The Sound of Thunder...

Here's a quote from Thor comic books: “Stay thy hand! 'Tis the God of Thunder who doth command thee!”

And so it was commanded. A movie was made.

Sometimes a movie can be a damn miracle.

When it comes together like a strike of lightening, it can produce something really good. The film Thor was one of those things which comes once in a lifetime.

The film worked on every single level. And more.

Norse legends, Viking battles, kings, queens and giants. This doesn't sound like a typical summer movie should be.

But this can be credited to the number of people working on the film. One of the writers of the story is J. Michael Straczynski.

I didn't believe it at first. But he made a cameo as the very first guy who tried to pick up Thor's hammer, as one would try to pick up Excalibur in the King Arthur legends. But he wasn't worthy.

But Straczynski was worthy enough of a storyteller.

He understands how a story should work. He knows how to bring the human element into a story and make us sympathetic to that character. He respects the characters. He also helps to relate the characters to us as an audience.

The story is a tightly wound script which weaves between two worlds: one is earth and the other is Asgard. And set between the two worlds is a brewing war between Thor's noble people and the Frost Giants who is always on the edge of hostility.

When Thor brandishes the hammer, he is a god of thunder. He has control of the skies and the storms. He is able to wield a hurricane of power against armies.

And yet he is unable to control his lust for violence. He is reckless, a fool yearning for glory. His half-brother Loki is seemingly more calm... like a serpent slithering in the garden. However, the father Odin (majestically played by Anthony Hopkins) banishes his son to earth.

This is where the human element comes into play for the story. And where comic books go Shakespearean because of Kenneth Branagh.

It is almost an opera of the heavens.

They know enough to not let the wild FX get in the way of the story. They work enough to allow for a great amount of interplay between the characters. Much of it is extremely funny without getting campy.

Thor has grossed an estimated $66,000,000 in the United States and Canada. It also grossed $176,000,000 abroad with $242,000,000 worldwide. This is a Kenneth Branagh with big numbers.

Good. I'm glad it is doing very well. It's a smart film. It's well written. It deserves some high praise. Many positive reviews erupted with this movie.

One of the things I've said before many times. Any superhero film works well if you have an unknown actor in the leading role playing the superhero. It worked extremely well with Chris Hemsworth. He is very charismatic which helps. Yet he has a telling courage which is important to the character of Thor. He is supposed to be noble. And Hemsworth does this.

The film also showcases a fine performance by Clark Gregg as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson. You've already seen him in both Iron Man films. But here he is given more to do.

Thor is the template for future comic book movies. The film holds together a very taunt story while offering an epic glimpse of huge battles between misunderstood sides on both ends. It is a huge bang, this story. Kudoes to all the people involved such as Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, and Stellan Skarsgård.

Comic books have a good future in movies now.

Thor could have been a very silly movie about a man with a stupid helmet and a hammer to drive dull nails. But Thor is enriched by a good story that allows for us indulge.

If you're a comic book fan, you'll have a good time with it., If not, don't worry. The human aspect of the story surpasses everything making this one of the best made comic book films. I'm not kidding you.

Green Hornet is a Big Mess

This was a dumb movie.

Gawd, this was a dumb, dumb movie.

There's no other way to describe it. Everything about it is just a practice of stupidity which should never have made it to the big screen.

Because of the development hell it went through, a real grinder, the 2011 film looked every bit of a mess that the writers, directors and actors put it through. “The Green Hornest” was a movie that should never have been made.

Because it was made a comedy rather than action film.

But here are some of the decent actors/actress in the film: include Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour and Tom Wilkinson. So what are they doing in this movie?

But the biggest mistake was casting Seth Rogen in the leading role. He's generally a talented guy with a lot of good ideas with writing and producing. But not this. But I don't blame him entirely for the film.

The “Green Hornet” went through the same problems as did the “Batman” TV series way back in the 1960s. For some reason, against all good judgment, someone decided to make the “Green Hornet” campy.

