Most Anticipated Movies of 2015

Blah blah blah, here are my top 20 most anticipated movies of 2015. 

20. The Fantastic Four (Josh Trank) – This is probably my most-likely-to-be-hated-film of 2015 rather than anticipated. It’s January 6^th 2015, the movie is being released in less than 8 months, we have been given no information on how this project is coming along. No official photos, teasers, trailers or promos have been released. Word on the street is the Fox Executives are upset with the project. I am giving Trank the benefit of the doubt- we needed a Fantastic Four reboot, I’m hoping for the best here. (cast below Miles Teller, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell, Michael B. Jordan)

19. Jurassic World (Colin Trevorrow) – Sure I was excited for another dinosaur movie, until the official trailer was released (below). Why is Peter Quill riding a motor cycle next to velociraptors? Are velociraptors domesticated? This dropped from the top of my anticipated list to the near bottom.  The trailer is also heavily CGI.

18. Taken 3 (Olivier Megaton) – He’s back and this time they took his wife. The second movie was garbage. GARBAGE! But somehow the guy who changed his name, to be remembered for the Hiroshima bombing in 1945, has sucked me back in for a third movie.  Megaton cannot do action- so I’m hoping, HOPING, there is better editing in the third film. 

17. The Revenant (Alejandro González Iñárritu) – An adaptation of a book with a similar name: A revenge flick staring DiCaprio and Hardy directed by the guy who just finished the most talked about film of 2015 (Birdman). Yes please. The synopsis: “In the 19th century, Hugh Glass (DiCaprio), a fur trapper, is mauled by a bear while hunting. His companions (Hardy, Poulter, and Gleeson) rob him and leave him to die, but he survives and sets out to get revenge on the men who betrayed him.”

16. Chappie (Neill Blomkamp)- 2012’s Elysium wasn’t the great film I was hoping to be, still enjoyed it for the most part, but it was obvious studio involvement hurt Blomkamp’s creative vision. Still, Chappie looks like a live action Wallie. Die Antwoord was going to play a major role in the film, but Ninja apparently is a diva, impossible to work with and was written out of the movie. Ninja is still in the trailer below, but probably will appear as a limited role. Fun fact: Matt Damon was the third choice for Elysium. Blomkamp wrote the role for Ninja, who turned it down despite being a Blomkamp fan  because he wanted his first acting role to be a true South African film instead of a big budget Hollywood one. Then they offered the role to Eminem, who insisted that he'd only do it if it's shot in Detroit. Since that's not feasible, they finally offered it to regular actors, and Damon got it.

15. Pan (Joe Wright) – The director of Pride and Prejudice and Hanna is directing an origin story of Peter Pan staring Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard.

14. Black Mass (Scott Cooper) – Hey another Boston movie about Whitey Bulger, staring Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch.

13. Ted 2 – I debated putting this on my list for 2015 after the disappointing A Million Ways to Die in the West, but I’m too big a Seth MacFarlane fan to let this go. I expect it to be a fun romp.

12. Spectre (Sam Mendes) – I expect a movie as breathtaking and gorgeous as Skyfall, but I would like this to a be a tad shorter and I and praying it does not overstay it’s welcome. I’m happy Sam Mendes is back, just please bring Bond back to being Bond. Do not need to make him relatable nor do we need to the dark and gritty Bond we have been getting lately.

11. Jupiter Ascending (Wachowski siblings) – The only original IP on my list this year. A brand new IP, that’s release date got delayed over a year- This could mean one of two things. 1) They needed extra time to finish CGI and post convert to 3D or 2) the studio was not confident of its success and wanted to release it in a month with less summer blockbusters. Let’s hope for the former, but let’s also take this as good news.  This is supposedly the start of a trilogy but only if the first film does well at the box office. The Wachowski's are in a difficult position because, outside of the first two Matrix movies, everything they've done has been a commercial or critical disappointment. Or both. I however am  110% supporting a new IP to Hollywood’s adaptation battleground.

