5. The Karate Kid
Release Date: June 11, 2010

Reason to see: This is the remake of the very popular 1980’s version. I am not that confident that it will be better than the one in 1980’s, but The Karate Kid is definitely worth watching to see how it stacks up against the original. It is similar to the original, but also different because it takes place in China and the main character is named Dre (not Daniel). Jackie Chan plays the karate master Mr. Han, and it is always worthwhile to watch Jackie Chan in karate movies.

4. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Release Date: June 30, 2010

Reason to see: I am not a big fan of the Twilight series, but I know a lot of people are and that’s why it is included in the top 5 movies to see. This is arguably the most popular series around and it is all about vampires. This is the third movie in the series and should be a hit in the box office. Kristen Stewart, Rob Patterson, and Taylor Lautner will return to play Bella, Edward, and Jacob.

3. Grown-ups
Release Date: June 25, 2010

Reason to see: This cast is loaded with stars, so it has the potential to be very successful. Adam Sandler, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider and Kevin James are all featured in this movie about five friends who are reunited after the death of their high school basketball coach. This is obviously a comedy with stars like James, Rock, Schneider, and Sandler, but it looks like a hit-or-miss movie.

2. The A-Team
Release Date: June 11, 2010

Reason to see: This has the potential to be the best action-thriller of the summer. Liam Neeson leads a group of war veterans who are trying to convince the military that they were framed for a crime. This movie is based on an action-adventure television series in the 1980’s. This show had a similar plot to the movie, except the veterans fought in Vietnam, not Iraq. This should be a hit with fans of all ages.

1. The Other Guys
Release Date: August 6, 2010

Reason to see: Will Ferrell stars in what is supposed to be the best comedy of the summer. Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are two cops who want to be the top cops in the city, though it doesn’t go the way they planned. This movie is supposed to be more on the terms of Anchorman rather than Land of The Lost for Will Ferrell. This should be the one movie that everyone should see this summer.

If you have not seen the trailer, it starts with a truck driving onto train tracks and suddenly the train comes and hits it. A giant explosion happens and the train quickly derails and flips over. The as the camera slowly pans over to the wreckage you hear an almost alien sounding scream as the camera quickly turns to black. The movie is reported to take place in 1979, when Super 8 video cameras where commonly used.

The movie is the first collaboration between Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams. It is supposedly a modern take on classic alien abduction films. Since Spielberg was at the helm of many of those movies I bet he will be able to give great ideas towards the movie.

The movie has been announced recently but the viral marketing has already started.  The first website www.scariestthingieversaw.com which features an old computers codes and data. The website has many surprises but only a few have been found. I encourage everyone to navigate the page and try to find out more. I am pretty sure there will be many ore viral pages up soon but it takes the fans to find them.

Although this movie is still secretive and there is not a lot known, I have very high hopes for it. I can not wait to discover more secrets and hope everyone online will help uncover the truth about this film.

The game is set in America’s semi-wild west at the end of the First World War and the beginning of the government’s attempt to expand and control. You mosey around in the shoes of John Marston, a former gang member who was just trying to make it as a family man before the government got all up in his business and blackmailed him into hunting down and bringing a former gang member to justice.

Like most Rockstar games, the story is amazing and fun to play, but its all the things you can do that isn’t the main story that makes this game so great. You can arm wrestle the local populace, attend the local cinema and watch a movie that shows the dangers of modern science, help random strangers you meet or just huff it into the wilderness and hunt yourself some ferocious animals.

There are literally not enough good things I can say about this game. The graphics are some of the best I’ve ever seen. The controls are sharp and precise. The story is sprawling and believable. And the game play is fun and engaging.

Possibly the absolute best thing about this game is how alive the world in the game feels. Heat shimmers off in the distance, tumbleweeds rolls lazily across the landscape; drunks stumble around town and yell obscenities at passerby. It is quite possibly the most realistic game-space I’ve ever seen

This review is so short simply because I don’t feel like wasting your time talking about all the things that are so great for there are too many, I can simply strongly recommend that you go out right now and buy this game. This is possibly the best game to come out this decade.

