Hey everyone, Jack Drees here! Thought I was done talking about the Academy Awards? You thought wrong! There’s another thing I want to bring up, and that is “Suicide Squad’s” win. “Suicide Squad” is probably one of the most controversial movies of the past year. After many folks happened to be disappointed with “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” it didn’t stop their excitement for “Suicide Squad,” which was supposed to come out in summer 2016. Then the movie came out, the opinions were across the board for this film. A lot of comic book nerds really hated it, critics trashed it (according to Rotten Tomatoes), then there’s that group of people who happened to really like it (also according to Rotten Tomatoes). When I first saw the film, I liked it, in my review, I gave it a 7/10. However, when watching the film on Blu-Ray, I felt like I was watching a selection of cool segments, but mostly uninspired s*it. So yeah, the score is now a bit lower than how it was after my first watch. Would I watch it again in the future? Quite possibly, but probably only for certain parts. I feel like I’m jumping on a bandwagon for saying this, but the fact that this very film is now an Oscar winner, is just hilarious.

This film won in the category of “Best Makeup and Hairstyling.” I’ll be honest, out of all the Oscars this film could possibly win, this would have been one of the most believable ones. In fact, compared to its competitors, I’m totally fine with this film winning, I have not seen “A Man Called Ove,” but after a brief look at some images from the film, I can’t say I’m thrilled with it. I saw its other competitor, “Star Trek: Beyond,” and as far as eligibility for this category goes, I’d say this movie is a reasonable nomination. One character really stood out to me, Jaylah played by Sofia Boutella to be specific. However, “Suicide Squad” was the film I actually felt was the most deserving of the three films. I was amazed with what they have done with a few characters. These characters include Harley Quinn, The Joker, and Enchantress. Everything looked glossy and colorful when it came to The Joker and Harley Quinn and Enchantress certainly looked intimidating. Even if I didn’t care much for a certain characters, I was able to admire how they looked.

Also, let me just remind you. As if calling “Suicide Squad” an Oscar winner isn’t weird enough, get a load of this. There isn’t a single Marvel Cinematic Universe movie that has won an Oscar. There have been multiple comic book based films that won Oscars in the past, including ones from Marvel like “Spider-Man 2” and “Men in Black.” Although, not one modern day Marvel Cinematic Universe film such as “Iron Man,” “The Avengers,” or “Guardians of the Galaxy” won an Oscar, EVER. They have been nominated, but not a single one was a winner. However, a modern day DC Comics film, one that was disliked by so many people, actually happened to win an Oscar. It’s just astounding to me.

All of this does raise a few questions. The first question being, is this a sure sign that DC actually has a chance of making great movies in the future? Well, nothing’s absolutely certain when it comes to that matter, and I’m ABSOLUTELY EXCITED for “Wonder Woman” coming out in June, and I also have faith in “Justice League” coming out in November, so we’ll see what happens with those films along with other DC films. Also, will Marvel Studios ever win an Academy Award? From research, most of the MCU films are nominated for best visual effects. Although its chances of winning, personally, probably aren’t gonna be the best. And I say that because a good portion of the MCU films look very similar in terms of visuals. Just watch a few Marvel Studios films and you’ll see what I mean. Last question I have in mind, is this. Will DC ever surpass Marvel in terms of quality? I honestly doubt that. Marvel has a formula with their films, and in some ways, this is completely unofficial, because in my view, this only applies to one DC film, but it almost seems as if DC is trying to borrow a lot of what Marvel has and put it into their films. This is evident when it comes to “Suicide Squad.” When you take the soundtrack, some of the visuals, and the whole team formation jazz, in some ways, it almost feels like at times that I’m watching a carbon copy of “Guardians of the Galaxy.” With films like “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” I felt like I was watching something new. I really enjoyed my experience of watching “Man of Steel,” and while I wouldn’t consider “Batman v Superman” a great movie, I can’t say it’s a horrible movie either.

I can’t say I’m entirely disappointed with this film winning the award it won, because out of all the choices, it looked like “Suicide Squad” put in the most effort when it came into this category and it definitely paid off. What are your thoughts on “Suicide Squad” getting an Oscar? Is this category appropriate for the film? Or I want to know this, what did you think of “Suicide Squad,” yeah, I’m actually somewhat curious, so leave a comment if interested! Be sure to stay tuned for more of my epic posts and reviews coming soon! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here, and the 89th Academy Awards are officially over. Right I’m going to talk about some of the highlights of the show, whether or not my expectations were fulfilled, the political jabs, and THAT ENDING. If you have seen the show, chances are you automatically know what I’m referring to.

Starting off with the highlights we are gonna talk about the Walmart receipt films. In case you don’t know what I’m referring to. A group of people were asked to direct 3 films using a list of items shown on one Walmart receipt. One film was directed by Marc Forster, another film was directed by Antoine Fuqua, and there was another film by Seth Rogen along with Evan Goldberg. My personal favorite out of those films was the one from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. I am able to appreciate the other two, but I admire the third film for the number of set pieces it’s able to shove in a matter of moments without feeling bloated, along with the fact that it is able to do something that made me admire Tape Face from season 11 of “America’s Got Talent,” which is make something out of literally nothing. There’s no real big story or backbone, but the randomness which is executed feels like it’s masterfully done and it doesn’t feel crazy. In a way, it feels stupid, but in a way it’s also the work of a genius. And no, I don’t mean that like “Impractical Jokers” stupid, it’s actually kind of complex to explain.

One of the other highlights I will bring up has to do with “La La Land,” and I saw that movie in the theater and it was terrific. When I reviewed the movie, I gave it a 9/10. Going into the Oscars, “La La Land” had 14 nominations. After receiving huge praise from critics, also a high amount from average moviegoers as well, I was expecting a HUGE sweep. Did we get a sweep? Yes. But it wasn’t as big as I was expecting. I was expecting Hollywood to just go on loving itself, but no, the love wasn’t as tremendous as I thought it would be. Just to let you know, the record for the most wins at the Oscars for a film is 11 wins, while “La La Land” didn’t get 11 wins, it got 6, which is still pretty decent. So this kind of makes me think that Hollywood doesn’t love itself as much as I thought. I mean, I wouldn’t mind “La La Land” getting more than 6 awards but it would still leave that thought in my mind.

Going into the Oscars, one of the categories I was looking forward to was “Best Animated Feature Film,” I mentioned in my most recent post which has to do with the Oscars that I was desperately hoping that “Kubo and the Two Strings” would win this category. I also mentioned that my prediction for the winner was Disney’s “Zootopia,” which would have been my second choice. “Zootopia” did take the award in that category, which I do approve of, “Zootopia” was definitely the funniest of the animations I watched in 2016, it’s very well animated, and it’s almost a spoof of real life. However, I really do hope “Laika,” the animation studio behind Kubo does get more recognition in the future. I have seen two of their films so far and I really loved both of them. I saw “Coraline,” which was released back in 2009. Beautifully crafted and animated, well written, it had wonderful music, and it was very engaging. “Kubo and the Two Strings” actually managed to be better, like as in, MIND-BLOWINGLY better. I cannot wait to see what Laika does next!

Also, let’s get talking about one of my favorite movies of the past year, “Arrival!” “Kubo and the Strings” was my favorite movie nominated for anything at the Oscars, but of the ones nominated for “Best Picture,” Arrival was my favorite. “Arrival” actually happened to win one award, and that award is “Best Achievement in Sound Editing.” I was honestly expecting “Sully” to win in that category, but the fact that “Arrival” won anything satisfied me and me almost jump for joy. After all, as one who has seen the film, I will say that the film has a nice variation in terms of sound effects, the sound effects are timed well and happen to match with what is going on, and the sound effects themselves sound cool.

