Opinion: Gangnam Style

I know what you're all thinking, what the hell is "Gangnam Style"?  Well folks, I'll tell you.  It's a music video for a song by Korean mega star PSY and I'll say to you right now, it's very weird, very random and very funny!

The song itself is about the Gangnam lifestyle which people live in Seoul, South Korea.  The majority of the song is in Korean, apart from a few English words thrown in for the hell of it!  Looking at the video, you wouldn't think it had anything to do with lifestyle, if so a very unique lifestyle, as it's a very odd video but that's it's appeal, the sheer randomness of it all, the song itself is a catchy tune.

The video has had a massive reaction in Korea and it's starting to make waves is the US, as PSY is currently in the US and the video is #2 in the Youtube 100, so he's becoming a worldwide star.  It's yet to have an impact in the UK yet, but as one domino falls, another's bound to follow!

If you want to watch the video, click the link below and see what the world has seen over 40 million times!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

Film: Batman Vs. Spiderman

Been holding this one off for a while now, but here it is.  The mighty battle between The Amazing Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises.  We'll start with Spiderman.

Of course this film got a mixed reception since it's announcement, whether it was too early for a reboot or whether Andrew Garfield was the right choice or the replacement of Mary Jane to Gwen Stacy as the main love interest would be given public approval.  I can say that all these changes were acceptable after seeing the film.  I still think 5 years since the last film to reboot was a shock decision, but if you take the previous films out of the equation, this film was very enjoyable, very clever and well produced.  Now the big question that plagued me was the replacement of Tobey Maguire, he was the quintessential Peter Parker/Spiderman, he looked the part, acted the part and you loved him regardless, but would Andrew Garfield do all that and more?  He looked less geeky, a bit more "Rock n' Roll" and you wouldn't mess with him even without his Spidey suit.  My diagnosis:  Maguire's Peter was consistently liked, he did no more, no less, Garfield's Peter either made you loathe him or instantly respect him, so there is an inpass.

Now the film itself.  Of course, there were some similar plot points, Peter's spider bite, Uncle Ben's murder and Oscorp playing a big part, however what I really liked, which I didn't expect to like, was Peter and Gwen's relationship, none of the will-they-won't-they crap, they got to the point, they did what old Peter and Mary-Jane did in 3 films all in one film and that begs the question of a sequel, what will happen next for the couple?  The baddie in this film, The Lizard, played brilliantly by Rhys Ifans, had a whiff of Doctor Octopus about him.  A doctor wanting to improve his physical form, things go wrong and Spidey has to stop him, but while Doc Ock dies in Spiderman 2, The Lizard gets arrested, maybe a return for the one-armed bandit/lizard, but we shall see.  There was some heart-tugging moments in this film, Uncle Ben's death is always a tear-jerker, especially as it's Martin Sheen in this case, but I was shocked when Gwen's father died at the hands, or claws, of The Lizard, I wanted him to live to see his daughter, but sadly this wasn't to be and Peter had to break-up with Gwen to stop her suffering the same fate, poetic in a way.

So in conclusion, this film was neither better or worse than it's predecessors, but I bet they'll be a couple more adventures for Spiderman to come and I'm excited.  One thing I do miss are 3 words, or two words and a letter, J Jonah Jameson!

Now for The Dark Knight Rises, this wasn't a reboot, this was a sequel and one hell of an epic one at that!  New characters, new baddies and Gotham in even more danger than usual, who ya gonna call?  Batman!

First of all, everyone crows on about how brilliant The Dark Knight was, Heath Ledger was the best part and everything else was alright, if anything, The Dark Knight wasn't a superhero film, it was a gangster film, The Dark Knight Rises was actually a superhero film!  The first thing that I realised about this film had the whole cast from Inception in it, apart from it's star bookings Dicaprio and Page, so myself and my friends said this film was the cast of Inception playing Batman.

When I heard the film's baddie was Bane, I, like many people said "Who?  Why not The Riddler or The Penguin or someone we all know?"  But seeing this film made me realise how bad-ass Bane really is, while The Joker is the thinking man's baddie, Bane is more the violent type, but there is an air of intelligence about him, though it could've been the British accent!  We were also treated to Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, who we all knew was Catwoman, but was never actually said, maybe an attempt to move away from Halle Berry's failed protrayal of her was mentioned in the "How do we get people to watch this film without mentioning Halle Berry as Catwoman" meeting, or it may have been a bit too cheesy in an all-round serious film.  However Hathaway did play her very well.  Something I did notice was there was very little of Batman in this film, you'd think in a Batman film, you'd get the caped crusader in almost all of the scenes, but this wasn't the case, Bruce Wayne wasn't in it much either, or Alfred, or Gordon or Lucius, pretty much anyone who has starred in both the previous films had very little screen time in the third one.  This was a a shame, as Michael Caine was excellent in this film, Alfred became more three-dimensional and Caine really rose to the challenge.  Also Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard were brilliant too and Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman goes without saying.

