Mar 31, 2012

"Wrath of the Titans" - 2012 - movie review

"Wrath of the Titans" is a step up from its predecessor "Clash of the Titans" in just about every way. It's also the best of what's become a slew of sword and sandal epics recently including Tarsem Singh's incomprehensible "Immortals" which shares some of the same characters as Wrath of the Titans. This film's saving grace is the story's simplicity. Make no mistake, this is a special effects movie and if there's one thing that screws up a special effects movie its a labyrinthian plot. Wrath of the Titans story is straight forward and easy to comprehend even if you don't don't know the difference between a god and a titan.

It's 10 years since Perseus (Sam Worthington), the demigod son of Zeus, slayed the Krakken and he's been frittering away his life catching fish and taking the kid to school. One evening his father (Zeus, played by Liam Nesson) pays him a call with a dire tale to tell. The gods - who depend on human prayers to sustain them - are losing their grip. People have lost faith and are abandoning the temples in droves. This by itself is not such a bad thing but, as Zeus tells Perseus, the withering of the gods means they no longer have sufficient power to contain the titans, long imprisoned in Mount Tartarus. Said titans, now with a substantial bitch to pitch are beginning to escape and soon Kronos himself may find a way out. That would not be good. Kronos is the father of the gods and not someone to be trifled with. This isn't the place to go into his whole backstory but if you're not familiar with him, well, let's just say that he and his spawn (including Poseidon, Hades and Zeus) don't have a loving history. Zeus needs all the help he can get to try and stop the titans from taking over and destroying the world.

Zeus' pleas to Perseus fall on deaf ears and so he goes to the underworld to try and recruit his wayward brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes) to the cause. Hades, with the help of Aries (Edgar Ramirez) captures Zeus and offers his power to Kronos in exchange for Kronos' word that, once free, he won't attempt to strip them of their immortality. In the meantime all hell is breaking lose (literally) on the surface and the reluctant Perseus finds he has no choice but to dust off his Krakken-slaying self and join the fray. He needs to find his way into Tartarus itself to free Zeus if he's to have any chance of stopping Kronos and Co. The second hour of the movie plays out this scenario and culminates in Perseus' big showdown with a rampaging Kronos.

Wrath of the Titans is pretty much what I expect (and want) to see in a special effects blockbuster. It's strong in all the right places (mind-bending creatures, spectacular environments, lively pace) and weak where I pretty much expect a movie like this to be weak; namely dialogue. As I said earlier the story doesn't get needlessly bogged down in minutia and useless dead end plot lines ala the second and third "Transformers" films and, unlike Michael Bay, "Wrath" director Jonathan Liebsman doesn't hate women. There are no obvious reasons to tune the movie out and lots of reasons to tune in. It's fun, well executed, spectacular to behold in parts, easy to understand and doesn't take itself too seriously. Also, Kronos is one baaaad dude and watching him emerge from Tartarus and run roughshod o'er the landscape was worth the price of admission all by itself. The only thing that left a bad taste in my mouth was Perseus' battle with the Minotaur which skipped by in a frustrating blur of jump cuts.

The last couple of films I'd seen in 3D were so much better when I finally got around to seeing them in 2D that I decided to cut right to the chase with Wrath of the Titans and see the 2D version first. I'm glad I did.

Mar 30, 2012

New featurette for Peter Berg's "Battleship"

While I'm still not sure how a project like this came to be I accept it and must admit it has that kind of car crash fascination about it. I don't want to look, but I can't help it. In this featurette Peter Berg explains that what I really want is to see somebody get their ass kicked and when I hear stuff like that I have to agree. Perhaps we could start with him. The cast includes Taylor Kitsch fresh off his overwhelming "John Carter" success and Rihanna who I wish to join in holy matrimony.

"Battleship" then and now. What the...?
The thing that mystifies me is how something as painfully stationary as the Hasbro board game could be imbued with such levels of kinetic energy. If they can do it for "Battleship" what's next? "Solitaire!" Well, for what it's worth here's the newest installment in the "Battleship" PR blitz. A couple of minutes of Hollywood giving me what I want: ass-kicking! Yeah!

New logo for "Man of Steel"

Warner Brothers ground-up renovation of Superman continues apace with Warner Brothers releasing the man from Krypton's new logo. Warner's is going all out with this effort, to be released in 2013 and is being tight lipped about plot details. That shouldn't surprise anyone since Mr Secrecy himself Christopher Nolan is aboard as writer (along with David Goyer). The fact that "300", "Watchmen" and "Sucker Punch" director Zack Snyder is in the big chair should also indicate that we're in for lots of pace-shifting and iconic poses during the action sequences. Anyway, here's the new logo.

