A Fresh Take

Superhero movies are becoming pretty damn popular. Between the madcap rush of Marvel and DC there are new films in the genre popping out multiple times a year. Many of the flicks are a fun time at the theater; we get to sit back and watch Captain America punch Nazis. Maybe enjoy Wonder Woman, Batman, and the Flash interacting with Aquaman to save the day. Thor: Ragnarok presented a fun sci-fi movie, and Chris Pratt steals the hearts of men and women alike as Starlord in Guardians of the Galaxy.

But even if these movies are a fun couple of hours, aren’t superhero movies getting a little stale? The New Mutants is going in a different direction than we’re used to, and that’s a good thing.

Tell Me More…

The New Mutants is set in the Marvel universe. Believe it or not, the X-Men actually began their career as high school students with extraordinary abilities. As the characters grew in power and maturity, they graduated from high school and became a full-fledged team. That’s when The New Mutants entered; a group of kids to serve as the next class of superpowered youngsters working towards an education. The students would learn how to use their abilities and work as a team.

Seems like it’d be easy to transition to your standard set-em-up-and-knock-em-down movie plot. But this movie goes against the rules and firmly stands its ground as a horror film.

Plot details are sketchy, but the trailer is a revealing glimpse at what the movie’s all about. The protagonists are mutants in a hospital reminiscent of something out of Shutter Island or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on a bad acid trip. As they’re struggling to understand why they’re stuck in this dark place, they are discovering there own mutant abilities. One of the characters is something reminiscent of a werewolf, played by Maisie Williams of Game of Thrones fame. Another character opens portals to a demonic limbo, while Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things plays a character who becomes an uncontrollable surge of indestructible force.

The teens witness bizarre things happening in the hospital that could seemingly only be attributed to something paranormal. Scenes in the trailer genuinely made me say, “What the fuck?” Now that’s a good reaction! Director and screenplay writer Josh Boone said he hopes to turn the movie into a trilogy. Each film would be its own standalone story, each a guaranteed horror film. How’s that for a superhero flick?

The New Mutants: In Theaters April 13th

To add another layer of spooky to The New Mutants, the film will open on Friday the 13th in April, 2018. Talk about good timing there.

This is a film to break into if you’re tired of the usual formula for a superhero movie, or if you are new to the genre and want to see a unique introduction. It’s a great way to dive a little deeper into the Marvel universe, and for longtime fans it’s a movie that is an exciting departure back to basics.

The post The New Mutants: A Fresh Superhero Movie? appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

“Whether I’m playing Super Smash Bros (N64 of course) or watching a movie in my room, projectors have always been the superior television option in my opinion.”

While in college, I bought a projector and have never looked back. Whether I’m playing Super Smash Bros (N64 of course) or watching a movie in my room, projectors have always been the superior television option in my opinion.

Which brings us to now. I live on the third floor of a house in Philadelphia with a bedroom, bath, and study to myself. Working full-time at Car-Tel Communications means I can finally afford to attempt a true home theater system rather than the hodgepodge Craigslist setup I used previously. Only one problem, the study is 10ft x 20ft and I can’t use the longer side since I want to keep my desk and easel up there. So I need to figure out how to wire a 5.1 channel speaker system to a projector that throws to fill a 84″ drop down screen in under 10 feet. And I need to fill the space with furniture, that too.

Furniture and speakers came first. I was tempted to order the projector and screen, but thought it better to be comfortable and screen-less than cross legged on my wood floor. I ordered a loveseat and a rug and was gifted a glass coffee table from my roommate’s grandmother (RIP Barbara). So with the room accessories taken care of I was able to focus on my master tech plans.

Being fully immersed in sound is important to me. Whatever I am doing, I want to have sound directed at me from all corners of the room. That means that a simple sound bar or 2.1 stereo system (where the .1 stands for the sub woofer, which I did not know until fairly deep into my speaker research) just won’t do. I needed a 5.1 system that I could mount and wire myself but didn’t take my budget and Judo-Chop it in the neck.

After hours of research and way too many amazon reviews, I went with the Onkyo HT-S3700, a 5.1 home theater speaker and receiver all in one as well as two 100ft rolls of 14-gauge speaker wire from MediaBridge.