10 out of 10 stars.

Unlike its predecessors, Scott took a different approach and hoped to reinvent the legend in some ways, telling the story of how Robin Longstride, played by Russell Crowe, became the infamous Robin Hood we all know today.

The story begins with Longstride as a common archer under Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusades. When Lionheart dies in battle, Longstride attempts to return to England along with three other soldiers. During the return home, the four stumble upon an ambush, and Longstride is soon tasked with returning a dead soldier’s sword to his father. Longstride and his gang head to the village of Nottingham, where the sword is to be returned. Upon arriving, Longstride is asked to impersonate the dead knight in order to keep the town from being seized by the English throne.

Meanwhile, back in England, newly enthroned King John is showing no mercy, demanding heavy taxation of English citizens. Sir Godfrey, a British Knight, is tasked with forcibly collecting revenue for the King.

I’m not going to spoil the entire plot, but it turns out that Godfrey has his own agenda and conflict ensues. Longstride is soon pitted up against Godfrey, which brings the movie to the closing segments.

While I really wanted to love Robin Hood, I just couldn’t help but find it any better than average. It was a decent movie, and entertaining, however it wasn’t even close to the next “Gladiator.” 

The acting in Robin Hood is solid, but average. Despite a few lapses in Crowe’s accent, he plays a solid character. Not an Oscar Award winning character, but a believable one none-the-less. Cate Blanchett, who plays Lady Marion, delivers a solid performance as well. The acting as a whole however failed to evoke the emotional response that those riveting acting performances do.

 The plot had potential, but left way to many ends open for me to truly feel satisfied at the end of the two and a half hours. Many small aspects of the plot are brought to attention, but then never brought to closure. It was frustrating to really want to know what’s going on, but it never to be thoroughly explained.

The action in Robin Hood comes in bursts. The opening and closing are action packed and exciting, but much of the middle is spent showing farm life in Nottingham, and can become boring at points. That being said, the ending battle, despite the French showing up in WWII landing ships, was a highlight of the movie.

Scott took a gamble when he decided to reinvent the classic legend. For most of the movie, Robin Longstride feels like entirely different character than Robin of the Hood. I cam into the movie with open eyes, but I don’t feel that Scott did the character justice. Yes, the idea was to show the prequel to the classic legend, but the development of the character in my mind wasn’t smooth, and that provided for a rough transition between the start and end of the movie.

Despite my complaints, Robin Hood was an entertaining way to spend my Friday Night. It is a long movie, but for the most part captured my attention, and kept my interest throughout. All the elements in the movie are solid, but they don’t combine to make an amazing movie. It’s an average movie, and I recommend you wait till DVD for Robin Hood. If you want action, your money would be better spent on Iron Man 2.

What was so great about the first movie was that it was the first really good super hero movie in a long time and that made the experience special for everyone. The main problem with Iron Man 2 is that it too heavily relies on the people’s love for the last movie.

Don’t get me wrong, I really liked Iron Man 2. I just think Favreau may have relied too heavily on borrowed excitement. At points it just felt like an extension of the first movie that had been cut for length.

The most common complaint I’ve come across is that the movie is being described as “a really expensive trailer for the Avengers movie.” This issue is actually based in some fact because, at the core of it, that’s exactly what this movie acts as. But, if this is just a movie trailer, then I want to see more entertaining trailers like this.

And that’s exactly what this movie is: entertaining. It doesn’t reinvent anything; nothing in this movie pushes the bar of cinematic technology. It is just an extremely enjoyable way to spend two hours and ten bucks.

The movie goes just as you would expect: the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow is as believable and humorous as ever. The action is as explosive and intense. And the humor is relatively unchanged, which isn’t a bad thing.

The first Iron Man was your typical origins story; the second installment is the more about dealing with the decisions from the first film. Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is dying, and the device that is keeping him alive is also killing him. He can’t find a solution and time is running out fast.

