Thursday, August 21, 2014

John Oliver on the Ferguson riots and police militarization

Here's John Oliver from HBO's Last Week Tonight with a segment on the Ferguson riots and police militarization. Funny stuff for a tragic situation.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Wolfenstein: The New Order Tips for Chapter 6, London Nautica on the Uber difficulty setting

Today, we discuss the hardest parts of Wolfenstein: The New Order, Chapter 6, "London Nautica." The difficulty setting is the hardest, i.e. "Uber." First, review my general tips for Uber. Second, let me say both "London Nautica chapters, Six and Fourteen are some of the hardest levels in the game.

1. Main Hall

Once Bobby, destroys the front of the building, make your way to the opening of the London Nautica. Before you get there, you get attacked by a guard robot. Throw a Tesla grenade at its feet. While it is shocked go around the back and shoot it, aiming for the circular vent or area below its neck. One dead robot. Now loot its metal for armor and look for ammo scattered about. You're about to go into the Main Hall.

Go into the Main Hall. A door opens and a heavy robot with soldiers attack you. Run to your immediate left. Go through the vestibule and enter a room full of ammo. Stand behind the glass door to the closet of ammo. From here, you are going to kill the ten to fifteen soldiers who will try to rush you position. Remember, "patience." They throw grenades at you but if hug the door, you will take little damage. In the meantime, kill soldiers dumb enough to run into the closet. You will also see soldiers on the stairway across from the room. Take them out. Once it's quiet, get ready to run.

Run out of the closet, back into the hallway. The heavy robot is still there, but we'll deal with that later. Run and I mean run up the stairs to your left. A door opens and a soldier manning a gun turret opens fire. Kill him and take over the turret. Okay, here comes he second wave. Kill them with the turret. If you have to, fall back into the door behind you and run into the cafeteria, looking for cover from the kitchen area or salad bar. Wipe out this second wave.

Now all that's left is the heavy robot. You now have the advantage. You have the higher ground as you are upstairs. Remove the turret. Shoot the robot from the safe distance of the cafeteria. Now loot the whole area. Move on. Eventually you will encounter the last part of this Chapter, the hangar.

2. The Hangar

Before you crawl in the duct that leads to the chopper hangar, get all the armor from the lab and one opposite from duct. Okay, now arm you pistol with the silencer and drop down into the hangar. Immediately crouch behind the cover of the railing. There are platforms with the choppers. On one in front of you is a soldier. To the right is a commander. And on the same, platform you are on is another soldier. He's actually the closest to you. Oh yeah, there are two guard robots here. One on a platform and another on the floor.

Take your silenced pistol. Stay crouched. Move the targeting reticle over the soldier on the platform across from you. Free firing causes the reticle to turn red. Shoot. Now look to your right. Target the commander. You can take out the soldier the closest to you first. Anyway, take down the first commander with your pistol. Then kill the soldier next to you with the pistol or a take down. There's one more commander. He's to the far right in front of the control room. Shoot him with the silenced pistol. If done correctly, you've killed the first wave by stealth.

The rest of the way cannot be done by stealth. Drop down. Throw a Tesla grenade at the feet of the guard robot. Quickly, shoot the circle on vent on the back with an assault rifle or shotgun. One dead robot. Now take cover beneath the platforms from the other robot. It's too stupid to jump down. Move between platforms to get a good shoot at the circular vent from the back. A few shots from a sniper or assault rifle and it's over for this robot.

Now comes the second wave of soldiers. I think it's about ten to fifteen. Run to a control room. I use the one where we took down the second commander. Run to the far right of the room and crouch. They can't shoot you from the floor and the soldiers must rush into the room. Kill them as they enter with a shotgun. After you've killed about five to seven of them, you can peek out of the windows of the control room and snipe the rest.

After you've taken down the soldiers a big heavy guard robot busts out of a door across the way. The Laserkraftwerk (LKW) is the key to victory here. Run to center platform. Don't worry the heavy robot is confused by you running somewhat close to it. This platform has two chargers for your LKW. Alternate between the two while using the platform for cover. Give that robot a dose of fully charged shots. Boom, down it goes.

The hanger section is actually easier than it looks. Just be patient.