I’m now gonna talk about the categories of “Best Actor” and “Best Actress.” I actually got my predictions right for both categories, and I cannot be happier with the picks for these categories. Starting off with the fellow who happened to win “Best Actor,” Casey Affleck, there is NO OTHER CHOICE. As extremely disappointed as I was with “Manchester by the Sea” in general, I was amazed everyone’s ability to act throughout the film to the point where I thought it was some of the best acting I ever seen. Say what you want about Casey Affleck when it comes to that whole sexual harassment scandal, but the dude can act, and the same goes with just about everyone else in the movie. Even Michelle Williams, for the few minutes she’s around, was exceptional. Everything in the movie, despite being much more humorous and witty as opposed to sad, felt realistic and that’s one of the movie’s biggest positives, which I’m really glad to say.

Now, let’s move onto the “Best Actress,” Emma Stone. Emma Stone has proven that she’s a talented actress, and her work in “La La Land” just shows that significantly. In terms of lead actress performances, Stone is up there with Hailee Steinfeld in “Edge of Seventeen” as my favorite lead actress performances of 2016, and Emma Stone deserved her Oscar. Granted, part of it probably had to do with how well written the character was, but regardless of writing, Stone transformed this character, into a person. It absolutely shows during the near end of the film, which overall just made me go “Wow.” So, I would not only like to thank Damien Chazelle, who wrote the movie for coming up with such an inspiring and well written character, but I want to give thanks to Emma Stone for making the character so lifelike and fluid. It’s just, I don’t know, magic. Yeah, that’s the word, I’m gonna go with magic.

Now, let’s political. Sorry guys, I have to. Heading into Oscar night, a lot of people were expecting a bunch of jokes about Trump, specifically ones created with the intention to destroy him. I will admit there were a few, and as one who didn’t really like just about anyone running for president during the 2016 US election, I will personally admit that there were some jokes that had me cracking. I will say, most of the jokes came from host Jimmy Kimmel so not too many of the celebrities were exposing their political views, which is something I could personally consider a positive. There was even one that I thought was absolutely brilliant and had lots of attendees laughing and it had me busting my guts as well. Jimmy Kimmel went on his phone, there was a screen showing what he was doing on the phone, Kimmel went to Twitter and he tweeted the following:

“Hey @realDonaldTrump u up?”

Then a second later, he tweeted once more, saying this:

“@realDonaldTrump #Merylsayshi”

If you have you have seen or heard about Meryl Streep’s speech at the Golden Globes, chances are you will understand this tweet. By the way, there were less political jokes than I was expecting, so I consider that a nice plus.

Now, let’s talk about the ending that shocked everyone! Remember when Steve Harvey made a huge mistake at the 2016 Miss Universe show? Get a load of this! The Oscars are just about to come to an end, the “Best Picture” nominees were just announced, and the winner was announced. That award went to “La La Land,” which when I heard it, did not come off as a huge shock to me, I thought the film deserved it, but at the last second, it turns out that isn’t the real winner. Warren Beatty had the wrong card! The REAL winner was “Moonlight,” another movie which I wouldn’t have been surprised with taking the “Best Picture” spot. I gotta say, I don’t blame Warren for this, he didn’t have the card. Comparing it to the Miss Universe incident, Steve Harvey had the right card, but he read it wrong. Warren Beatty at the Oscars had the wrong card, but he read it right. I thought this was completely scripted, like, Jimmy Kimmel came up with this going into the show, and that was a joke. At another point, I thought there would be a tie between the two movies. Just wow. If I have anything else to say about it, I’m noticing a funny connection between this year’s Academy Awards and last year’s Academy Awards. The winners for “Best Picture” both have the word light in them. This year’s winner is “Moonlight” and last year’s winner is “Spotlight.” Just thought I’d shine some “light” on that. Also, I’d like to give kudos to the folks of “La La Land” for being good sports when they found out about the mistake. In fact I heard Emma Stone talking after the Oscars finished and the after party started. She stated “Moonlight” was one of the greatest movies of all time, so I can tell Emma was able to respect the movie’s victory. After all, I bet she’s pretty satisfied considering she won “Best Actress.”

Well that’s it for my thoughts on the 89th Academy Awards, and I just want to know, did you watch the Academy Awards? What did you think about it? Did you get any of your hopes or predictions met? What were your favorite moments from the show? Leave a comment! Right now, considering the fact that “Moonlight” won “Best Picture,” I want to go see it. Will I see it? That will be determined in the future, but it’s something I’m keeping in mind right now. Also as far as other movies go, I might want to see “Fist Fight.” If I do manage to see either of those movies, be sure to stay tuned for those reviews, along with other reviews aside from those, plus other random posts I might be in the mood to create. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here! It’s that time of year, the Academy Awards show is upon us. Regardless of whether or not you watch them, you’d probably agree with me when I say that the Academy Awards happens to be the biggest award show in film. Despite the fact that I am a hardcore movie watcher and will make my best efforts watch any movie in my path no matter how good or bad, it is one of the few award shows I watch. Granted I know many other shows, but I either don’t get much advertising for them, I don’t have much awareness toward them, or I might even simply not care about them. Right now I just want to talk about the upcoming Academy Awards show on the 26th of February. By the way, when this first gets posted, the show is scheduled to start in LESS THAN 24 hours, so if you came in on this post by 8PM on the east coast or 5PM on the west coast, you have arrived before the show begins. Anyway, for this post, I’m gonna talk about my hopes for the upcoming show and also some of my predictions. I’m not gonna say all my predictions, but a select few.

To start this off, I’m gonna talk about something that is probably on the minds of many people living in the US. How political is this going to get? With the whole “liberal Hollywood” thing, several people have been somewhat mad because they feel they are having political information shoved down their throats, especially info that is anti-conservative or anti-Trump. To support my point, I’m gonna refer to the buildup to the Golden Globes this year. On Twitter, I saw a bunch of users saying that they are intending to boycott the Golden Globes because it will have jokes on Trump. At one point, #BoycottGoldenGlobes was trending on Twitter and it was on that trending list for a good portion of the day. Was there any sign of anti-Trump moments? Yes, but the way I see it, at least for the moments I recall, it was more about being informative and raising awareness of somewhat recent events as opposed to destroying him. If people like Meryl Streep planned to destroy Donald Trump, she’d probably be taking comedy lessons from Stephen Colbert. As far as future anti-Trump events go, if there are any, make sure that they are few and far between. There are a select group of people that do find this entertaining whereas others would much prefer gouging their eyes out. In all reality, I’d prefer that there would be no political correlation here, but we’ll see what happens. Do I like Trump? No. Do I need to hear jokes about him everywhere I go? No. By the way, for the record, I didn’t like too many 2016 US presidential candidates, especially the ones that survived to the very end. I digress.

Now, I bet some of you are so annoyed of hearing about politics everywhere that you’re probably just raging while I’m talking about it like when you hear it from someone else, so let’s go onto something movie related. Let’s get going with my first prediction. My first prediction is in the category of “Best Animation.” My prediction for this category is “Zootopia,” which fun fact, made my #9 spot on my top 10 best movies of 2016. Speaking of fun facts, that was only my 3rd favorite animation of that year, it is right behind “Kung Fu Panda 3” and “Kubo and the Two Strings” in terms of movies in the animation category. Despite how “Zootopia” is my prediction for this category, my desired pick for it would be “Kubo and the Two Strings.” That movie actually made my #2 spot on my top 10 best movies of 2016 for its beautiful stop motion animation, masterful sound editing, lovable story which just so happens to honor storytellers themselves, and a brilliantly chosen cast. Seriously, it’s near impossible that could you go wrong with folks like Charlize Theron (Hancock, Mad Max: Fury Road), Matthew McConaughey, and “oh myyyyy!” George Takei! Getting back to “Zootopia,” the reason why I made this my official prediction as the winner of the “Best Animation” category is based on a number of factors. This isn’t the case anymore, but during the movie’s opening weekend, it had a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised this film for not only having an entertaining story for kids and adults alike, but for also bringing up modern day social issues, which I actually found pretty entertaining as it is relevant.

