Ten years after its precedent, Men In Black III reunites Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith as the unlikely partnered Agents who protect the Earth from dangerous extra terrestrials. Only this time... they must go back... in time. (I'm sorry for making you read that).
When an alien that got his arm cut off and subsequently was thrown in jail by Agent K in 1969 breaks out of his prison on the moon, he vows to get revenge but going back to that time and killing K when he was young, thus never losing his arm and making it home to have his planet attack Earth. But Agent J finds out about this plan and time travels to the same time to stop the evil alien from completing his plan.
I don't remember much of the first or second Men In Black movies, but from what I remember, this one has more heart than the other two. You get to see more of each characters past. You get to see what Agent K was like before he became the stone faced bad ass we've come to know and love.
Josh Brolin, who plays the younger Agent K, does a fantastic job at channeling Tommy Lee Jones character while, at the same time creating a more lively version of the character, if at all possible. You get to see him in love and enjoying his job. You also see what he went through that possibly made him overly serious.
You also get more insight into Agent J's character as well, although not quite as much. It is interesting to see Agent J react to a more lively Agent K.
Boris the Animal, played by Jemaine Clement (The Flight of the Conchords, Dinner With Schmucks), who just goes by Boris, plays the evil alien that takes his revenge on Agent K. I love Jemaine Clement, but as a huge fan of The Flight of the Conchords, it's hard for me not to see his character from that in everything he does. Luckily, he hid behind sunglasses and a beard the whole film as well as some alien-esque features, so his character wasn't completely ruined for me. He played a good villain in this movie.
This movie was a great addition to the franchise and was entertaining. I like when they release a sequel ten years or more after its precedent. It gives me a feeling of nostalgia while watching it. I start to remember my first time watching the others. Although the wait can be long and arduous, the wait is often worth it.
Except Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls... we'll just pretend that never happened...
Movie trailers are great. They give the first look into what a movie is gonna be. There are a lot of people who say their favorite part of going to the movies is watching the trailers before hand.
But everyone knows that, so I don't know why the hell I'm saying this. Let's get to the trailers.
Anchorman 2. Most of us have seen the first one and have an opinion of it one way, or the other. I personally loved it. It was ridiculous! That's Will Ferrell's comedy. He goes over the top and people either love it or hate it. This trailer is a great start to the marketing of the long awaited sequel. It reintroduces the 5 main characters, and doesn't tell you anything else. I think we can expect a very similar movie from the first, but I think it will be just as entertaining.
The Great Gatsby. I hated the book. I think it was the most boring piece of crap I've ever read. But seeing as how its still so widely received after almost 90 years, there are obviously a lot of people who disagree with me. This peaks my interest a little bit more than the book, but I still highly doubt I'll go see it. If I remember correctly, the reason I hated the book was because all of the characters felt like spoiled rich brats. I'm probably wrong, and you may say thats no reason to hate a story, but there are some things in stories that just drive me crazy. And spoiled rich brats are one of them.
I love Baz Luhrmann as a Director, so if reviews are good for it, I may change my mind. But right now, I couldn't care less if this movie was coming out or not.
Today, while, once again, browsing the interwebs for new movies coming out, I stumble upon yet another fantastic clip from a new movie coming out. I wish I could remember who posted it, but I can't seem to find the original post. I just wanted to thank them for being friends with with me on facebook, thus allowing me to see this miraculous clip! It is taken from the film, Antiviral.
I know what you're thinking. You want to watch that again. Fret not, my child. For I have provided you with the same video twice!
Overkill? Maybe. But all I could think while watching this was "MMMMMMMMMM!!!!".
I have yet to see another 1 minute and 38 second clip that tells so much about a character without showing him doing much. I mean, what did he do in this clip? He walked down a hall filled with flowers into a bedroom with a beautiful girl in it. He sits down and the bed and inserts a needle into her arm. But thats not all that it shows you. It shows you so much of the character of the man.
It raises questions. Who's that woman? Is he supposed to be there? Is he injecting her with something, or taking her blood? (I'm sure that question would be easy for someone in medicine, but I'm stupid so give me a break here!)
That is the brilliance of film making that many directors (Michael Bay) fail to utilize. You can show so much with so little to the point that it is absurd! And of course, being the son of David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises, The History of Violence), Brandon Cronenberg would be able to understand that with his first feature length film.
The premise of film is an odd, but interesting one. Syd March, played by Caleb Landry Jones, (The Last Exorcism, X-Men: First Class) is an employee of a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from the blood of celebrities who had the same virus.
....Ew....
Unfortunately, there are probably people out there that are that obsessed and idiotic.
