Let’s get this out of the way. No it’s not as good as the first. But it does manage to get the spirit of the first back and most of all it’s fun. The thing that makes this thing work so well is the relationship between Agents Jay and Kay.

So back in 1963 Agent Kay (played by Tommy Lee Jones) shot off a very dangerous alien’s arm and imprisoned him. His name is Boris the Animal (played by Jermaine Clement) and years later in 2011 he breaks out of jail for revenge. Agent Kay becoming so emotionally withdrawn that Agent Jay (played by Will Smith) is just frustrated and fed up. Boris, after attacking the agents, decides to go back in time and kill Kay. He is successful and returns from his home world and launches an all out takeover on Earth. Jay then travels back in time in order to save a younger Kay (played by Josh Brolin) and present day Earth.

Watching this and seeing the relationship between Agent Kay and Jay are just great. They realize that the jokes are there best when they take it back to basics and have each other play off each other. And when Jay travels back in time, I forget that I’m watching Josh Brolin and I think I’m watching Tommy Lee Jones. Also, the new character Agent Oh (played by Emma Thompson and Alice Eve) is seamlessly integrated into the MIB mythology and giving Agent Zedd from the first two a nice send off. And Jermaine Clement surprisingly plays an intimidating villain. Micheal Stahlberg takes a one note character and infuses life and energy into him. The action scenes are seriously some of the best the series has to offer.  Also, time travel is done nicely and the 3D is done very nicely. It seems as if Barry Sonneneld woke up from his sleepwalking direction from 2 and got back into the mode of direction he brought to the first.

What didn’t work was a few of the jokes that fall flat. The Andy Warhol scene gets dragged out for too long. And the “twist” seemed forced and shoehorned in.

All in all if you can catch this a matinee, catch it. Everything you loved about the first is back and hopefully this is it and they leave the series on a high note.

So five movies and four years have built up to this. At the end of Iron Man when Nick Fury came to Tony Stark about the Avengers Initiative started the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man 2, Thor, & Captain America: The First Avenger have set up this movie in spades. The Incredible Hulk they do heavily reference but you can skip that in terms of enjoying this film. Joss Whedon fully delivers an epic summer movie. And please do not watch anymore trailers, TV spots or clips. Enough’s been spoiled already.

  Professor Erik Selvig (played by Stellan Skarsgard, who reprises his role from Thor) is studying The Tesseract also know as the Cosmic Cube for all you comic geeks and it also played a big part in The First Avenger and the post-credits scene for Thor. He is in the S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters just cracking that it opens a portal between our dimension and and another dimension. Meanwhile, Loki (once again played by Tom Hiddleston) wants revenge on his brother Thor (once again played by Chris Hemsworth) and agrees to lead an alien army to rule and enslave Earth for an unknown ruler. When the S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters come under attack by Loki, who in the process takes the Tesseract, and places Selvig and Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (once again played by Jeremy Renner) under his control, Nick Fury (once again played by Samuel L. Jackson) demands that the Avengers assemble to save the world.

This is essentially Iron Man 3/Captain America 2/the Nick Fury movie. These three are put front and center followed by Loki/The Hulk/Black Widow. What I like is that each hero has an ego. They are all lost in the world with the exception of Tony Stark (once again played by Robert Downey Jr.) who is in love with Pepper Potts (once again played by Gwyneth Paltrow) and enjoying his time together with her in the newly built Stark Tower in Midtown Manhattan. This little aside is what makes me appreciate Iron Man 2 even more. They don’t shoehorn in Pepper, but she’s in it surprisingly more than expected and it feels natural. Cap has been with S.H.E.I.L.D. and Banner on the run. Halfway through the movie things get out of hand as their disagreements and generally mistrust boils over into a really cool fight. To see The Hulk and Thor fight is just something to behold and marvel at (no pun intended).

*MAJOR SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION*

What I didn’t like in this movie is that Thor got pushed to the background. Agent Phil Coulson (once again played by Clark Gregg) bites the dust. How Iron Man randomly shows up when Cap is fighting Loki. That Thor randomly shows up and is given a weak ass explanation as to how he got back to Earth. To add to that Thor shows up halfway through the picture. We never go to see Black Widow’s arm bracelets in action. The action is sometimes hard to make out. Cobie Smulders is good as Maria Hill, but I thought the character was overall useless. She was just Fury’s sidekick, even though I have a feeling she’s gonna be beefed up in future Marvel movies, especially now that Coulson’s gone.