Another one of my biggest wishes for the Oscars has to do with Casey Affleck. If you don’t follow recent films, chances are you aren’t familiar with “Manchester by the Sea.” I was honestly quite disappointed with the film because it was advertised as a tearjerker, but I found myself letting out laughs more than shedding tears, but the film still had a rather decent verdict from me (7/10) because several factors held the film from sinking in the sea (Get it?). The biggest example I can give towards an avoidance of total disaster, is Casey Affleck’s performance as the character of Lee Chandler. The timing when Affleck speaks was just squeaky clean and his body movements made it feel like I was watching a real person. The nominees for “Best Actor” all seem to be good choices (even though I haven’t seen every movie listed), but in the end, I’m rooting for Affleck.

Next up, we’re gonna talk about “Best Picture.” Considering how this may be an extremely popular and revered category, I’m gonna list the nominees right here. “Arrival,” “Fences,” “La La Land,” “Hidden Figures,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Moonlight,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Lion,” and “Hell or High Water.” Now, I have not seen all of these movies. Of the ones I have seen, they are “Arrival,” “La La Land,” “Hidden Figures,” and “Manchester by the Sea.”

Out of all the movies on that particular list I’ve seen, my personal favorite is “Arrival,” which was my #4 spot on my top 10 best films of 2016. I love the movie because it just shows how essential communication and language are. The more I think about it, it makes me glad that I have the option to learn foreign languages. For the record, I’m taking Latin in school right now, it’s a very difficult subject in my opinion, but even if I was taking another language I’d still be thinking the same thing. There are aliens in this film, but this is not an alien invasion movie. Sure, aliens come down to Earth, but it’s nothing like a summer blockbuster, it has a very calm vibe as it keeps a slow and steady pace and focuses on the human characters trying to figure out whatever it is the aliens are saying and thinking, and trying to teach them their own language. Not only is this movie unique when it comes to movies featuring aliens, but it’s also important, engaging, and it’s also well shot at certain points. I’d be totally happy with this film winning “Best Picture,” however I would also be happy with another film winning. Before we get into the second film I’m rooting for, I will remind you, this is my prediction as the winner.

The film I’m referring to as my second choice, to be specific, is “La La Land.” As of now, “La La Land” is on my #10 spot on my top 10 best films of 2016. By the way, if you have seen that post, my original #10 spot was “Sausage Party,” but I’ve yet to see “La La Land” so I couldn’t judge the film yet. There are many reasons why I think this will win. This film is doing relatively well during its run in theaters, the trailers are showing it off by exposing its high ratings, by the way, it has high ratings, it’s an ode to dreamers, it’s an ode to Hollywood, it’s an ode to older films and musicals, the opening to the film was done in one continuous shot, and look at what happened at the Golden Globes. This film won SEVEN Golden Globes, which makes it the winningest film in Golden Globe history. If this film doesn’t win best picture, I predict it’ll probably rack up a bunch of other wins at the Oscars. I will say however, part of me thinks it somewhat has to do with Hollywood loving itself. Granted, “La La Land,” to me, is a work of art, but I bet some folks who work for Hollywood, or happen to live in Hollywood, or even happen to just follow the works of Hollywood like myself, could possibly have some sort of bias towards this movie. And if some people do, I can’t entirely blame them, because I will state that when it comes to “Arrival,” a small part of me feels like I have a bias towards it because I’m a sci-fi lover and the movie kind of reminds me of one of my all time favorite films, “Interstellar.” The two movies are similar in terms of pace, vibe, and the two films even happen to make you think. Also, I bet some of you might ask, why do I think “La La Land” is a work of art? I don’t want to digress too much, so I’ll give quite a few reasons, but I won’t go into a long explanation. 1: The opening scene. 2: Emma Stone’s performance. 3: Emma Stone’s character. 4: Ryan Gosling’s character. 5: It salutes old Hollywood while still feeling fresh. 6: Terrific score and numbers. 7: The movie is a gift to dreamers (including me from what I picked up). 8: The chemistry between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling’s characters feels incredibly real. 9: Essentially says that you can make a dream a reality, but you might lose something along the way. 10: The ending.

When it comes to this year’s Academy Awards show, I’m pretty excited. I like Jimmy Kimmel and I’m glad to see him as the host, however that choice could probably be a little biased considering he has a talk show on ABC. Then again, Jimmy Fallon hosted the Golden Globes this year and he’s got a talk show on NBC, so I guess this is a trend this year. If you have a talk show on the same network an award show is on, you get to host that award show. As long as they don’t dive too far into politics, and just focus on the movies, the Oscars overall will be fine. Also, I want to know, are you watching the Oscars this year? Do you care? Are you rooting for certain movies? Do you have any predictions? Leave a comment! Also, stay tuned for my upcoming posts and movie reviews! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here. If you haven’t been living under a rock throughout February, you’d probably already know that Super Bowl 51 recently took place. It was a big game indeed, you’ve got the Patriots, with a quarterback that everybody hates, but at the same time a lot of people love, going for his fifth Super Bowl win, and you’ve got the Falcons, trying to finally bring at least a single Super Bowl trophy back to Atlanta. After this Super Bowl, I happen to know many people who have considered this to be the greatest Super Bowl of all time, and quite possibly the greatest comeback in sports history. Also, it may bring some relief to Tom Brady (left), who despite winning Super Bowl 49 2 years ago, thanks to a surprise interception by Malcom Butler (right) which made him New England’s hero of the night, has had a tough ride getting to this Super Bowl. He was accused of using balls that weren’t properly inflated during a game, which if you want to know my thoughts on that, I believe the balls were inflated properly, and no, I’m not just saying that because I’m a fan of the Patriots. Brady also had to spend over a year going to court until finally in 2016 he received a 4 game suspension during the previous regular season. So seeing the Patriots win the Super Bowl not only made Brady and his team happy, but it also was successful revenge against Roger Goodell (commissioner of NFL). If you don’t know who Roger Goodell is, the reaction that certain Patriots fans would give when they hear his name is probably the same reaction John Oliver would give when hearing Sepp Blatter’s (former president of FIFA) name. With all that being said, Malcom Butler may as well be considered by many to be Super Bowl 49’s sneak attacker, and Tom Brady may as well be considered by many to be Super Bowl 51’s winningest winner, I am trying to come up with a good analogy, it’s really hard, forgive me. What’s next for these two? These two are gonna have movies made about them.

In case you ever cared to know, I live in New England, and I honestly don’t give a flying crap on a cracker about football. However, if there’s one team I’d force myself to root for, that team would be the New England Patriots.

If you want to call me a loser, do it all you want, I don’t care. You don’t have to like the Patriots. I just recently mentioned I don’t like football so it’s not like I’m the type of guy who goes to Buffalo Wild Wings every Sunday with his friends to watch the game, so I’m not gonna start a brawl against you. If it makes you feel better in any way, I’m wondering if these movies should even exist in the first place, and I’m willing to bet you’re wondering the same.

