May 2016

Revue of Game of Thrones S6E05

And after I had eagerly anticipated some good old hacking in Episode 6, The High Sparrow managed to ensure that I would not be satisfied…

First however, let us welcome back Benjen Stark, whom we had not seen since Season 1. Returning in the nick of time to rescue Meera and Bran was quite dramatic, as was his statement to Bran that he (Bran) would be ready when the Night King would come.

Now back to Kings Landing. I am uncertain as to how to take Margaery’s repentance. Knowing full well that she can be every bit as devious as Cercei, I cannot help but expect that we shall see the old Margaery sometime in the future when we have been lulled into an acceptance of her new found goodness.

Poor Jamie. After his remarkable ride up the stairs he was confronted with his lily-livered, yellow-bellied son (oops, sorry, nephew) spouting balderdash about the Crown and the Faith. And then he gets stripped of his rank and practically exiled! The pains of fatherhood (sorry, uncle hood).

Off we go to join Danaerys, who reunites with Drogon and whips the Dothraki into a frenzy. I agree with Daario. She is more inclined to conquer and wage war than to rule, as the collapse of government in Meeren proves. If she eventually is successful in taking the iron throne (who would stand in her way? Tommen?), chaos is most likely to ensue.

Sam and Gilly visited the Tarly household – a visit which ended with Sam changing his mind about leaving Gilly and young Sam behind after sustained verbal abuse from his father Randyll. Even though we are quite aware of the courage he displays in certain situations, his action of taking the family sword surprised me. I wonder if there is some significance in that move.

Now to my favourite moment of the episode – Ayra’s realization that she is not quite ready to become a faceless assassin. With Needle back into play, we can safely assume that she is about to return to her journeys. We just have to wait for her to cleave Waif in twain first, as she no doubt will.

I refuse to speak about Walder Frey. I have not yet recovered from the Red Wedding, and shall only speak of him when he gets what’s coming to him!

And that’s all folks.

Review Contribution by Noel Orji (the GoT maestro)

Twitter @ThaRevue

Facebook: @ThaRevue

Instagram: tharevue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com

Ciao.

The Maveriq

Revue of Alice Through The Looking Glass

Release Date; May 27, 2016

Genre: Fantasy

Directed By: James Bobin

On her return to Underland through a looking glass, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is reunited with the gang; The Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum and White Queen (Anne Hathaway). However, all is not well with the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) who has slipped into depression thinking about his dead family. Alice steals a device called the Chronosphere from Time (Sacha Cohen) to go back in time to try and save the Hatters family and put the color back in his face (literally). As we all know from Time Travel 101, there will always be consequences when you mess with the space-time continuum notwithstanding it was done with good intentions.

The movie was a spectacle to behold because as usual, the studios spared no expense in creating a visually splendid fantasy world as well as its characters. However, a number of people did complain that the plot was rather flat but I think it really wasn’t that bad. I have been reading online that it hasn’t been doing well in the box office and I am not sure why though. I mean, everyone knows the Alice story and not much can be changed so I am not sure what more people were looking for.

Could it be that audiences are finally tired of Johnny Depp and his queer characters? If that is the case, then there is cause to worry because another installment of Pirates of the Caribbean is in the works and we can’t afford to tire with Johnny just yet. I hear he is also staring in a remake of The Invisible Man.

Talking about time, am I the only one that thinks Sacha Cohen’s character kinda reminds me of Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo? Maybe it was the stache or it could be the hat. And if you don’t know who Officer Crabtree is or you haven't seen Allo Allo, don’t worry, it’s probably because you were born in the year 2000 LOL.

Time (left) Officer Crabtree (right)

Anyways, other than the kid that kept dropping spoilers in the cinema, I enjoyed seeing the movie and I advise that you don’t listen to the critics and go see it and make up your own mind. Alice Through The Looking Glass earns a 7.0/10 on my awesome-o-metre.

Please feel free to leave a comment below or let’s take it to social media.

Twitter: @ThaRevue

Facebook: Tha Revue

Instagram: Tharevue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com

Have a splendid week ahead.

The Maveriq

Revue of Race

Release Date; February 19, 2016

Genre: Sports drama

Directed By: Stephen Hopkins

Race is a sports movie about the legendary Jesse Owens who overcame racism to excel on the tracks at the Berlin Olympics. Despite the adversity he faced, Jesse (Stephan James) under the tutelage of Coach Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis) becomes the fastest man alive, blitzing long standing records in the process.

I am not a fan of sports movies (unless that sport is the WWF) and maybe it’s because of that bias that I did not particularly enjoy Race. Agreed that Jesse is a legend and his accomplishments was astonishing - especially for people of color, but did the movie have to highlight that narrative and nothing more?