What I did like is that they’re not the Avengers until Coulson’s death pushes them together. Hawkeye and Black Widow (once again played by Scarlett Johannsson) become Avengers because they give Cap a ride to Manhattan. When Cap is on-screen during the Helicarrier attack it heavily references the climax of his movie with his doing some of the same fights and having his musical cue come up alot. We also get to see Nick Fury and Agent Coulson in combat. I like how we never learn what the Black Widow did saying that she owes Hawkeye and having alot of “red” in her file and past. Also liked that Hawkeye was a secondary character rather than a main character. He’s cool and all but with so many people already in the film he deserves the least screen time.

*END SPOILERS*

It was awesome hearing Joss Whedon’s trademark humor and diagloue and that is what helps carry the movie for the first two acts really is Joss. This is Joss’s 2nd feature and to be honest I liked his direction better on Serenity than I did here. But he still did a fine job and crafted, in my opinion the best Marvel film to date. This film has the most action out of all the Marvel films combined and I gotta say, it really freaking impressive. Including what I see to be the coolest Iron Man transformation yet when Tony get thrown out the window by Loki. And the Mark VII armor is the best yet bringing back the traditional circle to the armor (I agree with Joss the triangle is ass). Also, the entire third act belongs to The Hulk. And Mark Ruffalo to me is THE best Bruce Banner and Hulk yet. Finally after two films it takes him being in a movie with other heroes to finally come alive on-screen. What was also cool was seeing the Cap lead them tactically at the end. They all knew that when fighting a war, you need a solider with experience to lead you. But I will acknowledge the film does have problems and pacing issues, but very minor ones.

Now the big question is, can I jump into this without seeing the other five films? Yes and no. Yes because it works on it’s own as a complete film and no because they jump right into the story. No time is wasted introducing the characters as they all had their own films to shine in. The only characters who have “developments” and “arcs” are Cap, Hulk, Stark, Loki, Widow, and Fury. This film heavily references all of what’s come before hand with the exception of the first Iron Man. Without the post credit sequence, it stands alone as film on its own with the exception of introducing S.H.E.I.L.D. and Agent Coulson. My personal advice is to seek out and watch all five films or go to one of the Marvel marathons that select theaters are running, showing all six movies back-to-back. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

All-in-all it sucks I gotta wait three weeks to see this again. At two hours and twenty minutes it moves fast but does drag just in a few spots. The 3D is top notch (I saw it in the shittiest fake IMAX (LIEMAX) theater and it was the best 3D experience I’ve had in a theater yet). I hope to take in a press screening with a Q&A because I have alot of questions to ask anyone who shows up for it. And I feel even worse for you poor saps who have yet to see it. Also, there’s a mid-credits sequence with Thanos setting up either Iron Man 3, Thor 2, The Avengers 2, or all three. We did not have the post-credits sequence which they shot Thursday night and I’m eager and dying to see what it is. When the time comes you better bet your ass that they’ll be a ton of new Avengers to go with the old team. And Joss better be there to guide them again in what he wants to do as a more personal and emotionally smaller scale film and I can’t wait. Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe starts now.

Aardman does it again. They made another claymation masterpiece that works for all ages. My brother and I were rolling the whole time and a good portion of these jokes will go over children’s heads. But there’s enough here for everyone to enjoy.

The Pirate Captain runs a ship of dim-witted pirates that make up his crew save for his second mate Pirate with Scarf. All The Pirate Captain wants is to be taken seriously and win the “Pirate of the Year” award. In his quest The Captain and his crew meet Charles Darwin, travel the streets of Victorian London, and plunder various ship with poor results. Along the way The Captain learns some valuable lessons that might help him win the award.

This film has an all star cast that includes Hugh Grant, Selma Hayek, Jeremy Piven, Brendan Gleeson, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, and Martin Freeman who character looks exactly like him. The jokes come hard and often throughout the film. They even play a Flight of the Concords song to great effect in a sad scene. The claymation has come a long way from the Wallace & Gromit days. I read in the production notes that the backgrounds and water in the film were CG and I honestly couldn’t even tell. Apparently they did the CG with green screens like you would on a live action film, which only makes me respect them more due to claymation being stop motion.