I mean, to me, these are interesting stories, and I bet in due time, these will be remembered and revered by a number of generations to come. But do they really need to be brought to the big screen this instant? I don’t think so. If you don’t follow football, a lot of people view the New England Patriots as the football equivalent to the New York Yankees. They just keep on winning and people hate them for it. I will say, if there were one movie that I think would relate to audiences more, it would be the Malcolm Butler movie. The problem I have with this Tom Brady movie idea is that Tom Brady at this point, is like Superman. He leads a powerful team with an iron fist with a big ego. Sure, he is a nice person from what I can imagine, but he’s incredibly well known, and not to mention super rich. If you have ever seen the movie “Cinderella Man,” the reason why that underdog story works, at least to me, is that it took place during the Great Depression. This gave me time to sympathize towards main character of the film and his family too. If you take the wealthy Tom Brady, along with his wife who also happens to make a ton of money, the story itself doesn’t really become as relatable. Malcolm Butler however, is not as rich or as well known when it comes to football. The thing although that makes me think his movie’s a dumb idea is the whole Deflategate controversy. The news about it was starting around the time of Super Bowl 49 and that probably brought in some more people who viewed the Patriots as the Empire from “Star Wars.” I will say that the idea of a Tom Brady is although worse.

I mentioned recently, Super Bowl 51 is argued amongst many people to be the greatest comeback in sports history. However to many other people, it is quite possibly considered to be a very big f*ck you. The Atlanta Falcons has never won a championship, so imagine how they must be feeling right now. A lot of people who watched the Super Bowl rooted for the underdog and quite possibly felt disappointed by the Falcons getting beaten. In fact, I might even consider this to be just like the 2016 US presidential election. A majority of people was hoping Hillary Clinton would win (look at the popular vote) while the electoral college wanted Donald Trump. I’m not gonna give my thoughts on the election, but I’ll say this, to make this even more like the 2016 election, I saw multiple tweets after the Super Bowl saying stuff like “Atlanta won the popular vote.” It just goes to show you, that despite the Patriots, along with Tom Brady himself, happening to achieve something so tremendous and rare, they still get lots of hate from hardcore football followers. I’m not saying the idea of this movie should be terminated entirely, but I am saying that this movie isn’t a good idea right now, and the idea of a Malcolm Butler film isn’t that much better. Maybe the idea could be revisited years from now, lets say if the Patriots hate stops, or when the Falcons finally win a championship, I don’t know. Only time will tell.

I do want to know however, what are your thoughts on a Malcolm Butler or Tom Brady movie related to the past two Patriots related Super Bowls? Leave a comment! Also, if you are interested, be sure to check out my review for “John Wick: Chapter 2,” I’ll have a link to the review posted for you to check out if you want to read it, and be sure to stay tuned for more reviews. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

“JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2” REVIEW: https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/john-wick-chapter-2-two-times-the-wickedness/

“John Wick: Chapter 2” is directed by Chad Stahelski and it is the return of Keanu Reeves’s kickass character whom we were introduced to back in 2014. In this sequel to the highly appreciated action movie, “John Wick,” John must return to the criminal underworld in order to repay a debt. Throughout, it is discovered that a bounty was put on Wick. Therefore giving us another fast paced (for the most part) action thrill ride.

Before this movie came out, I was somewhat concerned for a couple reasons. One, this movie was supposed to come out in February and if you follow movies and release dates on a regular basis, you’d probably know that February is the paper shredder for movies. Seriously, just imagine a script going into a paper shredder just for how truly awful it really is. Also, I was kind of worried that this would have the “Taken” effect. What I mean is that the first “Taken” film, at least to me, was pure awesomeness. You’ve got tons of cool action, relatable characters, and that AMAZING line Liam Neeson gives. “I don’t know who you are, I don’t know what you want.” Then “Taken 2” comes out, it was nothing like the first one. Is it a complete abomination? Not really, but it’s close to that! By the way, if you’re wondering about the third Taken film, I’d say it’s better than the second one, but I think it was probably only made to complete a trilogy. Would I say we needed this John Wick sequel? I wouldn’t say we didn’t, but I wouldn’t say we did either. I would have been fine either way. Nevertheless, “John Wick: Chapter 2” was a fun experience.

For characters, you can already tell we’re kicking this segment off by talking about John Wick. John Wick is played by Keanu Reeves, and say what you want about the guy as an actor, but in this movie, here are my honest thoughts, and this can count for the previous John Wick film as well, Keanu didn’t do bad with his performance. One thing I can wholeheartedly appreciate from Keanu in this movie is how he is in action. As of right now, Keanu is up there with folks like Donnie Yen, Gal Gadot, Scarlett Johansson, and Liam Neeson as one of my favorite actors when it comes to action. I can also appreciate the pristine editing, but that appreciation can also go towards Keanu himself, because I saw him in a video off set once, he really commits to his craft and that video can support that. Like seriously, there’s not that much quick cutting or shaky cam in this movie. Everything feels fluid and natural, at times it’s like you’re playing a third person shooter. I’m gonna get back to the action a little later, but to keep a long ramble short, Keanu’s a badass.

The main antagonist of the film is played by Riccardo Scamarcio, and I must say that he did a fine job. I’m not sure if I’ll remember his character all that much, but I’d say he did alright as far as acting goes. There’s not really much else I believe is worth saying about him other than he was fine in terms of action and I can’t complain about him much.

I’m not gonna get too much into depth about the characters because I want to talk about the action sequences. I’ll get to those in a second, but I’ll get two more characters under my belt. One character I want to start off with that intrigued me was Ruby Rose’s character of Ares. I loved Rose’s performance in this movie because it was all done in sign language. I don’t know, something about it makes her come off as slightly more badass. Plus you add in the wacky subtitles and you’ve got quite a show. I mentioned Ruby Rose was pretty cool in “xXx: Return of Xander Cage,” I personally liked her better in this film.

Last but not least, let’s talk about Laurence Fishburne. If you haven’t seen “The Matrix,” by the way, if you haven’t seen “The Matrix,” you may want to rethink your life choices, Fishburne is in that movie, and so is Keanu Reeves. With that being said, I was pretty excited to see what would happen with the two of them reuniting in this movie. I wouldn’t say Fishburne’s role was entirely forced, but after seeing the role he was in, it almost felt like this reunion was somewhat forced. Not completely forced, but somewhat forced if you get my drift. Am I absolutely disappointed? Not really, but in one way or another, it was like the original cast members returning to the “Ghostbusters” reboot, although NOWHERE near as embarrassing. I am happy to see the two reunite, it’s like if sometime in the future, Daisy Ridley got her own action film and John Boyega came in to play a minor character, it would be cool for those who saw the newer “Star Wars” films. I liked Laurence’s role in the film, and I’d say that I ‘d rather have him in the film as opposed to not having in the film, but it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Now, let’s get to what I really want to talk about, the action. When it comes to the “John Wick” films, we have gotten some of the greatest action scenes I’ve ever witnessed! Remember that nightclub scene in the first film? Well, there aren’t any of those in this film, but we do get another scene with blaring techno music. It reminded me of the first movie and it had me banging my head a little and tapping my foot as well. I’m not gonna reveal much about what I’m gonna say, but there’s one thing that John Wick does in this movie that made me ask a question to myself. Which movie did this better? This movie or “The Dark Knight?” Want a hint on what I’m talking about? It has to do an object mentioned in the last movie, and also mentioned in this movie. That’s pretty much all I’ll say as far as that goes.

Another thing I want to bring up is a couple problems I have with the film, because this film is not perfect. There is one character in this movie that is talking with John Wick, she cuts herself in both her arms. After that she gets in a hot tub which is in the room, then dies shortly afterwards. What is my problem? She is CLEARLY dead, and yet John wastes a bullet on her. You’d think with all that blood coming out of her along with her head tilting to her shoulder she’d be dead in an instant, but John still had to shoot a bullet. Also, this is very minor, but at the beginning of the film, I felt like I wasn’t getting enough action. Sure, there was a huge action sequence at the start of the film, but it felt like the movie dipped too soon. Granted it does pick up the pace a little later, but still, it bothered me while watching the movie. I might forgive this in due time, but for now, this complaint still stands.

