Two 80's movies that would be better to remake now than most

So Ghostbusters is out now and there has been a whole lot said about it. Personally, I like the people involved and their other works, but I'm not going to see it because it's a remake that doesn't need to be made. I've heard good things about it and I hope that the people involved continue to find work and that their careers really take off.

Since there seems to be a lack of either risk taking producers (I get it, you need to make $$) or vacuum of creativity (which I highly doubt), a lot of remakes of 80's movies, cartoons, tv shows, etc. are making it to the big screen. Here are two 80's movies that I think would be fantastic to see 30 years later.

Breakfast Club:
If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. I watched it earlier than I probably should have (I was 10-12 or so) but it was very eye opening and captured the feelings of white teenagers in the 80's. 5 kids, of varying backgrounds and goals, have to spend a Saturday "writing an essay on who they think they are". That simple premise made movie history for nearly 30 years staring only white teens. Imagine that with more diversity. Any of the characters can switch race and/or sex and keep that movie as impactful as ever. The nerd can become a you black male trying his damnedest to escape his background through study, but could run into the issue of not being "black enough" (I remember that being an issue when Pres Obama ran for his first term). The Princess can be a latina/o that feels to much pressure to actually pursue her desires of acting/singing/writing/whatever.  This would be a wonderful film that explores identity among our youth and with racial tensions high, I think this would be a great film to reemerge in this day and age.
With a grand total of maybe 10 actors/actresses in the whole movie, you can keep it very low budget, which also means low risk.
I just found out a radio crew has been using the name Breakfast Club, so maybe there's some legal stuff there

Krull:
Want interstellar fantasy with Christian themes and motifs? Krull is the movie for you! Great characters, fantastic cast, and a wonderful and uplifting story where a lot of people die along the way. An extra-terrestrial Beast (that's literally his name) arrives and the only thing that can defeat him is a marriage between two rival kingdoms. Throw in a wise-man from a failed marriage with a sorceress, a ton of bandits (including Liam Neeson), two different wizards, and a Cyclops that can witness his own death and poof, adventures galore!! Think of it as if everyone in your D&D group make 2-3 characters and perma-death was in real supply. The Christian themes and motifs should stay since it's a big part of the movie, but what a twist it would be if the marriage happened to be a gay marriage? Two princes fall in love and then shoot fire out of their hands o win the day (cause that's really how they beat the Beast in the original). Or you could subvert it and have the Prince be captured instead of the Princess and boom, whole new take on the tale.

What other 80's movies that you found impactful or meaningful would you like to see remade today? Post in the comments!

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of using too many flashbacks and dreams

A lot of people were waiting for this movie to be good. If you head over to Rotten Tomatoes, you'll see that most critics are having a hard time digesting this one but that most fans seems to give it a passing grade. I'm closer to the fan field than the critics. Long story short, it's worth seeing once...maybe not in theaters, but worth seeing.

The movie starts with giving us the spark notes on Batman's origins, really something we needn't see, but whatever. And then proceeds to tell us that it's a dream. We then see the destruction of Metropolis from the point of view of Bruce Wayne. This was probably the highlight of the movie really. There is a fight scene later where Batman takes out a bunch of goons and that is bar none one of the best non-animated Batman fight scenes I've ever seen (Definitely the fight choreographers saw fighting in the recent Batman Arkham games and decided that was cool). Ben Affleck as Batman was a good choice. He plays a great Bruce Wayne and does a pretty good job as Batman. The problems with this movie don't stem from the actors...it definitely comes from somewhere else.

If you have been up with comicbook media, you've probably already watched most of Daredevil's Season 2, which stars the Punisher. In the third episode you get the defining moment of the season, Daredevil's argument with Punisher on whether killing is okay. It's amazing, the thoughts are well developed, the dialogue fits the characters and it flows. Batman v. Superman (With your judge being absolutely no one) lacks this central moment. At no point is there an argument as well thought out or presented as there should have been. Everyone knows that there isn't really a contest between who would win between Batman and Superman (you have your favorite, I'm staying neutral). The real fight is a philosophical one. Batman uses fear and hopes that people will help themselves, Superman is the symbol that we can be better. This is what this movie really needed more than fisticuffs or blatant teasing for the Justice League franchise (which of dubious quality at this point). More than camera problems, scene setting (sometimes you guess where you are), the new geographical proximity of Metropolis and Gotham (Now they're the twin cities only separated by a river), or pacing issues, this movie lacked a real philosophical debate between the protagonists.

