Paranoia (Blu-ray Review)
November 24th, 2013 by Brandon Peters
Paranoia is a film that came and went last summer that you probably blinked and missed it. The film didn’t even place top 10 in the box office on its opening weekend (#13). Its surprising too as the film sports a Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman and a fresh young face from a wildly popular film franchise in Liam Hemsworth. The quality of the film didn’t get any buffer from critics as it holds a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. So, is this film some lost gem? Were the critics too harsh on it? Or perhaps you’re looking to know “What the hell is Paranoia?” Here at Why So Blu, we’ve got this all covered for you. Continue reading ‘Paranoia (Blu-ray Review)’
Ah…Giancarlo Esposito…what can I even say about this man? This guy had me the minute he said hello in Los Pollos Hermanos in TV’s Breaking Bad. God! How I miss the man. You always have your fair share of villains you love in movies, but for me it’s a rarity in the world of television. As soon as his character Gus was introduced to us onscreen, I wanted to know all I possibly could about the man and most importantly his chicken brand. Lol. The guy was a complete mystery and an enigma to me and for many reasons he was my favorite villain ever to grace prime time television and I miss him dearly. I later caught up with the man on some ghost program this year where he professed to living in a haunted house before. So I don’t care what it is. If he’s in it, I will watch it. And that’s exactly why I’m here today on a brutally cold Sunday morning at Austin Comic Con to see my favorite television villain chat with his fans in Ballroom F. The following is my recount of the candid conversation.
I’m not much of an Evil Dead groupie, but I respect it for what it was. I love most of Raimi’s work and let’s face it, what’s not to love about actor Bruce Campbell? The man’s quick witted that’s for sure. This was probably the rowdiest Comic Con panel I’ve seen in a long time. Bruce reminded me of a game show host the way he patrolled and controlled the stage on foot with his hand held mic. He immediately began by asking the audience how far they travelled to come here today and ended up giving a guy from Mexico City $5 for gas. No joke! Here’s a little more that went down tonight in the almost hour long Bruce Campbell comedy stand up show. Who needs a table, right? 
Days 1 and 2 of the Austin Comic Con are in the books and it was the usual fun and sensorary overload to be found on the exhibitors floor. Actors such as R.I.P.D.‘s James Hong and The Walking Dead‘s Laurie Holden were found strolling about. Fans could be found adorned in the threads of their favorite superhero or steam punk attire. And then there is the merchandise. Yes, sensory overload indeed, but amidst all the artwork and collectibles stood a writer and his book.
I kind of find it very funny or maybe even a little ironic in the fact that I would see Robert Rodriguez each and every summer at Comic-Con in beautiful downtown San Diego. And now that I moved to the man’s main town in Austin, TX this past February, I have not bumped into him once. Weird, huh? One of my favorite Rodriguez moments had to be in front of his taco truck in San Diego when he was out promoting the first Machete film. I actually got thrown out from the press event because I snapped a picture of the man on my cell phone. How unprofessional, huh? Well, many years have separated that mistake and as a result I’m not only more of a professional now, but I also have a much bigger camera. See guys, it is the size of your instrument! LOL.
Arguably the most colorful actor from the cast of The Walking Dead, Michael Rooker headlined his own discussion panel, casting aside the need of a moderator. After all, Rooker is a man of many words, so why let someone else use them? There was much for the actor to say, even touching on his latest project just completed overseas. Michael made his entrance to a resounding applause as yours truly had front row seats for the event. After expressing his appreciation for the room’s welcoming, Rooker quickly mentioned he just returned from Europe as filming wrapped up on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The very animated actor plays a very real Yondu in the film; a blue alien whose specialty comes in the form of hunting. When asked just how much of his body was painted, Rooker quickly replied, “Why? Are you looking for a job?” As the audience’s laughter subsided, he did say he had quite a lot of blue paint in quite a lot of parts. We’ll take his word for it.
As a child of the 70’s, what youngsters did not grow up with Ralph Macchio and The Karate Kid? Is that the true definition of a rhetorical question or what? I know firsthand that flick had a profound impact in my life. It gave me the much needed strength and confidence to stand up to bullies in school and also got my a$$ involved in martial arts, fighting competitions and even the donning Chuck Norris inspired Century uniforms. So as you can see, I was clearly a karate nut growing up and I owe it all to one skinny kid (well I guess he really wasn’t a kid when filming these) who took on and did the impossible in The Karate Kid. Brilliant stuff! And now after all these years I’m finally face-to-face here in the front row with the man responsible for all my fighting fervor…Mr. Ralph Macchio ladies and gentlemen. 
I feel fortunate that I was able to check out the happy go lucky Q&A chat with Stan Lee Saturday morning in the large Hall D. As usual he was very nice, cordial, candid and engaging with the captive audience. You can’t say he didn’t feel comfortable with his time spent on the panel as he was cracking jokes left and right. I must admit, it was a good time had by all as I enjoyed myself tremendously as did the rest of the extremely excited audience. So as I took it all in and relished in the man’s rich history, which I envy, I was able to jot down a few notes and highlights on some of the questions asked and statements made by the “legend.” They are as follows. Enjoy! 
There is a certain kind of logic I am intrigued by when a studio decides that a big family dramedy that is to be released on Thanksgiving should be based around a sperm donation gone disastrously wrong. That’s what happened and Delivery Man is unfortunately not better than the premise suggests it could be. It is not for lack of trying, as I generally like Vince Vaughn in almost anything and feel the film actually makes its dramatic beats work fairly well, but given that the film is ostensibly a comedy, Delivery Man fails to…deliver more than a few laughs to go along with the hearts of the 500+ children that Vaughn becomes responsible for.
Come on! Let’s be serious here! I initially only saw this movie for two main reasons. First, I had to check out Jennifer Aniston’s banging stripper body (tell me who didn’t) and second, when that boy starts singing “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls” in the RV at the end of the film’s theatrical trailer, he had me at hello. I wanted to see more of that! So with that being said and admitted, I flung myself whole-heartedly into the press screening of We’re The Millers this past August. With an all-star cast consisting of Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter, Ed Helms, Kathryn Hahn, Nick Offerman and more, who could possibly resist a screening of this (or a Blu-ray in this case) anyway? Please people, that was a rhetorical question. Now that we have that out of the way let’s momentarily cut the stress cords of life (wish I could do that permanently) and take a few minutes to chat about the lighthearted comedy We’re The Millers…arriving on Blu-ray and DVD everywhere November 19th. 
Well I know one person that will be excited for news of Machete Kills coming to Blu-ray in January…our very own Gregg Senko! He must be doing cartwheels right now as it has just been announced that this explosive sequel that breaks all the rules is hitting the Blu-ray and DVD formats on January 21st with an early drop date of January 7th on Digital HD. Woo hoo! I’m excited! But don’t take my word for it, take the studio’s with the official press release posted below in all its glory. This is going to be one bloody good time! 
With only two more days separating us Austinites from total geekdom at Austin’s own Comic Con this year, here’s some news that we just learned about that should excite everyone that’s planning on going. Below is today’s official announcement from Marvel that it will be debuting its new animated film Marvel’s Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United at Wizard World Austin Comic Con on Saturday, and that Fred Tatasciore, the voice of Hulk, will be appearing to introduce the film, do a general Q&A with fans, sign autographs and meet with press. How cool is that? I hope to see you all there! In them meantime though, do check out the press release below. Enjoy! 