"True Grit" - 2010 - movie review

"True Grit" is at once the Coen brother's most inexplicable and satisfying film to date. Inexplicable because it's largely (not entirely) shorn of the "We're smarter than you and we know it" attitude that hovers around even the best of their previous work and satisfying because by taking their egos largely out of the equation they've done justice to a story that was given short shrift in an earlier incarnation where everything had been designed to highlight the fading attributes of the film's star.

The story, set in the Oklahoma Territory of the late 19th century, tells the tale of 14 year old Mattie Ross and her quest for vengeance following the murder of her father by a drifter named Tom Chaney. Her mother is incapable of handling business affairs and her brother is too young so Mattie is sent to collect her father's body and tie up any loose ends left by his death. She decides that, for her, nothing short of seeing Tom Chaney dangling from the end of a rope will do and so she sets about first to raise some money and then to use that money to secure the services of Marshall Rooster Cogburn. The two of them will pursue Chaney into the Indian Territory where he is believed to have fled. Along the way they pick up a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf who is also after Chaney for the murder of a Texas state senator. Neither Cogburn nor BaBoeuf is eager for Mattie to come along, feeling she'll do nothing but slow them down. But they have grossly underestimated the pluck of Cogburn's young employer who will simply not be denied.

The casting, as is usually the case with a Coen brothers film, is spot on. While it's a more typically mainstream cast than we've come to expect from the brother's it seems appropriate given the fact that the Coen's here are making as close as they're ever likely to come to a "Hollywood movie". Matt Damon gives an excellent supporting performance as the stiff but well-intentioned Texas Ranger. Hailie Steinfeld projects a force uncommon in actors many years her senior and Josh Brolin makes a first rate western baddie: barely literate, unkempt, ornery and lost. But this film belongs to Jeff Bridges or, I should say, Rooster Cogburn. Because Bridges is so good that, unlike the so-called "legend" who play Cogburn in the story's 1969 incarnation, you never feel like you're watching Jeff Bridges Movie Star. He respects the character, warts and all. While there are aspects of Cogburn's character that lend themselves to less than flattering judgements it must be remembered that this is Mattie's story; told with her narration, through her eyes. At first she's wary of him and impatient with his shortcomings so naturally she sees him as buffoonish and Bridge's portrayal reflects this. Later, as her appreciation for his perseverance, stoicism in the face of brutality and commitment to her and her quest grow it is these qualities that leak into then take over Bridge's portrayal. It's a masterful performance. One where the actor's ego is completely subsumed and the character is allowed to shine in the light of the storyteller, Mattie.

Roger Deakins (No Country For Old Men) returns as cinematographer here and once again there are very few places for human beings in his spare, unwelcoming landscapes. "If the thunder don't get ya then the lightinin' will!" as the old saying goes and I constantly have that feeling while watching the characters negotiate the Texas backcountry where the film was largely shot. The folks that have made this land their home have all paid a price. The frontier that was touted to the citizenry as a promised land was in fact a wholly unforgiving place where the strong were humbled and the weak were chewed up and spit out. Every character in True Grit carries some kind of significant scar, either physical or psychological or both.

After fighting on the losing side in the Civil War LaBoeuf has a deep-seeded need to prove himself the warrior. He'll wind up carrying a saddlebag of physical scars as well from his pursuit of Chaney. Cogburn, on the other hand, having won the war but lost his family drifts through life without purpose venting his bitterness on those he's supposed to bring to justice, his one eye symbolizing his loss of perspective. Ultimately though he'll prove to be an heroic figure and then exit the stage as heroes should: on top leaving his audience (Mattie) forever wanting more. For her part Mattie is a more than competent young person who, given the right environment, would have risen to a place of prominence. The Oklahoma Territory was not the right environment and bereft of other ways to prove herself she's taken to steamrolling over those who stand in her way. She's 14 but never laughs. 14 year olds should laugh. In the end the Territory will exact its pound of flesh from her as well, literally.

As I alluded to earlier there's little of the deliberate quirkiness of the Coen's earlier efforts visible in True Grit and I for one am thankful for that. A film like "Fargo" though fascinating and brutally funny nonetheless has always felt a bit narcissistic to me. It's nothing terribly overt but I've always had the sense that part of the brother's reason for making Fargo was simply to show that they could take a half dozen or so random characters off the shelf and make a movie out of them. For that reason the film feels like a giant doodle at times to me (depending on my mood no doubt) and the results are not dissimilar, nor for that matter dissatisfying. After all, some people make really interesting doodles.

With True Grit though the Coen's have sidestepped the doodle and dove headlong into the process of narrative storytelling with all the formal conventions that come with it. And you know what? They're so good at what they do that they pretty much outstrip everybody else at this kind of film making as well, (just like they knew they would).


Mar 29, 2012

Clive Owen has a few words to say about "Sin City 2". Very few.

