Ryan's Movie Blog

2011-09-30T11:26:00.000-04:00

A New Year, Hopefully Better Quality

2011-01-24T10:55:00.003-05:00

It's been four months since my last post. Did I get lazy and just stop writing, no. I just got sick of writing reviews to bad movies and writing movie news that consists of sequels and remakes. So it's a new year, with new opportunities and I am starting to feel that tug to write again.

Let's talk about the end of 2010 for a second. Normally the holidays will release some films worth talking about. Really only two films stick out in my mind since September, The Fighter and True Grit.

The Fighter was surprisingly great. Mark Wahlberg is capable of making good movies, the problem is that it doesn't happen often. I saw this as an eye roll film. I think Christian Bale will go home with an Oscar for his supporting role, he stole the show.

True Grit seems to be getting overlooked. The Golden Globes was two weeks ago and Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp were both nominated for.......The Tourist????? How does that happen and yet this gets overlooked?

Here is where my enthusiasm for film has begun to slide. The Golden Globes are the second biggest awards ceremony next to the Academy Awards. So why was Alice In Wonderland, Red, The Tourist, Burlesque all nominations? There were also loads of questionable performance nominations like Depp who was nominated for both Alice in Wonderland along with The Tourist. I get it was for a comedy or musical, but he had no business getting nominated for either.

2010 was in my opinion one of the worst years for film I've seen in a while. I'm not going to do a Best and Worst of 2010 sequence, but I will name SOME of the worst and best of the year.

WORST
Jonah Hex
Grown Ups
The Last Airbender
Killers
When In Rome
Sex and the City 2
Valentine's Day
Paranormal Activity 2
Furry Vengeance

I would like to say something about Furry Vengeance really quick. When it comes to bad movies, I really don't think kid films should count that much. Sure, there can be good ones, but studios want to cash in on the kids and don't take the parents agony for account. So I will leave Marmaduke, Yogi Bear, They Spy Next Door and the Tooth Fairy alone. This movie is the exception. Everyone tied to this film should be ashamed.

Best
Inception
The Fighter
The Town
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
127 Hours
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

So now that 2010 is over, what is there to look forward to? I think a lot. I think that summer films have got in the habit of having big titles with little delivery, but the next two summers will have tons of great films with hopefully a bunch of gems sprinkled in between, but we'll start with this year first.

We have already seen some disappointments with Country Strong, Season of the Witch, The Green Hornet and the Dilemma, so were not off to a great start but I believe it can bounce back.

My Watch List for 2011
Sanctum
Apollo 18
Rango
Source Code
Battle: Los Angeles
Paul
Super
Scream 4
Thor
The Hangover 2
Super 8
Larry Crowne
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2
Captain America: The First Avenger
Cowboys and Aliens
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I'm sure there will be more once the year gets further along, but there is some serious potential this year. And some of these listed will turn out to be huge disappointments, that's inevitable, but we'll see what the year brings us.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE TOWN

2010-09-23T10:16:00.002-04:00

Ben Affleck has had a roller coaster of a career. For every great movie he is a part of, it seems that he has three or four disasters. But there is hope for Affleck. In 1998, he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay for Good Will Hunting, in which he also had a supporting role in, and that was the first time he really showed his talent on and off screen. Since then, he has been in more flops rather than hits, but when he is part of a good movie, he really gives a great performance. In 2007 I was surprised to hear that he would be directing his brother in Gone Baby Gone. I rolled my eyes thinking it would be some ridiculous film that he just put his brother in to help him out, but it turned out to be an amazing film and I was curious to see if he would be a one hit wonder kind of director or if he was the real deal.

His latest film is The Town, in which he not only stars in, but directs and writes as well. The film takes place in Charlestown, the leading city for bank robberies in the world. Affleck and Jeremy Renner play Doug and James, who lead a group of bank robbers, who are forced to take a hostage during their latest heist. Fearing she may know something about them, Doug decides to follow her around to make sure their in the clear, but after an accidental meeting, the two become romantically involved. Doug must now juggle his relationship with her, while hiding the fact about what he really does and his responsibility for her abduction and trying to avoid a federal agent (Jon Hamm), who is hot on their trail.

Affleck hits a home run in every area of this film. The cast does a tremendous job turning these characters into people that your not just watching, but becoming attached to as you watch. Most of the characters in the film are not just dealing with agents hunting them down or the fear of getting kidnapped again, but self confliction. Affleck's character is someone who does bad things, but also has a good side to him, so you want to see him redeem himself, you want to see him make the great escape in the end and he wants the same thing for himself. He wants to put it all behind him and walk away.

Rebecca Hall plays Claire, the girl who was taken hostage and has now fallen in love with Doug. When she finds out that Doug is responsible for the bank robberies and the kidnapping, she doesn't throw him under the bus immediately. Despite all he has done, she still sees the potential in him. Does she turn him in or turn and run away with him. Despite all he has done, she can't decide if she wants to be with him or against him.

Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner both deal with self assurance rather than confliction. Hamm wants to catch this crew no matter what the cost. He puts his own life on the line just to do so. Renner's character has an obsession with crime. The more hits they make, the more he wants to do. If he beats someones face, he wants them to know it was him, he doesn't care about the consequences, much less care about them. I will be highly surprised if there isn't at least one person from this cast who doesn't get nominated for an Oscar.

Next is the story. It's always funny how you end up cheering for these terrible guys who are robbing banks, killing innocent people and are smuggling drugs, while the officers and agents are just trying to protect the city. If it were to happen in the real world, we would lose sleep at night until these guys were caught. The film isn't just a heist film, it's a film about romance, revenge and redemption. He does a great job of blending the four together.

The other thing I was really impressed with was the action sequences. Had this been a Michael Bay film, there would have been fifty huge car explosions and blood splattering gun fights. The sequences in this film are simple but effective. It has one of the better car chases I have seen in years and gun fights that are along the lines quality wise as Heat.

Affleck has found his true talent I believe. He has two solid films under his belt now. The Town is one of the year's best films and I give it a ten out of ten.

MOVIE REVIEW: EASY A

2010-09-17T12:24:00.004-04:00

With the lack of talent that is starting to build up in Hollywood, there is nothing I love more than seeing a star on the rise. Emma Stone is exactly that. She first popped up in the highly popular film, Superbad and she really broke out in last year's Zombieland. Be sure to keep a look out for this girl because she is destined to go far.

In her new film, Easy A, Stone plays Olive, a clean cut high school student who is always under the social radar. After a nasty rumor is spread about her, she decides to rely on rumors to bump up her social life, eventually getting more attention than she can handle.

My favorite thing about Easy A is hands down Emma Stone. She brings an odd and smart style of comedy to the screen that I rarely see. When you watch her performance, you don't see a young immature actress like Lindsay Lohan, you see a smart bright career rising.

Another great thing about the film is it's co-stars. Stanley Tucci, Thomas Hayden Church, Lisa Kudrow, Malcom McDowell and Amanda Bynes all co-star in the film and each one brings something great to the film. Each one brings their own unique sense of humor to the film. Tucci plays the cool dad, Church plays the over enthusiastic teacher, Bynes plays the super christian and McDowell plays the uptight principal. Director, Will Gluck does a great job portraying the different high school groups without doing it in a cheesy cliche way.

Easy A isn't a perfect film, but you get no complaints from me on it. Strong lead, great script and funny co-stars were enough to sell me on it. I give it an eight out of ten.

Movie Review: Catfish

2010-09-15T09:30:00.003-04:00

I heard about Catfish a few months ago as it made it's way through a couple of film festivals. It's a movie you probably haven't heard about and probably won't hear about up until the last moment. So before I start my review, I'll let you check out the trailer for the film so you have an idea of what I am talking about.

To me the film looked very intriguing. I immediately had to know what was going on in this film and what the outcome was going to be. I was lucky enough to get to see an advanced screening of this film yesterday and I was highly disappointed with the outcome.

First of all, they marketed this film to be something it isn't. The trailer for this film just goes to show how much impact someone who is great at editing can have on something. As I go back and watch the trailer now, I'm thinking to myself how clever the trailer for this film was, as it is very misleading to the viewer.

The tagline is, "Don't let anyone tell you what it is". And that is the same thing I heard about the film, that the less you know, the better. And now after seeing it, you certainly won't want to know anything about the film or there will be absolutely no reason in watching the film and possibly even losing interest in seeing it. If you go to see this film, you will need to have a lot of patience.

If your like me, reviews mean nothing, I like to experience a film for myself. But if you go see this film, trust me in saying that you will need a lot of patience in watching it. It's a documentary so it's already going to be a slower paced film, but there are long periods of drawn out nothing.

Catfish isn't a bad film. Once I found out what the film was really about and got to the part where you figure out the big mystery, it's actually a very creepy and alarming film. I can't get to much into it, because then their would be no point in watching it, but it makes you think about some things. The main guy in the film, Nev is very likable and has a couple of funny parts on screen. I think the lack of characters hurt the film as well though. You pretty much just watch Nev the whole time so after a while it becomes tiring.

I was overall disappointed with Catfish. It was good for what it was, but it is marketed to be something it's not and the two hours isn't worth the payoff in the end. I give it a four out of ten.

MOVIE REVIEW: GOING THE DISTANCE

2010-09-04T11:01:00.004-04:00

When Erin and Garrett meet at a New York bar one night, they have an instant connection with one another. Their relationship blossoms and they begin to grow close to one another. The only problem is that Erin lives in San Diego and is only in New York for a summer internship. Once the summer ends, the two try and have the often failed, long distance relationship.

Going the Distance unites real life on again off again couple, Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, in a romantic comedy about the difficulties of trying to have a long distance relationship. Christina Applegate, Jim Gaffigan, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis co-star.

Drew Barrymore has been none for having great chemistry with her male leads. The same goes for Going the Distance. Barrymore and Long, whether it be due to the fact that while filming they were actually dating in real life, have a magnificent chemistry that I haven't seen in a while. They play off each other so well and they make their relationship something the viewer actually cares about.

However, Barrymore and Long aren't the only ones with chemistry in the film. The co-stars carry their own weight in this film, which is rare. Normally in romantic comedies, the best friend role is kind of pushed to the side so the stars of the film can shine. Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis really get to show off their comedic abilities. Charlie Day in particular really steals the show in every scene he is in.

The film is more of a romantic comedy for younger adults. Director, Nanette Burstein, really missed out on a bigger audience by putting graphic language in the film which gave it an R rating. This is one of those films where they could have cut out the "f" word and it would have dropped down to PG-13 and then it would have made a lot more money while appealing to a bigger audience. Had this been a mob film or maybe a film by Judd Apatow, it would have been fine, but older audience members is going to be blindsided by the language.

The film works well particularly because the long distance relationship hasn't been beat into the ground yet in Hollywood. There is no falling for another person, but the couple gets back together just in time for the credits to role in this film. This is a film that really does a good job at tackling the difficulties of having a serious long distance relationship.

The film hits a fifteen minute period that really drags out and cause the film to lose momentum and then just as it picks back up, it abruptly is forced into a quick ending. The final thirty minutes needed a lot of work as far as editing and actual pace of the film is concerned.

Overall Going the Distance delivers a lot of big laughs with a chemistry that is one for the books. I give it a 7 out of 10.

MOVIE REVIEW: PIRANHA 3D

2010-08-23T11:47:00.002-04:00

I'm not a huge fan of 3D, but it seems that Hollywood is all about it these days. It works for some films, but I don't want to see every single movie that comes out in 3D. However, when it comes to the horror genre, I think 3D is a must have. When My Bloody Valentine came out a few years ago, it convinced me that 3D is best used as a horror film technology to really bring a new level of scare and gore to a genre that has been getting worse and worse throughout the years.

Alexandre Aja, who has had some pretty decent horror films with The Hills Have Eyes and High Tension directs the film and does a great job of bringing a fun, entertaining movie to the screen. He also did a great job of getting a pretty respectable cast for a movie like this. Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss, Oscar nominee Elisabeth Shue, three time Emmy winner Christopher Lloyd, Jerry O'Connell, Ving Rhames, Adam Scott and Ricardo Chavira all star. For a film of this genre and style to be able to snag actors like this is a real accomplishment. Many times, movies like this turn out to be bad and fail, because no real talent can be pulled in.

In the film, thousands of young people gather at Lake Victoria for spring break and during the celebration an earthquake opens up an ancient cavern that unleashes hundreds of prehistoric piranhas loose on the lake. A small group of people must work together to not only save the tourists, but keep themselves from getting eaten as well.

What makes Piranha 3D so great, is that the film doesn't take itself too seriously. This is supposed to be a fun, goofy movie with some jumps and lots of gore. And that is exactly what it delivers. What is even better, is that the cast doesn't take their roles to seriously either. There is no shouting to the heavens or scene of intense seriousness, it's as if everyone is in on it. Jerry O'Connell and Adam Scott in particular do a really great job of portraying their characters in a way as if they are telling the audience, "We know it's a fun, goofy movie, and we love it". Even the CGI piranhas have a goofy, almost on purpose look to them.

The entire cast was great. As a Back to the Future fan, I loved seeing Christopher Lloyd back on the screen playing this crazy old scientist. Another Back to the Future alumni, Elisabeth Shue, hasn't really done a lot on screen lately and it was good to see her back. In the film, she plays the sheriff and does a great job of playing the tough female lead.

Right from the start the movie gets me. As a fan of Jaws, I was excited to see that they brought Richard Dreyfuss's character, Matt Hooper from Jaws into the opening scene. For legal reasons, they changed his name to Matt Boyd, but he is wearing the exact same outfit, drinking the exact same beer and singing the exact same song from Jaws. I thought this was a great nod to Jaws and the genre and I thought it was a really fun idea bringing the character into yet another terrifying situation. The audience really loved that scene.

The film itself, is morally wrong on every level. I have never seen more gore and nudity than I have with this film, but it's paying a homage to the 70's and 80's horror films. During the 90's and 00's, horror films got really soft. There were a lot of PG-13 films and watered down R films and what Aja was trying to do, was bring back the old school type of horror. So if you not a fan of intense gore and nudity, stay far, far away, but if it doesn't bother you to much, I would say this is something you need to check out. And of course if your a horror fan and it doesn't bother you at all, this is a must see for you.

I really didn't have any problems with the film other than it was to short. The film runs at 82 minutes, and I really would have like to seen about thirty more minutes. The audience as well as myself had a great time watching it. There was laughing, screaming and cringing, but when the film ends the whole audience went "awwww", wanting more. Piranha 3D was not the best film of the summer by any means, but it was certainly the most entertaining. I wasn't expecting much from it, but I am giving it an eight out of ten.

HEADLINES

2010-08-19T09:55:00.007-04:00

With the summer season coming to an end it looks like the movie news is starting to role in. It was a pretty quite summer as far as movie news goes, so I'm glad some stuff is popping up.

ROGEN TO VOICE BOO U
People must love Rogen's voice because he is always popping up in animated features. This time he will be voicing a ghost for Dreamworks upcoming animated film, Boo U. He plays a ghost who is sent back to school to improve his haunting skills.

Dreamworks is hit and miss with me. To me it seems like I like every other film they do. I like How to Train Your Dragon, so I will probably not like Megamind. So if this is the next in line, it's looking pretty good so far.

ELBA FINALLY GETS THE LEAD
Idris Elba will be taking over the role of Dr. Alex Cross, last portrayed by Morgan Freeman, for James Paterson's novel adaptation Cross. Paterson's previous two adaptations were Along Came A Spider and Kiss the Girls.

This is good news for Elba and us. I think he has tremendous talent, but hasn't found the big role yet in film. He will be perfect for Dr. Cross and I'm actually excited to see another film from these novels.

SAW DIRECTOR DOES 11 11 11
Apparently there is an organization that believes the recurrence of the number 11:11 has a spiritual significance and has a link to spiritual guardians. So naturally on November 11, 2011 this film will be released involving the 11 gates to heaven and how on 11/11/11 the final gate open for a short period of time.

This doesn't sound like anything special right now. Maybe after a few more details, this could turn into something interesting.

ODD DUO PAIR UP
Wesley Snipes is no familiar face to the crime/action genre, but Joey Lawrence, king of ABC's TGIF and now ABC Family, is. The two will be teaming up for a film titled Havana Heat. The story follows a murder of an undercover Homeland Security agent and his connection to Guantanamo Bay. What's even better is that Blonde and Blonder director Dean Hamiltyon is attached to direct.

Now this doesn't say it's going direct-to-dvd, but I can't imagine this making it's way to theatres. I mean Joey Lawrence and the guy that directed Blonde and Blonder??? You know who saw Blonde and Blonder, about eight people that's who. This has disaster written all over it.

JUMPER 2.......PLEASE NO
Hayden Christensen said at the premiere for Takers (which looks terrible), that Jumper 2 is a possibility and there is some talk and ideas going around for it right now.

I don't care how big of a Star Wars fan you are, you can't tell me that Christensen wasn't absolutely terrible in them and that he was one of the reasons they were so bad. The guy's acting is a joke. Now I thought that Jumper had a lot of potential, but a lot of things went wrong and the outcome wasn't good. I really hope they decide to go with a different character and give him the boot.

ABRAMS DEVELOPING THRILLER
Anyone ever play seven minutes in heaven? I never did. But imagine going into a closet to make out with a girl for seven minutes and when you come out, all your friends are dead. That the project Abrams is lining up with Lost director, Jack Bender.

I have nothing but faith in anything Abrams does, but I'm not sure how two kids going in a closet to make out and coming out with their friends dead is going to pan out on screen. I can't imagine an audience wanting to watch a thriller about two kids and I can't buy it being two teenagers. But it's Abrams so I put all my faith in him.

SUMMER 10' BEST AND WORST

2010-08-17T14:16:00.015-04:00

Man, am I glad that this summer is over with. This summer has not felt like your typical blockbuster summer at the movies. But there were some gems in a huge pile of what I thought to be a summer filled with crap films. We will start with the worst of the summer.

TOP 5 WORST FILMS OF THE SUMMER

5. Splice

I was really hoping this film would be good, and while I think it had potential, in the end it was all gore and bore. Dren, the monster, wasn't a very good character in my opinion. The film was supposed to make you feel bad for her and be emotionally attache, but I never really cared about her. All that along with a silly ending ended up being a short lived box office stay with Splice.

4. Knight and Day

By far the worst Tom Cruise movie I have ever seen. Stupid story that barely had a plot, completely unbelievable action sequences, horrible dialogue along with a horrible performance by everyone involved. Another swing and a miss by Fox. They are getting good at those.

3. MacGrubber
Sorry Noe, but this film just didn't land with me. To me the comedy was almost like the spoof movies that have been rolling out the past couple years. Besides Val Kilmer, nothing about this film was funny. Once again, terrible dialogue, a sex scene with a ghost, and a bunch of missed jokes was enough for me to want to walk out.

2. Jonah Hex

I could go on all day about how DC Comics doesn't have anyone intelligent running their film department. Warner Bros. are just as guilty as well. Do they try out a Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman or even a Cyborg movie.....nope, they do Jonah Hex. Then they go after Megan Fox, who whether you find her attractive or not, is a terrible actor with a terrible personality to match. The film wasn't even a hour and a half long, so how could could you take it as a serious film?

and the winner for worst film of summer 2010 is............

1. Killers

I love every chance I get to bash Katherine Heigl, and nothing gives me more pleasure than giving her movie the worst of the summer award. First off it's a ripoff of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Ashton Kutcher is about as believable as an action star as Clint Eastwood is as a comedian. The movie was horrible, filled with forced comedy, terrible "action" scenes and horrible dialogue. "Let's just say I work for the blank and they gave me a license to blank". Genius writing right there. Just look at the poster for this film with Heigl's stupid smile on her face. I could have told you this would have been the worst by the poster alone. Congrats Killers, you earned it.

As I said, there were some gems this summer. I will admit that two out of these five films, I wasn't even that crazy about but since there was slim picking I went with what was fun.

TOP 5 BEST FILMS OF THE SUMMER

5. Predators

Was this film great, no. But it was a huge step in the right direction as to where this franchise needs to go. The performances were great and believable and it had some pretty good action scenes for a film with a small budget. I am now convinced Adrien Brody can play an action star and I hope to see this franchise continue with him for at least one more film.

4. The A-Team

I never thought at the beginning of the summer I would put The A-Team as my number 4 film of the summer. But, it was a ton of fun. Now let me clear something up so it doesn't sound like I am contradicting myself. Knight and Day and The A-Team both had unbelievable action sequences, I realize this. But The A-Team was not trying to be serious about it. Their motto was how they specialize in the ridiculous and how they have these crazy plans so that it would be more believable. The film didn't take itself to seriously and I liked that.

3. Toy Story 3

Pixar is year in and year out top summer films. The same is with Toy Story 3. The story was a little repetitive of the past two films, but it was great regardless. Michael Keaton was a great addition to this cast. I am a little disappointed that the next three Pixar films will be sequels. I don't care much about Cars 2 and I have been wanting to see Monsters Inc. 2 for a while, but what Pixar specializes in is the original ideas.

2. Iron Man 2

Robert Downey Jr. somehow topped his performance from the first film. Jon Favreau matched the level of action and the end result was great. Sequels often don't live up to the original, but this was right on par with the first. The only disappointment was the under use of Mickey Rourke.

And the number one summer film of 2010 is..............

1. Inception

I don't think this film is over hyped at all. The fact that original ideas can still come from Hollywood blows my mind. All Hollywood wants to do right now is remake movies or make a thousand sequels until the franchise is ran into the ground. Inception is by far the most original movie and as Robert Downey Jr. the most ambitious movie I have seen in the past few years. Great performances all around and an amazing story. If we could get at least five movies a year of this quality I would be happy. Well done Mr. Nolan.

So now that this crap crap summer is over, we can look forward to the next two, which are filled with big named movies.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE EXPENDABLES

2010-08-14T12:07:00.003-04:00

The Expendables really needs no introduction. It's easily the most big named movie we have seen in a while with classic action stars such as; Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crewes, Steve Austin, Randy Couture and cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. But star studded casts doesn't always equal a great film.

In the film, Stallone plays plays Barney Ross, the leader of a mercenary group who goes in to do the governments dirty work. After being sent to a small village in South America to overthrow an evil dictator, Ross is afraid that he and his team are over their head being outnumbered in every way. He decides to call off the mission and head home, but once he returns, he has a change of heart and decides that the people their are worth fighting for and returns to finish the job.

Stallone is an underrated director. He directed four of the six Rocky films and directed the last Rambo film. I was really surprised by Rocky Balboa and Rambo not only because at sixty four, Stallone is still in top shape, but because the films were actually really good to be about characters that are so old. After his last two films, I was really excited to see what he could do with a cast like this.

Obviously the main thing that is going to attract people to this film is the cast. And for the most part, they are all great. Stallone is his classic, tough guy, leader of the pack self, that we are use to watching. He does a great job of playing the responsible leader.

Jason Statham, who has never made a movie I liked, really took me by surprise with how well he did in a more serious role playing the best friend and second in command.

But my favorite had to be Mickey Rourke. His part wasn't very big, but he delivered a great performance in my opinion. He had the performance in this that I was hoping he was going to have in Iron Man 2.

The rest of the cast was just kind of in and out. Terry Crews, Steve Austin, Jet Li and Randy Couture all had small parts who pretty much just came in for the big action scene, but nothing really special out of any of them. The same goes for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. Their scene was about five minutes long, but easily delivered the best line of the film.

Dolph Lundgren was easily the worst part about the film. His lines were terrible and his performance matched. He may have had some of the biggest fight scenes, but to me you got to be able to pull it off, and he just didn't do it for me.

As for the story, it was a very forgettable one. Evil dictator, couple of guys against a small army, nothing really special here. The film starts off with a bang, it gets everyone excited, and then it drags out for about thirty minutes with a stupid side story revolving Statham and his girlfriend that could have been completely cut from the film and then basically a boring tour of South Africa. I think many people are going to go into this film with the expectation of a two hour, non stop action film, and that simply isn't the case. The action scenes that were in the film however, were great ones. I think when action films are talked about these days, things like Transformers or super hero films are what comes to mind. These are nowhere near the caliber of action that came in the eighties and early nineties. Hopefully, this film will inspire the real action genre to come back to the big screen with a new generation of stars. I think there is a lot of potential here and I hope this performs well enough to get a sequel that will hopefully draw in more classic stars and hopefully deliver a better story.

The performances and action scenes were great, but the story lacked and drug. I give The Expendables a six out of ten.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE OTHER GUYS

2010-08-09T15:42:00.003-04:00

Director Adam McKay and Will Ferrell have had a lot of success together with Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, plus their website Funny or Die. They have teamed up once again to bring us the buddy cop film, The Other guys, this time bringing Mark Wahlberg along for the ride. The film has a big supporting cast, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton and Steve Coogan all co-star. Allen Gamble, an easy going, laid back desk cop who doesn't like to get out and pursue criminals. Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg) is a cop desperately seeking action after an unfortunate run in with Derek Jeter made him the laughing stock of the police force. Once paired up, they decide to try and out do the two top cops they idolize, but end up getting into more than they can handle.

The beginning of the film stated off on a bad note for me. The very beginning starts out with a big action scene. Buddy cop films are hard to pull off because they have to have both action that is believable and comedy that lands it's jokes. With Adam McKay having no experience with anything remotely similar to action, it really hurt the action oriented parts like the start of the film. It wasn't executed very well and came off looking very unbelievable. However, once the film got rolling, the laughs started rolling along with it.

McKay and Ferrell films are notorious for their classic quotes and hilarious one liners. The film doesn't have as many as usual, but still has some great lines. Michael Keaton in particular has a very funny running joke in the film.

The co-stars in this film were all great. Like I said, Michael Keaton had a very funny running joke. It is good to see him back on the screen. Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson were both great in the very short role they played as the tough guy cops. I wish they would have extended their parts a little more. And Eva Mendes, who I am not normally fond of was actually pretty funny.

Will Ferrell needed this film to be a hit very badly. He has been losing a step lately with his same routine of comedy that has been worn out over the past few years. He hasn't really changed his act much. There is still the uncontrolled shouting and the funny, random one liners, but it works enough to get away with it. After his Land of the Lost disaster, I didn't know if he would be able to bounce back.

If your a fan of the McKay/Ferrell collaborations, you will love this one as well. The film is funny and it works, but I would consider it the weakest out of the four of their films. The poorly done action scenes and rough start hurt it a little, but it did a good job of digging itself out. I give it five out of ten.

MOVIE REVIEW: DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS

2010-08-03T12:17:00.005-04:00

Director Jay Roach has a lot of big time comedies under his belt; he directed all three Austin Power films, the first two Meet the Parents and he produced both Borat and Bruno. Clearly he has had success with his comedies. So when I saw the trailer for Dinner for Schmucks, I thought there had to be more to it then just Paul Rudd taking Steve Carrell to dinner to make fun of him so he can get a promotion. Sadly, that was all there was to it.

