The Shallows (Video)

The Shallows is the next shark survival thriller. Is it the next Jaws or is it closer to Sharknado?

Free State of Jones (Video)

Free State of Jones is a true story that features Matthew McConaughey as defected Confederate soldier Newt Knight who leads a group of rebels against the Confederate army.

Independence Day: Resurgence (Video)

Independence Day: Resurgence is a sequel to the 1996 White House exploding classic. Is it good enough to be considered a worthy sequel?

Look Who's Back (Netflix)

Look Who's Back is a fish out of water story that features Adolf Hitler who suddenly wakes up in 2014 having no idea what has happened since his death. He then stumbles his way through modern society while attempting to gain the influence he once had.

Look Who's Back is a 2015 satirical comedy based on a German novel of the same name. Although the premise does seem a little off putting at first, the fish out of water story with Hitler being the focus was enjoyable, funny, and extremely though provoking.

Another thing that I think should be mentioned is that the film is entirely in German. That means that everyone in the movie speaks German and English subtitles are throughout the entire film.

The Good:

The Premise. The premise itself is so utterly bonkers that it at least deserves a look to see how it is handled.

Oliver Masucci as Adolf Hitler is absolutely perfect. Occasionally he will give speeches to people; sometimes it is one person, other times it is a whole crowd, and just like Adolf Hitler, his speeches are intense and captivating. It was truly incredible how perfect he was able to capture the charisma of Hitler.

The improv. Much like in Borat and other documentary style comedies, Look Who's Back has moments where Oliver Masucci is walking around Berlin in full character as Adolf Hitler. Actual people interact with him and ask him questions. The responses are completely improvised and are perfect. Most of the movie is scripted, but these little nuggets are some of the best part of the movie.

The comedy. As I mentioned, the story is utterly hilarious. The way Hitler reacts to certain modern situations had me actually laughing out loud, even though I was watching it alone.

The thought provoking message. I don't want to give anything away, but there is a definite message in Look Who's Back and it is something that one should definitely think about. It even has a certain correlation to the US Presidential Election of 2016... not that I'm directly insinuating anything of course... just observing.

The Ehh:

The middle. There were moments in the middle where the story did get a little boring. There were still enough nuggets of hilarity to make it worth it, but it doesn't compare to how good the beginning or end was.

The Ugh-ly:

Nothing. Look Who's Back is worth your time and attention.

Conclusion:

Look Who's Back is a funny and ingenious movie and is definitely worth your time. Just remember that this isn't a casual viewing since you will have to pay attention enough to actually read the subtitles.

What did you think of Look Who's Back? And what other historical figure do you think would make for a funny fish out of water story? Leave your comments below and don't forget to check out my YouTube channel (here) for weekly movie reviews. Remember to always keep it unpopped!

An AI-Written Short Film Is Surprisingly Hilarious

I honestly didn't think anything like this was possible, but Ars Technica has defied the impossible and has trained a computer to write a screenplay for a short film entitled Sunspring.

The way it accomplished the task was they had to first build an algorithm, which now calls itself Benjamin. They based it on text recognition and text prediction. Then they fed numerous sci-fi screenplays into the algorithm. After "learning" from the many different types of things that happen in a sci-fi movie, Benjamin was then given a few prompts to go on such as the title, a small scene, and an idea.

Then the impossible happens, Benjamin actually spits out a screenplay. The screenplay can be downloaded from Ars Technica's site (here).

Honestly what came out was exactly what one would expect from a text prediction algorithm. It is completely nonsensical and one of the worst things ever.

However, that isn't the most exciting part of this project because then a director and actors were hired to actually perform out the screenplay that was written by Benjamin. A lot of creative liberty had to be taken to make any sense of what was in the screenplay, but overall, the short film that was created is entirely based on what Benjamin created.

So without further adieu, I present to you the "Oscar caliber" short film adapted from the screenplay written by Benjamin the algorithm. Here is Sunspring.

That is the weirdest yet most interesting thing that I have ever seen, and I can't wait to see what else Benjamin can come up with.

I watched it a second time while reading the screenplay along with it, and it surprisingly made more sense that time. I'm still 100% confused, but the overarching story was a little more clear... if there is an overarching story. Anyways, so definitely give that a try as well.

So what do you think of Sunspring? Leave your comments below and remember to always keep it unpopped.

Central Intelligence (Video)

A little Hart teams up with a big Johnson to help protect America from a national threat. Do they have what it takes to uncover the conspiracy behind it all?

June 10th Box Office: The Conjuring 2 Scares Away the Competition

Well thank you America! The Conjuring 2 brought in a whopping $40 million domestically, Warcraft had $24 million, and Now You See Me 2 rounds out the top 3 with $23 million.