All in all this is another top notch Aardman film. The 3D is great and not only will kids love it you’ll love it to. See it when it opens at the end of the month. Peter Lord is saying they’re already developing a sequel. I can’t wait.

*WARNING SPOILERS*

Now that that’s out of the way, I way say that at almost 2 and a half hours this movie flies by.

A lot of the changes from the book I liked such as Katniss getting the Mockingjay pin from Greasy Sae in the Hob. Madge is not in the film. I like how we get to see the games outside of the arena, such as Haymitch getting sponsors for Katniss, Seneca Crane commanding the Gamemmakers from a giant white room as they watch and control the tributes. Seneca Crane has a lot of scenes with President Snow (Snow’s roll is beefed up).

A few changes I didn’t like was that Rue was pushed into the background, so when she dies it has less of an impact. When Katniss does the tribute salute in the air, everyone in District 11 salutes and then a riot breaks out. I really wished the would’ve saved this for the second film as this is not addressed again, and it had a bigger impact in book 2 than what had happen in the film. In book 2 it was so simple, and brutal and here they beefed it up to a huge scene.

END SPOILERS

As a movie it works best for people who’ve read the book, as I’ve had people who had questions ask me well how was this or what was this. And hearing Katniss’ inner monologue in the book was good, as we get to hear her thoughts.

With that said, I feel Gary Ross made the best movie he could. He said he made an indie film that just happens to be a tentpole release. I beg to differ but whatever. The jump cuts were a bit much at times, but they work more than they don’t. Jennifer Lawrence was great as Katniss and Liam Hemsworth did a good Gale. Josh Hutcherson was decent as Peeta. Lenny Kravitz killed it as Cinna even if his scenes felt rushed. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch was perfect, as was Elizabeth Banks as Effie.

I was surprised this was PG-13 cause this was really violent and bloody at times. And I’m glad Ross didn’t hold back. It’s not gratuitous, it’s showed to be vicious and horrible.

I liked how the soundtrack was subtle and never overpowered the film and was only played when necessary. And only two songs are played in the film and it’s over the end credits. More Hollywood films need to do this instead cramming songs on the soundtrack at random points in the film.

All in all this a matinee. Though a high matinee almost teetering on a full price.

And Jennifer Lawrence in real life…that’s my ex-wife one day.

And I saw that Collins was part of the screenwriting team. This bitch still doesn’t know how to write an ending. The ending in the book is way better than the ending in the film which was rushed.

franklongo:

The Shining: A Toy Story by Kyle Lambert

Brilliant.

(Source: ianbrooks)

The marketing campaign for this film that Disney has going for it is killing the flick. It looks bland. It’s anything but. This is THE sci-fi story that inspired Star Wars, Star Trek, & Avatar. And everything else. They’ve been trying to make this film since 1931. I’m really surprised this is not dropping in the summer.

John Carter is a disillusioned Confederate solider. When he’s drafted back into the war, he wants nothing but to leave and live out the rest of his days in solitude. During an escape attempt he stumbles upon an ancient cave of gold and accidentally kills a mysterious man. A glowing medallion is in the man’s hand and he is suddenly transported to Mars or an its inhabitants call Barsoom. Due to  him being an Earth man on Mars he has extraordinary abilities and finds himself caught up in a Civil War between the red people of Helium and a power struggle of the green Tharks. Little does he know that this conflict holds the fate of the whole galaxy at hand.

Edgar Rice Burroughs’s “Barsoom” series of books are wildly popular. The first book A Princess of Mars, is what John Carter is based on. Andrew Stanton is the second director from Pixar, after Brad Bird, to make a successful transition to live action. This film is so entertaining. For the first 30 or so minutes I wasn’t to sure but once John gets to Mars the movie really takes off. And the beginning is paid off at the end once everything comes full circle. I feel bad cause a lot of people left when they thought it was over when really there was still 10 minutes left. So please don’t leave until the credits start to roll. John Carter is a character I fully believe that Lucas took and made Han Solo out of. The whole movie his demeanor and attitude is just like Han. The character of Dejah Thoris reminded me a lot of Princess Leia. All I can think about the after seeing this is how much Lucas took material from this book and put it to his series. The arena fight in Attack of the Clones is from this too only a lot cooler, and more than less than half the time it played out in AOTC. There’s one moment from the arena scene where he challenges a Thark and what happens next is the most bad ass moment in the film. I yelled out “DAMN!” and people were clapping. Oh and the CGI work is fantastic here in the previews it does look absolutely terrible but damn the effects studio did a fine job. And the underrated Taylor Kitsch does a excellent job of making John Carter a character to root for. Oh and the 3D is really well done. I really don’t have a liking for 3D but damn the only way to see John Carter is on the biggest loudest IMAX 3D screen you can find.