In the film, Paul Rudd plays Tim, a guy eagerly trying to work his way up the corporate ladder. After a business pitch that gets him noticed by his superiors, they inform him that they like him, but want him to join them for a dinner before they make any final decisions. The only catch is, that he has to bring an idiot to dinner with him and whoever brings the biggest idiot wins. His girlfriend is against the dinner but after running into Barry who is a complete moron, he has to decide if his promotion is more important than his conscious.

To me, there just wasn't enough material to really make a movie out of. It was almost as if someone had the start of a good idea, but never really knew where to take the story, so they just stretched it out with a bunch of slapstick comedy and uncomfortable situations.

The characters in the film were completely unbelievable, three in particular. Yes, Carrell is playing the role of a moron, but no one is that stupid. He plays the exact same part as he does in The Office, a routine that is getting really old, really quick on that show. The second character is played Lucy Punch and is a crazy, obsessed ex of Paul Rudd. She was hands down the worst character of the film. Then the third character is an artist who Rudd's girlfriend curates for. Jemaine Clement nails the part, and I think he will turn out to be a big star, but the role is just to stupid for me in this film. You can next see him as the villain in the next Men In Black film. Zach Galifinakis from The Hangover has a cameo, but not even his character was a memorable one.

It had a few good laughs here and there. The dinner itself was pretty funny but only lasts a few minutes, and Carrell had some funny lines, but his character drug him down to much.

If slapstick is your thing, you will love the film. I'm not crazy about that style of comedy, but many in the audience was loving the film, it just wasn't for me. The lack of story and horribly written characters blew it for me. I give it a two out of ten.

HEADLINES

2010-07-29T15:18:00.008-04:00

TOTAL RECALL GETS THE REBOOT AND A DIRECTOR
Len Wiseman, who is best known for the first two Underworld films as well as Live Free or Die Hard, will be remaking the 80's classic, Total Recall.

I like Wiseman. I think his action movies are a lot better than most the crap getting released these days, but he still has room to get even better.

Am I thrilled about a remake to Total Recall, no. It seems like every movie Arnold has been in has got or is getting a remake, or they want him making a cameo in something. If it does have to get made, then I'm glad it is Wisman. Looks like that Gears of War movie will never happen though.

LOOK AT ME, TO YOUR MOVIE, NOW BACK AT ME....I AM NOW A MOVIE STAR
Old Spice guy, Isaiah Mustafa, has landed a small role in Horrible Bosses. The film stars Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx and the oh so beautiful Julie Bowen, who if your not familiar with, you need to get familiar with.

Mustafa also said recently that he would love to play Marvel Comics hero, Luke Cage. I could dig that.

FEY AND STREEP TEAM UP FOR NEW FILM
Tina Fey and Meryl Streep have signed on for the comedy, Mommy and Me. The two will play mother and daughter and I suppose focus on some sort of odd, goofy relationship between the two. Stanley Tucci is directing.

I love Fey and I actually am really fond of Streep as well. I don't believe Fey is writing this, but I will still be keeping up on this project.

DEL TORO ANNOUNCES NEXT FILM
Everyone it seems Guillermo del Toro. There has been many projects he has been attached to and many he is very passionate about pursuing. He announced at ComicCon that he will be remaking Haunted Mansion, but first it seems he will finally be making his long time wish list film, Mountains of Madness. But guess who is producing......James Cameron and he is bringing his 3D technology with him. Mountains of Madness is about a geologist who leads an Antarctic expedition and finds a huge chain of mountains, and on the other side, they find the remains of ancient uncharted life forms.

The synopsis is a little bland, but del Toro is a mastermind when it comes to horror and imaginative creatures. Here is what he has to say on the film:

"What 'Mountains of Madness' is is a throwback to something nobody does anymore, it's tentpole horror," he told us. "Everybody now understands horror as minimum investment, maximum return, and most of the time, they go at it, as production entities, with great cynicism, like 'Let's make it really gory or extreme' and for a very low budget, and recuperate our investment, make money, all that. If you make a horror movie for half a million and it makes 4, they're very happy. The studio sees horror movies as something they will not invest more than $30-40 million. 'Mountains of Madness' needs to be tentpole in the way that the tentpole movies of the past were, about $130 million."

Anyone who reads my stuff, knows how much I hate how absolutely no effort is put into films anymore. This guy is passionate about anything he does. This kind of film will look great in Cameron's 3D.

LINDELOF REWRITING ALIEN PREQUEL
While the Alien prequel Ridley Scott is working on is still a few years away, the writing process is hard at work. Lost writer, Damon Lindelof has been brought on to do some rewriting of the film.

I love Lost, it is one of the greatest shows of all time. I certainly won't turn my nose to a Ridley Scott Alien film written by Damon Lindelof.

Comic Con Day 3

2010-07-24T23:47:00.004-04:00

MARVEL STUDIOS

Well the panel I have been looking forward to the most, and the one that seems to be the show stealer every year is officially over. I have the entire transcript from Captain America, Thor and The Avengers. So here ya go, the entire transcript of the Marvel Studio panel:

Dana Vinson: Hey everyone! We are finally a go for Thor and Captain America!
6:45
Dana Vinson: We're coming to you live from Hall H at Comic-Con 2010, where Marvel is showcasing their line up of upcoming films.
6:46
Dana Vinson: Marvel is working on combining the universes, bringing their stories together!
6:47
Dana Vinson: Here we go, Captain America trailer
6:47
Dana Vinson: Starts out with footage from World War II...
6:47
Dana Vinson: And now the famous Captain America shield!
6:48
Dana Vinson: "Next Summer, Meet the World's First Avenger"
6:48
Dana Vinson: and then we get a quick look at Captain America. End of trailer!
6:49
Dana Vinson: Now they're bringing out the director of Captain America, Joe Johnston
6:50
Dana Vinson: "We have one chance to tell the origin story of Captain America." Johnston
6:50
Dana Vinson: Chris Evans is out on stage now...Captain America himself!
6:51
Dana Vinson: Evans has only been shooting for five days he says, "The Suit is fantastic."
6:52
Dana Vinson: Hugo Weaving, who plays The Red Skull, spend a lot of time studying the German accent, but won't do it for us right now in this panel.
6:52
Dana Vinson: Evans also played the human torch in the Fantastic Four.
6:53
Dana Vinson: Also, just for the record, Chris Evans's shoulders are out of control muscular.
6:53
Dana Vinson: They're very Captain America.
6:54
Dana Vinson: "We're going slightly more modern than the old Captain America," Johnston said in regards to the suit.
6:54
Dana Vinson: What we saw in the trailer was just a little snippet from the costume test. The final suit has not been revealed yet. Chris Evans hasn't filmed in it yet.
6:56
Dana Vinson: "If we don't love Steve Rogers before he gets transformed, we're not going to love him after," Johnston said.
6:57
Dana Vinson: They're going to show us what they shot just last week!
6:58
Dana Vinson: It's very rough...still has time code on it!
6:58
Dana Vinson: Norway, May 1942
6:59
Dana Vinson: A wall is broken down by German soldiers.
6:59
Dana Vinson: The Red Skull comes walking through the giant hole in the wall!
7:00
Dana Vinson: He pushes the top off a tomb...
7:00
Dana Vinson: and grabs a glass cube and drops it on the ground.
7:01
Dana Vinson: The Red Skull opens a secret compartment in the wall by pushing on the eye of a snake. He opens the box and a blue light comes out of it.
7:01
Dana Vinson: The footage looks fantastic! Very Raiders of the Lost Ark!
7:02
Dana Vinson: OH SNAP! It's hammer time!
7:02
Dana Vinson: Thor director Kenneth Branagh is out on the stage!
7:04
Dana Vinson: "The one I loved was Thor. I loved the name, I loved the fact that he is a character with the combination of brute strength, I liked that he was in a very dysfunctional family and that the stories were epic" Kenneth Branagh
7:04
Dana Vinson: Here comes the cast!
7:07
Dana Vinson: We've got Kat Dennings, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman and Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth!
7:10
Dana Vinson: Portman is talking about how acting in an action movie is completely different because of all the blue screen involved and how acting in front of a blue screen requires a separate set of skills.
7:10
Dana Vinson: Kat plays a new character named Darcy. She's not in the books, only the movie.
7:11
Dana Vinson: Now we're hearing from Hiddleson who plays Loki.
7:11
Dana Vinson: "He's a great liar and it was fun playing with is he lying or is he telling the truth." Hiddleson
7:13
Dana Vinson: Oh here we go...some early footage from Thor!
7:14
Dana Vinson: We were ordered to put on our 3D glasses...
7:14
Dana Vinson: It's a new Thor trailer!
7:15
Dana Vinson: We're getting snippets of Thor fighting, and then finally a good look at his face.
7:15
Dana Vinson: Here's our first look at Odin!
7:16
Dana Vinson: Very impressive. The 3D look great. Very well done.
7:16
Dana Vinson: Thor gets cast out.
7:17
Dana Vinson: Jane finds him in the desert.
7:17
Dana Vinson: Thor just threw the hammer. Awesome
7:17
Dana Vinson: Wild applause erupt from the crowd as the trailer comes to an end.
7:19
Dana Vinson: Looks like the classic Jack Kirby hammer...
7:20
Dana Vinson: Ok, now they're opening up the floor to questions
7:23
Dana Vinson: Someone in the comments asked about Don Blake...Branagh said that there are some "Don Blake" surprises in the film.
7:24
Dana Vinson: Someone got up to the mic and just shouted Edward Norton.
7:24
Dana Vinson: Marvel didn't like that too much, but handled it very gracefully and also said "The panel's not over yet."
7:24
Dana Vinson: Hinting that something big is still going to happen...
7:26
Dana Vinson: A dude just got up to the mic and said "After seeing that trailer, I might have to change my panties."
7:27
Dana Vinson: Frank Castle is under the roof of Marvel studios now and they hope to bring him "into the fray" shortly.
7:29
Dana Vinson: So maybe that means The Punisher is next?!
7:31
Dana Vinson: Here comes another viewing of The Thor trailer!
7:32
Dana Vinson: I don't know when they're going to release the trailer to the public, unfortunately. Should be soon now that they've already shown it here.
7:37
Dana Vinson: The Marvel guys are back out on the stage...
7:37
Dana Vinson: They just shut off the lights...
7:37
Dana Vinson: The Avengers Trailer!!!!
7:38
Dana Vinson: Just a teaser trailer...
7:38
Dana Vinson: but now, Samuel L. Jackson is out on the stage!
7:38
Dana Vinson: He's rocking his usual Kangol cap and looking good...
7:39
Dana Vinson: Scarlett Johansson is here!
7:40
Dana Vinson: Robert Downey Jr. just stepped out on stage!
7:40
Dana Vinson: Everyone here is on their feet.
7:40
Dana Vinson: Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth are also out on stage.
7:41
Dana Vinson: RDJ is talking now about The Avengers. He's introducing Jeremy Renner.
7:41
Dana Vinson: And now, here comes Mark Ruffalo!
7:42
Dana Vinson: And finally, here comes director Joss Whedon!
7:42
Dana Vinson: "I have had a dream all my life and it was not this good." Joss Whedon
7:43
Dana Vinson: "This is The Avengers! This cast is more than I could have ever dreamed of working with." Whedon
7:43
Dana Vinson: All of them are standing in the front of the stage right now and Joss said "See you soon!"
7:44
Dana Vinson: That's it's from the Marvel Movies Panel here at Comic-Con 2010!

I would have given anything to have been there. In fact, I would have skipped my wedding to go.

I was really surprised that they not only had a Captain America trailer ready, but also had a scene for the audience as well. That is a lot of work to get ready for a film that has only been shooting for eight days. They showed more from Captain America than DC did for Green Lantern, and that film is almost wrapped. But then what do they do, they give us a teaser trailer for The Avengers, which hasn't even begun filming and isn't released until 2012.

I've looked at three different sites covering the panel, and all three said that what they saw from Captain America and Thor was incredible and now has me psyched out of my mind even more than I already was.

GREEN LANTERN PANEL
So we go from a crazy, out of control panel, to an incredibly boring panel. Year after year I hear " Warner Bros. is going to be announcing some huge news this year for their plans for DC." Then Con gets here and every year all they say is, "We can't talk about future projects". This is why Marvel whips the crap out of DC consistently. They may have Batman, but that is it. They don't do anything to get the audience excited or anything to look forward to. A few years ago, Marvel announced at Con their five year plan which was, Iron Man, Hulk, Iron Man 3, Thor, Captain America and then The Avengers. The crowd went nuts and Marvel has been the king of Con ever since. So here is the transcript from the Green Lantern panel:

Not sure if this is something that many people will realize but apparently, there are hurricane warnings along the Gulf, which means the cast and crew of Green Lantern had to run in to do the panel and they have to get right back to Louisiana.

Moderator is Geoff Boucher of Hero Complex. He started things off by saying the Green Lantern oath, great way to kick things off and the first person out is "Green Lantern" writer and DC Entertainment CCO Geoff Johns!

They're starting things off with some footage! (Will write up in a second but it went by very fast!)

It's essentially a teaser which starts off with a glowing green ball and an alien voiceover that says:

"Welcome inhabitants of sector 2814. The Guardians have chosen you as candidates for enlistment but before you can be recruited, you must be tested. The light you see before you is controlled by your will. Focus on the light. If you will it, it will be. Now, focus."

That ball of green light continues to pulse and get larger and larger before it blasts the screen with a wave of green light.

We then hear Reynolds' voiceover saying the Green Lantern oath and a quick montage of footage cut together that went by very fast, including a close-up of Reynolds as Hal Jordan, his hand holding the ring, we see him in street clothes being pulled upwards and see a later scene in which he's taking on criminals by using the ring to form a giant fist that throws a roundhouse punch knocking out a bunch of guys. We get a very brief glimpse of Hector Hammond and Tomar Re. (We presume that the voiceover was Abin Sur, but we're not sure.)

After the oath is done, we hear the original alien voiceover saying, "The choice has been made."

The light we saw earlier starts forming into the GL emblem and then we see the logo is "Await Further Contact Summer 2011." (Hopefully, they'll show it again so we can catch more since it went by very fast.)

They're now bringing out the cast and crew including producer Donald DeLine, writer/producer Greg Berlanti, director Martin Campbell, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong and Peter Sarsgaard.

Ryan Reynolds says he was influenced by Han Solo and Chuck Yaeger for the part of Hal Jordan. The rest of the cast are talking about their characters and doing a superhero movie.

Director Martin Campbell is talking about the tone about keeping it very real and that the humor is apparent due to the presence of Ryan and Blake.

Producer Donald DeLine just listed a roster of Green Lanterns we're likely to see in the movie, most of which we missed cause we were writing up the footage (will add in a bit) but he did mention that we get to see Killer Wasp. We'll go back and add this when we have some time.

Geoff Johns is talking about the origins of the project and how ten years ago, he never thought a GL movie would happen cause someone at Warner Bros. asked, "Can we do it without the ring?"

Boucher is asking the cast some fairly generic questions about the characters they're playing, nothing really urgent that we haven't heard before from any actor who has been in a superhero movie. (Is that too cynical? Yeah, probably.)

Sarsgaard described Hammond as "the kid who licked the battery or went up the rooftop with a coat hanger" to see what happened.

A question from the audience asks how they picked the characters to use for the movie, and it focuses on Kilowog, Sinestro and Tomar Re. They mention that Green Man and Bzzt will both be seen briefly.

Geoff was asked about other DC projects and he said that he can't talk about them. Same as always.

Ryan Reynolds was also talking about how he got the gig, and how they showed him the worlds and he was trying to play hard to get, but they really wanted him, though they made him work for the part by doing a couple screen tests before he got the role.

Martin Campbell is talking about Hal's relationship with his father Martin as seen in the "Secret Origins" arc and how that's going to play a large part in the movie, finally culminating at the end of the movie when Hal becomes a Green Lantern.

Geoff Johns was asked about a "Justice League" movie but he's sidestepping it, saying that it will depend on the success of "Green Lantern."

At the request of a little kid, Ryan Reynolds is saying the Green Lantern's oath... the kid isn't sure how to react. Reynolds is wearing one of those (presumably) plastic Green Lantern rings... unless that's a real one from the movie?!?

A question from the audience asks if there's room for Alan Scott, and Johns says, "There's always room." Ryan Reynolds says that Parallax is in the movie.

Asked about whether Mogo may appear, Johns says, "There's a lot of Green Lanterns in the film."

When asked which DC character they might make into a movie next, Johns says "Green Lantern 2."

Ryan Reynolds and Mark Strong talked a bit about how their character fly in the movie, and then Martin Campbell is talking about Hal and Carol as test pilots and how that's shown in the movie as the two of them test out some of Ferris Aviation's latest jets. We definitely will see Carol in the skies flying the jets as well, rather than being only on the floor.

Ryan Reynolds says he's been wearing the ring for six months and he plans on passing it onto someone else, similar to Abin Sur giving his ring to Hal Jordan. They told the audience that there's a piece of paper under someone's seat and they will be given the ring. And we have a winner!

Are they seriously not showing the footage again? Man, that's kind of a rip-off! Nope, that seems to be the end of the panel. Wow.

As you can tell, they guy writing this wasn't very impressed with the panel or the fact that so little footage was played and not even replayed.

COMIC CON DAY 2

2010-07-23T10:42:00.004-04:00

SKYLINE

This is one of the many alien projects happening this year. A few clips were shown and it is described as a mix between District 9, Cloverfield and Independence Day, all favorites of mine. Donald Faison (Scrubs) and Eric Balfour (24) are there talking about the film. Here are two descriptions of the footage:

Clip was pretty cool. Giant alien ships sucking human bodies off the earth. Heroes hiding and fighting against these digital looking aliens.

Second clip showed Eric and Donald on a roof watching dozens of blue lights fall to the ground. People start shooting into the air around the lights. Then a slew of giant alien motherships reveal themselves out of the clouds to catch all the people. Smaller ships exit the mothership (think Independence day) and start scanning the areas for more humans. Eric and Donald get caught and are chased back to a locked door.

Showed the clip again. There's something going on with the eyes of people that look directly at the light of the ships. The sockets start glowing and all the veins surface around their face. The climax has a giant fighter jet crashing down on top of a sky-rise roof while two of our heroes try to avoid it. Friday July 23, 2010 3:46

DRIVE ANGRY 3D
Nicholas Cage and Amber Heard just took the stage to show some clips from Drive Angry 3D. It was said that Cage's hair was nice and tammed and that the footage shown wasn't all that impressive and that it is something audiences have seen a hundred times already. I'll wait to see for myself, but that pretty much knocks any interest I had in this film.

PIRANAH 3D

Originally they were supposed to screen the entire film, but due to the graphic content, it got pulled. They did end up showing ten minutes of the film however. Here's what was said:

The footage begins with Elisabeth Shue and Ving Rhames walking along a broken down pier where an abandoned boat floats. Shue investigates and naturally falls in the water where a nasty half eaten body clings to her as if a zombie.

Cut to two divers descending into an underwater ravine. One takes a turn into a tunnel which takes him into a massive, "endless" cave. Aja plays with the 3D, pulling his camera backward through the cave, giving the shot some fun perspective. The diver sees a string of fish eggs and continues on as a single egg floats towards us closer, closer still until this thing is in your face and we can see the embryo of a nasty lil' piranha spinning inside, a chance for Aja to provide a stinger scare. Another shocker comes when the diver is bit. When he turns around, he's surrounded by hundreds of prehistoric piranha who move in for the kill.

The next scene introduces us to big Spring Break wet t-shirt scene hosted by a pun-dropping Eli Roth. "Look at those weapons of masturbation, right over heeeeahhh!" he yells as he sprays water on some well endowed hotties. The fun is cut short when Ving Rhames and his fellow police officers try to declare an emergency. Of course, the revelers don't listen and the party continues…until the fish attack and the Spring Break massacre begins.

Fish flood the camera. Aja takes us underwater as bodies struggle to escape the feeding frenzy. Kids try to reach higher ground - particularly a giant stage which eventually overturns due to the weight. A snapped cable lashes out cutting two girls in half…their bikinis come off first, naturally. And Roth suffers a particularly awesome death that splashes a blonde girl in gore. One jack-ass races through the lake on his speed boat, running people over and chopping them up with his propeller.

It's madness and every bit as bloody as you've read about.

On shore, it looks like a World War is being fought. Cops pulls people out of the water. Everyone is chewed up. One girl is split in two. KNB's Greg Nicotero is spotted carrying half a body on his back. AC/DC's Highway to Hell kicks into the preview and gives us a montage of clips with Rhames grabbing a boat propeller and jamming it into the water, Steven McQueen looks like he's doing tequila shots, a girl vomits off the side of a boat…and onto the camera lens, Kelly Brook and Riley Steele share an underwater nude swimming scene, a piranha bursts out of a girl's mouth and another piranha gets a taste of Jerry O'Connell's unfortunate member.

Sounds awesome.

COMIC CON 2010

2010-07-22T13:33:00.012-04:00

I believe this is it for day one of Comic Con. Not a great first day as far as surprises go. I would say Del Toro walking out on stage and the new Tron trailer wins best of the day, but it's day one and the best is yet to come.....

Battle: Los Angeles

This is one panel I was looking forward to after seeing only a couple of pics from the film. Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez was there along with the director, but apparently Rodriguez was the only one who seemed excited to be there. They showed a trailer and it was described as entertaining but something they would need to see more out of before making a final decision. I'm pretty bummed they weren't blown away by the footage, but I think the non-enthusiastic panel had something to do with it.

The Expendables

Apparently this was a really great panel. Stalone, Willis, Coulter, Crews, Austin and Dolph are all there. They showed two clips that were mind described as mind blowing and is supposed to put action films back on the map. Everyone had a lot of fun with the crowd and put on a great show. This really boosts my expectations for this film.

J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon

This was a panel I was really looking forward to with The Avengers, Star Trek 2, Super 8 and Mission Impossible 4 being high up on my list. Unfortunately, they said it was to early to talk about The Avengers and Super 8, and MI:4 and Star Trek 2 wasn't even brought up. Whedon did say that his film Cabin In the Woods is pretty much stuck with MGM's problems right now and has no idea when it will be released. Pretty much nothing came of this panel. No exciting announcements or anything. Pretty disappointed.

Alright, it is officially underway starting with Tron: Legacy. From here on out, I'm just going to update with the latest being on top. They just had the cast on stage and showed a new trailer and eight minutes of footage. Then they surprised the audience by showing Johnny Depp on the set of Pirates 4 and he spoke to the audience a bit. And Guillermo del Toro just walked out on stage and announced that he is going to be remaking Haunted Mansion. Not a big fan of the first, but he is going to take it in a more serious dirction. So we have a few surprises already at Con this year. Here is a link to the new Tron trailer:

http://movies.yahoo.com/TRONLegacyRevealed.

The original is ok, but way before my generation's time. This film however looks incredible and I can't wait to see it! Be back with more as soon as it comes.

Comic Con is about to get underway in San Diego, CA and already there have been tons of pictures released and a few announcements made. Some of the highlights this year are the following:

THOR
With most of the film complete and several pictures being released in the past week, look for the trailer to be released.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
This film hasn't begun shooting yet, but I hope to see the cast come out, maybe Chris Evans himself will come out in the much talked about suit.

THE AVENGERS
Rumor has it that the entire cast of the film will be announced at Com this year and that they are all going to make an appearance. I can't wait to hear the Q&A from that.

GREEN LANTERN
DC is finally moving away from Batman and Superman and making a film based off one of their other popular titles. Be looking for a trailer here and possibly Batman 3 and the Superman reboot news.

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES
Not a lot of news or pics have been released about this film, but I am eager to see something on this. The basic plot for the film is a Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion in Los Angeles. The film stars Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez.

SKYLINE
After a late night party, a group of friends are awoken in the dead of the night by an eerie light beaming through the window. Like moths to a flame, the light source is drawing people outside before they suddenly vanish into the air. They soon discover an otherwordly force is swallowing the entire human population off the face of the earth. Now our band of survivors must fight for their lives as the world unravels around them. This sounds like something right up my alley, but there are a ton of alien type stuff coming out in the near future. Hopefully they will all be great.

FALLING SKIES
In Falling Skies, a former college professor who becomes the leader of a group of soldiers and civilians struggling against an occupying alien force. Noah Wyle (ER), Moon Bloodgood star in this new TNT series. Once again, another alien invasion show, but I don't care how many they make, I'll watch them all.

DRIVE ANGRY 3D
Nicholas Cage can't keep making bad movies forever can he? Ok, he might, but I am still a little intrigued by Drive Angry 3D. After Cage's daughter is brutally murdered and her baby kidnapped, Cage goes on a furious murdering rampage until he gets revenge on everyone involved. Sounds fun enough.

THE GREEN HORNET
I'm not super excited for this, but I'm curious as to what they are going to bring to Con this year.

THE WALKING DEAD
AMC has been on a role lately with Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Now they are dipping into the horror genre and bringing the popular graphic novel to life in a new series.

So far, two big announcements have been made.

Saw 7 will finally and thankfully be the final film......before they reboot it two years of course. Apparently the film has had to be re-edited six different times so that the MPAA could give the film an "R" rating instead of an "NC-17". Hopefully this means it will go out with a bang.

Bradd Pitt has been cast in the upcoming film, World War Z. The film is about a world wide Zombie infestation. I'm bored with Zombies.

Here are the photos so far from the show:

MOVIE REVIEW: INCEPTION

2010-07-17T10:33:00.004-04:00

Inception comes from the brilliant mind of Christopher Nolan. Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe and Cilian Murphyr round out what I think is one the best ensemble casts in years. The story of the film is best experienced rather than described, but the basic principle is that Cobb (Dicaprio) and his crew enter people's minds through dreams and steal information out of the mind. Cobb is then asked to rather than extract information from a mind, to go in and implant an idea, something that has never been done.

This is hands down the best film of the year so far. So many times I complain about how bad Hollywood has gotten with it's repetitive stories, stupid spoofs and disappointing remakes, that it's nice to see that there is some hope left that an original story can not only be created, but executed as beautifully as this film was. It is a challenging film, that demands the audience's attention the entire time and requires you to really think about everything that is happening. This is a rare feat in film these days.

With this film, I believe that Christopher Nolan has secured his spot as the best working director right now. Spielberg has lost his touch, Ron Howard has gotten to be a little repetitive and James Cameron may make trillion dollar movies but he is nowhere near close to a top director. The only other director that consistently delivers great films like Nolan is Clint Eastwood. In my opinion Nolan has never made a bad film, but on top of that, he has made a better film each time. I'm convinced the man could make a movie about the Care Bears and it would be a masterpiece.