While none other than Robert Rodriguez said recently that the long-awaited Sin City sequel is finally slated to begin shooting this summer one Mr Clive Owen, in an interview with moviefone, is painting what seems to be a very different picture. Owen, who played Dwight McCarthy in the original would seem to be a natural choice to return for the second film, yet he claims complete ignorance of the project. I guess it's possible that he's just playing his cards close to the vest (I seem to recall Ridley Scott telling anyone who would listen that "Prometheus" would not be an "Alien" prequel) but its also possible that he's being straight with this one and he's either not being considered by Rodriguez or Rodriguez's talk of Sin City 2 being nearly ready to roll is just wishful thinking.

Read the whole moviefone interview with Clive Owen here and be warned: his response to the Sin City 2 questions is a very small part of it.

Mar 28, 2012

Off the beaten track trailer of the day - "Nenek Gayung"

I'm assuming from the trailer that "Nenek Gayung" means "Soup de jour". Although it could mean "nasty gum infection" as well. You decide.

Mar 27, 2012

"Prometheus" TV spot #3

While composed largely material we've already seen in the previous trailers this new spot, like the one before it, contains just enough morsels of new stuff to keep us coming back.

Left darling Jane Fonda to play Right darling Nancy Reagan

In one of the more bizarre casting decisions in memory Variety is reporting that Jane Fonda, darling of the Left, anti-war activist and feminist champion has been tapped to play Nancy Reagan, darling of the Right, staunch conservative and champion of so-called "traditional" values, in the upcoming film "The Butler". The film follows the story of White House butler Eugene Allen who served presidents from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan until retiring in 1986. Perhaps Fonda is taking her lead from noted liberal Meryl Streep who did pretty well for herself playing the Iron Lady (and Reagan ally) Margaret Thatcher.

The movie will be directed by Lee Daniels ("Precious") and several roles are yet to be cast with Liam Nesson reportedly in talks to play President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The top 10 movies for the weekend of March 23 - March 25, 2012

1) The Hunger Games $152.5 Million
2) 21 Jump Street $20.4 Million
3) Dr. Seuss' The Lorax $13.1 Million
4) John Carter $5 Million
5) Act of Valor $2 Million
6) A Thousand Words $1.95 Million
7) Project X $1.93 Million
8) October Baby $1.6 Million
9) Safe House $1.4 Million
10) Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $1.3 Million

The number one movie a year ago this week was Fox's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" which debuted in the top spot with $23.7 million.

Mar 26, 2012

New pictures from the set of "Skyfall"

Production on the new James Bond film continues in jolley-ol' England and the Daily Mail has posted a whole series of photos from the set. Most of them center on the destruction of a mansion built specifically for the film. Below is one of those photos. There's also some interesting pictures of "Skyfall" villian Javier Bardem in costume.

Mar 24, 2012

"Prometheus" tv spot 2

The "Prometheus" publicity campaign is obviously ramping up. With about 10 weeks left before it's release that campaign has moved to tv with this spot being the latest entry. There's a few new snippets included here and the text has been replaced by voice over for the can't-be-bothered-to-read crowd.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" - trailer 2

Who knew the Great Emancipator was also a lusty, ninja-like hunter of blood-sucking immortals? I always thought he was kind of like what you see at the Lincoln Memorial. Stiff, dour, determined, smart for sure but not a whole lot of fun, and not really driven by emotion. But I digress because, as Mr Burton shows with this newest trailer, Honest Abe was just a mountain-o-mayhem!

Mar 23, 2012

Off the beaten track trailer of the day - "La Memoria del Muerto"

Here's an interesting trailer from Argentinian director Javier Diment. Looks like a real feel good kind of story for the whole family. If your family happens to be a bunch of bloodthirsty, satan-worshiping mutants.

"Cosmopolis" - trailer

David Cronenberg's new film stars Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti and others and will debut in France on May 23rd with release in other countries to follow at as-yet-unspecified dates. Looks pretty intense which is to say it looks pretty much like what I'd expect from Mr Cronenberg.

Mar 22, 2012

"Hugo" - 2011 - movie review

"Hugo" is Martin Scorsese's deeply heartfelt ode to film, it's origins, it's early pioneers and his own history within the medium. It's a movie that flirts from the outset with nostalgia but never falls over the edge into that thematic abyss. Released in both 3D and 2D I chose to see the 2D version.

Hugo Cabret is the son of a Paris watchmaker in the 1920's whose mother dies when he is a baby and whose father dies when Hugo is 10 or so. Hugo is taken in by his uncle, a civil servant whose job it is to keep the clocks in one of Paris's mighty train stations running. Shortly after taking Hugo in and teaching him the ropes the uncle disappears. Hugo stays however believing that as long as he keeps the clocks working no one will notice that his uncle has gone AWOL. Hugo lives in the long forgotten clock keepers apartment at the station and emerges from it's walls only to steal food and to scrounge parts for his big project: the restoration of an automaton his father had found in a museum storeroom shortly before he died.

