Jason's View from DC: March 2016

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The Blossoms and the Jefferson Memorial

I got a little artsy with these pictures. They are all taken with my new camera which I got last week.

It really did a great job in getting, if I do say so myself, some really good shots.

Cherry Blossoms Round 2

This past Friday I went down to the the Tidal Basin again. This time the blooms were at full bloom power.

Here's a whole bunch of posts of the cherry blossoms because you can never have too many pictures of cherry blossoms.

Over the years I've found it interesting how some blossoms are on the trunk of the trees. It is a really neat contrast and the few blossoms really pop out at you.

Monday, March 28, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

In all I liked the movie. There were some problems. So I’ll think I’ll deal with them first.

The movie was a little too dark for me. As in many of the scenes were actually dark and it was hard to see some things. Also the tone was dark as well. There needed to be just a little less serious. More playfulness as in the scene with Clark and Lois in the bathtub. I’m not sure it was necessary to see how Bruce Wayne’s parents got killed. But upon thinking further about this it made sense with what happened when Batman and Superman were fighting.

These are minor problems. The big problem was Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. I don’t know if the problem was the script, the director, the actor or some of all three. But Eisenberg was nothing short of terrible as Lex Luthor. He acted like he was off his medication. It was a cringe worthy performance. After awhile I just wanted him to get off the screen. I have no idea what they were going for here but it certainly didn’t work. Many of his lines you couldn’t understand. It was hard to figure out what his motivation was for going after Superman. It was just bad. Now if he’d been playing the Joker or the Riddler, the performance would have been perfect. But he was playing Lex Luthor.

To the good stuff. I think Ben Affleck was fine as Batman. Was he perfect? No he wasn’t. But he did a good job. He was especially good at channeling his rage at Superman. Thinking the worst of Superman at every turn. Also putting forth a rather cogent reason for not liking Superman (where as the reason for Lex Luthor not liking Superman were murky at best).

I really like Henry Cavill as Superman. In the scene where he shows up to save Lois, his power is really on display. You feel just how powerful he is by the look on his face. Then right after that is the scene where he comes home with groceries and ends up in the tub with Lois. I thought that was a good way to show his two sides.

The battle between Batman and Superman was great. I also liked all the preparations made by Batman to use the Kryptonite in as many different weapons as possible. The weapons allowed Batman to level the battle field so to speak. I liked how the battle went back and forth. Superman at first not wanting to hurt Batman and then realizing he would really have to hurt if not kill Batman. The motivation for Superman was to save his mother, Martha. Best part of the battle when Superman you have to save Martha. There was a pause from Batman and he yells at Superman why did you say that name. And Superman again says you have to save her. At that point, the entire body language and voice from Batman completely changes. It is a great scene.

One of my favorites parts of the movie was any scene with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman was in. She was just fantastic. The cat and mouse game she plays with Bruce Wayne is great. The line from her I just borrowed your hard drive; it’s in your cars glove compartment. Great line and just as great a look from Bruce responding to it.And when Wonder Woman as Wonder Woman arrives to battle Doomsday, she hardly looks like the same person. She is just great in this movie. I hope this is what her solo picture will be like.

In all a pretty good movie and worth seeing. I’d say in the future lighten up a little both in tone and in actual filmed scenes. And please, please, please do not have Lex Luthor show up in any other movie.