Entertainment

It”s that time of year again, the studios are rolling out all of their summer blockbusters. Big explosions, big laughs and big lines at the theaters. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to the movies, but sometimes I just want to relax and not worry about crowds. Also, I’m always on the go and I don’t always have time to do the whole movie going experience.

Here are 5 movies on Verizon FiOS that are great alternatives to the latest summer blockbusters.

1. Maggie - A teenage girl in the Midwest becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies. During her transformation, her loving father stays by her side. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the king of the summer blockbusters during the 90’s. This is a brilliant take on the zombie genre. It’s quiet and begs the question, “How far would you go to protect your family?”

 

2. The Seven Five - Meet the dirtiest cop in NYC history. Michael Dowd stole money and dealt drugs while patrolling the streets of 80s Brooklyn. Ripped right from the headlines, during the height of the crack epidemic in New York City. This documentary is as good as any Martin Scorcese crime drama and what makes it even more engrossing, is that it really happened. Even if you don’t like documentaries, this one will grab you within the first five minutes.

 

3. What We Do In The Shadows – Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav are vampires who are finding that modern life has them struggling with the mundane – like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts. Director/Star Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) sends up the documentary and vampire genre in one fell swoop. This is part Flight of the Conchords, part Monty Python and the funniest film I’ve seen this year. A real gem!

 

4. Seventh Son - In a time of enchantments when legends and magic collide, the sole remaining warrior of a mystical order (Oscar® winner Jeff Bridges) travels to find a prophesized hero born with incredible powers, the last Seventh Son (Ben Barnes). Torn from his quiet life as a farmhand, the unlikely young hero embarks on a daring adventure with his battle-hardened mentor to vanquish a dark queen (Julianne Moore) and the army of supernatural assassins she has dispatched against their kingdom. This film was released in the theaters and quickly disappeared. I think it deserves another look. A great cast, great story and a fantasy film that both my 10 year-old daughter and I both enjoyed.

 

5. Welcome To Me - A mentally unbalanced lottery winner (Kristen Wiig) goes off her medication, buys a talk show and uses it as a platform to broadcast her bizarre opinions on a wide variety of topics. After her success on SNL and the film Bridesmaids, Wiig decided to start doing smaller movies that spoke to her. This movie caught me by total surprise! A sweet, funny and heartbreaking portrayal that shows what a great actress she is. She also has a supporting cast that is almost perfect.

What Are You Watching On Verizon FiOS?

Last month, I wrote a post about what the cool kids are watching on Netflix as told by my 10 year-old daughter. I got to thinking, what about me? I’m a cool guy (Seriously… Stop laughing) and I like Netflix. So, I decided to make my own list for all the cool parents out there.

1. Bloodline - A family of adult siblings find that their past secrets and scars are revealed when their black sheep of a brother returns home. This is a slow burn thriller that wraps you up immediately. The cast, featuring Kyle Chandler, Sissy Spacek and Ben Mendelsohn, are really on point.

2. Grace and Frankie – Jane Fonda (“Grace”) and Lily Tomlin (“Frankie”) star as two women whose lives are suddenly turned upside down when their husbands reveal they are gay and leave them for each other. Both sparring partners and partners-in-crime, they form an unlikely bond to face an uncertain future together and discover a new definition of “family,” with laughter, tears and plenty of mood enhancers along the way. Truly fresh and original. It’s also two-thirds of a 9 to 5 reunion! When is Dolly Parton going to guest star?

3. Stripped – Over 70 of the world’s best and most famous cartoonists talk about the art form they love and what is happening to it as print media newspapers die. As a child of the 80’s, I have fond memories of reading the Sunday morning comics. This a really enthralling documentary about a soon to be lost art form.

4. The Last Waltz – Considered by many to be one of the greatest documentaries of all time. Martin Scorcese captures the legendary final concert by The Band, staged at San Francisco’s Winterland arena on Thanksgiving Day 1976. If you’re not a fan of The Band already, you will be by the end of this movie.

5. Hot Fuzz – A tough London cop gets a lesson in explosions, murder and action movies when he’s reassigned to a seemingly dull town. A send up and homage to the action movies of the 80’s and 90’s. Director Edgar Wright, along with stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, crush in this movie. It’s one of my personal favorites!

