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Random Thoughts on Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Last night I caught a screening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. As a fan of the original films and a James Franco mark, I was interested in seeing the movie, though not overly excited. I left the Fox lot satisfied and surprised. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a great summer blockbuster that’s smarter and subtler than most big-budget movies. Here are some random thoughts (not a review!) on the movie. Spoilers ahead!!!

– Clothing note: I almost always dress up for videogame-industry events and rarely dress up for movie screenings. Aside from my friend Paul, I rarely see anyone I know at screenings. Last night I wore my usual movie screening combo of Lulu Lemon yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a Yankee hat. I was a little embarrassed when X-Play Morgan Webb took the seat behind me. Oops.

– The movie’s writing was smart and respectful to the source material. It’s easy to make the Planet of the Apes premise ridiculous, but things mostly made sense in this movie. There were a lot of homage moments to the original movies. Some of them were bits of dialogue, some were twists on old action sequences, and others used simple props. All of them made me smile.

– Up until the end, there was a surprising amount of subtlety in the film. One of my problems with the Watchmen movie was that scenes were changed to hit the audience over the head with plot points, as opposed to the comics where things are implied. This movie implies a lot of things that most moviegoers should figure out. For most of the movie, it’s implied that a virus leads to the rise of the apes and the fall of humans. There are also several hints on the movie’s sequel and how humans return to Earth. I absolutely loved that the writers and director were not clumsily heavy handed with plot points.

– James Franco is awesome. I thought he had a bright future when I first saw him in Freaks and Geeks, then I wasn’t so sure when I saw him in Spider-Man and Pineapple Express. He erased any doubts I had about his talent in 127 Hours and he’s excellent in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Similar to how the movie is written, Franco delivers his lines so that you take him and the movie’s story seriously. He’s believable in a role and situation that could easily have been asinine. On a side note, I’m convinced, at the very least, that he will become the next John Turturro — a guy that’s good in every role he plays, even if the material he’s working with isn’t the best.

– Freida Pinto is gorgeous. I’ve always had a thing for sexy Indian girls. And yes, I’m using this point as an excuse to post a sexy Freida Pinto photo. I’m not sure about her talent because I’ve only watched two of her movies, but I sure love staring at her.

– The ape actors in this movie are amazing — by far the best ape actors I’ve ever seen. The simian thespians in Every Which Way but Loose, Project X, Ed, etc. are nothing compared the ones in this film. Hold up, my phone is ringing. Wait, what?!? Gollum (Andy Serkis) plays the lead ape Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and a lot of the simian action was computer generated?!? Damn, I was hoping for a golden age of ape actors….

– It was cool seeing San Francisco used for a lot of the movie. I miss my old town and it was nice to see a lot of streets I used to walk. It was weird that I recognized certain rooftops and ledges. Why the hell would I remember those?!? Perhaps I secretly moonlighted as San Francisco’s equivalent of Daredevil while I thought I was sleeping. That would explain why I’m not a morning person.

– It was nice seeing Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) in a movie that didn’t involve Harry Potter. It was also neat watching him act with an American accent. There was one scene where he’s facing off against Caesar and wielding a shock stick. It was close enough to a wand that it took a ton of self control not to scream, “Avada kedavra!!!” or “Expelliarmus!!!” or “Stupefy!!!”.

– Overall I really enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I haven’t seen a ton of movies this year, but this was clearly the best of the bunch. It’s certainly better than all the superhero movies I’ve (not) reviewed on RPad.tv. I highly recommend giving this film a go, especially if you’re a fan of the originals.

Random Thoughts (Not a Review!) on Captain America

I finally caught Captain America last night. It’s funny that Comic Con 2011 was the reason I wasn’t able to attend a screening or catch it on opening night. My initial feeling was that it’s a fantastic movie — up there with the recent Iron Man and Batman films. Certainly it’s better than Thor, which I enjoyed earlier this year. However, I can’t help but wonder if I’m being overly enthusiastic about Captain America because I was traumatized by the last superhero movie I saw (the amazingly crappy Green Lantern). Perhaps writing down random thoughts will help me figure it out. Prepare for musings and spoilers!!!

– Chris Evans was a fantastic Steve Rogers. I enjoyed him goofing it up in The Fantastic Four and being a Hollywood parody in Scott Pilgrim, but I wasn’t sure if he could pull off Captain America. He totally did. I was impressed by how he flipped between sincere and commanding throughout the movie. He showed range and depth, unlike Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern.

– The way the movie was written, Cap didn’t have any training. He went from receiving the Super Soldier Serum to hocking war bonds to becoming an amazingly skilled combatant with a tactical mind and the ability to fly airplanes. Yes, the Super Soldier Serum granted Cap increased strength, durability, and stamina, but where did the new skills come from?!? Perhaps I missed the part where Dr. Erskine injected him with Tactical Genius Serum and How to Fly a Plane Serum.