For other issues that need addressing, Spoilers are needed. If you have seen the movie or don't care about spoilers you may continue reading.

There are two major things that really bothered me. Lex Luthor somehow divines the identity of Batman and he then goes crazy at the end. And number 2 is that Bruce somehow gets prophetic abilities and foresees the coming of Darkseid and meets a time traveling Flash(maybe?) that tells him these things. That is a whole lot of WTF all at once when it happens too.

Lex Luthor seems to have a difficult time finding the right motivation for wanting to take down Superman. You kinda start getting it at a party when he mentions that although Knowledge is power is still nothing compared to what Superman can do. Then later he goes on an anti-God rant, which is kinda cool, but still a little weird, and loses his mind at the end of the movie for no apparent reason.

I'd like to say that this movie makes me more excited for future DC movies, but it doesn't quite hit that sweet spot of say, the end credits of Iron Man 2 where we see Thor's Hammer. I am still excited as hell for Aquaman though. Jason Momoa is a not Antonio Banderas Man-Crush.

The roll of the dice give this movie a 7/10. It's not what you hoped it would be, but it'll do for now.

Iron Fist, the casting enigma of the Marvel Universe.

Marvel has an issue in the very near future that needs to be addressed, what to do about Daniel Rand A.K.A. Iron Fist.

Full disclosure, I really like this character. I've liked him since I first figured out who this guy was and I've loved his character design and most of his solo comic books runs as well as his team-up runs. However, there is a glaring problem with the character, at least, the not 40 year old comic book character with plenty of back story, plot, nuance, and several other things to explain cultural appropriation, asian martial arts tropes, etc. Daniel Rand is white, or at least in the comic books. Does that mean that his cinematic version need to be as well?

There was already a fantastic article written about the issues of Daniel being played by a white guy (written here) and I highly suggest that you give it a good read. There is of course, issue with casting him as Asian, just due to stereotypes being a great risk as well as the differences between nationalities being a very big deal if you've ever been to East Asian countries (a good article that mentions it is here). Here is another article that is a wonderful read as well, since it portrays both sides of the argument.  I think there are opportunities for Marvel to do some wonderful things if they decide to go with either a White actor or an Asian American actor. I will say this though, while his race does not have to be a key component to his character in the cinematic universe, his American-ness is very key to his character.

If they go with a white actor (which, looking online, seems to be most likely) here are a few scenarios I'd like to see happen and a few actors that I think would be good for the part.
I'd like to see him address his whiteness and maybe even face the scorn of Asian-American's upon his return to New York. A Chinese American mocking his clothes or his attitude. Or that by using his whiteness he gets to slam down top white corporate villains. "You wouldn't say that if weren't white, that's your last warning" that kind of deal. Admitting white privilege would a cool thing to see in a show that has to balance culture and being in a liminal state. I believe that most people who live in a foreign country (vacations don't count) always take back something from their time there. I myself lived in El Salvador for 2 very formative years of my life. There were things that I came to identify myself with that culturally belong to Salvadorans. So, it's safe to say that Danny Rand wouldn't come back that same rich White man that he left as. It could be a great opportunity to show the White community what it could do with its privilege and grow empathy with cultural differences.
White actors I'd like to see play the Role:
Jeffery Donovan
Charlie Hunnam

If they go with an American-Asian character:
The showing of coming to terms that he his both Asian and American, that his heritage is an integral part of him but not the only thing that defines him. In my studies of Hispanic culture in the U.S. I've found that many Hispanics born in the U.S. still find themselves to be the outsider, the other, something that is a transplant in their own home. I think this could be an opportunity to address the issues of 2nd generation immigrants in the U.S. (this is also why I said earlier that his American-ness is a defining factor of this character). A scene I could see happening is a flashback to his training with The Thunderer  where Thunderer mentions something about him being weak for being mixed race and then Danny could do something awesome and respond in the present with, "It is because I am both that I am strong". Mixed racial heritage has always been an issue for those are of mixed race. Even interracial couples are still viewed as somewhat taboo, or God-forbid, mixed racial families (Looking at you Micheal B. Jordan Fantastic 4 critics). This brings us back to the liminal state I mentioned earlier. This fluid identity. I think it's something that could be shown more clearly with an Asian-American actor
Asian-American actors I'd pick
Steven Yuen (I know he's Korean-American, but Korea and China get along better than Japan and literally every other East Asia country)
Harry Shum Jr. 

