Cobra Kai Never Dies!

After what felt like months of waiting, Cobra Kai finally released on YouTube today and having only watched the first two episodes I can already tell that I'm going to love this series!

Set thirty-four years after the events of the original Karate Kid film, William Zabka and Ralph Macchio reprise their roles as Johnny Lawrence & Daniel Larusso. 

While the years have been kind to Larusso, blessing him with a beautiful wife, two children, and a successful chain of car dealerships, they have not been so for down on his luck Johnny. Lawrence is an out of work handyman, living in a rundown apartment, dreaming of his glory days.  

However after an altercation with a group of thugs in front of a mini-mart, much like Mr. Miyagi before him, Lawrence finds himself dawning a Gi and training a kid in desperate need of help - and that is where the story of Cobra Kai truly begins!

Ripe with multiple throwbacks to the original Karate Kid films, as well as multiple nostalgic references to the 1980's, Cobra Kai seems like it is meant to be both a social commentary on the world we now live in and a reminder that you should never judge a book by its cover.

From the beginning it is abundantly clear that this series is intended to be the redemption story of Johnny Lawrence, a man who is rough around the edges but ultimately means well. It is also clear that the conflict between Lawrence and Larusso is far from over, however unlike the original films we now find that through his passive-aggressive attitude Larusso is the would-be antagonist in this new series.

Available with a subscription to YouTube RED in the United States, Canadian views can purchase individual episodes of Cobra Kai for $2.49 each with the FIRST TWO episodes currently available for free.

I strongly encourage you to check out this series, then join us on our Facebook Community Page and share your thoughts with us.

Thanks for reading!

The Hollywood Reboot.

Has Hollywood trained us to look back as opposed to looking forward?

If you happen to be a member of the CanGeek Community Page on Facebook then you know we've talked a lot about Hollywood reboots, more specifically films that we'd like to see given the reboot treatment.

However over the past few days, as I've been re-watching classic films including HIGHLANDER and Tim Burton's BATMAN, I've found myself wondering if, due to the lack of creativity within their writing community, Hollywood has somehow trained consumers to welcome reboots as opposed to expecting fresh material.

From TOTAL RECALL and Stephen King's IT, to The FANTASTIC FOUR and TOMB RAIDER, there just seems to be no end to what Hollywood will remake, and with films like Hellboy and The Crow getting the reboot treatment there seems to be no end in sight either.

Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not opposed to reboots if they make sense, but there is no confusing the fact that some of these films are being remade due to a lack of inspiration and a need to grow a movie studios bank account.

However what's more offensive then a reboot is a sequel to a film that hasn't seen a franchise release in more then twenty years, films like Blade Runner 2049 and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull immediately come to mind.

What's next, a re-release of Batteries Not Included? 

It's just my opinion but as much as directors including Ridley Scott have been critical of the Superhero film genre in the past year, Marvel Studios seems to be one of the few Hollywood film companies offering up semi-original content that is keeping the movie-going public entertained.

The success of Marvels Black Panther earlier this year is, at least in part, proof of that...after-all keeping the public entertained is their job.

So with very few films beyond the Superhero genre on my radar this year, I'll be in line next Saturday, ready to throw away my movie-going money, for the release of Avengers: Infinity War. As for Hollywood and their need to revisit the past, if they want to continue to earn my money then they need to step forward into the future.

Thanks for reading.

Making sense of the chaos.

Sometimes you have to admit when you're wrong.

Over the past few months I've been more then a little critical of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, having gone so far as to say that Star Wars is now dead to me. However after a recent blog I authored about the upcoming release of Avengers: Infinity war, I have to admit I was wrong.

Loss is a natural part of life and is a great way to develop new story-arcs, when one door closes, another door opens, or at least that's what they say.

I have many complaints about the Rian Johnston directed Star Wars film, from Rey's "3 lessons to become a Jedi" training, to Leia's "Mary Poppins" flight through the vacuum of space, this was not a good film. 

However my single largest issue was with how they handled Jedi Master Luke SkyWalker - You don't write off such a monumental character in that fashion.

