Wolverine Review

It was a great idea to give Wolverine his own "origin" movie. As the shining star of the X-Men trilogy, it would have been ideal to see the man tear it up without the hindrance of Rogue's relationship troubles and the philosophical musings of Charles Xavier. As expected, the result is a satisfying escapade with thunderous action and a merry band of characters, but struggles to overshadow narrative annoyances.

Beginning in 1845 with the first appearance of young James Howlett's bone claws, the film then fast-forwards through James' participation in major wars alongside his brother, Victor (Liev Schreiber, Defiance). This sequence, shown during the opening credits, is energetic and entertaining; enough so that their wartime adventures could satiate an entire film. James and Victor, for some annoyingly inexplicable reasons, stopped aging in their mid-30's and look the same in the present as they did during the Civil War.


Herein lies the paramount flaw of the movie. The title implies an explanation of Wolverine's mutant abilities, but his lack of aging, healing powers, and claws are just thrown at the audience without a lick of clarification. Instead, the film narrates how James ended up as we found him in the X-Men trilogy, with his metal claws and amnesia. It all has to with a confusing series of bloody events and bad decisions, after which James is given an adamantium skeleton by the U.S. military, which proceeds to hunt him down.

The hunter turns out to be Victor, who has the same retractable claws and self-healing powers as James. But the two share a classic sibling contrast: James is calm and detached while Victor is bloodthirsty and insane. Their strained, violent relationship is compelling, but it is sadly abandoned once James gets his metal implants.

It's always a bad idea to think too much during comic-book movies, but the critics need to say something. Wolverine scores with its countless spectacular action set-pieces, from the Alaskan throwdown between the brothers to the breathtaking finale on Three Mile Island, where every mutant gets a chance to showcase their abilities. But there is a new level of expectations after The Dark Knight, which has raised the bar for superhero movies - perhaps unfairly, since every movie can't have its psychological complexities and legendary villains.


Comic book nerds, such as myself, will drool at the sight of various characters from X-Men lore, from The Blob to Emma Frost to John Wraith (as well as a few others that won't be spoiled). Even with the onslaught of cameos, the film manages a tricky balance - pleasing the geeks without confusing the rest of the audience.

Often times,it feels like Wolverine is serving as an "origin" for other properties that will spin off, much like Wolverine did, into their own feature films. There's Gambit, one of the most popular X-Men from the comics, who is bluntly thrust into the story with little cohesion. It's great to see his staff and card tricks in action, but it's obvious that the Cajun charmer was added for the hell of it. The other offender is Deadpool, whose smarmy wisecracks are a perfect fit for the naturally droll Ryan Reynolds. His astonishing sword skills steal the spotlight from Wolverine, and his lack of major screen time is a clear sign that the filmmakers have bigger plans for the character.

Admittedly, I would be first in line to see Gambit and Deadpool movies (already announced!), but next time, let's stick to just Wolverine, so his befuddling questions can finally be answered. Memorable action aside, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is hampered by its narrative banality and lingering inquires, but it's still fun fluff.

*** out of *****

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Five U.S. Representatives Arrested

This happened last Monday.

"WASHINGTON - Eight activists protesting the expulsion of aid groups in Darfur have been arrested in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.

Humanitarian leaders and five U.S. lawmakers, including Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison and Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards, were led away in handcuffs Monday from the embassy after crossing a police line."

I was proud when I read this. The five U.S. Representatives are:

Donna Edwards (D-MD)
Keith Ellison (D-MN)
John Lewis (D-GA)
Jim McGovern (D-MA)
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

"The activists are urging world leaders to take a stand against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's decision to expel 16 aid agencies from Darfur.

Ellison says it is wrong to deprive aid to what he calls "the most vulnerable people on our planet."

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died in Darfur, where ethnic African rebel groups have been fighting the Arab-dominated national government for six years."

I tip my hat to these members of Congress. John Lewis was arrested 40 or so times during the civil rights era, and now he has been arrested twice over Darfur. I'm a fan. Stand up for what you believe in.

