the year of movie techno-geekery
Disclaimer: All you comic book haters, sci-fi haters, geek haters, gadget haters, please step away from the blog. This post is long and riddled with acronyms. And very many links.
—
Okay, so it’s official. For me, this year has been the coolest sci-fi, comic, gadget movie/TV year ever. With movies like The Dark Knight, Iron Man and series like Knight Rider, how could I not be in bliss?
This is not a review of the movies or series, but a very rough take on the technology, gadgetry, visual effects and comic story lines of some of my favourite movies this year.
Anyways, without further ado, here’s a rundown why, so far, this year rocketh!
The Dark Knight
Continuing in the dark vein of Batman Begins, Nolan & co. outdid themselves once again, to critical acclaim. Heath Ledger’s Joker was a very disturbing character. First, the no backstory direction the script writers took was brilliant, because it allowed us to form our own disturbing ideas of the origins of the Joker. And the fact that he tells a different and more twisted story everytime other time made him seem even more psycho.
But that’s besides today’s point. This is:
The Batpod. Goodness! Three times I almost jumped from my seat in the cinema.
1. When the Tumbler (Batmobile for those non geeks who’ve made it this far) goes into self destruct and ejects the Batpod.
2. Then when he crashes into the street after the harrowing ride through the mall and the back alleys. There’s like 3 seconds where the Batpod literally rolls over three times, but he stays on top of it. According to the creators of the Batpod, the bike can stand on its two wheels, and roll over without dislodging the rider. Now is that cool or what?
3. The third time, when Batman rides up against the street wall at full speed and does a 180 degree flip against the wall.
My cousin (who took me for my second viewing) muttered some very loud expletives. She’s a girl.
Yeah. She loved the bike like that.
Iron Man
That. Suit. Was. AWESOME.
It brought all my geek/tech rebellion rushing back. Robert Downey’s potrayal of Tony Stark was unbeatable. Rumour has it his past experience with drugs and alcohol made it easier to get into character (Stark supposedly has his own alcohol abuse problems in the comics) .
Even cooler, however was “JARVIS”, his Artificial Intelligence assistant. First, he’s got the coolest computer voice ever. Second, he has a sense of humour and can be sarcastic. I know it’s just a movie, but in the spirit of the whole suspension of belief shenanigans, JARVIS is awesome. It also says a lot about Tony Stark’s genius. And infinitely compounds my jealousy.
The portrayal of the various versions of the suit was very well thought up too.
Some of my favourite scenes were:
1. The parts where Tony does a diagnostic check on the Mach 2, all those motors spinning, flaps adjusting, wheels turning… it’s just brilliant. And then later in the Mach 3 suit, the “suiting up” scene where he steps into the suiting area and all these robot thingies practically screw the suit onto his body. The camera movement, his facial expression, the CGI animation, the closeups of the little details, and then when his visor closes… I was in paradise.
2. When Iron Man is almost hit by a second tanker missile, the dude turns around, fires some silly little rocket from his arm and then turns and walks away all bad-ass like, while all sorts of bad-guy-ass-whoopery explosions fill the screen behind him.
3. When the terrorists are holding the locals hostage, and JARVIS targets all five or six of them and hits them all at once. That was so disturbingly methodical.
I could go on and on about Iron Man, so let’s can it. Pun intended.
Harcore comic fans should know that Samuel L Jackson appears after the credits as Colonel Nick Fury, of SH.I.E.L.D fame. (S.H.I.E.L.D is intermittently mentioned in the movie as the agency aiding Pepper Pots and Iron Man against Obadiah Stane).
Knight Rider
There’s a new series out, 25 years after the original Knight Rider we all remember, starring the Baywatch star, David Hasselholf.
They teased us with a TV movie, then spun out the series. Hasselhoff also appears briefly as Micheal Knight, Micheal Traceur’s father. Traceur is the new Knight Rider.
Now the car! and the artificial Intelligence! I am so loving this series!
Give me supercars that talk, artificial intelligence, gadgetry to dazzle the mind, and throw in a few hot babes, we’re best buds for life.
KITT ( Knight Industries Three Thousand) is the new, more advanced version of Prometheus, a high level articial intelligence that Dr. Graiman created. Essentially, it’s a super computer on wheels. It can talk, crack silly jokes, and most importantly learns fast! It’s got all sorts of gadgets that push the suspension of belief a little too far. Like the 3D object replicator, and a chemical synthesizer in his glove compartment. I mean come on…
KITT’s voice is so cool.
