Avatard (Avatar Spoof Trailer)

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review

MediaMASH Review by Chris Reg

NO SPOILERS, I promise. Now for my first serious movie review (Next Day Air aside lol) I’m about to go in, because I’ve seen nothing but mixed and negative reviews of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen since earlier this week. I see a lot of people coming back ranting and raving about their experience all over the net, and I can’t say I agree with or understand exactly what they’re basing their opinions on. With that said, I went into this movie expecting to being disappointed for that exact reason.

Sam and Mikaela on the run...as usual lol.

First let me start by saying if you were a fan of the first one, I just don’t get how or why you wouldn’t enjoy this one. Coming in at what would usually be a lengthy two-and-a-half hours, I have to say it didn’t even really feel that long (I’ve heard/read complaints about the run-time). Shia LaBeouf was the exact same humorously fidgety and akward character we all loved from the first, Megan Fox is still extremely hot, the supporting cast was still efficient, the robots are still well-animated and exciting to watch, and the action sequences were still consistently explosive. I also noted there were a lot of nut jokes made throughout the course of the movie, but for every funny reference to testicles there was a slow-motion running scene or borderline R-rated upskirt with Mikaela, so I guess we still do have balance in the universe after all (lol).

Now, prior to seeing the movie, I also read plenty of “reviews” claiming the editing seemed a little sketchy and that the actual transformations looked blurry, a little less orchestrated and symphonic, and/or even unfinished all together, so likewise I paid extra attention to those details and I have to say…they were great *shruggs shoulders*. I think this may just be a case of people already being familiar with the whole visual process from the first Transformers. It’s not a new concept anymore, so you know what you’re looking at -- kind of like how after the original Matrix, where you saw that freeze-frame camera-swing bullet-dodge thing for the first time, it doesn’t quite have the same “ooh-and-ahh” effect in the other eight squillion scenes it’s been featured in since, and you almost start taking it for granted. However, I still found watching the exotic cars, choppers, planes, and uhhh…old rickety ice cream trucks (lol) click-and-clack into war machines visually stimulating,  and the storyline was exactly what it should have been: a continuation of the first’s.

Skids and Mudflap of the Autobots.

I’ve also been hearing some fuss making accusations of there being “blatant racism” personified in the characters Skids and Mudflap, an Autobot duo with over-the-top ignorantly “black” characteristics, seemingly used as a vehicle (no pun intended lol) to unnecessarily drag in a bit of slapstick humor and some “urban” relevance to the movie. That’s stereotypical. Sure. And while I did find it distracting and almost obnoxious at times, I don’t think blacks in general should be up in arms about the characters (as AllHipHop seems to be insisting). It’s not racism. It’s a character. An entire race does not necessarily exhibit the characteristics of a single stereotype, so the only people who should be even remotely offended by this are the select few who actually play that role in real life…and maybe they should pick up a book instead of watching a movie for three hours. Let’s be real: how many predominantly black movies have we watched and loved that dragged the stereotypical “white guy” through the mud for comedy relief? Plenty, and I’m not personally offended every time a white male is portrayed as a geeky clutz with no understanding of contemporary fashion, style, or slang. Big deal: it’s all in good fun, so can everybody please just calm down lol.

On the other hand, I have to acknowledge that there were some pretty corny moments in the film, as there are in most PG-13 flicks. Some times the dialogue felt a little cheesy, especially with a few lackluster attempts for memorable one-liners from Tyrese and some of the robots. Also, I won’t give it away, but there’s a scene in particular where one of the characters has like a surreal out-of-body moment of clarity that felt pretty stupid in my honest opinion. But unlike some other reviewers, I can be fair and play devil’s advocate: one hundred and fifty minutes of motion picture, I think I can find it in my heart to forgive a few minutes worth of not-so-good.

The human attention span of today is horrendous. People in general are becoming harder and harder to impress, especially now that quality CGI has become such common practice in cinema. We tend to take the work that goes into these movies for granted. Everybody’s a critic, but in all actuality the visuals in movies like Transformers are not far from being technical masterpieces. Let’s face it, people don’t go to see Summer blockbusters for extensive plotlines: they go to be spoon-fed massive explosions, over-the-top fight scenes, and watch famous landscapes and monuments be demolished in the meanwhile. Admit it.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a great sequel to a great original…in the category of film it was intended to be placed in. Not to say the movie didn’t have its minor flaws, but so long as you don’t watch expecting to see something it wasn’t designed to be, you will love it.  The movie actually got a standing ovation from the audience we were with last night, and truthfully I can’t say I would mind forking over my ten bucks to check out a third installment if/when one comes out again in another Summer or two. In short, disregard all the negative reviews, and go enjoy a good night at the movies. The “nay”-sayers are just being babies…

Rating:

Tarik & Mikal Trailer (Hilarious)

MediaMASH: Fiasco Bone, Not So Pretty Ricky, etc.