– I really enjoyed the tone of the movie. It was innocent, positive, and uplifting. Most of the scenes took place during a time when America was rapidly on its way to becoming the most amazing country in the world. It’s such a stark contrast to the tone of America today. The country has problems and ridiculous politicians — on both sides — are making maters worse. America is in a lull at best or in an irreversible decline at worst. Captain America gave me a feel-good vibe that made me miss my idea of America as a teenager.

– Hugo Weaving was great as Red Skull. On paper, this character should be completely ridiculous. Weaving made him fearsome and believable. More importantly, I stopped thinking of him as Agent Smith from The Matrix. One of my fears going into the movie was that I’d constantly expect Red Skull to say (in Agent Smith’s voice), “Mr. Rogers…we’ve been expecting you.” That only happened once (maybe twice).

– Hayley Atwell was brilliant as Cap’s love interest, Peggy Carter. She was strong, capable, and sexy-as-hell. I wish more Hollywood love interests were like her. I’m so tired of damsels in distress (in movies anyway). The writers made her look silly for a few minutes by including a completely unnecessary jealousy scene that added nothing to the movie. Aside from that, she rocked it.

– I was pleasantly surprised by Tommy Lee Jones. He’s mostly bugged the crap out of me for the last decade. He also made a pathetic Two-Face in Batman Forever. Jones deftly portrayed an intimidating colonel that delivered fantastic comedic lines. It would have been easy to make this character completely silly, but Jones did a great job at portraying a believable military leader with surprising humor.

– The shield usage was powerful, but never ridiculous. The fight choreographer did a great job at making the shield a natural part of Cap’s fighting style. The shield also made a satisfying “thunk” when it hit Nazis. I was worried that the director would go nuts with crazy shield ricochets, but that never happened.

– At the end of the day, I enjoyed Captain America for being a great superhero movie with an unusually positive tone. Most superhero movies strive for a gritty realism that attracts hardcore fans and adults or excessive comedy that attracts kids and general viewers. Captain America, being the (Western) paragon of the Marvel Universe, is way different from the X-Men, Batman, Iron Man, etc. He’s supposed to stand for something bigger than himself. He’s supposed to inspire. This movie reflects all that. The cast and crew did a wonderful job at crafting an uplifting superhero film.

Random Thoughts on the Green Lantern Movie (Hint: It Sucked)

Hi, I’m Raymond, Grey Lantern of sector 2814. I harness the formidable power of disappointment. I received my vast powers from watching the Green Lantern movie. As a huge fan of the comic books, I was tremendously excited to see Hal Jordan on the big screen. I left the movie theater a disappointed wreck. While Green Lantern had a few bright spots, they weren’t enough to overcome the movie’s bad writing, bad casting, bad acting, and bad directing. On the plus side, my Grey Lantern power ring is filled with enough disappointment energy to last 4.7 years.

Here are some random thoughts (not a review!) on Green Lantern. There be spoilers ahead, matey!

Van Wilder is a Bad Hal Jordan — I never liked Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. He’s too goofy and funny. In my head he made more sense as Green Lantern Guy Gardner. There were a handful of scenes where Reynolds did a good job portraying Hal’s boldness and fearlessness, but for the majority movie he was…Van Wilder. He was too cute and goofy for Hal Jordan.

Movie Parallax Sucks — I hated the movie version of Parallax. His origin was changed for…hell, I can’t think of a good reason for changing his origin. Instead of being the living embodiment of fear, he was a renegade Guardian that attempted to harness the yellow energy of fear. Instead of the intimidating insect-like creature in the comics, he was a floating head with ashen tentacles. Perhaps the director was watching too much Japanese tentacle pr0n. This alteration will hurt comic-book fans more than anyone else.

Hector Hammond Wasn’t That Bad — I’ve never liked Hector Hammond in the comics. He looks like a dork and he’s not terribly interesting. The biggest surprise of Green Lantern was that the movie version of this wretched character wasn’t so bad. All the credit goes to the talented Peter Sarsgaard. He managed to make a horrible character mildly interesting. He was still a relatively lame villain, but Sarsgaard’s Hector Hammond was the best version of the character ever.

The Aliens Were Cool — The alien Green Lanterns were the best parts of the movie. I marked out during the scenes with Abin Sur, Tomar Re, Kilowog, and Sinestro. It’s cool that they were played by Jango Fett, Captain Barbosa, Kingpin, and…uh [insert memorable Mark Strong role here], respectively. The aliens were pretty spot on, but they weren’t given enough to do. Mark Strong was fantastic as Sinestro (although his origin was also altered for no apparent reason) and his post-credit scene was visually awesome.