But still, this is shaping up to be one my favourite Sci-Fi series.
I can’t even begin to narrow down my favourite scenes, but all scenes that involve the car changing shape, nano-tech, turbo boost, attack mode, the list is endless.
Did I say KITT’s voice is so cool?
And that DeAnne Russo (Dr. Sarah Graiman) babe is not too shabby.
Speed Racer
As one critic put it, “CGI fans would be in a small corner of heaven”. The visual effects of this movie were astounding and outstanding, almost to the detriment of the movie. The fact that they pitched it as a family movie didn’t help ratings much, BUT…
The cars! And the things the cars could do. Good lord I was in heaven! I have a fetish for supercars, and for supercars that do super things. The times when Speed would throw in the turbo jumps and the car flips over obstacles or just freezes in mid-air… typical Wachowski eye candy! And John Gaeta. (VFX director for the Matrix Trilogy) was also fooling around in Speed Racer VFX too.
My favourite fight scene was when Racer X very efficiently disposes of one of the Ninjas. The fighting style was brutally reminiscent of Krav Maga.
Incredible Hulk
Two words: “HULK SMASH!!” I didn’t think I’d like this movie, seeing as I totally loved Ang Lee’s Hulk (although Hollywood seems to disagree with me, who cares?) and I was afraid this one would be a disaster. There was less story, more smashing, but it was good, better than I thought. And the cameo appearance by Tony Stark (Iron Man) towards the end was a nice teaser for “The Avengers“, like Nick Fury’s appearance in Iron Man above.
Also, the CGI animation was brilliant.
Hancock:
I loved this movie to bits. Because the dude could like, fly! I know everyone else thinks it sucked, but go ahead, sue me, haters. The fight scenes, story, etc were corny n all, but I liked it, and I’d watch it again in a heartbeat.
There are so many cool tech geek movies/series this year, but the ones mentioned are totally rocking my world right now.
—
Offtopic:
And a moment of silence for one of the uber geeks of us all.
Related items
17 Responses to “the year of movie techno-geekery”
Leave a Reply
Nevender on November 7th, 2008
I haven’t seen Speed Racer yet but all the others are a thumbs up from me.
Now, talk about villains, that Joker was fun..in a villainous way. BatMan’s bike…..aweeeesooome!!!
Yes, this has been a good year.
Nevender’s last blog post..What if we all "Change We Can"???
sleek on November 7th, 2008
Socks!!!i assure you, teh competition was stiff…at this rate, i’ll win that marathon…Inzii watch out! Solomon, does she read ur stuff btw?
The Emrys on November 7th, 2008
dude this bone ridden, but still, i think dark knight and iron man take the cake for geekiness seeing as i haven’t watched speed racer yet.
and man its sda about michael chrichton, sometimes you n ever think that such guys will pass on, i was in shock when i heard. am holding onto that novel of his that i have.
The Emrys’s last blog post..aint it wrong?
The Emrys on November 7th, 2008
dude this bone ridden, but still, i think dark knight and iron man take the cake for geekiness seeing as i haven’t watched speed racer yet.
and man its sda about michael chrichton, sometimes you n ever think that such guys will pass on, i was in shock when i heard. am holding onto that novel of his that i have. no, you can’t borrow it anymore
The Emrys’s last blog post..aint it wrong?
sleek on November 7th, 2008
me i don’t feel sci-fi…that means i am roko…hancock was nice: i have no opinion on the rest…Nevender, u always online?
sleek’s last blog post..To all sperm lovers
smelling the coffee on November 7th, 2008
michael crichton died? what noooooo!
Darlkom on November 7th, 2008
Ernest should really read this post. He agrees with you completely even with the Hancock love.
I loved the Dark Knight but I should stop saying that so much.
Mr. B2B... on November 7th, 2008
Hancock was dope
Iron Man eventually was dope too, i was tripping about some crap when i watched it…. (the crap being i didn’t watch Transformers in the Cinema)
Batman and the Dark Knight, wasn’t too inclined, and got weird reviews from Mrs.B2B…
KITT and the entire Michael Knight crew are stuck in my mind like a little boi SoloDawg…
thanks for this post….
made my day brighter… in a way…
and yeah Uber Geek, Mr. Crichton’s passing is sad…
Mr. B2B…’s last blog post..effortless-[ness]
Miss Cheri on November 7th, 2008
Nawe…make stuff a bit more feminine for us…speed racer? Talk about The notebook and u shall have me.