Last but not least, let’s talk about one of my favorite segments of the movie, the hall of mirrors action sequence. There’s like a few minutes of action taking place in a museum and there’s a hall of mirrors, and NOT ONCE did I see a camera, tripod, or light. THAT IS AWESOME. I actually read in a review on Business Insider that this essentially pays homage to “Enter the Dragon,” which I have not seen. Even if I did see it, this sequence would have possibly still been mind blowing to me.

“John Wick: Chapter 2” is not only an excellent action film, but a terrific sequel, and a stellar February film! Is it better than the original? I cannot decide, they are pretty close in terms of likability at this point. Although I will say, if I had to choose one film over the other to watch if I were alone on a Friday night with nothing else to do, I’d rather watch the first one. Nevertheless, “John Wick: Chapter 2” definitely deserves your money and it also doesn’t do something which “Taken 2” managed to do, which is suck. I’m gonna give “John Wick: Chapter 2” an 8/10. I can’t saw much for upcoming reviews, but it’s quite possible that sometime soon that I’m gonna go see “Fist Fight.” I’m not sure if that’ll happen, but we’ll see what the future holds. By the way, I’m not sure if I’ll see “Logan” because, don’t kill me for saying this, but I never seen a single “X-Men” film. If I were to go see “Logan,” I’d go buy the X-Men films immediately and do a marathon before it comes out. Also, I want to thank everyone who signed my “King of the Nerds” season 4 pickup petition so far. The petition has now been out for a week and it already has 31 supporters, so thanks for the support! If you want to sign the petition, or just check it out for shiggles, I’ll have the link down below. Thanks a lot guys for signing, and thanks for reading this review, stay tuned for more coming soon. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

KING OF THE NERDS SEASON 4 PICKUP PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/game-show-network-have-a-network-pick-up-king-of-the-nerds-for-season-4?source_location=minibar

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here. Today, I’m gonna tackle something I discovered like a week ago, but I completely neglected writing about until now. In case you didn’t know, I have watched all the “Divergent” films that are already out. I enjoyed the first two, but I can’t say the same for 2016’s “Allegiant.” Also, in case you weren’t aware, the franchise’s final movie installment, “Ascendent” will be coming soon, not to theaters, but to TV, which kinda disappoints me. After that, they are starting a TV series. As much as I like the franchise from a movie standpoint, I don’t think I’ll have any interest in watching the TV show. I will watch the final movie and probably put up a review of it, however, I may have less interest in it now, because the movie just lost one of their key actors. Not just any key actor, but the STARRING ROLE. That’s right, Shailene Woodley is not going to be in “Ascendent!” Not only that, but she won’t be in the TV show after the movie comes out! Personally, I’m not gonna go into the TV show right now, but I do want to focus on the film.

I first found out about this information last week on the People’s Choice website, and based on other research, I can tell this is true! On IMDb, I looked at Shailene Woodley’s list of roles she’s played, it didn’t have “Ascendant” on the list. I even searched the movie itself, she’s not on that list! I mean, WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN? I think it is SUPER RARE for an actor that had a prominent role, nonetheless the STARRING role to drop out of a relatively successful franchise at a moment like the one we are at with it now. I mean, Hugh Jackman is not going to be Wolverine anymore, but for what I know, they’re continuing the story in an effective manner giving him a good end. The only other times I can VASTLY remember something like this happening, is when Will Smith didn’t show up in “Independence Day: Resurgence” and when Terrence Howard didn’t show up in “Iron Man 2.” Although, looking back at those two examples, I can’t complain too much about them. “Independence Day: Resurgence” came out 20 years after the first one, so it was kinda late, and Terrence Howard wasn’t the starring role in the first “Iron Man” film. Sure, it was a big role, but it wasn’t as big as Robert Downey Jr’s role. This is something that is this decade’s equivalent to Val Kilmer not returning for Joel Schumacher’s “Batman & Robin,” although then again Val Kilmer dodged a bullet on that one because that movie wasn’t really that good. Also, I can’t really blame him all that much because I read that he didn’t get along with Schumacher and he was committed to another film at the time.

Going back to the post on People’s Choice I read, according to Woodley, she told Vanity Fair that she would not be participating in any future installments the franchise may be making. And as far as Woodley goes from an acting ability, I will say that she does a fine job as the character of Tris Prior. If I had one complaint with her character whatsoever it would be the hairstyle changes that are done in like every single film, it just feels so choppy. In the first film, Tris has long hair for part of the film and another part has her in a ponytail, in the second film, Tris has a pixie cut, and in the previous film, her hair is in between those two. On the bright side that somewhat makes it easier to tell which installment you’re watching. Since Woodley won’t be coming back for future Divergent installments, that means she won’t be on the TV show. If anything, I’m willing to bet part of that is because Woodley is already doing a series on HBO called “Big Little Lies.” Even if that’s not partially a reason towards Woodley’s lack of motive, I don’t even see how you would do a TV series from what I’m analyzing. Just so you know, I never read the books, but I know what happens at the end, and I know what happens to Tris, but not anyone else in the series, now for the sake of avoiding getting people angry, I won’t spit out any spoilers. Also, people reading this, if you read the books and know what happens at the end, don’t put it in the comments. You have been warned. So I will say in reality, I can understand not showing up for the TV series for a number of factors and reasons, but not showing up in “Ascendant” is somewhat troubling for the franchise.

I remember reading somewhere that Shailene had no motive to do a TV series, in fact, as I’m writing this post, it turns out, this has been outspoken by Shailene since last year! Several of the series’ prior (Get it? Prior?)  actors and actresses are returning to play their roles. For example, Miles Teller and Octavia Spencer are returning from what I see on IMDb. However, there are some, including Shailene that are not interested. Want to know something else? It looks like Theo James, the guy who plays Four in the Divergent films, another big role, won’t be returning either. So we lost TWO of the biggest cast members, with one of them being the main character… I don’t know what to say at this point.

Well, if I had to say a couple things, it would be this. I’m sorry Shailene Woodley feels the way she does, and the same goes with Theo James. Also, on an unrelated note, did this last film really have to be the second part of the “Allegiant” book? You guys are really testing us with the whole splitting book climaxes into two parts thing. But overall, this leaves me dumbfounded to a huge degree, and it makes me wonder if we’ll even have a film to begin with. I still hope this movie can be good, especially compared to “Allegiant” because that ended up with a 2/10 from me last year and it happened to be my #6 spot on my top 10 worst films of 2016. I didn’t review it, but that’s my official verdict on the movie. Now, I want to ask you, if you could recast Tris and Four for the upcoming “Ascendant” film, who would you choose for those roles? And if you want to add in reasons, go ahead! I wouldn’t be able to answer that, but I’m curious to know your answers. As I said in my last post, I have the upcoming week off from school, so I’ll have more chances to post content here. Last but not least, if you are interested in “King of the Nerds,” be sure to sign a petition I made to get the show back on the air. Stay tuned for more reviews and posts, and be sure to look at and sign the petition if you are interested (link down below). Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

KING OF THE NERDS SEASON 4 PICKUP PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/game-show-network-have-a-network-pick-up-king-of-the-nerds-for-season-4

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here, and Star Wars fans, I have some news for you today. Weeks ago it was revealed that Star Wars Episode VIII will be called “The Last Jedi.” I actually did a post on it a couple days after the announcement, and I had a question which was asked by so many followers of the franchise discovering this, that question being, what does this mean? I mentioned in that post that Jedi can be singular or plural, and based on lines from 2015’s “The Force Awakens” and several theories I had in mind, I had no idea whether they were referring to Jedi as a singular or a plural. Ladies and gentlemen, I have the answer. But before I go on any further, if you want to read the post I was just talking about, I have the link right here. I will admit I feel like I rushed on it but I still feel like what I said is somewhat effective. Oh, and just a reminder, if you haven’t seen “The Force Awakens” yet, I’d think twice before clicking the link, because there are some details that may count as spoilers.