The Expendables 3 review

The Expendables 3 starts out with Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone in drag going across the country to compete in the "Miss Drag Queen of America Pageant." Um... that's the plot of "To Wong Foo!... Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar." (1995) Okay, this movie starts with the Expendables in a helicopter trying to free Doctor Death (Wesley Snipes) from a prison train. They are successful only to have Doc run amuck and take over the train. He then rams the train into a prison to kill a tyrant. Now how did he know the target would be behind the wall at that time? Thus begs the question, "Can a movie that starts out dumb, turn out to be good?"

Well, it gets even dumber. Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), team leader and his Expendables have a job to stop an arms deal done by a drunk, racist pig... um sorry I'm describing Mel Gibson. But wait he is in this movie. Their job is to stop an arms dealer who is played by a drunk, racist pig that being Gibson. The twist is that he's Conrad Stonebanks, a former Expendable who turned bad. Did I say it got dumber? Okay. They take Doc on the mission immediately AFTER they break him out. You got it. No training. No shrinks for being locked up all those years. Nothing.

Anyway, the mission goes bad. And it takes Indiana Jones to retrieve The Ark of the Covenant from the Nazis. Er... Sorry fo that. CIA handler Drummer who's played by Harrison Ford now wants Stonebanks captured. Ross is worried his team is getting too old... ha, ha. He recruits a younger team. (Victor Ortiz, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell) If you can't figure the rest of the plot from the trailer then you haven't seen many modern action movies.

Usually, I discuss the acting performances for a movie. But what's the point? There are so many old guys from the eighties along with the new kids, it all played like a party in a bar that you were not invited to. That can mean this movie is going to stink. Okay, I will say Antonio Banderas as over the hill assassin, Galgo, was a lot of fun. The man moves with such grace. And his earnest desire to join the team seems to be a metaphor about Hollywood dumping actors for younger people. What can I say about Stallone? He comes off as a meathead. Whereas Harrison Ford adds some elderly dignity to the CIA handler. With all due respect, because I'm not a young whipper snapper, Ford should be done playing Indiana Jones. Of course, this wouldn't be a an Expendables movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger firing a big gun and saying some catch phrase from one of his movies.

The screenplay by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt and Stallone makes more sense than the second movie. I mean in Expendables 2, you had Chuck Norris appear out of nowhere. But there are some problems. The aforementioned opening scenes and when Ross gets his young team together, there's no training montage. I mean these kids went into the mission cold. That being said, thankfully Ross listens to youthful wisdom and uses the high tech way to capture Stonebanks. So the last two thirds of the movie makes some sense. Okay, I'm still wondering how the Expendables prop driven airplane evades another country's radar.

Director Patrick Hughes is competent. There are some nice tracking shots but he suffers from the same cinematic disease that has been inflicted on modern film. There is way, way too much fast cutting. (Edits of a scene so it lasts no more than three seconds.) Too often it's used to show action. But in this movie, it only adds to the confusion. A good fight scene is like a dance. We must see the bodies in action and I mean the full bodies. The same thing with a war scene. If you're going to use that much fast cutting then it's got to have logical flow. The Expendables 3 was cut like it was made for people with ADHD. Yet, with all the confusion, the story was correctly told and it was an interesting and fun tale. Finally Brian Tyler's score was very good with a nice heroic theme.

The Expendables 3 is time wasting fun. It's not going to win any Oscars. And it's better than the last one. But that's like saying a deep fried twinkie is better than a normal twinkie. The grade is B.


Sunday, August 17, 2014

Boyhood review

There are two summer movies that are impossible to dislike. One is Guardians of the Galaxy. The other is Boyhood.

Boyhood is a film about the juvenile life of Mason Evans Jr. (Mason) and his growth to adulthood. The remarkable thing about his movie is that Moses is played by one actor, Ellar Coltrane starting at six, and filmed for twelve years to capture his growth. We meet Mason as a young child living with his single mother, Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and his sister, Samantha. (Lorelei Linklater, the director's daughter) Olivia is divorced from Mason Evans Sr. (Ethan Hawke) who gets the kids on visitation. The kids clearly adore him for his fun loving ways. But he's not a responsible adult. The movie is comprised of moments of Mason's life. Playing video games. Spending time with his separated father. Fighting with his sister. Seeing his mother having bad relationships with abusive husbands. Becoming a rebellious teen. Drinking. Falling in love.