From time to time I’m going to be throwing some quick blips of current events and other random shit up in the air, and completely disregard where they fall. Just some cool (or not so cool) information floating around in the media that I felt the need to highlight for whatever reason. Trust me this is going to be all over the place, but bare with me and do feel free to Comment…

Fiasco Bone.

Aight so rumor has it, according to AllHipHop.com, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is in the studio with Lupe Fiasco? I grew up a huge Bone Thugs fan, and Lupe is one of the dopest (and most underrated) artists out these days. Definitely cannot wait to hear what this combination comes up with creatively. Free Flesh-N-Bone!

Not So Pretty Ricky.

I know this is like completely feeding into what he intended by putting this ridiculousness out, but fuck it: Pretty Ricky really need to check their dude Sexy Spec. This guy posted what appears to be a webcam vlog of him challenging “all them boys who be grindin’ out there” including Bow Wow, Chris Brown, Omarion, Trey Songz, and Day 26 to see “who’s number one”, all while shadow-grinding in his fucking speedos. Now, number one at what exactly? I’m not quite sure, but from the looks of it he wants to see if anyone can top his homoeroticism, and he’s definitely set the bar unusually high. I was actually embarrassed for this dude watching the video (yes it’s one of those), so I couldn’t bring myself to posting this fuckery on MtM. However, for those of you fellas in question of your sexuality or the ladies who like this type of horrendousness, feel free to visit the lovely LaVene‘s Avant Garde website where the video has been embedded front and center for your viewing…eh…pleasure? WTF x3.

Modern Warfare 2, Bioshock 2, GTAIV: The Ballad Of Gay Tony

Now as most of you know I am a huge gamer, and as I already know, a lot of you are as well. What I also know is that the game-scene has been gearing up for some big releases. First off, 360 shits on PS3 (awaits in inbox full of hate mail). With that out of the way, the sequel to what I personally nominate to be one of the best video games ever created, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is well on it’s way, and has been slated for a November 2009 release. This go round it seems to be stripping it’s identity of the Call Of Duty brand, but dah who needs it right? You know something is going to be amazing when it’s outgrown it’s own name lol. Anyway I’m not gonna go on and on boring you about how this is going to ruin my life and have me living like an anti-social hermit when it comes out later this year, instead I’ll just show you why…

Yessssssssss. Okay, also worth noting that the creators of Bioshock has also revealed it will be making it’s second round, this time giving you controls of a Big Daddy as you stomp around the ruins of Rapture hunting the Big Sister. For those of you unfamiliar with the original, I strongly recommend you dive in (no pun intended…well yea, sorta lol) and play catch-up before the sequel drops. I’d also easily nominate this series to be one of the best video games ever, so do that! The new one has just been stamped with a release date of November 3, 2009 in North America! Here’s a little sneak-peak demonstration by the creative director of the new one coming out! Gameplay looks sick…

Rockstar has also announced this week that it will be releasing yet another add-on to the Grand Theft Auto IV franchise, and this one…is called The Balled Of Gay Tony (LMAO). According to IGN.com, this expansion follows Luis Lopez, the assistant to the in-game nightclub manager Tony “Gay Tony” Prince. In it, players will, “struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price.” Knowing Rockstar this is going to get really crazy and stir up plenty of controversy amongst certain Pretty Ricky members, I mean…uhh…the gay community!

Get at me on Xbox Live: my gamer tag is Creasy Reg!

Next Day Air

Oh and one last thing, I know there’s a lot of Summer blockbusters hitting the theaters this time of year. So I’m gonna go ahead and skip right over all of them. Next Day Air was a surprisingly cool movie. I thought the movie was going to be really silly, but there was actually action sequences and the violence was pretty brutal. Definitely recommend checking it in between feeding your addicted to MASHtheMEDIA.com! I would give it a solid 3 stars, but since I think I’m in love with Yasmin Deliz I’m going to go ahead and toss an extra one in there LMAO. Hey, no one said my reviews were going to be realistic. Fuck it…
Rating:

Yasmin's Delizious lol.