Ben Affleck is Our New Batman......Wait What?

If you've been living under a rock in the past 12 hours, the big news broke yesterday that Warner Bros has found its Batman for their upcoming Man of Steel sequel, which will feature both the Caped Crusader AND Superman for the first time on the big screen. And it's none other than.......Ben Affleck!

 

 

.....Wait huh?

 

 

 

 

My initial reaction to the news.....

 

Ben Affleck is definitely an.....interesting choice to play Bruce Wayne/Batman. I've always considered Bruce Wayne and Batman to be two separate people and for the character of Bruce Wayne, I feel like Affleck could pull it off. He looks the part of a billionaire playboy and definitely can have the charisma to the role. As for donning the costume and becoming Batman....I honestly don't know. I really can not picture him in the actual costume. And yes, I might as well address the fact that the last time he played a superhero....it was Daredevil in 2003, (if you really want to get technical, then it was him portraying George Reeves, the TV Superman in Hollywoodland in 2006).

 

But here's the thing: I didn't think he was that awful in Daredevil (DON"T CRUCIFY ME I said I don't think he was terrible......doesn't mean I thought he was great in the role either). Plus, Affleck has an been on an incredible upswing in his career as of late, knocking it out of the park both acting AND directing wise with The Town and Argo (the latter in which he played a man who came up with a genius strategy to save lives, something that may come in hand when he dons the cowl and cape).

Plus, we had the exact same doubts when Michael Keaton was cast as Batman or when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker and look how absolutely amazing those performances turned out to be.

 So I'm going to reserve judgment when we see a trailer or some set photos or something like that. So for right now, I'm interested, but also hesitant about it as well. And who knows? Maybe this might lead into Affleck directing the next Batman movie, something I'd be VERY interested in seeing. Just as long as it's not, well, this:

 

Man of Steel 2, or Batman vs. Superman, or Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill Dress Up as Superheroes and Have Adventures: The Movie, or whatever you want to call it, opens in theaters on July 17, 2015.



Also, Snyder, if you're going to cast Lex Luthor as the villain, please cast Bryan Cranston. That is all.

 

Kick Ass 2 Review: Solid Follow Up to Original Film

Whenever a film that ended up being really good underperforms at the box office, it's disappointing. In a world where you see bad movies that make millions of dollars and spawn unncesary sequel after unnecessary sequel, it's nice to see one of these underrated gems generate enough interest to warrant a sequel. A prime example of what I am talking about is 2010's Kick-Ass. The film, which followed a young high schooler named Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who decided to become a costumed superhero after realizing no one else had done it before, made $96 million worldwide on a $30 million budget which, although isn't terrible, isn't entirely great either (in the US alone it made only $48 million, which means it underperformed).

But then something happened: Kick-Ass found a new life on DVD and Blu Ray, developing a strong cult following among fans. And so, three years later, we finally get a sequel: Kick Ass 2.

Dave a.k.a Kick-Ass (played once again by Taylor-Johnson) and Mindy MacCready a.k.a Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) are still policing the streets of New York as superheroes, fighting crime and keeping citizens safe. But when Hit Girl is ordered by her guardian to give up the superhero business and lead a normal life in high school, Dave is left on his own. He eventually finds a superhero team called Justice Forever, headed by ex mafia enforcer, born again Christian Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey). But problems arise as Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) returns to take his revenger on Kick-Ass who *spoiler alert* killed his father with a bazooka in the last movie. He decides to become the world's first supervillain, taking the moniker "The Motherfucker" (swear I'm not making that name up), who recruits an army of villains in order to destroy Kick Ass.

I really enjoyed the first Kick Ass. It felt like a superhero film, but with a Tarantino-esque twist to it. It was also an excellent satire on the superhero genre itself, taking little tropes of the genre and turning them on its head (hell Nicolas Cage was a parody of Batman in that movie). So I was looking forward to the sequel because I wanted to see the continuation of this world and how they would expand on this world of costumed heroes, and because I was excited to see Jim Carrey in a dark action comedy like this, regardless of the recent comments he's made (more on that in a little bit).

After seeing the movie, I thought it was pretty damn good. It's a solid follow up to the original film and it's a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

The entire cast gives some very strong performances here, particularly from the two big leads, Aaron Taylor Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz. Taylor-Johnson gives more depth to the character of Dave/Kick Ass this time. His character has matured, taking responsibility for the actions of becoming the first civilian to don a superhero costume. He still shows some of the humor from the last movie, for sure but it's nice to see this added maturity to the role.

Moretz owns it as Hit Girl. She's still the same badass as she was in the last movie. What impressed me the most was the way her being in high school was handled. Usually, this type of story may seem predictable but here, it was handled really well. There seemed to be some echoes of Carrie White with the way the story was portrayed minus the psychic powers of course (which is ironic considering Moretz will be playing Carrie this October).

The rest of the supporting cast was excellent as well. Christopher Mintz-Plasse provides some nice comic relief as The Motherfucker (I swear that's gotta be one of the most....original names for a supervillain ever). He can be truly menacing as a villain, but it's humorous in a darkly comic sort of way. The rest of the supporting cast was fine as well (Donald Fasion where the hell have you been since Scrubs? Good to have you back).

But the big standout in this film was Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes. Carrey chews the scenery in every scene he's in and looks like he's having a ton of fun, regardless of what he has said. All right I might as well address the elephant in the room now: Carrey has said that he would not be a part of the film's publicity campaign because he does not support the amount of violence that was featured in the film. Now, do these comments take away from his performance in the film? Absolutely not because Carrey was one of the best parts in the film, stealing every scene that he's in. He was an absolute blast to watch.

The director of this film is Jeff Wadlow, whose big directing credit before this was the teen fighting movie Never Back Down......yeah he's never really tackled a film on this big of a scale before and in the beginning of the film, it definitely shows. However, as the film goes along, he starts to find his groove, but in the beginning it does take him a while to find it, especially with the action sequences.

And speaking of the action sequences, they are, for lack of a better word,  absolutely kick ass (swear that will be the only time I use that word in this review). They are incredibly fun and entertaining to watch, although I will admit they do lack some of the cool visual flair that the action sequences had in the first movie. But they were pretty well done.

As for negatives, I mentioned it took Wadlow a while to find his groove,like some of the hand to hand combat sequences at first were a little bit on the shaky side.   and that some of the action sequences didn't have the unique style the action sequences the original had. And the story....yes it's not as sharp and witty as I thought the first one was, but it's still an entertaining ride.

And that's all Kick Ass 2 needs to be. Kick Ass 2 was a fun, absolutely enjoyable film to watch and definitely a solid follow up to the original film. It's not been getting a lot of love at the box office (it opened at #4 this weekend) so please, go out and see it. It's definitely one sequel worth seeing

Grade: B+

Elysium Review: Impressive Sophmore Effort From Director Blomkamp

 

When District 9 was released in 2009, at the time, I really had only cared to see it for two reasons: Peter Jackson was the producer and the film's absolutely brilliant marketing campaign had me hooked on what the film was about and why they had aliens encamped in a ghetto in Johannesburg. As I walked out of the theater, however, my mind having already been blown by how amazing the film was (still remains in my top 20 all time favorites list), only one name kept going through my mind: Neill Blomkamp, the director of the film. This had been his debut feature film and I was absolutely blown away by his visual style, especially considering the film was made on a budget of $30 million. I was greatly curious to see what his next film would be like. And so now, three years later, Blomkamp has released his second film: Elysium.

The film is set in the year 2154. Earth has become an overpopulated, desolate wasteland, with Los Angeles becoming a slum with extremely poor living conditions. While the poor live on Earth, the rich and elite live on Elysium, a giant Halo ring (no seriously, it looks like one of the rings from the videogame Halo), that is essentially utopia. There are no wars, no poverty. The air is clean and fresh, everything is green and beautiful, and there are medical chambers that can cure anything. Cancer, colds, paralysis, anything.

