Netflix Pick (streaming): “Get the Gringo”

November 18, 2012 Kev Brock Leave a comment

I haven’t posted a Netflix review in a long while, but since I watched a movie on Netflix last night, I thought I would review this one. Last night, I watched this film called, “Get the Gringo”, starring Mel Gibson. It’s a low budget B-Movie type, so it wasn’t shown in that many theaters, wasn’t a very big movie at all. The movie first premiered in Israel and it was shown in 22 other places in other countries. This movie was not shown in the US at all, I don’t think it was. The film was also written by and produced by, Mel Gibson himself, he didn’t direct it though.

The film is about this guy who is a career criminal. He gets arrested for stealing money from a crime boss, and breaking across the Mexican border. Mel Gibson’s character, who is unnamed as “Driver”, is sent to this Mexican prison, but, this is no ordinary prison. It’s a prison that is designed like an actual town. Mel’s character, Driver, tries to survive the prison with the help a young Mexican boy.

I was surprised on how great this movie was. It was surprisingly fun, and enjoyable. It’s a shame that this film wasn’t a worldwide hit. If Mel Gibson directed this film himself, I’m sure it could have been a hit then. I would have to say though, that Mel was a real bad ass in this role. It was a violent and graphic movie, just like most of Mel’s films are. His role in this film is kind of like a crossover of Mad Max and his Lethal Weapon character, mixed into one. I can’t believe that Mel is still doing violent action movies and yet, he wants nothing to do with, “Mad Max: Fury Road”?

If this movie got a US release, it had potential to be a blockbuster. Oh well. Maybe Mel felt like this movie wasn’t made for Americans to see, it was made exclusively for other countries. Despite the problems in Mel Gibson’s personal life, his personal problems is not destroying the talent that he has in film. He continues to bring it in film, no matter the bad karma that gets in his life. He’s a talented actor, writer, and director. I’ve always admired Mel’s work in film. He continues to work in film ’cause that’s what he does. It’s his passion and he can’t get away from it.

Even though this film “Get the Gringo” wasn’t recognized in Hollywood that much, it’s still a really good movie. I would suggest you check it out yourself for you Netflix subscribers out there. Mel is still a great actor, love him or hate him.

Kev

Local music

Bands & Musicians who constantly obsess with getting signed publicly…

November 17, 2012 Kev Brock 6 Comments

There’s a few certain bands & musicians I know who shall be nameless, who go on and on and on, about getting signed, whether to an indie label or major. Musicians who promote themselves that way, are just asking for more attention, and all that’s really doing is just showing how much of a huge ego you really have. You see, there’s a lot of bands & musicians want to get signed, but a lot of them don’t make their dreams public. A lot of them usually keep it for themselves even though, that is what they want. Hoping to become famous rock stars, someday. Why do a lot of musicians keep their dreams for themselves? It’s because it’s a professional thing to do. The last thing you want to do is go around, thinking you’re going to get big and famous someday.

How does this make you an attention whore? It’s just their way to make their fans proud of them. They want to make themselves feel good by getting positive feedback from their fanbase.

The more you go around, acting like you’re gonna go mainstream someday, the less chances you are going to get signed. The labels don’t come after you that way. The labels will come after you, if you promote yourself well and have a very large following. That’s how it goes these days.

On top of that, why would a band or solo musician want to get famous to begin with? The way the music industry is today, it’s very difficult to get signed. Most artists in the industry are fake, and manufactured. A lot of them don’t even really perform, and even the artists get controlled by the industry. They will also control you as a songwriter and artist. If you do get signed, you’re not going to get very far commercially because, pop/rap/country is so huge. It’s very hard for rock bands to get known and become rich & famous. Today’s industry is not the same way anymore for rock musicians. Point being, it’s very hard to make it.

Phantogram hasn’t really “made it” yet. They still have a long road to go if they want to be considered commercial and mainstream, artists. They do have fame, yes, but a little bit. They are just famous in the indie market.

This is why it’s best to stay unsigned and be a DIY musician, ’cause I personally enjoy that more. The music industry is garbage today. That includes the indie label market who are very pretentious and even more controlling, than the majors. Who needs to get signed. Just enjoy and play the music. That’s it.

Kev

movies

Film Review: Lincoln

November 17, 2012 Kev Brock 1 Comment

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Hal Holbrook
Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Yesterday, I’ve seen, “Lincoln”, and here is my review.

Plot/synopsis: As the civil war is coming to an end, President Abraham Lincoln, wants to put slavery to an end by adding the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Remember, there were only 12 Amendments back then. So they had to do a vote in the House of Representatives, in which the votes were very close.

This is not a straight up, Lincoln, biopic. It doesn’t start from his childhood all the way up to his death, as some hoped it would. Instead, the film focuses on the last four months of Abe’s life. It basically starts from the Civil War, right away, but the film doesn’t show much of that. Even though the film doesn’t show much about the Civil War, the battles and everything, still though, the fights in the Civil War, were pretty gritty and disturbing. We all know Steven Spielberg is the master at War Battles with films like “Saving Private Ryan”, “Schindler’s List”, and, “War Horse”.