One day the owner of the station's toy shop catches Hugo attempting to lift a windup mouse and demands Hugo empty his pockets. In one of his pockets he carries the notebook his father had been keeping which contains detailed schematics of the automaton. Upon seeing this the store owner is stricken and demands to know where Hugo got it. Hugo refuses to tell him and as a result the old man confiscates the notebook and vows to destroy it.

Hugo follows the shop owner home pleading for his notebook back but the old man is resolute and eventually closes the door in his face. Hugo spots a girl on the upper floor of the old man's home and gets her attention. She comes out to talk to him and promises to make sure the old man (who is her guardian since she too is an orphan) doesn't destroy it. Over the course of the film a friendship will develop between the two kids that has lasting and profound effects on those around them.

It turns out that the old man is actually the film pioneer Georges Melies, long thought dead but actually clinging on to a woefully unsatisfying existence as the proprietor of the toy shop. He's constantly miserable because he's living an inauthentic life, forced by historical events to give up movie making and take up permanent residence behind the toy store counter.

As I said earlier the film manages to avoid the pothole of nostalgia and it does so by being about something other than the breathtaking visuals of a Paris that never really was. That "other" thing is purpose. The story is set in post World War I Europe where the search for "the meaning of it all" was a daily past time that mostly yielded naught but disillusionment. Hugo realizes that meaning is perhaps not all its cracked up to be and that purpose is the real driver of the human spirit. Where meaning can be twisted to fit even the most odious ideology, purpose, that feeling we have that we know what we should be doing, rarely ever changes. It's when people are removed from their purpose or prevented from ever taking it up in the first place that societies begin to develop cracks. This theme of purpose also feeds directly into the reading of Hugo as an autobiographical film for Martin Scorsese. He realized early on what his purpose was and pursued it with gusto. As a result he's given us some of the most stirring, brutal and yet truthful films of the past half century. When he shows us a morose and bitter Georges Melies he's also speculating on what he might have become had he made the "safe" decision and pursued a more traditional career path. Yes, art is risky, but where is the safety in bitterness? Where is the safety in feeling you've wasted your life?

The cast all do a stellar job in support of Scorsese's vision here starting with Ben Kingsley as the aged, embittered film maker who, through the intervention of a young boy, finds renewed purpose in his end days. Asa Butterfield as Hugo demonstrates a range not found in many young actors and Chloe Grace Moretz plays his young, adventure craving friend to continental perfection. Sacha Baron Cohen is reigned in by his role as the Station Inspector and manages to bring depth to what could have been a fairly cardboard character. The rest of the cast, including Jude Law and Christopher Lee, bring a joi de vivre to their performances that demonstrate how thoroughly everyone involved bought into the film.

The film is beautifully rendered using state of the art techniques. While this may seem a strange thing to say about a Martin Scorsese movie it's actually not so odd at all when you consider that Melies is widely considered to be the father of special effects and as an ode to him... well, you get it. Scorsese himself demonstrates a deft hand with the actors in a movie which required just that.

Hugo isn't a movie for young children. To really appreciate it you have to understand something about people and how easy it is to get sidetracked or totally lost in life. No, Hugo is a film for adults, wherein Scorsese fires a warning shot across the bow of anyone out there who might have a strong sense of purpose but who is considering tossing it aside in the name of safety and security.

"Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do... Maybe it's the same with people. If you lose your purpose... it's like you're broken." - Hugo

Amen.

Mar 21, 2012

Russell Crowe set to move from the Colesseum to The Ark

"Gimme two!"
Deadline is reporting that "Gladiator" star Russell Crowe has agreed to take the lead as Noah in Darren Aronofsky's upcoming biblical epic and that an official announcement will be forthcoming next week.

From his public pronouncements Aronofsky seems stoked for this project and Crowe should be a good fit to play such an oversized character. Filming is set to start this summer.

Mar 20, 2012

The top 10 movies for the weekend of March 16 - March 18, 2012

1) 21 Jump Street $36.3 Million
2) Dr. Seuss' The Lorax $22.7 Million
3) John Carter $13.5 Million
4) Project X $4 Million
5) Act of Valor $3.7 Million
6) A Thousand Words $3.6 Million
7) Safe House $2.7 Million
8) Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $2.3 Million
9) Casa De Mi Padre $2.2 Million
10) This Means War $2.1 Million

The number one movie a year ago this week was Relativity Media's "Limitless" which debuted in the top spot with $18.9 million.

Mar 19, 2012

"Prometheus" trailers - some final thoughts

WARNING: The following is my opinion of how "Prometheus" will unfold as a story based on the just released trailers (standard and IMAX). Some may conclude that I'm revealing facts about the film, which I'm not. I have no way of knowing what's in the script. It's only my opinion. If you don't want to think about the story line and how the movie might unfold before you see it you may want to take a pass on reading further.