10. Tomorrowland (Brad Bird) – One of the movies that was delayed to 2015- the trailer looks beautiful and it’s Brad Bird (Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission Impossible 4), doing his Brad Bird thing. Beautiful trailer below.

9. Ant-Man (Peyton Reed)- This was supposed to be directed by Edgar Wright but he dropped out of the project do to creative differences between him and Marvel. The project was picked up by the guy who did Jim Carrey’s Yes Man and Vince Vaughn’s The Break Up which doesn't ooze confidence, but it’s still a Marvel IP and they haven’t put out a terrible movie since 2010 (Iron Man 2). The teaser trailer was first released during Marvel’s premiere of Agent Carter on ABC.

8. Furious 7 (James Wan)- From the director of all those great horror movies lately (Insidious, The Conjuring) and the director that was supposed to do the next Terminator movie, James Wan will probably be responsible for the 2^nd highest grossing movie of 2015. Furious 7 is going to make $2 Billion- everyone wants to see Paul Walker’s last movie (RIP), and everyone wants to see how the budget of Furious 7 ballooned to $200 million after the studio used CGI to replace Walker in the movie using a combination of CGI and Walker’s brother. So why is this movie going to be a huge hit and probably one of the most fun movies of the summer 2015? The series has circled around to connect the third movie (Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift) with the ending of the sixth movie (Fast Six) while adding two huge names to the cast- Kurt Russell and Jason Statham.  Other fun facts: martial arts expert Tony Jaa apparently has a role in the film and Lucas Black has signed a multi-picture deal (not unlike some of the Marvel comic book movie deals) to do future films. This franchise is not going away any time soon.

7. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller) – It feels like this movie has been in development for 10 years (i actually had it being released in 2013), and in fact, Miller has been trying to get it made for 20. Judging by the trailer below, it’s going to be bonkers. I don’t think you’ll see a better trailer in your life. Fun fact: The movie has insanely minimal dialog- apparently Miller didn’t even write a script but instead just storyboarded the entire movie. Max has a total of 16 lines. *mind blown*

6. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (J. J. Abrams) I was not a fan of Abraham’s take on the Star Trek series, but I can appreciate a technically competent director at the helm of a huge franchise. I just don’t want it turn Lost-y on me. The good news? Damon Lindelof (the destroyer of all scripts) who has worked with Abrams on multiple past projects, is not involved in Star Wars. The better news? George Lucas is not involved with writing the screenplay and is only involved with the continuity of the Star Wars universe. The best news? Lawrence Kasdan, the writer of Empire Strike’s Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, is involved with writing the screenplay. So as long as these terrible writers stay away from Abrams, I think this is going to be a welcomed entry into the franchise.  Fun fact: The Raid 2 - leading man Iko Uwais, Mad Dog / Prakoso actor Yayan Ruhian and The Raid 2 finale fighter Cecep Arif Rahman, credited simply as The Assassin - will all appear in JJ Abrams' upcoming Star Wars. The Raid 2 was in my top 5 moviesof 2014 and is a must watch for action fans. I’m hoping these guys are playing some badass Siths. (Teaser Trailer below)

5. Crimson Peak (Guillermo del Toro) It’s del Toro’s return to horror and with this synopsis, it’s hard to not get excited. “In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds...and remembers”- Lucky for me this press photo was released just seconds before I wrote this list.

4. Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joss Whedon) There’s nothing much to say here other than this might be the biggest Marvel movie ever. Joss Whedon’s future in the MCU is uncertain. (Trailer below)

3. Inside Out (Pete Docter)- The next Pixar film (that isn’t a sequel) that looks adorable. A story told from the perspective of the emotions inside the mind. (Trailer below)

2. Silence (Martin Scorsese)- A Scorsese film, starring Liam Neeson, adapting Shûsaku Endô’s historical fiction novel, Silence. In the seventeenth century, two Jesuit priests face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and to spread the gospel of Christianity. I just hope it’s not 3 hours long.

1. The Hateful Eight (Quentin Tarantino) -It's Tarantino. It's a Western. It's got Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Mark Madsen and Bruce fuckin' Dern. <3

Most Anticipated Movies of 2013 (Updated 12/12/12)

It looks to be a little early for this, but I thought I would go ahead and get it out of the way before I need to wrap up last year'sTop Anticipated list. (I've seen 15 out of the 20 I listed last year, three have not been released yet and one got a very small limited release that I may not catch this year, so I'm only behind on Argo) But 2012 has been a fantastic year for cinema, and 2013 looks to carry the torch. The follow is a list of my top anticipated movies of 2013.

20. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese) - It's Scorsese and it stars Leo so it makes the list. But Hugo was pure example of filmmaker porn, so it sits at the bottom for now. 

19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller) - Do we really need a 4th Mad Max? Probably not, but these set pieces look cool. 

18. The Wolverine (James Mangold) - Hugh Jackman must really love playing Logan when he keeps coming back to projects with no promise. Even though this is supposedly supposed to be a semi-sequel to the first Wolverine movie (that sucked big time) Mark Bomback is rewriting the script. Bomback is responsible for the horror that was, Race to Witch Mountain, Die Hard 4, Unstoppable and the Total Recall remake. Despite Wolverine being one of the best comic book characters ever created, that's not enough to move this movie from the bottom (but yet still slightly hopefully) of my anticipated movie list.

17. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (Robert Rodriguez) - Does Robert Rodriguez have nothing better to do? With a release date set in October of 2013, we should to start seeing some official photos and teasers soon. But most of the cast from the first film is returning, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Michael Madsen. It remains low on my list for lack of information.

16. Warm Bodies  (Jonathan Levine) - This premise is a joke, but there is something oddly charming about the way Levine approaches scripts. He made having cancer feel comfortable in 50/50 and even if 2013 is seeing more than one high profile zombie release, (Will the zombie craze ever stop??) Warm Bodies has Rob Corddry and John Malkovich... so I'm obligated to see it.

15. A Good Day to Die Hard (John Moore) - After Bomback and Len Wiseman ruined John McClane's personality in Live Free or Die Hard, John Moore apparently is doing everything he can to revive him and assuring us "This is Die Hard! Any shit won't do!". With publicity that includes a car chase that was 78 days in the making, it's hard not to get excited to see John McClane save the world. It's low on my list because Moore also is responsible for Max Payne. *shudder*

14. Man of Steel (Zack Synder) - I'm not sure what to think of this yet. What are we in for? The joke heard around the internet is we are about to see Superman fly in slow motion since that appears to be the style Synder (300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead, Sucker Punch) likes to edit in. However we also have the master of the Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan penning the script and producing, so he's obviously going to have a lot of input on how the movie comes out. Cautiously optimistic after the disaster that was Superman Returns.

13. World War Z (Marc Forster) - So it's official, this movie is going to be nothing like the book. It was originally on my list for 2012, but when reshoots were being called into action the release date was pushed back into 2013. What scares me about this? Damon Lindelof was brought in to help with the script. What's exciting about this? Joss Whedon was brought on as a consultant of the reshoots. Who knows if any of the trailer had reshoots in them. They are definitely trying something new with the zombie theme- I am not a fan of running zombies, but there's some interesting shots below.

12. White House Down (Ronald Emmerich) - The master of disaster movies, Emmerich (ID4, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012) is taking on a new film that involves the white house being taken over by terrorists. Improbable concept, but Emmerich has entertained me in the past.Staring Channing Tatum.

11. The Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking (David Twohy) - Probably my favorite character developed within the last 10 years. Twohy's last Riddick movie was a flop in theaters, but the fanbase was large enough he got the funding to finance another R-rated Riddick movie. I've been waiting a long time for this trailer to come out. With a release date in March, I hope we see it soon.

10. Nymphomaniac (Lars von Trier) – Easily one of the most provocative and blunt directors out there right now, Lars von Trier raised eyebrows with Anti-Christ and last year’s Melancholia (which I thought was the best film of last year). His new film is titled, Nymphomaniac, and apparently involves unsimulated sexual intercourse. Actress Nicole Kidman already dropped out after reading the script, but Shia LeBeouf remains on the cast list. Interesting to see what Lars has up his sleeve.

9. Oz: The Great and Powerful (Sam Raimi) - Trailer below. :)

8. Oldboy (Spike Lee) – I’m not sure why I have this on my list. The original was phenomenal and remains in my top 30 movies of all time. Could Spike Lee ever adapt this into something equally thrilling? Staring Samuel L Jackson, Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen… I can’t help but anticipate the Americanization of Oldboy.

7. Iron Man 3 (Shane Black) - Hard to not get excited over the next story arc in the Avengers universe. Trailer says it all.

6. The Last Stand (Jee-woon Kim) - If you don't know Jee-woon Kim by now, you fucking should. I Saw the Devil is one of the best movies I saw this year and I wrote about the Good the Bad and the Weird earlier this year. He's now directing Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first full length feature film since stepping down as Governor of California and based on the trailer, it looks to be fantastic.

5. Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro) – Love del Toro’s style, so naturally a science fiction film based on the Japanese monster film genre known as Kaiju, will be hard to ignore. Updated: Added Trailer!

4. The Evil Dead (Fede Alvarez) All Alvarez is known for is this short youtube clip, but The Evil Dead and I go way back. The Evil Dead (1981) was the scariest movie I had ever seen, and I probably saw it at an age where I shouldn’t have watched it. But by the time Army of Darkness came out I was already a Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell fan. Raimi is still producing this, so I have faith he won’t let it suck, but this trailer is indeed shocking… and exciting.

3. Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón) – Known for Children of Men and the best Harry Potter in the crappy series (Prisoner of Azkaban) Cuaron is helming Gravity, another sci-fi movie starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Not much else is known about the project except: “Gravity is the next Avatar in terms of ambition: the film is a contemporary survival thriller that follows a woman as she attempts to make her way back to earth after a satellite crash sets off a chain reaction of further crashes. Because it’s set in space, most shots require every element to float in zero-gravity”… Yes please.  To further my excitement for this film; “DeFaria said there are only 156 shots in the entire two-hour film. If you do the math, that means quite a few of these shots would have to be over 30 seconds long at least (which is an eternity compared to many of the shots in your average action film), and DeFaria notes that some of them could run anywhere from six to 10 minutes without a single cut.” Wow.

2. Star Trek into Darkness (J.J. Abrams) – This will be the final straw which determines if J.J. Abrams is indeed an elite director or if his production and marketing campaigns are stronger than the actual final product. Good luck JJ. Updated: Added Trailer!

1. Elysium (Neill Blomkamp) – Blomkamp did District 9 on a $30 million budget, so how will a sci-fi film with $130 million budget turn out? Backed by Hollywood’s  A list actor Matt Damon, the synopsis reveals; “In the year 2159, two classes of people exist. The first are the very wealthy who live on Elysium, a pristine man-made space station looking like a stanford torus built by the Armadyne Corporation. The rest live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard-nosed government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium.”

Review: Total Recall (Len Wiseman, 2012)

               Anothertop anticipated movie of 2012 for me.  Remembering my reaction of the original back in the mid 90s, Total Recall was the epitome for what I believed the future to look like.  Cool looking cars, that drive themselves, giant wall sized TVs and the ability to live on Mars. A more recent viewing of the 1990 classic has me thinking otherwise. Cool looking cars? Well, I guess in the future cars are ¼ the size they are now and travel at 10% the speed. Maybe in the future natural resources are limited. Cars that drive themselves? Not really sci-fi anymore thanks to Google. Giant wall sized TVs? I’m certain my living room TV is larger than the one in Arnold’s home. Mine is also anamorphic widescreen which makes it even better. That blender that Arnie is using to make his breakfast, is sitting in my cabinet at home. And the ability to live on Mars? OK, mankind hasn’t mastered that yet. But we did just land the most sophisticated space probe in the history of NASA. I am also intentionally leaving out the most important sci-fi draw of both movies; the ability to implant memories into people’s head. This is the sci-fi element that drives both films and still remains mastered.

                The two things that worried me about this project were director Len Wiseman and screenwriter Mark Bomback. Bomback is responsible for destroying John McClane’s personality in Live Free or Die Hard (not to mention that wonderful idea of John McClane riding on the back of an F-35) and he also penned the critically acclaimed Race to Witch Mountain. However, Bomback teamed up with Kurt Wimmer this time around, who I am a big fan of. Wimmer gave us, Equilibrium (which put Christian Bale on the map) and the Recruit. Wiseman is most known for the first two Underworld movies, where he actually stole actress Kate Beckinsale and then married her.

                Wiseman’s Total Recall is redesigned- Colin Farrell takes over from Arnold Schwarzenegger, still works reluctantly at his job, unhappy with the way his life turned out, married to a smokin hot wife (Kate Beckinsale) and intrigued by a company called “Rekall” that advertises vacations or fantasy memories by implanting them in your brain. Like Arnold, Farrell opts to visit Rekall and get ‘secret agent’ persona memories implanted in his head.  You can essentially break Total Recall into halfs- the first being ripped straight from original- making it easy to guess the sequence of events. Both films follow essentially the same pattern of events with minor tweaks and modernization of technology. Instead of cherry sized GPS implant in Arnold’s head, Farrell has a cell phone installed into his palm. There is also an overextended chase sequence showing off Wiseman’s futuristic hover cars. It’s almost as if Wiseman knew people were poking fun at the Verhoeven’s Total Recall depiction of the future and wanted to ensure his audience that yes, we made cars in the future cool again. Kurt Wimmer

                The second half is where new ideas start shaping. There’s no Mars in Wiseman’s adaptation, so the big sci-fi element is a giant tunnel through the center of the Earth. The tunnel divides the two surviving factions after World War III. The United Federation of Britain (UFB) and The Colony. In Verhoeven’s Total Recall, the rebel force on Mars was fighting for more air and a fair and balanced civilization. In Wiseman’s Total Recall, a rebel force is fighting for habitable space in the Colony. Wiseman does a great job portraying the Colony as a dark and gritty Blade Runner-like world, filled with congestion and unpleasantness, while the UFB is portrayed as a clean Minority Report world.

                The biggest problem with Total Recall is how the story develops in the 2^nd half. We meet up with Melina (Jessica Biel) early (as we did in Verhoeven’s version) but scenes feel dragged out. Maybe the source of the problem was in the editing room? The car chase sequence was way too long, the standoff sequence where Farrell is made to believe he is still strapped into a chair at Rekall was way too long and it took way too much time to meet up with Bryan Cranston’s character. Unlike Lockout, which I felt needed an extra 20-30 minutes to fully develop, Total Recall needs 20-30 minutes cut to make the movie flow better. 

                There are some things to like about Total Recall; some great action set pieces, neat sci-fi ideas and of course Beckinsale and Biel look great on screen. But Farrell as an action hero still comes off rather boring. Biel is also wearing cargo pants throughout the entire movie which was a big mistake. Maybe Beckinsale and Biel needed to switch roles. For an action movie, it’s a rather dull one. There are some great throwbacks to the original involving the “2 Weeks” woman and the “three breasted woman”, but no “See you at the party Richter” lines, no alien tech and no mutants. In fact, the three breasted woman isn’t really explained in the movie. I suppose you could argue that the radiation from World War III is the cause, but there’s no mention of radiation or anything else that could have caused that anomaly. In the end, Total Recall is a rebranded-iRobot screenplay that barely resembles its predecessor due to weak chase story mixed with a dull lead actor.