On the downside, I didn’t like that Kilowog gave himself props for training Hal. The line was ripped from the comics, where it made sense. The comics showed panels of arduous training that took place over an extended period of time. In the movie, Kilowog trained Hal for three minutes. The Guardians, already a bit ridiculous in the comics, looked even sillier in the movie…but there’s only so much you can do with little blue beings with immense power.

The Special Effects Weren’t Very Special — I’ve been waiting for a Green Lantern movie for decades. Early on, the limits of technology made a Green Lantern movie impossible. Vast improvements in computer-generated effects made Hal Jordan’s big-screen adventures a reality. The only problem is that the effects weren’t all that special. There were some cool flying scenes and some nifty ring constructs, but a lot of the effects looked unfinished. My friend Paul joked that he can’t wait for the Blu-ray so that the special effects can be finished.

Blake Lively? — I don’t get her. She’s attractive, but I don’t see the amazing hottie that most of the world sees. I also think that DiCaprio could do better. In the context of the movie, she was mediocre as Carol Ferris. She’s supposed to be a powerful and domineering woman that’s as hard-headed as Hal. In this movie she fell short. It was cool that she was shown as a great pilot and a strong businesswoman, but she quickly dropped all of that to become a generic damsel-in-distress. Lively didn’t bring the ferocity required to adequately portray Carol Ferris.

Bottom Line — The lead character was miscast and way off the mark. One villain was horribly rewritten from the comics. The other villain was a lifelong lamer that was made mildly interesting by a superb actor. The aliens were, by far, the best parts of the movie and they didn’t have enough scenes.

*sigh* I really wanted this movie to be great…but it was pretty awful. Thor kicked its ass. I wouldn’t have expected a Thor movie to be much better than a Green Lantern movie, yet that’s precisely what happened in 2011. Now please excuse me as I must read Sinestro Corps War, vol 1 to erase this crap movie from my head.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Not) Review

Last week I caught a screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I loved the first Pirates movie. I loved half of the second movie and 40 percent of the third movie — both were messy romps that were all over the place. With that in mind, I was apprehensively looking forward to a new Captain Jack Sparrow adventure. I was curious to see if director Rob Marshall could tighten up the Pirates series. He did. On Stranger Tides is much more coherent than the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but it lacks some of the charm of its forerunners. Here are several random thoughts (not a review!) on the film. There be spoilers ahead, matey!!!

Captain Jack Sparrow, Hector Barbosa, and Everyone Else: There was a sharp drop-off after these two characters. Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush were expectedly awesome. There were other decent performances, but nobody else could hold a candle to these guys. Sadly, Kevin McNally’s Gibbs — a character I really like — wasn’t given as much time to shine as in the previous films. Most of the movie felt like Depp, Rush, and a bunch of understudies.

Keira Knightley Was Missed: Touching on the previous point, Penelope Cruz did a decent job as Angelica and the movie’s principal eye candy. However, she was not nearly as charming, interesting, or sexy as Keira Knightley. The writers tried to give Angelica layers, but it all felt rather predictable.

Blackbeard Was Meh: I was also mostly unimpressed with Ian McShane’s Blackbeard. I just didn’t find him intimidating at all. Barbosa and Davy Jones were wonderful antagonists in the previous films. Blackbeard felt like an old guy with a remote-controlled ship. He’s supposed to be “the pirate that all pirates fear”, but he didn’t come off as fearsome.

Coherence at Last!: As I mentioned in the intro, the second and third movies were all over the place. On Stranger Tides was much more coherent. Everyone had clear goals and motivations. It was easy to understand where everyone was going and why. It just made much more sense than the last two films.

Kickstart My Heart: The first 20 minutes of the movie are action packed. They’re full of fight scenes, chase scenes, etc. This caught me by surprise. It was a great way to kick off a summer blockbuster. I kept waiting for the action to die down, but more and more kept coming. I kept asking myself, “Can I breath yet?”

Mermaids are Hot!: The mermaids in this movie were incredibly sexy. The first mermaid the crew meets was played by the gorgeous Gemma Ward. The mermaid with an actual plot line was played by Astrid Berges-Frisbey. She just looked stunning and ethereal on the big screen. I would have been content watching her eat bread for 90 minutes. Just beautiful.

Missionaries are Boring: I couldn’t stand Philip the captive missionary. Part of it had to do with the fact that I generally don’t like preachers. Part of it was because his romance with the mermaid Syrena felt lame and forced. I’m sure that part of it — more than I’d actually admit — had to do with me not wanting to see the gorgeous mermaid end up with the lame-ass missionary.

