WIN 1 of 2 €50 Cineworld Vouchers!

Afternoon all, can you believe we're already a week into these Giveaways? I certainly can't!

This afternoon's doozy is a pair of Cineworld vouchers to the value of €50 each because I know you peeps love the movies just as much as we do. 

Again entry is ridiculously simple, all I want you to do is share the Eldest Gorgebag's Hobbit review using the new share buttons below the post: 

They look like this: 

The choice is yours in how you'd like to do it, Facebook Like, Tweet etc and for an extra entry you can comment below and let me know which one you chose (though it's not mandatory) 

You can scroll down to his review on this page or hop directly there with this link. 

We'll have two winners to announce on Dec 24th and because they're Cineworld vouchers this one is limited to the Republic of Ireland. 

Best of Luck everyone! 

Kick-Ass 2 - Movie Review

Who's in it?

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Morris Chestnut

What's it about?

Kick-Ass 2 follows Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass picking up his mask again to join a group of ordinary citizens that have been inspired by Kick-Ass to don masks and form a superhero group called Justice Forever, while the now 15 year old Mindy Macready/Hit Girl decides its time to put down the knives and leather and live the life of a normal high school girl after a promise to her guardian Detective Marcus Williams. It also follows Chris D'Amico/Red Mist as he decides he's sick of everyone passing off the end of the previous film as an accident(no spoilers, don't watch the trailer to avoid them, or if you're in work) and becomes The Motherf%&*^r and forms a super-villain team to finally kill Kick-Ass and get revenge.

Any Good?

I LOVED Kick-Ass 1, it's one of my favourite films, and I love the comic book directing style of movies like Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim but this really used it, it's time stamps comic style and all the subtitles in word bubbles, and this was one of the best things about the movie in my opinion. 

The film was hilarious in parts, lines were brilliantly written and well delivered, especially on Mintz-Plasse's part as the Mother. Chloe Grace Moretz is absolutely AWESOME, it's basically impossible to hate her, she's a great actor and is only young so she can only get better from here. Morris Chestnut as Detective Williams was one of the best acted parts, he really was like a man trying to control and be a good father to a child superhero that can 'kill a man with his own finger'. Jim Carrey was excellent as Colonel Stars and Stripes, an ex-mafia enforcer turned born-again Christian, while I never really liked him in Ace Ventura (sorry, screaming lines doesn't do it for me) as I find him a much better serious actor (see: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), but he was both serious and funny in this and it really worked well for him.

Jim Carrey even kinda resembles the Colonel

Mintz-Plasse's names for his villain counterparts were hilarious, as was the whole scene of him choosing the names. What surprised me was the amount of well-known actors that had secondary parts, such as John Leguizamo as Chris D'Amico's bodyguard, Iain Glen (Ser Jorrah in Game of Thrones) as D'Amico's Uncle, and Donald Faison (Turk in Scrubs) as Dr. Gravity. 

All the members of Justice Forever really have their moments, Andy Dick as a gay hero fighting for LGBT's under the name The Fly got a few laughs, and the married duo 'Remembering Tommy' in their Adidas tracksuits and cheap homemade masks really shined for me. Their reason to become heroes was soul destroying (if you read about them in the comic, it's not as bad in the film) and the way they fought being so thrown together that they were my favourite heroes in Justice Forever.

The fantastic costumes of Remembering Tommy

I really enjoyed Kick-Ass 2, but the older reviewers who probably wouldn't like comics or haven't read Kick-Ass (I haven't but I am familiar with Mark Millar's comics) weren't happy, saying it was overly bloody and the language was a bit much but then again, this is a Kick-Ass movie so it would to be expected. I really did love this, even more than Man of Steel that got a 5, but I honestly don't think this is a 5/5 film. I was disappointed to see that Angry Joe was paid to promote this film when it really wasn't needed, this film was AWESOME and it did the name Kick-Ass more than justice, so I definitely recommend this, I still can't decide if 1 or 2 was better.

I definitely recommend this if you're looking for a fun movie to watch or you're if you're into comics, it's funny, crass and really lovable. I love any feedback I get and always try to answer, so if you agree with me, think I'm wrong or just want to say hi send any of said feedback to Facebook, Twitter or in the comments...