It wanted to be funny when it wasn't. It wanted to be hip when it wasn't. It wanted to be a comedy when it wasn't supposed to be.

The original source material for the “Green Hornet” started out in the 1940s radio show playing it straight. When the “Green Hornet” came to the TV screens, introducing the very young Bruce Lee as Kato, it was played straight.

So why was the film “The Green Hornet” made campy? There was no real reason for it if the production crew wanted to capture a piece of nostalgia. Anyone who remembers the “Green Hornet” will tell you it was a straightforward action yarn.

Sounds familiar?

The same thing happened with the Batman TV series. It was a popular fad which limped through three seasons of campy material that is far too embarrassing to watch. The original source for Batman was the comic book which started out as a straightforward action story with a dark side to it. The stories were set at night where the Batman would go through his vigilante acts to bring criminals to justice.

The TV series took a 180 degree turn from the original source and made the Batman into a comedy of errors. It was god-awful.

You see it in “Green Hornet” film. Why campy? You were left wondering if any people in the production crew had any respect for the “Green Hornet” source material. Did they even care how to create this film? There was some potential.

Yet the "Green Hornet" flunked.

Tom Wilkinson was in the film for a couple of brief scenes, and his character was written out after being shot. Wilkinson was smart enough to leave this mess behind when he did. He probably just came in to pick up the paycheck. That's about it. The others in the film weren't so lucky.

The critics of this movie knew exactly what it was about. It was bad trash.

It was mostly mixed reviews. In fact, it was mostly bad reviews. People who still remembered the Green Hornet series of old will be mystified by the sudden turn to campy in the film. This movie was geared towards more adolescents with raging hormones.

I wanted to punch a hole through the movie because it treated me like I was stupid. I can't stand that.

Being old enough to remember the old shows, Roger Ebert gave the headache film one star and wrote it as "an almost unendurable demonstration of a movie with nothing to be about.” That was a spot on review. I could add that you'll want your money and two hours of your life back. But I was smart enough to stop the DVD about halfway because I couldn't get through it anymore. The folks in the theaters weren't so lucky. Lou Lumenick of the New York Post wrote it as "an overblown, interminable and unfunny update.”

The comedy theme seems to keep cropping in the reviews. It wasn't supposed to be a comedy. And Lumernick added that star Rogen was miscast. Film crtic Richard Roeper gave it a D+. That's like the film nearly failed on every single level.
A lot of people were unhappy.

So was I.

It's one thing that people in Hollywood like to do these days. They like to take something something from the old days, something nostalgic, and turning it into a train wreck. All for the sake of a simple profit.
Movies shouldn't be made for profit.

They should be made out of respect for work and craft.

The “Green Hornet” failed on those accounts.

What was it like seeing this film? It felt like my brains was splashing around in a blender. I felt like someone was standing on my head with high heel shoes during the whole time. I felt like my head were being squeezed by the awfulness of the film. And that was the first half hour of it. I wouldn't watch this movie again if you gave it to me for free.

Yes, I found it to be a waste of time. Was there anything good in it at all? Well, I thought the darkly painted Imperial the Black Beauty was pretty cool. But that's not saying much.

Hollywood needs to start thinking about showing respect and endearment to old franchises. “The Green Hornet” suffered a horrible round of people being greedy for making a profit. I don't want it to happen to other shows that may have an affectionate fan following. But you know that Hollywood simply doesn't care. And neither should you if you ever come across this travesty in a video store.

A Darker Doctor Who?

Against all odds, the second part of the Doctor Who season opener paid off. The first part was a proper set up. But the second half really delivered the goods.

You don't see too many examples in film history of great sequels. The number you can count would be the number you can count with you hand.

There is “Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back” which is superior to the first. “Godfather 2” was a near perfect film that was better than the original. “Mad Max 2” was better than its original in terms of plot development and remarkable stunts.