So what is to be taken from the 2 "Prometheus" trailers released over the weekend? Well first, it seems abundantly clear that the new film will have more than a trace of "Alien" DNA running through it. Everything from the space jockey to the fact that he's piloting the ship designed by H.R. Giger for the original film to the alien imagery on the walls to the alien "slime" that's shown between someone's fingers to the split second shot of what look like "alien" tendrils to the cries of "Get it off! Get it off!" speak to this film fitting snugly into the overall "Alien" lineage.

However it also seems clear that Ridley Scott has taken a lot of time and energy trying to develop other aspects of the story as well and what I think we'll see (and this is only my opinion) is that the "Alien" storyline is slow to develop within this film and is probably reserved for the second hour if not the last half hour or so. It seems like Scott is going to have a lot of story telling to do before we get to that point. He's got to set up all these new characters and then tell the tale of what brings them to LV426 (the "invitation" of the trailer), then get them there, then set up the events that will unfold in the climax. With that being the case (if that's the case), and because I would assume that he doesn't want the audience to tune out the first 60-90 minutes of the story/film that he's worked so hard on, he's naturally playing down the "Alien" aspect in his public pronouncements.

There's a short but telling snippet in the trailer where Noomi Rapace says "We were sooo wrong!" This is the kind of thing you put in a script once you've had the characters spend a great deal of time establishing one idea. This almost always occurs late in a story when things happen that reveal previously unknown elements which change or completely discredit an hypothesis. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that she's making that pronouncement after the alien aspect of things has been revealed which means it's going to be late in the movie before that dreaded species enters the picture.

So why are the trailers so heavy with Alien references? Probably because Scott's trying to make trailers that people will remember and that will put butts in the seats so he's mostly using footage from the final couple of reels where the alien appears and most of the action takes place. Which is understandable. However, I think that by making the trailers so action heavy and by linking them so clearly with the earlier film he runs the risk of creating unrealistic expectations in the audience and could wind up with a lot of disillusioned fans who went expecting chestbursters and got (mostly) something more cerebral.

I for one am going to try to enter the theater on June 8th with an open mind. I don't want to miss the majority of what looks like and amazing film because I'm sitting there thinking "Where the hell is the facehugger?!?!?!"

I could be entirely wrong. But that's my two cents.

Who is this? If I'm only waiting for chestbursters I might never know.

Mar 18, 2012

"Prometheus" IMAX trailer - return of the facehugger?

I've taken a closer look at the new Prometheus IMAX trailer and have gleaned the following sequence that gives a further indication to me that we may actually see a xenomorph in Prometheus after all of Ridley Scott's protestations to the contrary.

In this sequence you can see something that certainly resembles "facehugger" tendrils rising up above the face of Noomi Rapace. In the trailer itself this split second sequence is accompanied by the unmistakable whiplash sound we've all come to know and love as the signature of the facehugger.


Both the new trailers look incredible and I can't wait for June 8.

New: "Prometheus" IMAX trailer

Because I'm about as excited for this film as I get over a movie I don't mind turning the blog over to it for a day. In that spirit here is the new "Prometheus" IMAX trailer. It's significantly different than the just released standard trailer and features at least one character I don't recall seeing at all up to this point. I'll have to take some time to go through it carefully but for now here it is.


Mar 17, 2012

New "Prometheus" trailer: analysis

For those who still harbored lingering doubts about whether "Prometheus" really is going to be an "Alien" prequel or not the new trailer should finally close the book on that discussion.

Take a look at this still image from the new trailer.


Any questions?

Another element related to the original movie is the iconic "space jockey". In "Alien" he's simply an unknown and tragic figure whose eviscerated chest hints at darker things that have happened and are to come as well. He's a warning. Here he's a living breathing part of the plot as evidenced by these three images below taken from the new trailer.


"Prometheus" opens June 8.

New full-length trailer for "Prometheus"

Here it is. Trailer number 2 for Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi. There's a lot to take in here, a lot on view that we haven't seen before including mysterious characters lurking in split second shots and what seem like some important narrative clues as well. Looks good to me. Bring on June 8th.

"Ruin" animated short from Oddball Animation

Here's an interesting piece of animation for a Saturday afternoon. It's called "Ruin" and is produced by director Wes Ball's Oddball Animation. In many ways it's your typical computer-generated post-apocalyptic tale of the last free man fighting the servants of injustice and oppression but I find it interesting visually for its presentation of the post-apocalypse as a place where plant life has re-asserted itself. Most visualizations of the dark future take place in barren landscapes.

Rodrigo Santoro to return as Xerxes in "300" sequel

Yours is an fascinating tribe, forever making sequels.
Rodrigo Santoro made Xerxes his own for "300" and is now set to reprise the role for the sequel. The Warner Brothers and Legendary Films sequel titled "300: Battle of Artemisia" is set to begin shooting this summer with the little known Noam Murro in the director's chair. Joining Santoro in the cast will be Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Andrew Pleavin and Jamie Blackley. "300: Battle of Artemisia" is due in theaters in 2013.