The cast in this film is superb. They brought in actors of different ages and with different styles and it worked out perfectly. Up and comers Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page were fantastic and really stood out here. Both of their careers were on the rise and I believe they will be able to get any role they want very soon. Dicaprio almost seemed as a mentor to Gordon-Levitt and Page in the film and as usual delivered a knock-out performance himself. One of the supporting actors, Tom Hardy, was really impressive. I haven't seen anything else he has been in, but after seeing this, I believe he has a bright future ahead of him, especially if he sticks with Nolan who is known for using the same people in multiple films.

The film may have a complex plot description, but once the film starts, it isn't very hard to catch on. Early reports were saying that America is to dumb for this film and that the complexity of the film would hurt it financially. I didn't find that to be the case at all. This film won't be for everyone, but it will certainly appeal to most. The film is a little over two and a half hours, but it still left me wanting more. I wanted more back stories, I wanted more missions and I wanted to see more environments that the characters travel to and create.

Inception is the film that this summer has needed so badly and reigns as the number one film of 2010. This is a must see. I don't do it often, but this film deserves a ten out of ten.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

2010-07-15T16:14:00.019-04:00

There has been so much news on the upcoming prequel, X-Men: First Class, that I decided to do a breakdown of who will be playing who and to share some thoughts on this franchise.

First we'll start with the movie itself. This movie doesn't really need to be made, period. There is WAYYYYYY to much material in the comics to have to go back and do a prequel with all these young actors. Halle Berry said she would be down for another, Anna Paquin (Rouge), Shawn Ashmore (Iceman), Aaron Stanford (Pyro), Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde) and Kelsey Grammer (Beast) all signed on for three more sequels, so there is half the cast. Then James Marsden (Cyclops), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Famke Jensen (Jean Grey) and Patrick Stewart (Professor X) would all be very easy to convince to come back. The only one in question would be Hugh Jackman and I bet he would come back, and if he didn't then you could put Gambit in there to replace him.

See the problem is that Fox has had the rights to anything X-Men related for so many years and they screw up just about anything they touch. The original X-Men: First Class was, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast and Angel. There is a problem right there because Iceman and Angel are teenagers when the first three take place. Which that if fine that they did it that way. People want to see the more popular characters and Iceman and Angel aren't as popular as Wolverine, Storm and Nightcrawler. But now they are trying to backtrack and it's just not a very good idea. These movies make money because of the fans and they need to try to do a better job at giving the fans what they want instead of pursuing their stupid ideas.

It would have been so easy to continue on with a fourth film, bring everyone back and start a new story. There are so many villains in the X-Men universe other than Magneto. Seeing Apocalypse, Sinister or Onslaught on screen would be awesome to us fanboys and you could still have magneto in the film. You could also bring in Cable and Bishop and play with the time traveling story lines from the 90's. There are endless possibilities with this universe, but were being given First Class so for right now this will have to do. This film may turn out to be awesome, but I haven't heard one fan be very enthusiastic about this prequel.

So who is in charge of bringing this to the big screen? The answer is Matthew Vaughn. I think he will be capable of pulling this off. He has done Layer Cake, Stardust and Kick-Ass. Out of the three, Stardust and Layer Cake is often refereed to as underrated and Kick-Ass was pretty darn good in my opinion. This will certainly be an important film that could really help his career if he nails this.

So who will be the new faces portraying our favorite superheroes?

James McAvoy: Charles Xavier

McAvoy is best known for his role in Wanted. I personally don't really see him as a Professor X, he is a little to young to be in charge of a bunch of other young characters. I think they should have went with someone older, but I'm also not in charge of casting. I think he will do ok for the part, but it will be a stretch.

Michael Fassbender: Magneto

Fassbender had small roles in both 300 and Inglourious Basterds but other than that, he hasn't been in anything very recognizable. I do think that this guy is on the rise and I actually like this casting choice.

Aaron Johnson: Cyclops

Johnson is best known for playing Kick-Ass. I like this casting and I hope he can ditch the geek persona and come off as a strong leader in this film. I think he looks a little too young for the role, but I don't think they are really caring about age with all these casting choices.

Alice Eve: Emma Frost

Eve was recently in She's Out of Your League. She is very beautiful and I think will be a perfect fit for the role of Frost. However, I really don't see Frost fitting into this film.

Nicholas Hoult: Beast

This guy has been in nothing. He was in Clash of the Titans, but I don't even know who he played. Beast was not a blue furry creature in the beginning, he was a big guy who was a genius scientist and had super strength. This is totally wrong casting for that description.

Caleb Jones: Banshee
I have no idea who this kid is. I never liked Banshee in the comics, so I really don't care that he is going to be in this film. I don't consider the ability to scream loud a cool power I want to see on screen.

Jennifer Lawrence: Mystique
Lawrence is another actress who is supposed to be an up and comer. She was on The Bill Engvall Show which aired on TBS, so I'm not convinced by that alone. But she was recently in a film called Winter's Bone, and apparently had a stellar performance in it. Luckily with Mystique not a lot of acting is required, just beauty.

Kevin Bacon: ??????
Kevin Bacon is the most interesting cast member I think. His role hasn't been released yet, but he will be playing a villain role. I would like to think he is playing Mr. Sinster. He has the look, and it would be a pretty cool villain to see, but I don't have faith in Fox to take a chance and do that, so he will probably be some lame character.

Now I would expect that there will be more casting updates to come. I would assume Jean Grey will be in the film as well as some more villains. But as I look at this cast, it just doesn't get me excited. I mean who really wants to watch a bunch of young people play X-Men characters. Hopefully Fox will get this film off their chest because they have been wanting to do it for some time, and they can get back to making real X-Men movies. I would love to see a dark X-Men film with Apocalypse or with Bishop and Cable. One nerd can hope.

TWO GREAT TRAILERS FROM GALIFIANAKIS

2010-07-15T10:30:00.002-04:00

It might be a good week to be Zach Galifianakis because he had two different trailers released this week, both looking like they are going to be great.

The first is "It's Kind of A Funny Story". The film is about a teen who is misdiagnosed and sent to the mental ward of a hospital. The juvenile area is being renovated so he's placed with the adult patients. Galifianakis plays an adult patient who befriends our protagonist and helps him along his way to realizing maybe he's not crazy and in turn realizes a little something about himself.

I think this looks like a really great, feel good film. I especially like it because it has Galifianakis playing a somewhat different role than normal. I really hope he doesn't keep with the same old act from The Hangover. That seems to always kill careers when actors can't branch out, *couch* Will Ferrell *cough* Adam Sandler.

The trailers will be cut off due to the format of Blogger, but you'll get most of the screen.

The second film is Due Date and stars Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis and Jamie Foxx. The story is about Peter Highman who is trying to get home in time for the birth of his first child. Along the way he picks up Galifianakis's character and a crazy road trip follows.

This looks ok, but it looks a little along the lines of The Hangover and Galifianakis seems to be playing the exact same character from The Hangover. I have no doubt this will funny though, just a little unoriginal.

NORTON OUT, RUFFALO IN?

2010-07-15T10:10:00.003-04:00

Last week, there was some back in forth words coming from Marvel and Edward Norton's people. Kevin Feige for Marvel Studios said in his statement:

"Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts."

That statement from Feige didn't go over well with Norton's agent and he released a statement. Here is some from that statement:

"Two months ago, Kevin called me and said he wanted Edward to reprise the role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. He told me it would be his fantasy to bring Edward on stage with the rest of the cast at ComiCon and make it the event of the convention. When I said that Edward was definitely open to this idea, Kevin was very excited and we agreed that Edward should meet with Joss Whedon to discuss the project. Edward and Joss had a very good meeting (confirmed by Feige to me) at which Edward said he was enthusiastic at the prospect of being a part of the ensemble cast. Marvel subsequently made him a financial offer to be in the film and both sides started negotiating in good faith. This past Wednesday, after several weeks of civil, uncontentious discussions, but before we had come to terms on a deal, a representative from Marvel called to say they had decided to go in another direction with the part."

Then finally, Norton decided to jump in and release a statement of his own. He didn't bash Marvel or anyone there, but simply said that he was hoping it would happen but unfortunately it won't.

I am tending to lean on Marvel's side with this one. When The Incredible Hulk was released in 2008, Norton had a serious issue with some of the guys from Marvel. He said that he rewrote the whole movie and that it was a really great story and at the last moment they changed the ending he wrote and that they wouldn't give him a writing credit on it. Because of this, Norton refused to do any promotions for the film, which Marvel said was part of the reason it didn't make as much money as some thought it would. I'm not surprised that he isn't returning.

Now, reports have been going around about who the replacement might be. At first, it was Joaquin Phoenix which I thought would have been a really odd choice. I like guy, just not for the roll of Bruce Banner. Now all reports are pointing to Mark Ruffalo, who is apparently in final negotiations with the studio.

I like Ruffalo and think he is a very underrated actor. I don't think he is a perfect fit for Bruce Banner, but it will do.

MOVIE REVIEW: PREDATORS

2010-07-09T10:03:00.006-04:00

Both the Predator and Alien franchises have taken some big hits lately with these pathetic Alien vs. Predator films. So Robert Rodriguez decided he was going to step in and try and get the Predator franchise pointed back in the right direction. Thankfully he was successful at doing so.

When I heard that Nimrod Antal was going to be getting in the directors chair, I was a little uneasy, due to his lack of experience. He did last year's Armored which wasn't terrible, but was far from something I wanted to watch twice. People can be at a little more ease now when they see his name, because this film is going to look good on his resume.

Normally the predators come to Earth in order to train for their hunting, but in the latest installment the predators bring the game to their planet. Oscar winner, Adrien Brody stars as Royce who, like many others, wakes up in the middle of a free fall through the air quickly plummeting towards the ground. After a quick parachute deployment and gathering up with other different military experienced people from around the world, they quickly discover that they're not on Earth anymore, but stuck on what seems to be a game preserve on a far away planet.

I found Adrien Brody an odd choice to star in a Predator film. He isn't a big tough guy like Shwarzenegger and his career has been all over the place, from The Pianist to the The Jacket to King Kong to Cadillac Records. I have felt like Brody has had a hard time finding a groove for his acting, but he definitely pulls of the tough guy persona in this film.

I really enjoyed the supporting cast as well. Many will recognize Topher Grace, from That 70's Show fame, who was another odd choice, but I think fit in well. Danny Trejo is in just about every project Rodriguez is involved with. Walton Goggins is, I believe a rising star who I have really enjoyed watching on FX's Justified. And of course Laurence Fishburne has a small role as someone who has been stranded on the planet for years without being caught and has slowly started to lose it. Fishburne's role was small, but very fun to watch and different from any role he has done.

Predators goes back to the roots of the original film. You have a group of military people who are the worlds best at killing, going up against a deadly alien group who are very skilled at killing as well. It worked for the original film and it works for this one as well.

I liked this, because it wasn't CGI being thrown around everywhere, it wasn't stupid teenagers running off by themselves and getting picked off one by one. It was for the most part, a pretty good script with not a lot of cheesey tough guy one liners and it was quick and to the point and payed homage to the original.

The film itself falls short in a few areas, but nothing major. I wasn't crazy about the opening scene. I think they could have taken ten minutes and set the film up just a little bit instead of diving right in, and I was a little unhappy with the way the film ended. They are on a different planet, so it isn't as easy as walking off into the sunset, but a little more effort could have gone into the final scene.

Another thing I thought the film lacked was creativity. They are on this alien planet, but yet you really can't tell. They put in one odd looking flower, show the sky in one scene and show a really big ship, but other than those three things, they look like they are simply just walking around in a jungle. Now, I'm not going to gripe about that to much because CGI has been killing films lately. I'm talking about you George Lucas. But some more props would have been nice.

This should do well enough to get a sequel greenlit, and if that's the case, they need to continue letting experienced people work on this. Because that is why this film turned out so much better than the AVP films. They went and got someone who was proven to make the movie and they went out and got talented actors. Not necessarily A-list actors, but well known names who actually have talent as opposed to a bunch of teenagers who just run around getting picked off one by one. I'm very proud to say that Twentieth Century Fox finally got something right here.

Things are starting to look up for both the Alien and Predator franchises. Ridley Scott is working on two aliens films so it seems that Fox has finally got some sense into them. I think that they don't need to abandon the Alien vs. Predator films just yet either. I think the with they way they ended AVPR, that they could easily tie that universe in with the Predator universe and then back in with the Alien universe. It just takes someone with some creativity, a filmmaker with experience and a cast with some depth to it. Hopefully this is the start of good things to come with these franchises. I give it a seven out of ten.

NEXT BOND FILM CANNED

2010-07-07T09:58:00.003-04:00

With the continuing financial struggles MGM can't seem to shake, it has forced the next Bond film to go from delayed to cancelled. Sam Mendes, who is a brilliant director, was set to come on board and Peter Morgan who wrote The Queen and Frost/Nixon had developed what was described as a "shocking story".

Is this the end of the 007 franchise? Definitely not, but I am afraid that we will never see what this project was shaping up to be. This was on my most anticipated list since the moment I heard Mendes had signed on and once I heard about what a great story they had, it made me even more anxious to see it.

It's sad to think about how most times, when great films are shaping up, something happens that causes them to fall apart. How does that happen and then movies like Code Name: The Cleaner, Paul Blart, and Taxi happen?

I don't know what kind of financial issues MGM is facing, so I can't say much about what I think should happen. But I do know if they can't stay afloat, they need to sell it to someone who can. MGM has been around for years, and was once a very respectable studio, but they need to go out with dignity if this is the case and sell. The Hobbit, the Bond franchise and big budget films like the Red Dawn remake are all suffering for whatever is going on and this problem needs to go away asap. I want my Sam Mendes directed Bond film!!!!

MOVIE REVIEW: ECLIPSE

2010-07-03T10:45:00.002-04:00

Eclipse is the third film in the Twilight saga. This time around, there isn't quite as much whining between Edward the vampire and Jacob the wolf as to who loves Bella more, but still enough to make you want to bash your brains out. The main storyline in this one is Gloria, the girlfriend of the vampire they killed in the first one, is building an army of "newborn" vampires to kill Bella in order to get her vengeance.

I'm pretty much going to go over the same stuff I went over in my New Moon review, because honestly, not a lot changed from that film to this one. We'll start off with miss Kristen Stewart. She better save every penny she makes off of these films, because the girl can't act. She comes off as socially awkward in real life as she does up on the big screen. A monotone voice with a brush of hair over her ear may win her a bunch of MTV Movie awards now, but if she doesn't gain a personality in real life, that is all she will ever get.

Then we have Taylor Lautner. He is even more terrible in this film than he was the last. Granted, it's not his fault he got dealt all the cheesy lines from a terrible writer, but just his presence on screen seems like a big joke.

What I don't understand is how all of the minor characters like Billy Burke who plays Bella's father and and Academy Award nominee, Anna Kendrick who plays Bella's best friend are so much more talented than the stars of the film. I would have much rather watched Kendrick play Bella.

It baffles me as to why these things are such a phenomenon with girls. As I'm watching the films, the last two in particular, I'm thinking to myself how the story plays out like all the characters are in middle school. I mean I get why middle schoolers would love this but grown women???? The constant arguing back and forth between Jacob and Edward is laughable in a pathetic way. I truly hope that everyone looks back on these films in five or ten years and wonders just what the heck they were thinking when they liked this stuff.

Eclipse was certainly a step up from New Moon, but far, far, far from being a good movie. The whole movie is building up to this big battle where Edward's family and the werewolves fight these "newblood" vampires, but it is over just as quick as it starts. They could have at least stretched it out a little longer for the male audience. We have three down and only two more to go and then we can let this thing end finally. I give it a three out of ten.

HEADLINES

2010-07-01T21:15:00.008-04:00

For it to be the summer, there just hasn't been that much movie news to report. I think this has been one of the worst summers for movies that I can ever remember, so it would be nice to at least get some news to make me look forward to more upcoming films.

HERE IS YOUR NEW SPIDEY

Andrew Garfield has won over the role to be the next Spider-Man. He beat out big names like Josh Hutcherson and Aaron Johnson for the role. He has had no big roles as of yet. The only two things I'm familiar with on his resume are Lions for Lambs and The Imagination of Doctor Parnassus.

I think this is a horrible casting choice. They are taking Peter Parker back to high school with this reboot, and they decide to hire a 27 year old to play the part? Give me a break. Sony has destroyed a franchise that could have gone on for years to come. Now, I know most people aren't idiots, but a lot are. I think a lot of people will be confused when they go in to the theaters and Peter Parker is back in high school. They had a knockout cast minus Kirsten Dunst and I truly believe this is going to be a disaster. If this turns out good and really catches on with fans, I'll do a column apologizing for all the hate I will be pouring onto this movie from now until it's release, but I doubt that is going to happen.

SCREAM 4 GAINS ANOTHER AND LOSES ANOTHER

I have guilty pleasure actors and Adam Brody is certainly one of them. He has signed on to play a rookie police officer in the next Scream installment, while Lauren Graham has left due to artistic differences.

As a Scream fan, I am hopeful for this film. I like the cast they have gathered so far, I'm just a little nervous about the story.

PEE WEE IS BACK

It was reported today that Judd Apatow will be producing a new Pee Wee Herman film. No other details was released other than Pee Wee himself, Paul Rubens, is working on the story.

I loved Pee Wee as a child, but after what all Rubens has gone through over the past twenty years and the drastic change in times, I don't know that a Pee Wee reboot will catch on as well.

EDGAR WRIGHT TALKS ANT MAN

An Ant Man film has been in talks for a while and it seems that it may be finally happening. Wright says that he has finished the first draft and that Marvel seems very happy with it. He says that it will have an Iron Man feel to it. There is a chance that Ant Man may first show up in the Avengers film, and then getting his own big screen film. The long time name attached to play is fan boy favorite, Nathan Fillion.

I think this could be a really cool movie and definitely could be pulled off if it goes the Iron Man route which is mixing action in with a great comedic strip. I also think Fillion would be a great choice and I hope to see him in the Avengers film.

IT REMAKE NEWS FINALLY EMERGES

Two years ago, a feature film remake to Stephen King's "It" was reported to be in the works, but like most of King's projects, it just disappeared. David Kajganich gave some news regarding the project today. No, cast or relase dates were hinted at, but he talked about the challenges of taking such a huge book and downsizing it to a two hour movie and how he got the gig. It was also stated that this is becoming a major project for Warner Bros. and they are eager to get this rolling.

Kaiganich is one of the people responsible for the 2007 film The Invasion, which I though was terrible. As a big King fan, I don't get why his material doesn't get the attention it deserves. Books like Harry Potter and Twilight get two part films so I don't see why a book like It can't get a two part movie deal.

MOVIE REVIEW: KNIGHT AND DAY

2010-06-22T15:42:00.003-04:00

Knight and Day is yet another spy thriller, with the same story we have seen countless times before. Tom Cruise plays Roy Miller, one of the country's top spies who is framed for trying to steal a special self charging battery referred to as the zephyr. The F.B.I. attempts to assassinate him on a plane and when he bumps into Cameron Diaz's character, June Havens, they put her on the plane as well to make sure she has nothing to do with the zephyr's whereabouts. Once they get on the plane, Miller's journey to clear his name begins while keeping the feds from getting to Havens at the same time.

This film is the exact opposite of The A-Team as far as movies trying to pull off good over-the-top action sequences goes. This film was unbearable to watch from the opening scene all the way to the end scene. I was blown away by how incredibly bad this film was, coming from director James Mangold, who has done so many great films like 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, Girl Interrupted and Cop Land.

The two main problems of the film is story and script. The story has been done so many times before, you could sit there and pretty much map out the entire film after only viewing twenty minutes of the movie. I'm not opposed to simple plots. Just because something has a simple plot, doesn't have to mean that it's going to be a bad movie, but in this case it is way to simple and really leaves the story lacking. How much thought went into deciding that the plot of the film was going to be about a rouge agent framing a good agent and chasing a "powerful battery" around the world for two hours? They never tell what the battery is capable of besides saying it could run a small city. That doesn't sound like anything immediately threatening to me.

Then, they try and mess with the audiences mind a little bit by entertaining the thought that maybe Cruise's character really is a bad guy. That would have been fine except for the fact that all the trailers for the movie had scenes in it that hadn't happened yet so you immediately dismiss the thought of it. That was sloppy on the marketing part for the film and insulted me as a moviegoer.

The film was all over the place. How they got to all the different places on Earth they went to in so little time is beside me. They tried to be clever and made it to where hopping around the globe so quickly was ok because Diaz was drugged, but no one will buy into that.

The chemistry between Cruise and Diaz was ok. I feel that with a better script it wouldn't have been as bad of a disaster as it was, but they had a few funny scenes. I am normally a big Cruise fan and even a Diaz fan for the most part, but this is one of Cruise's worst films. There is nothing appealing in this movie at all and I wasn't surprised afterwards when I went to look at who distributed the film......of course Twentieth Century Fox.

Knight and Day is another disappointment in a summer that has been for the most part nothing but disappointments. I give this a one out of ten.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE A-TEAM

2010-06-22T10:53:00.002-04:00

The A-Team comes from director Joe Carnahan and stars Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Sharlto Copley and Quinton Jackson. Based off the 80's television series, The A-Team is about a group of Iraq war veterans who are forced to go on the run after they are accused of a crime they didn't commit.

From the very beginning, you need to go into this movie with your brain turned off and ready to have some fun. Not all movies can pull this off, but The A-Team does it beautifully. Right off the bat, the film starts out pretty much with a fifteen minute long action sequence that sets the tone as to what you can expect for pretty much the rest of the film. I wasn't a huge fan of the opening sequence. I thought it was quickly rushed together and I found the dialogue horrible. But once it's over and the film starts moving along, it rebounded very quickly.

The film is over-the-top action with one liners sprinkled throughout, but what makes this all work is the cast. For years there was an A-Team film going around with John Singleton attached to direct and Tyrese attached to play B.A.. Thankfully, that film never got made. I was worried at first because of Quinton Jackson being an MMA fighter and having no real acting experience. I was hoping they wouldn't deck him out in gold necklaces and have him going around saying "I pitty da fool" the whole time. Now Jackson's performance wasn't great, but he pulled it off. They did a great job modernizing his character.

Then we have Sharlto Copley, whose only other film was District 9. How would he do in a roll like this? The answer is great. He was in my opinion the best part of the film, and I see many more roles coming his way in the near future. I never watched the television series, so I'm not familiar with the Murdock from the show. But he nailed how they were trying to portray his character in the film.

As for the rest of the cast, they all did great job, but they had a lot more acting experience than the Jackson and Copley. It's good to see Patrick Wilson in another big film. I think he has a lot to offer, but he hasn't had that breakout role yet.

As I said before, not every over-the-top action film can pull off a good end result. Films like Armageddon and Starship Troopers get away with it while films like Transformers 2 and Knight and Day somehow produce a horrible outcome. Why it works in this film I think is, that they actually show you these extravagant action scenes being planned out. To me that helped me buy into what I was watching a little more as opposed to just having long action sequences shoved in my face.

The A-Team is not a perfect movie by any means, but it works. The cast put this film on their backs and carried it to the finish line for a positive result. I give it a seven out of ten.

Toy Story 3

2010-06-17T10:22:00.005-04:00

In 1995, a little company named Pixar released their first full length feature, Toy Story, and it forever changed animation. Since then, Pixar has consistently been the top animation studio in the business. Fifteen years later, they are still on top, and once more bringing their beloved Toy Story franchise back for another adventure.

Their latest adventure picks up several years since we last saw the toys. Andy is now grown up and moving to college. The toys have been desperately trying to get his attention for years with hopes of getting played with once more. Days before the move, his mother tells him to either stick his old toys in the attic or donate them. After careful consideration, Andy decides to take Woody with him and put the rest in the attic, but after a mix up, they end up headed for Sunnyside Daycare. Upon arrival, they meet several new toys who may, or may not have the best interest for the new toy in mind. Once there, Mrs. Potato Head sees Andy looking for them through her eye that got left behind at the left, and the toys begin to plan their breakout so they can get back to Andy. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and the rest of the cast all return for the third film.

What I love about Pixar films, is the time and effort they put into making a film. When your watching a Pixar film, you are truly watching the best animation there is to offer. Everything looks smooth and perfect. All though they now convert their movies to digital 3D, it's not the hokey, throw things at your face, kind that I can't stand. They actually use the 3D to compliment the film rather than using it for cheap gimmicks. Toy Story 3 is no different. The animation is beautiful. I felt as if I was constantly looking around trying to take everything I was seeing in before the scene changed.

Another thing Pixar excels at is their creativity on screen. As I'm watching their films, this one in particular, I'm blown away by all the clever ideas they use in their films. Several times during the film, I was sitting there thinking to myself about how cool this idea and that idea was, like Mrs. Potato Head losing her eye and that being how they found out Andy was looking for them, the clever way they design their escape and probably my favorite part of the film, which was the opening sequence with Andy as a boy playing with the toys, but how he imagined it went on in his mind.

The new additions to the film were great as well. The main two were Michael Keaton and Jodi Benson joins the cast as Barbie and Ken, which caused for some funny scenes. Ned Beatty voices the old teddy bear, Lotso who is in charge of the daycare when no one is around. Whoopi Goldberg, Timothy Dalton, Kristen Schaal and Jeff Garlin all also join the cast as new toys.

Much like their creative ideas, Pixar is also known for their unique and creative way of story telling. Unfortunately, Toy Story 3 falls way short of unique and creative when it comes to the story this time. The is by far the only flaw of the film, but to me a significant one. When I read the synopsis for Wall-E and Up, I wondered how in the world they would be able to pull a story like that off, but they did. They always come through. But with Toy Story 3, they use the same stories from the previous two films and really just combine them for a third go around. As I watched the story develop I kept thinking to myself, "Oh they did that in the first one" and "That's the same thing that happened in the second film, only to a different character". I had read that Toy Story 3 took so long to get made because they could never get a story they liked down, and I would have much rather them postponed it a little longer rather than just bringing the same stuff to the table.

Aside from a repetitive story, Toy Story 3 will deliver on every other level. It's funny, beautifully done with some really cool scenes sprinkled in along the way. Whether you are seven years old, seventeen years old, or seventy, people will enjoy this film from beginning to end. I give it a four out five.

MOVIE REVIEW: KARATE KID

2010-06-16T17:38:00.003-04:00

It seems that Hollywood has been running out of ideas these days due to the mass amounts of remakes being made. Some could use a facelift, but to people my age, Karate Kid is something that should never be touched or messed with. Hollywood did not feel the same because that is the latest remake that has hit the big screen, this time starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan.

The names and places have been changed, but the story remains the same. Dre is a twelve year old from Detroit, who moves to China after his father dies and mother is transferred out of the country. He faces many challenges upon arriving in China; learning a completely new language, dealing with a less than glamourous home and a set of bullies who wants a piece of him for some reason. Dre befriends the maintenance man of his apartment complex and he agrees to teach Dre kung fu so that he can enter a tournament to face his bullies after having to break up a fight in an alley. During Dre's lessons, he not only learns kung fu, patience and respect, but also teaches Mr. Han a thing or two about life as well.

