Assassin’s Creed Review 

assRebels, freedom fighters, revolutionaries, or resistance members. All have at times throughout history used questionable methods, even terrorism, assassinations etc. to further their goals. Who are the good guys when those opposed to oppression kill without discrimination? That question has been at the core of my fascination with the Assassin’s Creed videogame series. “Nothing is true… Everything is premitted” is the Creed. The Assassins make no excuses for their utter lack of morals. Their sworn enemies are the Templars, who while claiming the moral high ground are just as shady, and they want to rule the world.

The games are far from perfect, and some are even unplayable, but they all have a hint of that pure awesomeness found in the first game. I feel it most strongly when wandering through a crowd, approaching the target exactly as planned, before striking quickly and efficiently and then disappearing without a trace. It seemed almost impossible not to make a badass movie out of it, and yet somehow they managed to take everything bad from the games, and leave very little of the good stuff in.

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X-Men: Days of Future Past

rs_634x939-140324091106-634.jennifer-lawrence-x-men.ls.32414It’s strange to me to think that there are seven X-Men movies. It certainly doesn’t feel that way, and I think that has to do with the quality. Even though I wasn’t against The Wolverine when it came out, I’ve found it has very little re-watch potential. The same can be said for First Class, even though part of me knows that’s blasphemy. All that said, the X-Men movie franchise has not, as far as I can tell, been in any danger of stopping.

X-Men: Days of Future Past feels like new ground and back-to-basics at the same time, and I think that’s what makes this, in my mind, the most rewatchable X-Men movie since the original. Like all superhero movies, I enjoyed the hell of out it for the pure spectacle alone, problems and all.

The film starts in the near future, where mutants are hunted to the point of extinction with super Destroyer-like Sentinels. Professor X and Magneto have put aside their differences in a last ditch effort to save their kind. They send Wolverine back in time to the 70s to convince their younger selves to change the future.

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The Counselor

the-counselorQuick, take a gang of top-of-their-game actors, all playing slightly odd, violent, and fascinating characters. Have the film directed by a critically acclaimed director. Oh, and throw in a long opening credit sequence with ironically upbeat music, and a plot that’s twice as convoluted as its needs to be. And for the poster: have all the famous actors feature prominently with nothing else to indicate the plot. Which movie am I talking about? It seems to be a hit-or-miss trend, so will The Counselor, directed by Ridley Scott, convince or disappoint?

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Prometheus (Finally!)

I finally got to see Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s prequel-but-not-really to Alien this weekend. Even though I had been looking forward to this movie for a long time, I tried to keep my expectations “open”, meaning I had high hopes, but tried to not let those hopes wander in a fixed direction. I think that philosophy served me well. Those who expected yet another “they end up in a closed space with chest-busting aliens and get picked off one by one” will be disappointed.

Since the movie has been out for quite some time, and the fans have already seen it, this review contains spoilers.

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Less Than Shameful

Movie: Shame (2011)

Watch out: here comes the smolder.

When Tiger Woods has it, it’s a joke, but sex addiction is no laughing matter in Shame, a Steve McQueen movie that needs Michael Fassbender’s tortured face to work. The man is one of the most interesting actors working right now. That’s why it’s such a shame the camera man always seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong moment.

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