I Watched the X-Men Trilogy Today.

I know it's kinda dorky, whatever. That shit chokes me up. Damn.

I always get a little pissed after I watch X3. I don't want to be a hater, but I do like to be a critic- Brett Ratner (director of X3) f'ed up. Bryan Synger did a great job on 1 and 2, and I'm a little disappointed he gave it up to direct Superman. I'm sure there was a lot of money involved, but it couldn't have been that much more money than X-Men. X3 was one of the top grossing opening weekends of all time, after all. He seemed really into the first 2 movies and spent years on them, I don't understand how he could leave it all that work behind. Well, whatever. He turned down X3 and, after a bunch of other directors turned it down, the movie went to Brett Ratner, the genius behind a lot of music videos and the Rush Hour trilogy- awesome. I think the best work I've seen from this guy is the music video for "Just Like Me" by Jamie Foxx. That's how good he is. Anyway. . .I actually do like the general outline of the plot, but it seems like the final product was just thrown together leaving several things seeming like an after thought. One of my biggest annoyances with the film is the completely under developed and uneffective character of Angel. I get what he was supposed to accomplish, but the anti-mutant father with the mutant son card got played in X2 and the "you're afraid of me but, in the end, I'll save you anyway" is the theme of the X-Men in general. So that was a waste of the 90 seconds that Angel is in the film. I'm also annoyed by the Kitty/Bobby/Rogue love triangle. Bobby and Kitty flirting with Rogue getting jealous is a recurring theme throughout the movie and then suddenly it disappears. This is a situation between 3 main characters and everyone just forgets about it? Did you forget about that story line Brett Ratner? Too busy thinking of special effects sequences to make sure the plot is cohesive?

Just for fun- X-Men Origins: Wolverine in a few words- Fighting. Special Effects. Action. Explosions. Plot Twists. Cliches. Cheese. Comedy. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

I like this.

Live Album Recording May 29th 2009!

Drew Mantia Band will be recording a live album on Friday, May 29th @ The Old Rock House in Saint Louis, MO. Come join us for a good time if you'll be in Saint Louis. More info coming soon. . .