On Earth, we meet Max (Matt Damon), a former car thief who takes a job in a factory while trying to live a normal steady life. One day, Max gets in a factory accident that gives him only five days to live. Man figures that the only way to cure himself is to get up to Elysium and enter one of the medical chambers. Soon, after being outfitted with a robotic exoskeleton, Matt must try to find a way up to Elysium while trying to avoid power hungry Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster), who helps run Elysium's security and her liaison on Earth, Kruger (Sharlto Copley), a sociopathic mercenary who gets a kick out of killing anyone in his way.

This film has been one of my most anticipated of the year. I wanted to see if Blomkamp could pull off a film without any need for the backing of a Hollywood director. Plus, the film itself looked visually spectacular and I wanted to see what Blomkamp could do with a bigger budget. So how was Elysium?

Awesome. I loved this movie. Do I have some issues with it? Sure not every film is perfect. But for the most part, this movie kicked ass.

The acting in this movie was solid all around. Matt Damon was fine as the lead protagonist. He gave the character a nice believability to him, making you feel for him and rooting for his character, especially near the end. Jodie Foster gave Secretary Delacourt a nice cold demeanor. She was calculating, cold, and precise.....for the 10 minutes she was in the movie (more on that later).

But perhaps the best performance in the entire movie is Sharlto Copley as Krueger. He steals every scene that he's in and is an absolute blast to watch. He truly makes Krueger sociopathic and menacing, relishing in the opportunity to destroy anyone and anything. Now, I haven't seen Copley in a movie since 2010's The A Team movie and what I want to know is....where the hell has he been? Seriously, this man needs to be in more movies he is a fantastic actor. I mean look at him in District 9 and then this. He can go from playing a naïve character to one who is batshit nuts in the worst way possible. He can also be funny. I personally thought he was the best part The A-Team movie because of his performance. The man has fantastic range.

Hollywood, get on this. Put Sharlto Copley in more movies.

In terms of visuals and themes, this feels very similar to District 9. Once again, Blomkamp uses social issues as his major themes for the movie. Where District 9 focused on themes like racism, xenophobia, and inhumanity, Elysium focuses on elitists vs commoners, overpopulation, and health care. Blomkamp manages to handles these issues with deft ease, though at times I felt that he was kind of hitting the audience in the head a little too much with them.

As for visuals, these are the best visuals I have seen in a film all year since Oblivion came out back in April, if not better. Blomkamp's been given a bigger budget this time around and he uses it to its full advantage in order to show us his vision. He has this distinct visual style that's wholly unique. He's a director who knows how to shoot his way around an action scene (there is a heist scene midway through that is an absolute fun to watch. However, there are some scenes that literally look like they belong in a first person shooter games....it didn't really need that). Some of the visuals he does have are completely jaw dropping, especially when you first see Elysium. Blomkamp proves once again why he's a talented visual filmmaker.

As I stated before, I did have some issues with the film I've mentioned tiny ones throughout out this reviews, like hitting the social issue message over our head a bit too much and some of the shots (like the one that looks like it's from a video game). But there are others as well.

One of them was the fact is that Jodie Foster seems to only be in the movie for a short amount of time. I know that maybe this was intentional for her character, but when you have her all over the marketing material and all over the trailer along with Damon, you'd think she would have been in the movie more often than she was.

Another big thing I had was this movie was that they said the world had become overpopulated and desolate, yet all we see is what Los Angeles looks like now, a slum. What about the other big cities like New York? Or Chicago? Or what about Washington D.C. what does our nation's capital look like in the future? I wish they had shown more of how other cities were affected by this grim future.

But overall, Elysium is a kickass ride. It has its flaws, some that can't be overlooked, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a flat out blast to watch. I can't wait to see what Blomkamp has planned next.

Grade: B+

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Review: Second Chance Doesn't Leave Good Impression

Ever since the Harry Potter films grossed billions of dollars worldwide and changed the way Hollywood looks at young adult novels, film studios have been scrambling to find the next kid lit hit (try saying that ten times fast). Some of them range from the decent (I thought Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events was a fairly decent movie), but most of them have just been...bad. Really, really....bad (see: Eragon, City of Ember, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising....you get the idea). A recent example of a young adult book series that has tried to become the next Harry Potter film franchise is Percy Jackson and The Olympians by Rick Riordan.

The series focuses on young Percy Jackson, who finds out that he's a demigod, or half human, half god, and that the gods you hear in Greek myths, such as Zeus, Hades, Ares, etc. are real and still exist on this earth today. Percy discovers that he's the son of the god of the seas, Posiedon and that he's destined to save Mount Olympus from an ancient threat, more ancient than the gods themselves. Now I have read the books on which these films are based and I think they're an excellent read. The concept of the series alone is fascinating and the series deftly blends witty humor with fast paced action and contains a series of well written characters. So you think with an fascinating idea like that they would be able to at least translate fairly well onto the big screen.....right?

Well they tried that in 2010, with the release of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, based on the first book in the series. Looking at the film from a critical perspective, I thought it was....ok. If you had never read the books, it was a semi decent family adventure film that would be fine to rent on a rainy day. Looking at the movie from a fan perspective however, the movie was an absolute mess. Major plot elements were either changed from the book or deleted entirely (I know the film version always deviates from the source material and is never always faithful to the book but this was ridiculous) and the film felt like it was trying too hard to become the next Harry Potter. But, somehow the film made a ton of money, enough to warrant a sequel, which brings us to today's film: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.

In this second installment, we find that Percy Jackson (played once again by Logan Lerman) is living at Camp Half Blood, a camp for demigods that protects them for monsters and trains to fight against them (think Hogwarts for half-bloods....I'm sorry that's the last Harry Potter joke I promise). One day, when the barriers around the camp start to mysteriously break down, it is discovered that the tree helps protect the barrier at camp has been poisoned and only the Golden Fleece from ancient myths can save it. Percy, who has not been on a quest since he saved Olympus in the last movie,  heads out to retrieve the Fleece from the dangerous Sea of Monsters with his two friends Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) and Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) and his new half brother Tyson (Douglas Smith), who happens to be a Cyclops. They must obtain it before Luke (Jake Abel), who turned to the "dark side" can use it to resurrect his evil master.

As I went into this movie, I tried going in with an open mind as a fan. I liked what I was seeing from the trailers, as it looked much better than the last film. Plus, I had some hope that this could become a decent franchise, especially with the concept behind it. I mean everyone gets a second chance, why not the Percy Jackson films?

Unfortunately, all hope I had left for this becoming a good film franchise is officially gone. This film was....not good. At all. There are some good elements, which I'll cover in the next paragraph, but the bad stuff outweighs the good stuff.

The major positive I can find with this movie is that most of the actors seemed to be pretty game with their roles. Logan Lerman is becoming one of my favorite actors, especially with his fantastic turn in last year's The Perks of Being a Wallflower. He was one of the good parts of the last Jackson movie and he looked like he was having a fun time in this role again, coming off as a likeable action hero. Another big standout to me was Dionysus, the god of wine (played by Stanley Tucci), one of the heads of the camp. Anytime Tucci is on screen in any film, he is just mesmerizing to watch. Here is no exception, even if he is only in the film for a short time. He just chews scenery and stays true to the character in the book, giving him a very dry sense of humor.

But by far, the best actor in this whole movie is Nathan Fillion as Hermes. Fillion has always one of my favorite actors, coming off as extremely likeable and charismatic, making him a joy to watch on screen. As Hermes, he's a blast to watch, deftly blending humor with some more serious moments (there's one line that had me laughing out loud that I won't spoil. All I'll say is....if you watched him on Firefly you'll appreciate the joke like I did). I'm glad that Fillion is getting more roles and here's to hoping he's on screen more in the future.