The film's story was a much simpler one, but I felt it was a more effective one, instead of constant twists and turns that The Dark Knight gave us, TDKR focused on the reprecussions of the previous film and used them to fuel this film in a simpler fashion, though I was confused as to how Bane knew so much about Harvey Dent from one written speech by Commissioner Gordon, or why he was actually called Bane in the first place!  One twist I liked was Miranda Tate being the child who escaped from the prison pit and Bane was the one who helped her and got his face mangled in the process, yet another character Cotillard has played who turned out to be evil (Inception reference.)  This film is pure Christopher Nolan and he has done wonders with the Batman franchise, giving it a new look and format, as well as a couple of cheeky hints of the past (Gordon-Levitt's character is Robin!)  It was pure blockbuster fun, with a great cast and smart script.

Now, who wins this battle of superhero movies?  While both had their merits, I'd say The Dark Knight Rises just wins, simply for epicness!  Do you agree or disagree?

News: Emmys Nominations (Comedy)

The Emmy nominations were announced on Thursday, honestly I don't really care about the Drama category, it's the Comedy I care about!

Best Comedy Series:
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Girls
Modern Family
Veep

Although Modern Family is the favourite, it wasn't their best season, Big Bang Theory should win!!

Best Lead Actor:
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Louis C.K. - Louie
Don Cheadle - House of Lies
Jon Cryer - Two and a Half Men
Larry David - Curb Your Enthusiasm
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory

In my opinion, only one winner and that is Jim Parsons!!

Best Lead Actress:
Zooey Deschanel - New Girl
Lena Dunham - Girls
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Veep
Melissa McCarthy - Mike & Molly
Amy Poehler - Parks & Recreation

Anyone could win it, but Zooey Deschanel should win it!

Best Supporting Actor:
Ty Burrell - Modern Family
Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Modern Family
Max Greenfield - New Girl
Bill Hader - Saturday Night Live
Ed O'Neill - Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet - Modern Family

Lots of Modern Family actors in this list and Stonestreet and Burrell have won it before, I think Ed O'Neill should win it, but if anyone from Modern Family wins, I'll be happy!

Best Supporting Actress:
Mayim Bialik - The Big Bang Theory
Julie Bowen - Modern Family
Kathyrn Joosten - Desperate Housewives
Sofia Vergara - Modern Family
Merritt Wever - Nurse Jackie
Kristen Wiig - Saturday Night Live

I would like Mayim Bialik to win, but it's a battle between Bowen and Vergara!

Best Guest Actor:
Will Arnett - 30 Rock
Bobby Cannavale - Nurse Jackie
Jimmy Fallon - Saturday Night Live
Michael J. Fox - Curb Your Enthusiasm
Jon Hamm - 30 Rock
Greg Kinnear - Modern Family

Kinnear for Modern Family, end of!

Best Guest Actress:
Elizabeth Banks - 30 Rock
Kathy Bates - Two & A Half Men
Margaret Cho - 30 Rock
Dot-Marie Jones - Glee
Melissa McCarthy - Saturday Night Live
Maya Rudolph - Saturday Night Live

For sheer comedy, Kathy Bates should win, but I wouldn't mind Dot-Marie Jones winning it!


Very doubtful of getting all of these right, but I hope I do.

TV: New Girl

Time for some telly and this is about one my favourite new shows, aptly named New Girl.  It stars Zooey Deschanel as the quirky yet loveable teacher Jess Day who lives with 3 guys.

What I like about this show is simply the main character.  Jess is a naive but sweet-hearted girl living with 3 guys who are completely the opposite, Nick is a constant pessimist, Schmidt is a douche and Winston is big-headed, yet you can relate which at least one of them and they all look out for one another.

The show's comedy is simply from Jess, being the quirky a-dork-able girl which makes this show great and why Deschanel should win the Emmy for Lead Actress, but I will talk about Comedy Emmys later.  Jess lives in a world where everyone has a nice person deep down inside, yet she keeps meeting people opposite to her.

Nick is probably my favourite male character, his constant negativity in everything is fun to watch, he also finds flaws in things that mean nothing and that's fun too.  Schmidt is like Charlie Harper from Two & A Half Men, a womaniser and now with Charlie gone from our screens, Schmidt can gladly take the crown from him, I also like Schmidt slight OCD tendancies, there was an episode which looks into that and it's one of the best.  Winston is quite likeable, he's trying to move on after being a Latvian basketball star, as we've all tried to do, and fails, but he's the least focused on character.