Instead of focusing on Lincoln’s life, the film gets to behind the scenes of the White House and the political life. If you’re expecting a war movie with violence, gore, and intense battle scenes, look again. You’re gonna see a full 2 and a half hour movie, full of dialogue and acting scenes. So the film is going to be slow pacing, whether you like it or not. The film mostly focuses on the last days of, Abraham Lincoln. It wants to give you a closer look, on how Abe changed US history forever, by putting an end to slavery for good.

The film was beautifully shot. The cinematography was amazing and Spielberg is always the master at the camera. It’s a pretty smart and intelligent movie. It follows the Lincoln story, pretty perfectly. It’s not just a movie for political and history buffs, it can be a useful movie for high school and college students, as well. This film is a pretty important history lesson for all.

The movie also has a great cast. Other than the great Daniel Day-Lewis, the film is full of talented actors who played all the characters well. Sally Field was phenomenal as, Mary Todd, who played Lincoln’s wife. It’s an all star cast with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, Tommy Lee Jones, John Hawkes, Jackie Earl-Haley, Tim Blake Nelson, etc. I think there is going to be some Oscar nominations here. Especially Daniel Day-Lewis, who I think might have another Oscar on the way for him. Sally Field will probably get nominated for her role too. Hal Holbrook, as well. Tommy Lee Jones, maybe. While the cast did a great job, Daniel Day-Lewis killed it, like he has always done. He did a good job on what Abe’s speaking voice, would have been like. This is going to be a big Oscar movie, and it will probably score the most nominations. Wouldn’t surprise me.

People are already asking me how the movie, ended. Well, everyone knows how Abe’s life ended, when he was shot at the Ford Theater, with John Wilkes Booth being the shooter. I don’t want to get into details of the ending. The film showed the Ford Theater scenes, of course, but the movie dragged on some more after that. Showing special scenes, that will blow your mind. I don’t want to give anything away.

This is definitely one of the best films of 2012. I think Spielberg just made another masterpiece. It’s his best non-popcorn family film. You should really see this soon.

Score for “Lincoln” = **** (4 stars as in “excellent”)

Kev

movies, Politics/war

Brief review, “2016: Obama’s America”…

November 17, 2012 Kev Brock Leave a comment

So I finally got around to watching, “2016: Obama’s America”, the film directed by Dinesh D’Souza. I would have to say that this was a very interesting documentary. Probably one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a long time. The film is not what you think it is. The film will give you insight and a reality check on who Barack Obama really is. Where he came from, how he got here, and what our future is going to be like. One thing to keep in mind though, that this film is not an Anti-Obama film, nor a birther film. It wants to predict America’s future if Obama wins a 2nd term, which he just did, obviously.

The movie pretty much covers most of the stuff I’ve been saying about him on this blog. Some will attack the film, saying they just attack Obama and make things up about him. Not true, you see, the film was carefully researched, and D’Souza interviews a bunch of people who knew or were very close to Obama. The film wants to give you insight on how Obama plans on reshaping America. It gets into Obama’s way of thinking.

To all you Obama supporters and to those who voted for him, I challenge you to watch this film. It might change your mind about him. It even talks about Obama being an immigrant and shows how he could get away with being elected even if he possibly wasn’t born here. The whole point of the film is that it wants to show you what America would be like in 2016 with Obama being president. Like the title says, “Love him, hate him, You Don’t Know Him”, I agree. Really guys, you should watch this film, whether you support Obama or not. After you watch that film, maybe you would understand my dislike for the guy after. It’s a pretty compelling documentary, and pretty well made. Pretty important stuff that shouldn’t be ignored. Everyone should know the truth about President Obama and why he can’t be trusted. We don’t know him like we all think we do.

Give this film a rent sometime or buy it. You need to do some more learning.

Kev

Random/off topic posts

Just random bullshitting…

November 16, 2012 Kev Brock Leave a comment

Well this afternoon, I went to the mall and saw Spielberg’s “Lincoln”. I’ll post my review tomorrow. I don’t feel like it tonight. I also got around to watching the Netflix DVD rental of “2016: Obama’s America”. I’ll post a review of that tomorrow too.

I did pick up a few things for myself. Picked up new music albums by Soundgarden “King Animal” and Mumford & Sons, “Babel”.

I’m just kind of tired tonight, so I don’t feel like writing a whole lot on my blog tonight. Think, I’m gonna go to bed early.

Kev

Edit to add: I also have a lot to say about that Israel vs. Gaza stuff going on, it’s getting nasty over there. I’ll have something to say about that tomorrow as well and it isn’t going to be so kind.

Videogame news

Why online gaming with first person shooters sucks so bad…

November 16, 2012 Kev Brock 1 Comment

I try to play first person shooter games online like “Call of Duty”, “Medal of Honor” and many others, but when I do, it’s a huge pain in the ass. I don’t play first person shooter games online anymore. I’m pretty good playing first person shooter games online, but the main problem is that most gamers are just young kids. A lot of them are really bad at gaming. They just cheat. They do something they call, “camping”. “Camping” has been a huge problem with online first person shooter gaming. What “camping”, is they’ll hide in a really good hiding spot and wait for their opponents to come around and that’s a good opportunity for a good target. They can get away with killing many guys by “camping”.