In this instance and with the help of Captain Hindsight, buying 14-gauge speaker wire was downright stupid. I had to trim the copper wires down to fit it into the L-R ports in the receiver! Which is extremely counterproductive when you buy the 14-gauge wire because it’s thicker (and thicker wire transmits signal better). So anyway, just buy the 16-18 gauge stuff; it’s half the price and easier to work with. Also, if you’re wiring along the baseboards of your room like I did, then do yourself a favor and double-down on how much wire you buy. Just for a small 10×10 space I used roughly 150ft of speaker wire! And when you run out mid-way to the receiver splicing two different speaker wire rolls together is a headache.

Once wired, the speakers and receiver worked flawlessly. With Bluetooth connectivity, 5 HDMI inputs, and even an L-R-Video input for my beloved Nintendo, I could not have asked for anything more. Receivers like the one that comes with this 6-piece speaker set can cost anywhere from $150-$300 dollars by themselves; which is why I am so impressed with the pricing for the Onkyo HT-S3700. I was disappointed, however, to find that Bluetooth connections only transmit 2.1 sound (stereo) rather than full surround sound (5.1), but that is no fault of the Onkyo system.

Next up is the projector and drop-down screen, which had to wait due to financial constraints (AKA they cost a little more than I was expecting.)

The post Creating a Home Theater in Tight Spaces: Part One appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

While this movie is a convoluted wreck and failure on many levels, it does have a few instances of genuine humor and engaging cinematic moments.  There is a truly enjoyable moment when the Nazis bomb Earth by towing massive asteroids in to its atmosphere that is actually done quite well.  There are also some funny moments in the film such as a scene during a UN meeting where the North Korean delegation tries to claim that the space ships raining fire on the US were actually designed by their dear leader for world domination, only to be laughed out of the room.  The special effects are gritty, cold, mechanical, and surprisingly well executed; my hat is off to the special effects team who were obviously working on a shoestring budget.

The bottom line is; this movie is disappointing in nearly every way except for a somewhat fun, fast paced, and campy final 30 minutes.  This final act becomes an engaging indie sci-fi extravaganza with spry space combat sequences and cheeky one-liners that actually make the end something worth the time to watch.  While the big reveals are easy to predict and not too exciting, it is still fun to see the Earth unite to fight this space-based Nazi threat. Sadly, the last 3 minutes of this otherwise fun finale are an unadulterated mess with a half assed final message that was clearly added to make the movie more ‘edgy’.

When you are perusing Netflix and you want to experience the best movie that the ‘Nazis from Space’ genre has to offer do your self a favor and skip to the final 30 minutes of Iron Sky.

The post Netflix B Sides: Iron Sky appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Hollywood has not always been known for their accuracy in terms of portraying hacking and the impact.  As seen in this blog I wrote for Webroot, Hollywood and hacking, the majority of the time it feels like producers in Tinsel Town don’t have a full grasp on how hacking works or how to accurately present it to the viewers, and instead come up with ridiculous uses of the computer that make little to no sense to the tech-savvy.

Blackhat felt like the opposite of that.  And that is the biggest surprise for us.  In all honesty, we headed into the movie, expecting it to have major misrepresentations and to tear it apart.  But as we sat around discussing the flick, we concluded that the team behind the movie really did their research.  Dare we say that Blackhat might be one of the best Hollywood representations of hacking and cybercrime, especially focusing on the darker side of criminal activities?

Yes, we do dare.

To say the movie is truly authentic would be a stretch, but the fact is that Michael Mann avoids the major stereotypes that have become all too commonplace in other films. He also does a good job traversing the social-political game of relations between US Government agencies as well as US-China relations. As a result, the story carries itself through very well to the end.

The movie actually presented many different methods that criminals will attempt to breach security, including social engineering, direct breach, cyber espionage, and computer hacking itself.  While hacking was a central topic throughout, ‘Blackhat’ was more than just about hacking, and focused more on cyber-terrorism, a broader yet more relevant topic that has been in the news quite a bit lately.  Each of these methods of breach are an everyday threat to organizations big and small.  If anything, the movie stands as a representation of the complexity of today’s security environment, showing how security alone will do little to keep a network safe.

