Final Blog Post

When I first started my blog, I was completely new to blogging. I tried to choose a subject that would be easy to write about. I wanted to make my blogging experience somewhat enjoyable as opposed to an awful, nagging task. I chose to blog about movies because it is something that I have a passion for. Also, it would make it so that my homework was to watch movies. It was enjoyable because I got to watch what ever movies I wanted when ever I needed to, which was almost always superhero movies and comedies. Some people had troubles coming up with something to write about, but having a movie review blog provided me with never-ending material.

This is not what I experienced. Image courtesy of http://www.filmscriptwriting.com

To be completely honest, I think my first blog posts were the best. I took a long time on my first blog posts while I was just getting used to blogging. I wanted to start on a good track and set up my blog for success in the future. As I continued to blog, I got more and more comfortable and I started writing my blog posts in less time. I got a hang of the usual routine. If I could go back in time and change anything about my blog, I would take more time on my last blog posts. I feel like if I had taken as much time as my first blog posts, they would have been a lot more detailed and interesting to read.

Another thing I would change is the consistency of my posts. I usually would type all three blog posts the week they were due, so my blog would go for long periods of time with no action. This would make it inconvenient for consistent readers to keep up with my blog. It would have been much better if I set a goal to post once every two weeks instead of three times every two months.

You could say this was my attitude toward my blog.
Image courtesy of https://www.theodysseyonline.com

Now, I am a more experienced blogger. If I ever were to start another blog or continue the one I already have, I would know exactly what to do to keep it fun and interesting. If you are a person who is thinking of starting a blog for yourself, I have put together a list of Do’s and Don’t’s for keeping a blog:

Do’s: 

• Post consistently

• develop a voice and style of writing

• use good grammar and spelling

• design your blog to be fun and interactive

• make your blog attractive

• ask for feedback from readers

Don’t’s:

• write about the same thing every time

• using a boring style of writing

• use boring colors or fonts

• use low-quality images

• use other people’s property without siting

• post inconsistently 

We are going to keep with the usual “Top 5” at the end of my blog posts. Today, I’m gonna give you what I think were my top 5 best posts.

5. Daredevil

4. Half Baked

3. Wilfred

2. Iron Man

1. First Post/21 Jump Street

The Avengers

Hey everyone! As you can tell by the enthusiasm, I am in a great mood today. Why, you ask? Because Captain America: Civil War comes out TOMORROW! I have been waiting for it’s release for almost 8 months now. The worst part is, I had tickets to go see it today, before its actual release date, but I had to cancel due to a more important playoff game all the way in Logan. But no big deal, now I’ll just get to see it tomorrow along with the rest of the population. Now I’m not writing about Civil War because I haven't even seen it yet (although I could). Instead, I am writing about a movie that is probably Marvel’s greatest installment so far: The Avengers. I have been watching a bunch of Marvel movies this past week to get pumped up for the release of Civil War, which might just dethrone The Avengers’ position of best Marvel movie so far. Many movie critique websites along with myself place The Avengers (2012) at the top of the list. It is just such a great movie. Let’s break it down.

movie cover courtesy of http://www.imdb.com

First, the cast. The Avengers was the first superhero team up movie. This means it brought together all of the heroes from Marvel’s previous installments. Superhero team up means only one thing: super cast team up. Avengers brought together the talents of Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye). I know, that’s a lot of bad-assery in one list. And they lived up to their reputation. The cast came together to bring the characters to life and develop the relationships between the characters. They nailed all of their scenes and lines. One of the most memorable things about this movie were the great quotes. Avengers was jam-packed with a bunch of quotes and one-liners that were anywhere from dramatic to funny. The thing that made these quotes and scenes so good was how the talented cast delivered them.

To sum things up, the Avengers is a story about all of the Marvel superheroes coming together to do things an individual can’t. In this case, it was fighting Thor’s evil brother Loki and his army of Chitauri warriors. The Avengers is based off of the popular comic book of the 60s. Known by many as the “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”, the Avengers comic books were a hit from the first release in 1963 all the way until now. Although Marvel did an amazing job bringing the Avengers into the cinematic universe, there is one thing I would change. In the original Avengers comic book #1, the superhero team consisted of Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man and the Wasp. That’s right, no Captain America. Even fellow avengers Hawkeye and Black Widow did’t come until later in the comics. Marvel had to work with the installments that they already had, which were Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America. So that’s what they did. They would later incorporate Ant-Man, Wasp and the rest of the team, so nothing to freak out about.

The Avengers "Assembling" for the first time. Image courtesy of http://www.sky.com

Today I will be giving you guys my favorite lines from The Avengers. Trust me, it was very hard to come up with this list.

#5 Thor: Have a care how you speak! Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother!

Natasha Romanoff: He killed eighty people in two days.

Thor: He's adopted.

#4 Tony Stark: What's the stat, Rogers?