What do you think? Write a comment about what you'd like to see happen in the Marvel cinematic universe.

White Washing mixed with gender swapping, A step forward with a step backward? Time will tell.

I've talked about white-washing before and how much it bothers me. The Marvel Cinematic Universe recently revealed casting choices for the second Marvel movie coming out this year, Dr. Strange. The Ancient One in the comics is the stereotypical role of the ancient Asian tutor/wiseman (more Karate Kid than 3 Ninjas). While this is a trope and could (and I assume as been) argued for a racial stereotype that needs to be re-examined, Marvel decided that it wasn't something that it wanted to tackle. They decided to cast Tilda Swinton in the role for her ability to come off as androgynous in her roles. The creative director stated that "this was the perfect opportunity to play with gender" 

I wholeheartedly agree.

I really like the idea of having a gender-fluid Ancient One. We're talking about a mystical being, a near immortal wizard that deals with beings and dealings far beyond our ken. Gender and sex would be something completely different to this person than it is to us. The comic books at this time have a done a lot with inclusivity of multiple sexual identities and that was a large part to the story of Vol. 2 of Young Avengers and has been a theme with most comics targeted to younger audiences who might actually be struggling with their own sexual identity. This idea of playing with gender, totally awesome. And Tilda Swinton is a phenominal actress as it is! Plus she's 55, which is also really F****** amazing for women in general. I know it's difficult for a lot of older women to find roles and the ones they do find tend to follow stereotypical roles, mostly the caretaker (Aunt May).

So Gender Fluidity, Older female actress, awesome things to be sure. Having it played by a white woman....maybe not the best.

I know Hollywood can be a huge mess when it comes to casting since it's run by various guilds and that can really ruin a production. Guild issues were one of the driving issues behind the constantly delayed Hobbit Trilogy and that ultimately bite us in the @$$. There's also the risk of working with untested talent. Tilda Swinton has made herself into one of the best actresses in Hollywood and now actually joins the ranks of actors that have switched between Marvel and DC properties, since she played the genderless angel in Constantine, a DC property. This isn't a bash against her, I think she'll fill out the part fantastically well and we'll all be stunned. But I do think that the casting director and acting guilds at large missed an opportunity to go something, namely add more color to the current Marvel Universe, which has War Machine, Falcon (both play second fiddle to a white guy and one was beaten by one *cough Ant-Man cough*), Heimdall (who has been sort of useless in the Thor movies, but that's another bag), and Nick Fury (who has gone AWOL) has their leading characters of color at this point. Luke Cage will be getting his show (as he should) this year and the actor there has already shown that he's up to snuff (Watch Jessica Jones if you haven't already). Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D has had a great and fairly inclusive cast of characters and that is something that needs to keep happening, but the movies, they could use a little more diversity.

I've said before that the world is a smaller place than it once was and finding international actors is fairly easy. I made a short and mostly uniformed list of Japanese, Korean, and Chinese actors/actresses that I think could have done a good job. Some I've seen in movies before, others, I simply looked at their profile and thought, with the right make-up artist, they could swing either way.

Top Pick: Zhao Wei:
I first saw this actress in Shaolin Soccer playing "the ugly girl turns pretty" role. She can act in that comedy movie and be believable. Then I saw her in Red Cliff, which takes place in the Three Kingdom's era of China where she played the (arguably feminist) character Sun Shang Xiang, where she dresses in drag to spy on enemy troops. She'll be turning 40 this year, which would also be a boon for casting older women (although Tilda is 55, so a good 15 years her senior)

Second Pick: Rinko Kikuchi:
I like Pacific Rim and I loved her role in it. Although the movie didn't pass the Bechdel Test, her character was such that it inspired a new type of feminist movie test, The Mako Mori test. She also played a powerful witch in the lost-potential movie 47 Ronin. So she's already got mystical powers.