Mar 15, 2012

"Dark Shadows" - trailer

I could say I'm surprised that Tim Burton has apparently turned the classic gothic soap opera Dark Shadows into feel-good comedy but that wouldn't really describe my reaction. I was stoked at the beginning of the trailer but by the end was sitting slack-jawed and a bit bewildered. I don't know what to say really. Check it out yourself.


Mickey Rourke to join Roel Reine's "Dead in Tombstone"

Director Roel Reine, best known for towering achievements like "Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption", is set to helm this upcoming supernatural action film and word has it that Mickey Rourke has signed on along with Danny Trejo and Anthony Michael Hall.

In the story gang leader Trejo is killed shortly after freeing his half-brother Hall (who bears such a striking resemblance to Trejo) from prison. Trejo goes to hell of course and there makes a deal with the devil aka Mickey Rourke. He then returns to the temporal sphere to exact revenge.

The casting of Hall is a curiosity of biblical proportions and seems the kind of decision that will come to be seen either as a revelation or 'the thing that brought down Dead in Tombstone'. We'll just have to wait and see.

The ultimate unholy trinity: Trejo, Rourke and...Hall?

Mar 14, 2012

"Green Hornet 2" is a no-go

My day just got a little bit brighter when I learned that Columbia will not be subjecting audiences to another round of the "Seth Rogen Kills The Green Hornet". While the film almost broke even at the box office Columbia executives were less than thrilled with how much it cost to produce, not to mention what it cost to convert (after the fact) to 3D. Whatever it takes to keep Rogen away from this once respectable pop culture property is okay with me.

Rodriguez confirms "Sin City 2" is finally on

After what has seemed like an endless series of delays Robert Rodriguez has finally confirmed that "Sin City 2" will start shooting this summer. Though he was cagey when asked if the cast of the original Sin City would be returning for the sequel he did say he's had talks with several members of the original cast and that the cast for the sequel would be “of the same caliber and eclecticism” as the original.

"Gimme one good reason I should return."
One big "if" in the casting department is Mickey Rourke who has stated more than once in the past couple of years that he has little interest in reprising the role of Marv which was one of the undisputed highlights of the first film. It remains to be seen if Rodriguez and Miller will be able to talk him into changing his mind.

Sin City author Frank Miller has previously stated that the storyline for the sequel will include an adaptation of "A Dame to Kill For" along with "Just Another Saturday Night" as well as a couple of new stories penned for the film that will serve to tie things together.

Mar 13, 2012

The top 10 movies for the weekend of March 9 - March 11, 2012

1) Dr. Seuss' The Lorax $38.8 Million
2) John Carter $30.1 Million
3) Project X $11.1 Million
4) Act of Valor $6.9 Million
5) Silent House $6.6 Million
6) A Thousand Words $6.1 Million
7) Safe House $4.8 Million
8) The Vow $3.8 Million
9) This Means War $3.7 Million
10) Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $3.6 Million

The number one movie a year ago this week was Sony's "Battle: Los Angeles" which debuted in the top spot with $35.5 million.

Mar 12, 2012

New "Prometheus" teaser trailer

Word has it that a new trailer for Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" is due out this weekend. To prepare the ground for that happy event Fox has released a new teaser that gives a glimpse of what to expect in the new trailer. It's short to be sure but includes some images not included in the original teaser. Enjoy.

"On the Road" - trailer

55 years after it was written and became the bible of the beat generation Jack Kerouac's seminal road tale is finally making it to the big screen later this year. The film stars Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Sturridge, Viggo Mortensen and Kristen Stewart as the doobie rolling child bride of Kerouac's best friend, Dean Moriarty.

Mar 11, 2012

"Meeting Evil" - trailer

Luke Wilson is a guy down on his luck. Samuel L. Jackson is one evil dude who swoops down on the depressed and desperate Wilson, presents him with temptation galore and drags him down a murderous path that seems to have no end.



"Meeting Evil" hits theaters May 4th.

Mar 9, 2012

"John Carter" - 2012 - movie review

The suits at Disney chose to leave "of Mars" off the title of this McMovie. Though I'm not privy to their reasoning I'd say it was the smartest thing they could have done. When Edgar Rice Burroughs authored the "John Carter of Mars" stories little was known about the red planet. Today most 4th graders would look at the ridiculous representation here and scoff "My baby brother knows that Mars doesn't have a breathable atmosphere!"

The title character of this movie is a psychopath whose only desire is for violence and mayhem. He's aggressively anti-social and would just as soon punch you as say "hello". He fought for the confederacy during the Civil War (I guess Disney research has shown that being pro-slavery makes you a more attractive hero) and despises the victorious Union troops who capture him. Being an ultra-violent, slavery-loving psychopath there ain't a Union jail can hold him gosh dang it and he soon escapes Union control and flees into the desert where, of course, he comes upon an alien in a cave who just happens to be dying and just happens to pass on to him a device that teleports him to "Mars" (though if I had a baby brother he could tell you that the Martian sunlight as depicted here is all wrong).