Wrap Up: I enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. It was a fun adventure with two great characters and a bunch of beautiful people. The 3D was neat, the pacing was great, and the action was fun. Although this was a much tighter film than the last two, it just wasn’t as charming. In wrestling terms, it’s like comparing a remarkably consistent match to a wreck full of amazing high spots. Out of the two summer blockbuster screenings I’ve attended in 2011, I’d recommend seeing Thor over Pirates 4.

If you happen to catch On Stranger Tides, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Kindly share and discuss!

T-Mobile G2x Review: Stock Android and Blazing Performance

T-Mobile was the first major American carrier to support Google Android. While the company has consistently released quality Android phones at a variety of price points, Sprint and Verizon have been getting more attention with its high-end products. The T-Mobile G2x by LG changes all of that. The G2x is currently the best Android phone available on T-Mobile and one of the best Android phones available on any carrier. Its combination of a Tegra 2 processor, HSPA+ data speeds, a high quality screen, excellent call quality, and above average build quality make it tough to beat. The Android world moves fast, but for now the G2x is an elite phone that stands at the top of this immensely competitive market. Let’s break it down!

Performance — This G2x will make you feel like He-Man. After using it for a few minutes, you’ll want to point it to the heavens and shout, “I have the power!!!” The phone’s 1GHz Tegra 2 dual-core processor is blazing. The CPU performance is stellar and the GPU performance is unparalleled. Everything feels snappy on the G2x, whether it’s scrolling through screens, launching programs, playing 3D games, etc.

The G2x is simply the most powerful phone Android phone you can buy in America. Early benchmarks indicate that it will be surpassed by the Samsung Galaxy S II, but not by much. Besides, it’s not like there are many CPU- or GPU-intensive programs available for Android (due to stupid Google limitations). This phone is a powerhouse now and will be among the top performers for the rest of the year.

Build Quality — The G2x has an understated look that some people will love and some people will find boring. Looking at the phone head-on you’ll see a large slab of Corning Gorilla Glass with a nice metal border. The top of the phone has a bit of bezel that houses the earpiece, front-facing camera, and logo. The bottom of the phone has an unusually large bit of bezel and houses the phone’s four capacitive buttons. The back of the phone is brown rubberized plastic with a metal sliver down the middle and the rear camera.

The bottom bezel is funky. Some people hate it, saying that it ruins the phone’s looks by giving it a Jay Leno-like chin. Aesthetically, I don’t mind it at all. The iPhone 4 is a beautiful phone and it has large bezels. In terms of functionality, it just seems like a waste of space. I wish LG would have made the phone a bit smaller or the the screen a bit larger.

Overall the build quality is good, but not great. The phone is an ideal size and weight for most users. For my tastes there was too much plastic and not enough metal. It didn’t have the quality feel of the iPhone 4 or the HTC Thunderbolt.

Screen — The G2x features a four-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 800 x 480. I was really surprised by the screen’s quality, but in retrospect I shouldn’t have been. LG makes the outstanding IPS display for the iPhone 4. While this four-incher isn’t quite that good, it’s one of the better displays out there. Its colors are bright and accurate — better than what most standard LCD screens produce. The blacks aren’t as deep as the ones produced by the Super AMOLED screen on my Samsung Epic 4G, but the color accuracy and text are better.

In terms of usability, most people find that four inches is the sweet spot for size and navigation. Personally I prefer 4.3-inch screens, but I was quite satisfied with G2x’s display. That said, it will look dated soon. The upcoming HTC Sensation offers a qHD resolution of 960 x 540, while the Galaxy S II features impressive Super AMOLED Plus technology. Of course the relatively small 3.5-inch display on the iPhone 4 still offers the best text on any phone. The G2x’s display is very good for now, but will be surpassed by phones slated for a Summer 2011 release.

User Interface — The G2x runs vanilla-ish Android 2.2. I don’t like calling this a stock version of Android because it’s not truly a stock version. There are programs on the phone that can’t be uninstalled (without rooting) and the camera software isn’t stock. Having said that, this is one of the few phones on the market that offers a stock-ish Android experience. The benefits are speed and faster updates.

Using the phone is what you’d expect from vanilla Android — the OS is flexible and powerful, but slightly rough around the edges compared to Apple iOS and HP WebOS. There were some odd quirks with Android on the G2X that I haven’t experienced on other stock Android phones I’ve used. For example, if the phone is locked and the screen is off, hitting the power button lets you see what’s on display before the lock slider pops up. For business users and people that engage in espionage, that’s a potential security problem. Comments on WordPress sites that use WPTouch appear, disappear, and appear again when they’re opened. From what I’ve read, these issues are a result of immature Tegra 2 drivers. They’re not true problems, but they’re definitely quirks.

