Trailer Tuesday 8/20/13

Some should right a theme song for Trailer Tuesdays... I always feel like I should be singing one while I write these.

FRIGHT NIGHT 2 (10/1/13)

How many Vampire clichés can you find in this trailer? Also, how many scenes completely ripped off from Russia's "Night Watch" can you find in here? I only counted one, but it was enough to make me feel obligated to mention "Night Watch". In the words of Charles Barkley, "This is turable".

WADJDA (9/15/13)

Wow. APparently this is the first Saudi Arabian film, and it's directed by a woman. That's awesome. It's great seeing film spread over the world, and I had no idea Saudi Arabia had never made a film before. This looks like an awesome movie.

BEARS (4/18/14)

AAAWWWWWWWW!!!!!! They're little killers!!! They're so cute! :D

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (12/25/13)

Why has Meryl Streep only been playing bitches lately. It makes me hate her. And Benedict Cumberbatch is reason enough for me to want to see this. Other than him, I don't really have any desire to see it.

ROMEO & JULIET (10/11/13)

Other than role my eyes when I first heard they were making yet ANOTHER adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, I first thought "I wonder how romantic it really would have been before deodorant".

100 BLOODY ACRES (6/28/13)

If you know me, you know I love dark comedies. "Tucker and Dale VS. Evil" is one of the funniest movies ever made in my opinion. And this looks very similar to it. I can't wait to watch it! I wish I had known about it 2 months ago so I could have tried to see it in Philly!

Elysium

After I saw "District 9", I had a slight obsession with Neill Blomkamp. I thought he showed great promise as a director and I couldn't wait for his next movie. Needless to say, I was extremely excited when I heard about "Elysium". Then I heard that Eminem was a possibility for the main role. As far as rapper-actors go, Eminem isn't terrible, but seriously? Eminem? Luckily he refused to be in the movie if they couldn't film in Detroit and Matt Damon got the role.

"Elysium" takes place in a futuristic world in which all of Earth is devastated from overpopulation and everywhere looks like the slums of Mumbai. The rich leave the planet to live on a space station called Elysium (OOOOOOH, That's why it's called that!) to obtain their way of life. Thus creating a not-so-subtle metaphor for the failed "Occupy Wall Street" movement.

1% of the People have 100% of the free Healthcare not 

performed by a guy with tattoos or robots. I am the 99%!!!

Max finds himself pumped with radiation in an accident at his work and is only given 5 days to live. He sets off on a mission to get up to Elysium to use one of their Medical Bays, a machine that can fix any ailment just by spinning around you. Modern Medicine has it all wrong! No Pills! Just have a Machine spin around you to fix cancer, AIDs and Whooping Cough!!!

The only thing it doesn't fix is bad ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement)

As high as my expectations were for this movie, I was only slightly disappointed. It was still a great movie. Better than a lot of the crap out there this summer. And none of my problems were with the story. It was all with the Audio. There were a lot of scenes where they had ADR, which to most people, is unnoticeable. But thanks to Film School, I don't have the privilege to ignore it anymore. Jodie Foster in particular had a lot of ADR. I've heard a lot of people say she was bad in this movie, but what I think people are confusing with bad acting is the bad ADR. But you can't notice something that you're unaware of. She wasn't terrible, just her audio was.

Sharlto Copley returned to Neill Blomkamp's set, but this time as a villain. And he was quite awesome as usual. He was evil, bad ass and funny all at the same time. This guy impresses me with every movie he's in and I'm glad he's getting the recognition and work he deserves.

"Elysium", although not as good as I had hoped, was a fun and thrilling movie that was more original than any other summer movie other there this year. More movies need to do that. As safe as reboots of old Western TV shows from the late 1940s may seem, (I'm looking at you Disney!), people will never appreciate remakes as much as they do originality. And that's not bashing all remakes. There are some phenominal remakes out there. It's just fact. Originality trumps remakes 10 out of 10 times.

Although, "Elysium" could be a rip-off of some obscure sci-fi movie that only 3 people have ever heard of and I could sound like a complete idiot to them right now.

My Grade: B+

Trailer Tuesdays 8/13/13

Hello there. Have you missed me? I sure have missed you!

HER (11/20/13)

Wow. I dig this trailer. I dig it a lot. It looks fantastic. Joaquin Phoenix looks like he brought his 'A' game as usual, as well as Spike Jonze. It looks like a very interesting concept as well. This just went up on my top ten most anticipated movies for the rest of the year.

PHILOMENA (11/1/13)

DAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMME Judi Dench... That's all I have to say about this. Looks good.