I was really surprised by how good the film was. Like many, I consider the original a classic that should have remained untouched. And while I don't think it surpassed the original, it works as a great companion piece. Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith, will end up being as big a star as his father if he can keep his head on straight and not fall into the usual trouble that most young actors always seem to stumble upon. His father comes out in him all through the film. I have trouble watching most child actors because their lack of range in acting, but Jaden showed a comedic style, a sentimental style and was able to pull of being just a plain old kid.

I began to wonder if Jackie Chan would ever make a film worth watching again. Lately, he has made pathetic children's films and what I consider B-list comedies. I was very relieved after seeing this that he actually acted in the film. He doesn't come anywhere close to topping Mr. Miyagi with his wax on, wax off approach, but much like the film, he is a nice companion to Mr. Miyagi. In this film, the wax on, wax off approach has been replaced with a jacket on, jacket off which I really liked because it was something new and it fit really well into the film. In the film, Mr. Han struggles with the death of his family after they are killed in a car accident in which he was the driver. Much like Jaden, I was really surprised to see that Chan could actually show some depth other than the silly comedy and action sequences he is famous for.

The film is not without flaws. The mother in the film, played by Taraji P. Henson, was just about unbearable to watch in the film. She was over the top in all of her scenes, almost as if she was saying in every scene, "Look at me!!! I'm in a movie". The movie itself runs a little long at just over two and a half hours. This was entirely too long for a film that isn't necessarily a children's film, but is far from an adult film. Many scenes could have been left on the editing room floor, seeing that they didn't bring anything more to the film than a few laughs. And finally the bullies in the film really irritated me. It's 2010, it's time to ditch the way bullies are portrayed in film. Let's face it, nobody knocks lunch trays out of hands, no one steals lunch money and no one corners kids in a back hall and empties out their backpack. I feel that this area of the film could have used a little better writing.

As I said before, Karate Kid (2010) doesn't surpass The Karate Kid of 1984, but it works a new tale for a new generation to enjoy. Besides the long length of film and overacting mother, there isn't much to complain about here. I give it a four out of five.

MOVIE REVIEW: GET HIM TO THE GREEK

2010-06-10T18:19:00.005-04:00

Get Him to the Greek comes from director Nicholas Staller and is a spinoff of 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall. In the spinoff, Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) is a young intern for a huge music label that is beginning to struggle. Green is a huge fan of rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), who is now more of a has been rock star. Green pitches the idea to bring Snow in for a ten year anniversary concert of Snow’s at the Greek Theatre. Mega producer Sergio (Sean Combs) likes the idea and sends Green to London to get Aldous and bring him back for the concert that will take place in three days. Upon arrival, Snow takes Green on the journey of his life going anywhere and everywhere except towards Los Angeles for the show.

The best way to describe Get Him to the Greek is that it is like a roller coaster. The movie has it’s ups and downs. When the movie is on an up, it is really funny and fun to watch, but when it’s on down, it can be very boring and slow. The first half of the movie starts out great. The film is hilarious and the pace of the film is very upbeat. Once the halfway point hits though, that is when the roller coaster ride begins. It has in my opinion the funniest part of the film during this time, but it also has the most uncomfortable and boring scene in the film during this time as well.

As for the performances, Sean Combs also known as P. Diddy, completely steals the show. Every scene he is in will have you laughing. If he ever decides to get out of the music business, I believe he will have a job in the comedy world waiting for him after this performance.

I was also surprised by Jonah Hill in this film. Normally, he plays the same character in all his films such as; Superbad, Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. In this film, he had a romance storyline which allowed him to show off something other than his typical “stoner kid” roles he is known for.

Then we have Russell Brand. Much like Hill, he plays the same character in everything he does. His act is getting old quick in my opinion, but he still pulls off several hilarious scenes in the film. Again like Hill, towards the end of the film he too gets to show a little more depth to his acting talents other than his typical “sex crazed rocker” bit he is known for.

The film is filled with fun cameos by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, The Today Show host Meredith Vieira, Rick Schroder, Kristin Bell, Pink, Mario Lopez and a very funny scene with Harry Potter star Tom Felton.

While I found the film very funny in many parts, it has a very crude, humor to it. If you are more of a clean comedy type of person, then you will want to stay far away from this film. Sex, drugs and alcohol is all throughout the film. If you are a fan of Superbad, Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, then you will more than likely really enjoy the film.

In the end, Get Him to the Greek falls short of it’s predecessor, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but still delivers enough laughs that when you leave the theatre, you feel as if you did not waste two hours of time. Had it kept the pace of the first hour of the film, I would have probably given it a higher rating, but the last three fourths of the film really brought the overall film down. I give it a three out of five stars, but still would recommend seeing it in theatres.

HEADLINES

2010-06-08T13:54:00.018-04:00

COULD JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT BE THE RIDDLER?
Rumors hit the web today that JGL is in the running to play The Riddler in the third Batman film. This could have some truth to it. Christopher Nolan loves working with the same people on different projects and he is said to have really liked working with Levitt on Inception.

I personally think that Levitt is an outstanding breakout actor. He can play any role and make it believable and I wouldn't be apposed to seeing him as The Riddler. HOWEVER.....if I was Christopher Nolan and I liked using the same people in my film, I would be talking to, oh say Leonardo Dicaprio about playing the role. It's going to be hard to beat Ledger's performance. And you have to somehow try to at least match if not top that. Now if I had to choose between Levitt and Dicaprio I would go hands down Dicaprio. I also think that Michael Emerson should be thrown in there as well, but that's just me.

POSSIBLE INDIANA JONES 5 PLOT
Now, this could all just be a non-true rumor, but it's Indiana Jones news so I have to report it. According to AICN, they say they have an insider who got a small scoop on the next film. Here is what this "insider" had to say:

Indiana Jones 5 will begin shooting next year, and much of the plot line will be centred around the Bermuda Triangle, an area over the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft are said to have disappeared.

"George (Lucas) and Steven (Spielberg) have been working on a script and it's almost there," a source explained.

"Harrison is on stand-by for filming next year. This looks like being an emotional and exciting conclusion to the franchise, with Indy facing his biggest challenge yet."

"Shia LaBeouf has a central role again as Indy's son but this will be a blockbuster made in the old fashioned way rather than the CGI efforts of the last movie," the source added.

I think the most important thing we read here is not that it's going to have something to do with the Bermuda Triangle, but that they are shooting it old school without all the CGI. I loved the story of the fourth film. The fact that Jones was on the staff that examined the bodies from the Roswell Crash to me is freakin awesome. But what ruined it was the horrible special effects. The monkeys, the ants, and for some reason prairie dogs were all over the top and stupid. Then you have the alien at the end which looked like a cartoon. Hopefully they can get back on track with this next film.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO LEAVES THE HOBBIT
The Hobbit has had production snag after production snag. It gets a release date, then it gets pushed back. They think they have a script, but then they need a re-write. So finally Del Toro had enough and left the project.

Here is an excerpt from his letter about dropping the project:

"My commitment to the project demanded enormous sacrifices both in personal and professional terms. The consequences of which will ripple for years. I relocated my entire life and family to New Zealand and first came on board in 2008."

New Line made a huge mistake by letting this project get to this point. He would have done just about as good as Peter Jackson did on the LOTR trilogy. They lost a great creative mind due to their sloppiness.

WWE TO RELEASE ANOTHER BRILLIANT FILM
Triple-H will be the next WWE wrestler to hit the big screen. He will be starring in The Chaperone. Here is the plot for this sure to be masterpiece:

In the film, Ray Bradstone (Triple H) is the best "wheel man in the business," but he is determined to go straight and be the best parent he can be to his daughter, Sally (Winter), and make amends with his ex-wife, Lynne (Gish). As Ray struggles to find honest work, his old bank-robbing crew, led by Phillip Larue (Corrigan), offers him one last job. He agrees at first, but changes his mind at the last second leaving the crew without a driver. Ray decides instead to serve as a "chaperone" for Sally's school field trip. When the robbery goes awry, Larue blames Ray and chases the school bus all the way to the Museum of Natural History in New Orleans. Ray must deal with Larue, while supervising Sally's class on what becomes one of the craziest school trips ever.

I have seen The Marine, See No Evil and 12 Rounds. The Marine and See No Evil were God awful, but I actually liked 12 Rounds. With a few tweeks, it could have been a really good action film. This on the other hand has disaster written all over it. The only movie to pull something like this off was Kindergarten Cop and no one will be able to top that.

TON OF CAPTAIN AMERICA NEWS
A few months ago I was complaining about how I have doubts on the movie because of director Joe Johnston. Well, I am starting to back track what I say because everytime I see news for this film, I am super excited by what I see or here.

Lets start with the suit. Captain America looks cool enough in the comics, but bringing that to life would look horrible. So I was wondering how would they tackle the suit. I think that they did an incredible job converting it into something that will look cool on screen but still keep the tone of the original suit.

Now the cast. They have been adding some serious talent, not huge names, but talent to the film.

Tommy Lee Jones will be playing General Chester Phillips. Phillips helps train Captain America during WWII. I'm a huge fan of his and I think he is going to nail this role.

Stanley Tucci will be playing Dr. Abraham Erskine who is a German scientist who creates the super soldier experiment. I think that Tucci is a very underrated actor. He has a wide range from the quirky dude in The Devil Wears Prada to the child murderer in The Lovely Bones.

Neal McDonough will be playing Dum Dum Dugan. He is the right hand man to Nick Fury and is in charge of the Howling Commandos. Now McDonough hasn't been in a whole lot, but I think he has some talent and this might help him breakthrough.

These are very good additions to the film that I think will really help out the overall film. But none of this matters if Joe Johnston messes this up. Here's hoping he doesn't.

FANTASTIC FOUR REBOOT NEWS
It has been a long time since anyone has heard anything about this Fantastic Four reboot. Apparently Fox has a title for the film and they plan on it being Fantastic Four Reborn.

I think that is kind of a stupid title myself. I think the need to do what The Incredible Hulk did and kinda recap during the opening credits and then just start the movie. I think the first two would have been a lot better if they hadn't let Tim Story direct.....especially the second one. They need to find someone who is going to make it less cartoonish.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS NEWS
Some more casting has been made for the new X-Men prequel.

James McAvoy has been linked to play a young Charles Xavier. I don't really see the guy from Wanted fitting the role of Professor X to me. I think Michael Rosenbaum would have been a good choice for that.

Michael Fassbender is in talks to play a young Magneto. I don't know much about this guy except that he was in Inglourious Basterds and I love that movie. So I guess I'm down with that.

Then we have Rosamund Pike who is up for playing Emma Frost. I would have liked to see them go younger for this but she isn't half bad.

BULLOCK AND REYNOLDS TO RETEAM
The Proposal director Anne Fletcher, stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, and producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are reteaming for Universal Pictures' Most Wanted.

Now here is what this unique plot is about:

In the action comedy, Bullock plays a woman on the run with Reynolds as an agent who is supposed to be handling her.

Oh, so basically The Bounty Hunter, Knight and Day and The Killers right? When will Hollywood writers come up with something original? Yes, The Proposal was good. In fact I thought it was really good, but don't get the whole team together again to make a movie that has had three similar plots come out in the past four months.

MOVIE REVIEW: MACGRUBER

2010-05-26T10:27:00.002-04:00

MacGruber started out as a thirty second sketch on Saturday Night Live and is now the latest skit to get it's own live action film. The film stars Will Forte, Kristin Wiig, Ryan Phillipe and Val Kilmer, and is a spoof of the 80's series MacGyver.

The goal of the film was to spoof the 80's action film genre. They failed on every level. Putting 80's music, clothes and dialouge in the film isn't enough to try and pull off a spoof. What the film lacked was both a script and talent.

We'll start with the script. Throwing in a bunch of foul language does not make a film funny, especially if the lines don't even make sense. I'm not offended by language in films and I do think that if done right, from time to time it can make a line funnier. But when it is every sentence and it sounds like an eight year old is the one talking it gets really old, really quick. But it isn't just the dialogue that fails on every level, but the writing for the film does as well. It looked like an immature thirteen year old wrote the script.

The story also takes from different 80's film's plots. MacGruber is an ex-special operative who retires after Kilmer's character kills his bride at their wedding. He then runs off to a village where he helps build a town and mentor kids. When Kilmer's character steals a nuclear bomb with intentions of destroying Washington D.C., he is asked to return to help stop the crisis.

Finally we get to the cast. I really feel sorry for Ryan Phillipe on this one. I don't know what happened that caused him to fall into this film, but I think he has talent and it really gave him a bad name being in this film. The other big name, Val Kilmer, did a good enough job considering what he had to work with. However, Kilmer's roles have been getting worse and worse ever since Batman Forever came out. Then we have Will Forte, who has never been in a good movie and Kristin Wiig who gives the same exact performance in everything she does. These guys are on Saturday Night Live for a reason. They are funny (sometimes), but only in four minute sketches. Neither of these guys belonged getting leading roles in anything, especially Forte.

This movie is not funny, it's not entertaining and children have no business being around it. This is officially the first flop of the summer and I give it a 0 out of 5.

HEADLINES

2010-05-21T10:13:00.006-04:00

FOUR UP FOR SCREAM 4
Ashley Green, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin and Lake Bell are all in talks to star in Scream 4. Green would play Sidney's cousin Jill, Panettiere would play Jill's best friend and movie guru, Culkin would play Jill's love interest and Bell would play an officer that Sidney knew in high school.

I like everyone listed above. It is really assuring to me that the next three films won't be primarily on Sidney, Dewey and Gail. The film starts shooting this summer so there will be several casting updates coming out soon.

On a side note, I know he looks rediculous, but I really like Rory Culkin.

FRANCO GOES APE
James Franco has signed on to star in the prequel Rise of the Apes. He will playing a scientist who has a big hand in what causes the war between the humans and apes.

I like Franco, but I don't really see him as the scientist type. I'm not excited for this film at the moment, but if they keep nabbing good actors, I might change my mind.

MACGYVER WRITER HIRED
Jason Richman has been hired to develop a script for the upcoming MacGyver film. Richmans other films include; Black Hawk Down, Rush Hour 3 and Bad Company.

I really don't think this movie needs to happen unless Richard Dean Anderson is playing MacGyver. He isn't too old. The last thing I want to see is some stupid young actor like Taylor Lautner getting the role of one of my favorite action stars as a kid. Furthermore, besides Black Hawk Down, Richman hasn't done anything I like, so there is another reason.

MacGyver's hair was truly horrible back then.

OLDMAN JOINS KUNG FU PANDA 2
Gary Oldman will be voicing a character named Peacock for Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom.

In the sequel, a new villain emerges and threatens the existence of the ancient kung fu ways.

POSSIBLE VILLAIN FOR THE AVENGERS
It is being leaked that the Skrulls are looking to be the villains for the upcoming Avengers film. I am not familiar with them, so here is a description of them:

"The Skrulls are an extraterrestrial humanoid race who have created a vast interstellar empire, the oldest known empire still in existence, within the Andromeda Galaxy.. A Skrull can mentally cause the unstable molecules that comprise his or her body to become pliant, enabling him or her to assume other forms through muscular expansion and contraction. Once a new shape has been assumed (human, animal, alien), it takes a conscious act of will to assume another form or revert to natural.. Although the Skrulls became aware of Earth (due to its nearness to a natural warp-space access point) eons ago, it was not until recent times that they considered Earth’s threat. Their first regular surveillances of Earth began in the 1930s. To date most of the Skrulls’ excursions to Earth have been extremely small-scale, with no more than a handful of soldier-infiltrators being dispatched at any given time. It is not yet known how the death of the current ruling family will affect official policy toward Earth or the government of the empire in general."

Apparently, the plan is to have them take over The Hulks mind which will cause The Avengers to join up for the first time to try and stop him.

I think that this could work. If they aren't the main focus in this film and just start off by trying to get the Hulk to do their dirty work, I think that would be the best way to go. Although, I'm certainly up for some other villains.

MOVIE REVIEW: IRON MAN 2

2010-05-07T10:28:00.004-04:00

The summer season is officially here, and to kick it off we start with the follow up to the 2008 surprise smash hit Iron Man. In the follow up, Tony Stark faces many new challenges as he has now revealed to the public that he is Iron Man. First is the government. They feel as if the Iron Man suit is a threat to the public and wants to take it from him and use it for their own purposes. Secondly, Justin Hammer, an engineering rival to Stark is trying to create a copy of the Iron Man suit so he can create an army for the U.S. military. And finally, Ivan Vanko, a man whose father worked with Stark's is bent on revenge for supposedly stealing the fame and ideas of his fathers.

Iron Man 2 delivers the same high energy pace that the original did such a great job doing. So many films these days have a good plot or have a nice cast, but ends up falling on it's face due to lack of script. It is so nice to be able to go and sit through a film that has had a lot of effort put into the writing of the film. Justin Theroux delivered a phenomenal script with this film and really made it a clever, charming film to watch. Jon Favreau did a great job taking that script and turning it into something real. What makes these films successful, is the knowledge the people working on them have of the material. These guys knew the comics, knew the characters and knew exactly how to adapt them to the big screen.

The cast in this film is truly a wonderful ensemble. Robert Downey Jr. gives an even better performance in this film than he did in the original. When you are watching the film, you can really tell that he cares about the character he is playing. I am not sure if there has ever been a better casting job than the one to make Downey Jr. Iron Man. When you watch him in interviews it as if him and Tony Stark are one in the same. Then you have Gwyneth Paltrow who is a fantastic companion to Downey Jr.. Their chemistry in this film is fantastic. The quick dialogue between the two kept the audience laughing throughout the entire film. Don Cheadle came on board to replace Terrance Howard after Howard and the studio couldn't work out a deal regarding his pay. I enjoyed Cheadle a lot more as James Rhodes than I did Howard's portrayal. He seemed a lot less of a whiny character and more of someone who wants to stand up and take charge. He was a good edition to the series and really took charge of his character. Then we have Sam Rockwell who might be one of the most underrated actors in hollywood right now. In the film, Rockwell plays Justin Hammer. Hammer is a younger rival to Stark. He took the part and really made it his own. He starts off as trying to be a tough guy, but after being put in his place he tries to adapt into a more Stark like personality and in the end shows his true colors. Rockwell did a great job of changing personas throughout the film.

As for the action in the film, it was done very well. I think what kills big summer movies a lot of times are the over the top action they try and shove at you. They made it to where it was fun and exciting, but at the same time, they kept it believable.

The film however, is not without it's flaws. I think they completely missed on Mickey Rourke's character. They gave him absolutely nothing to in the film. This was a really waste of character, especially since the almost didn't land him do to financial negotiations. What little of the movie he is actually in, he is given horrible lines and no real purpose. At the end of the film, I felt as if he never really was a threat to Iron Man at all. So not only do they give him nothing to do throughout the entire film, but once the final showdown occurs between him and Iron Man, it is over and done with after three short minutes. It was if the film built up and built up, and then sizzled out at the very end.

Overall, Iron Man 2 was a great way to kick off the summer season. It had everything you needed to have a fun, successful film and I walked away completely satisfied and wanting more. I give it a four out of five.

HEADLINES

2010-05-06T12:25:00.009-04:00

SECRET J.J. ABRHAMS TRAILER
Two days ago, it was reported that much like how the Cloverfield trailer popped up out of nowhere in front of Transformers, a new secret trailer would be appearing in front of Iron Man 2 tonight. The synopsis for the trailer has now been released so if you want to be surprised stop reading now.

The trailer lasts about one minute and a half.

It begins with the Green MPAA screen, followed by the Paramount Pictures logo. No Bad Robot at the header.

A train rushes by the screen. We notice that it has lots of cargo. Text comes on the screen: “In 1979, The U.S. Air Force Closed A Section of AREA 51.”

We see the railroad crossing light blinking and ringing as the camera pans up we see some sort of light moving in the background. What is it? A UFO?

More Text: “All The Materials Were To Be Transported To A Secure Facility In Ohio.” No, it appears to be the headlights of a yellow 1970’s truck, which skids in a 180 degree motion, and suddenly pulls onto the tracks.

Point of view of the truck heading into the light. Black screen and white text: “From Producer Steve Spielberg”

We see the truck explode as it hits the train. Then… the cargo train is heading towards the car explosion - BAM. It is wrecked, thrown from the tracks like a wild snake.

The flaming metal body flipping towards the camera. Cars flying through the air. It is INTENSE.

Another black screen and the text: “And Director JJ Abrams”

The camera really slowly moves in on the wrecked pieces of the train, most of which is now just scrap metal. At least one car remains intact.

Black screen, white test: “Next Summer” We see some sparks. Black screen, white text: “It Arrives” We pull up on one of the train cars with a US Airforce logo.

The wheel on the door begins to spin out of control as we pull in closer. The wall of the door begins to bend like some huge force is punching it from the inside. Cut to one second of a close up of an 8mm camera lens.

Cut to black. White text: “Super 8″ The credits at the end were pretty bare.

This sounds like it is going to be awesome. This is how more movies should market themselves. Keep it under wraps to where no one knows anything about it, and then boom, out of nowhere release an awesome trailer that will get fanboys peeing there pants. This film just went straight to the top of my anticipation list for next summer.

ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT COMING
Fox has decided to go ahead with a fourth film of the Ice Age franchise. By the sound of it, I would assume this film will be centered around the breaking up of the continents.

I loved the first film, but they have gone downhill with the past two. After this film, they should make Ice Age: Here Comes A Big Comet.

ZOOLANDER 2 NEWS
Paramount can't decide whether they want to go ahead with Anchorman 2 and Zoolander 2 or not. As of right now, Anchorman 2 is officially dead and it seemed that Zoolander 2 was right behind it. But yesterday, Justin Theroux, Zoolander 2's writer, said that no one had told him to stop writing yet. Hopefully that is good news for the sequel.

I liked Anchorman and Zoolander, but if I had to pick one to do a sequel on, it would be Zoolander. Anchorman would be more difficult. It doesn't really have a need for a sequel. However, Zoolander was kind of formed into a non official super hero. He had a villain, the villain came from a secret society of villains and they set up a whole back story to it. And I liked the characters more from Zoolander than I did Anchorman. Here is hoping at least one of them make it.

KICK-ASS 2 IS A GO......MAYBE
Despite having disappointing numbers at the box office, it appears that Kick-Ass will get a sequel titled, Kick-Ass: Balls to the Wall. Mark Millar wrote the original novel, but has not finished the sequel yet, so I would guess the film wouldn't start until he has completed his follow-up. However, Red Mist himself, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, said on his Twitter to not believe it and that it has not been confirmed yet.

I really hope this gets greenlit. I think there is a lot of potential with the first film, to turn this into a big name franchise. It is always difficult to have a film of this sort succeed, because a large group of the target audience is under age and wouldn't be able to get in. At the same time though, if you drop the rating to a PG-13 one, then you really take away from what makes the film great.

JOAQUIN PHONEIX NOT CRAZY
Many assumed that Phoneix's David Letterman incident, retirement announcement and rapping career stint was all a hoax. Now it has been confirmed. All of that was for a mocumentary that he and Casey Affleck have been working on the past year. Apparently, they showed the film to some potential film buyers last week, so we may or may not see the finshed product very soon.

I'm not sure if this will hurt his career or not. I was pretty bummed at first to see him go out like he did, but then again, this was all pretty funny and I'm sure it will be on film as well.

RISE OF THE APES COMING
Twentieth Century Fox is developing a prequel to the popular Apes franchise. The apes will be done using the CGI technology from Avatar.

Does anyone really care about this franchise anymore? I mean I'm sure they were good back in the day, but the remake was less than thrilling and I really don't care about monkeys learning to walk, talk and take over the world.

MEN IN BLACK 3 IS OFFICIAL
Columbia Pictures announced today that Men In Black 3 was officially happening and even gave a release date of May 25, 2012. The third installment will be shot in 3D and as of right now everyone has signed back on except for Tommy Lee Jones who is currently in negotiations to return.

I am a big fan of the first film, but I think they completely missed with the sequel. I am growing tired very fast of all the 3D stuff going on, but I think that Men In Black would be a fun film to watch in 3D. I hope they really bring their A game with this sequel and I hope after this Smith can get to work on Bad Boys 3.

MI:4 NEWS
With the release of J.J. Abrhams secret project Super 8, now getting a release date for summer of 2011, Paramount decided to spread out the love and push Mission Impossible 4 back to a December 2011 release. Not only that, but they have finally signed a director for the film. Brad Baird will make his live action debut as the director behind the film. Bairds directing credits include The Iron Giant, The Incrdibles and Ratatouille.

I think that this is a very interesting move, but a move I like. I love all three of the animated films he has done and I love the Mission Impossible franchise. It will be interesting to see how he adapts from animation to a big budget, live action film. And we better find out what the Rabbit's Foot was.

AND THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS FRANCHISE JUST GOT WORSE
It is being reported that Dwayne Johnson is in talks to join the cast of Fast Five, the fifth film in the Fast and the Furious franchise. Specifics are not known at the time, but one could guess that he would be one of the fast five.

I like Johnson, but the guy makes horrible movie choices. The first and third films weren't half bad, but the second and fourth films were very bad. Paul Walker arguably the worst actor in America and that is a scientific fact. Vin Diesel has lost any chance of being the big time action star I once thought he would turn out to be and the title "Fast Five" just sounds horrible.

Here is the synopsis of the film: Diesel and Walker are fugitives being pursued by relentless lawmen.

Give me a break. The ending of the fourth one was so unbelivable I would have walked out if it wasn't already the end of the film. They destroyed what little story this franchise could have had.

MOVIE REVIEW: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

2010-05-01T13:29:00.004-04:00

During the 80's horror movies were a booming genre. We had iconic characters such as Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhese, Leatherface and even little old Chucky. Then you had your cult horror films like The Hills Have Eyes, My Bloody Valentine, The Crazies, Last House on the Left and The Fog. You could say that the horror genre was at the height of it's career. Horror films aren't for everyone for obvious reasons, but if your like me and you are a horror fan, you know what it takes to make a good slasher flick. Back then they had everything needed to be a successful horror film; lots of death scenes, plenty of gore and late night trips to the lake, if you get my drift.

Now flashforward twenty years later and where is the horror genre at? Well, during the nineties we had the Scream trilogy, which I loved and I think was ok for its time. Then in the early 2000's we had The Ring and the fifty films after it that copied the same exact story. Now at the back end of the 2000's, all we have are remakes of the eighties films we loved and torture type films like Saw, Hostel, Turistas and Wolf Creek. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, The Hills Have Eyes and The Crazies were all well done, but Halloween, The Fog Last House On the Left, My Bloody Valentine and the now apparently turned comedy Chucky series were all disappointments....especially the Chucky films.