An egotistical narcissist like Stark confronting his own morality is interesting to see and Downey Jr. pulls it off spectacularly. Every one of the A-List cast plays a believable, funny, and cool character.

The only other complaint I can think of is that the “villain”, who is Whiplash, a relatively unknown villain in the Marvel universe, doesn’t get nearly enough “evil-guy-face-time”. The person who takes that role is Stark’s business rival Justin Hammer. Hammer is played extremely well by Sam Rockwell in the sense that, by the end of the movie, you really hate his guts. The only problem with that is that Whiplash, played by Mickey Rourke, is a much more interesting character who deserved a little more fleshing out.

While Iron Man 2 doesn’t pack as much punch as the first one, it is a still a really good movie and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys this sort of thing and is looking for a fun movie to go see on a Friday night.

The Simpsons- I find this show to be a lot better than the last few seasons, however the biggest problem is the lack of ideas after 20 years; maybe The Simpsons has just lost it. They just need a break. I say take the down time in between seasons and really concoct a great season. Do not focus on old characters and have less random episodes. I think ‘The Simpsons” movie was a good change. It showed that they are in fact still funny but they just need the time to concentrate and really get back to business.

South Park- I do not know how these guys work. They take current issues and turn them into a hilarious show the next week. I personally have laughed at every episode in recent memory, but that does not mean the writers do not have their flaws. “South Park” does not always need to be topical like Tiger Woods’ sex scandal or the legalization of marijuana in certain areas. I personally find that episodes based around characters like the hatred between Nathan and Jimmy or Towlies drug addiction can be funny now and it will be funny in a year. To stay funny, they need to be themselves and not news analysts.

The Boondocks- Aaron Macgruder’s comic strip turned into a cartoon on Adult Swim. The show deals with a lot of race and political issues, but handles it from several different angles. The young political activist, the ghetto kid, and the old grandfather show several sides on the issues. I really like this show but it has one big problem: its constant use of the N-word. It may be around in music and television, but there is absolutely no need for it to be the only word these characters udder. If they simply removed those words or replaced them, this show would be so much more enjoyable to a wider audience.

American Dad- Another one of Seth McFarlane’s many hits. I like this show, but I find my biggest problem with it lies in its characters, specifically Roger. He is a space alien who smokes, drinks and gets into some crazy adventures. This is funny, but when every single episode features a main plot about him seducing Francine, pooping out gold and diamonds or becoming a crooked cop. It becomes overdone. Take a break with Roger and go back to Stan and Steve’s relationship or even Klaus’ history. That is where the humor is and not in a stupid, crazy alien plot.

The Cleveland Show- This is one of the only shows that I have trouble finding any flaws in. There are occasional cut aways, but they work and the plot’s, albeit wild, almost always has a good story. I still say the show needs improvement with its background characters. I still don’t see the connections between them and the Browns. I also think the characters need much more development; show us a hint of the characters’ back story.

 A movie shouldn’t be defined as a big budget blockbuster and automatically be called good. What matters is the story that is behind the effects. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I watch a movie I don’t want to feel my pulse for 90 minutes. I want to be transported outside of my body and escape the troubles of this world.

 This is something that many movie makers neglect nowadays. They think that big explosions and gratuitous violence can take the place of story. Now, if a movie has all of this and still has a story that makes you care, that’s all good and dandy. However, I’d rather watch the original Halloween, rather than the Halloween remakes any day.

This is another problem with movies today. Horror is now classified as blood and guts. It seems movie makers would rather recycle story just so they can up the body count, and increase the sexuality.

 For example, consider the new A Nightmare on Elm Street remake. While this movie is clearly scary, the moments of fear come from scary music, pop out moments, and gore. Why would I want to spend 20 bucks to see that when I can so easily pop the original in my DVD player and watch it instead? There is no reason to be scared when the plot has been discussed for over 25 years.

