Quick Review: MORTAL KOMBAT...

So earlier today, I watched the latest incarnation of Mortal Kombat on HBO Max. It was pretty entertaining. I never watched the original films from the 1990s, so I have no clue if Scorpion was depicted in such a sympathetic manner as he was in this latest cinematic version. But Hiroyuki Sanada—who appeared in other movies such as Avengers: Endgame, The Wolverine, 47 Ronin and The Last Samurai—did a terrific job conveying the tragic backstory behind how the 'Demon Ninja' came to be. Though not to be outdone by Sanada is Joe Taslim...who was fantastic as Scorpion's cold archnemesis, Sub-Zero. Originally known as Bi-Han, this 'Ice Ninja' was so formidable in Mortal Kombat that Jax (Mehcad Brooks) was right to point out that no one could fight Sub-Zero on their own.



In regards to the rest of the cast, it was commendable. Lewis Tan was great as Cole Young (the descendant of one of the supernatural warriors mentioned above), Jessica McNamee was badass as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson was hilarious as Kano, Tadanobu Asano was calm and cool as Lord Raiden, Chin Han was malevolent as Shang Tsung, Ludi Lin was fierce as Liu Kang, Max Huang did an awesomely gruesome thing with his metal hat as Kung Lao, Sisi Stringer was cool licking blood off her dagger as Mileena, and Mel Jarnson had a fantastic death scene as Nitara (Look at my previous comment about Kung Lao)! Also making an appearance in Mortal Kombat is Goro...who also went out in a blaze of glory (Re: disembowelment) too.



Unsurprisingly, the ending of Mortal Kombat lends itself to a sequel—which I'll definitely watch if Warner Bros. gives it the greenlight. Who will play Johnny Cage in the next movie, you ask? We'll see. But this sequel won't be complete without the Demon-and-Ice Ninjas making a return... Happy Saturday!

A Sad Day for L.A. Moviegoers...

FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP via Getty Images

A few hours ago, I found out through the Hollywood Reporter that ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres will permanently shut their doors—as business was unable to recover due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All I can say is, this is hugely disappointing...to the point where I almost became a bit teary-eyed as I read various news articles about this. Between 2004 and 2010, I had a fun job at a market research company where I worked movie test and press screenings at the ArcLight in Hollywood and Pacific Theatres throughout Southern California. Also, I watched such films as Avatar, Zero Dark Thirty and two Star Wars films (Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens, to be specific) at the ArcLight as well. Not only that, but I visited the ArcLight on Sunset Boulevard numerous times over the past decade to see costumes and vehicles used in flicks like Ant-Man and the Wasp, Deadpool 2, The Force Awakens and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, respectively, inside its main theater lobby.

And now it's all gone.

It's just painful that more nails continue to be placed in the coffin in terms of my memories at places that I'll no longer work at that I do want to work in again. I could make this Blog entry extremely long to voice more of my disappointment at this breaking news, but I'll conclude this here. Another era that I cherished comes to an end.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK Has Received a New Release Date...

So contrary to this previous Blog entry where I posted that Top Gun: Maverick was supposed to arrive in theaters nationwide on July 2, it will instead be released on November 19 of this year. This is actually great news! I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (by Pfizer) a little over a week ago, and I should get my second and last dose on April 21. While the protection by this vaccine would've been at its most potent in the middle of the summer, late November also gives a lot of time for millions of other hopeful moviegoers to get vaccinated before Tom Cruise's much-anticipated air-combat sequel lands in multiplexes everywhere. Herd immunity in the United States should already be taking place by the Thanksgiving holiday...hopefully.

And on another note, Indiana Jones 5 is expected to debut in theaters on July 29, 2022. James Mangold of 2005's Walk the Line, 2007's 3:10 to Yuma and 2017's Logan will direct the film. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who starred in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, will appear alongside Harrison Ford in the fifth Indy flick—while John Williams will return to compose the film's music score, respectively. Happy Friday!

AMC 20 Is Back in Business!

Earlier today, I visited my local mall, Puente Hills Mall (which, as you know, served as Twin Pines Mall in the first Back to the Future film), when I saw that AMC Theatres inside this shopping plaza finally reopened after being closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year! I'm so excited for this! Of course, I don't plan on watching a movie here till this summer (when the next Marvel flick Black Widow opens nationwide on July 9). But I'll definitely go to this AMC 20 theater when movies that are really worth seeing on the big screen (particularly on IMAX), such as Top Gun: Maverick, are finally unleashed in cinemas around the country. The Top Gun sequel arrives in theaters on July 2. Oh wait— That's one week before Black Widow is released! Niiice!

Images of the Day: Snapshots from GODZILLA VS. KONG...

So earlier today, I watched the monster flick Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max. It was a very action-packed film! I have questions about that whole Hollow Earth subplot, but then I remembered that I'm watching a movie about a giant radioactive lizard that fights a huge gorilla who welds an axe that Thor from the Marvel universe would envy. Also, if you're a Pacific Rim fan, you'll like how Godzilla vs. Kong pays homage to the 2013 flick by having humans build a gigantic robot (which is actually a classic Godzilla villain who I spoiled with two screenshots below) designed to fight Godzilla and replace him as the Alpha Titan. And of course, if you saw the 2018 sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising, you'll know that the humans' plan to use Kaiju brain matter to power that robot wasn't the wisest move in the world. I'll leave it at that.



The downside of streaming Godzilla vs. Kong online as opposed to viewing it at the theater is the fact that I paused the film so many times to capture these awesome screenshots below (which is the same thing that I did with Zack Snyder's Justice League last month). Oh well. This will probably be the case one more time with Mortal Kombat...which opens in theaters on April 16 and premieres on HBO Max exactly one week later. Happy Easter Weekend!