“Camping” has been a huge problem ever since the old PC days of first person shooting online with old school games like “Duke Nukem”, “Doom”, “Quake”, “Unreal Tournament”, etc.

I think it’s more fun playing the storyline game, than the online gaming. I know in some games camping can be acceptable ’cause that’s the whole point in certain games, but in some games like “COD” or “Medal of Honor”, camping is considered cheating.

I wish there would be a first person shooter where it was designed that camping is not allowed. Online “camping” sucks. Those who camp in online gaming, should be found and beaten.

Kev

Walking Dead – Season 3 thoughts so far…

November 16, 2012 Kev Brock Leave a comment

I’m really liking “Walking Dead – Season 3” so far. It’s an impressive season. Last Sunday’s episode was pretty amazing and it’s going to be interesting to see what’s going to happen this Sunday. I like the whole story with Michonne, The Governor, Andrea, and Merle. I love how they’re giving Merle more screen time. Awesome.

I’m not trying to give any spoilers, but just a tiny hint, while Michonne is a bad ass character,what’s about happen to her is not gonna be so good. I’m not saying she’s gonna get killed off but in the books, the Governor is not gonna treat her so kindly. I’m not sure if they will use that stuff for the TV show, but I’m hoping. Not gonna say what they do to her, but something bad is gonna happen to Michonne.

As for last Sunday’s ending, when Rick answered the phone call in the prison, some may say it was hallucination, but it could be an actual call too. I think we may see a Morgan Jones return ’cause I believe that’s who that was in that phone call, just my prediction, not a spoiler. “Season 3” started off as a let down, but got better as it went along.

Daryl’s a badass like usual. I can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen when Daryl reunites with Merle and go face to face with each other for the first time. Will Daryl rejoin Merle and turn on Rick? Or will Daryl stick with Rick and fight against his own brother? It’ll be interesting to see what’s going to happen.

I think the Governor is a great character, and David Morrissey, the guy who plays him, is a phenomenal actor.

Yeah, I’ve been reading the “Walking Dead” books, but I only read the first 6 of them. I need to read the rest of them, and will get back into collecting the “Walking Dead” books soon. They are using a lot of stuff from the books this season.

Kev

Random/off topic posts

Best of’s 2012 will come soon…

November 15, 2012 Kev Brock Leave a comment

My final post for the night to get off my chest. At the end of every year, I would usually do a top list of Best of’s, a yearly thing for Music, Movies and the News. I usually do those lists at the end of every year. Usually at the end of Dec. I would do a “Top 15 Best Movies of 2012”, “Top 10 Best Music Albums”, and “Top 10 News Stories”. I was gonna do a Top Books and Top Video games list for 2012, but I’m not gonna bother ’cause I don’t catch up with new books and video games too much, so I’ll just stick with the Movies and Music lists. I’m already thinking about what my Movies and Music lists will be like, planning ahead, but it’s still too early. There’s still upcoming new movies I need to see and new upcoming albums I need to hear.

For example, tomorrow, I’m planning to see Spielberg’s “Lincoln”. There are still a few other upcoming movies I want to see like, “Hitchcock”, “The Hobbit”, “Zero Dark Thirty”, and “Django Unchained”. That’s pretty much it for movies for the rest of the year.

When will I have these lists up? I’m thinking sometime the week before, New Years. It’s been a good year for Movies, but Music it’s still hard finding the good stuff, but I do find good music albums still. I’m sure you guys are looking forward to them. I’m looking forward to it too. It’s hard to believe it’s almost the end of the year already.

Kev

music

Jon Bon Jovi’s daughter thoughts…

November 15, 2012 Kev Brock 6 Comments

I’m not much of a fan of Bon Jovi’s music (can’t stand him, really) but I thought I would reply to this. I’m sure many people are blaming Jon Bon for, Stephanie Bongiovi’s, possible heroin addiction. I wouldn’t blame Jon for this. I don’t think Jon ever did any illegal drugs in his years. I’m sure people thought he did drugs in his earlier days of his career during the 80’s, when the hair metal thing was big, but I’m pretty sure, Jon lived a pretty clean lifestyle. I don’t think he’s much of a drinker either. Correct me if I’m wrong on whether or not Jon Bon did any alcohol or drugs over the years. I don’t think there has been any reports or evidence that he was. It sounds like his daughter, Stephanie, is just a hard partier and hangs out with the wrong crowd. I won’t blame Jon Bon for this. I think it might be Stephanie, partying with a bunch of college kids who thought it was cool to party with someone who has a rock star, Dad.

This is a pretty sad story, though. I’m sure Jon is worried as hell about her, and he might have to take a break from his career in care for her. I wish both of them well.

Kev

movies, Videogame news

Report: Finally, the “Deus Ex: Human Revolution” live action movie has a director…who is it???