New 37 Gallon Update… at www.mindofshadow.com
March 2015 Movie Preview
Click Here: March 2015 Movie Preview
Check out the new digs: www.mindofshadow.com
Lifting PR: Manta Ray Squats 365×5
Big Things Coming to The Mind of Shadow
Stay Tuned and I will keep everything updated.
Site may be a bit slow until I get everything figured out so, don’t expect too much activity unless something HOLY CRAP! happens (Aquaman almost qualifies. Almost)
Stay tuned….
Kingsman: The Secret Service Review
Shadow’s Overall Rating: 8/10– Over-the-top violence and fun that is definitely worth a trip to the theaters and a slot on the DVD shelf.
Shadow’s Theater Rating: 10/10– So Much Fun!
Shadow’s Rewatchability Rating: 8/10
Rotten Tomatoe’s Rating: 73%, 6.7/10
Audience: 89%, 8.4/10
Plot in a Nutshell: A secret spy agency, The Kingsman, scramble to stop the plot of some evil rich dude while at the same time training new recruits to join their agency. And then add a large helping of VIOLENCE and an even larger helping of FUN!
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Spoiler Free Thoughts…
– With so many movies taking themselves way to seriously, it is good to run into a movie that realizes its only purpose is to entertain you. And this movie is exactly that. It was fun from the moment it started to the very end. It doesn’t take itself seriously at all, but in the good way. It IS over-the-top but it isn’t over-the-top silly. If that makes any sense. If you don’t like having fun, do not go see this movie.
– Also, if you do not like violence, do not go see this movie. Holy shit, this movie earned its R rating big time. There are a couple of scenes that will make you cringe a bit for sure. If you can’t handle people getting stabbed in the face, this is not your movie.
– The acting was great in this all around, even from the “kids” of the group which is great. Younger people acting can easily pass into that, “I hate this douschebag” territory but that never happened. You end up cheering for the main character Eggsy, which means he was built up properly. And Colin Firth was on top of his game and kicked a lot of ass as well.
– The villains of the movie continued this over the top theme. Jackon’s Mr. Valentine was incredibly odd, hilarious, and had a perfect, ridiculous evil plan that fit perfectly with a movie like this. He was essentially a Bond villain, and even his partner, the Asian with the knife legs Gazelle, was a perfect side kick. She was simply brutal and thankfully she wasn’t just a “henchmen” but actually seemed like a partner of sorts to the plans. Valentine was certainly the brains and she was certainly the muscle but it felt like a partnership, not a “rich guy hires bodyguard” relationship.
– The action scenes in this movie were BRUTAL. The church scene in particular… holy shit mane.
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Spoiler Filled Thoughts After the Jump…
Why Spider-Man Being Added to the MCU Really, Really Sucks
A lot of people forget or do not know that the Avengers didn’t used to be popular. People didn’t give a flying fuck about Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, ect. That is just what Marvel was left with after selling off the rights to the much more popular X-Men and Spider. Hell, they even sold the rights to Blade, Punisher, Daredevil, and Fantastic Four while being stuck with the Avengers! It sounds nuts now but the only reason Iron Man and company are as popular as they are is because Marvel didn’t have any choice. That is all they were left with. They made do with what they had and thank god they did because it has become awesome.
This lack of the big dawgs (Spider-Man and X-men) have also lead to movies being made such as Guardians of the Galaxy and future movies such as C and D list Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Inhumans, ect. If Spidey and X-men were around, these movies simply would not have been in production because… why would you when you could make much more money with Spider-Man, Wolverine, and X-men. Financially it makes no sense.
Sadly, with a return of Spider-Man to Marvel (in some capacity), we are going to see the effects of an A list character mucking up shit for everyone else.
Already, Spider-man has taken a prime summer spot from Thor, pushing Thor 3 (called one of the most important movies by Fiege….) back into the fall. And it has sent a ripple effect through all the announced movies, pushing them all back by 4-6 months. Even my beloved Black Panther!
