Shorts: The Legend of Hercules (2014)

I think this is first time I write about something that has connection to Finland. I mean more than mention of Finland and something we don't have as movie expects us having. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus doesn't count. Maybe I should do real review of that though.

There was a time when every Renny Harlin movie was big event here in Finland. That time he made good movies. Nowadays he seem to be more like director for hire. Well, I guess he was that for Die Hard 2 and Nightmare on Elm Street 4. But those were sequels to bigger movie. This one is mockbuster of Dwayne Johnson movie Hercules(2014).

In true mockbuster way story is quickly put together. The Legend of Hercules had to be released before Hercules and Hercules had head start. Story has only the names from source material. In source material Hera didn't like Zeus having kids with mortal women. In this movie she connects Zeus and Hercules' mother. Rest of the story doesn't follow the source material either.

Story is so standard forbidden love story you just wait for movie to end. Everything just happens conveniently to get Hercules to ending we know is coming. Dialog is awful. Kellan Lutz is ok when he is fighting or suffering. Otherwise his scenes doesn't work. He was better in Arena but that was all fighting and suffering. To Lutz's credit no-one else was good either. It could be because of dialog and story.

Movie is pretty much waste of time. Only if you are huge 300 fan and you really have to see another movie like that this might work for you. At times this has same feeling but story and acting are much worse and this doesn't have as cool one liners. They don't "dine in hell". They "take back what was taken from them".

Jupiter Ascending - Official Trailer 3 [HD]

I might be only one who waits for this movie. My reason is to have current movie to review for this blog. Interstellar review is one of most popular post since I changed blogging platform and it is only current movie for new platform. Unlike Interstellar I don't expect this to be good. Without this blog I would not see this at theater.

Description at theater's site made this sound like Halo Jones. I don't remember much about that comic but I remember I liked it. Description didn't tell much about the movie. When I knew only the name and had seen small poster I thought this was serious scifi movie about space ship going to Jupiter with similar spirit as Cloud Atlas had. It is like less I know about the movie better it feels like. Trailers show this is nothing like that.

Jupiter Ascending was originally scheduled for last summer but it got postponed because they needed to make more special effects and have effective marketing campaign. Is that real reason or didn't studio want to go against other similar movies that are usually released during summer?

Based on trailers Jupiter Ascending is spiritual successor of Matrix sequels. Non-sense story with non-stop over the top action. It is like scifi action version of Cinderella. I probably am not horrible wrong if I guess Mila Kunis and Dog Boy get each others after they have stopped the bad guys but Sean Bean doesn't make it. There will be sad moment when Dog Boy loses his friend but Mila makes him go on.

To be honest Cloud Atlas was better than trailer indicated. With this I am not so sure about that. It could be if it has much less action than than trailers let us believe. I will give this movie fair change and you will see how I liked it on Monday after the premiere.

Fantastic Four - Official Trailer #1

Fantastic Four reboot is mysterious movie. We don't know much about it but it is released next August. This is first trailer of the movie. Things we know aren't very promising.

I am not big fan of changing race or gender of established characters. Sometimes it work like with Watson in Elementary or Nick Fury with Marvel Cinematic Universe or with Kingpin in Daredevil. Fantastic Four will have black Human Torch. That may not sound like a big deal if you don't know that Susan Storm and Johnny Storm are sister and brother. In Fantastic Four another is white and another black. Making Watson Asian woman wasn't problem because Watson didn't have anything that required him to be white male. This time they are changing family connection. It could be done correctly but why do that. Does black Human Torch sell more tickets?

They ruined Doctor Doom on previous Fantastic Four movies. Why reinvent fan favorite character? This is from same studio and we heard they are reinventing Doom again. Didn't they learn from first time? This time Doom is hacker. In comics he was student whose experiment went horribly wrong before he became Doom. Is this hacker character what he is before he becomes Doom after accident? Could work but scientist would have been better.

Trailer itself didn't tell much about the movie. Looks like studio wants to tell and show as little as possible. I have watched it few times and can get nothing out of it. In source material Fantastic Four got they powers from cosmic rays on space flight. This time it looks they got them from some experiment  or was that crater thing where their spaceship that crashed? I probably see this in theater because of this blog but trailer didn't make me want to see it. Because trailer didn't say anything it is hard to say what kind of movie this will be.

Continuum: Second Season

Spoiler free review of second season of Continuum. If video is not showing check it here.

Last week I reviewed first season of Continuum. Second season fixed few things from first season. How ever it had own problems. Series is still as engaging. I watched it in one sessions. I started watching first season so late that I had to have break. This time I didn't have such problems. This season had 13 episodes. Three more than first season.