THE MONUMENT MEN (12/18/13)

George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray... what more do you need? This looks like a different kind of War movie and it looks interesting. Can't wait to see it.

CBGB (10/11/13)

A movie about Rock 'n' Roll's most infamous club with the most infamous toilet. Starring Alan Rickman and a slew of other celebrities, this seems like it's going to be a fun movie.

ENOUGH SAID (9/20/13)

This is James Gandolfini's second to last movie. It's such a shame when actors die before they are able to see their work. He will be missed.

ALL IS LOST (10/18/13)

A lot of people don't like movies where there is only one character with nothing but his thoughts for the majority of the film. I personally love them. It's one of the best ways to see who that character really is, and see how he or she thinks. I can't wait to see this one.

MAGIC MAGIC (8/28/13)

I'm glad to see Michael Cera doing something different. He looks creepy as hell in this movie. Although, I don't have much hope for the movie as a whole.

AMERICAN HUSTLE (12/25/13)

In David O. Russell's follow up to "Silver Linings Playbook" he brings back Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence as well as Christian Bale and Amy Adams from his film "The Fighter". It looks very different from "Silver Linings Playbook", but it looks equally as good.

LONE SURVIVOR (1/10/14)

This has a lot of actors I love in it. I'm a little skeptical about a January release which to normal people sounds like crazy talk, but trust me. Bad movies come out in January for the most part, but I think this could be the exception of next year.

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (12/25/13)

People are freaking about this because they think Ben Stiller is trying to out do Danny Kaye, which is completely ridiculous. The two movies, although based from the same short story, look completely different. Ben Stiller is one of the most underrated Actor/Directors out there. He has such diversity in his work. He's done ridiculous comedies with "The Cable Guy" "Zoolander" and "Tropic Thunder". He's done action movies. He's done quirky comedies like "Greenburg" and now he's making what seems to be a deep, thoughtout drama about a man who wants more with his life. Even if this ends up being a disappointment, I have so much respect for him trying. This is my most anticipated movie of this year.

We're The Millers

A lot of people wanted to see this movie to see Jennifer Aniston strip. I wanted to see it to see the white kid rap! And some RON SWANSON!!!

You can gather what "We're the Millers" is about from the trailer. It is a raunchy comedy following a drug dealer, a stripper, a homeless girl and a super dooper white kid on a major drug smuggling mission. Hilarity inn sues. Especially when Ron F***ing Swanson shows up!

Honestly, I thought this would be one of those movies where all of the funny parts are in the trailer. And apart from Nick Offerman and Will Poulter (White kid, "Son of Ranbow"), I'm not a huge fan of anyone in this movie. But it exceeded my expectations.

I'm gonna take this moment to ask a question. Do I seem like a broken record. I feel like I say the same stuff for every movie. Perhaps I just have a smaller vocabulary than previously thought, but I just don't know how else to describe these movies. Oh, well.

Anyway, this movie had me laughing throughout and even pumping my fist in celebration at some moments. Not many movies can do that.

Go see it. Or else... Nothing will happen, but still, go see it.

My Grade: B+

Fat Kid Rules the World

I just found at that Matthew Lillard from "SLC Punk" and "Scooby-Doo" directed this movie... awesome!

"Fat Kid Rules the World" begins with Troy trying to throw himself in front of a bus. But when he is saved by Marcus, his life starts to change. Marcus inspires (or forces depending on how you look at it) troy to learn how to play the drums and join a band, which gives Troy something to live for.

Once again, this is a movie I stumbled upon on Netflix instant watch, and I was not disappointed. Jacob Wysocki of Bath Boys Comedy infamy stars in the leading role. It impresses me that he can go from this...

...to movies like this and "Terri" which have more dramatic elements to them. I think he is definitely someone to look out for for years to come.

My Grade: B

Holy Crap this is based on a book?! I keep learning stuff, man!

Kumaré

There are a lot of interesting documentaries out there. If you ever are bored and looking for something to watch, go to the documentaries section of Netflix Instant watch. I have done that twice now, and both times were great documentaries. The first was for "The Imposter", and this time around I was fortunate enough to pick "Kumaré".

"Kumaré" is a study in religion and faith, but it does not attack religion or faith. Vikram Gandhi was brought up in a strong Hindu household. When he grew older, he began to have doubts of his families beliefs. So he set out on a journey to find where it comes from. Along the way, he meets several fake Gurus with huge followings and decided to make a documentary about how easy it is to fall for a hack.

At first, he starts out just seeing what he can get away with. And he finds he can get away with a lot, including drawing a phallic symbol onto someones head as well as having him meditate to pictures of Obama, Osama bin Laden and the picture of the character he created, Kumaré.