So now all we had left to remake was Freddy Krueger, one of the biggest horror characters of the eighties. They ditched Robert Englund who portrayed Freddy for the first eight films and brought on Jackie Earle Haley as the new Freddy. I think that was a good move. If your remaking the franchise, you want to take it back to its dark roots. As the films progressed, Freddy became more of a comedic killer than a scary, ruthless one. I thought that Haley would do justice to what Englund brought to the character for so many years. He tried his best, but unfortunately they just didn't give him much to do.

The main story is pretty much the same as the original. Fred Kruger is abusing children at a local pre school, and after the parents of the students hunt down and kill Krueger, he begins to kill the now grown up children by entering their dreams.

I'm not sure really where to begin with where all this movie goes wrong. We'll start with Freddy. People will go to this film to see Freddy, not the CW actors that make up the cast, Freddy is the star. What they do for the first hour is really just tease you with Krueger. They will show him for a quick second and then wait a while and throw him in again for a brief moment. People want to see him and I was really annoyed sitting there waiting for him to actually show up on screen for more than a minute. Secondly, was the CGI used to redesign his face. Is it really that hard these days to put make-up on someone as opposed to just using special effects. I liked that they were trying to bring something new to the table to redesign his look, but not how they just threw some special effects on there and was done with it.

The cast was horrific. I hate how all these horror remakes turn to the CW Network to find their talent now. The lines were delivered incredibly bad and you couldn't help but to laugh at the characters, because they were all dressed up as your now popular emo, goth kids with the exception of one of the characters. There was no diversity to the characters, they were all the same.

But my main problem with the film was with the story. As I said before, people go to these movies to see the killer and to watch the death scenes. In this film, there were only three death scenes besides one at the very end, which didn't count in my opinion. The Friday the 13th remake had five deaths in the first fifteen minutes. And it just wasn't the low death count, but the uncreative ways they did them. I was bored with them all. I was never on the edge of my seat, I was never gripping my armrest waiting for the big jump and I was never clenching my teeth at the "gruesome" scene I was watching.

This was a remake, but all the iconic scenes from the original were taken out of the film or ruined. The classic Johnny Depp scene, gone. One of the scenes from the original that made it into this film was done so horribly wrong, the audience actually ended up laughing during the entire scene as opposed to the horror effect that it was supposed to have.

It really looks like good horror films are a thing of the past now. Studios refuse to pay for good writers, directors or talent that is worth watching. This film is a good example of how bad the genre has become over the past 20-30 years. If you put in a little, you will get a little.

This is a key example as to why you don't let someone who's only credentials are directing music videos tackle a big name project like this. I enjoyed absolutely nothing about this film and give it a 1 out of 5.

FIRST THOR PIC

2010-04-30T11:58:00.002-04:00

We have our first official look at Thor. I have to say that I am pretty impressed with the look. I was hoping they didn't take a literal costume design from the comics. I am very hopeful this film will be something to get excited about. What do you think?

HEALINES

2010-04-28T14:05:00.003-04:00

It has been a while since any good movie news worth reporting, but finally there have been some interesting stuff come up.

ANOTHER VAMPIRE MOVIE ON THE WAY
Platinum Studios is adapting the comic book series, "Blood Nation", to the big screen. The film tells the story of a country overrun by vampires and walled off from the rest of the world. Decades later, rumors that these creatures have found a way to escape their isolation force a small group of humans to pierce into the heart of the nation on a desperate mission to save humanity. But what they find there may not be the wasteland they expect.

It sounds like Daybreakers mixed with Doomsday. I am really burned out on the vampire vs. human stories. They are beating this genre to death. Does it have potential, I suppose so, but I don't have faith that they will develop a good script and gather a respectable cast together.

TWO SEQUELS GET GREENLIGHT
Warner Bros. have greenlit both a Journey to the Center of the Earth and a Clash of the Titans sequel. Journey to the center of the Earth is targeting a fall 2011 release while the Clash of the Titans sequel is targeting a spring 2012 release. Sam Worthington is expected to reprise his role and shoot the film before he begins Avatar 2.

I could care less about the Journey to the Center of the Earth sequel, but they better get the Clash sequel right this time. Them deciding convert last to 3D last second ruined the film. I read where originally Zeus was supposed to be the bad guy and all the gods, such as Poseidon who only had one scene, were originally in the film much more. That film had some real potential, and they took a massive dump on it instead. Thankfully Louis Lettier is not returning to direct.

PAUL REUBENS JOINS THE SMURFS
Is this big news, no. But I love Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman, so I thought I would share some Reuben news. Paul Reuben will be voicing Jokey Smurf for the upcoming Smurfs film. He joins Neil Patrick Harris, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Anton Yelchin, Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen and George Lopez.

Why does George Lopez have a voice role in every animated film? I didn't know there was a mexican smurf. As much as this movie sounds horrible, I do like a lot of the cast members.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON GETS A SEQUEL
The surprise hit How to Train Your Dragon will be getting a sequel in 2013. So far the first film has grossed $180 million dollars so far and regained the number one spot in it's fifth week in theatres.

I really need to see this movie.

YOU KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN......THE RING 3D
Unfortunately, another sequel to The Ring is happening and of course in 3D. The new film is being fashioned as more teen-centric than the first, and though the story is being kept under wraps, the aim is to reinvent the franchise.

I loved the first film. It was original, it was scary and they did without spending a ton of money and throwing 3D at you. Then they made the sequel, which was absolutely terrible. I'm not a big fan of them doing a third one, simply because I am so partial to the original but I wish it the best.

WARNER BROS. GREENLIGHTING ANOTHER DC COMIC
With Green Lantern currently filming, Warner Bros. has decided to give the greenlight to another comic franchise. You would think it would be The Flash, Wonder Woman or maybe Aquaman, but instead they are going with a less known character, Starman.

This is why Warner Bros. fails everytime they try and tackle any of the superheroes besides Batman. They need to do what Marvel did and map out a five year plan. Let's start with Green Lantern and develop Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and get the new Superman going and lets build up to a Justice League movie. Starman may turn out to be a good movie, I'm always open to a comic book movie, but this isn't what people want to see. Your telling me they can develop something for Starman but not Wonder Woman, Aquaman or The Flash? Give me a break.

2010 SUMMER PREVIEW

2010-04-20T12:25:00.023-04:00

With Iron Man 2 only fourteen days away, I thought I would shed some light on what to expect this summer. And I have to say there isn't much to get excited about this summer. It looks like it may be one of the most disappointing summers I have ever seen. I am really hard on summer movies. That is when people go to the movies the most, and for what a ticket costs these days and how much money goes into making these summer blockbusters, they need to be worth going and seeing. So lets see what we have coming up.

IRON MAN 2 (MAY 7)
This is obviously what I am looking forward to the most. I was blown away by how much I enjoyed the first one, and this one looks like it might even be better with the addition of Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Furry, Mickey Rourke as Whiplash and one of the most underrated actors, Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. Anticipation 10/10.

ROBIN HOOD (MAY 14)
Most of the time when Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe team up, the outcome is normally pretty good. I'm sure the same will be for this film, but at the same time, I really haven't been blown away by the trailers so far. And I really don't like Cate Blanchette as Maid Marian. I'm very partial to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner. This story has been told so many times, I hope it goes away for a long time after this. Anticipation 6/10.

TAKERS (MAY 14)
Takers revolves around a notorious group of criminals who pull of heists without any trace of evidence at all. When they decide to pull off one last heist that has more money than ever at stake, they come in danger of getting caught when a detective becomes obsessed with catching them. Takers stars Idris Elba, Paul Walker, T.I., Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen and Matt Dillon.

This film looks like a big joke. I already know how it is going to end before I even see it. This seems more like a September release rather than a summer movie. Plus Hayden Christensen sucks and T.I. acting skills are non existant. Anticipation 2/10.

SHREK FOREVER (MAY 21)
When Shrek falls into the habits of a married man and father, he begins to miss the fun of his swamp and scarring trespassers. When Rumpelstiltskin tricks Shrek into signing some kind of pact, it transforms Far Far Away into an alternate land where Rumpelstiltskin is king and him and Fiona have never met.

The first two films were ok, but the third was terrible in my opinion. The fourth one looks no different from what I have seen so far and I think they have stretched this franchise as far as it can go. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas all are returning. Anticipation 1/10.

MACGRUBBER (MAY 21)
In the 10 years since his fiancée was killed, special op MacGruber has sworn off a life of fighting crime with his bare hands. But when he learns that his country needs him to find a nuclear warhead that’s been stolen by his sworn enemy, Dieter Von Cunth, MacGruber figures he’s the only one tough enough for the job. Will Forte, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer and Powers Boothe star.

I thought this was a horrible idea and a waste of money when I first heard this was happening, then I saw the trailer and I still wasn't convinced. But it premiered at ShowWest this year and it got a ton of positive reviews and is apparently really funny which brought by anticipation up some. Anticipation 6.5/10.

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME (MAY 28)
Based off the popular video game, Prince of Persia is set in medieval Persia, and tells the story of an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. Which is why after the prince was tricked by a dying Vizier to unleash the Sands of Time that turns out to destroy a kingdom and transforms its populace into ferocious demons. In his effort to save his own kingdom and redeem his fatal mistake, it's up to the prince and the princess to return the sands to the hourglass by using the Dagger of Time, which also gives him a limited control over the flow of time.

Did anyone else just read that premise? This sounds and looks horrible. I think they took the wrong approach with this film and will pay for it big time at the box office. Anticipation 3/10.

SEX AND THE CITY 2 (MAY 28)
The group of skanks go on vacation and Carrie may or may not cheat on her husband while she is there.

This looks like a desperate attempt to make some more money off a very successful first film. If there are more stories to tell, then tell them, but this just looks like an excuse to make money. Anticipation 0/10.

GET HIM TO THE GREEK (JUNE 4)
This is a spinoff of Forgetting Sara Marshall with Russell Brand's character, Aldous Snow starring in this one. The story is about Aaron Greenberg, an ambitious 23-year-old who has exaggerated his way into a dream job just in time for a career-making assignment. His mission: Fly to London and escort a rock god to L.A.’s Greek Theatre for the first-stop on a $100-million tour. His warning: Turn your back on him at your own peril.

This looks like it will be just as good as Forgetting Sara Marshall. The only thing I'm curious about is that Jonah Hill played a character in Forgetting Sara Marshall and now he is playing a completely different character in this film. Maybe they will say that was his brother or something but it would be nice if that character got a nod in this film. Anticipation 8/10.

ONDINE (JUNE 4)
The story of an Irish fisherman who discovers a woman in his fishing net who he believes to be a mermaid. Colin Ferrell stars.

I haven't heard or seen anything about this film, but it is a wide release movie so I'm wondering if they are going to do any marketing on it or not. I'm guessing this is going to be a flop due to lack of promotion. My anticipation may change once I finally see something on this. Anticipation 0/10.

MARMADUKE (JUNE 4)
A suburban family moves to a new neighborhood with their large yet lovable Great Dane, who has a tendency to wreak havoc in his own oblivious way.

This is obviously a kid's movie all the way. I'm sure it will be a hit with them, with all the dancing dogs and crap like that, but it won't be for adults. The key to kid's movies is to make them appeal to adults and kids. That is why Pixar is so successful. Anticipation 1/10.

KILLERS (JUNE 4)
Spencer is an undercover, government-hired super-assassin. But when he meets Jen, a beautiful, fun-loving computer tech recovering from a bad break-up, he finds true love…and happily trades international intrigue for domestic bliss. Three years later, Spencer and Jen learn he's the target of a multi-million dollar hit. Even worse, the hired killers have been stalking the happy couple for years, and could be anyone: friends, neighbors or co-workers. Spencer and Jen are then forced to hit the road and take down whoever is after them. Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigel star.

This has to be one of the worst trailers I have ever seen. Not just because I hate Katherine Heigel, but the story is such a rip off of things we have seen before. This looks absolutely terrible and I'm sure a bunch of women who for some reason think Heigel has talent will run and see it, but I will not be. Even the poster is horrible. Anticipation 1/10.

SPLICE (JUNE 4)
Two young scientists achieve fame by splicing human DNA with the DNA of different animals to create a new creature. In the process they ignore their society's ethical and legal boundaries. The scientists name their creature "Dren", which is initially a deformed female infant, however it rapidly develops into a beautiful but deadly winged human-chimera. Adrien Brody stars.

This is a limited release film, but I think it will be this year's District 9. Guillermo del Toro is producing this, just like Peter Jackson produced District 9 and it has the same low budget sci-fi feel to it. Anticipation 9/10.

THE A-TEAM (JUNE 11)
A group of Iraq War veterans looks to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed. Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Sharlto Copley, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Patrick Wilson star.

I want to be optimistic about this film, but I'm really on the fence about it. It looks like it's going to be your average over-the-top action flick that Hollywood pumps out these days. I am going to hope for the best with this one. Anticipation 5/10.

THE KARATE KID (JUNE 11)
We all know the story to this one. It's a remake with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith.

I simply say to this: No thanks. Anticipation 1/10.

TOY STORY 3 (JUNE 18)
When Andy heads to college, he donates the toys to a local day care. Unhappy, the toys begin to plan an escape and Andy realizes he may have made a mistake by throwing them out. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return with the rest of the crew and Michael Keaton joins the cast.

This is a close second for the movie I am most excited about. Pixar is going to knock this out of the park and I can't wait to see the next journey these guys go on. Anticipation 10/10.

GROWN UPS (JUNE 25)
A comedy about five friends and former teammates who reunite years later to honor the passing of their childhood basketball coach. Adam Sandler, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Kevin James, Maria Bello, Jamie Chung, Rob Schneider, Dave Spade, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Gary Busey, Norm McDonald, Tim Meadows, Colin Quinn all star in the film.

At some point Adam Sandler is going to have to let Rob Schneider and David Spade go. This looks like it will be an average comedy with nothing really special going on in it. Hopefully I am wrong. I am curious as to what Gary Busey's role is going to be in this because he is awesome. Anticipation 5/10.

KNIGHT AND DAY (JUNE 25)
A fugitive couple on a glamorous and sometimes deadly adventure where nothing and no one - even themselves - are what they seem. Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz star.

They really haven't given a whole lot away on what this film is really about which I like. Even the synopsis is pretty bland. I'm a big Cruise fan and I think this will turn out to be a good film. Anticipation 8/10.

ECLIPSE (JUNE 30)
The never ending battle of whether Bella will choose Jacob or Edward continues in the latest installment of the Twilight franchise.

I've seen the trailer and it looks exactly the same as the second one. Millions of girls are going to go crazy and make this movie a lot of money, but I have no faith in this franchise. Anticipation 3/10.

So let's stop and recap for just a quick sec. I have gone over eighteen films that are released during May and June alone and out of the eighteen, I only have nine that are at least a five out of ten in anticipation. That isn't very good for summer movies. Let's continue and see if this will improve.

THE LAST AIRBENDER (JULY 2)
Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Four nations tied by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aang teams with Katara, a Waterbender, and her brother, Sokka, to restore balance to their war-torn world.

I have no interest in seeing this movie based off a kids cartoon. M. Night Shyamalan has proven time and time again now that he has lost his talent for making good films. Anticipation 2/10.

PREDATORS (JULY 7)
When a group of elite warrior-types wake up to find themselves lost in a jungle. They soon find out that they are being hunted down by Predators, and they are on their planet. Adrien Brody, Lawrence Fishburne and Topher Grace star.

This looks like it will put the Predator franchise back on track. It seems to have everything you need to have for a successful Predator film. I really like the cast that has been brought in for this film as well. Adrien Brody and Topher Grace were really interesting choices. Anticipation 10/10.

DESPICABLE ME (JULY 9)
Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Miranda Cosgrove, Will Arnett, Ken Jeong, Mindy Kaling, Kristen Wiig, Russell Brand, Danny McBride all lend their voice for the film.

The marketing for this film has been interesting. All the trailer so far have just been little shorts for the film and no real footage from the film. I think this will end up being a really good movie for adults and kids. Anticipation 7/10.

THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE (JULY 16)
Balthazar Blake is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath. Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler, a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. Nicholas Cage and Jay Baruchel star.

This looks absolutely ridiculous. It's sad that after Cage's awesome performance in Kick-Ass that he is going to go back and make another bad film. Now on the flip side, I think this could possibly be a surprise hit. I'm not holding my breath but we will see. Anticipation 4/10.

INCEPTION (JULY 16)
In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a single idea within one's mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset. Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine and Tom Berenger all star.

All we really know about this film is that it looks great. I think that it's beginning to be clear that Christopher Nolan can do no wrong. The cast is fantastic the trailer looks fantastic and I can't wait to see what going on with the story. Anticipation 10/10.

SALT (JULY 23)
The film centers on a CIA officer who is fingered as a Russian sleeper spy. She eludes capture by superiors who are convinced he is out to assassinate the president. While trying to reunite with her family, she struggles to prove someone else is the traitor. Angelina Jolie and Liev Schrieber star.

This looks like it could go either way. I remember I thought The Interpretor was going to be good and it end up boring me to death. I think will probably be a satisfying film but nothing more. Anticipation 5/10.

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS (JULY 23)
Tim, an up-and-coming executive who has just received his first invitation to the "dinner for idiots," a monthly event hosted by his boss that promises bragging rights to the exec that shows up with the biggest buffoon. Tim's fiancée, Julie, finds it distasteful and Tim agrees to skip the dinner, until he bumps into Barry, an IRS employee who devotes his spare time to building elaborate taxidermy mouse dioramas – and quickly realizes he's struck idiot gold. Tim can't resist, and invites Barry, whose blundering good intentions soon sends Tim's life into a frenzied downward spiral and a series of comic misadventures, threatening a major business deal, bringing crazy stalker ex-girlfriend, Darla, back into Tim's life and driving Julie into the arms of another man. Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and Zach Galifianakis star.

I need to see more on this before I really judge it. The first trailer they released looks pretty bad, but I would really like it to turn out funny. Obviously, movies fail and I have a feeling this will turn out to be a flop. Anticipation 5/10.

MORNING GLORY (JULY 30)
An old-school anchorman who quit his longtime evening newscast because of its new, gossipy ways is recruited by a hotshot producer whose looking to revive a failing morning show. Harrison Ford, Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton, Jeff Goldblum and Patrick Wilson star.

There has been no trailer or poster released for this film, but I am extremely interested in this film. Anytime Jeff Goldblum is in something I am up for it, but when you throw in Rachel McAdams and Harrison Ford as well, I am definitely going to be looking forward to it. Since there is nothing out on it though, it's really just hype for me, because it will probably just be an average romantic comedy. Anticipation 7/10.

BEASTLY (JULY 30)
A modern-day take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love. Vanessa Hudgens, Mary Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris, Alex Pettyfer.

This looks absolutely rediculous and I can't figure out why Neil Patrick Harris would be in this film. He looks like he is playing the role of Daredevil in a different movie. Anticipation 2/10.

CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE (JULY 30)
The ongoing war between the canine and feline species is put on hold when they join forces to thwart a rogue cat spy with her own sinister plans for conquest. Chris O'Donnell lends his voice.

I really don't think anything needs to be said about this film, so I'm not going to waste my time. Anticipation 0/10.

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (JULY 30)
The affair between a politician and a ballerina is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt star.

This is a very rare genre of sci-fi romance. I really like Damon, Blunt and sci-fi, so I think this has the potential to be a good film, just not a summer blockbuster type. There is no trailer yet, so maybe when I see one I can get a better grasp on it. Anticipation 5/10.

JONAH HEX (AUGUST 6)
A scarred bounty hunter tracks a voodoo practitioner bent on liberating the South by raising an army of the undead during the wild west. Josh Brolin and Megan Fox star.

The trailer will debut on Nightmare on Elm Street this month, but I am looking forward to this film as of right now. It's based of a DC comic and hopefully the trailer will look pretty good. My anticipation could drastically change after seeing the trailer. Anticipation 6/10.

THE OTHER GUYS (AUGUST 6)
The Other Guys follows Detective Allen Gamble, a forensic accountant who's more interested in paperwork than hitting the streets, and Detective Terry Hoitz, who has been stuck with Allen as his partner ever since an embarrassing public incident with his quick trigger finger. Allen and Terry idolize the city’s top cops, Danson and ManzettI, but when an opportunity arises for the Other Guys to step up, things don’t quite go as planned. Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan and Michael Keaton star.

Hopefully this will bring redemption to Ferrell. This looks a little different than his usual stuff. It has a big, diverse cast so the focus will not be all on Ferrell. I think this is a make or break film for Ferrell so he needs this one after the disaster that was Land of the Lost. Anticipation 7/10.

STEP UP 3-D (AUGUST 6)
People break dance battle each other just like the first two films. No one anyone would know is in this film.

I will admit that I liked the second movie, but his looks exactly the same as that one. There is no originality here and I think dance movies need to go away for a long time after this one. Anticipation 4/10.

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (AUGUST 13)
Scott Pilgrim must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil ex-boyfriends in order to win her heart. Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson and Brandon Routh star.

I think this has the potential to be a really fun movie. It has a unique look to it and I kinda like the cast they put together. Anticipation 6/10.

EAT,PRAY,LOVE (AUGUST 13)
While trying to get pregnant, a happily married woman realizes her life needs to go in a different direction, and after a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey. Based on the memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert. Julia Roberts, James Franco, Billy Crudup and Javier Bardem star.

These are the kinds of chick flicks that I enjoy. Something different that you haven't seen a thousand times before. I am really looking forward to seeing Roberts back in a starring role. She really hasn't done much since popping out those kids of hers.

THE EXPENDABLES (AUGUST 20)
A team of mercenaries head to South America on a mission to overthrow a dictator. Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Dolph Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Trejo, Charisma Carpenter and Bruce Willis all star.

Does it have a huge cast? Yes. Is it full of action? Yes. But does it have a good story as well is the question. I hope this movie is THE action of all action movies. With this cast, there is no reason this shouldn't easily be the greatest action film of all time. We shall see. Anticipation 9/10.

THE SWITCH (AUGUST 20)
An unmarried 40-year-old woman turns to a turkey baster in order to become pregnant. Seven years later, she reunites with her best friend, who has been living with a secret: he replaced her preferred sperm sample with his own. Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Jeff Goldblum and Patrick Wilson star.

Ah, two Goldblum movies in one summer. How did I get so lucky? I think the movie does look pretty good without Goldblum, but adding him bumps it up a little. Anticipation 6/10.

PIRANHA 3-D (AUGUST 27)
Every year, the population of sleepy Lake Victoria explodes from 5,000 to 50,000 for Spring Break; a riot of sun and drunken fun. But this year, there's something more to worry about than hangovers and complaints from local old timers; A new type of terror is about to be cut loose on Lake Victoria. After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area’s new razor-toothed residents. Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell, Ving Rhames, Richard Dreyfuss and Christopher Lloyd star.

I wish studious tried a little harder to set the summer off with a bang. Normally I'm less excited about the August releases than the other three months of the summer. This year Piranha is ending the summer movie season. I'm a big fan of awesomely bad movies, and this is the definitely going to be an awesomely bad movie. Anticipation 7/10.

So, in my opinion there really isn's a whole lot of big blockbusters coming out this year. There seems to be a lot of films that normally would come out during the year. But there is a reason to get excited for next summers movie. Here is a sneek peek to why.

Cowboys & Aliens: anticipation 8/10
Captain America: The First Avenger: anticipation 10/10
Cars 2: anticipation 6/10
Fast Five: anticipation 4/10
Green Lantern: anticipation 10/10
The Hangover 2: anticipation 10/10
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2: anticipation 4/10
Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom: anticipation 5/10
Mission: Impossible IV: anticipation 9/10
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: anticipation: 8/10
The Smurfs: anticipaiton 3/10
Spy Kids 4: Armageddon: anticipation 1/10
Thor: anticipation 10/10
Transformers 3: anticipation 6/10

MOVIE REVIEW: DEATH AT A FUNERAL

2010-04-17T13:44:00.005-04:00

I'm not a fan of British comedies, but I have always heard that Death at a Funeral was worth a watch. When I saw that an American remake of it was coming out only three years after the original, it had me scratching my head. Still, the American remake didn't look that appealing to me either. Sure it has a ton of stars including; Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Zoe Saldana, Danny Glover, James Marsden, and Tracy Morgan, but I wasn't itching to see. I had planned on skipping it all together, but I was drug to it anyway and I have to say I am very glad I was.

When Aaron and Ryan's father passes away, the whole family reunites for the funeral. Once together, everything seems to go wrong. Ryan, the hot shot author, turns out to be having money problems which puts Aaron in bind financially with the funeral costs. Elaine brings her fiance Oscar to the wedding even though her father highly disproves of him. On the way, she gives him one of her pharmacologist brother's Valiums to calm his nerves, which actually turns out to be a powerful hallucinogenic which causes him to trip out for the rest of the day. Elaine's ex shows up for one last shot at her love which causes her to juggle keeping up with Oscar and avoiding him. And while all of this is going on, Aaron still has to worry about his wife who is on the last day of her cycle and desperately wanting a child pressuring him for some "alone time" on the day of his father's funeral and a stranger who shows up wanting to blackmail the family for thirty thousand dollars.

The film is directed by Neil LaBute. LaBute made one of the worst films I have ever seen when he remade The Wicker Man a few years back, but then I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Lakeview Terrace, so I was kind of on the fence about this film. Thankfully, he handled the ensemble cast very well and produced a film that turned out to be pretty funny.

Surprisingly, Rock and Lawrence step aside from the comedic role in this film and leave the comedy to James Marsden, Danny Glover and Tracy Morgan. I was really surprised at how funny James Marsden turned out to be in this film. I have not seen the original, but I have heard that he outdoes Alan Tudyk's version of the character. And I know that Glover has done some comedy before, but I have never seen him like this. I think he could finish out his career doing comedy films alone. Regardless, I want to see Glover in more things. And once again, I figured that Morgan would get old quick, but I thought he was funny throughout the whole film.

My only real complaint about the film is Chris Rock. I have never really liked any of his films simply because I don't think he is a very good actor. I think a lot of times, because someone can't get up on stage and do stand-up comedy, that they should get movie roles. Rock is no different in this film. Anytime he is delivering lines, they either feel forced or I feel like I'm watching a play rather than a film.

If your wanting some good laughs this will definitely be the movie to see. I can't imagine anyone walking out of the movie and not having laughed once during the film. I give it a three and a half out of five.

THE AVENGERS HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

2010-04-15T20:50:00.003-04:00

I have heard a lot of people say recently that they will believe an Avengers film is coming out when they see it. Well, I assure you that it is coming, and this is a project that has been at the top of my list since Marvel laid out their big plan a few years back. It is very hard to bring multiple superheros together in a film and pull it off successfully. Brian Singer did it with the first two X-Men, but then we saw how quickly it can go south when Brett Ratner took over with the third film. I am happy to say that The Avengers is quickly making it's way to the big screen and you can expect it to be great and here is why.