Honorable and completely uninformed mentions.
Jang Geun Suk
Kim Nam Joo
Haruma Miura
Faye Wong

What do you think of the casting? I think Tilda Swinton was

Marvel vs DC: A difference in the media and why that's perfectly fine

(Full disclosure, I'm a bigger fan of Marvel than DC in most respects)

I grew up watching the 90's X-Men cartoon most Saturday mornings and playing X-Men during recess at school. I also grew up watching the astounding Batman Cartoon (Kevin Conroy is Batman and they should just put his voice over every Batman ever). I remember the tragedy of Batman and Robin...(I'm not gonna link it, eat it). Near the end of my high school years was when Comic Book movies really started to hit their something.. The Spider-Man trilogy had just finished and the X-Men trilogy also ended. Daredevil and Fantastic Four had bombed enough to end their movie runs as did Punisher and Ghost Rider (though 3 of those got sequels). Between 2000-2010 Marvel released around 13 films (not counting the current Marvel Cinematic Universe). In that same time, DC released 4 live action films...Superman Returns and the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy. But the differences don't stop there. Most of Marvel's movies (excluding X-Men) did their best to keep to the iconic costumes of their characters and retained the fantastic elements (which sometimes didn't work i.e. Ghost Rider, Daredevil). Superman Returns did the same thing. Classic Superman look, Classic Superman villain, classic Superman everything. It obviously didn't sell very well or do well with the fans, probably due to lack of action. Ironic coming from a hero that first appeared in Action Comics. Batman, on the other hand, sought instead to ground itself in a gritty realism, which worked very much to its advantage. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are some of the best films of that Decade and cemented Heath Ledger (rest his soul) as one of the best actors of his day. It also has been the foundation for the current feel of DC in general.

Marvel and DC both had mixed reception on video games. Both had several side scrolling beat'em ups (which you can't really go wrong there) during the NES, SNES, and Genesis era. But at the turn of the consoles to 3D platforms such as the N64 or the Playstation 1&2, things began to get dicey. Marvel had some huge successes with the Marvel vs Capcom series and Spider-Man 2. The Ultimate Alliance games did quite well as well. DC...well...can any of you name any great DC games on the PS1&2 or N64 or Gamecube or Xbox? DC did experiment with Netherrealm Studios to make Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe and while that particular collaboration didn't go so well, it did offer a glimpse of things to come.

This decade of the 2000's had a lot of experimentation going on and only now, within the past 3-4 years are we really seeing the payoff and don't expect to see the end of it anytime soon.

The video game arena has mostly been abandoned by Marvel. The last notable game was Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, which was released only 6 months after Marvel vs Capcom 3. This, at least my understanding is, was mostly Capcom's fault and that (the flooding of the fighting game market) is another topic. However, DC has repented severely for their mistakes from the last decade. The Arkham games (Asylum, City, Origins, and most recently Knight) have been some of the highest selling games this decade (although, not without some bumps).  Netherrealm Studios found new ground for it's a main franchise Mortal Kombat when the series rebooted. This gave the studio a shot in the arm and allowed them to make Injustice: Gods Among Us, a DC fighting game. This game received good reviews across the board and, instead of releasing a whole new $60 game to patch up the old one and add new characters, took advantage of current technology and allowed for DLC for new characters (which...is a mixed bag of nuts). DC has made the effort to put it's name back in the video game market.

In regards to the movies, Marvel has essentially stayed with the same idea it had last decade, just with more fervor. Keep true to the comics in as many ways as possible. However, they also decided that maybe they should get better directors and increase the budget. They also decided to do what the comics do themselves, collaborate with different writers so that the movies intertwine and mingle with one another. They keep their movies very lighthearted and able to reach a wide audience. This works for them. This is also why don't see a lot of solo Hulk movies. Hulk isn't really a comedy character by himself, and he is alone most of the time. Every other character can get a few laughs in there every once and awhile. I'm not going to talk about the X-men or Fantastic 4 movies since they still aren't owned by Marvel/Disney, but X-men, after Days of Future Past, seem to be following suit whereas FF hasn't, but we'll see.

DC, on the other hand...they ditched the whole kit and caboodle. They started over from scratch with Man of Steel, a Christopher Nolan inspired Superman movie. Most fans didn't seem to like very much, myself among them (See my post). However...The Batman v Superman movie trailers...they're making me rethink my stance on DC movies. The only thing that is really holding DC back is the confidence that Marvel has. Marvel is so confident that you'll like their movies they've released two a year for the past couple years and they're so confident that they're bumping it up to three in a few years. DC...Man of Steel was released 2013...Batman v Superman...2016. They are now feeling more confident that they're willing to meet Marvel at the two movies a year mark beginning next year, but that's a lot of ground to make up. The dark atmosphere  of the current DC cinematic universe also fits with this other media outlets. Injustice was made by the guys who made Mortal Kombat, one of the darker, more gritty fighting games ever made.