There are currently only two types of Android phones that I earnestly recommend — those with stock Android and those with HTC Sense. It’s great that consumers have an incredibly powerful vanilla Android choice with the G2x.

Call Quality — This area was another pleasant surprise. The G2x’s call quality rocked. The earpiece and speaker are very clear, though the latter could stand an additional volume level. The people I spoke to on test calls were very impressed with the call quality. The four people I spoke with said that I sounded much better on the G2x than on the iPhone 4. Two of them said that I sounded slightly clearer on the G2x than on the HTC Thunderbolt, while two of them said I sounded about the same.

The G2x features WiFi calling, which is — by far — my favorite T-Mobile feature. It allows you to use WiFi in lieu of mobile signal for calls. This is fantastic for people that work in big buildings, live in areas with poor coverage, or want to use their phone in their basement. It also allows you to use your phone in other countries for “free”; as long as you’re on WiFi, you can make calls to American numbers while in other countries and it will count against your monthly bucket. Call quality on WiFi calling isn’t quite as good as regular mobile calls due to latency issues. Still, it’s better to have a tiny bit of lag than no signal at all, right?

4G Speeds — T-Mobile refers to its HSPA+ speeds as 4G. While the speeds aren’t as fast as Sprint’s WiMax and much slower than Verizon’s LTE, they’re still very good. Hopping around various parts of Los Angeles, I averaged 5 to 7Mbps down and 1 to 1.5Mpbs up. Ping rates were anywhere from 67 to 1,000 milliseconds. Naturally speeds will vary depending on your coverage.

Camera — The eight-megapixel shooter on the G2x was very good, but not great. For still images, I was happy with the picture quality. The camera produced vibrant images with fairly accurate colors. Shots in natural light were great, while indoor shots using flash were very good. As with most camera phones, the flash can be overpowering and lead to washed out images. The issue I had with the camera was that it was a little slow to focus. The HTC Thunderbolt and iPhone 4 snapped pictures much faster than the G2x.

For video, the 1080p clips I shot produced mixed results. The details were clear and the image quality was great, but the videos can be choppy. The camera can only record 1080p at 24 frames per second; if you’re filming a scene with a lot of movement then you’ll likely end up with a choppy video. Turning the resolution down to 720p at 30 frames per second resulted in smoother video that looked fantastic.

Battery Life — Initially, I was unimpressed with the G2x’s battery life. I averaged nine hours of use on my first three days with the phone. While I knew that the Tegra 2 used a lot of juice, I was still expecting more. I did notice that the phone’s radio would often fluctuate between 2G (EDGE) and 4G (WCDMA). On a lark I switched the phone to WCDMA only and my battery life increased to 13.5 hours.

The solution that worked for me will not work for everyone. Those that live in areas with sporadic WCDMA coverage will have to sacrifice battery life until a software update is available. Furthermore, I shouldn’t have to change a setting to get reasonable battery life. That’s just a sign of immature software.

Conclusion — Despite some software quirks and battery life issues, I was greatly impressed with the T-Mobile G2x. The phone is a scorcher! If you put a premium on performance then I highly recommend this phone. Its impressive Tegra 2 processor and vanilla-ish Android offer an amazingly fast experience that can’t be beat (yet). Having said that, I’m tempted by the upcoming T-Mobile HTC Sensation. While the Sensation’s GPU performance won’t be as strong, it offers a smoother Android experience with HTC Sense 3.0 and sexy aluminum unibody construction. I’m willing to give up a bit of performance for smoothness and better build quality. If speed and gaming are your top priorities then the G2x is for you.

HTC Thunderbolt Review: LTE Speeds, Battery Life, and More

The HTC Thunderbolt lacks the dual-core power found in recent phones, but makes up for it with blazing fast Internet speeds on Verizon’s LTE network, mostly great build quality, outstanding call clarity, and a smoother version of Google Android thanks to HTC Sense. As long as you’re not looking for cutting edge performance and you don’t mind carrying a spare battery, the Thunderbolt will serve you well. It’s a great phone with a few minor flaws and one major one. Cue the D-Generation X music as I “break it down!!!”

Build Quality — In many ways, the Thunderbolt looks like the HTC Evo 4G or any number of high-end phones HTC has released in the last year. The front of the phone is mostly glass, with a nice metal border and very little bezel. The back of the phone is around 80 percent plastic (with a nice rubberized coating) and 20 percent metal.

I loved the phone’s heft and found it to be comfortable. However, I can understand that some people will find the Thunderbolt too heavy and too large for one-hand operation. As I illustrated in this video, this is definitely not a small phone, but most people should find its size easily manageable.