Ok so that's the good stuff....now for the bad stuff. The biggest problem I had with the film was the pacing. It was all over the place. Sometimes, the film moved along briskly and other times it just seemed to drag on very slowly. The director, Thor Freudenthal (which I find very funny considering this is a movie about Greek mythology that's directed by a guy named Thor) does a poor job directing the film and throughout the movie, I did not know whether I should feel excited, bored etc.

Another big problem I have is the CGI.....the CGI looked like it was something you would see in 2006. I mean we've made huge technological advancements since then, why did we have to use something that looks....incredibly outdated? It may be a minor nitpick, but to me, it was way too noticeable.

Finally, the last thing that bothers me is the ending. Speaking from a fan perspective, I was not happy with the fact that they added this one part that was not in the book at all.  Without spoiling it, all I'll say is that it felt completely unnecessary and that it did not to be added. As I've said before, not all movies based on books are going to get things right, but this just did not need to be added.

Overall, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters was not particularly good. The pacing was awful, the CGI looked horrible, and the whole thing felt too...familiar. The only reason I can't bring it to the D range is because I did enjoy most of the performances in the film (especially from Nathan Fillion). Even though there's three books left to be adapted in this series, I think it's time for this franchise to be laid to rest.

Grade: C- (and that's being EXTREMELY generous because the actors' performance made me not want to physically hurt myself after watching this.)

The Purge: Wasted Potential, Massively Disappointing

Horror movies these days are a joke. In the last few years or so, we've seen some of the most generic, cheap uninteresting horror movies, with a only a few breakout, legitimately good horror films in between, such as The Cabin in the Woods or Insidious or Sinister. However, I never give up on this genre completely, as I always try to look for the one horror film being released with a really interesting premise behind it. It seemed like The Purge was going to be that horror movie.

The film is set in a future where every year, for one day, an event called "The Purge" occurs. During "The Purge," crime is legal for 12 hours. You can murder, steal, and vandalize among other things. No emergency services will be available during these 12 hours. Because of this Purge, crime has gone down as well as unemployment rates. During this event, we follow the Sandin family, who has become very rich because the father, James (Ethan Hawke) sells security systems for people who want to protect themselves. On the night of the event, while he and his family are locked in for the night, his son (Max Burkholder) sees a man being chased and seeking shelter. Without hesitation, he lets the man into their home and soon after, the ones chasing him demand that James release the man so that they may "purge" themselves or else his family will be next.

Now, with that premise, you would think that the movie would expand on the idea that they have: a horror movie set in a world where crime is legal for one day. Maybe even come up with some clever backstory as to how this came to be or show some of the technology this world has (which they briefly do). Instead, what we get is a cheap, dumb, generic home invasion slasher flick. This movie had a really cool idea going for it but they squandered it for jump scares.

I will say that there are three good things the movie has going for it: Ethan Hawke is pretty good as the main lead. I like Ethan Hawke and he to me, he rarely gives a bad performance so I did not mind him here. I also thought the person who played the leader of the group of maniacs was effectively creepy (Rhys Wakefield I believe is his name). The audience I was with was definitely laughing at some of his lines. Me, I thought he was effectively creepy and menacing. Lena Headey, who plays Hawke's wife, is also good as well. She's got one big moment in the film that had the audience going in my theater.

Another thing I liked was the first 20 minutes of the film. The filmmakers manage to set up the premise very nicely, explaining what the annual Purge is and how everyone is just going about their business. It was very well done....too bad they don't expand on this but more on that later.

Those are where the positives stop though because there's so many negatives I have with this movie it's ridiculous.

First off, let's talk about Ethan Hawke's kids in the movie: these have got to be some of the dumbest kids I have seen in a horror movie, particularly the son. For example (and this is veering into brief spoilers here) but when the guy enters the house to escape and the family is hunting him down to give to the maniacs, the son ACTUALLY tries to help him by showing him a secret spot to hide, effectively putting his family in further danger. I'm sorry I know you're trying to help someone and protect a life but...why? You know your family's in danger of being killed so you just decide, "hmm, gee, you know what would be fun? Putting my family in even MORE danger by hiding the guy yeah THAT'S a good idea go me." I'm not saying that you should ever let an innocent person di that should never happen  but I mean...these people were going to break into your home and kill you along with everyone else inside...why put them in further danger?

Also, why would Ethan Hawke's son have the code to disarming the entire house? Shouldn't Hawke be the only one that has the code? It makes more sense, he designed it so he should be the only one that has the code not let any of his kids have it so that they can essentially make the house more vulnerable. These two issues were just some of the many problems that I had with this movie.

Also, this movie is not scary. At all. Instead, we have cheap, stupid jump scares (like we're still doing the refrigerator and suddenly showing a face in front of the camera scares? Really we're still doing that?) It's just not scary, almost kind of boring really. Like there's no real tension to me in those scenes at all.

I think the biggest thing that pissed me off though was that they just had so much potential that was just flat out wasted on this movie . They had an idea that had not really been tackled before and could have had some intriguing ideas to go with it, but they squandered it in favor of cheap horror scares and just keeping it contained in one house. That's the other thing, they don't expand on this world enough. I would have liked to have seen what was going on in other states during this event, which they very briefly do. I would have liked to see what it's like outside the house not keep it contained to one home so you can have your home invasion movie. Also, there were a ton of unanswered questions I had throughout the film. The entire time I was thinking, "Who are the Founding Fathers, the ones who now control the government and set this in motion? How did we get to this point where The Annual Purge was introduced? What's going on outside the house? Is this sanctioned in other countries?" Things like that the filmmakers never expanded on which was frustrating when you have such a unique idea as this.

So overall, The Purge was just an extremely underwhelming and really stupid horror movie. They just had such a good idea going for them, one that hasn't been done yet and they throw that concept away in favor of a cheap home invasion movie.

Grade: D-

Seriously, Man of Steel just needs to come out now at this point.

Now You See Me: Surprisingly Entertaining

It's always nice to see a refreshing take on a genre of film. In today's case it's the heist film. Now I love a good heist film, some of my favorites are 2010's The Town, 1995's Heat, and Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven and Thirteen (Twelve never happened). But I always wanted to see a different take on the genre, something that had not been done for a heist movie yet. Apparently, all you need to add is magicians.

Now You See Me focuses on four magicians (Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Woody Harrelson) who call themselves, "The Four Horsemen," who are sponsored by Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine). One night, during one of their performances in Las Vegas, they rob a bank all the way in Paris, prompting FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol agent Alma Vargas (Melanie Laurent) to investigate. However, not everything is what it seems and what follows is a very entertaining cat and mouse game between Rhodes and the Four Horseman.

So if you couldn't tell by that last sentence, I really enjoyed this movie. It was a blast to watch. However, is it "WOW ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF THE SUMMER?" No, I will admit there are flaws to it but for the most part, I was pretty entertained by it.

Everyone involved with this movie just seems to be having a lot of fun with their roles. I especially liked the chemistry between The Four Horsemen. They were able to bounce off one another greatly and had a nice rapport as a team. I especially liked Jesse Eisenberg, who seems to be channeling his performance from The Social Network, only he's a lot more of a douchebag here. I also enjoyed Mark Ruffalo's performance as well. I also liked Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine in this movie. There's just no way to me that they will give a bad performance in their lifetime.

Another thing that surprised me about the film was the story. At times in the film, I was hooked into what was happening with the plot, and wanted to know what was happening next. I will say that the last 5-10 minutes or so of the film did take me completely by surprise and I can honestly say I did not any of it coming.

