow.

The action sequences in this film were incredible, from the opening chase in mid-air to… well, perhaps the only real big one. The rest of the film is just thrilling drama and close-calls. Perhaps my favorite sequence in the movie was when our heroes infiltrate the Ministry of Magic under the guise of a poly-juice potion. It was very, very well put together.

Though the plot is much less complicated than the twists and turns of Azkaban, it establishes very well what’s at stake going into the second half of the film due out in July.

Having said that, I say the movie this morning. At about 1:30 am. It finished sometime around 4:00 am. Beyond some miracle, I was able to stay awake through the entire time. Afterwards, in my delirium, I tweeted the following:

“Harry Potter was good, but it was no Phantom Menace.”

And now let me explain what I meant by that. This is a totally subjective statement based completely on subjective criteria. This is probably a better film mathematically, but I enjoyed the Phantom Menace so much more. When I went in to see The Phantom Menace for the first time, I was literally shaking with adrenaline and when the film began there was an explosion in excitement and I left the theatre in awe and wonder. Never had a film so completely bowled me over with enjoyment on the big screen before, save the Special Edition releases of the Star Wars trilogy.

Harry Potter didn’t have that effect on me.

At all.

I could see moments in it that gave me the chills, the mythology was cool, sure. But nothing in it invoked a reaction in me like that of a new Star Wars movie.

I can’t fault Harry Potter for not being Star Wars, but I can still enjoy Star Wars more. The people I was seeing it with did have that sort of experience, though, and for that I’m grateful. Because if they can experience a taste of what I went through watching Phantom Menace, then they won’t discount my feelings about a movie so readily.

So at the end of the day, sure, this movie was good. But to me, it was no Phantom Menace.

I liked Superman Returns. Despite its flaws, I thought it was a good story and a great setup for a new Superman franchise – reestablish the characters, give them some weight, then come back with an action-packed movie. But alas, the second movie never came and we find ourselves once again bracing for another “reboot” for the Man of Steel. Personally, I thought Routh was a great Superman/Clark Kent, and had he been given the chance to throw down with a bigger villain, he could have handled the job, but it looks like he won’t be getting the chance.

Early reports had Routh at least in the running to return as Supes, but either those just weren’t true, or Nolan and Snyder have just decided to go a different direction. According to Deadline:

Warner Bros, producer Chris Nolan, and director Zack Snyder have begun to cast a “wide net” to find the next Man of Steel. Insiders tell us the studio is open to creating a star as it reboots the Superman franchise: specifically, that the actor will either be a discovery or on TV but likely someone who isn’t well known yet. And he’ll be in the age range of 28-to-32. The studio expects to look at hundreds of young actors before making a decision.

Of course, along with this you already have some relatively unknown actor names being thrown around, including your standard CW stars that always seem to make it on to these types of lists. I swear, no matter what superhero casting is announced, not long after you start seeing Jensen Ackles name pop up – there must be a huge group of 14 year old fangirls out there pimping this guy for every superhero role imaginable; but I digress.

I am a little disappointed that Routh won’t get another chance to wear the cape again, but I have enough faith in Nolan and Snyder to do some solid casting for this film.

Production on Nolan and Snyder’s Superman film is slated to begin next June.

It’s time once again for another installment of The Big Movie Mouth Off, starring Jeff Vice from MSN and Jimmy Martin from SLUG Magazine (and both are regular panelists on The Geek Show Podcast)

You can friend the show on Facebook here.

These are available exclusively on Comcast in Utah.  Soon they’ll be available On Demand.  For now, they’re available nightly on Comcast Channel 6 at 11pm.  After their exclusive run there, they will be appearing on Big Shiny Robot! and across the Internet.  They are produced and directed by Bryan Young (myself) and Elias Pate both from Big Shiny Robot! and ShineBox Media Productions.