The one issue I had with the build quality is the way the back cover comes off. Even after a month with the phone, it takes me several seconds to remove the cover and it always feels like it’s going to break. For users that keep a battery or two on deck — and I can’t recommend this phone without a spare battery — this is annoying.

Also, kickstands on phones completely rule.

Screen — The Thunderbolt sports a 4.3-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 400 x 800. Although it’s the same size and resolution as the Evo’s screen, I found it to be much brighter with better viewing angles. Having a large screen is great for usability and watching videos, but I wish the Thunderbolt packed a higher resolution for better readability. For general use, the Thunderbolt’s screen will be eclipsed by the HTC Sensation’s qHD display. For readability, the iPhone 4 is still the best phone for reading text.

User Interface — Some people love Android skins and some people hate them. I generally dislike them…except for HTC Sense. I believe it’s the only Android skin that adds usability and smoothness to the Android experience.

The Thunderbolt offers the same usability enhancements found in other Sense 2.0 phones, with a few Sense 3.0 features thrown in. The interface is smoother and snappier than vanilla Android. The web browser is smoother than the stock browser. Sense features that were new to me include pocket mode (the phone rings louder when in a pocket or purse), flip for speaker phone, and quiet ring on pickup (ring tone gets softer as you bring your phone to your head). They’re just clever features that are examples of why HTC is ahead of everyone else when it comes to Android customizations.

While I’ve been hearing nice things about TouchWhiz 4.0 on the Samsung Galaxy S II, that phone is not yet available on an American carrier. For now I believe that HTC Sense is the only Android skin worth having.

Call Quality — Call quality was outstanding on the Thunderbolt. For phone calls, it was easily the best phone I’ve used since the Droid X. The ear piece produces clear sound and the speaker is very loud. Voice transmission is aided by a second microphone for noise cancellation. The people I called said that I sounded much more natural on the Thunderbolt than on the iPhone 4. Making a few test calls from a farmer’s market, the Thunderbolt blocked out more noise than the iPhone 4.

LTE Speeds — The big hook on the Thunderbolt is its LTE speeds. As I pointed out in this 4G shootout article, Verizon LTE slaughters the competition in 4G. The data rates are wonderful for web browsing, tethering, streaming, etc. After getting used to Verizon LTE, it was tough using a phone on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network, which is fast but not nearly as zippy as LTE.

Camera — While I was satisfied with the cameras on HTC’s Evo 4G and T-Mobile G2, neither were as good as the eight-megapixel camera on the Thunderbolt. The camera on this phone is fast, focuses quickly, and takes great stills. The dual-LED flash can be too strong for indoor close-ups, but with proper distance can light up a space nicely. Video quality was also very good, producing nice 720p video (for a phone). The phone’s camera can produce great images, but falls short of the outstanding shooters on the iPhone 4 and Nokia N8.

The 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera can be used to snap vanity shots and for video chat. Unfortunately, all the video chat software on Android produced poor quality or wasn’t (yet) compatible with the Thunderbolt. A video-enabled version of Skype will be released for the Thunderbolt soon.

Battery Life — I knew this phone would be a battery hog. It has a large screen, a fast processor, a CDMA radio, a WiFi radio, and an LTE radio. The good news is that the phone’s power management is aggressive and the battery can last a long time as long as you’re not using LTE much. The bad news is that this phone is all about LTE and using the super-fast network requires a lot of battery.

Following my normal usage patterns, I averaged 8.5 hours on a charge. That’s the worst battery life of any Android phone I’ve ever used. There were a few times where I was using the phone constantly and downloading a lot of programs; in those cases, the battery lasted a little over four hours.

As wonderful as the Thunderbolt is, I can’t recommend it unless you’re always by an outlet or willing to invest in extra batteries. For road warriors or situations like trade shows, extra batteries are necessary.

Conclusion — Aside from the battery life, I was super impressed by the Thunderbolt. It offers a smooth Android experience and the best wireless speeds in America. While the $249 price seems high, keep in mind that the Thunderbolt comes with a 32MB MicroSD card on top of the 8GB of internal storage. If you’re down with picking up an extra battery or two and don’t need dual-core performance, the HTC Thunderbolt will take care of you nicely. It’s not perfect, but the ungodly LTE speeds will help you forget about the phone’s shortcomings.

HTC Thunderbolt Review: LTE Speeds, Battery Life, and More

Also, kickstands on phones completely rule.