If everything goes according the plan you will get review of third season of Continuum next week. Review of fourth and final season comes after I have seen it. It hasn't aired anywhere and it takes some time after that before it comes available to me.

I still have my graphic card update issues. I still can't use that one plugin but this time I figured alternative way to create similar effect. I liked original better, but I can use this until I get original working. To be honest I haven't had time to really fix original problem. Feeling sick has taken most of my time this week. I have only done usual reinstallations and such. But those haven't fixed the problem.

If you liked the video you can find more videos from here.

I started Finnish version of this blog

You can find blog here. I had idea of Finnish version of this for some time. I wanted to know how different it would be to have Finnish blog. Is it easier to get audience and so on. I postponed starting it because I thought it might take too much time from this blog. But I kept thinking it and on one sleepless night it felt like good idea to finally start the blog.

English blog will stay my main blog. Finnish blog will have reviews of same movies and tv shows in Finnish. I only need to do watching and analyzing once and the write in two languages. This should not take too much time. Some reviews will come first on Finnish blog and some on English. At the moment Finnish one have one review that will come later to English blog.

Page section has link to Finnish blog. There is translation option but translations are terrible. Better to read of watch English reviews here.

Shorts: Avengers Assemble: Season 1 (2013-2014)

Avengers Assemble is cartoon following events of The Avengers (2012). Show is made to capitalize success of the movie but as far as I know it is not same continuity with Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many things are same with the movie but there are few differences. Ending of season made it quite clear that this is not Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity. It just looks very similar. I would be really surprised and moviegoers would be very confused if it was.

Cartoon Avengers consist team of the movie with addition of Falcon. The main villains are Red Skull led Cabal. We got visits from Doctor Doom, Spider-Man, Galactus, Loki and Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians visited close to time of the Guardians' movie and it was movie's version of the team. To be exact members were from the movie but they acted like they had same role as in comics.

Most episodes has something to do with Cabal. Then suddenly before season finale there are few filler episodes without Cabal. Episode before fillers made Cabal story interesting. I understand why Guardians episode was at this point. Other filler episodes could have been earlier in season.

First season has 26 episodes with half an hour long episodes. Episodes are not groundbreaking. Cartoon is quite entertaining if you are into superhero comics or cartoons. If you are not then you can safely skip this.

Cloud Atlas (2012)

Spoiler free review of Cloud Atlas. If video is not showing check it here.

Cloud Atlas is The Wachovskis' second movie after Matrix trilogy. I didn't even know there was one between this and Matrix trilogy. I guess sequels ruined their reputation so much that the next movie wasn't marketed as Wachovskis' movies. It could also be me and I didn't want to see another movie from them. How ever I knew this was from them and I was curious to see what they do now.

You can love or hate Cloud Atlas based on how you see confusing jumping between six different stories. I am not sure if that and lack of continuity between stories came from source material or was it Wachowskies artistic decision. That was only thing I could complain.

This time I tried more improvising style. I had video written but didn't try to say what I had written from word to word. It was more like reminder of order and what I need to say. I am not sure if it shows in this video. Shooting took less time and it was easier. I will go this way with future videos because it make everything easier. In time it will make videos more natural.

If you liked the video you can find more videos from here.

Continuum: First Season

Spoiler free review of first season of Continuum. If video is not showing check it here.

I almost subscribed to HBO Nordic because I wanted to see Continuum. I watched first two season when they came available on our local Netflix. Because third season was on HBO Nordic I ended up subscribing it. And Continuum is not HBO's own show.

Continuum is small budget tv series that concentrates on story. First season is only ten episodes long. Next two are thirteen episodes long. fourth and last season will have only four episodes. Short seasons are Continuum's advantage. Story stays tight. Longer episodes would make series worse. I will get to that on videos of later episodes. Next coming next Monday.

 I learned hard way that you should not update your graphics cad's driver on your video editing computer. Everything else works but I lost moving background I liked so much. I hope to get it working  by next video. With this I didn't had time to figure out what went wrong. Every time I upgrade graphics card drive something stops working. and it always happens when I really don't have time to fix it. Next time I play updating more carefully.

If you liked the video you can find more videos from here.

Shorts: Elementary - Season 1 (2012)

Last Friday I reviewed Sherlock. This time I review the another Sherlock Holmes tv show. I don't think this has any official connection to Sherlock. However this feels like this copies the British show. Like it is reimagination of reimagination. There are so many similarities to Sherlock that this couldn't have been made if there wasn't Sherlock and its popularity.