Steve Rogers: [looks at the Helicarrier tech] It seems to be powered by some sort of electricity!

Tony Stark: ...well, you're not wrong.

#3 Steve Rogers: Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?

Tony Stark: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.

#2 Tony Stark: You're missing the point! There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it!

#1 Loki: Enough! You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by...

[Hulk flattens Loki with repeated smashes into the floor]

The Hulk: Puny god.

That’s it for another mediocre review of such a fantastic movie. I would give this movie an overall score of 9/10. Stay tuned for more reviews!

The Jungle Book

Today I will be reviewing a movie that just topped the box office for it’s third weekend in a row. The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau, came out on April 15, 2016. It is Disney’s big screen take on the popular children’s book of the same title. I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. It has been a huge success so far. Here is my breakdown on why.

Movie cover courtesy of http://www.imdb.com

For those of you who do not know, 

director Jon Favreau is also the director of one of the greatest cinematic trilogies of all time: The Iron Man trilogy. He did a phenomenal job with those movies, along with directing well known films such as Chef (2014), Zathura (2005), and everyone’s favorite Christmas movie, Elf (2003). Along with being a talented director, Favreau is also a gifted actor. He has made appearances in many movies. As a matter of fact, I am almost positive you would recognize him if you saw a picture, so I’ll put one right down below.

Jon Favreau courtesy of http://www.biography.com

Favreau brought The Jungle Book to life with action, comedy, drama, amazing CGI, and a fantastic integration of characters, without losing sight that he is creating an adventure story for children. Although I think a dark, mature, violent take on the Jungle Book would have been totally bad-ass, this one was good too. Fever created a movie entertaining for people all ages and interests. I mean, who doesn’t like the Jungle Book?

The Jungle Book was the story of a young child named Mowgli who was raised by the wolves in the jungle. After a furious tiger, Shere Khan, learns of the wolves raising a man, Mowgli is forced to leave his home. Guided by a wise black panther and being hunted by the tiger, Mowgli goes on an adventure meeting an array of jungle animals along the way. On his epic journey of self-discovery he learns valuable life lessons and makes friendships that will last forever. First off, the thing that impressed me the most about this movie was how it was made. The CGI animals were phenomenal. They looked so realistic you could hardly tell that Mowgli wasn’t actually riding a real black panther. Fever was also able to create the effect of the animals talking without making it look fake or stupid. Young actor Neel Sethi did a great job playing Mowgli. Although maybe this is just the children’s movie aspect to the film, I thought some of the movie got a little cheesy. Some of the lines and dialogue was a little too fake and almost reminded you that the movie was directed towards kids. But that’s just me.

My favorite part in this movie by far was Mowgli’s experiences with Baloo the bear. They became best friends as they went on comical adventures finding honey and floating down rivers. Also, the “Bear Necessities” song is my favorite part of the book and animated film. They made sure to include this part in the movie too, and they did a great job.

Mowgli and Baloo courtesy of http://screenrant.com

So that’s my take on the movie. I recommend you go see it if you haven’t already. Although it was definitely not one of my favorite movies, it was great for children and families and entertaining non the less. I would give it an overall score of 7/10.

The Brothers Grimsby

Hey everyone. It’s been a while since my last blog post but believe it or not I’m back. And I’m excited this time because I just watched one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. When I first heard that Sacha Baron Cohen was releasing another movie, I was ecstatic. Although his movies are very hit or miss with people, they are definitely a hit for me. I absolutely love his inappropriate, raunchy humor, and that is exactly what The Brothers Grimsby had to offer. But to me it was a lot more than that.

movie poster courtesy of http://www.comingsoon.net

Like always, we will start with the actors. The star of the movie, of course, was the man himself, Sacha Baron Cohen. You might know him from hit movies Borat and The Dictator. He also played the french racer driver in Talladega Nights and voiced King Julian the lemur in Madagascar. That’s what I love about him. He is such a talented actor that has the ability to play such diverse roles. He is most known for his raunchy, inappropriate comedies (the ones I love) but he has also played more serious roles such as the station inspector in Hugo. Of course I love him because he chooses to use his talents for movies like Borat, but you can’t argue that he isn’t a talented actor.

Co-starring in this movie was British actor Mark Strong. He was a new actor for me that I have never seen before. He is known for playing roles in Kingsman: The Secret Service, Green Lantern, and Sherlock Holmes. From what I saw from the movie, I liked him. He played the more serious role in the movie, playing as a British secret agent. I would like to see more of his movies or see him in future films. The Brothers Grimsby also showed us familiar faces such as Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane.