I say that the film is remarkable because writer and director Richard Linklater has managed to capture a fictional life that echoes the human experience. He was able to get four actors to play a part for twelve years of on and off filming which enhances the realism. All the conflicts, drama, comedy ring true. Linklater is not interested in giant dramatic tragedy because that usually doesn't happen to most people. But he's more into the problems of everyday people. And at the same time, he makes this family likable, and I should say lovable. You can't help but root for Mason. His mother and father are far from perfect but do an admirable job of raising a good kid. Yeah, Mason is probably not going to become President but I do trust in the end that he's going to be a good person. Yet, all of this is done without the camera gymnastics that have polluted modern film.

Ellar Coltrane's performance is spectacular. As a child, he gets the idea of who his character is. When a stepfather makes him cut his long hair, we see the dismay in his face. Of course, director Linklater deserves some credit here. He gets the same from his own daughter, Lorelei. Yes, we see the brother-sister rivalry that one sees in most families. There's also growth for the adults. Ethan Hawke's father is a affable guy who really has very little idea of being responsible in life. Yet, his love for the children that will shape them. Patricia Arquette's Olivia, is a person that we all have met. She's a struggling single mother who meets the wrong guys constantly. Yet Arquette is strong for her children, no matter what obtacles life throws in her way.

There are small problems with this film. Many times when you have the writer and director being the same person, you can have either a cinematic disaster or a good movie. Boyhood falls into the latter category. Linklater probably had so much footage and wanted to show the emotional and physical growth of Mason that he left too much of it in the final cut. There were scenes that didn't help the dramatic narrative. For example, there's a scene where a pre-teen Mason is walking with a girl. The conversation didn't do anything for the movie. At 164 minutes, this film should have been cut by thirty minutes. Boyhood is also aloof at times. In one scene, Olivia is crying over an impending empty nest. Mason doesn't do much to comfort her. He just seems clueless. Linklater should have given closure here with reassurance from Mason because we know that he loves her. Still, none of this hurts this movie that much.

Every summer, the theaters are full of cinematic bombast. Much of it is numbing on one's senses. Boyhood comes in like a sweep of fresh air. It's a graceful, lovely slice of life. The grade is B Plus.


Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Wolfenstein: The New Order Chapter 4 Uber Tips for Eisenwald Prison

Here are some tips for Wolfenstein: The New Order, Chapter 4 "Eisenwald Prison" on the Uber difficulty setting. Again as in past Uber tips, I will go only over the hardest parts. If you haven't reviewed my general Uber tips, check them out here.

The hardest parts in Chapter 4 are at the end. You and Fergus or Wyatt escape the cell block and pry a door open. You should kill the prone Nazi trying to kill you. Then take out the dog. Look to your left. Carefully kill soldiers on the plaza. Make your way up to the plaza. Once this first group of soldiers are dead, a fire trooper or shotgun trooper appears from the turret across the way. Take cover. If possible let him climb the steps as you take cover from the corner. Now, let him have it with heavy weaponry either a grenade, shotgun or your RPG feature of the assault rifle. Once he's down, watch out. Two soldiers come from an open door. Kill them. Now carefully go into the building from which they came to get more armor. AS you enter, to your immediate right is another fire trooper. I use my RPG. Down he goes.

Loot the building and go down to where Fergus is. He opens the last set of doors. You will face a control room protected by steel bars. Go to the left. Mow down soldiers. Now go to the control room and flank the others. Once everyone here is dead, loot the control room. Leave the area. Before you get to the stairs, arm your shotgun and whack the soldier that comes down the stairs.

Go up the stairs. Now you come to a hallway. Don't rush in. It's full of soldiers and a fire trooper. Arm your assault rifle and switch to RPG mode. Use it to kill the fire trooper. If you have to, move back to cover to the wall before the hallway. Clear the rest of the Nazis and be careful when you enter the hallway. Arm your shotgun. Two more soldiers jump you. Kill them. Now go right down the hallway. You get attacked by a kampfhund. Kill it. There's a soldier who pops out straight ahead and one comes down the stairs. Kill these guys.

Now go up the stairs to your left. Enter an office area. This leads you down to a room where if you go to far, a door will open. Do not run through the door. There's a fire trooper here. From an angle, throw a couple of grenades and use your RPG or shotgun. Kill him. Go through the door and outside. Take cover behind the metal fence. There are two more soldiers below. Feed them a lead lunch. Chapter over.