This time Sherlock Holmes is recovering drug addict who has moved to New York. Doctor Watson is his sober companion who lives with him for six weeks trying to prevent him  relapsing. It is no spoiler when I tell that Watson stays with Holmes after that six weeks period. After all they are one of best known teams in popular culture.

Elementary takes as much as it dares from Sherlock and changes things just enough not to be total rip-off. In Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes is genius with little social skill. In Elementary he has real life mental disorder that makes in genius but socially awkward. I don't know if he was written that way or was it something Jonny Lee Miller brought to the role.

Lucy Liu is doctor Joan Watson which means gender and race change for Watson. It is interesting that more people think Holmes and Watson are couple in Sherlock than in Elementary. I am not biggest fan of gender or race changes for famous characters but this time it works. Lucy Liu as Watson goes to same category as Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury or Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin.

Elementary doesn't have as interesting supporting cast as Sherlock. No-one is as interesting as Mycroft Holmes, Molly Hooper or Landlady of Sherlock. Even Watson has smaller role than in Sherlock. However Elementary has better Moriarty than Sherlock. Sherlock doesn't have bad Moriarty but Elementary's Moriarty is more complete character.

Over all Sherlock is better of two. Elementary is good for more serious substitute for Sherlock. If we got more than three episodes every other year of Sherlock I might think otherwise. Now Elementary works as substitute. It is similar enough for Sherlock fans but different enough to be its own thing.

My reviews of Oscar nominees

I don't care much about Oscars. To me they are kind of like Eurovision song contests. Contestants make art for competition and art that is successful in competition is generally not something I like to watch or hear. This doesn't mean Oscar nominees could not be good movies or Eurovision song contestants is are all bad. It is just that I don't care much about that kind of art.

This year's Oscar nominees were announced earlier today. I have reviewed four of nominees:

The Salt of the Earth
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

None of them was in major categories. I will probably see rest of the movies in visual effect category in future.

Some Oscar baits haven't come to Finland yet. Oscar baits usually come here after nominations have been announced. That way they can be marketed as Oscar nominees. I will make video of The Imitation Game when it comes to Finland. Alan Turing is such a interesting character that I have to make a video even if  I don't like the movie. I have to hear more about Birdman and The Theory of Everything before I decide if I watch them on theater, wait for them to come available for streaming or skip them

Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer 2

I had another thing planned for today but I can postpone it two weeks. To be honest it is more current that time.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is one of this year's sure hits. People are going to see it no matter how bad or good it is. I guess that is why trailers have been risky. They don't sell movie to comic book  or action movie fans who will be there anyway. These try to make movie look more serious and darker. We see on May if it really is darker or was this just marketing targeted for specific customer segment.

This movie might set stage for Captain America: Civil War. I told in my rant video that Iron Man and Captain America need to be on different sides if they want something similar as comic story had. Age of Ultron may put them on different sides. Of course they are on same side at end of this movie but there could be something than could easily put them on different side later. And then at the end of Captain America they could end up being on same side for third and fourth Avengers movie. Could this be two part story with next Captain America movie?

Another thing considering big picture is Infinity Stones. Does this movie have one of them? There are enough movies in pipeline to have rest of the stones but I think Avengers movie is natural place to have one. First had one and next Avengers movies should have all of them. This trailer didn't give any hints of one but we could end up having one. We didn't see Vision even thought he was confirmed to be in this movie.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. vs Arrow first season

Spoiler free review of first seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Arrow.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Arrow are not the first time we see we see Marvel and DC characters on small screen. But I think this is first time they really go head to head. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D started current string of Marvel character's tv shows. Arrow has got company with The Flash tv show.

This video was shot long time ago. It was strange to edit it since I didn't do anything editing friendly in it. My more current videos are easier to edit because I know how I edit and do things in way editing is easier. You learn things as you do them.

If you want more background info of 5 Minutes with Kvesti videos you should check my other blog.

This week there is no Kvesti on Movies episode. Next week there will be one.

If you liked the video you can find more videos from here.

Shorts: Sherlock (2010-2014)

I have written and made videos of Doctor Who. Now it is time for another top British tv show. Sherlock is reimagination of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic detective Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is private detective with no social skills. Doctor Watson is war veteran who works with Sherlock. Together they solve mysteries around London and help police from time to time.

Show lives from two main characters and supporting cast. Benedict Cumberbatch creates brilliant but unsocial version of Sherlock Holmes. Martin Freeman's John Watson is common man who roots Sherlock into real world and ask questions audience might have.

Mrs. Hudson is landlord who cares more about Sherlock and Watson than making money from her rooms. She is thank full for Sherlock because he helped her in past. Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes is ever brighter than Sherlock but little less anti-social.  Mycroft holds undefined position in British secret service. He helps and ask help from Sherlock. Molly Hooper is pathologist who is in love with Sherlock. She tries to express her love but Sherlock doesn't get the hints.

