Friday Night Highlights: Wolverine, The Goode Family and an Ethan Suplee update!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
REVIEW
What is it?: The X-Men trilogy spin-off/prequel, which tells the back-story of Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman), the self-healing, metal-clawed mutant with no memory of his past.
The cast looks awesome!: Despite the fact that the movie poster makes full use of characters like Cyclops, Gambit and Emma Frost, none of them get much to do. It seemed like every time I thought I was really enjoying a character, they would leave. Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) started off really cool, and quickly descended into a two dimensional pawn. will.i.am (Kestrel), Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Dominic Monaghan (Bolt) and Taylor Kitsch (Gambit) all impress but all get far too little screen time. It must be great to work a few days on a movie and get your head on the poster (I realise they were likely filming much longer than that, but please don’t ruin my story).
In fact, while the film does fill in Wolverine’s back-story, we don’t even get to know him all that well. After fighting through the Civil War, World Wars I and II and Vietnam, and then becoming some sort of mercenary/bounty hunter for the government, Wolverine suddenly decides he doesn’t want to kill people any more. You know, after 100 years of pretty solidly killing people. Why?
VIC-TOR!!!: Hugh spends most of the movie yelling this at his brother Victor, aka Sabretooth, as if he were in a mutant version of A Streetcar Named Desire.
What’s this business about the movie being leaked on the internet?: According to the studio the leaked version was a work in progress and didn’t have final special effects added. Now I haven’t seen the version on the internet, but the version I saw on the big screen had some very hokey SFX going on. One scene, where Wolverine is getting to know his metal claws in a bathroom, inspired giggles and whispers of “how fake!” on account of the claws looking like something out of Roger Rabbit … those things aren’t CGI – they’re cartoons! Sometimes you have to wonder why they don’t just strap plastic ones on in some shots, it would look better.
The green screen work – in the cars and especially out a barn window – are so bad that I have seen better work on The Bold And The Beautiful. Green screen is a tricky thing, and I happen to be of the old-fashioned opinion that if you can’t make it work, just actually film outside! Shocking, right?
I don’t want to spoil anything, but a cameo by one of the X-Men from the original trilogy looks so odd that I am still not convinced they didn’t use CGI instead of the actual actor. That or far too much plastic surgery has been had.

The other mutants couldn't bring themselves to look at Wolverine's cartoon claws.

Any other complaints?: Funny you should ask … the film doesn’t seem to know when it is set. According to the press notes it’s “10 to 15 years before X-Men”. Which would make it the mid-late '80s. And yet there are ‘50s buildings with brand new exit signs, ultra-modern bus stops, ’60s utes next to ’90s ones and rather modern looking keypad door locks.
Which Aussie actors are in it?: Aside from Hugh, there are tiny roles from the likes of Peter O’Brien, Max Cullen, Tahyna Tozzi and Aaron Jeffery.

So, err, did you actually like it?: While it sounds like I’m laying into this movie, I actually enjoyed it. Far more than I thought I would. I have pointed out bad CGI, but there is also quite a bit that is stylistically impressive, and Hugh delivers a solid performance and has surrounded himself in equally solid performers. While I enjoyed the ride, the ending was a little lacking – which is to be expected from a prequel, really.

Is it as good at the other X-Men movies?: It’s definitely better than The Last Stand.
See it?: Just go and have fun already.

His name is Ethan
So, after the whole Ethan Suplee debacle, I went ahead and posted the link to my blog on Twitter. And guess what? Ethan read it! Hilarious.

He sent me the following tweet:

EthanSuplee @scottkeenan YOU BETTER WATCH TONIGHT! And you better get it! I've got my eye on you!


A very cool guy. I promise to watch, sir. But I’m in Australia, so not until Wednesday. And as for getting it … I’ll do my best!

PS: Ethan is totally using the pic I used of him as his Twitter page background now.

Oh Goode for YOU!
The Goode Family is the latest animated series from the mind of Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butthead, Daria and King Of The Hill (all of which are some of my all-time faves). Centering around a well-meaning, but not especially bright, pollitically-correct environmentalist family, the show starts in the US soon, and a preview video has been released online.
I think it looks like a winner (of course I said the same thing about The Oblongs, which sadly lasted all of three seconds). Check it out and see what you think.

Scott Keenan

I'm a secret mutant o'clock