Sex and the city even.
Miss Cheri’s last blog post..Decisions decisions decisions
Erique on November 7th, 2008
Awesome dude. I’m likin yo taste BIG time
Emi's on November 7th, 2008
I totally agree. Iron man, Dark Knight & Incredible Hulk are on my top 7 list.
You do cinema? cool am waiting to see some 3-D action in one of those imax theaters.
JTCE(Journey to the center of the Earth) was also a good one with all the CGI effects 10xs better than the old version film. Wall E an Anime was interesting a robotics guy like you might find it good even Cheri might like it too.
Hellboy 2 should have made it to this list he had more equip than the first one.
Am waiting to see if James Bond has some gadgets in Quantum of solace unlike in Casino Royale.
Emi’s’s last blog post..Another One of those days..
Solomon King on November 7th, 2008
Hmmm… looks like the love for the tech-geekery is all out, apart from Miss Fyne.
@Nevender, word.
@Sleek, dude, you high on something?
@The Emry’s, for a guy accusing me of caining bones, you sure have a lot of your own, punk.
@Sleek, again. You don’t feel sci-fi? You? How come? What happened to our He-Man and Captain Planet days in Najjanankumbi?
@Ms Caffeine. Yup, sad news indeed.
@Dee, yeah, your love for the Dark Knight is legendary
. Baz likes them too huh? Inneresing.
@Mr BDawg, dude, there are some movies you have to watch on the big screen. Transformers is one, and the two new Batman flicks are the other. Most chicks don’t like the goriness in Nolan’s Batman movies, but you’ll find the dialogue and psyche play very interesting.
@Miss Fyne, Sex and the City?? Aww come on!! Not on my blog! So did you watch a walk to remember, remember that song, “Only Hope”? Isn;t it like sooooo adorable??
*ahem*
@Erique, why thank you, kind sir.
@Emi’s Those movies ROCKED. Haven’t yet seen Wall E, but I know I’d love it. First, robots, second, pixar.
Haven’t seen Hellboy 2. And I love the new gadget less Bond! Pissed off and kicking major derriere. He rocks!
petesmama on November 8th, 2008
Bambi RIP Crichton! I didn’t know!
The Apprentice on November 10th, 2008
Lol dude, you are embarrassingly geeky, so much so i have to call you a Nerd! and no, not N.E.R.D cause those dudes are cool.
Now i don’t know if you’ve watched David Hasslehoffs Knight Rider but I find this new KITT to be a little to techno-gimmickery for my taste. My biggest gripe is the ridiculous transformation algorithm thing. I’m sorry but thats just downright stupid to me, and I’m a staunch lover of transformers. Otherwise, yeah it’s a pretty interesting show so far. Let us see where zis goes!
The Apprentice’s last blog post..Is Obama the long awaited messiah of the black race?
Sybella on November 10th, 2008
i actually wanted to write a post about Michael Crichton but have been crazy busy… it is so sad… his death was overshadowed by the elections that are driving almost everyone wild with excitement…
but with this post, you have confirmed that you are as if my soulmate. although i so did not feel the Dark Knight… think i need to watch it again… maybe i was hoping for way too much since Batman Begins surpassed all my expectations….
Sybella’s last blog post..Thankful…
Solomon King on November 11th, 2008
@Mama Pete, I know, it wasn’t until Ivan told me that I also learnt of the birango
@The Apprentice, dude, you calling me a geek? lol, YOU? And I am so cool. cooler than them N.E.R.D dudes. I know the transformation is ridiculous. I preferred the nano-tech colour thing in the pilot, but hey, it powers my wishful thinking so I ain’t complainin.
@Sybella, Yeah, I wonder how much news the elections overshadowed.
soulmate, huh? in the words of b2b, “well, I never”. Dark Knight was awesome, dark n gritty. I can’t compare Batman Begins and Dark Knight, both were cool.
of latent hobbies and hybrid vehicles - The Rogue King on March 31st, 2009
[...] my all time favorite bug sometime last year. Gadgets and geekery. I think it was the combination of Iron Man and the new Knight Rider series that sparked off the blazing inferno, until I discovered I my knowledge of electronics has severely [...]