Sebastian and Nobby image courtesy of http://www.denofgeek.com

As for the story line of this movie, it was fantastic. The thing that I really enjoyed about this movie was that behind the blanket of sex jokes and drug references there was an actual story line. Often movies like this have a dumb and pointless story, but this one actually had meaning. Sacha Baron Cohen is known for creating characters that he makes movies and skits with. The character that made him famous was Alistair Leslie Graham, better known as Ali G. He has also created characters like Borat, Brüno, and Aladeen. His newest character, English scumbag Nobby, was the star of The Brothers Grimsby. The story was about two inseparable brothers who grew up as orphans together in England until only one gets adopted and they are forced to split up. Many years later one is a top secret agent named Sebastian (Mark Strong) and the other is a dirty scumbag named Nobby with 9 children living in a fishing town (Sacha Baron Cohen). When trying to find his long-lost brother Sebastian, Nobby sabotages one of his missions and is forced to be with his brother as he becomes top on the kill list for England. Seeing Sebastian’s serious, unhumorous personalty mix with Nobby’s dimwitted, idiotic personality as they go on a series of adventures was absolutely hilarious. Also, seeing them come together and find the true meaning of family was awesome too.

I recommend this movie to anyone that enjoys a good laugh. Fans of Borat and other Cohen movies will especially like it. I do not recommend it to anyone who does not enjoy this kind of humor. But for someone like me who loves it, I would give this movie a 9/10.

Deadpool

Today I will be writing about a movie that easily made it to my Top 10 list of my favorite movies of all time. I’m always saying how I love comedies and superhero movies so much, and this movie was the perfect fit for both. Deadpool made it’s debut on February 12, 2016, and was an immediate hit. It is still filling up the theaters to this day. As soon as I saw Marvel was releasing a Deadpool film way back in the summer of 2015, I knew it was going to be absolutely amazing. And it was.

movie poster courtesy of http://www.filmaffinity.com

Ryan Reynolds, sometimes known as the sexiest man alive, starred as Wade Wilson, or Deadpool, in this movie. I think one of the reasons for the movie’s success was Reynold’s amazing performance in this movie. His sarcastic sharp edged wit was the perfect fit for Deadpool. In the comics Deadpool is known as the merc with a mouth and is always known for his inappropriate jokes and swear words. Ryan Reynolds brought the perfect personality to show this. He has also had his experience playing a superhero role starring in The Green Lantern (2011) and making an appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).

The story is about an ex military-vet and mercenary Wade Wilson. After falling in love with prostitute Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin) he finds out he has terminal cancer. Doing whatever it takes to live and be with her, Wilson joins the Weapon X initiative, after receiving a message saying they can heal him. Wilson undergoes a series of torturous treatments done by a British mutant and doctor known as Ajax. He ends up becoming mutated cured of cancer, and is left with regenerative powers, but is left extremely scarred and ugly. Fueled with rage, Wilson, now known as Deadpool goes out to seek revenge on Ajax so he can turn back to original self. Being practically unable to die, the merc with a mouth goes on a blood and swear word filled journey to find Ajax and get his girl back. 

This movie has everything from action to love to humor to horror and everything in between. It was Marvel’s first R-rated release, so there are some sexual scenes, plenty of violence and lots of swearing. It was filled with Wade Wilson’s quick sarcastic one-liners and raunchy humor. One of my favorite aspects of the movie was the order in which they told the story. It was not told chronologically. Instead, they switched between “present” and past the whole first half of the movie, showing how Wade Wilson became Deadpool. Once you were all caught up, it went from “present” to the end of the movie. It was a very cool and unique way of doing things, and it told the story very well.

Deadpool and Colossus image courtesy of http://www.npr.org

Since Deadpool had never ending hilarious quotes and one liners, I will give you my top 5.

#5

"If I ever decide to become a crime-fighting shit swizzler, who rooms with a bunch of other little whiners at Neverland Mansion with some creepy, old, bald, Heaven’s Gate-looking motherf**ker… on that day, I’ll send your shiny, happy ass a friend request.”

- talking to Colossus about joining the X-men.

#4

"Say the magic words, Fat Gandalf."

- talking to a fat bearded man in the mercenary house

#3

“Ever see 127 hours?”

- talking to Colossus right before he cuts his hand off to break free from handcuffs

#2

“You’re about to be killed by a Zamboni!”

- talking to a murder target trying to crawl away from Deadpool driving a zamboni over him

#1

“He got Ajax from the dish soap!”

- making fun of Ajax’s name during the Weapon X initiative

I loved everything about this movie and apparently so did the rest of the world. If you haven't seen it yet I definitely recommend you go do that. I would give it an overall score of 10/10. Leave comments for any movies or TV shows I should review next!

Dear James Franco,

Dear James Franco,

I write this post to you today because I consider you my ideal reader. You are my favorite actor at the moment. I consider you my ideal reader because most of my blog posts are about comedies, lots of them being movies you have starred in. Also, you can relate to my posts about superhero movies because you have had that experience playing Harry Osborne in the original Spiderman series.