Goodbye Lauren Bacall

Yesterday, actress Lauren Bacall passed away. She was sultry, smart, sophisticated and sexy. She captured actor Humphrey Bogart's heart and they were happily married until he died in 1957. It was a legendary romance. But she was more than Boogie's wife, she had a social conscience. She used her celebrity power to fight McCarthyism. Goodbye Lauren, we'll miss you.

From To Have and Have Not. (1944)

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Conservative Fox News: Michele Obama is fat

I give conservatives a hard time and for good reason. They often ignore facts to argue for a position. Usually it's the same old song and dance. Liberals are evil. So it comes as no surprise that Fox News medical expert Dr. Keith Ablow would pull something out of his a... ss. During a discussion about health eating for children, here's what he had to say about First Lady, Michele Obama.

"She needs to drop a few."

From The Huffington Post.

Maybe I should say some conservatives are blind. Because if she's fat then I'm Jackie Mason.

Wolfenstein: The New Order Chapter 3 Uber Tips

We continue my series of tips for Wolfenstein: The New Order, Chapter 3 "A New World" on the Uber difficulty setting. If you haven't read my general tips for the Uber setting, here they are. This chapter requires you to clear out a section of Nazis so that the grandfolks can drive the car with Anya in the trunk. At the end, you will face two guard robots. Okay, first do your best to complete this with stealth. You can't avoid the robots quietly at the end though. Second, before you get to the car again and spawn the robots, collect all ammo, health AND especially Tesla grenades. Find these in the barracks and the gun turret building on the right. Burn through the metal opening with a dismounted gun turret. The metal portal is covered by a wooden crate. Inside you will find more grenades.

Okay, get back to the car and ride the side. This will cause a cutscene in which the guard robots bust out of two transport trucks. KNOW YOU ENEMY. Hitting a guard robot with a Tesla grenade will shock it and cause it to freeze. So, hit the first robot, closest to you with a grenade. Now run to the back of it. Near the top of the back is circle. Shoot at it with your assault rifle. The guard robot is now fatally wounded where it overloads. BOOM. Now run to cover and hit the second robot with a Tesla grenade. Same thing. Shoot the circle. BOOM. It's over in less than five minutes. Now get back to the grandfolks. They'll take you to the train station. You will get to ride the train to Berlin and um... celebrate Christmas with Anya.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Rest in Peace, Robin Williams

Today, Robin Williams passed away. (Huffington Post story) He was a great comedian, actor and humanitarian. His wife, Susan Schneider asked us to focus on the joy and laughter he brought us. So, here are couple of clips of Willams in action. Oh, by the way he was a video game fan.

From Disney's Aladdin. (1992)





Robin Willaims was also very funny as a guest on talk shows. I love it when he has fun with politics. Here's an appearance on Bill Maher's Real Time with then Senator Joe Biden before he was Vice President. Check out how he cracks up Biden when riffing on Bush having a gay male prostitute in the press room.

CNN matters again...

CNN's Ivan Watson was on an Iraqi army helicopter that was dropping supplies to trapped Yazidi people. It's an incredible video as desperate people struggle to get on the helicopter. This is why CNN for all the garbage it gets from competitors and Jon Stewart, shows why it matters. There's a picture of a young girl, crying. You can see the worry and sadness in her face. This is the face of the suffering that ISIS or ISIL is inflicting on innocent people. ISIS is killing, stealing and kidnapping people. Here's the story with the heartbreaking video.

Thank you CNN for showing the world the evil of ISIS.

Wolfenstein: The New Order Uber tips for Chapter 2, Asylum

This is first in my series of tips for the hardest parts of Wolfenstein: The New Order on the Uber difficulty setting. First, check out my general tips for this game on the Uber setting.

Today, we look at the end of Chapter 2: Asylum. The hardest part of this is the end. It starts when you're in the office and push the button to open the asylum's entrance to the outside. You get attacked by about ten soldiers. Stay in cover and take them out. When they're all dead, pick up all of the ammunition left on the ground. Then pick up any health and armor. There's a helmet in one of the rooms on this floor. This might mean you are going outside overcharged on health. That's okay.