Random Thoughts (Not a Review) on Thor

I caught a screening of Thor (Imax 3D) last night and was pleasantly surprised. Here’s the spoiler-free summary: it’s worth seeing. Kenneth Branagh did a fine job directing what’s arguably the toughest movie in The Avengers series. It’s hard to convey the awesome power of a Norse god (Branagh did this) and it’s easy to get caught up in ridiculous mythology (Branagh avoided this pitfall). The movie is well paced and entertaining with some beautiful set pieces and great action scenes. While I didn’t enjoy it as much as Iron Man 2, I liked Thor on its own and as part of the lead-up to The Avengers. Now here are some random observations, criticisms, and silly thoughts on the movie. Spoilers ahead!

Costumes: The Asgardian costumes worked way better than most people expected (I had faith they would work). A lot of my friends ranted about how ridiculous the Asgardians looked in the stills released to magazines. I had no problem with the costumes in the movie. They looked fine on the Asgardian sets and appropriately out of place on the Earth sets. They also looked much better in motion than in stills — even Anthony Hopkins’ Odin getup!

Action: I love how modern action movies convey power. That’s one problem I always had with the original Superman movies — his punches never seemed epic. When someone like Superman or Thor lands a punch, people in the next county should feel it. Whether it was Thor bashing frost giants in the face or him decimating the ground with Mjolnir, the blows had an impact worthy of a god.

Warriors Three: I loved that these guys were in the movie and were mostly true to Stan Lee’s designs. That said, I would have done things differently. Fandral would have been played by Cary Elwes. Volstagg would have been green screened so that he’d be ridiculously large compared to his two companions. Hogun wouldn’t have sounded Asian; the character was modeled after Charles Bronson after all. When the Warriors Three and Sif were walking into town, there’s a hilarious bit with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent calling it in. That was my favorite joke in the movie.

Loki: I was really impressed with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. He had more depth than any other character in the film. Hiddleston did a wonderful job of making Loki seem charming, manipulative, and damaged all at once. I hope he gets some time to shine in The Avengers.

Thor: While Loki arguably stole the show, I was satisfied with Chris Hemsworth’s performance. From the trailers I knew he’d have the action elements down. I was pleasantly surprised by his charm. He also did a good job at transforming from an arrogant godling at the beginning of the movie and a more understanding deity at the end.

Signs: Of course there was a Stan Lee cameo, but I loved the use of signs in the movie for nerd shout-outs. There was one billboard that said, “Home of the Vikings”. That’s an obvious gag. There was another one that ended with, “Journey into Mystery”. That’s a super-cool and nerdy gag. Longtime comics fans will know that Journey into Mystery became Thor’s book starting with issue #83.

Chick Flick?: A lot of fanboys I know were worried that the movie would have too many scenes with a shirtless Chris Hemsworth. That wasn’t the case at all. His shirtless scenes were brief. If anything, there’s a lot of eye candy for guys and lesbians. Natalie Portman (Jane Foster) was a beautiful braniac. Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis) was snarky, super cute, and charming. Jaimie Alexander (Sif) had the sexy warrior goddess thing going. There were plenty of beautiful women in this movie.

Hawkeye: When Thor is trying to get Mjolnir back from S.H.I.E.L.D., one soldier goes for a bow instead of a gun. As a Hawkeye fan, I totally marked out. Of course this soldier ended up being Clint Barton! I hope he gets some bad-ass scenes in The Avengers.

Asgard or Mondrian?!?: Most of the set pieces were good, but there was one set that looked more like an Ian Schraeger hotel than a room in an Asgardian palace. It was kind of disorienting.

Black Heimdall: He was cool.

The Destroyer: He was cooler.

I was very satisfied with Thor. The action was great and the bits of humor were fun. The movie flowed nicely and I love what these Marvel movies are building towards. As a standalone movie, I enjoyed Thor. As part of The Avengers I liked how this tale is different from the Iron Man movies and presumably different from the Captain America movie. The movie succeeded in entertaining me, making me want to rewatch the Iron Man movies, and increasing my anticipation for the Captain America and The Avengers movies.

Of course I can’t wait to discuss the movie with you! If you catch Thor, kindly share your thoughts on the movie.

LG VL600 Review: Verizon LTE Modem is Blazing Fast

I’ve been spending time with the LG VL600 — one of Verizon’s 4G LTE modems. I’ve been very, very impressed with its performance, but there are a few factors to keep in mind. Before I get to those, let’s take a look at some speed results. I tested out the VL600 at four major American airports using SpeedTest.net. The modem was used on a Dell XPS 1330 running Windows 7. Check out the numbers:

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Ping: 57ms
Download: 13.46 Mbps
Upload: 8.17 Mbps

San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Ping: 43ms
Download: 9.19 Mbps
Upload 10.6 Mbps

Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Ping: 84ms
Download: 11.17 Mbps
Upload: 3.76 Mbps

Orlando International Airport (MCO)
Ping: 242ms
Download: 8.54 Mbps
Upload: 1.33 Mbps

Those are outstanding data rates for a mobile modem. In some cases — notably upload speed — they’re way better than what I get with my Time Warner Cable service at home. That’s extremely impressive.