Syd also illegally supplies samples of the viruses to piracy groups by smuggling them out of the clinic he works at by inject himself with the disease. But he injects himself with the same virus that killed celebrity, Hannah Geist (Pretty sure she's made up. You can correct me if I'm wrong), he becomes the target of her fans and the same piracy groups he supplies as he tries to solve the mystery of her death before he succumbs to the same illness she had.
I may be hyping myself up to much for this. After all, it only has a 5 star rating on IMDB. But thats only from 10 votes! And from a film like this, I'm not surprised. I'd say we'd have to wait until its actually released places other than the Cannes FIlm Festival before we get an idea of the reception of it.
I'm hoping the 4 people that gave this poor reviews on IMDB are Michael Bay fans. Because I really want this to be good. Caleb Landry Jones hasn't been in much, but he's been pretty good in what he has been in. And I will personally slap anyone that says that he doesn't look better than "pretty good" in this short clip.
I mean..... look at him.... he's already creeping me out in this picture! After all, gingers don't have souls. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
Unfortunately, no release date has been announced yet. But they better hurry up!
While browsing around imdb.com today, I found two videos that made me wish that the world would just decide to skip summer and go straight into fall. I soon realized that if that were to happen I wouldn't see The Dark Knight Rises or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in theaters.
The first of the two videos was the first trailer for the new James Bond movie, Skyfall.
MMMMMMM!!!! What's not to like about this trailer? You have Daniel Craig, who, in my opinion (which is not that of someone who would consider himself a huge Bond fan, so all you 007 diehards can calm yourselves!), is the best Bond. Directed by Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition, American Beauty) and with the beautiful cinematography of the always great Roger Deakins (The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, O Brother, Where Art Thou), this Bond flick looks very promising.
Shortly there after, I saw a clip from Paul Thomas Anderson's new movie, The Master, starring Joaquin Phoenix in his first on screen appearance since his fake mental breakdown for publicity for I'm Still Here.
This is Paul Thomas Anderson's first film since 2007's There Will Be Blood. And it would seem that he is starting up right where he left off. If you haven't seen any of Paul Thomas Anderson's films, do yourself a favor and go see There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, and Punch Drunk Love. All are fantastic movies.
Joaquin Phoenix looks amazing in this. He is amazing in most of his work, but given that this is his first film since I'm Still Here, I am even more impressed. I would never have expected him to be in such a seemingly dark and complicated role right after being in character for 8 months. He is a great actor, and I am extremely happy that him quitting was all a publicity stunt.
One of the biggest tragedies of the whole debacle when Joaquin Phoenix said he was quitting acting for good, and was having a documentary about him pursuing a rap career, later to only reveal that he was just in character the whole time, is the fact that he didn't get nominated for anything!
He fooled the entire country into thinking he was really quitting acting to become a rapper and they just shrug it off! Jesse Eisenberg was nominated for his work in The Social Network, when really, it was just Jesse Eisenberg playing Jesse Eisenberg if he were a dick! How does that "surpass" Joaquin Phoenix for staying in character for almost 8 months?
As time goes on, and more movies are marketing themselves, I am getting more excited every day for movies this year. Let's hope 2012 beats the lack luster year of 2011
Skyfall is scheduled to release November 9th, 2012.
The Master is scheduled to release October 12th, 2012.
Before I continue, I would not say that Battleship, by any means, is a good movie. It is, however, a very fun movie. And yes, there is a difference.
Loosely based on the HASBRO board game, and I cannot emphasize "loosely" enough, Battleship tells the story of a loose cannon Naval Lieutenant who finds himself head of his ship when the captain dies during an attack by Alien spaceships. Directed by Peter Berg (The Kingdom, Hancock), Battleship is everything you would expect from a summer movie. The least amount of story necessary, explosions, and a pretty woman.
The beginning of the film feels like 3 different movies. Although, quite enjoyable, tit doesn't seem to flow as well as a $200 million movie should. It goes from the main story of how the government contacted the aliens, to Hopper, played by Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights, Wolverine), being drunk and breaking into a gas station, to a Top Gun volleyball-scene-style soccer game, to finally, the main story and plot line.
I understand that this was all character development. But it felt forced and not in touch with the rest of the movie. That being said, they were all very entertaining sequences. But they were not necessary.
One thing I found to be awesome is that the man they got to play a double amputee Army Lieutenant is Colonel Gergory D. Gadson, who is a double amputee who served the United States Army in Several Wars.
Overall, the movie was very enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised. When I first saw the trailer, I thought it would be terrible. The only thing going for it, in my opinion, was Liam Neeson. It exceeded my expectations, but not much more.
I wish I could have made this review better. But, alas, I don't have much to say about this movie.