Carter finds that in the lighter gravity he's able to jump really far. He eventually careens into a cabbage patch nursery abandoned by whoever was supposed to be doing nest duty but is shortly thereafter captured when the derelict nest watchers, (who were apparently on toilet break or something), return. Before he's captured he demonstrates his ability to jump really high and this impresses the native desert people who adopt him as "Virginia" (the state he said he came from).

From here the story begins to weigh heavily on the eyelids. There's a war going on between the two resident "humanoid" races. All the peace loving low-tech desert-victim-people can do is stand by and witness the horrible brutality the (white) humanoids rain down on one another. There's a princess (the monarchy fairy tale raises it's fetid, slimy head yet again) who's also a tech whiz and is dead set against being married off to a prince of the enemy side, blah, blah, blah, yawn, snore...

So you get the idea. The reluctant psychopath is drawn into the conflict, the princess falls for him because lunatics are so wonderfully unpredictable, the victim-people from the desert find a champion (if they didn't let him fight someone else he'd probably kill them) and, since you have two groups of white guys fighting each other, at least some white guys are guaranteed to lose as dictated by Hollywood by-law b2871.

So just what is John Carter? Well, it's part "Cowboys and Aliens" (not the good parts) part "Attack of the Clones" (especially the art direction) and part Beauty and the Beast (though I have yet to figure out who the beauty is). It's possibly a good movie for young children who haven't had much science yet in school or been exposed to any decent sci-fi. For me it's the worst sci-fi film since "Congo". On the upside we now know what cabbage patch kids look like when they grow up.

If you're a sci-fi fan considering plopping down your hard earned money on John Carter I'd suggest holding onto your money until June 8th.

Trailer for Irish horror film "Citadel"

In the wake of the global financial meltdown and the devastating effect that had on the Irish economy it seems the mood in the Emerald Isle has turned a bit south. As evidence I give you Ciaran Foy's new horror film "Citadel".

From the promo blurb...

The dilapidated suburbia of Edenstown casts a shadow over Tommy Cowley's life. Trapped there by his agoraphobia since his wife was fatally attacked by twisted feral children, he nowfinds himself terrorized by the same mysterious hooded gang, who seem intent on taking his baby daughter.



Citadel is scheduled to debut at this year's SXSW festival.

"Prometheus" to be released in 3D IMAX

To almost no one's surprise Fox has announced that Ridley Scott's long awaited "Prometheus" will be released in 3D IMAX simultaneously with it's 2D release (that's June 8th).

Mar 8, 2012

Off the beaten track trailer of the day - "Consuming Spirits"

Watching this trailer from Chris Sullivan's animated film I was reminded of the work of Joseph Cornell. Different medium sure but lots of similarities: from it's hodge-podge pieced-together-from-whatever-is-available feel to the American Gothic-style nature of the narrative to the obsessive dedication it must have taken to put it together . Here's part of the promotional blurb...

Nearly 15 years in the making, Chris Sullivan's Consuming Spirits is a meticulously constructed tour de force of experimental animation... that tracks the intertwined lives of three kindred spirits working at a local newspaper in a Midwestern rust belt town.

Woody Allen to star in new film by John Tuturro

"I'm just a gigolo..."
He hasn't acted in a non-Woody Allen film in over a decade but that long drought is about to end. Multiple Oscar winner Woody Allen, fresh off winning another one of those golden guys for "Midnight in Paris", has signed on to star opposite John Tuturro in Tuturro's upcoming film "Fading Gigolo". In the film Allen and Tuturro (who also wrote the story and is directing) play a pair of friends who, out of economic necessity, go into the gigolo business with Allen acting as Tuturro's pimp. Sharon Stone will also appear along with Sofia Vergara.

Mar 6, 2012

New image from "Prometheus"

The viral campaign for Ridley Scott's upcoming return to sci-fi is in full swing with tweets being bandied about and a full viral website up and running. The website features Guy Pearce as the founder of the Weyland Corporation which will of course by the time of "Alien" have become the Weyland-Yutani Corp ("Building Better Worlds" and all that).

Now another piece of the viral campaign has been exposed; it's the below image. The image clearly depicts the cockpit where the "space jockey" sits albeit before his command chair rises from the center as shown in the "Prometheus" trailer. What does the image mean? At this point your guess is as good as mine but its a stunner.

"Date with a Chicken" A short film by Pierre Ayotte

Though the title just about says it all I'm going to add that this short film is both tres bizarre and NSFW. (Probably not for the kiddies as well.) While there's no nudity per se the young man does take his amorous feelings for this particular piece of poultry to their logical extreme.

You have been warned. Take it away Poulette!