 

What Are You Watching On Netflix?

Fandango, the nation’s leading digital destination for moviegoers with 36 million unique visitors per month, has launched a new original video series, “I Love Movies” featuring pop culture icons outside the film industry sharing meaningful movie memories throughout their lives.

Guests will include athletes, musicians, television personalities, innovators and others, talking about iconic movies from all genres such as “The Sound of Music,” “Rocky,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Spy Who Loved Me,” “The Naked Gun,” “Purple Rain,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” and many more.

The first episode features NBA All-Star Dwight Howard and can be viewed across Fandango’s digital network, including Fandango Movieclips, the number one movie trailer and content channel on YouTube, and Fandango channels on Hulu, Roku and Samsung’s Milk Video Service.

New episodes will be introduced in the coming weeks starring Grammy Award winner Reba McEntire, skateboarding icon and X Games gold medalist Tony Hawk, five-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, rock legend Slash, country music artist Darius Rucker, TODAY co-anchor and weatherman, Al Roker, award-winning TV host Larry King, with more debuting throughout the summer.  Interviews were conducted by New York Times bestselling author and writer-at-large for Esquire Magazine, Cal Fussman.

“I Love Movies” is the first original series to be produced under the company’s new video brand, Fandango Movieclips. Over the past year, the Fandango Movieclips team has published more than 6,500 movie trailers and original videos to its digital network, including over 200 exclusive trailers.

The series will be supported by a summer-long promotional campaign celebrating the joys of moviegoing.  The program will feature celebrity pro-social events, VIP movie screenings, summer festival sponsorships, social media activations and widespread television advertising.  Fandango will also be giving away a year’s worth of free movie tickets, every day throughout the summer!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AvengersUnite #CollectiveBias

My 10 year-old daughter and I are 100%, nutty, passionate, full fledged comic book geeks. We prefer the word “fans”, but geek is quite alright. I’ve been a lover and collector of comics for as long as I can remember. When I became a parent, I REALLY wanted “the kid” to like comics, but I didn’t want to push her to like something for my sake. I wanted her to come to comics naturally and genuinely like them for herself.

The amazing movies that Marvel has made over the years has really helped build a whole new generation of fans. When I was a kid, the technology was so bad, most of our comic book film adaptations consisted of a guy running around in what looked like Pj’s. Our big action sequences involved a slowly moving car and the pajama wearing hero hoisting his pear shaped body onto the hood of the car before it slowly came to a stop. Then he would stop for a taco. It wasn’t that bad, but you get the idea!

When my daughter saw Marvel’s The Avengers in the theater, the comic book hero bug bit her in a big way. My dream has been recognized and we are officially a comic book fan family. So, you can imagine how excited we are to see Marvel’s The Avengers: Age Of Ultron when it opens in theaters May 1st.

An event like this takes preparation, so we headed to our local Walmart to pick up everything that would get us psyched to see the new Avengers movie. We immediately found a treasure trove of products that we just had to have.

We decided to just load up on stuff… It was so much fun!

One of the great things about Marvel’s The Avengers is the wide array of characters they have. Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, The Hulk, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Nick Fury and they have added The Vision, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. There is a hero or villian (Sorry, Loki is cool!) that almost anyone can identify with. The kid loves The Hulk. Actually, one of her favorite sayings of all time is, Hulk Smash!! So she decided to grab some green to get ready.

I grabbed a couple of different toy sets. I figured you have to have Thor and Iron Man. I also grabbed a set with my favorite guy, Hawkeye. One really cool feature with the toy sets… each one comes with pieces of robots, that when all assembled, create a giant Ultron.

After playing outside, we came in for a Marvel movie marathon that also featured some of the great snacks we picked up. Playing Avengers can tucker you out people! Notice the shirt the kid is wearing. That is from her personal collectible t-shirt stash!

I have to admit, it’s pretty cool being able to share my love of comics with the kid. It’s something, that as a dad, is really special to me. I’ve already got tickets lined up for the night before Age of Ultron opens. Don’t tell my daughter… It’s a surprise!!!

Marvel’s The Avengers: Age Of Ultron Opens Everywhere May 1st.

What Are You Going To Purchase Before Seeing Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron?