Lengthier Review Offers Up A Far More Positive Take On GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE

When Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was screened at Harry Knowles' annual "Butt-Numb-A-Thon" the initial reception from those in attendance was not good. Descriptions ranged from "unbearable" to "boring" and you can read them all by clicking HERE. However, looking back on the event, Ain't It Cool News' Nordling offered up his own take on the movie and it's a fair bit more positive than what we saw in those initial Tweets.

Neveldine/Taylor is an acquired tate, I think, for some movie fans. I think their frenetic shooting style puts a lot of people off, and I understand that. I'm very big on spatial geography in action sequences, and these guys like to put themselves in the middle of everything in their shooting. This movie followed a mind-blowing movie experience at BNAT, so I think it was due to suffer in comparison; that said, I had a hell of a lot of fun with it. It's pulpy, fairly predictable, but Nicolas Cage amps up his Cageness level - maybe to VAMPIRE'S KISS levels, but not BAD LIEUTENANT or "Not the bees!" WICKER MAN levels. He seems to be having a lot of fun with the character, and I enjoyed it for what it was - B-movie pulp, and just all-around goofy. I will say that I wasn't terribly impressed with the 3D, but it's still early.

So, perhaps it won't be as bad as we were led to believe? With a second trailer expected sometime this month and full-length reviews sure to go live late January/early February, we'll soon find out whether or not this sequel manages to surpass 2007's awful Ghost Rider. Here's what Nordling had to say about the upcoming trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Yes, we saw THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY trailer thanks to Gandalf The Grey magically transporting Quint from the beautiful landscapes of Middle-Earth to the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas. No, I can't talk about any specifics except to say that something I always treasured from the original book is in the trailer in a big way and I was very happy to hear it. The trailer will play in front of THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN and it's simply sublime. It's more character-based than epic, but it's like slipping into a warm embrace from a very old friend that you haven't seen in many years. Truly wonderful.

If you're interested in reading more about the event and what he made of movies such as Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Cabin in the Woods, be sure to click on the link below for all those and more.