With Warcraft being a popular video game franchise, it was pretty much a sure thing that it would dominate at the box office, and worldwide, that definitely was the case. Internationally Warcraft pulled in $261 million. $144 million of that coming exclusively from China. In fact, Warcraft has officially become the fastest movie to reach 1 Billion Chinese Yuan, beating out Furious 7 by about six hours. This is nothing short of a huge accomplishment.

As many may have noticed from my Warcraft review (here), I didn't think Warcraft was a terrible movie, but I did find it a little boring and forgettable. Of the 3 movies being released last weekend, I can't praise The Conjuring 2 enough (review here). So even though I was pushing for The Conjuring 2 to win at the domestic box office, I was pretty sure that a horror movie didn't stand a chance against a video game movie with a massive following.

Next weekend, with Finding Dory coming out, I'm sure that both of these movies will drop off dramatically. At least for this week it is nice to see that America has chosen a horror movie to be the highest grossing movie of the weekend.

What did you think of The Conjuring 2 or Warcraft? Did you think that Warcraft deserved more love than it got? Leave your comments below and remember to always keep it unpopped.

Now You See Me 2 (Video)

2016 is filled with sequels that nobody asked for, and Now You See Me 2 is one of them. Does Daniel Radcliffe have what it takes to make an unwanted sequel better? The answer may surprise you.

Warcraft (Video)

The Orcs home world is dying and must invade the Humans land so their race can thrive. Is Warcraft the video game movie gamers want and deserve?

The Conjuring 2 (Video)

The Conjuring 2 follows paranormal investigators Ed and Loraine Warren as they attempt to help a family in Northern London being haunted by an evil spirit.

11.22.63 (Hulu)

11.22.63 is an eight part mini-series based on the novel by Stephen King. It features James Franco as an English teacher in 2016 that discovers the means to go back in time to the early '60s. So with this great power, what does he decide to do? Well, the only logical conclusion is to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Will he be able to figure out the forces at play in time to save JFK, and will the past let him? Only time will tell.

The Good:

The thing that I liked most about the series is that when James Franco travels through the time hole, it always transports him to 1960. That means he has to spend 3 years following Lee Harvey Oswald and others attempting to find the best method of stopping the assassination. However, the more time he spends there, the more connected he gets to the people in the past.

The story was also really enjoyable and took many twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. Although Franco's main mission is to stop JFK's assassination, much of the story is dedicated to him meeting others. Since the series is broken up into eight parts, we get to spend a large amount of time with these characters, most of which are really enjoyable.

I also liked the time travel itself. The series establishes very clear rules for time travel early on,  and throughout most of the story these rules are strictly adhered to. I feel this differs from other time travel stories since most of them have a difficult time sticking to the rules that were established, but 11.22.63 sticks with them the entire way.

The Ehh:

Unfortunately one of the biggest disappointment with 11.22.63 is James Franco's performance. He is refreshingly different from his other roles since he is playing a well-educated semi-serious role. However, even with his different performance, he overall just seems bland and uninterested in many things he encounters. There are times when he does break out of this and shows a large range of emotion, but most of the time it's pretty flat.

The Bad:

The best part of the series were the first 6 episodes. For some reason I found the last 2 to be the low point of the story. There are still interesting moments and seeing the story come to a close was still fulfilling, but compared to the 6 episodes that preceded, they just seemed a little less interesting.

Conclusion:

Even though 11.22.63 was my first Hulu original series, I was very pleased with the story that was told and I honestly can not recommend it highly enough.

What are your thoughts of 11.22.63, and what are some of your favorite time travel movies or TV shows? Let me know below, and remember to always keep it unpopped.

11.22.63 is rated TV Mature for language (a lot of f-bombs) and violence (it can get pretty brutal occasionally). All 8 episodes are available for streaming with a Hulu subscription.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (Video)

About a year after the Turtles defeated The Shredder a new villain arrives to wreck havoc. Is this Ninja Turtles sequel worth your time and money?

Open Your Mind: Preparing for Doctor Strange

There are still a few months till Doctor Strange in November. With that comes time to prepare for its release by learning more about the deep history of the character.

My Comic History:

I'm going to be completely honest; I am relatively new when it comes to comics. I was prompted to finally pick up a comic in 2015 in preparation for Captain America: Civil War. I devoured the entire Civil War story line from 2006 (about 100 individual comics). Although Captain America: Civil War was completely different from the comic it was based on, I can honestly say that my enjoyment was greatly enhanced after reading the comic.

