What does it take for two white guys to record a pod about the MLB trade deadline? Literally nothing. Now that's a good trade.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Mr. Robot Season 2 Preview
Its been 10 months since the Mr. Robot season 1 finale. Frank and Ankit remind you of everything you've forgotten from TV's second best show and get you ready for season 2.
Friday, July 22, 2016
Review: Star Trek: Beyond
While J.J. Abrams was off making a little movie called Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the third installment of the Star Trek reboot was in the middle of production. Since most of Abrams' time was preoccupied elsewhere, the studio turned to Justin Lin to direct Star Trek: Beyond. Now if that name sounds familiar, it should. Lin has directed four of the Fast and Furious movies.
But despite the clear differences in directing style between Abrams and Lin, the heart of story remained because Simon Pegg, who plays the role of Montgomery Scott, had an integral part in the writing of the script. So on the surface, Star Trek: Beyond looked like the perfect summer blockbuster. And it was. It was loud, it was exciting, it was action-packed, and it was probably the best summer action movie from beginning to end this year.
We first see the Enterprise crew three years into their five-year space mission. It's clear that the time in space has begun to take it's toll on Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Hikaru Sulu (John Cho). Without giving too much away, Kirk appears to be having an existential crisis of some sort, Spock and Uhura are having issues with their relationship, and Sulu hasn't seen his daughter in some time. The great thing about the beginning was we got to see how the rest of the crew operated during their downtime. To be frank, it's essentially a freshman dorm hall. But I digress.
With supplies dwindling, the Enterprise arrives at Yorktown, a new planet with advanced capabilities, to replenish, meet up with their families, and really just relax after so much time in space. But there was no rest for the weary as they were quickly confronted with a new issue. An approaching escape pod carrying Kalara, an alien who claimed her ship had been stranded in a nearby nebula, needed help. So out go the Enterprise crew to rescue her ship and crew only to be attacked by Krall (Idris Elba) and his group of "bees."
As the Enterprise is overrun, and eventually destroyed, the crew members escape the ship, but they end up separated from each other. It's an interesting strategy by Lin, pairing together the crew members for the majority of first half of the movie, creating interesting dialogue, especially between McCoy (Karl Urban) and Spock. McCoy's dry humor and metaphors combined with Spock's literal interpretations provides for cheap laughs to break up the monotony of their search. But while Spock and McCoy, Uhura and Sulu, and Chekov and Kirk are all paired off, Scotty is off on his own. That is until he stumbles upon Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), an alien who had been stranded on the planet after her family was killed by Krall and his lackies years before.
For all intents and purposes, Jaylah is probably the best character of the entire film. It takes plenty of guts to introduce an entirely new character to a film franchise that has its diehards, but Lin, Pegg and Abrams pull it off perfectly. Not only do they portray Jaylah as an intelligent, resourceful total badass, but they also show her vulnerabilities later in the film as she's lost a great deal in her life. She's the key to everything, and she will be a much-welcomed addition to the Enterprise crew. Plus, it's apparent that by the end of the film that she has an monumentally high alcohol tolerance. Respect.
Eventually, the crew reunites and they are able to get everyone off the planet before they are killed. Unfortunately, Krall, armed with a bio-weapon, heads toward Yorktown with the full intention of destroying it. And it's up to the Enterprise crew to stop him. That's as far as I'll go. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will tell you the movie has the greatest usage of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" in the history of cinema. I have no issue in saying that.
The one thing that bugged the hell out of me with this film is the lack of character development on the whole. These people have spent the last three years in space, but the amount of new information we learn about them is minimal. It definitely didn't match up to the previous two films, but maybe that was to be expected with a directorial change. But I figure that can all be forgiven since we know a decent amount about the main characters to begin with.
What can't be forgiven is we really have no idea why Krall is the way he is. We are given no reason as to why he wants to destroy the Yorktown and the Federation, other than he is a supervillain. That's it. In the first two films, we know why the Romulans want to destroy Spock, and we know why Khan wants to destroy the Federation. We get no inkling or reasoning behind Krall's constant need to take innocent lives.
For the record, while Elba does his best with this character, can we stop giving him roles of this nature? He is far too accomplished of an actor to have his face covered for an entire film.
But in general, it was a rather enjoyable two hours. What the movie lacked in character backstory, it certainly made up for with consistent, high-octane action throughout.
Ruby Rating: 4.5/5 gems
But despite the clear differences in directing style between Abrams and Lin, the heart of story remained because Simon Pegg, who plays the role of Montgomery Scott, had an integral part in the writing of the script. So on the surface, Star Trek: Beyond looked like the perfect summer blockbuster. And it was. It was loud, it was exciting, it was action-packed, and it was probably the best summer action movie from beginning to end this year.
 |
| It's difficult to think that this is the last time they will all be on screen together |
With supplies dwindling, the Enterprise arrives at Yorktown, a new planet with advanced capabilities, to replenish, meet up with their families, and really just relax after so much time in space. But there was no rest for the weary as they were quickly confronted with a new issue. An approaching escape pod carrying Kalara, an alien who claimed her ship had been stranded in a nearby nebula, needed help. So out go the Enterprise crew to rescue her ship and crew only to be attacked by Krall (Idris Elba) and his group of "bees."