Have a good day.

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Kavi is Done With School and Mad as Hell

Freshman year is over yippee so look for this blog to be more consistent over then next few months.

Let's start with my anger over the last poll.

What is you most anticipated May release?

Wolverine: 36%
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: 0%
Star Trek: 0%
Angels and Demons: 45%
Terminator Salvation: 18%
Night at the Museum 2: 0%
Dance Flick: 0%
Up: 0%
Drag Me to Hell: 0%

I am incredulous that, even with arguably one of the strongest months for summer movies in Hollywood history, the top vote-getter was ANGELS & DEMONS.

Wolverine has dancing sensation Hugh Jackman as the loveable-yet-gruff mutant with crazy hair and berserker rage.



Star Trek features a young James Tiberius Kirk, who commands a starship and kicks Borg butt.



Christian Bale stars as an older John Connor, who must lead a motley band of resistance fighters against Skynet and giant freaking robots.



And yet, readers of this blog chose Tom Hanks and his bad hair as he takes on Catholic priests. I am saddened.



And how did Up get no votes? It's a Pixar movie so you know it's going to be amazing. I'll be back soon with a review of Wolverine and previews for the next few months.

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WOAH

So I was about to come out with a new senate ratings update when all of a sudden something crazy happened. It was one of those things I never could have predicted happening and never saw coming. Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched sides and became a Democrat today...holy kamole batman.

Specter was going to have a difficult time surviving in the Republican primary because most of the moderates in Pennsylvania registered as Democrats last year. The Republicans in Pennsylvania are actually really conservative and were probably going to select wing-nut Pat Toomey. Now Specter will run as a Democrat and face Toomey (should he still run) in a statewide election with all of his former support available, along with the forces that are the Democratic Party and Barack Obama. Obama has already called him pledging his full support. Apparently Joe Biden was talking to Specter trying to convince him to switch parties. And oh how well it worked.

This is symbolically huge, however, because it just gave Democrats their sixtieth seat (assuming Al Franken is seated, which he will be). 60 is a magic number in the Senate because 60 votes are needed to stop a filibuster. This is really only symbolically important because the Democrats were fairly successful in getting either Specter, Susan Collins of ME, or Olympia Snowe of ME to vote with them already.

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Keweenawesomefest

Wow, its been a long time...exams and losing a laptop will do that to you. Don't fret, I'll be updated with frequency one week from tomorrow, when all my exams are complete. In the meantime, enjoy this article I wrote about Keweenawesomefest for the Michigan Daily. I would have had a lot more to say about this year's experience, but I had a 600 word limit.

Check out the full article here. And yeah, they spelled the name wrong as of 12:49 am Tuesday.

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Important News Dump

News Dump # 2

Gay marriage is now legal in four U.S. states

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay marriage Friday in a unanimous and emphatic decision that makes Iowa the third state — and first in the nation's heartland — to allow same-sex couples to wed.

I remembered reading about this last November and thinking that late March/early April would never come. However, I forgot all about it until the ruling came.

Then, yesterday, a fourth state legalized gay marriage.

MONTPELIER, Vt.—Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage.

The state legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.

The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.

It's now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others.

This has been a very good three weeks for supporters of gay marriage. Whose next?


UPDATE: Surprise! Some conservatives are angry!


Iran reform candidate says open to US negotiations

What better to follow up news about gay marriage with news about Iran, which, according to Ahamdinejad, doesn't have any homosexuals...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The leading reformist candidate in upcoming Iranian presidential elections says if elected, he would negotiate with the U.S but not over Iran's nuclear activities.

Mir Hossein Mousavi said at a news conference Monday that he would talk with the United States, if Iran is "not required to pay a heavy cost," such as giving up its nuclear program.

Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian use only.

The U.S. and its allies charge Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.

Mousavi also condemned the killing of Jews in the Holocaust, a much different stance than current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who in 2005 called the Holocaust a myth.

Mousavi is seen by many as the candidate with the best chance of defeating Ahmadinejad.