And when the Avengers all meet up… do you think Spider-Man or Dr. Strange is going to get more lines? In Civil War, you think they are going to cut Stark’s screen time or T’challa? When Phase 3 ends (and the contract of the big three end as well) and the Avengers possibly need a new leader other than Stark/Cap… you think Spider-Man is a possibility or Captain Marvel and Luke Cage?
If you are a fan of Spider-Man… this is great news. But fan of C-list characters? This fucking sucks. You have one more A lister (THE A lister at Marvel) stealing a movie slot every 3 years that would have went to some lesser known characters.
Listen, I like Spider-Man. But there is really nothing unique about him at this point in the movie world. There is nothing super interesting. He is just a prototypical hero… his only real defining feature is that he is in high school.
You want different? How about a race of people with mutant like powers when exposed to a mist lead by a king who can’t speak without blowing up a city (Inhumans). How about an African, genius, king who leads the most technological country in the world that has never been conquered by outside force (Black Panther). What about the Sorcerer Supreme!
Wanting Spider-Man with Marvel may be a “be careful what you wish for” thing for us peeps who prefer C-list heros.
Kingsman: The Secret Service Initial Reaction
Saw it yesterday, worth Every. Single. Fucking. Penny.
This movie was VIOLENT and earned its R rating, yet was also fun as hell. It didn’t take itself too seriously and just brought a violent (VIOLENCE!), fun, over-the-top spy movie.
Go see it and support R rated action movies that are actually good. We need more movies like this!
Full review up later this week.
The Interwebz: Week 7
The Lie You’ve Been Sold at The Training Grind
– Scott dropping truth bombs.
NBA Mid Season Report Card by Andrew Sharp
– One of my favorite NBA writers along with Zach Lowe.
High Performance, No BS Correctives
– I typically hate T-nation but when someone links something I will check it out.
GIF PARTY!
Welcome To the Marvel Movie Universe Spidey!
Well its official. No, we don’t know 100% of the details but Spider-Man will officially be introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
This has been a long time coming. Spider-Man is in the top 3 most known super heroes in the whole world. He is easily Marvel’s top dog and has been well… for a long ass time. He appeals to kids, adults… everyone. He has one of the best and most known rogue galleries in comics period (only one better is Batman) including the likes of Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Rhino. Doc Ock, Vulture, Venom, Carnage, The Jackal, Kraven the Hunter, Sandman, ect ect. Could we possibly have Goblin/Norman show up in say… an Avengers movie? Possibly Dark Reign? We can only hope…
And now we might actual get a good movie franchise for him. To be honest, I am not the biggest Spider-Man fan. His cartoon used to be awesome as a kid and his comics are sometimes epic… but I don’t follow his comics much anymore and his movies have been completely average in my view. Yes, even the beloved Toby Spider-Man. The reboot has been super hit or miss.. juggling between awesome and downright cringe worthy. So giving SOME control to Marvel is bound to improve things overall.
It also gives us a chance to see Spidey interact with the rest of the MCU, which could be cool as well. Could he be leading the Avengers after Infinity War? Maybe. Will this halt Sony’s desperate attempt at a Spidey Universe with the likes of “female spider-mans” and Sinister Six? We can only hope.
So where is what we do know in regards to the deal. And right now, I am only going to be positive because honestly, this news comes with some huge draw backs in my eyes.
1. Spider-Man will likely first appear in Captain America: Civil War. So, with the success of Winter Soldier + Iron Man in the movie + being post Age of Ultron + Spider-Man.. this movie is guaranteed to do over a billion dollars.
2. A new, rebooted Spider-Man will come July 27, 2017, moving Thor 3 from it spot and shifting everything forward.
3. Spider-Man is going back to high school and Garfield is OUT. That whole universe is out… we think.
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The next article will go over why this news fucking sucks….
37 Gallon Update #3: Sterbii Cory Cats Added!
I have been looking for SOMETHING to put in with the tiger barbs. Something that could survive their onslaught basically. So, mostly some sort of bottom feeder they would leave alone. I saw some cool ass looking, bulking Sterbii Cory Cats and added 5 of those dudes in.
So far so good. They are active and cool looking. Here is a pic (not my fish) off the web of them…
Keeping my fingers crossed that the barbs leave them alone…
The Mind of Shadow 