X-Men First Class Review (sigh, I think watching The Wire ruined me for this sort of thing)

Been busy today and was a rather nice day, mostly cloudy, with a lot of sun. On the way back from apartment hunting - made it to a movie, for the first time since well December. It's odd, but I enjoy television right now more than movies...and since movies are more expensive, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

At any rate - saw the latest X-men movie finally. There weren't a lot of options - Midnight in Paris is playing at the crappy movie theater with no leg room - I'm renting it. While X-men First Class is definitely better than the last two X-men movies (which isn't that hard to do), it's basically a superhero origin/buddy film that ends as an action movie about a nasty guy who decides to blow up the world so that the people he likes can live in paradise or the ruins of the old one. Not like we haven't seen that done before, have we? Also with a title like X-men First Class - to expect more than that is a bit idiotic. Hello, origin/superhero action movie. More or less telegraphs that with the title alone. Also, after watching the previews, I can't help but think that the villains of this film really should spend some quality time watching the Planet of the Apes films. Or they could just watch the trailer to Rise of the Planet of The Apes - and save themselves some time - it more or less shows the entire movie. Gotta love these new trailers - you no longer have to waste 13 bucks to see a movie, you can just watch the trailer - it's all there but the epilogue.

The first half of X-men First Class is actually pretty good - rather enjoyed the first 35 minutes, it's part buddy film/part origin story/part spy movie - with a lot of suspense, comedic moments, and earnest acting from the two charismatic stars (McAvoy and Fassbender). Rose Byrn as Moira McTaggart is also quite good in this portion. Unfortunately, McAvoy, Byrne, and Fassbender fare better in the first half, than the second - in part because they aren't seasoned enough like Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart to realize that this is just an action movie, it's not Shakespeare. While earnest acting is definitely appreciated, it can be a bit unintentionally laughable during full-blown action sequences. Downey Jr and Mickey Rourke are better at this sort of thing. Granted no one is more earnest than Christian Bale, but the director isn't Chris Nolan, nor is the screenwriter Nolan's brother or Nolan...but rather someone more along the Michale Bay school of film. (Bale, no idiot, has refused to reprise Batman in a film that is not directed by Nolan. Can't say I blame him. In film? It's all about the director. And the director of X-men First Class is serviceable at best.)

In short? I liked the comics better. ( mild spoilers )

True Blood - S4 - episode 1...She's Not There

Whoa, True Blood S4 is going to be good. First episode was sort of fun, and the preview for the season is rather interesting. Bill and Eric are switching places, Bill gets to be the asshole, although he always was. As an aside - why do people get turned on by male/female pairings, where the male is tall dark and an ass? You know, the guy is this older guy, who is all - "I want what is best for you, but I own you, and I'm going to lie to you to protect you? But hey, groove to my broody, addictive soul?" This trope seems to be wildly popular in pop-culture - we have Buffy/Angel, Sookie/Bill, Stefan/Elena, Bella/Edward...and I'm sure there are others. Personally I find it mildly vomit inducing, but to each their own - I'm guessing it's my own personal experience with the trope in my twenties (I dated and crushed on a lot of these arrogant assholes who were all tall dark brooding addictive and controlling...and thought they were all that.) Now, I prefer talkative and vulnerable blonds, with a wry sense of humor. In short 19 year old me would have been all over Bill, 44 year old me - prefers Lafayette, Jason and Eric. Sam...he's still a little on the creepy side.

Fav character is still by a wide margin Tara. Personally I think the writer prefers Tara and Lafayette to the other characters.

( spoilers )

As an aside? I want that song they sung at the end or rather that version of the Beatles song they sung at the end. Anyone know who did it? [Answered in the comments below - thank you!] It wasn't the Beatles, even though the Beatles definitely wrote it (ETA:I'm clearly confusing the Beatles with the Zombies - I don't know why.] I have the Beatles version (maybe that's why?). True Blood has the best soundtrack - is it out anywhere?
[Also answered in the comments - thank you!! Although prefer itunes to Amazon, it's cheaper and easier to download from.]
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