1. Joss Whedon
If you are going to try and pull something like this off, you can't just go out and get any director. You need to find someone who is proven and has a passion for what they are bringing to the screen. With Whedon, while he may not have much experience with film, he has a lot of experience with television. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly are all great shows that he has been behind, and his film Serenity was a very underrated film. What is special about Whedon is that he can take a small budget and turn it into something amazing. There will be no small budget with this film, so I can't wait to see what he does when he finally gets a big budget. Secondly, Whedon has a passion and knowledge for comics. Whedon has wrote several different comic book stories, including The Astonishing X-Men which got very good reviews and won several awards. Whether Thor and Captain America turn out to be good, remains to be seen, but whether they are good or not has nothing to do with the quality that The Avengers is going to be. Whedon knows his stuff when it comes to the Marvel universe so this is a film that you need to start getting excited about.

2. The Cast
Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Samuel L. Jackson have all officially signed on for the film. This doesn't even include the possibility of Edward Norton returning as The Hulk, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Anthony Hopkins as Odin. PLUS....we still have to find us some villains for the film, and I don't think they will go out and get a bunch of nobodies to play the villains. So right there is at least six Oscar nominees coming together for one film.

3. The Budget
We have seen time and time again, that just because something has a big budget doesn't mean that it will be great (MICHAEL BAY I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU). I truly believe that in this case it does. If you put money into film for quality purposes, you are going to get well worth your money back and Avatar proved that perfectly. Not saying it is the best film on Earth, but it had the best effects I have ever seen and that was because they used the money in the right spots. Marvel wants this movie to be a hit, they want this film to be the biggest film of all time. I want this film to be the biggest of all time. And if this is done right, I think it can be.

This film has all the keys for success and if they drop the ball with it I will be shocked and severely depressed. So go ahead and mark your calendars for May 4, 2012 because this is going to be a film you are not going to want to miss.

MOVIE REVIEW: KICK-ASS

2010-04-15T17:25:00.003-04:00

Graphic novels have been making their way to theatres for years now, you may just not have known it. The Rocketeer, Road to Perdition, From Hell and even the horrible Brendan Frasier film, Monkeybone, are all based off graphic novels. But in 2005, Dimension films decided to role the dice and turn Sin City into a big budgeted project and it payed off big time. Since then, graphic novels have been making their way to theatres more and more with V for Vendetta, 300, 30 Days of Night, Wanted and Watchmen all being box office hits. The same will be for the latest, Kick-Ass.

Kick-Ass explores what happens when civilians decide to take on the persona of a superhero. In the film, Dave Lizewski is your typical loser in high school who wants what every high school student wants, popularity and a hot girlfriend. In order to deal with his average life, he decides to take on the role of a superhero he calls Kick-Ass. He quickly realizes after a scuffle with two car thieves, that being a superhero is a lot harder and is going to take a lot more skill then he has. But when a local mob begins to grow tired of his interference with their business, he is forced to team up with three other superhero personas; Hit Girl, Big Daddy and Red Mist to take on the mob.

I was very excited for this film going into, and I walked out of it happy, but a little let down. I'll go ahead and tell you that Chloe Moretz completely steals the show as Hit Girl. Whenever you see her appear on screen, just go ahead, sit back and enjoy. She is by far the best and most exciting part of the film. The rest of the cast does a great job as well. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, aka McLovin, gets out of his McLovin stereotype and really does a good job of playing a conflicted teen trying to decide if he wants to be his own man, or follow in his mob boss father's footsteps. Mark Strong plays a good mob boss, and believe it or not, Nicholas Cage is actually watchable for the first time in years.

The only person I did not care for was Kick-Ass himself, Aaron Johnson. His character wasn't that appealing, to have the movie be about him. Many times in the comic book world, your main character goes from a wimpy, nerdy type character, and they transform into a a great hero like Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America, Mr. Fantastic and The Hulk. Their character evolves into someone that everyone wants to watch and read about and cheer for. Now obviously he isn't going to be able to compare to these guys, simply because he has no super powers, but he does not evolve as a person or a hero. In the end, I felt that he was the exact same kid as when the film first started. If we are going to cheer for this character, we need to have something to cheer for and in this case, I simply had nothing to cheer for.

I feel that in the end, the film fell short of awesomeness, but I walked away happy and highly entertained. There is potential franchise here and I hope to see these characters on screen again. With a few tweaks, this could be a really great franchise. I give it a four out of five.

MOVIE REVIEW: DATE NIGHT

2010-04-13T17:52:00.002-04:00

Steve Carrell and Tina Fey have both had careers that have just been getting bigger and bigger in the past ten years. Carrell started out as an anchor for The Daily show, then got some small roles in films like Anchorman. Then in 2005 a little show called The Office started with Carrell as the star and that summer he starred in the breakaway hit 40 Year Old Virgin. Tina Fey started out as a writer for SNL. Then she got hired on as an actress for it, and wound up starring in 30 Rock and her first starring role in Baby Mamma. So naturally it would only make since to pair them up for a film together.

Date Night pairs the two up as Claire and Phil Foster, a married couple who like many fall into the same boring habits and lose a spark to their relationship. After hearing of a friend's divorce, they decide to go out and have a real date night for once. While on their date, they pose as a fake couple to get a table, which causes them to get mixed up in a huge conspiracy involving New York's District Attorney, members of NYPD and a local mob. Mark Whalberg, James Franco, Ray Liota and Mila Kunis co-star.

First let me say how great the chemistry between Carrell and Fey is. I wouldn't mind seeing these two star in more films together. They pulled off their relationship one hundred percent. That is probably the best part of the film. The cast is one of the most important things to me when I'm watching a film. If I can't enjoy the characters, then I am definitely not going to enjoy the film. Besides Fey and Carrell, I enjoyed the rest of the cast as well. Wahlberg, Franco and Kunis all had very small roles in the film, but they made sure that they did the most with what little screen time they had.

As for the film, it was simply just ok. I kept waiting for funny things to happen, and there just wasn't much humor in the film. Had Tina Fey wrote the film, I think it would probably have been much funnier, but I never really found myself cracking up. The funniest parts of the film is where Carrell and Fey are clearly adlibing their scenes. Now that doesn't mean that this is not a good film, it just wasn't a very funny film. I will say that my fiance and several other women were cracking up throughout the whole film, so this is something women may be more interested in.

Date Night is a mildly amusing film. It keeps you entertained throughout, with a few laughs along the way, but in the end is a pretty forgettable film. It's pretty disappointing, because I think this had the potential to be something special. I give it a three out of five

MOVIE REVIEW: CLASH OF THE TITANS

2010-04-08T13:49:00.001-04:00

Clash of the Titans is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name. When humans begin to ignore the gods and stops praying to them, they grow angry and decide to show the humans how much they really need them. They have ten days to sacrifice Princess Andromeda or else the Kraken will be released and destroy there city. Sam Worthington stars as Perseus, a demi-god, who vows to take revenge on Hades for killing his human family, by killing the Kraken and then destroying Hades.

Every year, Warner Bros. tries to release a big budget film to gain some extra money before the summer movie season starts up. It has worked so far with 300 and The Watchmen. Clash of the Titans broke a record for best opening Easter weekend last week, so Warner Bros. are certainly on the right track with this strategy. However, they might not be making much more on the film.

We all learned from Avatar that when you do 3D the correct way, it can be an amazing experience. What Clash of the Titans did that I believe is going to severely hurt the film it’s second and third week in theatres, is that they filmed the whole thing, saw Avatar’s success in 3D, then decided eight weeks before the films’ release to convert it to 3D. The outcome was a horrible mess. James Cameron himself said that it looked more like 2.8D instead of 3D. What made Avatar so successful was that people wanted to go experience it again. No one will want to experience these effects again.

Aside from the effects, Titans still has other problems going on, mainly the story. The film just rushes straight into everything. There is really no character development. How can we care about a queen who is in danger if she is abruptly shoved in and out of our face very quickly? Everything is so fast paced; it is hard to enjoy the film. Even the epic battle against the Kraken that is built up the whole film, is just over and done within a matter of minutes. And then after the "epic battle" is over, the film just ends.

Another problem for me was the CGI. I have seen much better before. I don’t know if it was from the conversion or what, but I think it is sad when Medusa from “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”, a kids film, looks better than the Medusa in this film. The scorpion scene was also a little hokey. It seemed that they just rushed through this whole production. If you want to make a movie great, you have to take some time on it, again a perfect example is Avatar.

I think a great cast was put together, unfortunately the director, Louis Leterrier, failed to deliver the rest. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Finnes and the supporting cast all did a great job with what they had to work with. There were two characters however, who had the role as “comic relief” for the film that I could not stand. There is no need for “comic relief” in a film like this.

This needed to be a summer film. I get that Warner Bros. was only trying to maximize profit by not having to compete with other big budget films, but I guarantee that decision will end up hurting them in the long road. This was something I was really looking forward to, but in the end I came out feeling unimpressed and there was no urge to rush back and see it again. But hey, Hollywood is all about the remakes these days, so I’m sure in ten years, they will take another whack at it. I give it a two out of five.

HEADLINES

2010-04-07T10:08:00.012-04:00

SHARK NIGHT 3D
The other day I wrote about awesomely bad movies. This sounds like an awesomely bad movie. What is even better is that David R. Ellis, who directed Snakes On A Plane, is doing the film. There is no story for it yet, but I would assume as some point there is going to be sharks that perhaps show up at night....just a hunch.

I think what they should do is just make this a sequel to Snakes On A Plane and just have Samuel L. Jackson in another impossible scenario. I would watch that.

TRON LEGACY ALREADY GETTING A SEQUEL
Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, the "Lost" writers/executive producers who co-wrote the first film are already preparing another Tron film.

I recently watched Tron for the first time, and I have to say that it seemed like it was before its time. I didn't hate it, but it was hard to get into at the same time. I do believe however that Tron Legacy is going to be very good and will please Tron fans.

GEARS OF WAR DEAD
Len Wiseman is officially off the Gears of War adaptation that has been going around since 2008. Wiseman has signed on to do a film called Nocturne and it seems he will not be returning to the project. On top of that, the budget had been apparently cut from 100 million to something far less.

I would definitely watch a Gears of War movie, but maybe it's best that it doesn't happen with the way game adaptations normally go. I like Wiseman and was glad that he was the one doing it, but if he isn't attached and they are knocking the budget down, then I am ok with it not happening.

PLANET OF THE APES PREQUEL IS A GO
The prequel titled Caesar is set to start shooting in mid-July.

I think that Planet of the Apes has had it's run. The 2000 adaptation was not very good, and I don't ever see this franchise getting off the ground again.

KITSCH TO STAR IN BATTLESHIP
Jeremy Renner was set to star in Battleship, but has dropped out to star in another film and Taylor Kitsch has taken his place. Battleship is the Peter Berg directed film about a navy fleet fighting off an alien invasion.

I would like to have seen Reener in this, but I am a big fan of Kitsch from Friday Night Lights, and he was actually my second choice for Gambit. I am really looking forward to seeing something from this film and finally getting to see Kitsch in a major role.

SIGH....JOHNNY ENGLISH 2 IS COMING
Universal is developing a sequel to the 2003 film, Johnny English starring Rowan Atkinson.

HOW DOES ROWAN ATKINSON KEEP GETTING MOVIES RELEASED?????? THE FIRST ONE ONLY MADE 28MILLION DOLLARS!!!! I hate British humor, Mr. Bean, Mr. Bean's Holiday and Johnny English are all horrible movies, and that is a scientific fact. I think the bigger question here as well is why in the world William Deofe was in Mr. Bean's Holiday. C'mon man.

FORD TO FIGHT ALIENS
It has been confirmed that Harrison Ford will play alongside Daniel Craig in the Jon Favreau film, Cowboys vs. Aliens. Ford will play a gunslinger. Cowboys vs. Aliens is based off a comic about Indians and Cowboys teaming up to fight off an alien force that arrives.

First off, anything Favreau does, I'm down for. Secondly, it is good to see Ford in anything with a big budget. He needs this. K-19 Widowmaker, Hollywood Homicide, Firewall, Crossing Over, Extraordinary Measures and Six Days, Seven Nights have all been very average at best films. Even Indy 4 was meh, even though it made big bucks. He needs a big movie and I think this will be it for him. I'm a huge Ford fan and I wish him nothing but the best. I think this film could be pretty cool if done right, and Ford playing a gunslinger is just plain awesome.

REMAKE NEWS

YELCHIN TO STAR IN FRIGHT NIGHT
Lars and the Real girl director, Craig Gillespie is set to direct a remake of the 1980's film Fright Night. Anton Yelchin is in talks to star. The comedy/horror film is about a teenage boy who discovers his next door neighbor is a vampire.

I think I can get on board with this remake. I think that Gillespie is an interesting choice for the project, and I am a huge Yelchin fan.

THE TOXIC AVENGER IS BACK
Not only is The Toxic Avenger getting a remake, but the rights also include sequels, an animated series and multiple novels.

I get why some films are cult classics, but I never understood how anyone liked this movie. It is horrible and the sequels only got worse. The original was a hard "R" and this one is going to be a kid friendly, family "PG-13". The first one was horrible, but it was kinda graphic, if you take that aspect of it out, I think your going to have a major flop. I mean he gets turned into this radioactive monster and what is he going to do now, help flowers grow? I think this is a bad idea.

HEADLINES

2010-03-31T15:11:00.003-04:00

HAROLD & KUMAR 3 BEGINS
This summer Kal Penn and John Cho will begin shooting A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. And guess what.....it's going to be in 3D.

I am going to stop complaining about 3D because it clearly isn't going away. As for Harold & Kumar, I find them mildly entertaining. I mean I don't think fart jokes are funny anymore and apparently they still do, but I do love Neil Patrick Harris.

STEPHEN DORFF JOINS WAR OF GODS
Dorff is joining Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto, Mickey Rourke and Kellan Lutz in War of Gods. The story is about the young warrior Theseus, who leads his men into battle with the immortal Greek gods to defeat evil elder gods of the Titans in order to save mankind.

I have always been a Dorff fan, but he can never seem to catch a good break. I think he should consider doing a television show on FX or something because the guy has talent.

BAYWATCH IS COMING TO THE BIG SCREEN
Two writers have just been hired to pen a big screen version of Baywatch. The movie is apparently aiming to have female driven action much like Charlie's Angels.

I have no hope left for Hollywood these days. It seems everytime I do one of my headline articles I'm sitting at the computer shaking my head the whole time I'm writing about the stories. All I know is the Hoff better be in it at some point.

REMAKE NEWS

I'm just going to start a remake section due to all the horrible remakes being rolled out these days. So here is two horrible remakes being made.

FOX REBOOTING LOOK WHO'S TALKING
Fox has decided to make a remake of Look Who's Talking. I guess they can recast Kristie Alley and have her pregnant with quintuplets and that way they won't have to waste money on make-up or effects for whoever plays the mom. BUT not only has Fox decided to remake this, but apparently they are going to go ahead and make the same movie twice and do a movie based of the E*Trade babies. Good lord.

PRIVATE BENJAMIN IS BEING REMADE
The 80's film starring Goldie Hawn is being remade and this time Anna Faris is going to be enlisting. The original film was about a spoiled woman how joined the Army after her husband dies during sex on their honeymoon night.

I have seen the original, and I wasn't impressed, but surprisingly enough it turns out that it received three Oscar nominations so what do I know? Wow, how is Faris getting so many roles???

INDEPENDENCE DAY 2 & 3

2010-03-30T10:38:00.006-04:00

When talk begins regarding movies that are dearest to my heart, I start getting worried. I don't think there has ever been a movie I was more excited for than Independence Day. I remember first seeing the standee for it at Carmike Cinemas when I was in third grade and I was praying it would be PG-13 so I could see it. Then once the trailer came out I was hooked. I remember it was supposed to open July 4th, but they moved it up a day due to the hype. Me and my dad stood in a line wrapped around the theatre to see it and I was pissed because my sister decided to go see The Cable Guy instead of Independence Day....who does that?

Anyway, with as much money as it made, I am very surprised that they never made a sequel for it. There has been talk every couple of years about it, but nothing ever comes of it. But now Roland Emmerich has said that he has two sequels written out for it and today there are rumors that Will Smith has signed on for both of them.

Growing up I was always conflicted as to whether or not I wanted a sequel. It is an awesome stand alone film and I really don't want anything taken away from it with a crappy sequel. But then again, if the sequel is as good as the first then why not?

My problem is Roland Emmerich. The guy started off with some pretty good movies, Universal Soldier, Stargate and Independence Day were all good. Then we have Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, 10,000 B.C. and 2012 which were all very average movies AT best. The only other film he has done that I liked since Independence Day is The Patriot.

So what can they do to make these sequels a hit?

First you have to bring back the cast. When I watch this film, sure I love the alien side of it and the action, but what makes the movie is the characters. Not just Smith, Goldblum, and Pullman but Robert Loggia who played General William Grey, Judd Hirsch who played Julius aka Goldblum's dad (one of my favorite characters), Margaret Colin who played Constance aka Goldblum's ex wife and especially Adam Baldwin who played Major Mitchell. You need to try and get them all back on board and trust me besides Adam Baldwin, none of them are very busy. I'm not really worried about Vivica A. Fox because I wasn't crazy about her character, but we can bring her back anyway. The cast is where I do put faith in these possible sequels, because it seems Emmerich likes big casts in his films. In all of his movies there are always lots of characters, each normally having their own storyline....which sometimes is not such a good thing.

Secondly, the story has to be right. The two things I have kept hearing over the past fourteen years is that they are either going to take the fight to the alien planet or their will simply be a second wave. Now with them doing these films back to back, it could very easily start with a second wave and then end with the third film heading to the alien planet.

They have a lot of story potential with these sequels so here are some of my personal ideas for the sequels. When the first one ended, there were like a hundred crashed ships on the planet and a lot of them were still pretty intact, so they should have a ton of information on the alien technology and possibly their home world. This would cause me to make Area 51 a huge part of the films. I would have it relocated in the mountains of Utah somewhere, and just make it a massive base. Instead of three bodies, they now have around fifty intact and pieces of hundreds of other bodies. Instead of one hangar with one ship, they now have tons of hangars with big ships, little ships and hybrid ships. I would put Goldblum as the new head of Area 51 and I would put Smith as the head of an Area 51 military group, which would open up some roles for some cool new characters kinda like the marines from Aliens. I think there is a lot of story potential with Pullman's role. Fourteen years have passed which doesn't mean that is when the story should necessarily pick up, but I would have a new President in the film and maybe make it ten years later. I like the idea of a second wave coming to take revenge on Earth for destroying them all the first go around, and when this happens, the new President makes some bad decisions and then everyone turns to Pullman to take over making decisions. Or maybe make him the head of NATO now where he makes decisions for multiple countries. Like I said, there are a couple of different ways to go with his character.

With all the alien technology they have now, that can open the door for some really cool stuff in the film. In the first film, they had jet fighters. Now they can have some kind of alien ship/jet hybrid. They could also have some advancements in weaponry. But on the flip side, I would have the aliens have some cooler stuff in this one as well. In the first film, when Smith and Goldblum enter the mothership, one of my favorite scenes was how they teased us with an invasion. You saw all those aliens lined up, ready to go, but was stopped before they could invade Earth. I want to see that in the sequel. I want the aliens loose on the planet fighting at least in a few scenes, but that could be tricky. You can't go and change the look of the aliens from the way they looked in the first film, but it would be hard to have them just running around because of the way they were designed. But maybe you could have a new breed of aliens in this one to where you have the old kind and the new kind. If you remember, the aliens were in suits, so they could very easily have a few different kinds of suits and it be believable to the viewer.

I'm not sure how you could do that story alone for two films, so it looks like they would take the fight to them at their planet for the third film. That is where the story would get too complicated for me. I mean you could probably get away with saying that a way was discovered using their technology to travel at the speed of light so you could get to the planet easier and quicker and there is a tracking beacon on all the ships so they know how to get there, but I can't picture a cool looking alien planet. I mean they are obviously intelligent lifeforms so there should be cities and things of that nature in my opinion. I just can't imagine Smith and Goldblum running around an alien planet.

Bottom line is this. If Goldblum isn't back on board, I wouldn't do it. I don't think the fans really care about Smith's character alone. I realize they would bring in new characters if this were the case, but I don't think anyone would be nearly as interested.

If this all turns out to be rumors and sequels never happen, I would be fine and never lose sleep over it. But I have a feeling that the sequels are eventually coming. These two films could be epic films, but they have a better chance of being a disaster. Either way, I'll be there opening day. So any ideas of what to do with these films? Comment me and let me know.

MOVIE REVEIW: REPO MEN

2010-03-27T12:40:00.003-04:00

In my opinion there are several different categories when describing the quality of a movie. There are great movies and horrible movies, there are movies that are as I call them good one time watches like The Road. It was a fantastic movie, but nothing I would really want to watch again. Then you have one of my favorite categories, the awesomely bad movie. An awesomely bad movie is neither good or bad. It is a movie that despite the fact that it may not have the best story, or it is a little far fetched, it keeps you highly entertained. Some examples are Starship Troopers, Snakes On A Plane and Armageddon. Some of the stories are completely unbelievable, some of the acting was bad, but boy were they entertaining. And if you stop and think about it, not all movies have to be believable, they are stories just like books. I'm not making excuses for bad films, but I am a fan of the awesomely bad movies. For the most part, Repo Men was an awesomely bad movie. It is a mix between Minority Report and The Island, a good film and a bad film.

In the future, if you liver goes out, no problem. You can get an artificial one for a monthly fee that will fit your style of living. But much like you house and car....if you can't make the payments, someone will come to reposes it. That is what Jude Law and Forrest Whitaker's characters do in this film. Remy (Law) and Jake (Whitaker) are the best when it comes retrieving organs with owners that have past due payments. When Remy is electrocuted by a faulty defibrillator, he has to get an artificial heart to survive. After a few months, Remy starts falling behind on his payments and soon he becomes the very person he use to hunt down. Remy is forced to go on the run and Jake is forced to decide if he will stay loyal to his friend or job.

The first part of this movie starts out entertaining enough. Remy and Jake are going around repossessing organs, the movie is moving along at a pretty good pace. Then once Remy has the artificial heart put in,the film just comes to a halt for about forty minutes. The story then focuses on Remy and his struggles with returning to the Repo team after the accident, struggling to make payments and his family issues. I realize that you can't have two hours of just action, but they made this part of the film extremely boring and dull. The film finally picks back up after they have to go and try to reposes Remy's artificial heart.

What really hurts the film besides the middle part of the film are all the plot holes. Now obviously, this isn't a film that is supposed to have a lot of depth when it comes to the story, but they had some pretty big misses. One was his family. At first his wife is having him choose between her and their son, or his job. Then once he is on the run and his wife has kicked him out, he just picks up another girl who is late on payments and just hooks up with her without a thought about his wife. Secondly is Jake's character. When Remy is kicked out, Jake lets him move in with him, but yet when he starts falling behind, he never offers to lend him any money, but instead gets mad at him for having trouble doing his job. Plus, he has a a well paying job, nice car and a huge house. You think he would have been able to stay on top of he payments longer than he did.

There were some things I think the film was successful at. First was the action scenes. I was very impressed with the fight scenes in the film. Normally, a film like this has pretty weak action sequences and this one in my opinion delivered. The second was Forrest Whitaker's performance. When I first saw the trailer, I asked myself why in the world an Oscar winner with talent like Whitaker would take this role. But after watching the film, while I still think it was probably a dumb role choice for him, I think he did a good job at portraying Jake as the out of control, selfish best friend. And finally, the twist. I love a movie with a good twist at the end, and this had a good twist at the end. Now for some like myself, you can probably see the twist coming, but if you have no clue and and miss a certain part of the film or aren't paying attention, it will definitely catch you by surprise.

This film could have been better. I would have given it a three and a half, but the middle section and the plot holes really drug it down too much for me. I give it a two and a half.

HEADLINES

2010-03-25T12:01:00.009-04:00

THE AVENGERS HAVE BEEN ASSEMBLED
Now that the Captain America casting rumors have finally come to an end with the casting of Chris Evans The Avengers can officially begin. I'm very optimistic about this film, and that is really all you can be. This could turn out to be the most awesome movie ever, or it could be a total disaster. I don't think that Chris Evans will make the best Captain America, but he is certainly a better choice then most of the people auditioning. But with Robert Downey Jr. and Edward Norton being on board it certainly makes me feel better. The verdict is still out on whether Chris Hemsworth is going to pan out as Thor, but I'm not to worried about Thor, I have faith in that crew. I'm concerned about Captain America. I want this to be awesome, and then hopefully DC will jump on a Justice League film. If they will pay the big bucks for the big names, I guarantee it will pay off five times more at the box office.

I'm hoping that Marvel can get together a shoot with everyone in the upcomming weeks. People are excited about this film and the sooner you start getting little shoots and things together the more hype the film is going to draw. I'm also hoping that we get a teaser trailer for Thor when Iron Man 2 is released this May. It has been filming for a while now and no pictures or information has been released on it's progress.

INTERESTING POSSIBLE DIRECTOR FOR MI:4
Brad Baird who is a fantastic animation director, is being considered to direct Mission Impossible 4. Baird directed The Incredibles and Ratatouille and the very underrated film The Iron Giant. This would be Baird's first live action film.

I certainly am a fan of Baird's work, but I'm not sure if I would want MI:4 to be his first tackle at a live action film. I really enjoyed the first and third films and have been looking forward to a fourth one for a while. But then again, it could be a great choice and he could knock it out of the park.

Zombieland's Ruben Fleisher is also being considered.

ANGELA BASSETT JOINS GREEN LANTERN
Bassett will be playing Dr. Amanda Waller, a government agent of the comic series. Waller appears in several different DC comics and it is rumored her role in Green Lantern will be to set up another DC comic film, The Suicide Squad.

TOM CRUISE TO PLAY A COWBOY???
Tom Cruise and Reese Witherspoon are eyeing a film titled Paper Wings. It is about a champion rodeo rider who falls for a country singer.

The story seems a little bland, but I'm up for anything Reese Witherspoon is doing. I think she is very gifted, but just doesn't do a lot of films. As for Cruise as a cowboy....I like Cruise even if he is nuts, but I'm not sure if cowboy is for him.

BUCK ROGERS COMING BACK TO THE BIG SCREEN
Paul W.S. Anderson is going to be bringing the classic character Buck Rogers to the big screen. Buck Rogers was a former United States Army Air Corps officer who fell into a coma after exposure to a leaking gas after being trapped in a mine. He later awakens in the 25th century. Together with his new found friends, Wilma Deering and Dr. Huer, they battle against evil Mongol warlords who have taken over.

