TheRetroCritic

It's Sly time again as I put myself through The Expendables 3 . Had to be done.

What is The Expendables about, really? As a franchise, I mean. It's about a bunch of old badass dudes doing badass stuff, killing bad guys in ridiculous ways, overkills aplenty, the whole thing peppered with bad one-liners and people overcompensating for several things with oversized weapons. It's not exactly rocket science, but it doesn't need to be: it works. And yet... Somehow, in between the actually not too bad The Expendables 2 and this one, it seems that the franchise's maestro, Sylvester Stallone, has forgotten what the hell this whole thing was about in the first place. After a silly opening action sequence, we find ourselves in yet another silly action sequence except that, at the end of that one, a member of the "crew" is badly injured by Mel Gibson's villain. Something for which I blame Stallone's Barney Ross entirely, by the way, since he completely ruined the entire mission and put everyone at risk by yelling the bad guy

I rant about Guardians Of The Galaxy ... at length. I'm "hooked on a feeling" that you're not surprised about that.

Today we lost not only a Hollywood and comedy icon but an inspiration. I can't speak for everyone but, for me personally, Robin Williams was more than just another actor: his work was a huge part of my childhood and, in a way, he helped shape who I am. After all, it's no accident that my very first published movie review would end up being One Hour Photo many years later, the actor's impact still going strong even after I'd grown up. Williams was not only a comedy genius with his own unique, instantly recognisable style but a damn fine actor as well and an anarchic stand-up very few comedians could match in terms of sheer tornado-like creativity. Like many who grew up in the late 80's/early 90's, I was introduced to Williams through more kid-friendly movies and it's only much later that I'd see him pop up in shows like Larry Sanders , Friends or even his very own off-beat classic Mork & Mindy . Aladdin blew my mind as a kid.  V

Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE In this third episode, we discuss Birdman, Batman: The Animated Series, belts, stoner Gordon and we end with a riddle. Hope you enjoy it! You can also find us on podcast  The Big Rewind  (available on iTunes) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

If there was one Marvel movie everyone expected to be a flop, that was Guardians Of The Galaxy . Based on a less obvious comic-book with no traditional superheroes, made for a hefty sci-fi budget and starring the likes of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as a talking tree and a talking raccoon respectively, this looked set to be another Lone Ranger -style disaster and an overly jokey trailer certainly didn't help. And yet here we are, with fanboys and girls everywhere saying (and tweeting) "I Am Groot!" like they really are Groot, rocking out to old pop tracks your weird uncle probably sings at weddings and Marvel once again making millions somehow. It's a mad, mad world. If you don't already know, the film sees an Earth dude-turned "Starlord" (and his trusty Walkman) setting out to steal some powerful sphere only to then meet with a bunch of galactic misfits who help him escape from a space prison. They team up to take down some bad guy who als

In this 40th episode, Adam (aka The RetroCritic) and fellow film buff Jamie discuss movie news and review Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes . CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE Email us here if you have any questions, requests or contributions:  bigrewindpodcast@gmail.com Or simply comment below :) Oh and you can also find us on  iTunes  where you can subscribe to the podcast and download every episode thusfar! @TheRetroCritic #MonthOfTheApes retrocriticblog.blogspot.com thebigrewind.blogspot.com youtube.com/TheRetroCritic youtube.com/Cablogula

Month Of The Apes wouldn't have been complete without a Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Vlog so... There it is!

After the ridiculously fun Mars Attacks! , Tim Burton soon went back to sci-fi with his very own "reimagining" of a classic and famously did not exactly charm critics and audiences with 2001's Planet Of The Apes , a film widely regarded as his worst effort to date. Even if Dark Shadows and Alice In Wonderland got just about as much crap upon their releases. The sad thing is that, although this Planet Of The Apes has a few things going for it, it's a hard one to defend seeing as it gets so much wrong. Not even just in terms of how it differs from the original story but as a film in general. To start on a positive note, however, I should point out that the film sets itself up rather well with a terrific score by the ever-reliable Danny Elfman and the best ape make-up effects in probably any movie. The all-star cast, which includes Charlton Heston himself in a cameo appearance, disappears under those effects and that makes it much easier to buy the whole talking

I look back at a little film called X-Men: Days Of Future Past . You might have heard of it.