I am not saying that the movie was bad but I am of the opinion that there could have been more especially as there was plenty room for character development (maybe its just me). See a movie like "Munich" was multi-dimensional and I think that's what this movie lacked.

Race is quite inspiring with a fair amount of entertainment and earns a 5.5/10 rating on my awesome-o-meter.

Let's continue this talk on social media,shall we?

Twitter @ThaRevue

Facebook: Tha Revue

Instagram: Tharevue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com

Thanks for always dropping in, come back again would ya? Take care y’all.

The Maveriq

Revue of Game of Thrones S6E05

And just like that, we are already halfway through the season. How sad.

After last week’s incidents, I had somewhat expected Episode 5 to be quiet. It ended up being quite revealing, and has given an insight into the things to expect. Other things however, have continued to run the same course.

Let me begin with the stupidity of the Starks. It is a truth, universally acknowledged that the Starks are about the most naïve people around. First Sansa in righteous indignation refuses the offer of an army from the Vale, and then Bran ignores the Three Eyed Raven’s instructions and opens the door to an onslaught by the Whitewalkers and killing nearly everyone in consequence. The reason behind Hodor’s monosyllabic portrayal is revealed, and we cannot help but feel sorry from his heroic demise, while his youthful self suffered a pain so traumatic that he was left with just one word. I will find it difficult to forgive Bran despite his revelation of the creation story of the Whitewalkers.

Tyrion and the new Red Priestess, Kinvara, could strike up an effective alliance, which Varys will probably find little comfort in. Religion remains the opium of the people and good old Tyrion will not hesitate to use it to his advantage.

Danaerys tearfully commands Ser Jorah to go find a cure for a disease without one, right after he declares his love for her. Thereafter she embarks on a journey with her new people. I wonder where she is headed this time. It appears that her journey still has many stops, and we will not see her return to Westeros soon, at least not in this season.

What a cruel people the Ironborn are! Euron’s declaration upon being crowned king (at a bizarre near-drowning ceremony) that Yara and Theon be murdered was only heightened by the instant response from his followers, to whom Yara and Theon had done no wrong. We probably ought to have been prepared by their calm acceptance of the murder of their King Baelon. Regardless of his manifesto that he would team up with Danaerys to conquer Westeros, I fail to see her aligning with such a character.

Finally, I am beginning to doubt that Arya will succeed at putting aside her past and becoming a faceless assassin. Her motivation was vengeance, which is at cross purposes with the dispassionate nature she is supposed to adopt.

Well, that’s all for this week folks. Hopefully Episode 7 will bring some action at Kings Landing.

We have waited way too long for a war and we are blood thirsty!

Review Contribution by Noel Orji (the #GoT Don)

Twitter @ThaRevue

Facebook: tha Revue

Instagram: tharevue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com

Ciao.

The Maveriq

Revue of X-Men: Apocalypse

Release Date; May 19, 2016

Genre: Sci Fi/Fantasy

Directed By: Bryan Singer

Another installment in this Marvel blockbuster ensues about 10 years after X-Men: Days of Future Past. This time, Mutant and Mankind are faced with annihilation in the hands of a “god” called Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) who is bent on “cleansing” the earth. As with all gods who want to reign on earth, he recruits earthly minions (including Magneto) to help in his world domination.

In the trailer, Apocalypse is first introduced as “Yahweh” the very first mutant who has been in existence since the dawn of civilization. However, deep in the movie, his name is somehow changed to Elohim. Hmmm, is Marvel strying to ruffle a few feathers?. I did notice quite a number of people in the cinema (probably Christians) flinch when he introduced himself as such and I understand their unease. People are quite sensitive when it comes to religion.

Moving on. How many times will we forgive Magneto for going to the darkside? Somebody really needs to do something about this. Apparently, Charles Xavier can erase peoples memory so I suggest that he lobotomise Magneto before he does some serious damage. That fella is in the habit of going rogue and from this movie it seems his powers have no limits. Talking about limitless powers, I have always known that Jean Gray is quite a powerful mutant but danm, I didn’t know she had that much in her. We get a peek into the extent of her powers and O boy, twas outrageous!

Remember that scene from Days of Future Past where Quicksilver broke out Magneto and was so fast everyone seemed to be moving in slow mo? Well, the guys at Marvel thought to themselves “Dude, why don’t we do that scene again?” So they decided to do an extended version and it was awesome! ….and it happened to be the only highlight in the movie.