However, I mentioned before that the film did have some flaws. It does. While I did enjoy the plot, I will admit that there were some moments that seemed a bit too silly to me. also, the CGI that was used on some of the magic tricks kind of took me out of the movie for a bit. There too much of it used at times.

But overall, Now You See Me is a pretty entertaining film to watch. It's definitely an interesting take on the heist genre and even though it's got some glaring flaws, it's still a lot of fun to watch,

Grade: B

Fast And Furious 6 Review: One Hell of a Ride

Never in a million years did I ever think that the Fast and Furious movies would become one of my favorite film franchises. In the last few years, the series has gone from this story about street racing to a massively entertaining, ridiculous thrill ride that seems to just keep getting better and better. The last film in the franchise, 2011's Fast Five, gave the series a much needed overhaul, turning it into a heist series rather than a racing one. Now, Dominic Toretto and his crew are back in Fast and Furious 6.

The film picks up right where Fast Five left off, as Toretto (played once more by Vin Diesel) and his crew are living in luxury and in non extradition countries after their successful job in Rio. However, the team still remain wanted fugitives back home. Meanwhile, Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson" is hunting down elusive criminal Owen Shaw and his crew, who have recently been going after major military convoys carrying vital material. This causes Hobbs to realize that in order to catch criminals, you need criminals. So Hobbs offers Dom and his crew the chance to be pardoned of all crimes in exchange for taking down Shaw. There's also another catch: Hobbs also reveals to Dom that his thought to be dead lover, Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) is alive and working for Shaw.

Now as I said before, I never thought in a million years I would consider the Fast and Furious films to be one of my favorite franchises. And yet these movies keep consistently getting better. It's rare for a franchise to make it to a sixth installment and it's even MORE rare to have the sixth one be one kickass ride. I absolutely loved Fast Six (or Furious Six as the title on screen says).

 The acting, for the most part, was actually pretty good. I'm not saying these were world class Oscar caliber performances but for a Fast and Furious movie, these were pretty good. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker still have excellent chemistry together after all these years. It's amazing how much they see each other as family. And Walker gives O'Connor some interesting development this time around, making him remorseful for what he put Letty through. Michelle Rodriguez also does fairly well here, making Letty seem tough but at the same time vulnerable. She's just trying to figure out which side is the right one.  Dwayne Johnson, who has the biggest arms I think I've ever seen, still kicks a ton of ass here. He's just so enjoyable to watch. Plus it's really funny the way he says "sumabitch."

The rest of Dom's crew does fine as well, with the standouts being Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris. They have such good chemistry together plus they both deliver some of the funniest lines in the movie. As for the villains, I really liked Luke Evans as Owen Shaw. He was almost like the evil doppelganger of Toretto. Where Toretto cares about his family and will do anything to look out for them, Shaw believes anyone associated with him is expendable. It was really interesting to see these two ideals clash with one another.

I am amazed at how this franchise has gone from racing cars throughout L.A. to saving the world and preventing a world crisis using fast cars. Screenwriter Chris Morgan really has helped evolve this series, making it more action packed and personal than what it was in the past. The thing that really impressed me with this latest installment, his fourth Fast and Furious movie overall, is that Morgan somehow manages to connect all the past installments to this one and makes them all one giant connected story. If you do plan on watching this film, go back and watch the other films for a refresher course. It'll help.

But the big thing that most people love about these movies is the ridiculous over the top action. And by God does director Justin Lin not disappoint in this department. The action in this movie is just as crazy as last time, if not crazier. I mean there's a scene where a tank smashes and destroys everything and Toretto and his crew have to stop it. This scene alone shows the lofty ambitions that Lin has for his action scenes. He handles it swiftly, making it able to see what is going on in the scene itself. He also uses practical effects, something which you don't see much of anymore. Lin, to me, is one of the best action directors working today.

I will admit that you really REALLY have to suspend your disbelief at some of the action scenes, especially at the end. If you go in trying to incorporate logic in this film, then this is not your type of movie. At all. Also, while I like the message of family and looking out for them in the film, sometimes I felt it was shoved a bit too much at the audience.

But overall, Fast and Furious 6 is an absolute blast to watch. If you're looking for a hell of a good time with some friends, check it out.

Grade: B+

Star Trek Into Darkness: Summer Entertainment at its Finest (SPOILER FREE)

Greetings! It's been a long time since I put a review up on this blog of mine. Apologies for that, the last two months have been absolutely crazy what with school finishing for the summer and then finals week was last week for me so it's just been hectic. I have managed to see quite a few movies in the last couple of months, I just have not had the time to sit down and type up reviews on this blog.

But now it's summer and I plan on typing up more reviews now that I have a ton of free time on my hands. With that being said, let's begin today's review.

The summer movie season is once again upon us as we have had Iron Man joining the billion dollar club at the box office and F. Scott Fitzgerald's vision coming to life on the big screen (If I had to give both films grades right now, Iron Man would get an A- and Great Gatsby would get a B). But now, it's time to revisit Captain James T. Kirk and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S Starship Enterprise in Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot. The film reunites Abrams with the cast of the last movie, as Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), along with Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Bones (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin), as well as the rest of the crew of the Enterprise go after John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), a terrorist responsible for bombing London as well as attacking Starfleet. However, Kirk and his crew realize that not everything is what it seems.

Now I will say this right now: I am not what you call a "Trekkie." I was never a gigantic fan of Star Trek I was always more of a Star Wars guy. However, I loved the hell out of Abrams' 2009 reboot to someone who was not that big of a "Trek" fan, it was an excellent introduction to someone like me who wasn't a fan (since then I have seen the original show AND Next Generation AND the movies). So I was greatly curious to see what Abrams had planned for his second outing.

I'm just going to cut to the chase right now: I loved this movie. Loved loved loved loved this movie. To me, this is summer blockbuster entertainment at its finest.

The performances in this movie are fantastic all around. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are excellent together as Kirk and Spock respectively. They still show excellent chemistry together and you truly believe that the two could be life long friends. It was also nice to see Kirk's character evolve a little bit. There's still a bit of the cockiness from the first movie in there, but there's also a bit more maturity in there, with Kirk slowly becoming the leader he was meant to be. The rest of the supporting cast was great as well. Everyone seemed to be given more to do this time around, which was fantastic. The standouts to me were Pegg as Scotty, who is excellent in this role, Saldana as Uhura, whose relationship with Spock is explored a bit deeper this time around, and Urban, who captures the original Bones' mannerisms so well. It was also nice to see Peter Weller in a movie again

But the standout in this movie is Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison. I loved Cumberbatch on Sherlock (if you haven't seen Sherlock yet, stop reading this review and go watch it Go. It's amazing. I'll wait.....back? Let's continue). I was excited when Cumberbatch was announced to be the villain because he can pull off menacing and controlled, someone who has a plan and has to execute it by whatever means necessary. And my God, was he amazing in this role. Cumberbatch gives the best performance of the entire film. He is one of the best villains I've seen on screen in a while.

And that's all I can say on Cumberbatch's character because, as a wise person once said, spoilers....if you get that reference, give yourself 20 bonus points.

Another thing I thoroughly enjoyed is Abrams' direction in this movie. Yes there are tons and tons of lens flares in this movie but it's the way he handles the action is what fascinates me. He handles them so well and you can actually see what is going on. The action is also fantastic to watch, especially the final fight scene. Also, his creature designs and the way he shows us the planets are breathtaking. Abrams' next project is Star Wars Episode VII and I am greatly interested in what he has planned for that movie.

There were some things that annoyed me about the movie. For one. Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve), I thought, was greatly underused. She seemed to have little to no pint being in this movie, other than eye candy...not that I'm complaining mind you but still I thought she could have been given a lot more to do. Also...yeah the amount of lens flares Abrams has does get a bit annoying at times.