Eventually, he learns to love these people and he finds what caused them to turn to eastern Gurus and decides to try to help them realize what he already know. That they do not need a Guru, they just need themselves.

This is a great documentary with a great message and does a great job of not bashing any personal reliefs. Rather it shows the viewer that you do not need to define yourself by your religion and your beliefs, but that you can be whoever you want to be.

If you don't have anything to do right now, go watch it. It's worth it.

My Grade: B+

Fruitvale Station

I have something to confess. This time around, I was one of those idiots who got upset because someone spoiled a movie that was based on a true story... I am shame faced.

"Fruitvale Station" tells the true story of Oscar Grant's last day alive. (Don't worry, you find that out in the first two minutes.) In doing so, you see how much he is trying to change for his daughter, and how much he wants to be there for her in this unfortunate and tragic story.

In his directorial debut, Ryan Coogler has brought us one of the most well thought out and personal films any director has made. Being from the bay area, where Oscar Grant was shot and killed, I am sure he felt a strong connection to the case which inspired him to make this film. And you can tell in the final product.

One thing I appreciated about this film, it shows that the Police Officers responsible for the death of Oscar Grant did show some remorse and a little bit of shock after it all went down. They had realized they had made a mistake. It wasn't just a straight "F the Police!" movie, which get tiresome so very quickly.

I thought this was a well made movie that presented the facts and didn't try to shove topics such as "racism among the Police" and "profiling" down your throat. They were definitely present, but not in a slap to the face manner like Spike Lee would have it.

This is a heartbreaking movie that I'm sure will receive some Oscar attention this Winter.

My Grade: A

The Way Way Back

There is a reason independent films are often better than big budget Hollywood movies. And that's because they don't have a thousand hands throwing garlic into the cake batter. Did you like that metaphor? I came up with it myself. Go me!

I'm just gonna go out and say it. Steve Carell is a major dick in this movie. Like, the worst person ever. I would punch him in the face if he were real and I saw him talking to his girlfriends kid like that. What the hell, Steve?! What the hell! I guess he did a good job if he made me hate him so much. And I love Steve Carell! So, in that case, well played good sir.

"The Way Way Back" is the directorial debut for Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, the Academy Award winning writers of "The Descendants". You may recognize them from this photo.

Nat's on the left and Jim is on the right striking his best

Angelina pose.

"The Way Way Back" is a heartfelt coming-of-age story about a teenager, named Duncan dealing with the divorce of his parents while on a vacation with his Mom and her dick of a new boyfriend... Did I mention he was a dick?

Anyway, he finds his solace and comes out of his shell when he lands a job at the local water park run by Owen, the laid back owner played by Sam Rockwell. Owen helps Duncan come out of his shell by basically forcing him to break dance with a lot of intimidating B-boy-ers... Is that a thing? Break dancing community, correct me if I'm wrong. Please! I'm terribly, terribly white and the only dances I know are the Chicken Dance and the electric sliding part of the electric slide.

What the hell?

With his new found confidence, Duncan starts hanging out with his summer neighbor's daughter, Susanna. The two of them bond over how immature their parents are acting and are basically the only sane people in the movie outside of the water park.

"The Way Way Back" is a good, heartfelt movie with a message that could help any awkward teenager. And believe me, Duncan is more awkward than most. Go see for yourself.

And as always, Sam Rockwell is a scene stealer.

My Grade: A

RED 2

I've missed you. I hope you've missed me too. Let's never fight again.

"RED 2" starts off with our favorite retired agent and his new, young girlfriend shopping at Costco trying to lay low. But I think we all know how that works out. They are yet again, dragged into something they don't particularly want to be involved with. And as always, they're joined by their lovable, insane friend, whom regardless of what character he's playing, I refer to as John Malkovich from "Being John Malkovich".

Unfortunately, this time sans pig.

"RED 2" is exactly what you'd expect from a sequel to it's predecessor. It's fun, it's action packed and it's got a  lot of memorable moments. However, this one didn't come with the element of pleasant surprise that the first one did. At least for me. It's a great film with a lot of funny and quotable lines, but I feel it quite do the first one justice.

But what sequel really does do the first one justice. Besides "X-Men 2". And "The Dark Knight". And "Terminator 2". And "Star Wars: Episode IV". And I would say "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers", but I consider them to be one long-ass movie.

What I'm trying to say is, if you enjoyed the first one, you'll enjoy this one...

Here's John Malkovich with a bomb strapped to his chest.

My Grade: B-