I haven't posted in awhile for a few reasons. Number 1, This month has been terrible for new releases, in my opinion. Nothing, other than The Avengers has peaked my interest enough to go spend $10.50 to go see it. Number two is that I haven't really had any topics to write about. I recently watched the entire Mission: Impossible series for the first time, but that wasn't enough to write anything anyone would want to read. But now I have something to talk about. There is one major problem with Blockbusters.
That is the fact that the main stars from them (if it is one of their first major roles) have a hard time breaking from the character, making it hard for producers and directors to visualize them as another character. Mark Hamill is the perfect example of this. He was relatively unknown on the Big Screen when he starred as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode IV. He had a successful stage career prior to it, but nothing really other than a few TV gigs that paid the bills.
Everyone knows that he hasn't done much other than voice acting since Star Wars. Luckily he's talented enough to get a lot of jobs doing that. But what few people know is the amount of rolls he was turned down for because he was Luke Skywalker. He was the most famous person to ever play Mozart in the play Amadeus, next to Tim Curry. And when that play was being prepped for the silver screen, most people, including Hamill, thought he would play the title role.
But there was just one problem. Despite having played Mozart on Broadway for years, Mark Hamill had a ghost following him, named Luke Skywalker. The producers did not want Mozart to be played by the famous Jedi. So they went with Tom Hulce, who was eventually cursed by the role of Mozart, mainly because he played him so well. He even received an Oscar Nomination for the role.
Mark Hamill was one of the Lucky ones. At least the films and character that cursed him are loved by nearly every single person that watches them. He is still remembered today despite his lack of on screen appearances. Not all are as lucky.
Now, it is extremely early to say he is in the character trap, but will bring him up regardless, because the beginnings of the curse are afoot. Robert Pattinson is close to being type cast as a emotionless vampire in a terrible franchise. The only fans of these film will one day grow up and realize how bad they are. There is no escaping it. At least I hope that happens.
Call me crazy, but I don't what Robert Pattinson to be forever known for that crappy role in that crappy movie based on that crappy book. I think he deserves more. Think about it. What was he doing prior to Twilight? A couple Harry Potter movies, but his role was not that impressive and easily forgettable to the majority of the audience, since most of the audience didn't read the books. You can whine all you want, but thats a fact.
And before that, he had a few roles, but nothing that really gave him that green light to producers and directors to start casting him in other roles. Twilight was the first. And if anyone reading this is thinking "I still wouldn't take a role in that dumb movie even if I was starving to death", you're lying. If someone offered you $2 million to be the leading role in a movie when no one knew your name, and you wouldn't take it, you are an idiot and deserve to starve. Plus he's made $12 million for the subsequent 3 sequels.
I know I would do it in a heart beat. I don't blame Mr. Pattinson at all. But that's not why I want him to be successful. I want him to be successful after Twilight because of what he's doing outside of Twilight.
He played the great artist, Salvador Dali in Little Ashes. He starred along side Reese Witherspoon and, more importantly, the great Christoph Waltz, in Water for Elephants. He also worked with director David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises, The History of Violence) in Cosmopolis which premiered at the Cannes Film festival this year.
My point is the guy is taking risks. Most people his age would just try to do more block busters. They would use the role that gave them fame as a reason they are entitled to roles. But he is doing things that are usually done by actors twice his age. He is taking roles in films that would be considered more "artistic" than they would money makers. And I respect that. Who couldn't respect that? It seems like he is praying for the day he's finally done with Twilight so he can create a name for himself and not a name synonymous with crazy, crying and screaming teenage girls.
I hope he can do it.
No specific release date has been given at this time, but Cosmopolis is scheduled to come out this year.
One of my first memories of watching a movie in a theatre was when I was 6 years old. My Dad and I went to see Jumanji. I remember we were late, and this was one of the older theaters where the door was positioned in such a way that when it opened the light from outside blew out the screen.
As I'm writing this, I am watching Jumanji on Netflix instant watch. And it got me to thinking. The style difference between 90s movies and movies today. That goes for all decades. 80s movies are different from 90s. 70s from 80s etc.
The great thing about 90s movies is that they had that sense of adventure. Maybe its because all the movies from the 90s that I remember were targeted towards kids, but they were all fun and put kids in adventurous, fantastical or magical situations that would not be accepted by todays audience.
Take Jumanji. A kid finds a magical board game that sucks him into a jungle where he is stuck for 26 years until two orphaned kids living with their Aunt find the board game and release him. They then try to control the chaos the board game unleashes on their town. When I was a kid, I had dreams that I was stuck in the world of Jumanji.
Then you have movies like The Pagemaster, Indian in the Cupboard, Home Alone, The Mighty Ducks, Sandlot, Free Willy. These movies did something that movies today wouldn't dream of. They put kids in dangerous, life threatening situations. And it was great.