https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/01/25/star-wars-episode-viii-has-a-new-title-spoilers-for-star-wars-episode-vii-the-force-awakens/

As I was saying, I have new evidence on what “The Last Jedi” truly means, and with that being said, I would like to thank IGN (International Gaming Network) for helping me on this. They didn’t contact me, I just found an article from them while I was on Twitter earlier today. It turns out that that the German poster for Episode VIII refers to this movie as “Die Letzten Jedi.” Based on that title, I can now confirm that “The Last Jedi” is in fact, plural. How do I know? I have a quote from the article suggesting some key information. “In German, the words for “The Last” help denote whether the “Jedi” is being used as a singular or plural. As pointed out by IGN Germany, the newly revealed German title – “Die Letzten Jedi” – uses the plural version, meaning it references multiple Jedi (if it was a single Jedi, it would be “Der Letzte Jedi”).”

While this does clear up wonders I had in the past, new wonders are coming into my mind as we speak. Even though I now know that it’s not referring to one specific person as “The Last Jedi,” which clears up my Luke and Rey theories I had before, this does bring up the wonder of how many Jedi will be part of the last Jedi. As we now know, it’s at least two. So if there are only two people as the last Jedi, I’d assume that Luke and Rey are those two people, and that would make a really interesting movie. In the “The Force Awakens” though, Han Solo in that movie gave some exposition that in between “Return of the Jedi” and “The Force Awakens,” Luke was training a new generation of Jedi. Maybe some of the people he trained are still alive, they join forces with Luke and Rey in this next film, and it turns out they’re the last Jedi somehow.

Although this may bring a bit of disappointment to me when it comes to the movie itself. I mentioned based on the title and the red font in the post I stated at the beginning of this, this movie might have a dark vibe to it. Could it still be dark? I don’t know, that’s something I’m gonna have to find out for myself. If the title happened to be singular, it’s quite possible that every other Jedi either would have given up or died in the film, therefore leaving Rey to continue the journey by herself, which would set the stage for the next film. In fact, that would be an awesome ending, it would give you the same feeling that you were given at the end of “The Empire Strikes Back,” granted everyone said they didn’t like the ending back then because they wanted more, but that’s what makes it so interesting. It leaves you hanging and wanting more, and you know you’re gonna get more. Sure, you’ll have to wait a couple years, but more is coming for you. Speaking of darkness, one thing I noticed is that “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Attack of the Clones” both have elements of darkness in those films in one way or another. If “The Last Jedi” doesn’t have any dark elements in there, the dark vibe trend is lost and I wonder if it would affect the movie for me, but I don’t know, we’ll have to see.

So, the mystery is solved on “The Last Jedi” title. By the way, there are currently no trailers for the movie yet, which despite happening to be something I’ve seen people complain about, I’m actually quite fine with it. Just a reminder, even though “The Force Awakens” revealed its first trailer back in November 2014, a year and a month before hitting theaters, last year’s spinoff, “Rogue One,” didn’t release its first trailer until April 2016, and it was actually not long after “The Force Awakens” came out on streaming services, DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital, so I figured it would be an inappropriate time to release the trailer now, since “Rogue One” is still in theaters and not on any form of home video. Once “Rogue One” hits the store shelves and streaming services, then it’s go time on the trailer. Until then, I’d say I’m perfectly OK with the posters we currently have. Also, a little note on upcoming reviews and posts, I have the next week off from school, so it is quite possible you’ll be seeing some stuff from me here. I’m probably gonna see “John Wick 2” over the weekend, and I’m not sure when I’m doing this, or if I’m doing this, but I’m hoping to see “Fist Fight,” which is a new comedy starring Ice Cube, Charlie Day, Tracy Morgan, and Jillian Bell. Also, just an alert, I actually did another new post recently having to do with “King of the Nerds,” and that contains information for a petition I made to get the show back on the air. If you have not seen “King of the Nerds,” it’s a great show, check it out on YouTube or Amazon, you likely won’t be disappointed. If you want the show back, PLEASE sign the petition, I’m hoping networks like Game Show Network and Syfy pay attention to this, EVERY SIGNATURE COUNTS. I’ll have a link to the post on the petition (TOP LINK), and a link to the petition itself (BOTTOM LINK). Be sure to stay tuned for my upcoming posts and reviews. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

KING OF THE NERDS SEASON 4 PETITION POST: https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/02/16/king-of-the-nerds-season-4-pick-up-petition-every-signature-counts/

THE “ACTUAL” PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/game-show-network-have-a-network-pick-up-king-of-the-nerds-for-season-4

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here. One month ago, I did a post on “King of the Nerds,” my favorite show of all time. I also mentioned in this recent post that the show was canceled by TBS. I mentioned in that post that I have an idea to save the show, which is to go on social media and use #SaveKOTN. I didn’t check everywhere, but I did check on Twitter and I saw NOBODY post it. Well, guess what guys? I’m not done yet. I want you to still use it if you want to, but I also have another idea, which is a petition. By the way, if you want to read that post, the link for is down below.

https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/01/18/king-of-the-nerds-4-year-anniversary-post/

These have been done in the past for the show, and they probably worked for season 3, but not for season 4. However, this is where I come in, there is a new petition to save this beloved show and I made it on change.org. Before we get anywhere else with that, I actually shared it with Curtis Armstrong. Based on the statistics, he didn’t sign the petition, which is fine, I wouldn’t force him to do it, after all, I wonder if there’s any rule against it considering he hosts the show, but that’s something to investigate later. Although, when I shared it with him, I asked if he approves of it, he said he does! From that alone, he likely wants this show back as much as I! If you want a link to the petition, it’s down below, please click on it and sign it if you want the show back.

https://www.change.org/p/game-show-network-have-a-network-pick-up-king-of-the-nerds-for-season-4?source_location=minibar

In my petition, this is being directed to two channels, GSN (Game Show Network) and Syfy. I chose those two channels based on my knowledge of certain TV channels in general plus experiences of watching them. I chose GSN mainly because they have done reality shows in the past (Skin Wars), which has also had terrific ratings much like “King of the Nerds,” not to mention they have also revived shows in the past (Minute to Win it, 1 vs. 100, Pyramid, The Newlywed Game). I also picked Syfy as another possibility because the channel itself is nerdy. Part of the game itself has to do with the channel’s name. Nerds watch Syfy all the time! Heck, the first thing to air on the program was “Star Wars!” I’ll openly admit I don’t watch the channel that much, but I’m well aware many nerds do, and it is very popular to this day! If the channel takes the show, it’ll have me stuck to it like glue. I mean, if any other channel takes the show I’ll be that way but still, Syfy, you have a grand opportunity here.