I think Ahmadinejad has a good chance of being defeated, and Mousavi would appear to be an improvement over Ahmadinejad. It is refreshing that he is willing to sit down, although who knows what that will lead to. It is very good, however, that he condemns the Holocaust. I commented once that the shortest class ever would be The History of the Holocaust taught by Ahmadinejad. I don't think Admadinejad actually believes it didn't occur, but instead denies it occurs because he doesn't want to give legitimacy to Israel. I'm scared of an eventual Iran/Israel showdown, so this would be a nice development.

UPDATE: Ahmadinejad cautiously agreed to meet with the U.S., and now the U.S. will join the United Nations security council in talking to Iran about nukes.


Obama: Turkey, US can be model for East-West ties

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — President Barack Obama says the U.S. and Turkey can be a model for bridging the East-West divide.

During a news conference in Ankara with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Obama said Monday the most promise in building stronger ties between the U.S. and Turkey lies in being able to create a modern, international community that is respectful, secure and prosperous.

He says the Muslim and Christian countries have a strong foundation to build on, because they both believe in religious freedom.

Obama said the U.S. doesn't identify with a single religion, instead considering itself a nation bound by a set of ideals and values. And, he says, Turkey holds similar principals.

And following the strain of the Iraq war, Obama says he hopes to bolster relations with Turkey.

also...

(Obama) Stands by his 2008 claim that Ottoman Turks carried out Armenian killings early in the 20th century, without saying the word "genocide."

Says at Monday presser with Turkish President Gul: "Well, my views are on the record and I have not changed views."

Gul responds by saying historians, not politicians, should decide how to label what happened nearly a century ago.

also...

Obama supports Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

I feel this trip to Turkey was pretty important. Obama extended a huge olive branch to Turkey, so it will be interesting to see how relations between the two countries develop.


New Mexico Bans Capital Punishment

New Mexico became the newest state to outlaw the death penalty when Richardson signed a bill into law.

"Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime," Richardson said in a statement Wednesday.

He noted that more than 130 death row inmates have been exonerated in the past 10 years, including four in New Mexico.

"Faced with the reality that our system for imposing the death penalty can never be perfect, my conscience compels me to replace the death penalty with a solution that keeps society safe," he said.

The death penalty is a tricky issue. Personally, I don't think I'm against the death penalty for those who commit heinous crimes, but I am scared of putting people to death who don't deserve it. I think New Mexico and Gov. Bill Richardson did the right thing.


I spy a Putin

A picture has emerged apparently showing Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in his former days as a KGB officer.

The 20-year old photo depicts two world leaders - US President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev - in Moscow.

But, according to the man who took the photo, it also captures Mr Putin disguised as a tourist.

The photo was taken by Pete Souza, who worked for Reagan and is currently Obama's official photographer.

In an interview, Mr Souza recounted being surprised at the "pointed" questions these supposed tourists asked the US leader.

They included searching enquiries on the state of human rights in the US.

Cool story.


North Korea Launches Rockets

North Korea launched rockets into the Pacific Ocean, which violated a good number of agreements. Obama is peeved. Asia is scared. The U.N. doesn't know what to do. And this man is probably going to be even more ronery.



Arggghhhh....Somali Pirates hijack American ship

Remember when Somali Pirates took over the Ukrainian arms ship? Well, they took over an American ship now. They held the crew hostage, but now the crew has been released and the crew has retaken control of the ship. However, the pirates, who left on a lifeboat, apparently have the captain hostage. Maybe I should liveblog it?


Have a good day!

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The Pool Review

I reviewed a independent film called "The Pool" for the Michigan Daily. It was filmed in India and has Nana Patekar, for those of you who know who he is. It's really quite good, check it out on DVD. A stark contrast to "Slumdog" as I'm quick to point out.



In the past few months, “Slumdog Millionaire” has won the hearts of audiences worldwide. Its success has sparked a recent surge of interest in films about India, which benefits films like 2007 Sundance Award winner “The Pool.” The movie, released last fall, has finally been able to find its footing in smaller markets.

Full Article

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