Without further delay, let’s get to the reviews:

First we have the Hilary Swank/Sam Rockwell film ‘Conviction’:

Then we have the Clint Eastwood directed ‘Hereafter’

Next, we have ‘Paranormal Activity 2’

And Saw 3D:

The idea of this film sickens me a little bit- especially considering who directed it… but Gary Oldman is a light at the end of the tunnel… so is Amanda Seyfried, I like her. But…

Ya… so- the use of color is quite vibrant and eye catching… but… as I was watching it, I felt that something was wrong… that something was incredibly off about it… there was something incredibly fake about the piece (and I don’t mean in the sense that its about Little Red Riding Hood.) There was something false about the cohesiveness of the people on screen- something faux about what they were saying and the way they were acting… I couldn’t understand what was so askew about this whole thing… then…

…then it said the whole “From the director of…” bit. I turned it off.  At THAT point- I reloaded the page and tried again- thinking I could look past the previous directorial works- it was impossible… the trailer immediately went from being “A movie that might not suck” into” “All I can see is sparkly vampires and terribly fake romantic connections.” All my previous questions were instantly answered.

Gary Oldman… can you carry the entire weight of a film just by being you… or is it actually possible for you to be involved in something as wrong as I expect this to be?  I don’t know- I have hopes that a Riding Hood piece would come out… but this just seems convoluted with another bestiality love story…

One movie I would have never expected to say “I can’t WAIT for this to come out!” about. Seriously. But…

warning, this one is Red Banded… if you care about that sort of thing.

David Gordon Greene’s: Your Highness

I laughed through the entire trailer… rapid fire jokes and humor designed to poke fun of the whole, fantasy epic genre, oh- and pot smoking with a puppet.

My favorite part about the whole thing was the slew of American actors doing (poor) British accents. Swank-mo-tron’s favorite part was Natalie Portman’s behind. All in all- it looks like it is going to be one balls out good time! I can honestly say this looks like the most EPIC comedy ever to be produced. The scope of it looks unreal for something from the group that made Pineapple Express.

Cowboys & Aliens

-9vMOTzOrE

Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell(my favorite actor of all time), Olivia Wilde (number 4 on my top ten remember?) and a production team including Iron Man’s Jon Favreau, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard?  COME ON! If that is all you had told me about this film- I’d be interested in watching the damn thing… But then you add this teaser trailer and… well… aside from the glaringly simple title (something that seems to just work with this concept) I’m giddy with anticipation. Giddy. Giddy-up!

Here’s the thing- Jon Favreau does very well with high concept action pieces… very well indeed. I’ll just say, I have very high hopes for this. The teaser is cut in a fairly unique fashion- giving us story, without giving anything away… I mean… all I know is that Daniel Craig has a super bracelet and can shoot down UFO’s with it. All the while teaming up with lawman Harrison Ford, Oh and they try to attack an alien race that are obviously more technologically advanced than the Old West… I mean, how are you supposed to defeat an alien enemy without Will Smith, Ian Malcom and a Nuke?

The thing that disappointed me most about the trailer is that I didn’t really get a good sample of Mr. Craig’s southern drawl- NOR did I see any of Sam Rockwell, upsetting to say the least.

I’m a few days behind, mostly cuz my work schedule has been… helter skelter…? I’ll make the synopsis quick because, by now, you’ve all seen this episode:

Alright- basically, the group that was once trapped in Atlanta are now free and they have returned to the camp of survivors in the mountains. Rick is reunited with his family and then he decides he needs to go back into Atlanta to retrieve Merle who they had left handcuffed to the roof of the department store. But mostly he returns to get the sack o’ guns he dropped in episode 1- He goes with three others, including Merle’s brother Daryl. Meanwhile, Shane continues to try and endear Rick’s son to him and we find out he lied to Lori about Rick being dead…

Wow… when I type it out like this it seems like some kind of strange soap opera… with zombies.  But that’s not the case at all with The Walking Dead. In fact, this episode in particular I REALLY felt like I could and did connect with the characters. From the opening scene with Merle on the roof, screaming, begging then cursing God- to the moment Rick (who I’ve been having a hard time connecting with) sees he family for the first time since before he was shot… A moment, I’ll admit willingly, that made me cry. I forgot all of Lori’s betrayal, I couldn’t care less that there was an immediate threat of Zombies and the end of the world… Rick found his boy. (a boy I might add who has some acting chops on him). Actually, the casting in this show is ridiculously perfect. Ridiculous I say!