So folks, if you want to sign this because you want the show back, or because you want to see what the hoopla is about, or if you like QUALITY reality shows (something TV lacks nowadays), or heck, even just to please me or even the show’s magnificent fanbase, go ahead, click the link to change.org which was recently posted, check it out, and sign it. I have ATTEMPTED to get this show back as much and as hard as I can, not just because it is my favorite show, despite that being part of why I want it back in the first place, but because of the fond memories I had watching it, interacting with the nerds online, feeling inspired at the end, and if it’s ever possible, to achieve one of my dreams, to at least try out on the show, and if possible, be a contestant. I’m currently 17, so I’m still not old enough to try out, but when I hit the right age bracket, I’m a comin. Before I end this post I want to ask something, are there any other channels I should inform about “King of the Nerds?” Please leave a comment with the channel and I’ll take it into consideration of directing the petition towards them. As far as upcoming reviews go, I’m still hoping to see “John Wick 2” and hopefully I can make that a reality. Stay tuned for more posts and reviews. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here! Today is February 14th, 2017, which means it is Valentine’s Day. If you clicked on this post thinking I have a review for the movie called “Valentine’s Day” released 7 years ago, that’s not what this post is going to be. Instead, I’m going to talk about the holiday of Valentine’s Day itself. Many people view this day as a day of love, a day in which friends, families, and couples can share their love for one another in a much more expressive fashion than any other day of the year. The whole concept behind this day is something I can understand, but it doesn’t mean I agree with it.

Let me just say right now, I’m not saying I disagree with the idea of Valentine’s Day because I’m a hateful person, I love lots of people in my life. I love my family, I love my friends, I don’t have a girlfriend or anything along those lines but if I did have one I’d more than likely love her. The reason why I disagree is nothing to do with hate, it does however, have to do with love. I bet a lot of people in life ask what love truly is. People might ask it when they’re confused, people might ask it when they are learning words as kids, and I’m even willing to bet to this day that people still listen to Haddaway asking it all the time. “What is love? / Baby don’t hurt me / Don’t hurt me no more.” My answer to that question is this: Love is something you feel inside you. You sense it whenever you are with someone, with something, at someplace, someway, and/or somehow. If you have love in any sort of way, like for example if you have a girlfriend, you should show it to her in someway as often as you can. This to me, makes the whole concept of Valentine’s Day irrelevant and at this point, just an excuse for certain businesses to make money. Look at all the restaurants that are fully booked, look at the hotels that are rented for a short period of time, look at the pharmacies and grocery stores, you can likely see lots of people buying chocolates there. Why? Because of Valentine’s Day! This sort of thing works around holidays like Christmas, but I’d say it’s dumb around Valentine’s Day. To further support my point, allow me to introduce you to Jeremy Jahns.

If you have been following this blog for awhile, you may have seen me put in a quote from him before. It was on my post titled “Cinema Seating: Does it Matter?,” Now, I’m gonna credit one of his videos, I’m not saying you have to watch it, but it has to do with what I’m gonna say. This video is on Jeremy’s view of Valentine’s Day, and after watching it, it didn’t really get me thinking, but it kind of did awhile after and it’s still on my mind today. I wouldn’t say it BRAINWASHED me despite how often I watch this guy’s videos, but it’s something I constantly have in mind. If you want to watch the video, it’s down below, it’s an informative video and I consider it to be enjoyable.

Jeremy says in this video that the 24 hours that make up Valentine’s Day is .273% of the year, which is less than 1%. By that logic, it would take over 3.663 days just to get that precise 1%. I could probably get a package delivered to me in 3.663 days for crying out loud! This video mainly focuses on relationships and Valentine’s Day, and I do consider it to be important. I remember back in 8th grade, my science teacher referred to this as “International Breakup Day,” I can’t exactly recall if I have seen this video, but if I have, chances are I may have been thinking about this a little bit. Now, I’m going to do a much more complex equation.

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, I’m willing to bet that most people would consider their partner to be their Valentine, and that is something I’m about to focus on. Let’s say you just met in December, you are now in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. All of sudden, it’s a new year, the day is January 1st, this year won’t be a leap year so there are 365 days. You also recently turned 24, just to get a good mindset here. Let’s say that you go on a date every two weeks with your partner. There are 52 weeks in a year, and you go on a date with your partner every two weeks, that is half of the weeks in a year, which is equal to 26 weeks. Now let’s factor in something else, doing something after the date with your partner. Let’s say that you rent a hotel, you go to your partner’s home and stay awhile, or you and your partner go to your place and stay awhile. You might not do this every single time, and I’m no expert in the art of dating but if you want my opinion, DON’T do this every single time, I’m pretty sure every single one of you would agree. You can probably add that in as a second date, because you and your partner can arrive somewhere, chat for a bit, and depending on the situation, sleep together. This can extend into the next day and if this is done every single date, you two could have spent what could possibly be two dates in one. Therefore, you hit 52 dates, equal to the number of weeks in a year. You two could be seeing each other, at the most, 52 days per year, and at the least, 26 days per year. Granted there are certain amounts of time put into each date but this still stands.

Another thing I want to talk about related to couples and Valentine’s Day is the importance of the day itself. I’d say there’s way more than there should be. Valentine’s Day, like any other day, is 24 hours. How many hours are there in a year?  If it’s a typical 365 day year, there are 8,760 hours. If it’s a less than typical 366 day Leap Year, just add 24 and you get 8,784 hours. The 24 hours that is Valentine’s Day is viewed as the holy grail of love. Members of couples, depending on who they are, are expected to put in as much love to each other as they can into this one day. Whether it be by purchasing flowers, chocolates, cards, tickets to a romantic movie, or whatever other s*it you buy in an attempt to impress the other member of the couple. Maybe sometimes you don’t buy things, maybe you do something you don’t traditionally do that you think or know your partner may as well want you to do. Sometimes people create stuff, it saves money that goes to Hallmark on friggin Valentine’s Day cards! Members of couples also expect to always go somewhere or do something romantic for each other. Maybe they go to a fancy restaurant, maybe they kiss each other more than usual, maybe they go see a romantic movie at the theater. By the way, this is a bit of a digression, if any girls are thinking about taking their boyfriend to go see “Fifty Shades Darker” this year, don’t. Odds are that a good number of those guys will like you less or dump you. I haven’t seen it, but I’m just saying because I’m willing to bet that would happen. Also, to the guys that had to suffer through “Twilight” (glad to say I’m not one of them), I’m sorry. The point is, you don’t have to do all of this s*it on Valentine’s Day, or as I prefer to call it, February 14th. Not only does it sometimes shrink the amount of money you have by a significant amount, but it also may even give people the mindset that if you don’t put in a certain amount of love into one little day of the year, you’re a moron.

I don’t want to turn this into a rant, but I have to say something. Girls, let’s say you are dating me, and we actually started dating sometime around May. We are just about to hit the 1 year anniversary mark, we have plans to go to a fancy restaurant. If you cancel at the last minute, I’d understand. I have NO IDEA how many people are like this, and based on knowledge I have when I say that probably less than a significant amount of people are like this. You call and tell me you can’t go, you say it is because the season finale of your favorite show is on, I’d be fine with you staying home. I wouldn’t break up with you, granted I’d be disappointed, but we have many more opportunities to see each other. I’m not saying you should be this way, I’m just saying that I’m this way. Granted, if I were dating, this is something I’d likely not call about, but I’m just giving a sense of my personality to you. With that in mind, that can probably show how little I consider Valentine’s Day to be important compared to so many other people.