But overall, Star Trek Into Darkness is an excellent movie. It is easily the best film of the summer so far and one of the best of the year in my opinion.  Abrams yet again creates another enjoyable fun ride that Trekkies and non Trekkies can both thoroughly enjoy.

Grade: A

Oz the Great and Powerful: Surprisingly Entertaining

 

Everyone knows the story of The Wizard of Oz. We all grew up watching the 1939 classic starring Judy Garland as Dororthy, a young girl from Kansas whisked to the land of Oz where she must reach the Wizard in the Emerald City in order to find her way home while trying to outsmart the Wicked Witch of the West. However, how did the Wizard get to Oz? How did he become the great and powerful man that the citizens of Oz know so well? That's the main starting point for Sam Rami's Oz the Great and Powerful, a prequel to L. Frank Baum's works and the classic 1939 film.

The film focuses on Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small time carnival magician from Kansas who dreams of being a great man. One day, while traveling in a hot air balloon, he gets caught up in a tornado which drops him into the wonderful land of Oz. There he meets two witches: Theodora (Mila Kunis) and Evanora (Rachel Weisz), who insist that he's this mighty wizard destined to defeat the Wicked Witch and restore Oz to normalcy. However, once Oscar, or "Oz" as his friends call him, meets Glinda (played by Michelle Williams), he finds that not everything is as it seems.

Now, going into this, I was hesitant. For one thing, in terms of visuals, the film looked like a cut and paste version of 2010's Alice in Wonderland which made Disney a ton of money so I guess they were wanting something similar that would also bring in tons of cash. Also, it was a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, something almost everyone grew up with. Most people associate author L. Frank Baum's world with the 1939 classic so how were they going to tackle this? Despite all these questions, I still kept an open mind. The director of this film, Sam Rami, made the Spider-Man trilogy and the Evil Dead trilogy so I was curious to see how we would do with a family film.

To my complete surprise, I enjoyed this movie greatly. Does it have some problems? Yeah but the good honestly outweighs the bad.

The performances are pretty enjoyable for the most part (I have a problem with one of the actors but more on that later). James Franco looks like he's having a ton of fun in his role as the Wizard. He gives a certain charm to his character and whenever he has a big goofy grin on his face, I couldn't help but smile as well. The three witches were also fun to watch. Michelle Williams, who I swear looks like she doesn't age, was great as Glinda. She makes the character her own version and gives her more of a mystical side. Rachel Weisz was also pretty good as Evanora, she made her character deceptive and conniving and she was just a blast to watch.

As for Mila Kunis....here's the thing I like Mila Kunis. I think shes' an excellent actress. However, I do think she was the weakest link in the cast. That's not to say she was bad in this movie not at all. I just thought she was not as strong as she could have been. She sounds like she's just reading her lines rather than put emotion in. Also the reveal of what her character becomes (which I won't spoil what the reveal is but if you've seen the posters, you know what I'm talking about) I just couldn't get behind because it just seemed like a miscast in my eyes.

The supporting actors were enjoyable to watch as well. Zach Braff plays a flying monkey dressed in a bellhop suit who helps the Wizard on his quest. He had some of the funniest lines in the whole movie. It made me wonder why Zach Braff isn't in more stuff these days. Joey King, who plays a little China doll girl who is incrdibly fragile (literally) was adorable in this. You really manage to feel for this character and the pain she is going through.

Bruce Campbell and his godly chin also show up in this movie....nuff said.

Another thing I really like in this movie is the visuals. The movie looks flat out gorgeous, probably some of the best i've seen all year. Unlike Alice in Wonderland, whose world was dark and gloomy, Oz is what it should have been: bright and vibrant and colorful. The direction is well done as well. Sam Rami maintains his usual sense of quirkiness with the fascinating creature designs and the design of the land itself. Also, having the film open in the original 4:3 ratio and making it black and white like the original and then to expanding to widescreen was a stroke of brilliance

I liked how the film didn't fully rely on the original film to tell their story. They managed to tell their own story without stuffing references from the original in. Yes, there are nice little hints and nods to the original, but they are  However, if you go in thinking that the ruby slippers are going to make an appearance, they are not in the film (they legally can't. Warner Bros still owns the rights to The Wizard of Oz so Rami and his team had to essentially go off the source material and make their own little changes i.e. the design of the Emerald City is different, the color of the Witch's skin is different etc).

I will admit the film does have some issues. For one, while the land of Oz looks visually fantastic, there are some moments where the CGI looks really fake and you could notice there was a greenscreen behind them, which took me out of the movie for a bit. Also, it does tend to get a little bit silly at some parts.

But overall, Oz the Great and Powerful was a surprisingly good film. There are some bad moments but the good outweighs the bad.  I had a lot of fun with it and I would say if you are looking for a good time at the movies, then check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Grade: B+

Oscars 2013: Recap of Winners and my Thoughts

Last night, the 85th annual Academy Awards aired on ABC and for the most part, I was extremely pleased with the results of the ceremony. Everyone I wanted to see win did take home their respective awards however there was some suprises spinkled here and there throughout the night. But before I get into my thoughts of the big winners of the night, let me talk about some of the other big moments of the night.

First, I might as well give my thoughts on Seth MacFarlane's hosting this year. For being a first time host, I thought he killed it. He was entertaining, confident, and pretty damn funny. I will admit though that while I did like his opening monologue and the fact that he made fun of potentitally being "the worst host ever" (James Franco holds that one), I will admit it could have been cut down a little bit some of it was unnecessary. And I could not believe some of the jokes they let him get away with, some were funny (his shots at the Academy such as snubbing Ben Affleck and commenting that Jean DuJardin has gone nowhere sinc The Artist were pretty amusing) and then some were just sort of like "he said what?"(Chris Brown and Rihanna's date movie is Django Unchained.....yeah I was surprised he got away with that). But for the most part, I loved Seth as host I would not mind seeing him again somwhere down the road.

Another big thing I was looking forward to was the James Bond tribute the Academy had planned. I had heard a rumor that all actors who had played Bond were going to be on stage and I was hoping it would be true. Plus, you had Shirley Bassey and Adele perfoming how could you go wrong with that? Well, other than a rousing performance by Bassey, who can still hit that high note, the tribute itself was massively underwhelming. All that it was was a montage and then Bassey's performance, with Adele singing later in the broadcast. I mean why couldn't they have all the Bonds come out on stage together for the first time? I know Sean Connery especially would have difficulty getting to stage but it would have been fantastic to see them all together.

But now let's get down to the big winners of the night, starting with the Best Supporting categories (the winners will be in Bold)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Alan Arkin, Argo
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

I was extremely happy with this win. I thought Waltz's performance was fantastic in Django. Quite honestly, I thought that Tommy Lee Jones or even Alan Arkin might come in and surprise everyone by winning the award for the night but I am happy with this win overall. Plus, Waltz had a excellent speech, very charming.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Sally Field, Lincoln
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Amy Adams, The Master

This win came as absolute no surprise to me. As I said in my predictions post, Hathaway had this one in the bag so there was no real surprise to her winning this category. I thought her speech was nice, she was grateful. It's just nice to see someone who starred in a Disney rom com go from that to winning an Oscar.


