The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan gives us his final film of his trilogy of the Cape Crusader. Nolan has brought the Batman franchise back to life with Batman Begins. And he set the bar for other movies on how to make a sequel in The Dark Knight. With Dark Knight Rises Nolan gives us closure to his Batman series and it doesn’t disappoint.

I must say Nolan is a genius as he was able to balance the cast in this movie so well. There couldn’t be a better pick for Tom Hardy as Bane. And Anne Hathaway surprisingly played a great Selina Kyle. I can go on and on with the other actors but we already know how great they are.

If you haven’t already seen the previous two movies, go do it now. And when you are ready to watch the Dark Knight Rises make sure you hit the restroom before hand. This movie runs over 2 and a half hours.

Bane is one powerful and menacing villain. And in the comic he takes out Batman for good. In this movie, you’ll wonder if Batman will ever stop him and save Gotham.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆

The Amazing Spiderman

This reboot brings new life to the stale franchise. It definitely helps as Andrew Garfield nailed it at portraying Peter Parker/Spiderman.

If you’re a big comic book reader of the web slinging hero then you’ll appreciate this movie more than it’s predecessors. The Toby McGuire version of Peter Parker was too lame and boring. Garfield’s version is much more resolve and he actually has some personality.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

UFC 148

Chael Sonnen is getting his wish, a rematch against the Middleweight King, Anderson Silva. It’s an understatement to say that Sonnen despises the current champ. And in every interview it’s seldom that he doesn’t mention how he feels about Anderson Silva.

With all the smack talking from Sonnen, it has finally struck a nerve with the always cool and calm champ. Silva has voiced some of his own smack talk as well. And at the weigh ins staredown Silva gave Sonnen an uncharacteristic shoulder bump that quickly caused both camps to jump in to prevent any further escalation. The tension in the air between both fighters was heavy and it only makes this fight more anticipating than ever.

In their last fight Sonnen dominated every minute of every round until the final round where Silva was able to slip in a triangle choke. As impressive as Sonnen was in that fight I don’t think he can replicate that performance. This is the first time we’ve seen an emotionally motivated Anderson Silva. And this motivation is just fuel to the fire that Sonnen is stoking. Expect Silva to keep the fight standing as he will try to KO Sonnen. But it’s likely that Sonnen will take the fight to the ground and in that case he’ll fall victim to another submission.

My Picks:

Anderson Silva beats Chael Sonnen
John Alessio beats Shane Roller
Chad Mendes beats Cody McKenzie
Mike Easton beats Ivan Menjivar
Rafaello Oliveira beats Yoislandy Izquierdo
Patrick Cote beats Cung Le
Forrest Griffin beats Tito Ortiz
Dong Hyun Kim beats Demian Maia
Constantinos Philippou beats Riki Fukuda
Gleison Tibau beats Habib Nurmagomedov
Melvin Guillard beats Fabricio Camoes

Ted

From the creators of Family Guy, Ted is a film about John Bennett (Mark Walberg) and his magic talking Teddy bear that came alive from a childhood wish.  John now must distance himself from Ted in order to move on with his life and amend his relationship with his long time girlfriend.

The humor is raunchy and crass, if you like the Family Guy tv show and its humor and pop culture references then you’ll love this movie.

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

UFC 147

My Picks:

Rich Franklin beats Wanderlei Silva
Cezar Ferriera beats Sergio Moreas
Fabricio Werdum beats Mike Russo
Hacran Dias beats Yuri Alcantara
Hugo Viana beats John Teixeira
Marcus Vinicius beats Wagner Campos
Felipe Arantes beats Milton Vieira
Anistavio Medeiros beats Rodrigo Damm

Prometheus

Prometheus is a prequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien movie from 1979.  In this film, with ancient archaeological maps  the Weyland corporation enlists the USCSS Prometheus to the planet LV-223 to discover their human origins.  Once on the mysterious planet they soon find more than they bargained for. Instead they discover something that will threaten the existence of their kind.

In an effort not to reveal any spoilers I’m just going to say that Prometheus is a solid sci-fi movie that explains some of the questions from the original Alien movie, but it leaves more questions than it answers.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Men in Black 3

When I first heard MIB3 was coming out I was excited and worried at the same time.  The first MIB was fun and entertaining. Its sequel was dumb and boring, so I was hoping the third one will be better than the last one.

In Men in Black 3, Smith’s character, Agent J, travels back in time to 1969 to save his partner’s life, Agent K, played by Tommy Lee Jones.  The story is much more interesting and a bit more intricate, and seeing Josh Brolin play a young Tommy Lee Jones is the highlight of the movie.  Overall the movie is much more enjoyable than the last. Similar to the first, MIB3 is fun and entertaining again, but this time with an emotional ending that makes it all worth it for those who’ve seen the previous two movies.

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

UFC 146

The original main event was suppose to be Dos Santos defending this title against Alistair Overeem, but due to a failed drug test Overeem was pulled from the match.  Now Frank Mir gets another opportunity to get a Heavyweight title around his waist.   Mir has won his last three fights and he has looked impressive.  Mir has a tough fight ahead of him. Dos Santos is a powerful heavyweight with devastating striking.  If Mir wants any chance of winning this fight he’ll need to take this fight to the ground.

Also, expect Dos Santos to look  at this fight as more than a title defense but to revenge the defeat of  his team mate Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by the hands of Mir.

My Picks:

Junior Dos Santos beats Frank Mir
Antonio Silva beats Can Velasquez
Roy Nelson beats Dave Herman
Shane del Rosario beats Stipe Miocic
Stefan Struve beats Lavar Johnson
Diego Brandao beats Darren Elkins
Edson Barbosa beats Jamie Varner
Duane Ludwig beats Dan Hardy
Kyle Kingsbury beats Glover Teixeira
Jacob Volkmann beats Paul Sass
Mike Brown beats Daniel Pineda

The Avengers

I got to see this movie on opening weekend. The lines were long and the reviews were raving.  I collected comics when I was a kid and the Avengers and each of the super heroes in it were all part of my childhood.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the Avengers movie is about super heroes such as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the incredible Hulk teaming together and forming a team to battle a powerful villain trying to take over Earth.  Whether you were a comic collector or not or haven’t seen the previous Marvel films this movie is still fun to watch.  It has everything you want in a blockbuster summer movie; action, comedy, a great story, and a Hulk.  What more could you ask for?  If you haven’t seen this movie yet go out and check it out now.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

UFC 145

Jon Jones maybe well on his way to become one of the best Light Heavyweight fighter off all time, but standing in front of him tonight is a former training partner and number one contender Rashad Evans.  The two dislike each other and both vow to shut the other up after their fight.  To me the drama between Evans and the champ seems contrived. Either way the hype is working and lots of people can’t wait to see this fight.

Evans has his hands full in this fight. Jones has great striking and his wrestling is solid.  It’s difficult to see Rashad Evans winning this fight. Though his chances are slim Evans will need to take the fight where he is at his best which is his wrestling. Evans would need to stifle the champ by closing the distance and force it into a grappling match. There’s nothing more tiring than a wrestling match. Evans can tire Jones into the championship rounds and try to put him away with this haymaker or grind him out on points. I know, it’s easier said than done.

 

My Picks:

Miguel Torres beats Michael McDonald
Mac Danzig beats Efrain Escudero
Brendan Schaub beats Ben Rothwell
Chris Clements beats Keith Wisiewski
Anthony Njokuani beats John Madessi
Stephen Thompson beats Matt Brown
Mark Hominick beats Eddie Yagin
Rory McDonald beats Che Mills
Jon Jones beats Rashad Evans