As the Enterprise is overrun, and eventually destroyed, the crew members escape the ship, but they end up separated from each other. It's an interesting strategy by Lin, pairing together the crew members for the majority of first half of the movie, creating interesting dialogue, especially between McCoy (Karl Urban) and Spock. McCoy's dry humor and metaphors combined with Spock's literal interpretations provides for cheap laughs to break up the monotony of their search. But while Spock and McCoy, Uhura and Sulu, and Chekov and Kirk are all paired off, Scotty is off on his own. That is until he stumbles upon Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), an alien who had been stranded on the planet after her family was killed by Krall and his lackies years before.
 |
| Is it weird to be attracted to a black and white alien? Asking for a friend |
Eventually, the crew reunites and they are able to get everyone off the planet before they are killed. Unfortunately, Krall, armed with a bio-weapon, heads toward Yorktown with the full intention of destroying it. And it's up to the Enterprise crew to stop him. That's as far as I'll go. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will tell you the movie has the greatest usage of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" in the history of cinema. I have no issue in saying that.
The one thing that bugged the hell out of me with this film is the lack of character development on the whole. These people have spent the last three years in space, but the amount of new information we learn about them is minimal. It definitely didn't match up to the previous two films, but maybe that was to be expected with a directorial change. But I figure that can all be forgiven since we know a decent amount about the main characters to begin with.
What can't be forgiven is we really have no idea why Krall is the way he is. We are given no reason as to why he wants to destroy the Yorktown and the Federation, other than he is a supervillain. That's it. In the first two films, we know why the Romulans want to destroy Spock, and we know why Khan wants to destroy the Federation. We get no inkling or reasoning behind Krall's constant need to take innocent lives.
For the record, while Elba does his best with this character, can we stop giving him roles of this nature? He is far too accomplished of an actor to have his face covered for an entire film.
But in general, it was a rather enjoyable two hours. What the movie lacked in character backstory, it certainly made up for with consistent, high-octane action throughout.
Ruby Rating: 4.5/5 gems
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Movie Review: Ghostbusters
As far as remakes go, Ghostbusters is certainly toward the top of the list.
Well, well, well... the Ghostbusters are back, ladies and gentlemen. But predictably enough, there was unwarranted backlash toward the idea of rebooting the franchise. Look, I get it, Ghostbusters with Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis was a comedic masterpiece. I loved it. Nothing will ever top it, and to think the reboot would do so is just incredibly naive. The original has hung over the reboot since the first trailer dropped. This is what we like to do. As a country, we are so resistant to change, and we refuse to accept that something new could be as enjoyable as it was 30 years ago. Well guess what? It can.
But let's take a look at the clear difference: the leading cast members. They're women! It's 2016, everyone. Women can do stuff now. Oh, and by the way, they're just four of the funniest women on the face of the earth. Part of me wants to believe that four women starring in a major motion picture wasn't part of the backlash. But I'm not dumb. I know it was part of it. But if you were able to sit through Ghostbusters II, there is legitimately no reason not to check this movie out.
To be frank, the most offensive part of the movie was Fall Out Boy singing the theme song. It was so bad that I won't even post the link here. You can find it for yourself. I definitely could've done without that.
And just to appease your appetite, yes, we see brief cameos from Murray, Akroyd, Ernie Hudson, Siguorney Weaver, Annie Potts, who played Janine Melnitz, and even this class 5 full-roaming vapor. Sorry, no Rick Moranis.
Here's a piece of advice: Don't walk into the movie theater with any pre-conceived notions. Because if you sit down and begin to compare this Ghostbusters with the original Ghostbusters, you're going to walk out of the theater disappointed after wasting two hours of your life along with 25 bucks. Ghostbusters paid homage to the original while also separating itself from the previous two by highlighting the abilities of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Three of these ladies are current or former members Saturday Night Live, similar to the original cast. So the banter and the constant back-and-forth is natural and free.
The movie starts with Erin Gilbert (Wiig) trying to earn tenure at Columbia University. But after discovering a book, which she believes is a less-than-flattering depiction of her, that she co-authored with her best friend Abby Yates (McCarthy) on Amazon, she tracks Abby down to have the book removed from the site. While visiting Abby, we meet Jillian Holtzmann (McKinnon), a truly eccentric tech genius.
Holtzmann and Yates were somehow able to convince Gilbert to go on a ghost hunt, which ultimately costs Gilbert, not only her tenure, but her job entirely. So the three set off on their own to track down the paranormal throughout the city. If that plot sounds familiar, it's supposed to be. The plot line in this reboot is essentially the same as the 1984 original, and I'm sure that was intentional. Add a non-scientist in Patty to the group and hire a less-than-perfect secretary in Kevin, and the plot is almost exactly the same. But that can be forgiven because, as a whole, the cast is just so damn funny. The foursome of McCarthy, Wiig, McKinnon and Jones make up for the lack of imagination with sheer firepower.