I’m intrigued by the threat that has been set up in this episode- Merle’s brother Daryl is as volatile as Merle himself, and armed with a crossbow. Also- they set up that, even though they are miles and miles into the woods- Zombies… or “Geeks” are getting closer and closer to camp.

The thing about this episode that utterly blew my mind was the forward momentum of it… the pace- the drive of this show is unreal- almost surreal. I find myself wanting to know what happens next AFTER they have shown me what happens next- its a great way for me to really process the information and connect with the situations the characters find themselves in- which, may sound a bit backwards in logic- but it works so so so well.

The final thing I want to say is that the commercial selection AMC is using for this show could use a bit of a once over- its the same 3 over and over- and honestly, how many men with ED are watching TWD? (this may have been a silly question, now that I think about it)

This week sees the upgraded models of the main characters of Clone Wars with an episode entitled “Heroes on Both Sides”.

I’m keenly interested in this episode for a lot of reasons, but the biggest is something that Supervising Director Dave Filoni mentioned at Star Wars Celebration V. “Remember in the opening crawl to Revenge of the Sith it said there were heroes on both sides and evil is everywhere? We’re going to explore that so it makes a lot more sense.”

And since then I’ve been craving more along those lines.

This episode promises to deliver.

Having said that, this also marks a jump in time from the episodes we’d seen before which makes me guess a few things about what we’ve seen of Season 3 so far.

Firstly, initial reports said that a season of Clone Wars would be 25 episodes per season. These seasons have so far run 22 episodes long (plus three scotch taped episodes that served as the theatrical outing.) That leaves at least three episodes, possibly six, that were produced for earlier seasons and never aired for whatever reason. So far this season, we’ve been seeing connecting material from story arcs developed in the first two seasons. Even the season premiere was the prequel and sequel of Episode 1.5.

But now, with this episode, we’re taking a step further in timeline with these characters. This seems like the real season three. This is what we’re looking forward to for the rest of the season and it looks breathtaking. A lot of people have had issues with most of this season. (I’ve only been a little disappointed with two episodes). I think this is what we’ve all been waiting for Season Three to become.

My one question about all of this though, is whether or not we’ll be seeing the timeline jump between the old character models and the earlier times in the war and the new, more recent.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

From the official press release:

In addition to exploring some of the complexities of the war itself, the episode is notable because it introduces all-new character models for some of The Clone Wars’ heroes – including Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka.

“Over the course of the series so far, our characters have been affected by the conflict, so the changes we are seeing are a reflection of what they’ve gone through and how they’ve changed,” says Supervising Director Dave Filoni. “We’re getting closer to the events of Episode III, and the look of the series is moving toward that look and those designs. We don’t have a live-action point of comparison for Ahsoka, but her development is definitely as pronounced as anyone’s. When the war began, she was just a kid; she was strong and capable, but she had a lot to learn – and she’s been through a lot. She’s been changed by the things she’s seen and done, and now we’re seeing that reflected in her look. She’s older, more mature. In this episode, we see a significant step for her emotional development, in addition to her aesthetic development. Coming face to face with the enemy is going to be an eye-opening experience for her.”

In addition to showcasing the series’ character development and its progression toward the Episode III aesthetics, the new CG models also reflect a change in the way that The Clone Wars is produced.

“Our production keeps getting better; as we move forward, we’re able to incorporate new techniques and improved animation,” says Filoni. “As a weekly series, we’ve been pushing ourselves to do things that haven’t been done in TV animation, and it’s always a struggle just to get it done at all. But we are learning tricks that help to streamline the process, and we continue to build our asset library. We’re at a place where we can explore and develop new and improved character assets for some of our primary players. In addition to the look change, these new models are so much more expressive.”

And in case you missed it, here’s the badass Savage Oppress trailer: