True Grit

I consider myself (obviously) a fiend for movies. Unfortunately, I've been missing out on many of the Coen brothers' movies. That said, Oscar season is upon us, and the Coen brothers are at it again, releasing another movie into the mix of films that are being tossed around to win a coveted trophy. True Grit is released just in time for consideration by the academy, but does it deserve any nominations or wins at next years ceremony? I think so. At least some nominations.

Rather than being a remake of the John Wayne version of the film of yesteryear, the movie follows the book more closely (neither of which I have watched or read, so I will avoid comparisons). Told from the perspective of Mattie Ross, this is one of the areas where the movie excels. Hailee Steinfeld, the 14 year-old girl responsible for the role of Mattie, gives a performance that is beyond her years. At points, I almost forgot her character was only as old as she was. The character was written extremely well and superbly acted by Steinfeld. From interviews that I've read, it seems like the girl has the maturity and sense to pick her roles wisely. If she does, she will definitely be one to watch out for. While deserving of a nomination, she might miss out on one in an already overcrowded category.

Another strong point of the movie was Jeff Bridges' performance. I'm not a huge fan of his, and before writting this review, I couldn't tell you what else he has been in (other than Tron). In retrospect, I have enjoyed a lot of his movies, so my neutrality towards him is unwarranted. To be frank, I can't think of any other actor who would have played Rooster Cogborn as well as Bridges did. While somewhat of an ass, his character was charming, and you can't help but like him. Steinfeld and Bridges work well together. Watching their friendship develop onscreen was beautiful, in a non-creepy way, even though you can tell Mattie is infatuated with Rooster. If Bridges isn't nominated for Best Actor, you can bet tables will be flipped.

The last place I thought the film really excelled was in the writing. You can't go wrong with a Coen brothers' script (I assume). This is the fourth adaption coming from the Coen brothers. Being favorites of the academy, I won't be surprised if the screenplay is nominated for an award. I was assuming this movie was going to be dramatic, and while it is considered a drama, I found myself laughing throughout. Even though I won't, this is one of those movies that makes me want to read the book.

I forgot Matt Damon was even in this movie before watching it. When he showed up, I said, "Oh, Matt Damon." He plays his role well, and watching the dynamic between his character and the other two was amusing. His performance wasn't anything spectacular though; at least I wasn't impressed by it. And I don't even know how to feel about Josh Brolin. He is capable of giving great performances, but his track record is so ridiculous. Even though his character is the motivator for Mattie's journey, he isn't in the movie for that long. However, he does do well with the screen-time he is given.

True Grit is definitely one of my favorite movies of the year, and I highly recommend going to see it. It has made me a fan of the Coen brothers. If it doesn't get any recognition this year, I will be slightly disappointed.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

"You are Jack Sparrow"
"There should be a Captain in there somewhere."

Let the hyperventilating begin!

I'm loving the newly revealed teaser trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. On Stranger Tides is the fourth entry into the Pirates franchise, and said to be the beginning of a new trilogy. I don't care. Give me as many Pirates movies as possible. I will see each one at least five times. Loosely based on a book by the same name, On Stranger Tides hits theaters on May 20, 2011.

This trailer paints the movie as less of a Dead Man's Chest or At World's End, and more like a Curse of the Black Pearl. It seems more fun and simple like the first one, with less at stake like in the sequels. Critics of the Dead Man's Chest and World's End whine about how the story became too ridiculous and complicated, and that they didn't fit in with Black Pearl. They can rot on the bottom of Davy Jone's locker for all I care. I love the sequels just as much as the original. The newest Pirates movie seems like a return to true form, and I couldn't be more excited.

I don't know what more I could ask for in a movie: Pirates, zombies, mermaids, more pirates, etc. I can't handle it, to be honest. Two notable scenes in the trailer that make me laugh every time are when Angelica (Cruz) shouts at Jack in Spanish (0:54) and when Jack screams (1:26). This trailer couldn't be any more perfect, hitting all the right notes in the process. Only thing I wish it featured more is Barbossa. He's a boss. Read more!

The Warrior's Way

I'm baaaaaaaaaack! :)


I found The Warrior's Way to be more than what I was expecting. After watching the trailer (which you can see below), I was slightly intrigued by the combination of samurai and cowboys (similar to how I'm excited for next year's Cowboys & Aliens). I was cautious, because while the concept of the movie was cool, it had all the makings for a disaster. For starters, it was filmed over three years ago, and it is essentially being dumped into a wasteland of a weekend. There are no other films, beside this one, in wide release this weekend.

I went into this movie with extremely low expectations. I kept asking myself, "How can this not be bad?" It is a B movie after all. From the looks of the trailer, it appeared like the movie was going to take itself seriously too. Surprisingly, it doesn't. There was a charm to the movie and it was actually pretty funny. I worked a screening of movie for my internship, and one of the audience members told me afterward that it was "more than a B movie, I'd say B+ movie," and I couldn't agree more.

It was definitely a lot better than I was expecting, and good for what it is. One of the stand out scenes includes the warrior taking down a hallway full of henchmen lit only by the strobe light-like bursts from the guns. Let's just say it's way better than Jonah Hex from earlier this summer. This is a fun choice if you're looking for a new movie to catch this weekend and I'd recommend checking it out if you've seen everything else you wanted to see.

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Across the Universe

I love when movies acknowledge each other, whether it be an easter egg or it's a commonality that ties a movie universe together. One of my most favorite things that a movie can do is make references to other movies.

Marvel is tying all of their movies together for the Avengers movie that will be hitting silver screens across the world in only a couple of years. Marvel has been doing this by making reference to other superheroes in its recent films. Iron Man made a brief cameo in The Incredible Hulk a couple of years ago and Captain America’s shield made a brief appearance in Iron Man 2. The one commonality that is tying all of these films together, of course, is the presence of SHIELD, which is the organization that puts together the Avengers. At the end of Iron Man 2, they were uncovering Thor's hammer. Thor is Marvel's 2011 summer tentpole.

Pixar is another studio famous for easter eggs. I love easter eggs. It creates replay value since it is fun finding them. In every Pixar movie, the creators throw in a million little things to honor one thing or another. A113 makes an appearance as a nod to the classroom that many of the animators took a class in. The Pizza Port delivery truck makes an appearance in every film. John Ratzenberger also voices a character in every one of the Pixar films, such as Hamm in Toy Story, or John in WallE. Pixar also hints at new characters that appear in upcoming films. In Ratatouille, a shadow of Dug from Up can be seen. In Up, a Lotso doll, from this weekend's Toy Story 3, can be seen in a little girls room as Karl's house flies by. It's so exciting to find these references!

I don't know why, but easter eggs like some of the ones mentioned make watching a movie so much more exciting! What do you think? Do you like looking for easter eggs, or is it too much of a bother?

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From Console to Silver Screen

Hollywood loves to take the games that we enjoy and turn them into a feature films. Why wouldn't they? Many video games have a cult following which equals big dollars in the eyes of studios. Unfortunately, the studios have no idea what they are doing sometimes we are presented with atrocities like Alone in the Dark (2005), or one of Uwe Boll's many other films.

I go into video game adaptions with extremely low expectations because history shows that they aren't usually good. There aren't really any great video game adaptions, except for Silent Hill (2006) and this past weekend's Prince of Persia (2010). Both of those films took what worked well in the games and translated them well to the big screen. I was particularly excited for Prince of Persia because it teams up two up my favorite Hollywood entities, Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney.

I think part of the reason that many of these adaptions don't do well is because the stories and characters are designed to work in an interactive world where you feel like you have control in what goes on, and not on the silver screen where you voyeuristically watch the plot unfold. Video games work because you become connected with your character. You live the game. With the film versions, you don't get the same character/story connection you would get otherwise.

Movies to Video Game translations also rarely work. I tend to stay away from video game adaptions of movies because they usually aren't very good. The only movie to video game adaption that I've really played was Spider-Man 2, and I liked that because it deviated from the linear plot of a film and allowed you to play in an open world with missions that tied in important plot points of the film. Most of these games don't work because they are extremely linear and carbon copies of their film.

Hollywood needs to step up their game if they are going to continue translating video games to movies and vice versa. There is a very fine line between the two, and it is extremely evident that that line is hard to translate.

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Iron Man 2

One of the last decade's larger contributions to the cinema was the Superhero genre, popularized by Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002. Since then, we have seen an abundance of hits or misses within the genre. In 2008, moviegoers were treated with arguably two of the best superhero films, Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Expectations for the superhero genre have been increased ten-fold since the release of these two films, especially after the third Spider-Man sequel left a sour taste in the viewers mouth the year before. This year, Marvel released the anticipated follow-up to the popular Iron Man film. Although the sequel doesn't quite live up to the prestige of the first film, Iron Man 2 does find a place among some of the better superhero films.

Iron Man 2 takes our beloved, eccentric Tony Stark into the world shortly after his public revealing as the armored hero. Everybody wants a piece of him: The public, the government, his rival, and even an imprisoned physicist who wants to seek revenge for his father. Stark has been taking all of this in a true rock-star fashion that only he can, until he realizes that his Iron Man technology is harming him. He begins to live his life carelessly which begins to put a strain on all of his relationships. Iron Man 2 does what few superhero sequels does, which is add further development to its characters and deliver on the action that viewers demand. It doesn’t go over the top with tons of action and no character development.

The first film did so well because it was a more subdued superhero film. It perfectly executed the origin story and not going over the top or losing site of the development of the hero. The second film takes that development one step further by giving us a story about how Tony Stark deals with his power. In Iron Man, Tony is a highly intelligent inventor who doesn't care how is inventions are being used. He is kidnapped by terrorists and forced to design a weapon, and in the process he is mortally wounded. He manages to take his weapon and turn it into a weapon/life-supporting device that he uses to escape and vows to use is invention to protect the world. In the sequel, he says he has "successfully privatized world peace." Unfortunately, the technology he is using to keep him alive is killing him at the same time.

This is just an example of one of the internal dilemmas that all of the characters are dealing with in the movie. It’s in the middle of the movie where all of the character development comes into play where you can feel the movie drag on a bit. Unfortunately, this is needed to advance the story and probably could have been executed better to keep up the pace of the movie. Despite this drag, Jon Favreau does an excellent job giving most of his characters enough depth, to be interesting. In addition to Stark's life-threatening issue, he has to deal with some of his daddy issues. Pepper, Stark's girlfriend, has to deal with running Stark's enterprise and Stark's new reckless-turned lifestyle. Rhodes, Stark's best friend, has to deal with whether his loyalties should lie with Stark or with the USAF.

Even Stark’s rival is dealing with the fact that he just can’t compete on the same level as Stark. Sam Rockwell does well with his role as Justin Hammer. You can just sense the desperation that Rockwell injects into the Hammer character. The best scenes with Hammer were when he is interacting the main villain of the film.

Unfortunately, the only place that Favreau falls short in the character department is with the main villain, Ivan Vanko (aka Whiplash). He is so bent on seeking revenge for sins committed against his father my the Stark family, that he seems too one-dimensional. Of all the characters, I would have liked to see a little more depth to the main villain. Mickey Rourke is such an excellent actor that he was unarguably underused in the role. I don’t know much about Iron Man comic and how much of a threat Whiplash truly was, but I just feel that there could have been more done with the character.

The highlight of the sequel is still Robert Downey Jr’s delivery of Tony Stark. The Stark we love is just as arrogant and self-centered as ever. Very few actors can pull of the swagger and confidence injected into the character that makes him so charming and endearing, and RDJ is among those elite. He seems to be able to deliver enough charisma and humor into his role without detracting from the scope of the film. It never feels forced or out of place.

I would be lying if I said I was thrilled with the climactic battle. It could have been so awesome to watch Iron Man and War Machine battle a squadron of androids, but Favreau seemed to copout by utilizing Iron Man’s laser beam to end the battle within seconds. The prior fly-around the expo sequence was exhilarating and was exciting to watch, but the end result was just so disappointing. Even following battle with Whiplash left something to be desired. Whiplash arrived in a suit that appeared indestructible, but Iron Man and War Machine were able to end the battle in no time at all.

I guess part of the reason that the end battle was so anticlimactic was because of the poor soundtrack. Honestly, I can’t even remember how any of the tracks go. The only music I can even remember is the iconic ‘Iron Man’ tune by Black Sabbath that was used in the first one, and I can’t even remember if it was utilized in this film. Superhero movies are supposed to have iconic scores that captivate the audience and enhance the movie going experience. When you have a soundtrack that fails to support the movie, the movie is unable to live up to its true potential. A soundtrack can make or break a movie, and I just wish that the Iron Man movies had a great one because it would make them a million times better than they already are.

On a side note, I love how Marvel is tying all of their movies together for the Avengers movie that will be hitting silver screens across the world in only a couple of years. One of my most favorite things that a movie can do is make references to other movies that take place in the same universe. Marvel has been doing this by making reference to other superheroes in its recent films. Iron Man made a brief cameo in The Incredible Hulk a couple of years ago and Captain America’s shield made a brief appearance in Iron Man 2. The one commonality that is tying all of these films together, of course, is the presence of SHIELD, which is the organization that puts together the Avengers. If you see the film, make sure you stay until the end of the credits because there is a scene that introduces Marvel’s next superhero film.

Overall, there isn’t much wrong with the Iron Man 2 as the positives far outweigh the negatives. Despite the weak soundtrack and the slow middle, the movie is exciting enough to keep your attention and leave you wanting more. The film offers a little bit of everything for everyone and is definitely worth every penny. I would check it out if you haven’t already.

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Monsters, Inc. 2

The new Walt Disney chairman, Rick Ross, announced today that there is going to be a sequel to Monsters Inc. We can expect it to hit theatres in November 2012, just a few short months after Brave, Pixar's other offering that year. It would be exciting if Pete Docter is attached to the film. He is responsible for how emotionally powerful Monsters and Up are. There is no word on whether or not he will be involved in the movie. Newt was supposed to be coming out instead of Monsters 2, but their is no word on if that project has been delayed, or scratched altogether.

The studio was questioned last year when they announced a sequel to Cars. Although a great film, it isn't exactly known for being their best. I know a handful of people who really want an Incredibles sequel, and most of their other films deserve a sequel more than Cars. Maybe they are doing a follow up to coincide with a Cars land/attraction being built in Disney's California Adventure. I also know that the merchandise for the film sells really well, so it makes sense... it's just not what I want! Expect that to hit theaters as their 2011 offering.

I wonder why Pixar is reviving some of their older films with sequels. The studio is known for their really strong and original ideas, such as Wall E or Up. I know that the Toy Story sequel did really well, but I look forward to their original films every year. Yeah, I'm grateful for the Cars and Monsters sequels because I'll take anything Pixar gives me, but I'm not as excited as I would be if they were releasing original concepts instead.

Disney and Pixar have some strong films hitting theatres over the next couple of years. It should be really exciting! Look forward to Prince of Persia and Toy Story 3 this summer, and Sorcerer's Apprentice and Tangled (aka Rapunzel) later this year. Read more!

Kick Ass

It seems every year, a studio tries to release a movie in the pre-summer season (March-April) that builds a ton of hype online. Sometimes that hype is overbuilt and you get a trainwreck, like Watchmen from last year. Other times, you get a film that can deliver on that hype, like 300 from a few years ago. This year, we get Kick Ass, and I can tell you that I was pretty into it.

The story focuses on geeky, High School student Dave asking himself and his friends why nobody has ever become a superhero before. He takes matters into his own hands when he is a part of crime and notices that a witness does nothing to intervene. After a video of one of his first heroic acts as Kick Ass surfaces on the internet, he becomes an icon in the eye of the public. He is eventually drawn into a vendetta between Big Daddy and Hit Girl and the drug empire ran by Frank D'Amico, the father of Kick Ass's arch-nemesis, Red Mist.

The movie is pretty faithful to its source material. I have read in an interview that the film rights for Kick Ass were sold before the first issue of the comic had even been published. Matthew Vaughn (Stardust), the director and co-screenwriter for the film, mentioned that the comic and the script for the film were written at the same time, so their was a lot of collaboration between the author and the screenwriter.

The story combines some of the elements from the popular teen-comedy and Tarantino-esque gore genres. It was an excellent combination of genres that allowed me to have fun for the entire two-hour runtime of the film. Also, I really liked how the superhero element really emphasized the urge all teenagers have to be something more than they are. *SPOILER ALERT (for those who care)* It was especially funny watching Dave play the role of his love-interest's gay bff, just to get closer to her. He eventually reveals his intentions and they get together.

There has been a lot of negative attention for the film concerning its obscene language, especially from the Hit Girl character who was only 11 at the time of filming. I was surprisingly not offended at all. I am open enough to know that most of the bad language in the film was used as a shock-value tool, especially when Hit Girl uses the c-word. It's funny to me that America will clutch her pearls at the drop of a four-letter word, but will hardly wince at the drop of a limb or the spraying of blood.

Overall, Kick Ass is a pretty *PUN ALERT* kick ass movie. I probably won't be adding this to my DVD collection, but I did enjoy it. If you get the chance, go and check it out, but I wouldn't make it one of your top priorities. Read more!

Remakes

As many of you are aware, Hollywood has gotten into the habit of remaking pretty much every movie that has ever existed. It's gotten to the point where many people are questioning the integrity of the town. According to my girlfriend, there are 70 remakes in the work as we speak... I tend to look the other way because I haven't been exposed to many of the originals, though I have slowly been exposing myself to them... Maybe someday, I'll have a marathon of the AFI Top 100 movies I haven't seen yet. Anyway...

This week, we are going to be treated to a remake of Death At a Funeral. The original was created in the UK only three years ago! I saw it for the first time last year in an International Cinema class I took and I absolutely LOVED it. It was witty, well-acted, and fresh the entire length of the film, and in my opinion, it doesn't need a remake!

The film is basically about a dysfunctional family who attends a funeral for the patriarch. Murphy's law takes over and everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. A stranger shows up and tries to expose a dark secret that can ruin everything. This film is a dark comedy in every sense, but it had me laughing the whole way through.

The trailer for the remake has been out for awhile now and pretty much gives away the entire movie. Because I think so highly of the original film, I just get so angry when the remake is mentioned. I can understand the remakes of other films like the upcoming Friday the 13th, because the producers for those properties are trying to reboot those franchises. The Death At a Funeral remake just seems so pointless to me and I don't get it.

I'm just tired of having the low expectations for a movie based on the fact that it is a remake. Let's face it: the remakes rarely, if ever, exceed the quality of the originals. I actually enjoyed Titans because I didn't have anything to compare it too, and I went in expecting not that much from the things that I have heard. All I know is, I'm skipping Funeral and you should too. Save your 12 bucks and go to your local video store and rent the original instead. You'll be so much happier. Read more!

Pirates of the Caribbean 4

As we get closer and closer to next summer, more news is leaking about the new Pirates movie. If any of you know me, you know that some of my favorite movies belong to this franchise. So there is no surprise that I've been following this movie like a hawk from back when it was a rumor until now. Expect this movie to hit the Box Office on May 20, 2011.

So far, not much has leaked other than that this new installment will be loosely based on Tim Powers book, "On Stranger Tides". Basically, the story will involve the Fountain of Youth as the main plot (which was hinted at at the end of At World's End) and Blackbeard as the villain, and not much else is known as far as the story goes.

Ian McShane has been cast as Blackbeard. Unfortunately, I'm not well versed in his work, so I don't know how brilliant of a casting this is, but I trust their choice. They cast Penelope Cruz as Sparrow's foil, rival, love interest, equal, etc. I am so excited for this casting because I love Penelope Cruz and she is one of the only actresses I can think of that can keep up with the antics of Jack Sparrow.

I am a fanboy of Pirates, tried and true. I saw the last film six times in theatres. Granted, I saw it for free because I worked at the theatre at the time. I don't know how many times I'll see this one now that I have to pay. All I know is, I'm super stoked for "On Stranger Tides". Read more!

Date Night

I have been waiting a very long time for a movie that combines the talent of Tina Fey and Steve Carell, and I got exactly what I wanted. Date Night is what you would expect from a Carell/Fey combo: awkward conversation and great comedic timing, and nothing more, really. The story is your basic romantic comedy/action combo, and their isn't really much depth to it. This movie is pretty much a vehicle for Fey and Carell to drive their comedic efforts with, and it's light-hearted and funny all the way.

Date Night is a movie about a boring New Jersey couple realizing that they want more out of their marriage after seeing their couplefriend break up. In an attempt to be exciting and spontaneous, Phil (Carell) takes Claire (Fey) out into town to a popular restaurant where they take another couple's reservation. Mistaken identities ensue and Carell and Fey go to work after getting involved in a bribe plot.

This movie is infested with cameos from everybody and their mother: Mark Whalberg, Leighton Meester, Ray Liotta, Taraji P. Henson (!?), will.i.am (!?), James Franco, Mila Kunis, etc. It was exciting to see who would appear next. It was a smart move on the director's part to underplay all the cameos as the movie would have become more about them than it would about Fey and Carell.

I didn't really have any major problem with the movie, other than I wanted more of it. I just wish that the crime story was a little bit more involved and the movie was a little longer. I was, in a sense, a little disappointed and was expecting a lot more from what I saw in the trailer, but I still loved watching Fey and Carell work together, regardless of what I got. If you love either of these stars, then you will be sure to love this movie. However, it is a rom-com at its roots and predictably formulaic, so if you are looking for something a little bit more unpredictable, I would go with something else. But if all you want is Fey and Carell, and some light-hearted material, then go for it! I sure loved it. Read more!

Summer 2010=Blah?

my thoughts exactly, jonah and russel.

I was just thinking about some of the movies that will be coming out this summer. And to tell you the truth, I'm not really as excited for as many releases as I have in previous years. The two movies I am most looking forward to are Iron Man 2 and Toy Story 3. A few others that I'm a little bit interested in are Robin Hood, Prince of Persia, and Salt. As of right now, I'll see most of everything else out of obligation to see more movies this year than I ever have before, but I'm not really that crazy about them as if they were, say, Pirates 4 or the second installment of HP7 (THAT'S NEXT SUMMER... AHHHHH!)

What do you guys think about the movies coming out this summer... Anything you are looking forward to? (And if you say Eclipse... I have some words for you -_- lol) Read more!

How to Train Your Dragon

Dreamworks is the David to Pixar's Goliath. In recent years, Dreamworks has been producing high quality fare; Although not on par with Pixar's repertoire (I'm a Pixar fanboy), they at least hold their own. Dreamworks usually relies on gags and pure star-power to pull people into the theatre, so it's a breath of fresh air to see the studio step out of their comfort zone. Dreamworks manages to release a film that pulls at the heart strings by showing depth and growth, traits that many of their previous films lacked (*coughbeemovieandoverthehedgecough*).

'How to Train Your Dragon' is a story about a boy, Hiccup, who doesn't quite fit in with the rest of his village of dragon-slaying vikings. All he wants is to fit in and gain his father's approval. His life is forever changed when he meets a dragon, Toothless, that challenges everything he once knew. It sounds like any other underdog story, but it is still a very well-rounded movie. Movies like this, despite their cliches, manage to become timeless because of their universal themes. That is probably why they film's source material is so popular.

One of the only things I had a problem with was the voice-acting. Although well-done for the most part, I struggled to understand why all of the adults in the village had strong, Scottish accents and all of the children had plain, American accents. Maybe it was to show the vast separation between the generations, but all it managed to accomplish was distracting me. Another thing was the voice of the main character. Although I can see why they cast Jay Baruchel as the lead, his voice lacks any emotional range. Baruchel is usually cast as the wimpy underdog, and he matches his character's personality perfectly... It was just difficult to get in sync with the character's emotions unless he was interacting with the dragon.

One of the other problems I had with the movie was the design of most of the dragons. Some of them were beautiful (ie, Toothless) and others seemed amateurish in design. Many of them looked like they were designed by students in a beginner's 3D modeling class. It created a disconnect for me between the humans and the dragons because the art direction for the two of them seem so different. It didn't help that the design of the dragons prevented them from showing as much emotion as the star dragon could. I think that is what angered me the most.

Speaking of anthropomorphic design, my favorite part about the movie was Toothless. I was so glad that they didn't give any of the dragons a voice. One of Dreamworks' trademarks is giving voices to its animal stars. This forced the designers of Toothless to rely on the dragon's facial expressions and body language, creating, in my opinion, one of their most memorable characters to-date.

Overall, the movie is one of the studio's best releases. I would recommend it to just about anybody. The pacing of the movie was exceptional and it never failed to deliver an exciting moment, up until the credits rolled. Catch this flick whenever you get the chance. You won't be disappointed. :) Read more!