Before you open the door to the the courtyard, arm your assault rifle and switch to RPG mode. Now go outside. You see Anya being pushed down by Nazi soldiers. Go to the left of the porch. Get the Tesla grenades. Kill the Nazis with the RPG. You can't kill Anya with friendly fire. When they're dead run to cover behind a wall to the left.

A truck busts through and launches two drones. Try to get them grouped together. Throw the grenades on the ground under them. The electrical charges from the grenades takes them out. Now kill any stragglers. Pick up Anya and end the chapter.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Best Song from Guardians of the Galaxy

The best pop song featured in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy is Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love." (1974) It's a joyous piece of rhythm and blues, rock, and Native American. Indian. Featured in an opening scene in the movie, it tells the audience that they're going to have a great time. I almost got up and danced in the theater's aisle. Here's a video of Redbone, which was a Native American band, singing their big hit.

Stephen Colbert destroys Trump over his Ebola virus comments

Here's Stephen Colbert on conservative Donald Trump's stupid remarks about treating the two Americans who contracted Ebola for their charity work. Trump said on conservative Fox News, "But they have to suffer the consequences." Colbert has a great joke in his fake conservative take.

Stephen Colbert rips Putin for banning food imports to Russia

Wow, Russian President Vladimir Putin is banning food imports to his OWN country in response to Western sanctions. Hooray for Stephen Colbert who uses this story to great comic effect. Yes, Stephen, let's fight back Eat more chicken.

Jon Stewart nails Rand Paul for hypocrisy on Israel

It's becoming clear that conservative Republican Senator Rand Paul is going to run for President in 2016. Well, he's been walking back some of his comments that he would cut off aid to Israel. Thank God for Jon Stewart of The Daily Show as he uses clips and the record to show the world that Paul is a hypocrite.

Jon Stewart takes on the Bob McDonnell scandal

Former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell and conservative Republican is on trial for corruption. You see he's accused of peddling influence to Johnny Williams, a businessman who was peddling a "wonder" drug called Anatabloc. This drug is made from tobacco and was nuked by microwave. What the... ?!!! Sounds like great comic fodder for Jon Stewart and The Daily Show.

Conservative Republicans get it wrong about Iraq's Status of Forces Agreement

Lately, there's been a theme from conservative Republicans that President Obama should have left American troops in Iraq after the 2011 troop withdrawal. This is another in long line of conservative non-truths.

Here is the truth.

"Discussions about extending the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement fell apart in 2011 after Iraq's government adamantly refused to give U.S. troops immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts, as American negotiators demanded."

Joni Erst: I would have kept troops in Iraq. Huffington Post, August 9, 2014.

There are other sources to refute this blatant conservative lie.

1. Media Matters uses New York Times story to show that the Iraqis did not want troops in their country.

2. Wikipedia article.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Bill Maher pokes fun at Ohio's Straight White Guy festival

I live in Ohio so upon hearing that some people are proposing a "Straight White Guy " festival in Columbus, I was not surprised. Thank God for Bill Maher. Here's his New Rule for this ridiculous idea courtesy of The Huffington Post.

Reds are the champions of the.... Ohio Cup

With today's 4-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians, the Cincinnati Reds are the champions, my friend. They'll keep on fighting till the end. The Reds are the champions. Reds are the champions. No time for losers, the Reds are the Champions of the .... Ohio Cup.

American military action is the short term solution for Iraq

As ISIS threatens the Kurds in north east Iraq, the question becomes "Should the United States do anything?" That question is answered by another question. Is there a threat to the United States from ISIS?

The answer of whether ISIS is a threat to the United States is yes. All you have to do is go over to Vice News. They had a reporter embedded with ISIS troops. And what we know about ISIS is chilling. I won't link Vice News because there are images of beheaded Syrian soldiers. ISIS wants to establish a caliphate. Minority religions will be banned and their followers will face death. ISIS members in the Vice News video want to attack the United States. If this sounds familiar, it's Al Qaeda all over again. Only worse. ISIS has money robbed from Iraqi banks and American weapons taken from Iraqi armed forces. They are well funded and armed.

So, what should the United States do? For the short term, the United States should use military action. The United States should use air strikes against ISIS. Fighter bombers, or drones. It doesn't matter. This should help the Iraqi army and Kurds push these terrorists back. But for the time being, no American ground troops. This is an Iraqi problem. Short term requires defeating ISIS by the Iraqi military. Long term solution requires a political one. The Iraqi government must respect the Sunni minorities. Respect them and you won't see them running off to ISIS. Democracy is more than majority rule, it requires protecting the beliefs and rights of minorities.