While there was a bit too much Hollywood sexiness and bravado when it comes to just how talented the characters were, this inclusion surely added to the entertainment value.  We wish we could go from evaluating code to globetrotting, chasing down the bad guys, but sadly that is not how it works these days.

Overall, Blackhat was a well told story, and from a security team’s perspective, it maintains a solid grasp on reality in most of its hacking scenes.  The entertainment value was there, alongside fairly accurate representations of security infiltration, leading us to walk out pleasantly surprised.  And we think you might be as well.

This Blackhat movie review was originally posted on Webroot’s Threat Blog and edited for FactoryTwoFour.

The post Did Blackhat just break the hacker movie stereotype? appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

And if none of those categories appeal to you? Well, I still think you won’t go wrong with this film. Between the lush Italian backdrop and Rob Brydon’s hilarious impersonations of Al Pacino and Christian Bale, it’s simply got too much going for it. In the spirit of full disclosure, however, I must confess: I might have a tiny crush on Steve Coogan. I haven’t the foggiest notion why, but let’s just set that aside for now and take a closer look at the irrefutable facts of the situation.

The Trip to Italy is the unlikely sequel to 2010’s The Trip, in which Coogan and Brydon take a road trip through the rural north of England sampling – you guessed it – haute cuisine as food critics for the UK’s Observer. I say “unlikely sequel” because the original Trip grossed only $2M at the box office, which means you probably didn’t see it. No matter – you needn’t have seen it in order to appreciate this latest installment, especially when it comes to the humor. I’m not ashamed to say I fell for every joke they proffered, from the urbane to the profane.

Both Trips were brought to you by revered British screenwriter and director Michael Winterbottom, and it’s his genius behind the camera that has people walking out of the theater asking, “Was that fictional or not?” Although much of Italy was improvised by the two leading men, it was indeed fictional. However, if you want to go through life thinking it was more real than not, I don’t think anyone involved would mind. I personally can’t wait to find out where our roving food critics are headed to next! Here’s hoping they save us all a seat at the table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55OtglvtXuI

The post The Trip to Italy: Buon Viaggio! appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

I’ll take a stab and say maybe it’s because you’re a huge Marvel fan, and you can’t bear to see what the makers of this film have done to your beloved heroes, especially considering that one of the screenwriters was completely new to Marvel. Or maybe the exact opposite is true! Maybe you aren’t a Marvel fan – or a fan of any comic-book universe whatsoever – and you can’t imagine that this movie has anything to offer you. No matter which boat you’re sailing in, I’ve got good news for you. Guardians rocks!

Myself, I was sailing in the second boat. I enjoy a comic-book movie more than the average bear, but I’m not a collect-them-all kind of gal, and I certainly wouldn’t know if the film committed any egregious crimes against the Marvel canon. I will say, however, that many of my nearest and dearest do fall in that category, and they were more than satisfied by what director James Gunn delivered. They were, in fact, blissed out from start to finish by the characters, the dialogue, the action, the special effects, the humor, and the surprisingly touching storyline, as was I.

Truth be told, I mostly came for the raccoon. Kids these days have grown up with all this incredible CGI, but I’m old enough to still get a kick out of talking mammals, especially a heavily-armed raccoon with a twisted sense of humor and a keen eye for prosthetics. But the moment the film started, it was not the raccoon but the soundtrack that had me charmed. It starts off with 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love,” throws in some Bowie and some Joan Jett, then comes to a triumphant halt with the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” It’s genius, as evidenced by the album’s #1 position on the Billboard 200 for the second week in a row.

The moral of the story? Come for the raccoon – or for the tunes – or for the all-star cast, but be prepared to stay for a fantastic movie, no matter which part of the galaxy you call home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B16Bo47KS2g

The post Guardians of the Galaxy: Made for Everyone appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Let’s get one thing straight before the actual review.  “Chef” is over 2 hours of food porn.  I mean pure, unadulterated, delicious food porn.  I went into this movie after a big brunch and within 20 minutes was craving everything I saw on the screen.  I didn’t even know what half of it was, but damn did it look delicious.  In the end, I went home and cooked a mean skirt steak with a red pepper sauce and a side of potatoes and asparagus.  I gave up on the quick meals because of this movie.  Okay, now it’s said.