All in all this is a full price movie. Good fun for everyone it just so awesome. And yes while it does have some bad moments a lot of it reminds me of the old space operas from 30s, 40s, and 50s. This is a film I’m gonna try to spread the word about since it doesn’t look to be on anybody’s radar and I want to take another trip to Barsoom. I can’t wait to see this again in IMAX. And if you don’t find this movie fun then what the hell is wrong with you?

Now that it’s March, I said to myself I better get on this since I promised this list way back when. With Haywire, The Grey, and The Secret World of Arrietty delivering great promises let’s hope those on the list can make it. Let’s get started shall we?

March 2012

John Carter

Ever since 1931 they’ve been trying to get this film made. Edgar Rice Burroughs’s A Princess of Mars and the subsequent books that followed that have made up the Barsoom series has been stolen from by every sci-fi movie from Star Wars to Avatar and everything in between. Early word is that this film delivers. I shall see soon enough. A lot sooner than you guys.

Casa de mi Padre

I love Gael Garcia Bernal & Diego Luna. They’re in a telenovela with Will Ferrell and it’s gonna be mostly in Spanish. Sign me up!

21 Jump Street

I was sold when buddy action comedy written and co-starring Jonah Hill was announced last year. Based of the hit TV show in the 80s, here it’s updated for today’s audience as a comedy. Why? Can you really take 30 year old police officers who go undercover in a high school seriously? Didn’t think so. Plus the trailer is hysterical. Again early buzz on this being great.

Detachment

Tony Kaye’s last film was American History X. He’s back with an all star cast that looks like it should be a powerhouse drama.

Bully

This doc is trying desperately to get a PG-13 so kids everywhere can see it. Where was this anti-bullying campaign when I was a kid.

The Hunger Games

I read the book and am currently halfway through the last book. So if you took Battle Royale and mixed it with Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and set in the country with some really well written characters you got The Hunger Games. I’m excited to see what Gary Ross brings us with this all star cast. For those of you who are not familiar with his work go check out Seabuscuit and Pleasantville. Right now. Anyways so far the first book is my favorite and the second book lives up to the first in so many ways, however this third book is lacking in all departments but who knows maybe I’m wrong.

The Raid: Redemption

Ever since I saw the trailer back in October or November, I’ve been patiently waiting for this. I still calling this by it’s original title which is The Raid. Supposedly, the sequel The Raid: Retaliation is supposed to drop later this year and another sequel is in production. And like all foreign flicks this one is also getting an American remake.

April 2012

American Reunion

I like this comedy series (not the direct to DVD ones) and it’s cool seeing everyone back again. I just hope it’s funny.
 

The Cabin in the Woods

I’ve been waiting to see this for the past two years. Joss Whedon. Drew Goddard. I’m there. Plus Thor is in it and Fran Kranz is in it (from the criminal underrated Dollhouse). Do not watch the trailer. Please.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

It’s Aardman. Their track record has been good thus far.

The Sound of My Voice

I heard this movie is incredibly trippy and creepy. Word out of Sundance (last year) was this film should’ve gotten the push instead of Another Earth. I hope it lives up to the hype.

Headhunters

Jo Nesbo’s novel comes to the big screen and of course America is the last country it’s released in and of course it’s already gonna be remade in America. From the people who have seen it they said it’s amazing and not for the faint of heart.

May 2012

The Avengers

C’mon do I really need to say anything? DID YOU NOT SEE THE LAST TRAILER? Joss Whedon handles ensembles well so I hope he can work his magic here or else this makes five movies incredibly shitty if this fails (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger have all been building towards this…).