I have never seen or read anything about Buck Rogers, but I have always thought that if I was alive back when he was popular, it would probably have been something I would have been interested in. I'm looking forward to this project. I think that Anderson is really close to having an awesome film and this could be the one. Alien vs. Predator, Death Race, Resident Evil, Event Horizon and Mortal Kombat are all ok films that I think were close to being good films....yes, even Death Race was entertaining to me.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE BOUNTY HUNTER

2010-03-25T10:37:00.002-04:00

When Jennifer Aniston first started making movies I thought she would end up being a huge star, and to a point, she kinda did. But I'm not talking about getting paid big bucks for each film you do, I'm talking about becoming a movie star, going to the Golden Globes and Oscars type star. But all she has given us is mind numbing romantic comedies after another. Does she make good movie for each film she does? Yes. Is she wasting her career with these type films? I believe so. I think she has the talent to give some powerful performances, I just have yet to see it.

Then we have Gerard Butler whose career has really taken off since he portrayed King Leonidas in 300. After watching that, I thought he wouldn't necessarily be a movie star like I thought Aniston would be, but I thought maybe he could be a pretty big action star. But since then he has been mainly romantic comedies and a few below average action flicks.

The two of them have come together for The Bounty Hunter, another romantic comedy with a little action sprinkled in for the guys. In the film, Aniston and Butler plays ex-spouses who are both having closure issues. When Butler's character Milo gets fired from the police department, he becomes a bounty hunter to try and pay off a secret gambling debt he owes. Meanwhile, Aniston's character Nichole has become a hot shot reporter who has recently been arrested for hitting a police horse with her car. When she fails to show up for court due to following a lead, Milo is given the task of bringing her in. While trying to get her turned in, they discover the story she is tracking is more than what it seems and both of their lives become in danger.

Unfortunately, there was not one moment of this film I enjoyed. There are only so many ways to do a romantic comedy and I think that everyone has come to accept that they are predictable. But it is still possible to make a good, predictable romantic comedy. There was so much missing from this film. The first was humor. I personally didn't find the trailer funny, but those who did pretty much saw all the "funny" scenes in the trailer.

A big thing for me when I go see a romantic comedy is charm. You have have to be able to care about the characters and be able to get attached to them for two hours. There was no charm to any of the characters in this film. In the end I was left careless to whether they got back as a couple, if they got out of the danger they were in, or if Aniston went to jail or not. I believe that is the main problem with this film because I could not wait for the credits to role.

About midway through the film, after I was positive I hated the film, I started trying to look at it from a woman's perspective to see if maybe I could see if there was anything in it they would enjoy. But after looking around at about twenty other people in the theatre, mostly women, it didn't seem like any of them were enjoying it either, and then I realized that no one else was even laughing.

The Bounty Hunter goes to show that even if you have big names in a film, that without a good writer and director it all means nothing. The Bounty Hunter to me is the worst film I have seen so far in 2010. I give it a one out of five.

TEN MOVIES THAT NEED REMAKING

2010-03-19T15:09:00.015-04:00

With Hollywood all about the unnecessary remakes these days, I was thinking about what movies actually do need remaking. Now remaking a movie as we are learning isn't easy. You can't throw some actors from CW shows at it and expect it to be good. You need to invest some money into the writers first, the cast second and then pray you can find a decent director for it. If this was done more maybe we would get less crap. So here are some films I would like to see remade. Some have video with them, due to the format of my blog a little of the screen is cut off but you can get most of it.

PANDORUM
Ok, so I know I'm being a hypocrite because I have bashed some movies that have been remade so quickly, but this is a film that after I watched it, I thought "Man, that could have been an awesome movie under someone else's vision. The one that just came out was good, but it could have had franchise potential if it had been made better.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK
With today's technology, this franchise could be revisited and improved. Snake is a classic character who most people have never seen. Josh Holloway would be the perfect replacement to Kurt Russell. If the remake went well then maybe they could remake the horrible sequel they did next.

NIGHT OF THE CREEPS
This is one of my favorite 80's horror films. It could have one of the best opening sequences of all time. I'm not sure to this day if they are trying to be serious with the opening or is it supposed to be funny. Either way, I believe a remake could greatly improve the original. Check out the opening scene and decide for yourself what they were going for.

THEY LIVE
Another 80's classic in my opinion. Roddy Piper and Keith David star in the film where aliens have taken over and disguised themselves as humans. Only special glasses can tell them apart and a secret organization sets out to finally reveal the cover up. They Live also inspipred for you South Park fans the cripple fight between Timmy and Jimmy. I coulndn't find a good version of the South Park fight but here is the original.

HELLRAISER
This is possibly one of the most disturbing horror films I have ever seen. With all the horror remakes that have been rolling out, I'm surprised they haven't tried to tackle a truly horrific film.

THE TOWERING INFERNO
The original starring Paul Newman and Steve McQueen is kind of like Titanic in a building. When a huge skyscraper catches fire on it's opening night, it becomes a race to get out alive. I like disaster movies and if it could be more believable than a Roland Emmerich film and a little better than the Poseidon remake, I think it could be a pretty good flick.

GREMLINS
Come on, who wouldn't want a remake of the classic tale of the cute furry creatures who if fed after midnight , if given water, of if exposed to bright light multiply into vicious little creatures.

ROBOCOP
This has been in limbo for a while now with Darren Aronofsky attached to direct, but I'm not sure if he'll ever get it up and going. If he doesn't, I'm pretty confident that someone else will. This could be a really good new franchise with today's technology and a good cast. Now I don't want it being remade if they aren't going to keep the classic scene where the robot shoots the guy to pieces during the meeting. The director's cut version is one of the most graphic scenes I have seen. Here is the regular version of it.

WESTERNS
I'm not a classic western fan so I don't know anything about them, but I do like some of the westerns that are being made today. I really enjoyed 3:10 to Yuma and Tombstone of course, so I would like to see some more westerns coming out.

THE THING
The 80's film starring Kurt Russell has always been one of my favorite sci-fi films. This is the way sci-fi should be. It's suspensful, it doesn't have a huge, complicated plot and the graphics it had at the time were fantastic. A prequel is in the works right now, and I pray that it's a good companion piece to the original and if it is, hopefully they can get the remake right.

So what do you think, anything you want to see remade?

HEADLINES

2010-03-19T12:14:00.010-04:00

TIM BURTON'S NEXT......ANOTHER REMAKE
Tim Burton will be turning The Addams Family into a stop motion picture....in 3D of course. The film will be based of the original comic strip instead of the classic television series or the 1990's films.

I'm really sick of this guy. Can he make something original? Let me guess, Johnny Depp will play the father Gomez and Helena Bonham Carter will play Morticia. I'm not a fan of the stop motion stuff and he is already doing a stop motion Frankenweenie movie which doesn't sound very appealing either.

OVERBOARD GETS A REMAKE
Jennifer Lopez will be starring in the remake to the 80's film Overboard starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. The male role has not been cast yet.

I hate most things having to do with the 80's, but this is one of the films that I actually enjoyed from the 80's. I do not find it necessary to remake this film. I can already tell you that the male lead will be Gerard Butler, I guarantee it. What needs to happen is all of the writers in Hollywood need to be fired until we can find some people who want to do something different besides remaking every movie ever made. I mean I'm for some remakes, but Overboard, really?

KANE & LYNCH HAS IT'S LYNCH
Jamie Foxx has signed on to play Lynch for the video game adaptation.

I have never played this game, but Foxx looks nothing like Lynch, for starters he is black. I have no faith in video game adaptations anymore so I have no interest in this project. What I do have interest in is why Foxx doesn't get a better agent. The guy has a very good talent and he makes horrible film choices.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, X-MEN 4 AND WOLVERINE 2 NEWS
Bryan Singer and producer Lauren Shuller discussed briefly the new First Class film he is currently working on ant the possibilities of him directing a fourth X-Men and Wolverine 2. Here is what they had to say:

"I genuinely like the people, and my personality meshes more with this universe than it does with other universes, I think; I see that now at this point... I feel a connection to the X-Men characters and also the ensemble nature of the films. If you look at 'Usual Suspects'' or my last film, 'Valkyrie,' I feel especially comfortable with ensemble juggling. In the space between all the characters you can disguise a central thought that's hidden in all the discourse. I missed that with the singular relationship story of Superman. And, well, it always gives you something to cut to..."

"Just doing younger mutants is not enough. The story needs to be more than that. I love the relationship between Magneto and Xavier, these two men who have diametrically opposite points of view but still manage to be friends -- to a point. They are the ultimate frenemies."

Shuler is also trying to get Singer on board for X4. Here is what he had to say to that:

"Hold that one off for just a little, I'm fixated on the other one right now." She nodded and answered, "I will, I will ... I'm holding it open with high hopes. It's totally different [from 'First Class'] and it will be so interesting for you."

This is all good news as far as I'm concerned. This guy knows what he is doing when it comes to X-Men. I would pay the guy a huge salary and sign him to a huge picture deal with anything X-Men related.

JOSH DUHAMEL BACK FOR TRANSFORMERS 3
Who cares.

ANOTHER FINAL DESTINATION (ROLL YOUR EYES.....NOW)
Apparently The Final Destination isn't exactly the final one after all. For some reason these movies make decent enough money to keep getting sequels and as we are seeing with the Saw franchise, that is enough to stretch something way further than it needs to be (isn't it about time for Saw to be remade?).

There are no details except of course it will be in 3D. I could care less about this project, the trailer always gives away how they all die and then at the end they try and make you think they cheated death, but then uh-oh, what a twist they end up dying anyway.

TRAILER REPORT: PREDATORS

2010-03-19T12:10:00.003-04:00

The Predator franchise has been struggling since the second film was released. It wasn't bad, but it was far from being as good as the original. Then we had the horrible Alien vs. Predator films which were laughable. Finally it looks like we are going to get this franchise back on track. I'm happy with what I am seeing so far. Enjoy!!!

MOVIE REVIEW: SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE

2010-03-13T11:00:00.004-05:00

Everyday we wake up, we go to school, we go work, we sit in boring meetings and at the end of the day we lay in bed desperately trying to fall asleep. And if your like me, you spend most of your time doing these things day dreaming. What would I do if I won the lottery, what would I do if a loved one was gone, and dreaming of finding that true love who is just a little better looking than you are.

She's Out of My League explores what happens when an average guy actually gets a chance with the knockout girl. When Molly (a ten) leaves her phone at airport security, Kirk (a debatable five) answers. When he goes to return the phone to Molly, they awkwardly kind of hit it off which leads to an official date. Molly normally dates the hot shot type and feels Kirk would be someone safe for her to date, while Kirk normally is just happy to be talking to a female. As the relationship builds they face the problem as to whether they are undeserving of the other or not.

When I go to watch a comedy, it usually takes me a couple of minutes to get into the film. With comedies, there are so many different styles, some I like, some I don't. With this film it took me a while to get into it, but what ultimately won me over were the characters. Once this happened I could sit back and enjoy the film.

The chemistry of the cast is what the film has going for it. Jay Baruchel and Alice Eve really stand out on screen as a couple that really could make it in the real world. Kirk's friends and family also mesh together really well bringing to mind certain people in you own life that they remind you of.

What pulls the film down is the writing. Sean Anders and John Morris wrote the film with only having one other film, Sex Drive, under their belts. Luckily, the cast makes it work saving them this time. Their next film is Hot Tub Time Machine which is supposed to be a much bigger comedy. I hope they have stepped it up with this film.

This film isn't anything special to run out and see immediately. If your bored and want a few good laughs, that is what it is good for. I would suggest renting it, but do not go spend your money on this one. I give it a two out of five.

HEADLINES

2010-03-09T11:34:00.004-05:00

FARIS AND EVANS TEAMS UP ON COMEDY
Anna Faris and Chris Evans are teaming up to star in the raunchy comedy What's Your Number. The synopsis is as follows:

Delilah Darling's magic number was supposed to be twenty. She always thought she'd find the perfect guy by the time she'd slept with twenty of them. But when she wakes up naked in her disgusting boss's bed after a drunken night out, she's filled with regret -- and realizes she's hit her self-imposed limit. Unwilling to up her number but unable to imagine a life of celibacy, Delilah does what any girl in her situation would do: she tracks down every man she's ever slept with in a last-ditch effort to make it work with one of them.

Now I don't mind raunchy comedies, but I have a problem with the synopsis of this film. I don't preach morals or values on here, but the line "unable to imagine a life of celibacy" pisses me off. Like I said I don't mind raunchy comedies, but does Hollywood always have to push the whole "it's not cool to not have sex" theme. God forbid someone saves themself for marriage these days. I look at the kids running around the malls and think to myself "Man, our future is screwed". If someone comes out and says "Hey, I'm saving myself for marriage" then Russell Brand has to come along and make fun of them for that. Why? I just have a problem with a thirteen or fourteen year old seeing this and thinking "Hey I need to go out and have sex with as many people as I can". But that is Hollywood and it's not going to change.

Now that I have got that out of my way, I'll share my opinion of this. It will suck. Anna Faris has proven time and time again that she has no real talent. I do like Chris Evans on the other hand and wish he would get in more films. However, I don't think I will like him in this film.

THE BOOK OF GENESIS.....IN 3D
Speaking of morals, there have been plans to take the book of Genesis from the Bible and convert that into a film titled In the Beginning....in 3D. There are films you make in 3D and then there are films you don't make in 3D. This is a movie you DO NOT make in 3D. I mean come on the only thing I can think of that would be cool in 3D is the first six days while God is creating the heavens and Earth. Other than that.....I don't see it.

HEMSWORTH CAST IN ARABIAN NIGHTS
No not Chris Hemsworth, but his brother Liam. The story of the film centers on a young commander (Hemsworth) who, after his king is murdered in a coup, joins forces with Sinbad and Aladdin to rescue Queen Scheherazade. Oh, and it's going to be in 3D.

This is one of those films where your going to have to see the trailer before you can judge. It sounds cool, but it could come out looking like Prince of Persia...aka like crap.

TWO MORE RUMORED FOR MEN IN BLACK 3
First let me start off by saying that no one has signed on to do this film yet. But I believe it will happen and Smith will be back. I'm not sure about Tommy Lee Jones. But a month or two ago it was reported that Josh Brolin would be stepping in to take over Jone's part. Now two more names have popped up to star. Sacha Baron Cohen and Flight of the Conchords star Jemain Clement are now rumored to be involved with the film as well.

I like Brolin as a MIB agent. I would like to see Jones come back or at least in a small role, but I think Brolin would make a good replacement. As for Cohen and Clement, I'm guessing they would play some sort of alien role in the film, probably a villain. I haven't quite decided if I like Cohen yet. I didn't like him in Talladega Nights, loved Borat, and wasn't crazy about Bruno. Just as long as he doesn't over do the role it should be fine. Let's get this thing rolling though.

MOVIE REVIEW: ALICE IN WONDERLAND

2010-03-06T13:51:00.003-05:00

Tim Burton and Johhny Depp team up once again to bring us a follow-up to Disney's 1951 version of Alice In Wonderland. In the follow-up Alice has grown up and thinks of her first trip to Wonderland as merely a dream. But when the Red Queen takes over Wonderland, Alice must be brought back to help the White Queen regain control over Wonderland.

Alice in Wonderland starts out interesting enough. You get to see a grown up Alice and how her imagination still wonders free. But once she enters Wonderland, the film came to a halt for me. My first problem with the film was that they pushed Johnny Depp to hard on the film. It is titled Alice In Wonderland, but yet all you saw on the posters and previews was Johnny Depp. I feel as if he is wasting his career on these quirky characters instead of showing his full potential in film. While I watched there were numerous times that Jack Sparrow was on the screen instead of the Mad Hatter. I understand that him and Burton are buddies, but they had an A-lister in a B-lister role. Then they absolutely ruin what little they have going by making Johnny Depp do the most ridiculous dance number I have seen in a while at the end of the film.

The effects of the film were very unimpressive, which is funny because James Cameron criticized Burton for the way he was going about doing the 3-D. Wonderland looked a little too cartoonish. Maybe I was spoiled with the amazing job Cameron did on the planet of Pandora. I don't enjoy films where I can tell that without a doubt everything was shot on a green screen set. It takes away from the film in my opinion and I believe that is what hurt the new Star Wars trilogy some.

There was some positive things about the film. I thought that Mia Wasikowska did a great job playing Alice and was sadly not given a whole lot to do in the film. I am looking forward to seeing what becomes of Wasikowska's career after the success of this film.

My favorite part was Helena Bonham Carter who played the Red Queen. She nailed the crazy, "off with their head" obsessed Queen. Every scene she was in was a highlight of the film and I am not a fan of hers, but I wish she could deliver more performances like this one.

I hope that Burton will get back to his roots once he has all these kids movies out of the way. During the late eighties and throughout the nineties he made films that I personally love such as; Beetlejuice, Batman, Batman Returns, Mars Attacks and Sleepy Hollow. But since 2000 he hasn't made a single film I have been impressed with. Planet of the Apes was a major flop, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a disgrace to the original, Sweeney Todd was ok, but I wasn't blown away and I wasn't thrilled with Alice in Wonderland. I would love to see what he could do if he would get away from Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter for a few films.

I realize that it had a monster opening weekend, but I think it will drop off tremendously this weekend. Hook was a much better version of what they tried to do with this film. I don't fall asleep during many films, this film was one of them, which is why I am giving it a two out of five.

OSCAR SPECIAL

2010-02-27T13:55:00.014-05:00

The Academy Awards are next Sunday so I thought I would give you my picks on who I want to win and who I belive the Academy will pick. I'm not going to do all the categories like Sound Mixing because lets be honest, the only people who care about that are the people nominated.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Hear
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

My Pick: Jeff Bridges
Academy: Jeff Bridges

I have not got a chance to see Crazy Horse yet, but he won the Golden Globe which bodes well for him because the Globe winner normally takes home the Oscar.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Damon in Invictus
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Christopher Waltz in Inglorious Bastards

My Pick: Christopher Waltz
Academy: Christopher Waltz

I said after viewing Inglorious Bastards for the first time that he better not only get nominated for and Oscar but win it. I didn't care what else came out and how great they were, I wanted to see him win. Looks like I'll get my wish.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Stalion
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

My Pick: Gabourey Sidibe
Academy: Sandra Bullock

This is a tough one because I don't feel that Bullock was THAT good in The Blind Side. I feel that Sidibe will steal it. But then again there is always Meryl Steep who as a friend pointed out gets overlooked every year.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Penelope Cruz in Nine
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick in Up In the Air
Mo'Nique in Precious

My Pick: Mo'Nique
Academy: Mo'Nique

I hate Mo'Nique, anyone remember Phat Girls, but she had a great performance here and you have to give credit where it is due.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

My Pick: Up
Academy: Up

Pixar is hard to beat and I wouldn't be surprised if Fantastic Mr. Fox stole this one, but I'm pretty confident Up has it in the bag.

DIRECTING
James Cameron for Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino for Inglorious Basterds
Lee Daniels for Precious
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air

My Pick: Kathryn Bigelow
Academy: Kathryn Bigelow

I think the only reason Bigelow is going to win is because Cameron has already won this award for Titanic. I hope she does win, however it was a hard choice for me between her and Tarantino. A fun little fact too is that she is James Cameron's ex-wife.....

BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

My Pick: Inglorious Basterds
Academy: Avatar

This year it is really hard to pick with 10 pictures in the race. I have actually had to delete this and re-write it a few times because I keep going back and forth to whether the academy will pick Avatar or The Hurt Locker. For me my absolute favorite film was Inglorious Basterds so that is who I would like to see win, but it won't. Avatar or The Hurt Locker is taking this sucker home and my final decision is Avatar BUT I think The Hurt Locker should win.

So those are my choices for this years Oscars. I have to give Avatar credit for the record breaking numbers and everything, but I have a feeling that in a couple of years we will all look back and think about how overrated this film really is. So I hope and do not think it deserves to win best picture or should Cameron win, but it should mop the floor with things like Art Direction, Vissual Effects those sort of things.

MOVIE REVIEW: COP OUT

2010-02-27T10:45:00.002-05:00

Cop Out pairs Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan together as cops for the NYPD. When an undercover bust goes wrong, the two are suspended without pay. Willis then wonders how he is going to pay for his daughters $50,000 dollar wedding. To keep her step-dad from paying he must sell a baseball card which is worth over $80,000 dollars. When two morons rob the collectibles store, Willis and Morgan get thrown into an even bigger case to bust the criminals and get the card back.

Cop Out is the first Kevin Smith film that he has directed, but not wrote. Is that a bad thing, yes and no. This film will not be for everyone, but if you want to go in get a couple of laughs then it is definitely worth the time. For me, I had to break it down into three parts; the first fifteen minutes, the fifteen minute mark up to the the third act and then of course the third act. The first fifteen minutes were a little questionable. I wasn't sure if I could handle Tracy Morgan for an hour and half. Then the entire middle part was surprisingly funny and then it drops off the final stretch of the movie.

Tracy Morgan was a big surprise to me in this film. Like I said, I can't believe I didn't get tired of his routine by the end of the film, but he kept me laughing. Now if he continues to get big movie roles, there is no doubt in my mind I will get tired of him, but this was his first big movie so for now he is ok.

A lot of people are complaining on the writing. Kevin Smith is known for his scripts and since he did not write this one, I think Smith fans just went in expecting one thing and got something else. For me thought I didn't mind it. It had some eye rolling moments but I laughed enough for it to be worth the time.

I also really enjoyed all the co-stars of the film. Adam Brody and Kevin Pollak had some funny scenes together. Jason Lee and Rashida Jones were both good in the small roles they had. And much like Tracy Morgan, Sean William Scott surprised me. I can't stand that guy most of the time, but he got some laughs out of me.

As for what is wrong with the film, lets start with story. It was a very dumb plot which probably took twenty minutes of thinking up. Some of the "action" scenes would build and build and then implode into this very anti-climatic ending. I get that it's a buddy cop comedy, but come on, a little more effort could have been put into the story.

What was probably the worst part of the film for me was anytime any member of the mexican gang was in the film. It was as if they put up a sign that said "first fifty latin americans to sign will star in a film". The head gang member played by Guillermo Díaz was absolutely horrible in this film. These guys had no acting ability, much less making me believe that they were these tough guy criminals.

Finally, something I never notice but stood out like a sore thumb in this film was the score. It reminded me of Bad Boys 2 (which I love) where just about ever scene has "Shake Ya Tailfeather" in it. The music they used here was the techno-rap that was in every scene. It was horrible.

In the end, Cop Out is a flawed, turn your brain off and laugh film. Could have been a lot better, but still worth a watch if you need some laughs. I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

HEADLINES

2010-02-23T14:48:00.015-05:00

DIE HARD 5 TO BE SHOT NEXT YEAR???
While doing his press for Cop Out, Bruce Willis just came out and announced that there are plans to shoot Die Hard 5 next year. He also said that he would hire Len Wiseman on the spot and that films needs to go worldwide with this one. Very exciting news for me because I am a huge Die Hard fan.

I was very pleased with the last film and my only complaint was that I felt they took away from McClane's character by making it a PG-13. Any fan of the franchise knows that McClane is a foul mouthed hilarious character. I think they should go back to the "R" rating and bring back Len Wisman.

Now some of you have heard this before but I'm going to go ahead and share my dream for Die Hard 5. The title will be "Die Hard with a Lethal Weapon". This will be the fifth and final film for both the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon franchises. McClane, Riggs and Murtaugh have all been invited to Las Vegas for a retirement ceremony for officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Each officer gets introduced by someone of their choice. Riggs and Murtaugh will be introduced by Chris Rock's character Butters and by this time, Justin Long's character Farrell will have become an officer with the IT unit and will introduce McClane, which will be good cause he can help with computer hacking and all that stuff.

The awards ceremony will take place in a major casino. And of course, that casino will be the target of a terrorist group that will be robbing it the same night of the ceremony. Leaving it up to them to stop. I like Ralph Fines as the villain. Now obviously McClane and Murtaugh will have to say their classic lines, I picture it happening right when the terrorists attack and Murtaugh and McClane meet for the first time probably crouched behind a flipped over poker table. Murtaugh looks over at McClane and says "I'm way to old for this s#%$", and McClane looks at him grinning and simply replies "Yippie-Ki-Ya, mother f*%@#$!". Work in a few cameos from both franchises and you have yourself the biggest movie of the summer hands down.

ZOOLANDER 2 FINALLY HAPPENING
For years there has been talk o doing another Zoolander film. Today it seems that the wait is over. Justin Theroux who wrote Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2 is set to direct. There is no word on whether Owen Wilson will return as Hansel or not, but it is reported that Jonah Hill will be playing the villain in this film.

Awesome news here!!! I think that Zoolander really blew up after it was released to dvd which should make the sequel a big hit in theatres. Definitely need Wilson to come back as Hansel and I think it would be hilarious to have Christopher Walked play an older washed up model much like David Duchovney's character was in the first.

FIVE FINALISTS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA LESS THAN APPEALING
Reports are that John Krasinski, Michael Cassidy, Patrick Fluger, Scott Porter, Mike Vogel and Chace Crawford are the five finalists to play Captain America. Really??? This is the best list people can come up with??? I would like to see Krasinski get the role. He is a good actor and I think it would be good for him so he could get out of the typecast of Jim from The Office. Other than Krasinski the only other one I would even consider would be Michael Cassidy. I would rather them go after someone a little more established like Chris Pine but I'm not holding my breathe on this film anymore anyway.

MAN OF STEEL HAS A WRITER
Batman Begins and Dark Knight writer David S. Goyer will be writting the new Superman film titled "Man of Steel". This is no surprise since Christopher Nolan will be "mentoring" the film. The site says that Brandon Routh will not be back as Superman, the villain will be both Lex Luthor and Brainiac, Bryan Singer doesn't appear to be directing this one and that Nic Cage will NOT be Superman.

I think it is a huge mistake not bringing Routh back. The guy was perfect as Clark Kent. It's not his fault the film was a flop in the studio's eyes. I like Routh and I think he is the one who got the shaft out of all this. As for Kevin Spacey returning as Lex Luthor, I'm good either way. He is my favorite actor, but I didn't really buy him as Luthor. If this one doesn't perform well, I think Warner Bros. should just leave this franchise dead.

GALIFANAKIS TO WORK MIRACLES
Zach Galifanakis has signed on to star in Miracle Workers. The film is about Galifanakis's character who is put on a path that has him posing as an exorcist with a pal. The two think they've got a good thing going until they're faced with a real menace.