If I have to nit pick I would say sometimes it feels like heroes get away with anything because they are heroes. That is minor flaw in show which has great acting and great stories. Other minus is that seasons contains only three one and half hour episodes and there is only three seasons. Fourth season will be aired during 2016. Cumberbatch and Freeman are busy with their film careers and Steven Moffat with Doctor Who. But I still would like to get more Sherlock.

Ant-Man – Official Trailer

Some people expect Ant-Man to be Marvel Studios' first movie not to make it at box office. Before that Guardians of the Galaxy should have been that movie. I was sold to Guardian after first trailer. Later trailers weren't as good but the movie was as good as the first trailer.

This trailer didn't sell the movie to me. How ever I can see this movie could work. I didn't understood why they wanted to make a movie of  a man who can shrink very small and talk to ants. It is not what we are used to in previous superhero movies. Way to make it work seem to be making it more character driven than action driven.

It is strange that they didn't have original Ant-Man Henry Pym as Ant-Man. In comics Henry Pym is on-off member of Avengers. He is also maker of first Ultron. The Avengers: Age of Ultron coming couple months before this movie probably means he is neither in Marvel Cinematic Universe. Order of movies make it harder for him to be maker of Ultron and his old age in this movie will make it harder for him to be Avenger.

I am not familiar with Scott Lang or his time as Ant-Man. I always thought Henry Pym was only Ant-Man and I was surprised when trailer referenced Ant-Man as Scott. I wasn't as sold with this as with Guardians of the Galaxy but I am going to see this at premiere and tell my thoughts here afterwards.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock - Uchū Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku (2013)

Review of Space Pirate Captain Harlock - Uchū Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku (2013). There is one major spoiler but you can skip it.

This is my first video of non English language movie. Space Pirate Captain Harlock is Japanese science fiction animation. It is based on manga and anime with same name from 70's. Movie happens far into future at twilight of human race. Mankind has left Earth. Some of them want to get back but Earth is declared off limits. Captain Harlock has plan which could help human race get back to Earth.

This is first episode with new name and new titles. I hope you liked them. New name also brought some visual changes. I started to use same lens as I do with 5 Minutes videos. I liked them better than I did with Kvesti on Movies and Stuff videos. They were easier to shot too. Last Monday's video was first to be edited with my desktop. Now you have seen both of my series with new visuals. How do you like them?

And yes, I dropped cartoon look for comic based movies gimmick. I might do crazy gimmicks in future. At the moment I want to get both series their own consistent look. Then I can add gimmick episodes every now and then. I do so many videos of comic based content that cartoon look could get old really fast. This was one and next Monday there is another.

If you liked the video you can find more videos from here.

What Surrogates got wrong

Surrogates is interesting movie. It has nice interesting story. Only problem is that premise is not realistic. Well it kind of is but surrogate technology would have changed the world differently than movie assumes. And I have problem with that. Not huge but I did affect on my opinion of the movie.

This video was shot before I decided to change other show's name to Kvesti on Movies. I publish these videos different order than they are shot. This was another video with dying light. I realized during editing how much different first and second part looks. If I knew that during hooting I would have shot first part again.

 If you liked the video you can find more videos from here.

Shorts: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

You know the movie will be bad, but you have to make sure it really is bad. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is one of those movies. Nothing I knew about the movie made me interested of it. I didn't know Hotness Called Famke Janssen was in it. Movie was almost what I expected from it.

Movie's biggest sin was not putting Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton against Hotness Called Famke Janssen. It was making Hotness Called Famke Janssen wear ugly mask most of the movie. Director must have realized we would root for Hotness Called Famke Janssen instead of the heroes if that wasn't the case. I rooted for Hotness Called Famke Janssen even when she wore ugly mask.

Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton have been in big movies. But they can't carry this one. Based on IMDB, I have seen couple Gemma Arterton movies, but I don't remember who she was in those movies. Jeremy Renner was ok in Bourne Legacy and Marvel movies he has been on. He is kind of ok in this one too, but that is not enough.

Story is based on classic fairy tale. Movie shows what happened to Hansel and Gretel after the fairy tale. They become witch hunters. Quite bad witch hunters considering they willingly go after witches. They are so bad it is miracle they are still alive.

Movie is dark fairy tale with heroes using medieval versions of machine guns. It is like Van Helsing with less charismatic heroes. You don't miss anything if you skip this. If you are into this sort of stuff, you might enjoy it, but you will forget it almost as soon as you have watched it.