Franco as Harry Osborne courtesy of https://www.screenused.com

I am a 14 year old boy from Park City, Utah. I have a passion for movies. I almost always watch movies or TV shows in my downtime. I especially love comedies that you and Seth put together. The Interview, Pineapple Express and This is the End are easily on my top 10 movie list.

I use my blog as a movie critiquing website. I named it “Rancid Potatoes” as a twist on the already popular website of the same category: Rotten Tomatoes. My blog is very easy for me to write, because my homework is to watch movies. Also, I can choose any movie I want and have limitless things to write about it. I never experience writer’s block and never not know what to write about. I don’t only critique new releases either. I critique all, old and new, and that’s what I love about my blog. Although I can choose from any movie I want, I often find myself only choosing between comedies and Marvel superhero movies.

Pineapple Express movie poster
courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org

I think you are an excellent actor. The list of your movies that I love goes on and on. The quality that I admire you the most for is your ability to play diverse roles. You have played everything from troubled, mysterious Harry Osborne in Spiderman to hilarious drug dealer Saul Silver in Pineapple Express. One of my favorites of yours is 127 Hours. I was excited for the movie when it was coming out because I was familiar with the story of Aron Ralston. Being from Utah, I have actually hiked the same canyon that Ralston’s accident happened in. I think you played the role excellently. In my eyes, you are capable of playing any role you want to. I can’t wait to see what you have to bring in the future. 

Franco as Aron Ralston in 127 Hours courtesy of http://www.nytimes.com

I hope you come back again to read my blog to see what I have to say about movies. It would be great to have someone who is so experienced in the cinematic universe to hear what I have to say. Also, you don’t have to be scared that I’m going to hate on your movies, because that has never happened before. I would also greatly appreciate it if you left some comments on my posts telling me what you think or what I could do better. Thanks for stopping by.      

Daredevil

Today I will be reviewing another TV Show, Marvel’s Daredevil (2015). I watched season one last year and I can’t wait for season two’s release in March. This show was created by Drew Goddard and released as a Netflix series, which means it doesn’t air on TV. I really enjoy that because you can watch them whenever, wherever, and you don’t have to worry about missing episodes. Charlie Cox starred as Daredevil, and I absolutely loved what he did. I’ll tell you why.

Movie cover courtesy of https://www.netflix.com

Cox is a lesser known actor, who stepped up to take the role as “the man with no fear” out of the blue. It was a big role to take, being Marvel’s first TV show installment. Also, people didn’t want to see their favorite blind lawyer being ruined again like Ben Affleck did in 2003. But he did the job. Playing a man who grew up in the slums of Hell’s Kitchen, New York, he was able to show the sadness and determination of Matt Murdock. The way he played the character was unbelievable. I also think Charlie Cox had the perfect look for Daredevil, unlike Ben Affleck in 2003.

My second favorite actor in this show was Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, or the “Kingpin”. His performance was so gruesomely realistic, that it sometimes made you cringe. Wilson Fisk also grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, son of a deranged abusive father. At a young age, he ends up killing his father due to years of physical and emotional toll on he and his mother. Now, his goal is to destroy Hell’s Kitchen so it can be “rebuilt”. I love how D’Onofrio was able to show the sadness and internal anger of Wilson Fisk. 

Hell's Kitchen courtesy of http://screenrant.com

This show is very dark. It often seems there are never any scenes that are happy. But thats what I like about it. Don’t get me wrong, men in robot suits and incredible green monsters and gods of thunder are definitely fun to watch, but this was Marvel’s first realistic installment. There is nothing superhuman about it. As for the story, Matt Murdock was a young boy growing up in Hell’s Kitchen. He has a terrible accident causing him to go blind. His father “Battling Jack” Murdock raises him and cares for him until his is killed in the streets. Matt then meets Stick, an old man who is also blind that teaches him how to fight and use his other remaining senses. Over the years, Matt becomes an expert martial artist with extraordinary senses. He can hear heartbeats and count how many people are in a room. He can read the words on a paper by feeling the ink. He can smell the metallic odor of blood in the air. He uses these abilities, to become the Daredevil, or the man with no fear. He has to stop the Kingpin and bring peace to Hell’s Kitchen. One thing I didn’t like about the show is how he didn’t get his suit until the last episode. Season one was more like the story of how he became Daredevil, so he spends most of his time running around the streets kicking ass in all black. And the worst part is, when he finally does get his suit is is SO BAD-ASS. I can’t wait for season two to see the suit more. Also, if you don’t like violence, this is not the show for you. It is very dark and graphic, so if you aren’t a fan, I wouldn’t recommend it.

So if you are reading this, I recommend you start watching it as soon as possible! Season two airs on March 18, 2016. I would give season one an overall score of 9.5/10. Stay tuned for more movie reviews and eave a comment for what movie I should review next.