The (sigh..) Eldest Gorgebag

Rating?    

The Smurfs 2 - Movie Review

Who's in it?

Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Katy Perry  and  Jonathan Winters


What's it about?

The film follows the evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria; or how you would probably know him as most of the character's voices in The Simpsons) and his evil Smurf Naughties as they kidnap Katy Perry's Smurfette and consequently attempt to glean the secret formula to making the grey Naughties into true blue Smurfs, meanwhile Papa Smurf accompanied by Grumpy, Vanity and Clumsy try to rescue her.


Any Good?

After about a half-week of saying 'I'll have no part of the promotion of this crime against film!!', The Smurfs 2 really did surprise me. It was well written, funny, had fantastic voice acting, and a mix of NPH and Brendan Gleeson which seemed just too good to be true but really did shine as their chemistry together made the step-father/son relationship truly believable.

Excuse me while I squeedgy my brains off the window..

The humor was mostly pun-based, and Maaaa Cherry LOVES puns, so listening to her groan in delight next to me only added to the laughs that already were coming from the so-bad-they're-great puns onscreen. The best character of all thought had to be Vanity Smurf, more than once Maaaa and myself turned to each other and said 'Yup, that's Adam' when he was musing in the mirror to his reflection.

Brendan Gleeson was hilarious, he was great as Corndog King and Patrick Winslow's (NPH) step-father Victor Doyle. He really put on the Irish charm and kept on repeating The Doyle Men in reference to himself and Winslow much to the latter's annoyance, and even when he got ducked up by Gargamel (Azaria) he just got funnier in relation to just his personality and puns.

As the film gets on NPH and Brendan Gleeson's acting gets more emotional and serious, and is supported well enough by Jayma Mays' wife of NPH's character's wife, Grace Winslow. It is here that NPH and Gleeson's chemistry really shines, their serious conversations are genuinely touching even if they are so cliched it should be awkward.

Tied with Jennifer Laurence for hottest woman in Hollywood (Don't even try to argue)

Overall I was impressed by the acting as a whole, NPH was a bit shaky to start for me but really did grow into his part, Brendan Gleeson made up for the horrors he inflicted on me in the form of studying Caca Milis for the Leaving, and Hank Azaria was like a child's version of Moe Sizlack which, even appearing to be dumbed down, was still funny; especially when arguing with his smartarse CGI cat who was hilarious in his own right. The voice acting was really fantastic, Katy Perry was really a surprise to me in how well she actually voiced Smurfette in relation to her awkward part in a Simpsons episode before. All the Smurfs were well voiced, as were their grey counterparts, but Papa Smurf really did put across his emotions and the animation matched them to a tee. 

Sorry, I just couldn't resist those eyes, could you?!

All in all Smurfs 2 is a solid film, it has good puns and humor, a great cast, fantastic voice acting but it just wasn't for me really. Nan Cherry adored this, and even stayed awake the whole time (which as I mentioned before is a rare occurrence) but that's second hand information so I'm a bit skeptical if it's true. Both Nan and Maaaaa will murder me for this rating but bear in mind that 5 is an awkward number to rate from because the low sounding 2.5 cherries is half, but I honestly wasn't as invested as I was. The film is entertaining and the 3D is excellent, but as Maaaa herself quite rightly put it in the car today 'you wouldn't go to see it if you didn't have children with you', and for me it was truly a film that is better to rent than pay full plus in the cinema for the 3D as it's not worth the extra cost. And if you rent it you can tell the clerk that you're renting it for your kids and they won't give you the weird looks and make it awkward like turning up to the cinema alone only to sit among families with young children.

Rating:

Sorry for the odd cherries this week, our PC has decided we didn't use Internet Explorer enough or some ridiculous reason and refused to connect to the internet so I had to improvise 2 and a half cherries and that's the best I could do folks, I'm doing all I can to fix the PC problem!! As usual, I love to hear  what you thought of the film or general musings from you on Facebook, Twitter and in the comments,

The (sigh..) Eldest Gorgebag

Man Of Steel - Movie Review

(A Teenage Gorgebag's Review!)