Personally I didn't want to see Luke the hermit hiding from The Force. I wanted to see Luke the seasoned Master Jedi, wise in experience and ready to wage one last battle against the Galactic Empire!

Make no mistake, given Disney and their intention to milk this franchise for everything they can, we all knew in our hearts that the original cast would make their exit, just not in the fashion that they have thus far.

However once again, loss is a natural part of life and helps to create new stories, which is why in my opinion the final scene of The Last Jedi was so important. The child pushing his broom, peering into space was a declaration that we should expect many more stories from Disney and Lucasfilm - wither we want them or not.

With that mindset I challenge you to re-watch both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, view them for what they truly are, the foundation for a brand new extended universe with a multitude of stories to follow.

I did just that...  and with that perspective I can now, all be it reluctantly, accept that when the next film hits theaters I'll be there ready to dish out some hard earned money to see what happens next.

It doesn't resolve the fact that these aren't great films, but it helps to make a little more sense of the chaos that is running rampant in a galaxy far, far away,

Thanks for reading, please join the conversation on our Facebook Community Page and remember to connect with us on social media via our website at cangeek.com

Blade Runner 2049 - DON'T DO IT!

When I was seven years old I was already cutting my teeth on some of the biggest Science Fiction and Fantasy films of the time, and one of my fondest memories comes from how many times I watched the original Blade Runner.

Adapted from Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Blade Runner was Directed by Ridley Scott and stared an up and coming cast of actors including Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Retger Hauer and Edward James Olmos.

Set in the dystopian future of 2019, the film followed a burnt out Los Angeles cop by the name of Rick Deckard who had been empowered to track down and "retire" a group of synthetic humans - known as Replicants.

Replicants had been created by the Tyrell Corporation as an off-world workforce in the service of humanity. However when a group of Replicants go rogue and return to Earth, they become a problem that needs to be dealt with quickly.

With both an amazing soundtrack and stunning visuals Blade Runner asked one truly important question, what makes a human being? This was a story that did not require a sequel, but it got one anyways. 

In 2017, thirty-five years after the release of the original film, Harrison Ford returned alongside Ryan Gosling to bring us Blade Runner 2049.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049 tells the story of officer K - a Replicant working for the LAPD. Much like Deckard before him, K is forced to question his beliefs when evidence comes to light suggesting he isn't who he thinks he is.

 

The running time of Blade Runner 2049 is 2 hours and 44 minutes, that's almost three hours of your life that you can never reclaim - DON'T DO IT! Don't tarnish the memories you have of the original Blade Runner by watching this weak attempt at continuing the franchise - the film is long with very little action and a truly boring story. Honestly this film felt like an attempt by a movie studio to make some much needed money off nostalgic consumers without offering up much in return.

If you've never had the opportunity to watch 1982's Blade Runner then do yourself a favor and watch that instead. If you have had the good fortune to watch 1982's Blade Runner then do yourself a favor and watch it again - it's a much better investment of your very valuable time.

As always thanks for reading, let us know in the comments below if you agree with this review of Blade Runner 2049 or not, and remember to join the conversation on our Facebook Community Page OR by following us on social media via our website at CanGeek.com

Black Panther Smashes Box Office Record!

The Panther is the true king of the jungle!

With an estimated global revenue of $361 million dollars in it's first weekend, Marvels Black Panther has established itself as the true king of the jungle! 

The Marvel powerhouse which was directed by Ryan Coogler and stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, and Lupita Nyong'o dethroned the former champion, 2016's Deadpool, which now graces the film with the largest February opening weekend in cinematic history.

The film is also expected to have the fifth highest grossing opening weekend of all time, joining films including Jurassic World, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and 2012's The Avengers.  On the subject of The Avengers, Black Panther also holds the distinction of being the second highest grossing Marvel debut of all time, just behind the 2012 release of The Avengers.

This is the first Marvel property to be directed by an African-American Director and to feature a cast primarily comprised of African-American performers, proving once again that film goers are seeking diversity in their entertainment.