Overall, this show is one to watch, if you get the chance!

Film: Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

First, I can offically announce that the long awaited Spiderman Vs. Batman post will be posted next Friday, so look forward to that, but first, here's a review of a film I've just seen.

It stars Steve Carrell and Kiera Knightley in a world about to end as a meteor makes it's way to Earth.  Dodge (Carrell) and Penny (Knightley) who live in the same building join forces to travel across the country so they can be in the right place so they can enjoy their final moments.

The first thing that attracted me to this film is the very odd pairing of Carrell and Knightley, a middle-aged American comic actor and a young British actress isn't something you see everyday and you think the two won't click, but the fact that you see the two very different actors together on the same screen works because you don't expect it and they do work well together.

The story is an interesting one, apocalypse stories in films are usually big budget blockbusters, but this is an independent film with the lead actors being the only draw for audiences.  It also questions the audience as well, what would you do if you knew the end of the world was coming?  You do see varying responses, kids drinking alcohol, assassinations and orgies!  What more do you want in a film?

Another thing I like about this film is the ending, stop reading now if you don't want to know!

A film like this could only end two ways, either the world ends and you're sad or the world doesn't end and you feel cheated.  The film ends with Dodge and Penny, realising they are meant for each other lying on the bed learning about one another as the world slowly crumbles, it's a sad yet beautiful ending, I couldn't think of a better way to end a film like this.

In a time when superheroes are dominating the box office, give this film a chance, it's a feel-good film with great actors and a captivating storyline.  But be prepared for the ultimate battle of Marvel Vs. DC, Spiders Vs. Bats, Garfield Vs. Bale, I can go on.  Amazing Spiderman Vs. The Dark Knight Rises, next Friday!!

TV: Pointless

Time to talk about one of my geeky pleasure shows now, it's Pointless (not the blog) the show!

Basically, 4 pairs of contestants have to find the most obscure answers in a category, like US State Capitals or Tom Hanks Movies, and score as low as possible.  Whoever gets the lowest score will get the chance to play for the jackpot, simple as that!

This show can be very addictive as everyone is bound to have at least one answer for each category and they want to see how obscure it is.  One thing I love about it is the hosts Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, the two are a great double act and work off one another jokes.  The show is enjoyable as anyone can play along, seeing who has the best answer and who can get the pointless answers too.

All is all, this is one of the best game shows on TV at the moment and the beauty of it is that it's on 5 times a week.  It's on BBC One at 5.15 Mon-Fri, give it a watch and say what you think!!

Film: Men in Black 3

Not much blogging has happen this week, but hopefully I can get back on track, starting with Men in Black 3.  I saw this film today, after it being released over a month ago, but it doesn't matter!

It continues the main story of Agents J and K battling aliens on a daily basis, but the story of this film is about Boris the Animal escaping from a moon prison and travelling back in time to kill Agent K, who put him there in the first place, it's up to J and young K (played brilliantly by Josh Brolin) to stop Boris from destroying present-day Earth.

I really like the Men in Black films, both of them, but when I heard there was time travel involved in this, I was sceptical, it felt a bit cheap and pointless, but watching the film today changed my opinion, it was handled well and was thought out, you ocassionally get loopholes in any time-travel related film/TV show.  I personally wanted to see this film for Will Smith, he's one of my favourite actors and he hasn't been in a film for 4 years, so I was excited to hear he was returning to the big screen to play Agent J, arguably his most iconic film role.  Smith didn't fail to disappoint, it was simply his film as we didn't see much of Tommy Lee Jones, who is also great, and most characters only appeared for at least 45 minutes of the film.

There were a few big names in the film, Jermaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) played Boris, Emma Thompson played Agent O, the new head of Men In Black, Alice Eve played young Agent O and Nicole Scherzinger played Boris's lover, only for 5 minutes, won't tell you why if you want to see the film.

Something that I noticed in the film was Agent J talking about his father, when I hear a character Will Smith is playing talking about his father, I instantly get a Fresh Prince flashback to that emotional ending when Will's "Dad" leaves him again, I was expecting this again, but I will also withhold this information in case you want to watch the film.

Overall, this film is surprisingly enjoyable, much better than MIB2 and a lot more fun.  Expect a lot of 60's stereotyping, freaky looking aliens and a secret Andy Warhol didn't want you to know.  If you don't like this film, prepare for the neuralizer!