Guardians of the Galaxy 3D review

In Guardians of the Galaxy, we meet the adult Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) on a mission to steal a mysterious orb while dancing to Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love." (Video of Redbone below) It's a joyful scene. This alone makes it impossible to hate this film. I mean you could hate this movie but that would mean you hate puppy dogs. Director and writer James Gunn has taken a lesser known Marvel Comics property and turned it into a goofy but wildly entertaining action comedy.



Guardians of the Galaxy starts out in 1988. At a hospital, a boy Peter Quill is at the bedside of his dying mother. She asks for his hand and he refuses. She dies. Peter, distraught with grief, runs out of the hospital. The hospital sends out a gigantic spaceship to zap Peter since his family doesn't have health insurance. Okay, the hospital doesn't do that. A gigantic space ship does appear out of nowhere and kidnaps him. Okay, it's a little far fetched but this is based on a comic book, folks.

We flash forward twenty six years. Quill is an adult and has grown up to be a thief. He steals the aforementioned orb. Chris Pratt gives Quill a sarcastic, rebellious vibe. He has a nice comic touch. Anyway, Quill travels to Xanadu where he meets up with Olivia Newton John. Um... okay he actually travels to Xandar to sell the orb. Meanwhile, Thanos, the bad guy we saw in the end credits scene of The Avengers (2012) wants Ronan (Lee Pace) to get the orb. He sends Gamora (Zoe Saldana) an assassin who also happens to be Thanos' daughter to retrieve it. Saldana does an admirable job of playing an alien, unfamiliar with human ways. Her green make-up is simply remarkable. It does not look like body paint and the man behind it, David George, deserves an Academy Award.

On Xandar, Gamora and Quill are intercepted by bounty hunters, Rocket who's a genetically altered raccoon and Groot, (voice by Vin Diesel)a kind of walking tree. I'm not kidding about the raccoon and tree bit. Rocket and Groot are CGI creations. Bradley Cooper does the voice of Rocket. It's such a great performance that I forgot that Cooper was a human actor. All four fight over the orb but are captured by the Xandar police. They're thrown in prison where they meet Drax (Dave Bautista) who wants revenge on Ronan for killing his family. Gamora and Quill are able to convince the others that they should escape the prison and sell the orb rather than turn it over to Ronan. You see the orb can destroy planets.

I'm not sure that this film is close to the feel of the original comic. I didn't get a chance to read it. James Gunn has made a comedy with action. It's not a parody or campy. But if fans of the comic were expecting something serious, they're going to be surprised. And I hope they like it. The movie is respectful of its origins and has a lot of heart. It's hard not to cry at the beginning of the movie when Quill's mother dies. Still at its center, Guardians is a comedy and it all works. The seventies and eighties pop culture references, and the inability of the aliens to grasp human behavior makes some hilarious moments.

The film does have some small missteps. Gunn relies way too much on fast cutting in action sequences. At times you will find space battle sequences and other action scenes confusing especially in the last third of the movie. And comic or not, if a film claims to be science fiction, you can't have people floating around space without spacesuits regardless of the lame explanation in the movie. Additionally, Gunn should have reined in Glenn Close's over the top performance of Xandar's president. That byzantine hair style she wore was distracting.

The score for this movie is quite memorable. And compliments for the score of Guardians of the Galaxy must include the seventies and eighties pop songs. Quill runs around with a Sony Walkman, the kind that played cassette tapes. His mother had made a tape of her favorite awesome pop songs for her young son. And awesome, it is. Not only do we get "Come and Get Your Love" but there's Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling" to Jackson Five's "I Want You Back." And don't forget Tyler Bates' score. It's everything you need for a heroic adventure. Bold melody and music that enhances the drama.

As for the 3D version of this movie, skip it. It was converted from 2D to 3D. And all the problems with conversions are here. There's only depth at times but very little pop. But worse is that the movie is too dark. I wanted more light on the screen. You're better off seeing this movie in 2D.

Guardians of the Galaxy is one fun, hilarious action movie. It won't win the Oscar for Best Picture but you'll have a great time. The grade is B Plus.