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:Wreck-It Ralph
Frankenweenie
Brave
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Damn I was upset with this category. To me, I honestly thought that Wreck-It Ralph, ParaNorman, or even Frankenweenie deserved to win in this category. I never thought Brave was at any all that particulary good (and I'm not just saying that because it didn't hold up to other standards of Pixar movies). For me, while the mother-daughter relationship is explored very well, something about the second half threw me off. Maybe it was because I thought the whole movie would go into one direction for me (and it looked like it would in the first 40 minutes) but then I was surprised to see it go in an entirely different direction. I don't know but for me, I wasn't too pleased with this one


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
Michael Haneke – Amour
Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom
John Gatins – Flight

Tarantino baby! I was absolutely ecstatic with him winning this award. Out of all the nominees, I think he honestly deserved it. If not him, then it should have been Moonrise Kingdom. However, Tarantino definitely earned this one, as Django's script had some of THE best dialogue I've heard in years. Also, his acceptance speech about how writers are the main component of a film.....one of the highlights of the whole evening.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Tony Kushner – Lincoln
Chris Terrio – Argo
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
David Magee – Life of Pi
Lucy Alibar, Behn Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

In my Oscar predictions post, I mentioned that I would like to see Argo win. While I am happy that it won in this category,  in the back of my mind, I was kind of rooting for Silver Linings Playbook for the win. That film, as anyone who read my review knows, made me walk out of that film happy and most of that was in part to the chemistry between the characters and the dialogue between each other, which I thought was excellent. But regardless, I was happy with Argo's win.

BEST ACTOR
Denzel Washington – Flight
Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook

This win did not come a surprise this was the only guaranteed lock of the whole evening. Whenever Daniel Day-Lewis is nominated, he's essentially guaranteed to win. However, his speech was hilarious. He's usually known for being a serious actor and who knew he could be really funny? I loved the speech and after this, does anyone else want to see Daniel Day-Lewis do a comedy just to see how that would turn out?

[Speaking of Lincoln: Seth MacFarlane's joke about John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln was the best joke of the whole night.]

BEST ACTRESS:
Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts – The Impossible
Emmanuelle Riva – Amour
Out of all the acting categories of the night, this was the one I was incredibly happy with. While I thought Jessica Chastain was going to take home the award for the night, I was pleasantly surprised when Lawrence's name was called. I loved Lawrence's performance, she could go from witty to angry in a matter of 2.5 seconds it was incredible. I am very happy with her winning this award she fully deserves it.

Oh and before I forget: Yes, she fell up the stairs getting her award. We know, it happened. Let's move on from it.

BEST DIRECTOR:

Ang Lee – Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke – Amour
Behn Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

I honestly would have thought Spielberg would have taken home the directing prize for Lincoln, but nope, it went to Ang Lee for Life of Pi. I can't say if Ang Lee deserves to win for this award because I never got around to seeing Life of Pi before Oscar night unfortunately. So I can't comment on whether he deserves it or not.

BEST PICTURE:

ArgoAmour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Argo fully deserves its Best Picture win. I was happy when it started winning awards left and right at the Director's Guild, Screen Actors Guild, Producers Guild, Golden Globes, and the BAFTAs. It's just nice to see Ben Affleck come so far after his career slump back in the early 2000s and to now see him win a Best Picture Oscar is inspiring.

So that's my thoughts on the big winners on Oscar night. Overall, the show was one of the best I've seen in a while and I'm happy with most of the winners.

Trailer Roundup: Super Bowl Edition

The Super Bowl is once again upon us and once again it is time for movie studios to unleash TV spots for their upcoming spring/summer blockbusters during the Big Game. And man did studios show off a pretty good haul of what's to come in the coming months. Below is the TV spots that aired during the big game along with my thoughts on them.

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL-March 8

 

 

 

Oz the Great and Powerful is a film I have mixed feelings on. On one hand, it's from director Sam Rami, the man who directed the Spider-Man and Evil Dead trilogies. I'm interested to see what he does with a straight up fantasy movie. I'm also curious to see how it ties into the original Wizard of Oz. I know the plot revolves around the Wizard arriving in Oz and meeting the three witches but I'm curious as to see what specific aspects tie in to the original story.

 

However, the one thing that really bugs me is how similar the film looks to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Burton didn't produce this, but when you watch the trailer, you have to wonder if maybe he did.

 

The Super Bowl spot here does not offer anything new. It's the same footage that we've seen from the two trailers that have been released. Overall, a bit of a letdown but I'll still most likely check it out when it hits theaters.

 

 

 

WORLD WAR Z- June 21

 

 

World War Z is a film that interests me greatly. I have read the book by Max Brooks upon which this film is based and I am curious to see just how it will translate to film. The book is comprised of multiple stories detailing survivors' experience with the zombie apocalypse. In the film, we follow Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), a U.N. employee who goes around conducting interviews with survivors. It makes me wonder: will the filmmakers do stories from the book or will they create entirely new stories? Either way, I'm extremely curious to see how the film stays to the source material.

As for the TV spot, it's all footage from the trailer, though it does a pretty good job of teasing exactly what happened.  I'm definitely intrigued by how this will all play out.

 

 

 

THE LONE RANGER-July 3

 

 

 

When I saw the first trailer for The Lone Ranger, I had no interest whatsoever after watching this. It just looked like a dumb, goofy Western action film and we all know what happened the last time this kind of film came out (coughWild Wild Westcough). Now, after seeing this Super Bowl spot, it looks slightly better but I still have my doubts. The action in this movie does look like it will be entertaining and Arnie Hammer looks like he'll be pretty good as the Lone Ranger. Also, I like how they seem to be exploring the spirtual and supernatural side to the Ranger as to how he came back from the dead.

 

However, I still feel wary on this. I know the film is supposed to look like it might be a fun dumb ridd, but I'm worried it might be TOO dumb. Disney spent $250 milion on this movie and after the flop that was John Carter, they have a lot riding on this one. Also while I love Johnny Depp, he looks like he's doing the whole Jack Sparrow bit again (which would make sense considering that Gore Verbinski made this). I'm still optimisitic about this one, but I have my doubts on it as well.

 

Also, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are in a movie together NOT directed by Tim Burton?? Now that's a surprise.

 

 

 

IRON MAN 3-May 3 

 

 

Now we start getting into the good stuff. I have been greatly anticipating Iron Man 3 ever since the credits on The Avengers started rolling. This time, Jon Favreau passes on the directing torch to Shane Black, who made the criminally underrated Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I think Black is an excellent choice to direct here, because the dialogue will be pretty damn good (he's also writing the screenplay) and the action will be fast paced and intense.

Also, I like how the story is going to deal with the aftermath of what happened in The Avengers. Tony Stark seems to be shaken after the battle in New York that *SPOILER ALERT* ended with him taking a nuclear missle through a portal into another dimension, which honestly would shake most people. This film is also the start of "Phase Two" of Marvel's Cinematic Universe so I'm curious to see what seeds this movie will plant that will appear in future films.

As for the Super Bowl Spots, there are two. One that aired during the Big Game and an extended one premiered exclusively to Facebook. Both of these trailers are awesome I particularly like the trailer that premiered during the Big Game. It doesn't show a whole lot as to what's going on, but it basically says, "Yes, this will actually happen in the movie, how will Tony Stark get out of this situation?" It's short but man is it satisfying. The extended one gives a little bit more footage but not a whole lot more. Still both of these trailers look awesome and I can't wait for this movie to come out.


Here's the spot that aired during the Big Game:

 

 



 

and here's the spot that premiered on Facebook!

 

 

 

 

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS-May 17

 

 

I will admit that I am not a "Trekkie." I am not the biggest fan of the Star Trek franchise (I only casually watch "The Next Generation"). However, I flat out adore J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot. As someone who is not the biggest fan of Star Trek, I love this movie. Which is why I can not wait for this sequel, this movie looks fantastic. Right from the get go, you can see this is going to be a much darker Star Trek film, with the story this time around being the crew of the Enterprise going after Benedict Cumberbatch's character.

 

And that's all we know about the plot because with a J.J. Abrams film, he will keep plot details as close to the chest as he possibly can. And I love that about him, I love when directors don't reveal anything about their film in order to keep the audience surprised.