While Wiig and McCarthy are seen as the heavy-hitters of the group, and their relationship is absolutely vital to making the movie to work, it's the utter weirdness of Holtzmann and the bluntness of Patty (Jones) that make this movie memorable.
I can't begin to describe how incredible McKinnon is in every aspect of the film, from the beginning through the final credits. Every group needs a wildcard, and she is it. But this wildcard just happens to be a tech prodigy, a perfect combination of Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman, who happens to thrive on the craziness of the situation. Whether that's fixing up a hearse or creating side gadgets to destroy ghosts, it's quirkiness that grants her the ability to steal every single scene that she is in.
It's a great summer flick that will provide more than a few laughs. Is it memorable? Probably not. But it really isn't a bad way to spend a couple of hours, and it's definitely a better alternative than the Republican National Convention.
Ruby Rating 3.5 gems
Well, well, well... the Ghostbusters are back, ladies and gentlemen. But predictably enough, there was unwarranted backlash toward the idea of rebooting the franchise. Look, I get it, Ghostbusters with Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis was a comedic masterpiece. I loved it. Nothing will ever top it, and to think the reboot would do so is just incredibly naive. The original has hung over the reboot since the first trailer dropped. This is what we like to do. As a country, we are so resistant to change, and we refuse to accept that something new could be as enjoyable as it was 30 years ago. Well guess what? It can.
But let's take a look at the clear difference: the leading cast members. They're women! It's 2016, everyone. Women can do stuff now. Oh, and by the way, they're just four of the funniest women on the face of the earth. Part of me wants to believe that four women starring in a major motion picture wasn't part of the backlash. But I'm not dumb. I know it was part of it. But if you were able to sit through Ghostbusters II, there is legitimately no reason not to check this movie out.
 |
| If you look closely, there aren't any lenses in those glasses |
Here's a piece of advice: Don't walk into the movie theater with any pre-conceived notions. Because if you sit down and begin to compare this Ghostbusters with the original Ghostbusters, you're going to walk out of the theater disappointed after wasting two hours of your life along with 25 bucks. Ghostbusters paid homage to the original while also separating itself from the previous two by highlighting the abilities of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Three of these ladies are current or former members Saturday Night Live, similar to the original cast. So the banter and the constant back-and-forth is natural and free.
 |
| There are lenses in her glasses |
Holtzmann and Yates were somehow able to convince Gilbert to go on a ghost hunt, which ultimately costs Gilbert, not only her tenure, but her job entirely. So the three set off on their own to track down the paranormal throughout the city. If that plot sounds familiar, it's supposed to be. The plot line in this reboot is essentially the same as the 1984 original, and I'm sure that was intentional. Add a non-scientist in Patty to the group and hire a less-than-perfect secretary in Kevin, and the plot is almost exactly the same. But that can be forgiven because, as a whole, the cast is just so damn funny. The foursome of McCarthy, Wiig, McKinnon and Jones make up for the lack of imagination with sheer firepower.
While Wiig and McCarthy are seen as the heavy-hitters of the group, and their relationship is absolutely vital to making the movie to work, it's the utter weirdness of Holtzmann and the bluntness of Patty (Jones) that make this movie memorable.
I can't begin to describe how incredible McKinnon is in every aspect of the film, from the beginning through the final credits. Every group needs a wildcard, and she is it. But this wildcard just happens to be a tech prodigy, a perfect combination of Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman, who happens to thrive on the craziness of the situation. Whether that's fixing up a hearse or creating side gadgets to destroy ghosts, it's quirkiness that grants her the ability to steal every single scene that she is in.
It's a great summer flick that will provide more than a few laughs. Is it memorable? Probably not. But it really isn't a bad way to spend a couple of hours, and it's definitely a better alternative than the Republican National Convention.
Ruby Rating 3.5 gems
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
5 Reasons Why I'm Watching the ESPY's on Wednesday
5. Because my favorite wrestler of all time, John Cena, is hosting. He does this for a living:
btw the rap in the video was written and recorded by Mr. Cena himself.
4. Because I might see an all time great inspirational speech like this one.
Or this one.
3. Because this team is going to own the night.
2. Fuck that. Because this man is going to own the night and I as a true believer cant miss that. (ever notice how Lebron doesn't go to the ESPY's the years he doesn't win a championship?)
1. Most importantly. Because its a fuckn Wednesday in the middle of fuckn July while the fuckn MLB is on its fuckn All-Star break and there is absolutely nothing else to do or watch.
btw the rap in the video was written and recorded by Mr. Cena himself.
4. Because I might see an all time great inspirational speech like this one.
Or this one.
3. Because this team is going to own the night.
2. Fuck that. Because this man is going to own the night and I as a true believer cant miss that. (ever notice how Lebron doesn't go to the ESPY's the years he doesn't win a championship?)
1. Most importantly. Because its a fuckn Wednesday in the middle of fuckn July while the fuckn MLB is on its fuckn All-Star break and there is absolutely nothing else to do or watch.
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