Look, I know this installment is to introduce the young mutants but the story and the delivery seemed kinda flat to me. It took over an hour for anything meaningful to happen by which time I was losing patience already.

For the first mutant who has been around since civilization, Apocalypse was kind of weak villain in all honesty. I really expected more from his character but was pretty disappointed with the way a bunch of kids took on him.

Maybe it’s because I am still recovering from Captain America: Civil War but this movie seems to fall short of my expectations. There is however space for character development in subsequent installments and I am sure it will rake in a wad of cash for Marvel. X-Men Apocalypse makes for good entertainment and earns a 5.8/10 rating on my awesome-o-meter.

I am curious to hear what you guys think so hit me up.

Twitter @ThaRevue

Facebook: Tha Revue

Instagram: Tharevue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com

Enjoy your weekend.

The Maveriq

Revue of Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 4

All Hail the Great Mother of Dragons! The Unburnt!

Yes!!! Danaerys reminds us why she is a major character in the series. Does she remind us!!! Who are the Dothraki?!!! Who dem be?!!! I cannot imagine that I referred to her as “Poor Danaerys” after Episode 3!

In truth, the most amazing thing is that she pulled it off without her fire-breathing children, and largely without the aid of her two disciples and would-be rescuers. I cannot also fail to mention her return to nude glory – just in case we had started to think GoT was only about blood… tsk tsk.

My old friend LittleFinger is back. Sadly, I must say I feel his power waning. Needing to raise an army from the Vale to pursue his “love for Catelyn Stark” driven desire to rescue Sansa seems somewhat beneath his usual wiles. It was good to have him back, even though I feel his evil genius might be best applied to other causes.

Ramsay is such a bastard (pun intended). His letter to Jon exemplifies all that we know of him, and his killing of Osha (poor girl) does not surprise us in any way. Hopefully his letter and Sansa’s urging will spur Jon out of his self-piteous stupor and give him a cause to fight for. Even if the wildlings alone cannot defeat Ramsay, surely a two-pronged attack (remember Lord Baelish and the warriors of the Vale) would be sufficient.

“We make peace with our enemies, not our friends”. Tyrion brings his political nous into play again. To the dismay of Grey Worm and Missandei they are forcibly taught a lesson in governance and diplomatic relations, and the use of self-interest to drive the attainment of goals. I do wonder though how Danaerys will react when she returns to Meereen and discovers the pact that Tyrion has made with the Princes of Slavers Bay.

At Kings Landing, the infamous twins continue their plotting to down the High Sparrow. I cannot say I feel sorry for him. He has it coming – the sanctimonious bagger. His narration of his Damascus moment was not particularly convincing in my opinion. His love for power and his desire to do great things (such as bring down an empire) belie his pious.

Back to Danaerys. Let’s speculate a little. Now that she had added the Dothraki to her already impressive assemblage, what do we think she should do next? Is it time to return to Westeros and claim the throne? Ideas please people…

Review Contribution By Noel Orji (Our GoT Don)

lets keep the conversation going on social media.

Twitter @ThaRevue

Facebook: Tha Revue

Instagram: Tharevue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com

Thanks for coming around, come back again would you?

The Maveriq

Revue of Criminal

Release Date; April 14, 2016

Genre: Action Sci Fi/Crime

Directed By: Ariel Vromen

When William Pope (Ryan Reynolds) a CIA operative gets killed in pursuit of “The Dutchman” a hacker who has access to launch codes, the CIA have to figure out how to stop the access codes from getting to the Russians. They enlist a neurosurgeon (Tommy Lee Jones) to stick Bill’s memory into a compatible host who happens to be a violent criminal named Jerico (Kevin Costner) to help them track down the Dutchman.

Why does this storyline sound familiar? Hmmmm *scratches head*, maybe because it is the exact story line with a movie called Selfless!! Truthfully, I have a serious itch for some good ol’ Sci-Fi for a while and I thought maybe this was gonna be it, what with a cast that includes like Gary Oldman, Gal Gadot and Jordi Molla. Unfortunately, this wasn’t it.

Ignoring the clichéd storyline, and the underwhelming and ultra-predictable climax, I was really impressed with Costner’s performance. I could not imagine him being such a cold hearted and violent villain but he did a great job of it. And his performance was basically the highlight of the whole show. For some strange reason, I kept expecting Scott Adkins to take off his shirt and pull off some karate on someone but nope, it never happened. Tommy Lee Jones and Ryan Reynolds may have as well just been extras because they truly did nothing in the movie.

Sometimes when I watch these kind of movies like Transcendent and Source Code, it gets me thinking if electrical pulses really all that makes us human. Are we just a residue of memories, behaviors and skill-sets? Is that all that makes us human? but I digress.

Criminalhad potential to be a pretty decent movie but it fades off just as it was about to get going. It earns a 5.4/10 rating on my awesome-o-meter and is relegated to the almost good movies in my books.

So let's get talking on social media, shall we?

Twitter @ThaRevue

Facebook: Tha Revue

Instagram: Tharevue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com

Come back again would ya? Cheerio!

The Maveriq

Revue of The Angry Birds Movie

Release Date; May 11, 2016

Genre: Animation/ Adventure

Directed By: Clay Katis & Fergall Reiley

From the widely popular game comes the movie which seeks to explain why these adorable birds haul themselves at Pigs and other objects all day long. Well, now we know!

Angry Birds is about some flightless birds living happily on an island oblivious of any other existence outside their Island. It is kinda weird that the movie is about Angry Birds when most of the birds seemed quite happy and super excited. Well, all but Red AKA Eyebrows (voiced by Jason Sudeikiss) who has some serious anger issues.

All is well on the Island until the arrival of the green piggys who Red suspects are up to no good but no one believes him. He teams up with Chuck (Josh Gad) and Bomb (Danny McBride) who he befriends at anger management classes to find out the real motive for the arrival of the uninvited guests. Their snooping uncovers a sinister plot which the gang must thwart.

Firstly, I think the movie shouldn’t have been called Angry Birds because, there was just one angry bird. The rest of the birds seemed rather chirpy (pun intended).

Secondly, is it because I am older now that I notice the wisecracks and sexual innuendoes that are snuck into kids’ movies these days? Has it always been like that? There was even a scene where the Pigs seemed to have a playroom reminiscent of Christian Grey’s from Fifty Shades of Grey complete with sex paraphernalia and even a copy of Fifty Shades of Green on the shelf. Isn’t that a bit too much for a kid’s movie?

Anyways, at the cinema, the kids seemed to be having a blast with the colorful characters but the adults, not so much. I always knew it was gonna be a challenge to put a story behind a meaningless phone game so I wasn’t surprised that the movie did not take full flight. It was a feel good animated feature and the voice talents like Mighty Eagle (voiced by Peter Dinklage) did a decent job.

If I were a school teacher, I would give the Angry Birds Movie a C+ for effort. So I think a 6.2/10 score on my awesome-o-metre is fair enough.

Go ahead and take your kids to see it and watch them have fun; their laughter should give you some solace that you haven’t wasted money and time.

Make sure you bookmark this blog and visit us every day for new stuff. While you are at it, let’s hook up on social media;

Twitter @ThaRevue

Facebook: Tha Revue

Instagram: Tharevue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com

Peace out!

The Maveriq

Revue of Game of Thrones, Season 6 Episode 3

Well, Episode 3 seems to leave some questions unanswered.

Again, people die… It’s GOT. People will always die.

But let’s go back to the beginning….

Jon immediately disappoints us (and Melisandre) by stating that he saw nothing when he was dead. Oh well… let’s be content with his return.

Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven are really stirring things up with their trips back in time. Visions of young Ned Stark give us an inkling that we may yet discover if our fan theories regarding the events leading up to the war with the Targaryens were true. This is a really interesting development, as there are so many unanswered questions in GOT and these trips will eventually provide some answers.

Tyrion and Varys continue to plot and plan to hold the power and keep the peace in Meereen. We are however stumped by his conversation (or attempt at conversation) with Grey Worm and Missandei. Now we know that GOT does not waste scenes, so we must consider that there was a reason for this conversation, and that it was not merely borne out of Tyrion’s boredom.

Ramsay Bolton is offered a cheering gift, which in turn depresses us. The reappearance of Rickon Stark (who I’m sure some of us had forgotten about) should have pleased us. His deliverance into the sadistic paws of Ramsay chills us. Ramsay has now been put into a position of potential strength. I wonder how he will play this.

Poor Danaerys! Being compelled to confirm with the traditions of the Dothraki must be extremely painful. We cannot feel too sorry for her though, because we know it is only a matter of time before she is rescued.

Arya’s sight is restored in a manner far less taxing than we expected. This leads me to wonder if she is of greater value to Jaqen than he lets on, especially as she is being quizzed about her family.

The infamous twins, Cercei and Jamie, storm the small council – without much success. Cercei’s plans begin to come together, and we should soon expect some action against the High Sparrow and her other enemies.

So back to Jon Snow, who ostensibly performs his last act as Lord Commander by executing the unrepentant “oathbreakers” before handing over his cloak and symbol of authority. We are left to wonder what his destination – and new mission, is.