All in all, while Valentine’s Day may sound interesting in some ways, it is completely overrated in others. After all, it’s not the greatest holiday for me, considering I’m single (Granted I’m only 17, but still, I’m single). Although when I see Valentine’s Day, I don’t only see a day that doesn’t really cater to me since I’m single, but I also see a holiday that is a cash-in for so many businesses and tries to make you give all your love to someone that could really be receiving that love like literally ANY OTHER DAY. You may call Christmas a big cash-in in some ways, but it is a religious holiday and it involves something that people rarely do, which is exchanging gifts, and less rarely, spending time with family and friends. A lot of people love other people, so why make a holiday on something that can be done any point in time? I don’t know, but to me it’s kinda dumb. Is it worth celebrating? Maybe, but not if it’s the big thing it has come to be. I hope you enjoyed this post and I want to know, what are your thoughts on Valentine’s Day? Do you agree with me? Do you disagree with me? Leave a comment! As far as upcoming reviews go, you can probably tell I WON’T be seeing “Fifty Shades Darker,” and it’s not just because I’m a guy, it’s also because the lack of quality many people see in it. That and I think my mother would question why I would even watch the movie. I do however intend to see “John Wick: Chapter 2,” hopefully I can get a review for that soon and hopefully you all can stay tuned for it, along with more reviews coming up aside from that one. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

“The LEGO Batman Movie” is directed by Chris McKay and stars Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, and Zach Galifianakis. This movie takes place in the same universe as 2014’s “The LEGO Movie” but this is essentially a movie revolving around the character of Batman. In this movie, Batman is challenged to fight the crime coming towards Gotham City, facing his “greatest enemy,” The Joker, while at the same time, adapt to having an adopted son, or Robin.

When I saw “The LEGO Movie” back in 2014, I thought it was one of the best animations I ever witnessed. With that being said, that, along with other things, factored into this movie being one of my most anticipated films of the year, did I get what I want out of this movie? You betcha. This movie just proves how timeless Batman is. Sure, Batman may have had some bumps along the way, just look at “Batman & Robin” released back in 1997, but I love how this movie, much like 2014’s “The LEGO Movie,” focuses less on being a commercial for LEGO and more of an actual movie. This movie, to me, more than anything, is a kid friendly Batman movie. Is it too child-friendly? I’m not saying it is, but I’m saying that with animation factor, the humor, and the family dynamic, this movie is good for kids while also being incredibly entertaining for adults.

For characters, let’s start off with the most important character, Batman/Bruce Wayne. In this movie, Will Arnett plays the caped Crusader and for a movie like this, I cannot imagine anyone else playing this Batman, maybe Adam West, but I can’t imagine anyone else doing it. Will Arnett’s Batman very much reminds me of an interpretation of Batman I saw during a Nostalgia Critic episode. If you don’t know who the Nostalgia Critic is, the Nostalgia Critic, or Doug Walker, does extended reviews for movies that many people consider to be bad, along with movies that are new releases. One of his reviews was for “Man of Steel” and he does an intro song with Superman talking about himself and Batman comes in saying how similar he is to Superman and that he is essentially more awesome, like, in an egotistic way. It really works for the character and if you watch the movie and observe the first act, that makes Batman look like someone who always has the spotlight, and in certain instances, he comes off as someone who may as well even steal the spotlight from others. While this may make him come off as mean, it works so well for the character and makes him so likable. I don’t see any sort of possibility of gullible children being influenced by his behavior, especially with the family dynamic that helps move the story along.

Michael Cera is in this movie and he plays Robin/Dick Grayson. In the beginning of the movie, Michael Cera’s interpretation of Robin seems to make Robin look extremely enthusiastic. I thought it worked for his character and I was able to buy into the chemistry between him and Batman. And yes, he’s still occasionally treated like the less experienced sidekick you may already be familiar with.

Rosario Dawson plays Barbara Gordon in this movie, in the trailer of the film, she actually said that she wanted to “team up with Batman.” If you watch the movie, Barbara’s role is actually much more complicated. She does utter the recently mentioned quote at a point, but before that utterance even happens, there’s something else that adds to the movie in terms of complexity. I won’t go into detail, but it made the movie more interesting as it progressed over a period of time.

One of my favorite parts of the movie, besides Batman of course, is the Joker, played by Zach Galifianakis. What I love about this Joker is the insanely funny “relationship” between him and Batman. If you have ever picked up a Batman comic-book, played a Batman video game, or seen a Batman movie, there is a possibility that you know who The Joker is. Batman is fighting The Joker at the beginning of the film and The Joker says to Batman to fear his greatest enemy. If you know who The Joker is, you’d probably guess by now that The Joker is likely to be Batman’s greatest enemy. Turns out that Batman doesn’t consider The Joker to be his greatest enemy and after a moment, The Joker sheds a tear down his face. All in all, this kind of makes fun of their relationship, how many instances they fought each other, and this leads to this ongoing gag between them in which The Joker says Batman “needs” The Joker to keep him satisfied, if that’s not genius, I don’t know what is.

There are so many things I liked about this movie as a whole, I’m gonna attempt to keep this simple and not go too deep. You know how in last year’s hit R rated comic book movie, “Deadpool” the opening titles was likely to be one of the best parts of the movie? In this movie, it doesn’t exactly do what “Deadpool” did, but it did its own thing with Batman narrating over the studio titles of the film (Warner Bros, DC Comics, etc). It literally set the tone for the film and it got everybody revved up, including me.

Also, this movie is HILARIOUS. This movie proves that “The LEGO Movie” was not a fluke. Everyone behind this film KNOWS what they’re doing and they obviously have the writing, story, and actions in the films they make down to a science. The whole first act, just may be a good example to show certain screenwriters how to make movies funny, mostly animations and parodies.

One thing that this movie does much like “The LEGO Movie” is utilize references and bring in characters from other movies to move the story along. Some kids might not understand some of these references, but some of them they might pick up along the way. For example, Voldemort is in this film, so the kids might pick up on that if they’re Potterheads. Other references come from “Lord of the Rings,” “The Matrix,” “King Kong,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and even more! Essentially, the writers of the movie thought it would be a good idea to put in as many Warner Bros. related characters as possible so there would be so many references across the board. Believe it or not, it doesn’t feel overbloated. It actually works so well in the climax, which kind of reminded me of a lot of other recent big budget films like “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “The Avengers” because there always has to be something crucial in the movie pointing towards the sky for some reason. It’s not a BIG complaint, but it’s getting kind of repetitive. Despite that, I’d actually say it worked in this film, because it was actually done in a very unique way. Speaking of minor complaints, I mentioned recently that Voldemort is in this movie, but there’s one thing about that which happens to bother me. And that is that the guy who played Voldemort in the “Harry Potter” films managed to play Alfred in this film, and yet he couldn’t play Voldemort. I’m not sure many people are gonna care, but it would have been fascinating. I personally don’t mind just to clarify.

Speaking of references, this movie even makes fun of DC itself. One of my favorite parts of the movie is one moment when Batman is talking with Alfred and says Batman seems to be acting odder than usual. At one point Alfred says Batman has gone through identical phases in his past, specifically, it shows Batman going backwards in time through movies and TV shows he did, which I thought was hysterical. Also, there’s a point where they make fun of the Suicide Squad. Batman said it is a really dumb idea to get a bunch of criminals together to fight crime, which had the whole theater cracking up.

In the end, I’m really glad I saw “The LEGO Batman Movie.” Let me just say, if you don’t like animations, I still think you’ll like this film. If you don’t like Batman, I still think you’ll like this film. Also, I never thought I’d say this, but this may be the first phenomenal DC Comics movie of the 2010s. Sure, “The Dark Knight Rises” was pretty cool, but it wasn’t THAT great, and you probably already know how the rest of them are if you follow popular opinion. Also, I’m not counting the first LEGO movie as a DC film mainly because it features Batman and doesn’t star him. This movie has flaws, but these flaws, put together, are the size of an ant, with that being said, “The LEGO Batman Movie” is still good enough for me to give it my highest score, a 10/10! I honestly don’t know which movie I like better, this or the first LEGO movie, we’ll have to see if I can come up with a verdict in the future, until then, I can’t wait for this movie to come out on Blu-Ray and I hope to be adding this into my collection. Speaking of movies, I have intentions to see “John Wick: Chapter 2,” it is out right now, I have no clue yet on what day I’ll go see it, but it is on my radar. Maybe next weekend I’ll go see it, I don’t know, we’ll have to see what happens. Stay tuned for more reviews. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!