I hope that what has happened to Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, and is starting to happen to Seth Rogen happens to Zach Galafinakis. All these guys had a big movie, started getting movie offers and did the same movie over and over. People get tired of seeing the same thing over and over and they begin to get old quick. Zalifanakis has been around for a long time and has kept a low profile. I hope he picks films wisely and doesn't wear us out with the same routine.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE WOLFMAN

2010-02-23T13:56:00.002-05:00

Joe Johnston is one of those directors who keeps getting break after break although his films turn out to be just average. As a kid I didn't know who Joe Johnston was, but I new his films well. He directed Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Pagemaster, Jumanji and The Rocketeer, all favorites of mine when I was younger. And for kids, they are good films. But then he started getting some bigger budget stuff, October Sky, Jurassic Park 3 and Hidalgo, which were all very average movies, JP 3 being borderline bad. In his latest film, he remakes the classic horror film The Wolfman.

Lets start with the cast. Benicio Del Toro in my opinion was dead on casting to play the part of Lawrence Talbot aka The Wolfman. The guy is an incredible actor who I feel is very underrated and has yet to find his "big break". Then we have Anthony Hopkins who plays the father. Yet again, another proven actor who fits the role perfectly. Then you have Emily Blunt who is a very good up-and-coming actress and Hugo Weaving who plays the detective. With a very strong cast I was hoping for a very strong film.

I don't want to say I knew the film would turn out badly, but after the film gets pushed back two different times, something had to be up. The problem was the story. It is very slow, very boring and the plot barely holds it all together.

In the film, Lawrence is called back to his home when his brother mysteriously goes missing. Upon arrival he is informed that his brother's body had been found and that it appeared he had been slaughtered by some kind of beast. Determined to kill the beast, he goes out to find it, gets attacked, and then he himself turns into one of the legendary wolfman. Then the hunt begins to find Lawrence and destroy him.

It moves to slow and the characters have little to no depth to them. It is really a shame because you have all this talent being clearly wasted on screen.

I did enjoy the "wolfman" scenes. The make-up was fantastic and the graphics were very good. But he doesn't turn till an hour into the film and the scenes were too far and few between.

I really believe if someone else was given the opportunity to take a crack at this film with this cast, they could have knocked it out of the park. Sadly, the make-up and effects do not do enough to save this film. I'm still pulling for Johnston because whether I like it or not he is directing Captain America so I might as well try and embrace him. I did not embrace The Wolfman and I give it a two out of five.

MOVIE REVIEW: VALENTINE'S DAY

2010-02-16T13:11:00.001-05:00

I have actually been looking forward to seeing Valentine’s Day for some time now and with an all-star cast that includes; Patrick Dempsey, Eric Dane, Tohper Grace, Queen Latifah, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Gardner, Emma Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Swift, Taylor Lautner, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez and my personal favorite, Anne Hathaway, how could you go wrong? The answer is the script.

Valentine’s Day follows the story of what seems to be twenty different characters over the course of their Valentine’s Day. Some find love, some lose love and some rekindle it. Some of the more memorable storylines are Julia Roberts playing a military woman on her way home via plane to see her special valentine which turns out to be a nice little twist. The Jennifer Gardner, Ashton Kutcher, Patrick Dempsey and Jessica Alba story was an enjoyable storyline dealing with love and loss. And Anne Hathaway’s character/story was probably the funniest of the film. Then some of the storylines were borderline miserable to watch. The Taylor Swift/Taylor Lautner storyline was nearly unwatchable. If there is one thing I learned from the film, it’s that Taylor Swift needs to stick to music and let the professionals do the acting. Same goes for the Twilight star Taylor Lautner, the kid can’t act.

Valentine’s Day had a lot going for it. Great cast, most of the stories were enjoyable, but its downfall was the script. You had A-list actors delivering D-list lines. Many times during the film I just laughed and shook my head at the horrible writing. I’m sure to most viewers, problems with the writing go unnoticed, but to some, you can’t help to sit there and roll your eyes.

A sequel is already in the works with some but not all of the characters from the first film which will be titled, New Year’s Eve… Clever. Who will be returning has not been decided yet, but hopefully the writing team will not be. The movie was enjoyable in parts, but deserves an Oscar when compared to When In Rome. I believe it is worth a watch and will give it a cautious three out of five.

HEADLINES

2010-01-14T13:17:00.002-05:00

REITMAN TO RETURN TO GHOSTBUSTERS
Ivan Reitman told MTV News yesterday that he will come back to direct the third Ghostbusters film.

He said that the first draft has been turned in and that they are working on a second draft.

Ivan has really fell off with his quality of films in my opinion. I think that if anyone should direct, it should be his brother. He has proven to make great comedies with Thank You For Smoking, Juno, and Up In the Air. Hopefully he can knock this one out of the park because he needs to with this one.

NEW JURASSIC PARK TRILOGY IN THE WORKS
Jurassic Park 3 director Joe Johnston is on the road promoting his upcoming film The Wolfman. While doing an interview he gave an update to his next film, Captain America and gave some interesting news involving the Jurassic Park franchise. Here is what he had to say:

"Well, there is going to be a Jurassic Park IV. And it's going to be unlike anything you've seen. It breaks away from the first three—it's essentially the beginning of the second Jurassic Park trilogy. It's going to be done in a completely different way. That's pretty much all I can tell you."

I'm really intrigued by this comment. However, I do not think Joe Johnston is a very good director. I think Spielberg needs to get highly involved with these films and really deliver a great movie which I believe Spielberg has failed to do recently. Oh, and Jeff Goldblum better be in all three.

DIRECTING RUMORS FOR SPIDER-MAN
With Sony ditching the old crew and bringing in a new one, the search has begun for a director. Right now 500 Days of Summer director, Marc Webb, has reportedly become the front runner. Apparently Sony does have a wish list which includes James Cameron, David Fincher and Wes Anderson.

Back in the 90's, Cameron had an idea for a Spider-Man film and it never got moving in the right direction. Now could be the time he could finally tackle it. I do not think that Marc Webb has the experience to handle a big time action film like Spider-Man.

LIONSGATE TOP BIDDER FOR TERMINATOR FRANCHISE
Lionsgate has reportedly offered 15 million dollars to take over the Terminator rights from Halcyon.

Lionsgate could be a good home for Terminator. Lionsgate has no problem with churning out rated R films, which I believe is what the Terminator franchise needs to be.

FOUR BROTHERS 2???
Paramount is in the works of developing a sequel to the 05' film Four Brothers. The film starred Mark Wahlberg, Andre Johnson, and Terrance Howard. The film will be titled, you guessed it, Five Brothers. There is no plot for the film as of right now.

This is a dumb idea. The movie was ok, but certainly doesn't warrant a sequel.

SAM RAIMI SPIDEY ERA OVER

2010-01-11T17:57:00.003-05:00

I'm just going to copy and paste the BS article I just read. After the article I will begin my rant and rave over one of the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Here we go.

Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits theaters in the summer of 2012.

Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today they are moving forward with a film based on a script by James Vanderbilt that focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises.

The new chapter in the "Spider-Man" franchise produced by Columbia, Marvel Studios and Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, will have a new cast and filmmaking team. Spider-Man 4 was to have been released in 2011, but had not yet gone into production.

"A decade ago we set out on this journey with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire and together we made three 'Spider-Man' films that set a new bar for the genre. When we began, no one ever imagined that we would make history at the box-office and now we have a rare opportunity to make history once again with this franchise. Peter Parker as an ordinary young adult grappling with extraordinary powers has always been the foundation that has made this character so timeless and compelling for generations of fans. We're very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter's roots and we look forward to working once again with Marvel Studios, Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin on this new beginning," said Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

"Working on the 'Spider-Man' movies was the experience of a lifetime for me. While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job," said Sam Raimi.

"We have had a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration and friendship with Sam and Tobey and they have given us their best for the better part of the last decade. This is a bittersweet moment for us because while it is hard to imagine Spider-Man in anyone else's hands, I know that this was a day that was inevitable," said Matt Tolmach, president of Columbia Pictures, who has served as the studio's chief production executive since the beginning of the franchise. "Now everything begins anew, and that's got us all tremendously excited about what comes next. Under the continuing supervision of Avi and Laura, we have a clear vision for the future of Spider-Man and can't wait to share this exciting new direction with audiences in 2012."

"'Spider-Man' will always be an important franchise for Sony Pictures and a fresh start like this is a responsibility that we all take very seriously," said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures. "We have always believed that story comes first and story guides the direction of these films and as we move onto the next chapter, we will stay true to that principle and will do so with the highest respect for the source material and the fans and moviegoers who deserve nothing but the best when it comes to bringing these stories and characters to life on the big screen."

The studio will have more news about Spider-Man in 2012 in the coming weeks as it prepares for production of the film.

Ok, so your telling me that after almost ten years they are going to start all over with Spider-Man. This is the stupidest idea I have ever heard. I personally do not want to have to start over with Peter Parker in high school, see the origin story all over again. That is why I went and watched the first Spider-Man.

Obviously, Sony and Raimi coulndn't agree on where to take the film, so Sony decided to act like a bunch of idiots and ditch the guy that made them almost a billion dollars from three films.

If they want to get another director that is one thing. I don't agree with it, but I'm also just a guy with a blog who has like six loyal readers. But don't start the whole damn thing over again. We already have a perfectly fine storyline set. I don't want to see Parker in high school again, I don't want to see the Green Goblin again, I don't want to have to put up with the drama between Mary Jane and Parker again.

Apparently this script by Jamie Vanderbilt has been around for a while and Sony had been planning on screwing Raimi the whole time from the way I see it. I think this is a horrible move by Sony and from the message boards so far every single fan of this franchise agrees. If I want to watch a super hero struggle with being a teen, superhero, boyfriend and student I'll go watch the CW thank you very much.

HEADLINES

2010-01-08T11:06:00.015-05:00

The new year has started off slow as far as movie news goes, but today there are a lot of interesting stories, so hopefully good movie news will keep pouring in.

3D TWISTER SEQUEL?
Bill Paxton has pitched a sequel idea to producer Kathleen Kennedy about doing a sequel to the 1996 hit Twister. Not only that he wants the film to be done in 3D.

I'm a fan of the original film and on one side I really don't think we need a sequel to Twister. On the other hand I wouldn't be opposed to it. I mean it could be cool, you know flying cows in 3D, c'mon.

SPIDER-MAN 4 DELAYED
Spider-Man 4 has officially been put on halt. They are still working on the third rewrite of the script and Pirates 4 and Thor have came in and scooped up the May 5, 2009 spot. Reports say that the studio is butting heads with Rami about who the villain will be as well. Rami wants The Vulture and the studio wants something else.

Look it is this simple. If you can't get a script together and if you can't agree on what direction to take the film, don't do the film!!! Either shelve it for a little while and stop talking about it or don't do it. Sam Rami didn't want to do the Venom storyline and the studio made him do it anyway and it turned out to be a piece of crap. Now I'm not thrilled about a Vulture villain, but let the man make his movie or else find a different director and possibly lose the franchise forever. Sony says that it does not need to change the release date for May 5, 2011 but if I was them I would because right now I'm thinking Pirates 4 and Thor will kick it's butt at the rate it's going.

Personally what I would like to see is taking this franchise in a darker direction for this new series of films. Carnage, The Lizard and maybe even giving Venom a second shot would be great ideas I think. Here are some cool fan posters I found online for the fourth film.

AWESOME WRITERS HIRED FOR G.I. JOE 2
Weren't crazy about the first G.I. Joe movie? Hopefully that will change with the sequel. Paramount is looking at nabbing Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. They are currently working on a sequel to Zombieland and Deadpool so this will give them a full plate.

I liked Joe, I know it was a very mixed film but to me it was fun. Adding these guys into the mix will probably bring the quality of the film up another level.

AVATAR IS THE SECOND HIGHEST GROSSING MOVIE OF ALL TIME
I hate hearing this phrase used, but it does look like Cameron is "king of the world". He now has the highest and second highest grossing films of all time. I think it is safe to say Cameron can do whatever he wants now.....and I hope it's good.

GHOST RIDER 2 NEWS
Producer Mike De Luca gave a small update on Ghost Rider 2's development. He said that director Mark Steven Johnson is not coming back (good), Eva Mendes is not returning to play Roxanne Simpson (good), The title will most likely be Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (stupid), might be done in 3D, will be like starting over, and David Goyer might direct which would be a plus for it.

What they need to do is kick Nick Cage to the curb because he is horrible.

AVATAR 2 IS A GO
James Cameron briefly announced that a sequel will be done for Avatar. When asked, he simply said "Yes, there'll be another." He said that "some story ideas for how to branch out into the other moons of Polyphemus [the giant planet that Pandora orbits], we gotta make some money with this one before we think about the sequel!"

I'm all for another film. I want to see more of the moons he mentioned. The forest stuff was cool but I hope he gives us something different with the next one.

WOLVERINE 2 GETS A START DATE
Hugh Jackman announced that a sequel to Wolverine will start filming in in 2011. He didn't give much details on the film, just that they were headed to Japan for this one.

They really need to get this one right. I think that Fox is in danger of losing this X-Men franchise. It just blows my mind the stupid decisions that get made over at that studio.

STAR TREK 2 GETS A RELEASE DATE
Paramount revealed that Star Trek 2 will be released June 29, 2012. J.J. and the cast will return but other than that, nothing else is known.

GREEN LANTERN HAS ITS FEMALE LEAD
Blake Lively has been cast as Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan's love interest in Warner Brothers upcoming film Green Lantern.

I don't have a problem with Lively, but I was hoping for more high caliber names since Warner Bros. is trying to launch their DC franchise off the ground. I'm sure she will be fine, I have liked her in the movies I have seen, but I was hoping for a bigger name.

MOVIE REVIEW: Daybreakers

2010-01-07T15:28:00.002-05:00

The year is 2019 and vampires are now ninety-five percent of the Earth’s population. The vampires act as humans. They have jobs, they drive cars and have homes. But when their blood supplies begin to vanish, they begin turning into nightmarish creatures. If a blood substitute is not found soon, both the vampires and the human race could become extinct forever. Luckily, one human holds the answer.

I have been really sick of the whole vampire craze since the Twilight books have came out. It seems you can’t go anywhere without seeing them. They are overpopulating books, clothes, television and are being overdone in theatres. Luckily, Daybreakers takes us away from the “attractive” vampire fling and takes us back to how vampires have always been depicted.
The film is the Spiereg brother’s first major film and they handle it very well. They do not try to get flashy with loads of special effects or over-the-top action sequences. Instead, they do what most movies these days forget to do, concentrate on the story.

What is great about the film, is that they give us a new, unique idea. Ethan Hawke and William Defoe star in this film that answers the question, what happens when all the blood is gone. Ethan Hawke stars as Edward, a vampire scientist searching for a blood substitute. He was turned into a vampire against his will and has always been friendly towards them. After an encounter with a group of humans, they recruit him to help them repopulate the human race. Once he meets with the group he encounters Lionel. Lionel was once a vampire, but after he has a bad encounter with sunlight, he was transformed back into a human form. It is now up to him and Edward to find a cure before the Earth is tormented by the vampire creatures.
Any fan of the horror or thriller genre should be happy with the outcome of this film. It doesn’t distract you with effects or overdone action, but draws you into the story. There is a considerable amount of gore, so if your not into that you might want to steer clear but I think Daybreakers starts the year off in a good direction leaving behind a not so great 2009 in film. I give this a 4 out of 5.

BEST OF THE DECADE

2009-12-31T11:04:00.004-05:00

If you don't know, today is the last day of 2009, which puts us into a new decade. So I thought since all the other site are doing a best of the decade list, I though why not do one as well, that and because Courtney Monroe asked that I do one.

Obviously, there are a lot of movies to look at when doing a best of the decade list. How I did mine, was I looked at other lists to jog my memory and then added some that I felt were left out. Then I just went down the list and pulled whatever movie I liked the best from one to fifty. I won't comment on all fifty films, but I will on some.

Now I'm pretty sure no one person saw every single movie that came out in the past ten years, I certainly didn't so at the end of my list, I made a list of films that have been highly praised that I missed and have added to movies to see in this new decade. One more note, I do not like the Harry Potter films, I have seen them all and am not thrilled by them and many sites had them in the top films. I do not. Now this list was hard to do and it was a toss up a lot of times on what to put where so this is roughly the order, but maybe not exactly what my top fifty would be.

So here we go!

50. X-MEN
I'm starting off with a couple of comic movies at the top of the list. When you look back, much of the 2000's have been big named comic book releases. In 2000, Fox took a chance and brought Marvel's big name franchise to the big screen setting up a new genre of films. Thanks to this, we have franchises like Spider-Man, Iron Man and the rebooting of Batman. This is why I start them out at number fifty.

49. ANCHORMAN
Much like X-Men, I think that Anchorman in a way started a new line of comedies for the decade. Back then Will Ferrell was still funny, and it helped Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd rise to stardom.

48. UP

47. The 40-Year Old Virgin
When I look at comedy, I look at it like football, there are two divisions. You have the Adam McKay/Will Ferrell group who makes the goofy, often PG-13 films, then you have the Judd Apatow clan. Where McKay and Ferrell make the goofy comedies, Apatow started a new more serious and most the time more funny comedies. The 40-Year Old Virgin started this for him and now big namers like Steve Carrell and Seth Rogen.

46.WALL-E
45.SPIDER-MAN

44. IRON MAN
What Jon Favreau did here was show us how to take a less popular character like Iron Man and make him a big name character.

43. BAD BOYS 2
This is more of a guilty pleasure movie for me. We can debate all day whether it's a good movie or not, but it's fun, it has a lot of good quotes in it and it is a true action movie from start to finish.

42.O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?
41.OLD SCHOOL

40. LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
I know a lot of people will say this is too low on the list, but honestly I'm not crazy abot this trilogy. They are good films, but you have to be in the right set of mind to watch them because they are so long. This one was a little boring for me, but I more than make up for placing this one so high.

39.KNOCKED UP
38.BLACK HAWK DOWN
37.THE HANGOVER

36. THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
This is a very underated film. I don't think it was well recieved, but I think it is a very funny film that is worth checking out.

35.SPIDER-MAN2
34.GRAN TARINO
33.THE WRESTLER

32. STAR TREK
J.J. Abrams made being a nerd cool with this film.

31. SUNSHINE
Another very underrated film. This was done by Danny Boyle, who did 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire but for some reason only got a limited release. This was a very good film, that unfortunately not a lot of people saw.

30.WEDDING CRASHERS
29.THE INCREDIBLES
28.KILL BILL VOL. 1

27. AVATAR
I'm not going to beat a dead horse since I have put a review up on it recently and put it in my top 10 of the year. It was a good film with out of this world effects so I'm putting it where I think it really does deserve to be which is a little bit below the middle. Had this had a stronger story we might be talking top 10.

26.RAY

25. MEMENTO
This was Christopher Nolan's first film. If it had not been for this film, this great new Batman franchise would never have happened and we could still be watching Batman with nipples on the suit. I think this is a very important film of the decade.

24. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
It was a good movie ok. Plus a very good performance from Heath Ledger, which may or may not have had an impact on him getting the role as The Joker, at least that is how I'm going to spin it.

23. 28 DAYS LATER
This started a new genre of zombie films, which now are sadly being overdone.

22. CASINO ROYALE
This put 007 back on track for a new generation. Daniel Craig is a much better Bond than Brosnan. Excellent writting and performances. This really got me excited about the 007 franchise again.

21.X2: X-MEN UNITED

20. BORAT
Maybe the funniest movie of the decade. I have never laughed harder in a film than I did when watching this.

19.SHAUN OF THE DEAD

18.PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
Johnny Depp was a big name before this film, but his role as Captain Jack Sparrow launched him into an even bigger name. The sequels were less than satisfying, but the first one is a well put together, fun ride.

17.MYSTIC RIVER

16. SIN CITY
They took a chance here and gambled on a graphic novel film and boy did it pay off. People really took to this genre of comic book films and thanks to Sin City we will get a whole new variety of comics.

15.LORD OF THE RING: THE TWO TOWERS
14.CRASH

13. BATMAN BEGINS
Not to sound corny here, but Batman really did begin with this film. This is as close to perfect of an adaptaion that I have seen. Burton's films were good, but Nolan took Batman to a new level with this reinvision of Batman.

12. THE ROAD
The buzz just isn't catching on for this film and maybe it's just me but I love it. Like Avatar I'm not going to repeat what I have already posted, but it is a great story that leaves you thinking about it for days.

11.SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

10. THE HURT LOCKER
Best war film of the decade. I really hope this wins best picture.

9.THE PRESTIGE
8.INGLORIOUS BASTARDS

7. WALK THE LINE
This film has great performances by everyone in it. The fact that it and Phoneix didn't get nominated for Oscars is a joke. One of the most enjoyable films of the decade.

6.GLADIATOR
5.MILLION DOLLAR BABY

4. THE DARK KNIGHT
Easily the best comic film of the decade. This is a perfect comic film with no flaws. I'm so glad that we got to see Ledger's Joker before he passed away. I'm convinced that no one will be able to top his Joker.

3. THERE WILL BE BLOOD
The more I watch this film, the more I appreciate it. It's not flashy, it doesn't move you, it's just a great film

2. THE DEPARTED
Maybe this is a little high on the list, but I was absolutely consumed with this film all three times I watched it. Scorsese really deserved an Oscar on his previous films, but this was a good one to win for.

1. LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING
I really didn't want to put this at number one, but I got to give credit where credit is due. The effort put into not just this one but the whole trilogy is something to be cherished. Peter Jackson did the most thorough job at adapting book to film than any other adaptation has done. The movie totally consumes you and puts you right in the book, which is a hard thing to come by.

Here are the films that have got a lot of praise but I have not seen and plan on seeing this year.
Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind
City of God
Pan's Labyrinth
Lost In Translation
Munich
Almost Famous
Requiem for a Dream

THE PRESSURE IS ON

2009-12-29T13:17:00.002-05:00

In only eleven days, James Cameron's Avatar has already reached $232 million dollars in the U.S. alone. The film made 19.6 million dollars Monday, its eleventh day in theatres, which is 3 million more than it made on its first Monday. People were worried that it might not be a profitable film having cost $300 million dollars to make. Those worries are long gone now that it looks like it will make it's money back in the U.S. alone.

So with Cameron already having the highest grossing movie of all time with Titanic, and Avatar looking like it could land in at least second place, does this put pressure on Cameron?

James Cameron has fascinated me ever since I got into film. The guy has made classics like Terminator 1&2, Aliens, The Abyss, True Lies and then goes on to make the highest grossing movie of all time, and then disappears for twelve years???? Sure he did little films like Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep, but come on no big motion picture. Then he goes and does a recurring role on Entourage where he is directing the fictional film Aquaman. What is nuts is that the fake stuff they had on Entourage regarding the Aquaman movie looked better than most the crap that is coming out these days.

So what is Cameron's next move? Will he jump into an Avatar sequel, will he find a new project, could he please fanboys across the world and go back for another Terminator film, or will he drop off the map for another twelve years. I hate seeing good talent being wasted, and I think that's what he did during the last twelve years. Thy guy has got a talent for making film and he could have popped off at least two films in that time. I really hope he sees that his films are appreciated and will start a new project in the next year.

Here is what is rumored to be on Cameron's plate right now:

Battle Angel
"Set in the 26th century, the story takes place 300 years after a societal collapse caused by a major war. In that society, it's a technological dark age following a pinnacle of achievement far beyond where we are right now. Cyborg technology is a way of life. People are augmented a lot as workers, so being a cyborg is not unusual. The main character is a cyborg. She has an organic human brain, and she looks like she's about fourteen years old. She has a completely artificial body and she's lost her memory. She is found in a wreckage and reconstituted by a cyber-surgeon who becomes her surrogate father."

HEAVY METAL
"An astronaut brings home a glowing green orb for his daughter. However, the orb kills him and corners the girl for its purposes. Claiming to the embodiment of all evil, the malevolent sphere, known as the Loc-Nar, terrorizes the little girl by showing a series of bizarre and fantastic tales it has influenced."

FORBIDDEN PLANET
A remake of the 1956 film where a starship crew goes to investigate the silence of a planet's colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has.

THE DIVE
A much smaller film he has mentioned about about the romance between controversial Cuban free diver Francisco Ferreras and Frenchwoman Audrey Mestre. Based on a true story, Mestre became a free diver under his guidance, and went on to break several world records before dying in 2002 while competing.

FANTASTIC VOYAGE
A remake of the 1966 film where a diplomat is nearly assassinated. In order to save him, a submarine is shrunken to microscopic size and injected into his blood stream with a small crew. Problems arise almost as soon as they enter the bloodstream.

So there they are, two remakes, a small budgeted film, and two futuristic sci-fi films. I think that Fantastic Voyage, Forbidden Planet and Heavy Metal sound the most promising.

HEADLINES

2009-12-29T11:13:00.006-05:00

CAPTAIN AMERICA GETS A START DATE
Joe Johnston revealed pre-production for Captain America is about to begin and that he plans to start filming June 2010. He did not mention if anyone was being targeted for the role of Captain America, or if anyone else had been brought up to star either.

I am really looking forward to all these films leading up to The Avengers. Iron Man, Thor and Captain America are all strong characters and I think that they are all going to be well done films. The only franchise that needs to step its game up is The Hulk. The Incredible Hulk was much better than the first, but still needs some tinkering.

NIGHT AND FOG
Producers Gil Adler and Shane McCarthy are working on bringing "Night and Fog" to the big screen.

Night and Fog is a comic set during WWII, the story revolves around an infectious mist unleashed on a military base that transforms its victims into preternatural creatures of the night. But when the survivors try to kill them, they adapt and change into something even more horrific and unstoppable.

Sounds like The Mist to me, but I am always up for some sci-fi horror films.

NO MR. T CAMEO
Mr. T recently said that he would not do a cameo for the upcoming A-Team film. He said it wasn't about the money, but that if his B.A. Baracus wasn't the main guy then why do it. He did not want them promoting the film as if he were in it and confuse his family.

Sounds a little conceded to me, but I could care less if he makes a cameo or not. I would like to see it, but I'm not going to protest the movie over it. I hope it turns out good.

THUNDERCATS NO GO
The Thundercats film has been shelved. Warner Bros. said they were going to do the film, then nothing happened for months and then big name video game director, Jerry O’Flaherty was going to direct. Now it seems it isn't going to happen at all.

This is probably a very good move. I can't see this movie coming out as a live action film and being taken seriously. It's good to see studios pulling movies instead of forcing them like FOX.

STILL HOPE FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE
About a year ago, a Justice League movie was being put together using younger actors like Adam Brody. Then suddenly and thankfully it was shelved. Now it seems that a legit Justice League movie could be happening.

Come January, Warner Bros. is going to release their DC franchise strategy. Reports say that they are going to try and build up to a Justice League movie instead of doing one, then making the individual movies. Green Lantern is going to be the first step to the Justice League film.

This is a great move for Warner Bros.. If they would have followed Marvel's lead five years ago instead of piddling around, they could be half way there by now. Warner Bros. definitely needs to step their game up when it comes to the DC universe if they are ever going to compete with Marvel.