 Who's in it?

Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner

What's it about?

Man of Steel chronicles Superman's origins, his birth, where his powers come from, and how he got to earth. It follows his quest to find out who he is, who his real parents are and where he is from. It also has him face off against General Zod, leader of the Kryptonian army and make a decision between his own people or the people he grew up around.

Any Good?

This film is produced (and co-written) by Christopher Nolan, or as you should know him, the man that made Batman actually cool again. It is also directed by Zack Snyder, who directed my second favourite hero film (after the godsend that was The Dark Knight), Watchmen. Being the (unashamed) huge geek that I am, you can imagine the enormous nerdgasms I had at the mention of these two working together.

R U SRS?!?!

Now I've never been into Superman in all honesty (Marvel > DC for me), but this movie has me wanting to rush to my favourite comic store and buy as many Superman comics as I can afford!! Nolan has done with the Man of Steel what he did with Batman, he made a huge icon in the nerdosphere human, relatable and overall attractive to me who always thought he was too overpowered to like.

Say that again?

Henry Cavill WAS Superman, everything from charisma to muscles to even his voice was perfect. But even though this film was about a superhero, there was a legend right behind him that matched his incredible acting. Kevin Costner played Jonathan Kent, Clarke's (human) father. He actually blew me away with his performance, the chemistry between himself and Dylan Sprayberry (teenage Clarke Kent) was incredible, it was as if they actually were father and son. Overall the acting in this movie was stellar in my eyes, from Russell Crowe's Jor-El moving from hammy-acted scientist to his excellent return as the guide for Clarke, Laurence Fishburne playing the well-meaning editor of the Daily Planet perfectly and even down to Cooper Timberline as 9 year old Clarke.

Oh, stop.

One thing I was delighted with is one of my favourite actors actually getting a role his deserves, Michael Shannon. I fell in love with him as an actor in Boardwalk Empire and as General Zod he showed that he deserves better roles than he is usually given. Another thing I loved was the pace of the film, watching the early trailers had me groaning because I'm not a big cinematography guy and it looked like these trailers were just pandering to those types. This pace made the action absolutely phenomenal, it had me following the action (as best I could with the fact I'm as blind as a bat at a distance), but where it held one part of the film to near perfection, it let another fall down. For me, the quick and seamless editing from current time Clarke/Superman to past Clarke really let a film of this magnitude down due to the 'wait, he's young again?' thoughts. Not to say those scenes were bad, they were the best in the film in my eyes.

Did someone say confusing time skips?

The effects really stood out in this film, the Kryptonian armor like a mix between Mass Effect 2's Collectors with the head of a District 9 Prawn. That leads me to talk about Superman's Kryptonite weakness. I always found that a rock beating the most powerful being around (excluding Marvel's Galactus of course) was ridiculous, but Man of Steel answered the 'WTF' question that was in my mind all my life perfectly. All in all the effects were mind-blowing, they even made Tony Stark's workshop look like something out of a SyFy channel film.

Right, Shepard was too good for us, instead lets kill Superman!!

Right, I've gushed and proved that I'm a total nerd for too long, I think I should just give you all a break. This is THE Superman film, most fans will adore this, and even me, an adamant anti-Superman person, loved it and have a new found interest in his lore. What you will love is the effects I mentioned above, the acting perfection and the final fight scene that was just, if not more, tense as the final fight scene in The Raid. It starts as a cliched action film but moves on to be something really special. I was warned against doing a long review but a film this Super (wink wink) needs a Super review, so I couldn't help it.

And for those that couldn't be bothered to read that (don't blame you, I wouldn't), my TL;DR is GO TO SEE THIS MOVIE!! It's everything a Superman movie should be with the dark Nolanverse mixed with a few cheesy lines. Again, GO TO SEE THIS, you'll thank me, the writers and director, and yourself for watching a movie on par with the legendary The Dark Knight.Rating:    


Signing off as this for fear of an elbow the likes of something from the top of the ropes in WWE, 

The (sigh..) Eldest Gorgebag