The original Nightmare was one of the best horror movies ever made. Who could forget those creepy little girls singing “one, two Freddy’s coming for you”?  Who could forget when one of the victims is discovered torn to shreds? Yes, this may be gory moment, but we don’t see the flesh being torn.  All we see is the signature claws that caused such damage.

 Movies today don’t have the same amazement that they once held. Laziness, remakes, and unoriginality ruin what once was.

Splinter Cell Conviction was released April, 16^th 2010. Now many people gladly pass this game up in favor of other titles such as the ever popular MW2 or the new Battlefield Bad Company 2. Now this seems like the logical. Pass a game that was not made for multiplayer up for a game that does have multiplayer. However, the truth is, Splinter Cell Conviction is a million times better than other top of the line shootersout to date.

Splinter Cell Conviction is a true hybrid of a game. It combines the stealth of its predecessors, with the agility of Mirrors Edge, the weapon customization of Army of Two, right down to the gun fights of Gears of War.

Unlike many games I have played I found zero frustration with this particular one. It never came off to me as a cheap death when a grenade that I failed to dodge killed me, or when I decided to go Rambo on a room full of bad guys and got riddled with enemy fire.

Splinter Cell has many moments that will leave you wanting to play the same scene over and over agiain. Such as the first time you pull off multiple “Mark and Executes” (the games version of Rainbow Six’s “mark” system) after busting through a door, grabbing a hostage, and coming out unscathed. Or the moment you lurk through the shadows and listen to the enemy talk about how much of a renegade you are.

So if you are searching for a fun game to wean you off of the online gamer craze, or if you are simply looking for a game that comes with a great story and atmosphere, Splinter Cell Conviction is the perfect match.

The Tagline for the series, “He doesn’t fly, he doesn’t have super powers, but he can still kick your ass,” sums the movie up pretty well. He just goes out into the city three times a week and on alternating Sundays to fight crime. The story is well paced and it translates well to the big-screen.
The movie opens and shows us just how bad Dave’s life is. He gets beaten up and robbed and is not very popular with the girls in his school. Then it dawns on him, why can’t he become a super hero? He gets his costume, a brightly-colored scuba suit, and hits the streets.

The story has many twists and turns and manages to keep the viewer interested throughout. Being a big comic fan myself, I may have been biased, but I saw several non comic fans who truly loved this movie. It has love, blood, and humor all rolled into one story. This helps it translate easily into a movie made for true comic fans, but also simple movie goers.

From a comic fans perspective, I noticed several key changes from the comic and the big screen. The Big Daddy character is changed from his original look into a more batman-like figure. His back-story also gets a big revamp, which isn’t bad. They also changed several other characters like Katie and Red Mist. The changes don’t take away from the movie and only alter small aspects that aren’t noticeable. I did think that the changes to Red Mist were entertaining and that the finale of the movie was made much better overall.

I recommend this movie to anyone who has any interest in comic books or that culture at all. But I would also recommend it to everyday movie fans because it’s interesting. Coming out of the theatre you’ll want to come back again because it is an awesome film. I give it 10 out of 10 stars based on its action and story alone.

But I am proud to say that the issue has finally come to a close. After bouncing around for a period of time, O’Brien has finally settled and now plans to be a part of the TBS late-night family.

Come November next year, Conan’s new show will debut at 11 o’clock, right before George Lopez’s late night show. In my opinion, it is good to have Conan back on TV where he belongs. His late night show was really good and it was a shame to see it cancelled just as it was really starting to gather momentum.

As with any show that isn’t completely scripted, it usually takes awhile to get used to itself and rise to meet its full potential. Unfortunately, Conan’s show was cut just as I felt that he had finally reached that point.

Of course, Conan hasn’t been simply sitting around this whole time. He’s begun dipping into the vast ocean that is the Internet for a way to get his material out there. He has been “tweeting, since he was let go from NBC and has now set up his new live comedy tour which is titled “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.” The tour is set to begin 4-19-10 in Eugene Oregon.

It’s fair to say that I am a member of Team Coco and am thoroughly glad to see his vibrant red hair back on the air.