Did you have the good fortune to travel to Wakanda this weekend?  If so join us on our Facebook Community page and let us know what you thought of this record breaking film.

Kingsman: What the F#CK is Alpha Gel???

This past Saturday, in between getting ready for CanGeek's participation in the Peterborough Comic-Con, my wife and I darted into a theater to see Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

I've quite regularly stated that beyond Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first Kingsman film was one of my favorite movies of 2015, so I've been eagerly anticipating the release of this sequel for what feels like a lifetime now.

Generally speaking The Golden Circle was a decent followup film, there are however two points that bothered me, and at the top of that list is the return of Harry Hart played by Colin Firth. When I first heard that Firth would return for this sequel I was both joyful and confused, usually when someone is shot in the head at point-blank range they don't get a do-over,

But hey this is Hollywood so anything is possible, right?

Once they brought Harry into the story-line, it was explained that The Statesmen, the American cousins to the Kingsmen had developed this substance known as Alpha Gel. When injected post-gunshot through a victims ears, Alpha Gel builds a protective layer around the brain while nanobots internally dissolve the bullet - so this Alpha Gel stuff is basically magic and that is where my first issue with this film begins. 

Now I know that movies are not generally realistic but somethings are much harder to believe then others, for example had the writers explained Harts return through the use of cloning, that would have been much easier to accept then a magic gel that protects you from head trauma. It's not bad enough that they used this explanation once, but they killed off another character in a similar manor and then brought them back later in the film to further develop what felt like an unnecessary story arc.

My second issue with this film is simply that it felt too busy, there was so much "Star Power" in this film that it felt like they were coming up with any reason for characters to interact as a means to ensure that each actor or actress had their fair share of screen time.

One standout among all this star power was Julianne Moore as the films villain, this lady has playing a sociopath down to a science, she was a fantastic followup to Samuel L. Jackson in the first film.

However having said that, I think what made the first Kingsman film such a success is what they missed with this second film. You had a fluid story that moved forward quickly, it didn't feel like you had to have a road map to keep up with the story-line. That's not to say that you can't follow this story, but you do need to pay much more attention to keep up with all the jumping around that takes place in this movie.

I enjoyed this film, all be it not as much as the first one, and on a rating scale out of ten I'd  give this sequel a solid eight! Lets just hope that by the time a third film comes out the production staff re-watch the first movie and find their way back home.

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Passengers: a CanGeek picture review.

Against my better judgement and after weeks of pressure from my wife I finally caved in and suffered through Passangers last Saturday night, however once the film had ended I realized I had just watched Titanic in space!

Let me show you what I mean.....

Meet Jack and Rose.....

I mean Jim and Aurora, two strangers whose lives will become permanently intertwined as they take a journey to a far off destination on a really big ship. 

Like most journeys Jim and Auroras will be plagued by the possibilities of life threatening disasters.

Such as an asteroid strike waking Jim up 90 years early and ultimately putting everyone's life at risk.

Lucky for Jim and Aurora there are people who know the ship from stem to stern, people who are willing to lay down their lives to do the right thing.

And in the end even though Jim was lonely and selfishly woke up Aurora almost one hundred years early, thereby cheating her out of a new life, Aurora will come to realize that Jim is what she has been searching for all along.

Passengers was directed by Morten Tyldum and was released in December 2016 by Columbia Pictures, the movie stars Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence and Laurence Fishburne.  The approximate running time of this film is one hour and fifty-six minutes which is roughly one hour and fifty-one minutes longer then it should have taken you to read this blog.

The IMDB score for the film is roughly 3 1/2 stars but I'm fairly sure given that this movie was released during the holidays someone was felling generous when scoring this film. 

The only major difference between Passengers and Titanic is that the in Titanic almost everyone dies and in Passengers almost everyone survives, beyond that they are at their core the same film.

So save yourselves the disappointment that is Passengers and maybe put on a good action film instead, have you seen Kingsman yet? 

Thanks for reading, be sure to follow us at CanGeek.com.