That's how things are now. It wasn't always this way. DC has a history of being the more campy, bright, hopeful version of the two rivaling comic book companies. Need Proof? Here. I really don't need much more than that. Even in the comics, DC was always full of hope while Marvel had a set of heroes whose whole schtick was that they were hated simply for being what they were, mutants. It's okay for a brand or franchise to rebrand themselves, even if it's the polar opposite. 

Kung Fury...This post is about as late as this movie

I grew up watching 80's VHS in the 90's...cause I was poor and couldn't stay with current trends. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze, 3 Ninjas, Surf Ninjas (Yes, that's Rob Schneider) were movies that I ended up destroying due to over watching. Ninja's were a big part of my growing up and I always wanted to learn martial arts (I'm kinda fat now making it difficult).

Now, this day and age has it's fair share of martial arts movies. China's film market has released more than several recently (I highly suggest that you take a look through Netflix's Martial Arts/Asian section) but many of them are missing that over the top, childish humor that Kung Fury has. While not directed for kids (due to some intense violence and a couple F-bombs), it contains that over the top action and lines that you would expect from a blend of TMNT 2 and Hard Boiled.
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The story of Kung Fury is about a cop/kung fu master named Kung Fury. He obtained his powers after another kung fu master killed his partner (a father figure) and Fury was struck by lightning and bitten by a cobra at the same time. I think that's all I need to say to explain how awesome this 30 min punchfest is. Through unknown means, Hilter a.k.a. Kung Furher has traveled to the "present" and began murdering all the things. With the help of Hackerman, Kung Fury travels back through time to stop Hitler from ever traveling to the present. However, he goes back too far and ends up in the "Viking Age"...where there are Laser Raptors...Laser RAPTORS!!!!!

I won't spoil anymore since, well, the novelty is kind of the gig.

the roll of the dice give this short movie a 9/10. It's something to watch once or twice and get more than a few laughs. I don't think there's going to be a sequel and I think that's a good thing really, since lightning doesn't always strike the same place twice.

Moses was a Hebrew, can we get a Jewish actor please?

So Exodus: Gods and Kings is coming out sometime in the near future and Christian Bale is playing Moses. This is at least the third time a non-Jewish actor played Moses (Charleston Heston and  Val Kilmer are the ones I'm thinking of). With movies now using actors from around the world and the world itself becoming a smaller and smaller place, I don't see any reason why we can't cast historical figures, or any figure really, using people who fit that ethnicity. Luckily I'm not the only one who thinks so. Whitewashing, as it is called, is a problem for me. As stated above, the world is a small place. It would be fairly easy to find international actors that can fit the race. So, here are some Jewish Actors that I think would be awesome to see play Moses.

Adam Sandler: Not this Adam Sandler, but this Adam Sandler. It might be hard for an audience to give him the chance, but when he actually acts, he's pretty good.

Jeff Goldblum: If this video doesn't sell it...well, perhaps his part in Prince of Egypt as the voice of Aaron might. His acting in The Fly, two Jurassic Park movies, his role in Grand Budapest Hotel. Jeff Goldblum is an awesome actor.

Ben Stiller: While I might be a fan of Ben's pre-Meet the Parents work, I don't think anything he's done recently has been that great. Those that were decent enough, were also comedies where we really can't take him in a dramatic light. However, his skills are there. In my opinion if he could act more like he did in Keeping the Faith, he could be a pretty good Moses

John Stewart: He would be an interesting Moses. Although regarded as a funny-man, and rightly so, he is also taken very seriously by his audience. Plus, this could serve as the ultimate Fox News smack if they cast Bill O'Rielly as Pharaoh 

Mark Feuerstein: If you haven't heard about him, that's okay. But I'm telling you about him now. His current role as lead of Royal Pains is really fun to watch. His small, though impressive, role in Defiance (another whitewashing, except in his case) put him on a couple of radars. If you want a new star in Hollywood, cast him

What do you think? Who would be some Jewish or Middle Eastern actors that you would like to see portray Moses? Comment and lets discuss!