Moonrise Kingdom

A Wes Anderson film. That is all.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Looks to be a nice comedy with an all star British cast set in India.

June 2012

Prometheus

Watch this trailer right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEVY_lonKf4. Now tell me this isn’t a prequel to Alien. Seriously watch the trailer for this film. Ridley Scott is returning to the movie that put him on the map and is still one of the most terrifying horror movies of all time. Guy Pearce is Peter Weyland of the Weyland-Yutani corporation. Micheal Fassbinder is an android. The Space Jockey is in it. Sounds like an Alien prequel. Feels like an Alien prequel.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Timur Bekmambetov makes fun movies. I love Night Watch and Wanted. I also enjoyed Day Watch. I hope this movie is dumb fun instead of just plain dumb. Also, I hope Timur makes Twilight Watch and Final Watch.

Brave

Pixar’s (hopefully) return to form after the trash that was Cars 2. I like the original title better The Bear and the Bow, but either way this looks to be epic.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

They can go nowhere but up after the last movie. Channing Tatum looks to be mirked in the first 10 minutes of the film and replaced by The RZA, Bruce Willis as the original Joe, and a Jay-Z quoting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. I’m there.

Magic Mike

I’ll watch anything done by Steven Soderbergh.

Piranha 3DD

Now that trailers have been released and a June 1st date has been locked down, I can’t wait. I like how they lower the stakes from going from a lake to a water park. Ah, B movie goodness.

July 2012

The Amazing Spider-Man

Or aka the movie they should’ve done the first time around. Gone is the Sam Raimi cheese, organic webbing, and Kristen Dunst. In are mechanical web shooters, a cooler costume, better lead actors (sorry Tobey), a darker tone and sense of reality, and the promise of the Gwen Stacy saga.  This seems to be a nice film to see before the juggernaut that is The Dark Knight Rises.

Savages

Oliver Stone returns with a movie that sounds gangster as hell. Plus, the two leads Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch are really good actors.

Ted

Seth MacFarlane’s live action debut. Let’s hope it’s better than Family Guy has been for the past five years (Blue Harvest being an exception).

Neighborhood Watch

After the the trailer I’m sold. And after all these years Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.” is still hard.

Easy Money

The movie that launched Daniel Espionsa’s career as a director. Safe House was not his fault it wasn’t good. Plus the sequel drops this summer and once again the American remake is on its way.

The Dark Knight Rises

Nolan and Bale are the first to finish a Batman series and hopefully on a high note. If any of you have doubts about Bane or Tom Hardy as Bane, do yourself a favor and BUY Nicholas Winding Refn’s masterpiece Bronson. Then come back and thank me. Back to Batman, I like how Nolan brings it back full circle by what he promised would heavily reference Batman Begins. This looks to be a combination of both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight as The League of Shadows and the big action set pieces of the first is back all set in the gritty realistic version of Gotham found in second.

August 2012

The Campaign

This comedy sounds like it’ll be a gut buster with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifinakis as two rival North Carolina politicians.

ParaNorman

Coraline was just awesome and after seeing the trailer for this, it looks just as equally awesome.

Premium Rush

This looks absolutely ridiculous. And since this drops on my birthday and it has Joesph Gordon-Levitt, I’m there.

Wettest County Lawless

John Hillcoat’s The Proposition is a modern day classic. A gritty no holds barred Western set in the Outback with great performances by Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, John Hurt, Noah Taylor, David Wenham and Emily Watson, that film is seriously underrated. Here we have an all star cast in a bootlegging gangster film set during Prohibition. Can’t wait. *Update* The title has now been changed. Terrence Malick’s gonna kill someone…

September 2012

Argo

So far Ben Affleck is two for two in his directing career, and this looks like it can live up to the standard set in place.

Coogan’s Trade Killing Them Softly

Andrew Dominik’s last film was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I weep everyday on how that movie got handled by Warner Brothers. He’s back with Brad Pitt in what promises to be one gangster ass movie. *UPDATE: Weinstein Company once again changes the title on their gangster film coming this year*

Hotel Transylvania

Genndy Tartakovsky. The creator of Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and The Powerpuff Girls. Automatically I’m there.

Dredd

Let’s hope they get Judge Dredd right this time. With Alex Garland overseeing things, it’ll at least be worth watching.