Very rarely do I get excited about a movie enough to see it in theaters, but the new Jon Favreau flick “Chef” caught my eye.  The trailer showed the all-star cast, including Dustin Hoffman and Scarlett Johansson, and the story felt unique enough for me to actually want to see it.  And I am glad I did.  This is a mid-life crisis story, one told from the perspective of acclaimed chef Carl Casper, played by Jon Favreau.  At one time, he was the chef that everyone wanted to be, the man with the creative vision, but has since lost the passion and encouragement to continue being innovative.  He was a lost chef in a food-focused world, unable to grow his passions.  His skill was definitely there the whole time, so this isn’t a journey in that, but it was his lacking of control over his kitchen, the food, and his personal life that put him down this road.

What starts with a bad review, quickly escalating to a flame war over the social media channel Twitter, the Chef’s spiral downward is wide spread and impacting, driving him out of the kitchen, out of a job, and looking to find something.  And this is where the journey begins.  It was not just a a rebuilding of his career, but a finding of his true self, a focus of his talents, and growth of the inner core of a man.  Yes, it is a coming of age movie with midlife crisis poured all over it, and it may feel as if I am ruining the point of it, but I am not.  It’s the story being told that is worth seeing, one that might feel familiar in a way. but is unique especially when compared to the others that tend to fall under this category.  There are no extra ordinary circumstances, nothing that makes this feel as if the Chef could not be any other person.  It feels real, true, and good.

So, while the story may not be the most unique and does fall in the by-the-numbers, storyline with a neatly rolled up plot and under-dramatic climax, it has a good spirit to the idea of rediscovery.  And one of the more appealing aspects is it is not a movie you walk away from asking “but what about this” in, where the plot holes are minimum and the flick feels complete.  It makes food trucks and cooking exciting, and really does fit in with this foodie culture we have all seemed to fallen into.  Like the food being served, it shows that a movie can be wonderful to see if simple and true.  It’s worth every penny seeing, and then heading off to the closest unique restaurant as you will be walking away hungry.

An all star cast, a solid story, and a great director/lead actor all adds up to a move you should see.  We promise you will enjoy it. Oh, and did I mention the food?  Oh yes, the food.

The post A Feast With ‘Chef’ appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

For more than a decade the streets of Bmore have played host to the antics of dirt bike and 4-wheeling youths displaying their riding skills and popping wheelies “up to 12 O’clock.” But what started out as 10 friends riding together at a time has ballooned into great anarchic carnivals of 30+ motorcyclist shutting down streets, blasting through oncoming traffic, and openly taunting police. The irony in all this is that becoming a biker boy is seen as a positive move away from the gang activity or hustling that is the de facto way of life in these modern day ghettos.

Enter Pug, the 10 year old we follow throughout the 90 minutes of 12 O’Clock Boys. He’s a smart kid, gives his single mother nothing but grief, wants to be a veterinarian, and longs for nothing more than to join the 12 O’Clock Boyz. And he’s got the chops. He skips school to put around on his miniature 4-wheeler and spends every moment he can around the riding crew and encouraging their antics – all while talking shit about how good he is and will show them all soon. Pug is keeper, and it’s a joy to follow him for three years as he works to join the outlaw crew.

I don’t believe in spoilers, so I’ll have to be careful here. The film is gorgeously shot and the lush, sensual cinematography is a revelation against the gritty and anti-social subject that it so aptly captures. Pugs journey offers us a window into a culture and way of life that many of us have no other access to. The film is both short and short on story, with little actually happening in Pug’s life during the span of filming. The other characters, his bombastic mother most definitely included, certainly make up for this and leaving a film wishing for more of everything in a movie isn’t really a bad thing.

12 O’Clock Boys is definitely worth your time, especially as it is also available on YouTube and other VOD services as well as select theaters. I enjoyed peaking into Pug’s life and was rooting for him to make, both into the Boyz and out of his life circumstances. Above all that, all I really wanted to do when walking out of the theater was to go jump on my motorcycle and pop my first wheelie…

You can watch the trailer for 12 O’Clock Boys below:

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