Movie Review: The Revenant

I don't recall ever seeing a movie that took place during this time period in American History, although The Revenant doesn't put too much emphasis on the French and Indian War (Seven Years War) it gives you enough info to figure out approximately when it takes place.
I really enjoyed the film, I feel it gives an honest and fairly accurate portrayal of what life was like in America around that time period for the American Frontiersman.

I went into this movie only knowing Leonardo DiCaprio was in it, I didn't know who the actor playing Fitzgerald was but at one point I said to myself, "Is that Tom Hardy?" and afterwards I discovered it was. I've seen Hardy in four very distinctive roles and he has completely impressed me, Inception, TDKR, Mad Max Fury Road and now The Revenant.
The Revenant has two very talented actors in it, the Bear that mauls Leo and the Spotted horse that attempts cliff diving with out any safety gear!
As I stated earlier The Revenant takes place around the time of the French and Indian War but that's not what the movie focuses on, it's alot more personal! When a group of frontiersman are ambushed by Indians a small group including Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) and John Fitzgerald (Hardy) escape with as many furs as they can and attempt to escape from the Indians and reach Fort Kiowa, but when nature calls (attacks) the group is forced to decide whether to press on with a mortally wounded Hugh Glass or leave him behind to his inevitable death.
As the legend goes two members volunteer to stay behind with Glass to give him a proper burial when he dies, problem is Glass just won't die so Fitzgerald takes matters into his own hand and attempts to euthanize Glass.
And here is where the heart of the legend is born, with literally one foot in the grave Hugh Glass crawls for some insane number of miles tracking the men who left him for dead while surviving on what ever he can scavenge off the land and avoiding the Indians he initially escaped from.
The cinematography is breathtaking and really shows the beauty and majesty of the American Frontier even if it wasn't all filmed in the US :/.
The movie is approximately 2 hours 30 mins long but it felt like it was over 3, the majority of the time I'd rather see everything originally intended to be in the film but this time I feel some scenes needed to be shortened or cut altogether..... Leo doing his best impersonation of Han saving Luke on Hoth.
One aspect that stood out to me was the sound editing in this film, the sound of the creaking trees in the howling wind added to the haunting nature of Glasses hallucinations of his dead Indian wife as he struggled through the harsh winter landscape.
The Revenant was a good movie that will probably slip into obscurity for me, it's not one of those movies I see myself picking when I'm in the mood to sit on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and watch a movie.
B- 

Macross Delta Preview Episode .089

I'm kicking off 2016 in a Super Decultcha way, watching the preview episode .089 for Macross Delta!
M: Delta takes place in the year 2067, only a few years after Frontier, there was a lot to take in this preview and the pace was relentless but I enjoyed it. For those new to Macross it might be a little overwhelming. I was happy they kept the galactic map that showed the courses of the immigration fleets across the galaxy that was seen in Macross Frontier!
I was actually surprised this episode introduced so many characters, we first meet Freyja Wion the young stowaway that dreams of competing on Planet Laguna to be the newest member of Walkure, an idol group that is dispatched along with the Delta Squadron to combat the Var Syndrome, a mysterious disease that destabilizes the victim and sets them into a violent homicidal rage (terrorism). I thought Freyja Wion was adorable and displayed many of the same naive tendencies that we've seen in the past with other young wanna be idols...Minmay, Mao Nome, Ranka Lee.

Then we meet Hayate Immelmann a laid back kid working on planet Al Shahal on the cargo docks, he hasn't found anything in life that truly excites him....yet.
Next we meet Mikumo Guynemer the lead vocalist of Walkure who appears to be undercover on a mission but is aware of Freyja, soon after we meet Second Lieutenant Mirage Farina Jenius! Hayate reminds me of Max and then Mirage has his last name.....interesting.
Then the Var outbreak strikes at a Zentradi base and all hell breaks loose at Al Shahal City and the Delata Squadron with their respective Walkure procede to neutralize the threat!
It was cool seeing the old school Regults in action after so many years, seeing the Walkure "transform" to "go live" was kinda silly in a Sailor Moon kinda way, not cool like Kill La Kill,  I hope they don't show this sequence every time they "transform".

After my second viewing I'm getting a Macross II vibe from certain aspects of Delta such as when we hear the dirge like hymn that causes the Var outbreak on Al Shahal on the Zentradi base. The long staircase with the throne at the top reminded me of where Ishtar sat in MII . And the Walkure remind me of the Minmay Attack from MII as well.
Seeing the Aerial Knights come out of fold was a relief, the Vajra were ok but I much prefer humanoid enemies over bugs, the dog fight between SV 262 Draken and the VF31 Siegfried was ok, but nothing extraordinary.
I tried to rationalize why the Aerial Knights hate the Walkure so much and the only illogical conclusion I could come up with was they hate rainbows and pop music groups (I can relate).
I do know the Aerial Knights are from the Kingdom of Windmere....and so is Freyja, that is gonna be a thorn in the Aerial Knights plans to vanquish the Walkure! Ahhh the drama!
I enjoyed the episode and look forward to future of the series and franchise as a whole.