The top 10 movies for the weekend of March 2 - March 4, 2012

1) Dr. Seuss' The Lorax $70.2 Million
2) Project X $21 Million
3) Act of Valor $13.5 Million
4) Safe House $7.3 Million
5) Good Deeds $7 Million
6) Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $6.5 Million
7) The Vow $6 Million
8) This Means War $5.5 Million
9) Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance $4.5 Million
10) Wanderlust $3.8 Million

The number one movie a year ago this week was Paramount's "Rango" which debuted in the top spot with $38 million.

Mar 5, 2012

New "Men in Black 3" trailer

I don't know about the aliens but I'm psyched to see Josh Brolin as a young Tommy Lee Jones.

Mar 3, 2012

Trailer for Tim Burton's full length "Frankenweenie"

Tim Burton's remake of his own short film from his pre-Batman days arrives in theaters October 12th. The film is slated for release in IMAX 3D and will be the first ever stop-motion film released in that format.

Mar 2, 2012

"The Grey" - 2012 - movie review

"The Grey" is not a date movie. Ostensibly it's a survival tale set in the wilds of Alaska but not too far beneath the surface is an allegorical tale about getting older, losing your health, your idealism, your friends and loved ones and yet somehow still finding the strength to soldier on with your head held high.

Liam Neeson is a professional hunter hired by an oil company to protect pipeline workers against the area's predators. He's deeply depressed over losing his love (though the story doesn't tell you how she 'left him' until nearly the end) and soon after the film begins he's kneeling in the snow with his rifle in his mouth. He decides against shooting himself for the time being and the next day is on a flight with other oil workers for some R&R in Anchorage. The plane crashes in the remote Alaskan wilderness and the wounded, freezing, unarmed and lost survivors of the crash are left to fend for themselves against the fierce elements that include a pack of wolves whose territory they've had the bad fortune of landing in.

The plane crash itself can be seen as a metaphor for birth. Neeson and his compatriots are dropped unceremoniously into a hostile world they didn't ask to be dropped into. Like everyone born into the paradox that is life they each deal with it in different ways. After getting hold of themselves to a degree they set out through the cold cruel world seeking that place of refuge or that rescuer that will deliver them from their plight with the hungry indifferent pursuers ever on their trail. Everywhere they go in their attempt to elude the wolves they find only more wolves. Nesson's character, on the verge of suicide the day before the flight, now clings furiously to life, unwilling to give it up even though he has no idea why. He's buttressed in his struggle to stay alive by his memory of love. He also carries with him what amounts to a suicide note he'd written before the plane crash and each time he pulls it out during his ordeal it seems to have less and less relevance to him. He's alive now. That's all the matters

The story doesn't get sullied up by injecting super-villains or implausible situations. When people get hurt they aren't rarin' to go in the next scene. There's no rail car full of situation specific uber-tech waiting beyond that line of trees. They're on their own against a nature that doesn't give a rat's ass about their dreams, their ambitions, their triumphs, their sorrows or their opinion of it.

Director Joe Carnahan elevates his game for this outing. Formerly a light-weight with heavyweight ambitions he makes the leap up in weight classification here. The film is occassionally gripping with certain scenes conjuring memories of Bergman's "The New Land" (1972). Credit also must go to cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi - known mainly to this point for his work in short films. He too seems poised to me to make a big leap forward after this. The landscapes are often breathtaking; and not just the mountain vistas. Takayanagi treats the landscape of the face with the same care and precision he treats the peaks and valleys of British Columbia, where the film was shot.

Though the cast consists mainly of TV vets they all manage to do a creditable job here in support of Nesson who gives perhaps his most heartfelt performance ever. His character Ottway is multifaceted and believable and Neeson seems to reach deep down into himself in his quest to portray a man simultaneously on the verge of life and death.

Those who are offended by the fact that the agents of the void here are wolves (who don't have a long history of unprovoked attacks on humans) are missing the bigger picture. The Grey has far more in common with King Lear than NatGeo Wild.

After the film seems to end with an abrupt cut to black there is a second ending of sorts after the credits. It's only a few seconds long and seems the kind of thing the studio must have insisted be tacked on in order to prevent audiences from despairing. It's the one obviously weak element in an otherwise strong production.

New video blog post from "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

In this video Peter Jackson and Co talk about taking their enormous production on the road in New Zealand for location shooting.



The Hobbit part 1 hits theaters this December.

New "Avengers" trailer

Here's the second trailer for Marvel Studio's " The Avengers". Nick Fury enlists all of earth's superhero refugees to mount the defense against Thor's brother Loki who apparently has decided to take out earth for harboring his bro. Or something like that. I only have one question: Jeremy Renner?



"The Avengers" hits theaters May 4th.

Mar 1, 2012

"Piranha 3DD" trailer - Yup, that's "DD"

What do you get when you mix Ving Rhames, Christopher Lloyd and David Hasselhoff with flesh eating fish and copious amounts of silicone? Why "Piranha 3DD" of course.