Looper

Rian Johnson is two for two giving us Brick and The Brothers Bloom. Early word is this flick is amazing. And with it’s premise and all star cast I expect it to fully deliver.

Trouble with the Curve

Clint Eastwood is acting again. This time with his producing partner Robert Lorenz at the helm. I pray this is good.

October 2012

Untitled Taken Sequel

Listen to what Latino Review posted about the script: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/53564. Now tell me you don’t want to see this. Oh, and did you see the first one?

Frankenweenie

Tim Burton revisits one of his old short films and makes a feature out it. From the looks of the trailer it looks to be a fun family flick.

Butter

Early word is this is hysterical. Why it keeps getting pushed back is beyond me.

The Gangster Squad

Ruben Fleischer is one of the most promising young directors out their and is two for two with Zombieland and 30 Minutes or Less. Here he takes a full 180 and does a crime drama with an all star cast in which looks like to be another gangster ass film. 2012 is full of those huh.

Not Fade Away

David Chase. IMDb him.

November 2012

Wreck-It Ralph

This just sounds like it can be all kinds of fun. Disney better not drop the ball.

Skyfall

 The first 007 film to be on IMAX. Supposedly the last to feature Dame Judi Dench as M. Ralph Finnes and Javier Bardem are the villains. And Sam Mendes is the director this time. This may be on level of the first four Bond films.

The Silver Linings Playbook

David O. Russell’s new film.

Rise of the Guardians

This animated film sounds so badass.

Gravity

The movie I’m most looking forward to this year. Alfonso Cuaron’s last movie was Children of Men. Plus this movie has reached mythic proportions in it’s rumors. A 20 minute opening shot. This: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1675806/sandra-bullock-gravity.jhtml. This: http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/681127/guillermo-del-toro-insists-alfonso-cuarons-gravity-is-so-insane.jhtml. If this movie is what it’s made out to be, Cuaron will be considered a god. Even if he is already in my eyes with Children of Men.

December 2012

World War Z *Pushed back to Summer 2013*

Zombie apocalypse scenario. Brad Pitt. Based on a best selling novel. Better live up to the promise.

This is 40

Judd Apatow’s spin off/sequel to Knocked Up. See ya there!

The Great Gatsby 3D

I’m sure this will be worth watching. I really wish Baz Luhrmann got to do his Alexander the Great epic. What he planned to do sounded so much better than what Olivier Stone and Warner Brothers rushed to beat him to.

Django Unchained

I read the script for this. It’s pure Tarantino. With his trademark dialogue and violence (which has been ramped up to 10 here) in a spaghetti Western set in the deep South during slavery, this is gonna be my favorite Tarantino film. Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz going around killing white slave hands…Merry Christmas!!!

Life of Pi

Ang Lee directs this film based of the bestselling novel. Thank God M. Night dropped out Ang Lee came abroad.

Untitled Kathryn Bigelow film

She made The Hurt Locker. This film based on operation that took down bin Laden promises to be another white knuckle ride. She once again teams up with screenwriter Mark Boal who wrote The Hurt Locker.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Some people say The Hobbit is more popular than The Lord of the Rings. This adaptation is long overdue and after much legal wrangling and Guillermo del Toro dropping out of the director’s chair, Peter Jackson steps back to where he belongs to take us back to Middle Earth.

Movies with no release date yet

The Man with the Iron Fists

The RZA co-writes, co-produces, and stars in his directorial debut which is co-produced by Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth (who is also co-wrote). A kung fu flick that’s supposed to be brutal. If you have any doubts, RZA’s knowledge on kung fu is vast. And if anything we’ll get another kick ass score of RZA beats (go check out Jim Jarmusch’s classic Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and Tarantino’s Kill Bill saga). Also, go get The Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the 36 Chambers RIGHT NOW

The Master

Paul Thomas Anderson’s last film was the Stanley Kurbrick-ish There Will Be Blood. Here he looks to be tackling Scientology (snickers). I’m really looking forward to this.

Lincoln

Spielberg is finally rolling on this film that been gestating since 2001. Liam Nesson left and Daniel Day Lewis finally comes in to lead an all star cast in this film that’ll surely rule award season.

Much Ado About Nothing/In Your Eyes

Joss Whedon has potentially THREE movies coming out in 2012. YES!!!

Red Hook Summer

Spike Lee’s newest film played at Sundance and got a reaction that polarized everyone due to a plot twist that I will not reveal that happens in the third act.

The Impossible

Saw the preview for this and it looks amazing. Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor look to give great performances. And it’s from the director of The Orphanage.

Movies I’m not to sure about…

Dark Shadows

Tim Burton directs this big screen adaption of the popular horror soap opera, I’m iffy on how this will work as a movie.

Men in Black III

They shut down production to finish a incomplete script. They also did not learn from their mistake with the second film, which is scaling back Tommy Lee Jones’s screen time. What made the first work so well was watching Jones and Smith bounce off each other and the last fifteen minutes of the second was the best.

The Dictator

It looks okay. Sasha Baron Cohen’s comedy routine seems to be getting stale to me. And this will be the movie people see if The Avengers is sold out.

Bernie

Love Richard Linklater, but Jack Black is another comedian whose routine has gotten stale.

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

Seems like Dreamworks is gonna milk this dry just like they did with Shrek. But hey maybe this third outing can hold up.

The Expendables 2

Chuck Norris might have screwed this movie. This was gonna be rated R, but Norris has found religion and has stated if they were gonna make it, it couldn’t be rated R. So now it’s watered down to a PG-13. Hopefully in Expendables 3, they add Steven Segal to the cast and break Wesley Snipes out of jail and roundhouse kick Chuck Norris’s face off.

Why?

Battleship

When I first heard Peter Berg is doing this flick based on the board game I said maybe if they play their cards right this could be okay at best. I also thought Peter Berg could do a lot better than this. Instead they have aliens and made Transformers at sea. This movie looks like utter trash and anyone looking forward to this please do me a favor and don’t talk to me ever. And can we stop turning board games into movies.

Mirror, Mirror/Snow White and the Huntsman

Two companies dueling to put out a “new take” on the Snow White story. The former looks like all around trash, while the last one looks like an over bloated blockbuster. Huntsman is supposed to be number one of three in a new trilogy which the producers compared to The Lord of the Rings (HAHAHAHAHA!!!). Problem is Snow White is supposed to be a knockout and to me Kristen Stewart is too dopey to pull off a role like this. Unfortunately, there’s still a few Snow White projects in the pipeline on top of the these two…

Wrath of the Titans

Did anyone ask for a sequel to the Clash of the Titans remake? This looks even worse than it’s predecessor and I saw the trailer in 3D and I see what people were talking about with the first having headache inducing 3D.

And there you have it. What are you looking forward to in 2012?

So it’s been a week and some change since I’ve seen Project X. And I’ll be honest right as the credits started rolling I’ve forgotten a good portion of the film. Honestly this trailer was more entertaining than the film itself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKlT2iheLmM.

There’s really not one likeable person in this except the main character and he’s so passive the whole movie. The character who pissed me off the most is the kid’s friend who constantly reminds us how Jewish he is and “back in Queens”. Seriously, that kid was the cause of 99% of the problems in the film and had that been me, I’d murder his ass. He was such a mean spirited dick the whole movie. The other friend has no personality and is just there for the fat jokes. Even the main character’s father was an asshole calling his son a loser in the meanest way possible. Also, I don’t see why this was a found footage movie as it could’ve worked as a straight forward comedy. On the plus side it is better than The Virginity Hit, which I saw a whole year before it’s release.

I will admit that I did laugh a couple of times but I don’t remember the jokes. Upside is WB had an awesome party afterward with DJ Jesse Marco, who DJed in the film and did a killer set. Then they had Machine Gun Kelly perform and free beer the whole night, so the night wasn’t a total waste.

All in all this is a rental at best if you HAVE to see it. Otherwise it’ll give you a few chuckles on HBO in September or October.

criterioncollection:

An actual comment card from a test screening of David Cronenberg’s VIDEODROME.

Universal’s output lately has been exactly what the card says.

My new dance part 2

(Source: adorablebrowning)

My new dance part 1

I wanna hang out too

(Source: andy-sexberg)

Here’s the video to my favorite song off “Watch The Throne”.

As you can see I was part of a global event today for The Amazing Spider-Man which drops July. NYC was one of four cities to be broadcasted live around the world. In London Rhys Ifans was there, in Rio De Janeiro Emma Stone and Avi Arad was there, in LA director Marc Webb was there and in NYC we had Spider-Man himself Andrew Garfield.