Also, I am liking Benedict Cumberbatch's turn as John Harrison (that's the name I'm reading though everyone is going nuts over whether he's Khan or Gary Mitchell or not....I may not watch Star Trek, but I know some names). He is absolutely menacing and seems really pissed at the Federation for some unknown reason not yet revealed to us. I can't wait to find out more about this when it comes out.

 

 

FAST AND FURIOUS 6-May 24

 

 

Out of every Super Bowl movie trailer that premiered on Sunday night, this was one of the ones I was looking forward to the most. This is the very first look we got at this movie and my God did it not disappoint. I loved Fast Five that movie completely took me surprise by how entertaining it was. It's easily one of my favorite action movies of all time and this one looks just as entertaining.

 

The story this time around is that Dom (played once again by Vin Diesel) and his crew are rich, but they can't go home. Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) then shows up asking for their help in taking down a team of drivers who's second in command is Dom's thought-to-be dead girlfriend Letty. The team agrees to take the job on the condition they recieve full pardons for their crimes so that they can go home. And then....mayhem and badassery ensues. The film's action in this, like the last film, looks so damn entertaining to watch everyone looks like they're having a blast making this. This was easily one of my favorite spots of the whole Super Bowl and I can't wait to see more.

 

 

Those were the big spots released during the Super Bowl and looking from this roster.....we got a damn fine haul coming in 2013. 



UPDATED: Star Wars: J.J. Abrams Reported to Direct Episode VII!

In a surprising turn of events, it seems as if J.J. Abrams, who is known for films such as Star Trek and the upcoming Star Trek into Darkness is directing the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII, In a news story first reported by The Wrap (and  reported by other sources such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter), it seems as if Abrams is nearing a deal to direct the seventh installment in the legendary franchise, which to date has grossed $4.4 billion dollars worldwide.

This is interesting to me because Abrams said back in October that he did not want to tackle Star Wars. I guess now he changed his mind and is nearing a deal with Disney to direct. I'm taking all of this with a grain of salt until I hear confirmation from Lucasfilm and/or Disney.  Regardless though, if this proves to be offically confirmed by Abrams or Lucasfilm, I think this is absolutely fantastic news.  Abrams knows his way around science fiction. Look what he did with Star Trek. I wasn't even a fan of Star Trek before Abrams' 2009 reboot came out and after I saw it, I was blown away by it. And let's be honest here....Star Wars is not what it once was. The prequels SUCKED and all the rereleases adding new things into the original trilogy were unnecessary. Who better to breathe new life into a franchise then the guy who made another sci fi franchise feel new again?

Again I'm taking this all with a grain of salt and hoping to hear a confirmation from Abrams and/or Lucasfilm/Disney very soon. I'll keep you all updated when a statement does get released.

UPDATE: Well it's official folks: The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm issued a statement on Friday saying that J.J. Abrams IS the official director of Star Wars Episode VII. Click here for more info.

Zero Dark Thirty: A Powerful Experience

It's very rare for me to walk out of a film these days and have it leave a profound effect on me. Usually, when I walk out of a film, I'll be like "that was pretty good" or "wow that was great I loved it!" But it's rare for me these days for a film to leave me feeling something. It seems to be happening a lot with the movies I have seen recently, what with Silver Linings Playbook  also eliciting a emotion out of me recently.

Zero Dark Thirty is another one of those films.

Zero Dark Thirty (which takes its name from the military term meaning a non-specific hour where it's either extremely late or early in the morning when it's still dark out) reteams director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal, who first worked together in 2009 on The Hurt Locker.  The film recounts the 10 year manhunt for Osama Bin Laden, the man responsible for one of the worst attacks in American history. We focus on CIA agent Maya (Jessica Chastain) as she embarks on a 10 year mission to track down Bin Laden, a mission which consumes nearly 10 years of her life. Her mission ends in the now famous raid of Bin Laden's compound and his death during the raid.

Now as I said, this film elicited an emotion out of me after watching it, something films rarely do to me anymore. After watching this, I felt....stunned. Stunned at how powerful this film was. It seemed I wasn't the only one: when the credits rolled at the end of my screening, nobody said a word. Everyone left in silence. That's how powerful this was.

The acting in this movie is simply incredible. Jessica Chastain is an absolute powerhouse in this movie. She brilliantly pulls off the range of emotions Maya goes throughout her 10 year mission, from fresh-faced and naive in the beginning to becoming world-weary and hardened by what she has seen, with only one goal on her mind: to track down and kill Bin Laden by whatever means necessary. Chastain easily conveys these emotions well, especially Maya's frustration at not being able to have captured Osama yet. In my Silver Linings Playbook review, I said I would like Jennifer Lawrence to win the Best Actress award. However, if Chastain ends up beating Lawrence and winning the Oscar, I would be entirely fine with that Chastain gives a great performance.

The rest of the supporting cast did a fine job as well. George Clarke, who plays Maya's colleague Dan, did a great job. I have never seen him in anything else before this and I hope to see more of him in future films. Kyle Chandler, who plays Joseph Bradley, Maya's boss, also does a fine job with his role. It was also fun to see the way the Navy SEAL team who took down Osama interact with each other, especially Joel Edgerton and, surprisingly, Chris Pratt, who is well known for starring on NBC's sitcom Parks and Recreation and turns in a surpisingly dramatic performance. He and Edgerton and the rest of the SEALs interact so well with each other, you would think they actually went through a war together.

Also, this film is one hell of an intense ride. This is thanks in part to Bigelow's directing, which once again proves why she's one of the best directors working in Hollywood today. Her direction is excellent, building up scenes with a lot of tension and even making some scenes you would think would not have a lot of tension pretty intense. Also, she does not shy away from some of the waterboarding/torture scenes, which has caused a lot of controversy since it's released. I'll just say this: there were a couple times I flinched in this over how real these scenes were.

And then you have the last 30 minutes of this film. The last 30 minutes of the film depicts the raid on Osama's bunker and are easily some of the most intense moments I've ever seen in a film. The entire time I witnessed this, I was on the edge of my seat. What's cool is during some parts of the raid, Bigelow shoots in night-vision mode, letting us see what the SEALs see through their night-vision goggles. Bigelow makes you feel like you're in the middle of the raid yourself.

The screenplay is also really well done. Mark Boal knows how to make an excellent military movie (see: The Hurt Locker) and he does it again here. The script crackles with intensity and true emotion.  What's interesting to note about the script is that this script was originally not the film Bigelow and Boal were supposed to make. They originally had another movie planned about finding Bin Laden which would end on an uncertain note about whether we would find him or not. But then, we actually got Bin Laden so Bigelow and Boal essentially started from scratch but still kept some elements of the original film in this movie. It never seemed like there was one part from the scrapped film and one from this newer movie clashing together so props to Boal for making it seem smoothless.

I will say that the film is a long one (two and a half hours to be exact) but it seemed to go by pretty quickly actually.

Overall, Zero Dark Thirty was an excellent, well-made film. It's definitely one of my favorites from 2012. I walked out of the theater stunned by the realism I had just witnessed. As I type this, nearly four hours after I drove home from the theater, it still sticks with me. If a film can evoke that kind of a response out of you and can stay with you hours later, then by all means it has succeeded as a film.

Grade: A

Silver Linings Playbook: A Wonderfully Enjoyable Film

 

When I first saw the trailer for Silver Linings Playbook, I thought it looked pretty good. It looked like a fun time at the movies, but I thought , "Eh if I miss it in theaters, it wouldn't be a total loss I'll just wait for it to come out on DVD." But then, I started to hear a lot of positive buzz coming out of its screening the Toronto International Film Festival this past year. Also, it got a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes at first (as of right now it's at 91% which still is pretty damn good). Then, the Oscar nominations came out, where it got nominated in all of the Acting categories along with Original Screenplay, Director, and Best Picture. So my thoughts went from "Eh I can wait for DVD" to "I need to see what all the hype is about." So now I get to review it because hey, better late then never to review a movie that came out two months ago.....

Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley Cooper, Jennifere Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, and Chris Tucker. Cooper plays Pat Solitano, a man diagnosed with bipolar disorder who has just finished an 8 month stint in a mental institution and is released into the care of his parents (De Niro and Weaver). Pat is trying to turn his life around and thinks he can win back his wife, who placed a restraining order on him after his violent episode that caused him to go to the mental institution in the first place. While at a dinner with two of his friends, Pat meets Tiffany (Lawrence), who also has some problems of her own. Because of this, they strike up an odd friendship.

OK no bullshit, I'm just gonna tell you all flat out: I adored this movie. This is probably one of my favorites from 2012 hands down.

The acting in this is phenomenal. Bradley Cooper gives easily the best performance of his entire career. He blew me away by going through the emotions of someone with bipolar, with his moods changing from happy to angry to sad. It blew me away by how he portrayed this character. He portrayed him as someone struggiling to adjust, but still tried to maintain a positive outlook on life. Optimisitcally, I would like him to win Best Actor (realistically it will probably go to Daniel Day-Lewis or Joaquin Phoenix) because I truly think he deserves it.

Also Jennifer Lawrence....she is excellent in this. Easily one of the best performances in the entire film. She gives it her all here, portraying Tiffany as someone who is extremely vulnerable but in order to stay strong, has a very hard exterior. There's one scene in the movie that stands out in my mind where Lawrence's emotions go from calm to angry in the span of 2 seconds. I want to see her win the Oscar come Oscar night.

The supporting cast in this is great as well. Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver as Pat's parents are fantastic. In the movie, Pat's father is a supersititous Eagles fan who turns to bookmaking in order to earn money to start a resturant. He believes Pat is his good luck charm and De Niro nails the obessesive fandom perfectly. He plays the character so narrow minded as to having only one thing on his mind and one thing only: for the Eagles to beat the opposing team. Jacki Weaver as Pat's mom was good as well, though I wish they had given her more to do. But the biggest surprise in this movie? Chris Tucker. I mean where the hell did this come from? Keep in mind that the last three movies he's done was the Rush Hour trilogy. As Pat's friend Danny from the mental hospital, Tucker was really good in this. I hope this leads to more roles in the future that don't involve Jackie Chan.

Another thing I really liked in this movie is the writing. David O. Russell, who directed the film as well as writing it, made this film almost seem like two different genres. For a while, it's this serious drama but halfway through, it becomea a light-hearted romantic comedy. By the end of this movie, I walked out in a really good mood. Also, the film is funny. There were some genuine laugh out loud moments.

Overall, Silver Linings Playbook is a fantastic film, It is easily one of the best films of 2012 and I adored it. If you haven't seen it, check it out before the Oscars on February 24th.

Grade: A

Oscar Nominations 2013: List of Nominees and My Thoughts!

So the nominations for the 85th annual Academy Awards were just announced and I have to say: there were a ton of surprises this year. Overall, there were things I had expected to see nominated and a lot of things that came out of nowhere for me. Below is a list of the nominees that were announced and my thoughts on the nominees.

(NOTE: This is only a list of the nominees of the big categories. On a side note, I have not gotten a chance to see all of the films that were nominated this year so I'm sorry if I don't mention all the nominees listed in my thoughts.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Alan Arkin, Argo
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

Now this list I was completely happy with. If any one of these actors won for their performance, I would have no complaints. The only two I have not seen yet are Hoffman or de Niro for their respective movies but I have heard both are fantastic. It's nice to see Waltz, Jones and Arkin get some love. However, I am genuinely surprised that Leo DiCaprio was snubbed for his role in Django Unchained. If he was nominated, he would have been my pick to win no doubt. He played a truly great villianous role and should have easily gotten a nomination.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Sally Field, Lincoln
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Amy Adams, The Master

For me, Hathaway has this one in the bag. She gives one of, if not the best performances of her career. She brilliantly showcased the pain and sadness that Fantine was going through. She absolutely deserves to win the Oscar. The only person I can really see pulling a surprise win is Sally Field. She gave so much depth and emotion to her performance as Mary Todd Lincoln.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

Wreck-It Ralph
Frankenweenie
Brave
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits

It's nice to see The Pirates! get some love in this category because it was just such an enjoyable film and it's good that stop motion animation is finally getting some love again. I was shocked that Rise of the Guardians didn't get a nomination because I thought that was a solid effort from Dreamworks, one of their best actually. However, out of all these nominations, I can see Wreck-It Ralph or ParaNorman winning it this year. Although I can see Brave pulling an upset because when it comes to this category, don't ever mess with Pixar they've won almost every single year they've been nominated.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
Michael Haneke – Amour
Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom
John Gatins – Flight

It's a shame that Rian Johnson wasn't nominated for Looper this year that was one of the best original scripts in recent memory. I would have put that in instead of Flight. Out of these nominees, it would be nice to see Tarantino win for Django or even Anderson for Moonrise Kingdom, but I can see Boal or perhaps even Haneke winning for this one.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Tony Kushner – Lincoln
Chris Terrio – Argo
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
David Magee – Life of Pi
Lucy Alibar, Behn Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

For me, I feel as if Silver Linings Playbook or even Lincoln will take this one although I would like to see Argo win it.  Yet at the same time, I can see Beasts of the Southern Wild pulling an upset and win it. Also, while I unfortunately did not get a chance to see it, I was surprised that The Perks of Being a Wallflower was not nominated because I know that was the one some had expected to win.

BEST ACTOR

Denzel Washington – Flight
Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
Joauquin Phoenix - The Master
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day Lewis will probably win here. Why? Because it seems that every time Day-Lewis gets nominated, he wins. Although the only two who I could see winning it from under Day-Lewis are Phoenix or, optimistically, Cooper. Denzel is the absolute longshot here Jackman has a better chance than Denzel. But overall, I'm happy with the choices in this category

BEST ACTRESS:

Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts – The Impossible
Emmanuelle Riva – Amour

To me, the clear winners are either Chastain or Lawrence. However, I always believe in hoping for the underdog so if the little girl (who is now the youngest Best Actress nominee at 9 years old) from Beasts Of the Southern Wild , which I'm watching this weekend, wins, I'd be OK with that just because of what she accomplished at 9 years old.

BEST DIRECTOR:

Ang Lee – Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke – Amour
Behn Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

OK this was the category that made me go, "What the hell?" I mean no recognition for Quentin Tarantino, Ben Affleck (who cemented himself as one of the best directors in Hollywood this year) or Kathryn Bigelow? Really Academy? I guess in this case, my pick for Best Director would have to be Spielberg or Russell though Lee or Zeitlin could easily swoop in and win the award. Now usually, Best Director usually goes in hand with Best Picture (or that's what I've noticed) which means.....

BEST PICTURE:

Argo
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

...if any one of the four director I mentioned above wins for Best Director, that could mean their film could win for Best Picture. As I type this, Lincoln leads the most nominations with 12 nominations while Life of Pi comes in second with 11. However, while I can see Lincoln or Life of Pi  possibly winning, at the same time, Silver Linings has a pretty strong chance of winning as well. Beasts of the Southern Wild could also surprise me and become the Little Movie that Could in the coming month (can't make full judgements on how I feel about the film, which I will do this weekend). Optimistically, I would LIKE to see Django or Les Miserables or possibly Argo win it, but I have a feeling that's a long shot.

But overall, The Oscar nominations, for the most part this year, were pretty solid with a few notable snubs. I can't wait to see how it all unfolds February 24th.

For a full list of the nominees this year, click this link: http://oscar.go.com/nominees