Kids movies today are mostly about talking animals, or teeny-boppers finding love. There are very few kids movies that deal with real life situations, with the exception of Pixar movies. And if there are, they are animated.
Maybe it's because these films give me a feeling of nostalgia. Maybe it's because I'm the only one that feel this way. Maybe I just like bad movies. But I feel very few kids movies have the life long impact on a person that 90s movies had one me when I was a child. I remember scenes from certain movies so vividly that, given all the resources they had in a scene, I could probably recreate it and get very close to what they had in the actual movie. All movies should have that impact. All movies should be that memorable.
Bring back the 90s! Just in movies. Not so much in clothes or music.
I'm just going to get right to it. Stan Lee's cameos in Marvel movies are terrible. They weren't that bad until the train wreck that is Spiderman 3. After that, with the exception of The Incredible Hulk, they have made me want to jump off a bridge.
There are a lot of people that do cameos in movies. One of my favorite directors, Alfred Hitchcock, is known for them. But the difference between the two is subtlety. The reason I have hated almost every one of Stan Lee's cameos since Spiderman 3 is the fact that they might as well be slapping you in the face.
Stan Lee's cameos used to be subtle. In X-Men he was just a hot dog vender. In Spiderman he saved a little girl! In the first Hulk, he was a security guard walking out of the building Dr. Banner worked in. A bit obvious, but you know what? I'll take it. But then you have Spiderman 3. Not only does he walk up next to Peter Parker and look at the same news feed that our hero is, but he also delivers a completely cheesy and unnecessary line.
"You know. I guess one person can make a difference. 'Nuff said."
SLAP! "Hey did you know Stan Lee is in this movie?" said the studio executive desperate for a gimmick.
One of the first things they teach you in film school is to never do anything that will remind your audience they are watching a movie. Now there are exceptions to the rule, like if you have a character that breaks the fourth wall on purpose and what not, but these cameos are on a whole other level.
Hitchcock's cameos were classy. He never made a big deal about them. He was always in the background somewhere. Never in the foreground. He would always walk on screen and walk off with out a word, or the camera would pan past him.
M. Night Shyamalan, a little less subtle, but he always gives himself roles that move the story forward. They are necessary roles. The give the story some development.
If Marvel just went back to giving Stan Lee background roles, things would be better. The only thing that bugged me in The Avengers other than an awkward shot (just nit picking right there) was Stan Lee's cameo. I instantly rolled my eyes as he came on screen and shook my head after he delivered his line.
Please, Marvel! Don't be so obvious when throwing Mr. Lee into your films!
So, I gave in. After all, there wasn't many movies that came out this weekend. No one wanted to compete with The Avengers on opening weekend. And rightfully so. It had the best opening weekend domestic gross (money it made in America) in movie history! This weekend it made $200.3 million in domestic box offices. Thats more than James Cameron's Avatar and Titanic, the two highest grossing movies of all time, made in their opening weekend combined. However, that isn't saying that The Avengers will become the highest grossing movie of all time. Having a fantastic opening weekend such as this usually means profits will decline greatly in the following weeks. But it is still an impressive feat.
This movie exceeded my expectations. If any of you read my last post about how I feel towards Super Hero movies, you would no, I wasn't completely sold on seeing it right away. Luckily, nothing else came out, so I had no choice but to see it.
We all know the story. Or should, anyway. The Government creates a program, called the Avengers initiative during a dire situation. Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston (Thor, Midnight in Paris), a norse god, tired of living in the shadows of his brother, Thor, played b Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Cabin in the Woods), travels to Earth planning to bring an army of alien creatures and wage war on Humans to rise up and become their ruler.
Nick Fury calls upon Ironman (Robert Downey Jr. Ironman, Sherlock Holmes), Captain America (Chris Evan, Captain America, Sunshine) Dr. Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, Shutter Island, Zodiac) and, of course, Thor, to stop Loki and save the planet.
The main thing I was worried about, going in to the theatre, was that they were going to rush into the action. A lot of action movies nowadays do that. They say "screw the story" and give the minimum amount of information needed to follow and just jump into the explosions. That, for me, makes a movie dull, boring, and quite frankly, insulting. It makes me feel that the studio is assuming that I, as a movie goer, am a empty headed, popcorn eating, zombie. But to my surprise, they took their time with it.
They made sure every character had a beginning, middle and end to their story. No one just popped up out of thin air. All of the characters were connected to their previous movies and everything fit together. It felt like everything was planned from when they first made Ironman. Which is probably what happened.
Joss Whedon co-wrote and directed this newest installment from Marvel. He is one of the best directors out there right now, yet he is mostly unknown. I suspect his name will become more well known... hopefully. He deserves the recognition.