So to kick things off Andrew got us pumped and played hype man during the whole event. First we saw the new trailer in 3D. Guys wait till you see it. I mean whoa. More later. We then moved to a brief Q&A between all four cities and with that Marc was kind enough to edit a eight minute sizzle reel for us to get a good feel of the tone of the film. Not all the footage was done but who cares.

So let’s start with what we saw in the sizzle reel since the trailer will be online 3am EST. We start off with Flash Thompson mercilessly bullying a poor kid in front of the whole school, Peter tries to stop it prompting Flash Thompson demanding Peter take a picture. When he says no, Peter is brutally beaten by Flash in front of everyone. At home Uncle Ben and Aunt May ask him what happened when he says he fell off his skateboard. When then see the tables turned as we see Peter give Flash just desserts. We then see Uncle Ben reprimanding Peter in front of Gwen Stacy for fighting. Seeing Gwen he playfully embarrasses Peter in front of her. Peter then awkwardly asks her our to which she accepts. We then flashback to Peter’s childhood with his parents which then cuts to Peter finding his father’s briefcase full of files and a picture of him with Dr. Curt Connors. He asks Uncle Ben who is the man in the picture with his father to which he says it’s his father’s science partner Curt Connors who is trying to rebuild his arm using reptile DNA. We then cut to a large rotating glass of mutated spiders with Peter staring. Cut to (this next sequence has the audience in stitches) the next morning his alarm goes and he smashes it. He picks up the tooth paste it all squirts out over the mirror, tears off a handle on the kitchen sink, and tears down the towel rack and a good chunk of the wall. We then cut to see him training in an abandoned warehouse swinging and climbing and getting use to his new found strength. We also see him use his father’s files to build web shooters and combining his training with the web shooters. We then cut to see him in costume stopping muggers and a car jacker. The car jacking sequence is funny due to the jokes Spidey makes and we also see in this sequence how the web shooters work in combat. They sound like guns and are really awesome as he can fire web balls, little webs, big webs, and web lines. We then see him swing up to Gwen’s window to which she comments how did he get 20 stories up. We then see him having dinner with the Stacey family and here we meet Gwen’s dad Captain Stacey who is hunting Spider-Man as we see him and Peter argue over Spider-Man’s intentions. Next we get the Lizard going on a rampage and fight between hero and villain. Cut to Captain Stacey issuing an arrest warrant for Spidey. Cut to Spidey being pinned down and surrendering in the middle of the street. When Captain Stacey removes the mask Spidey fights back before then can get a good look. Cut to Gwen asking Peter why does he have to face the Lizard and he replies he has to, to which Gwen replies ever since she was a child she had to watch her father leave every morning and wonder if he’d come home that night, saying she doesn’t want the same for Peter. Cut to a shot of Spidey and the Lizard fighting on a big radio antenna as it comes crashing down on top of a skyscraper.

I love the direction this reboot is headed. It’s more serious and less campy then Raimi’s trilogy. We see him fight and train this time. We see a high school romance that recalls Marc Webb’s 500 Days of Summer. Love the web shooters. And I like how it’s not entirely focused on Spider-Man’s origin. And while yes this is serious, Spidey still makes wise cracking jokes to his opponents. 

Three things that stood out to me during the Q&A where Rhys Ifans saying that The Lizard is a villain more rooted in Peter’s emotional side as he takes Peter under his wing and is part of the mystery surrounding Peter’s parents. Emma Stone said that Gwen Stacey is in love with Peter Parker the man, not Spider-Man the superhero like Mary Jane is. And Andrew Garfield, who gave the best response,  said that he did Spider-Man because Spider-Man was us as he pointed to the audience and that he belongs to everybody. He hopes the next person to play Spider-Man after him will be half Hispanic and half African-American referencing the new Spider-Man in the comics (I don’t think white America is quite read for that. Yet.).

All-in-all I’m gonna like this better than what Raimi did. Marc Webb and crew bring something new and dangerous to the world of Spider-Man. It’s a darker and less campy direction they’re going in and come July I can’t wait to see how it all turns out. And follow my boy http://ahnmin.tumblr.com/ who was there with me today.

complexmagazine:

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