After reading Civil War I began to dive even deeper into Marvel. Next on my list was to prepare for Ant-Man since I knew nothing about the character. I figured there was no better place to start than the beginning, so I read Hank Pym's story Tales to Astonish #27 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, then jumped to #35 where Ant-Man makes his official debut and read all the way to #49 when he becomes Giant-Man. Then when Ant-Man came out I couldn't have been happier with how the character turned out.

So although I've only been reading comics for a short time, the ones that I have read allow me to learn more about the characters and have a greater appreciation for how they are portrayed on screen.

How to Read These Comics:

Marvel Unlimited

One tool that helped me dive into the extensive Marvel library--while still saving money--was subscribing to Marvel Unlimited. Marvel Unlimited has an extensive catalog going all the way back to Marvel's creation. There are holes in many of the old stories, but overall it has any and all essential readings. Marvel Unlimited usually offers a month trial and then subscriptions can be paid monthly or yearly. The biggest downside is that new comics don't come onto Marvel Unlimited until 6 months after its print debut, but if you don't mind waiting 6 months for a comic, this is a perfect choice.

Comixology

Comixology is my other go-to app that offers digital comic books. You have to pay per issue, but depending on how much issue is, and how much you want to read, this could be an easy choice. Additionally, if the comic is newer (within past 6 months) this is the only digital way to get it.

What I'd Recommend:

Now although my comic knowledge is limited, I have read a good amount of Doctor Strange and I think that I can offer a quick glimpse into some of the best reading in order to understand the character.

Strange Tales #110-115 

Credits: Stan Lee (W), Steve Ditko (A)

Year: 1963 

Best Source: Marvel Unlimited

Note: #110-114 is covered as a Human Torch story, but the last 5-ish pages of each issue are Doctor Strange with #115 being a fully dedicated Doctor Strange comic.

As I said before, what better place is there to start than at the beginning? These issues are great because it allows you to meet a few of Doctor Strange's top villains and also #115 goes into his origin story as explained by Stan Lee.

One thing to remember is that the '60s were a very different time in comics. The pages tended to be VERY dense with material. It can get wordy at times, but since many of these stories are only 5 pages, it isn't too overwhelming.

Doctor Strange: The Oath #1-5

Credits: Brian K. Vaughn (W), Marcos Martin (A)

Year: 2006

Best Source: Marvel Unlimited or Comixology

Note: This is considered by many to be the best Doctor Strange story.

In The Oath Doctor Strange is wounded and has to work to save himself, his servant Wong, and figure out who would have him killed all before his time runs out.

There is a lot to like about The Oath. We meet the night nurse, we feel that overwhelming care that Doctor Strange has for Wong, and we also learn about many of Doctor Strange's powers.

Strange #1-6

Credits: Straczynski & Barnes (W), Brandon Peterson (A)

Year: 2004

Best Source: Marvel Unlimited or Comixology

Note: One of many retellings of Doctor Strange's origin.

This is an origin story of Doctor Strange, but puts him in the modern day. The story is pretty similar to Strange Tales #115 but does allow a more expansive arc.

What I personally like most about these issues is the art. Many Doctor Strange comics utilize art that is a little difficult to follow to show the bizarre magic side of the Marvel Universe. However, in Strange Peterson uses very crisp and clean art. And while I can see it as a turn off to some people, it was a huge selling point for me.

Doctor Strange #1-5

Credits: Jason Aaron (W), Chris Bachalo (A)

Year: 2015

Best Source: Comixology

Note: This is Doctor Strange's current comic run. (Be careful, there is a 2009 run with the same name)

What can I say about this most current run of Doctor Strange besides the fact that I absolutely love it? Because of my access to Marvel Unlimited, there are very few comics from Marvel that I actively buy, however this is one that I rush to read every month. 

The story is great and the art is fantastic, but one thing that I love about it is that Jason Aaron has introduced a new concept into Doctor Strange that I don't think has ever been done before--every time Doctor Strange uses a spell it comes with a price. That price usually manifests itself as a sickness. So he spends many of the issues battling an inter-dimensional being while trying to hold back fainting and vomit. While it may sound disgusting, it adds another level to Doctor Strange that hasn't been tackled in the past.

Conclusion:

Although each and every one of these runs are fantastic and there are many more out there that are definitely worth your time, if I were to pick only two for you to read, it would be Strange #1-6 from 2004 and Doctor Strange #1-5 from 2015. These two will give you a perfect understanding of who Doctor Strange is and what we can expect to see from the movie coming out in November.

So those are some of my favorite Doctor Strange comics, do you have any favorites? And what other comic characters would you like some recommendations for? Leave your comments below and remember to always keep it unpopped.