And so ends Episode 3. We await Episode 4 with bated breath.

Review Contribution By Noel Orji (Our GoT Don)

Piss out!

Revue of Barbershop- The Next Cut

Release Date; April 15, 2016

Genre: Good ol’ Comedy

Directed By: Malcom D. Lee

After waiting for over 10 years, Calvin and the crew are back in the Barbershop. However, the Barbershop is now merged with the beauty salon run by Angie and of course this comes with some hilarious consequences. While the shop is still funny, the neighborhood is plagued with gang related violence. Naturally, Calvin is worried about raising his son in that environment and enlists the support of the crew to do something about it. The movie features all the usual suspects; Common, Cedric the entertainer, Sean Patrick Thomas, Anthony Anderson, Regina Hall and JB Smoove. Also, there are new entrants like Nicki Minaj and an appearance by Tyga.

Other than being funny, this movie is a sincere take on society and its effects on marriage and parenting. But you know what caught my attention the most? This movie made me realize how the times have changed. I recall not so long ago, I looked up to a crazy black man who screamed “F**k the police”. That same dude is now advocating for kids to sheath their swords and come together. How ironic huh? How about the fact that there was a time when the female face of Hiphop was a ride or die chick called Eve but now we have Nicki Minaj.

Seeing Ice cube as a father figure and Nicki going toe to toe with Eve made me realize something; Danm, I am old!!!!

Barbershop: The Next Cut is a hilarious comedy with a splash of social responsibility and it deserves 7.1/ 10 on my awesome-o-meter. It’s a really decent movie and you won’t regret shelling out a few bucks to see it at the cinema.

Make sure you bookmark this blog and visit us every day for new stuff. Let’s hook up on social media;

Twitter: @ThaRevue

Facebook: Tha Revue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com

Bless up!

The Maveriq

Revue of Captain America- Civil War

Release Date: May 5, 2016

Genre: Science Fiction /Action/Extreme Awesomeness

Directed by: Joe and Anthony Russo

“Omoh, see fight o!!!!!!”

Those were the exact words that escaped my lips when I emerged white faced from the cinema. All that has been missing from super hero movies all these years has finally been unleashed, and all is alright with the world.

Political interference pitches Captain America against Ironman in this fiery sequel to the Winter Soldier. Tony Stark feels that the Avengers should be regulated and should be accountable to the U.N but Cap believes that the Avengers must remain free to defend humanity without interference. This drives a rift between the other superheroes who have to either align with Cap or Stark and this rift comes to a head in one of the craziest fight scenes you will ever see. How is this not the best plot for a movie? We all know that the Avengers are undefeatable, so why not get them to take each other out?

I won’t tell you who aligned with who but friendship and loyalty is tested. Civil War explores the notion that that the idea of right or wrong is essentially one of perspective. But I did feel for the other heroes who were torn between Cap and Stark because asking me to choose between them is like asking me in 1989 to choose between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior.

By the way, the first scene of the movie happens in Lagos, Nigeria. I was quite impressed with the attention to detail of the Lagos scenery. From the yellow cabs and buses, the traffic and even our police stations were well represented. But I did notice some serious advertisement/product placement in that scene (Nestle, I see what you did there).

New heroes were also introduced into the Avengers; Antman, Spiderman and Black Panther (my favorite) made an appearance and their integration was rather seamless. I think Marvel did a better job at introducing characters than what DC did in Batman Vs Superman.

Civil War is by far the best super hero movie till date. There, I said it! Did you see the scene where Bucky & Cap were tag teaming Ironman? Did you see the scene where Bucky hijacked a motor bike? Did you see Black Panther's entrance? What about Captain America and the chopper? And by Jove, did you see the fight sequences littered all over the movie? I am sure the fight scenes took over 1 hour of the movie; my favorite being that Airport scene. That scene was no child’s play and Spiderman can testify to that. I could just go on and on about the action sequence but you have to see it yourself to understand what I mean.

From my review I am sure you can decipher that I had a blast that I am contemplating going back for a second helping. I give Captain America- Civil War 8.9/10 on my awesome-o-meter. That’s like one of the highest ratings I have given a movie- the highest being 9.6/10 currently held by The Matrix.

But wait, who are these amateurs that watch a Marvel movie and still leave before the credit is done rolling, warris rung witew?

You need to head to the cinema this weekend to see it. Make sure you let me know what you think;

Twitter: @ThaRevue

Facebook: Tha Revue

Email: themaveriq@gmail.com.

Piss out Y’all.

The Maveriq

WELCOME TO THE REVOLUTION

Editor's Choice

Labels

Like Box