The Doctor Who episode “Day of the Moon” may join the fleet of sequels that was better than the first. Perhaps I didn't expect it to be so good. I liked “The Impossible Astronaut” as there were a few good shockers.

But the fun is in “Day of the Moon.” It's got a bunch of plot twists, excellent pacing and enough story surprises to keep you coming back for next week.

I'm hooked again. For good, this time.

Moffat did say that the series is going to get much darker, more glooming as it progresses. I can't help feeling that there's still plenty of sense of humor in the shows.

When President Nixon asks the Doctor what his future will be like, he wants to know like any other president if he'll be remembered. The Doctor playfully answers, “Oh yes, Tricky Dicky, you'll be remembered.”

For all the wrong reasons.

But it's this kind of writing that remains so much fun. Humor is one way of setting off unease. You see it when Doctor River Song is falling from the fiftieth floor to her death only to have the TARDIS stop her in mid-flight. And she's dropped into the swimming pool inside the TARDIS. The next scene you'll find her drying off with a towel.

There's another fun bit when in the middle of a battle, Rory asks her what kind of professor River Song was. Song answers while shooting down one of the Silence, “Of archeology!”

But there are so many great scene in the episode that makes it look like a million dollar baby. The bit with the Doctor caught in the middle of fiddling with the Apollo 11 circuits is hilarious... and the camera pulling away to show the full scene of the rocket soon to make its historical launch in 1969 really paints a big picture. They spent their money well on this show.

Another fun bit: You can see Amy struggling to get out of her captivity when the Doctor, Rory and River Song makes the final assault against the Silence. Watching Amy struggle as if everyone's forgotten about her is actually pretty funny.

You can see Rory fumbling around with the Apollo model when he was at the NASA station. And he broke off a piece of it. That's what you get when you're messing around with a model like that. Another fun bit.

The Silence continues to be a devious race. They hide in shadows. They are like whispers in darkness. They continue to be very creepy. There is a scene when Amy finds a horde of them clattering and whispering. She realizes they are all upside down hanging like bats in a cave. It's one of the creepiest scenes in Doctor Who. This particular scene reminds me of the Alien movies because of the great use of lighting.

What I also liked about this episode is the great use of technology. That's the Doctor's most useful skill. His ability to turn technology into a good thing. He was able to install several chips into his companion's hands... small recording devices to help them battle the Silence.

The Doctor was able to build a transmitting machine in Apollo 11 as another way of fighting the Silence.

This was all about figuring out a way to fight an enemy that makes you forget who they are the exact moment you look away. Thankfully, some devices would be able to record the images or voices of the Silence. People might be able to forget due to post-hypnotic suggestions. But machines can't forget.

The Silence were almost like magicians planting suggestions and ideas into people's heads. They are sorcerers of hypnosis. But the Doctor was able to find a way around it by using technology. Science triumphs once again.


Doctor Who maintains a life of quality that would be difficult to beat. This season opener set the stage for the rest of the series. It was like a hurricane of ideas. It was like a storm of stories. But it establishes with a very firm hand what the series is going to be like. Fast, gritty, pulling no punches. I loved it. And so will you.

Doctor Who has come back with a great nod to science triumphing over danger. And it should be. Time travel ideas are fun to mess around with. And I'll be interested in seeing what is going to happen next.

What will the Silence be up to for next time?

Who is that little girl in the space suit? And why did she fire up like a brilliant energy as would a Time Lord? Is she a Time-Lady? How is she connected to the good Doctor? Is she the Doctor's daughter? Is the Doctor somehow finding a way to procreate his own race?

The Doctor is the last of his kind. But are we seeing the Doctor making his own Garden of Eden in space?

It's an interesting idea to know that the Doctor may no longer be the last of his kind. You do notice that he no longer says in the shows, “I'm the last of the Time Lords.”

Maybe the Doctor has learned to confront his own guilt and moving on. And creating his race again like a god playing with his own minions.

It's almost frightening.