The modem itself is relatively inexpensive. The full retail price is $249.99. With a two-year contract it’s $149.99. Verizon is currently running an online special that gets you the VL600 for $69.99.

My big issue with the VL600 is that Verizon is offering a 4G product but playing under 3G rules. There are currently two data packages available with the VL600: a 5GB plan for $50 per month and a 10GB for $80 per month (not including taxes and regulatory fees). Additional data costs $10 for every GB. With the speed I was getting, it would be easy to blow through the monthly allowance in a matter of days. Putting old restrictions on new technology is a bit silly and kind of defeats the point.

Another factor to keep in mind is that there are currently only two data devices available on Verizon’s LTE network. As 2011 rolls on, there will be several phones that use Verizon LTE. As more devices pull from the network, performance will likely degrade. I’m positive that if I ran the same speed tests in December 2011, the results wouldn’t be as good. Having said that, I’d still expect the speeds to be better than Sprint’s WiMax network and T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network (those results will be posted in another article).

From a hardware and network standpoint, the LG VL600 is just all kinds of awesome. It’s easy to use and the speed results are incredible. I’m disappointed with Verizon’s service pricing for this product. It’s too restrictive and discourages users from taking advantage of the awesome LTE speeds. If you want great speeds in limited doses then this is the perfect product for you. Just watch your data usage. It’s way too easy to hit the data cap with the VL600’s mercurial speeds.

As always, please let me know if you have any question about the VL600. I’ll answer them as soon as I can.

All-Star Superman Blu-ray (Not a) Review

I recently watched an advanced copy of All-Star Superman and was very impressed with this DC Comics animated feature. Based on the excellent comic books written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Frank Quitely, All-Star Superman is a touching feature that humanizes The Man of Steel, pays tribute to his storied history, and dazzles with kind of heroics only The Last Son of Krypton is capable of. After the severely disappointing Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam, I was thrilled to watch a superior Superman adventure. Here are some thoughts (not a review!) on All-Star Superman (spoilers ahead!).

All-Star Superman has Kal-El tackling tremendous challenges, including the most daunting one of all — death. In the comics, Morrison used Superman’s powers to reestablish the fact that he’s the greatest hero in the DC Universe. He also did a masterful job at making him seem vulnerable, human, and interesting. That’s so hard to do with a character that’s mostly invulnerable and unbeatable, yet Morrison pulled it off in a way that feels natural and effortless.

Watching Superman deal with his impending doom is even more compelling than watching him accomplish marvelous feats. It’s great watching him reveal his identity to Lois Lane and spend a day courting her. It’s fun watching the various facets of Kal-El. There’s the heroic and beloved Superman. There’s the bumbling and clumsy Clark Kent facade. And, perhaps most importantly, there’s also the earnest, respectful, and kind-hearted Clark Kent that was the product of a wholesome upbringing in Smallville. Morrison makes all three facets of the character distinct, yet harmonious.

Obviously it was impossible to include the events of all 12 issues in a 75-minute movie, but this a great adaptation that’s true to the tone of the source. Throughout the movie I felt amazed by Superman’s heroics, touched by his interactions with the woman he loves and his mortal enemy, and moved by the way he dealt with death. Sure, there were some details and arcs that were left out, but I was more than satisfied with Dwayne McDuffie’s adaptation of Morrison’s books.

The same goes for the animated interpretation of Frank Quitely’s art. Quitely’s illustrations are so distinct and unique. The animators did a good job at recreating the tone of his art. Again, a lot of details and intricacies were left out, but that was completely expected. A stricter translation could have been done, but that would have required a lot more time and money.

While the story and art are not quite as great as the comics, they’re very good and truly brought to life by Christopher Drake’s excellent score. I’ve enjoyed his work in past DC animated features, but this is his best yet. His music helps deliver the bright sense of optimism you’re supposed to get from watching Superman and imagining you’re in Metropolis. More importantly, the music helps replace some of what was lost in translation from print to animation.

As an added bonus, there are commentary tracks, a couple of Superman: The Animated Series episodes, and a feature on the upcoming Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. As a huge Green Lantern mark, I was thrilled to learn more about this upcoming animated movie. As far as teaser features go, it worked. I’m totally amped for Emerald Knights.

I highly recommend All-Star Superman. It’s not quite as good as Batman: Under the Red Hood, but it’s very close. If you have any questions about the movie, leave ’em in the comments section and I’ll answer ’em.

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