Grade: 70

Review: Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012)

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Prometheus was on my top 20 most anticipated movies of the year and is getting mixed reviews from fans of the Alien franchise and critics. I was really excited to see Scott get back into his element- His last few films have not been the Scott as we know him for; Robin Hood and American Gangster were bores, A Good Year was a love story that I could barely get through and the last enjoyable Ridley Scott movie was made over 12 years ago; Gladiator. What made Prometheus so interesting was the mystery behind the giant Space Jockey that we were introduced to in Scott’s original Alien movie. So many questions arose from the gigantic dead being, and Scott even provided some insight in the 2003 DVD commentary of Alien Director’s Cut.

“The space jockey is the pilot and he is part of a military operation, if that's the word you want to apply to his world. And therefor this is some kind of carrier, a weapon carrier, biological or biomechanoid carrier of lethal eggs inside of which are small creatures that actually fundamentally integrate in a very aggressive way into society or any place you drop. So if you land on a human being you have a resemblance to a human being, if you dropped on an ostrich it would look like an ostrich. And there is a fundamental connection in nature," ... Then he goes on to explain how there is an insect that has the ability to sense when there is a grub behind a piece of bark on a tree. “When the insect walks over the bark, senses the grub and stabs into the bark piercing the grub and lays the eggs inside the grub so the grub become the host.”

The problem with explaining this on the DVD commentary and not in the movie is it left too many questions and not enough answers as portrayed in this comical video.

                One of the problems with Prometheus is there is too much Lost-like story going on. Damon Lindelof has created the same problems that led to the mixed reaction of  J. J. Abrhams’ Lost ending. Too many motifs, too many unanswered questions, too much confusing (and misdirection) logic that it takes away from that great stuff that is put on screen. The second problem was FOX- We already know FOX wanted Prometheus to be PG-13, but somehow Scott convinced them to keep it R. FOX wanted to cut out the best scene in the entire movie; an abdominal surgery scene.

                But what Scott does do well is setup another universe within the Alien universe and the possibility for another trilogy. Prometheus is based around the origin of the human race; the mystery that could have started life on Earth. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) are archaeologists who have discovered star maps in ancient civilizations across the planet, which suggests beings from another world have traveled to Earth giving these civilizations an invitation to humanity’s ancestors. They dub these aliens as “Engineers” and suspect they are the reason life began on Earth. A team is assembled to explore a distant moon, LV-223 (not to be confused with LV- 426 in Alien) on the ship Prometheus. We know Prometheus was a titan from Greek mythology who not only created man out of clay, but gave them fire. This angered the Gods and they chained Prometheus to a rock and condemned him to have his liver eaten out by an eagle every day for the rest of his life. (his liver would grow back) Prometheus the film, and the rest of the Alien franchise, returns to this torn abdomen motif on a regular basis as we all know well.

                The film narrates in a way that does not particularly come out with precise explanations for the events that transpire on screen. The opening shot of the movie involves one of the Engineers performing a ritual as a spaceship flies away. The Engineer drinks from a small cup of black goo that subsequently dissolves his body into a river as his body is broken down into individual DNA sequences. Is this Earth? We don’t know. And it doesn’t matter. The point Scott is making involves the building blocks of another world. Remember, Prometheus the Titan’s name is derived meaning “Forethinker” being a man of great foresight. Prometheus also approached Zeus with a choice of two animal sacrifices which his decision would set a precedent for future sacrifices. The Engineer in the opening scene of Prometheus is clearly sacrificing himself for the birth of man. What is the black goo? We don't know for sure but in theory the Engineers weaponized the xenomorph genetic material. We know what happens when you are exposed to the black goo as Prometheus plays out.

                Prometheus is not perfect, but Scott does create two of the most refreshing horror sequences I have seen in quite some time. When one of the scenes finally ended, I realized had squeezed my popcorn bag crushing the popcorn inside and my legs were twisted in front of me. I tried to imagine myself in the same situation of the character on screen.... I’m not sure I would have made it.

                What goes unnoticed are the bread crumbs Scott leaves, foreshadowing certain events that are not directly explained but opens the area for discussion which I find the most fascinating and clever portions of the film. For example, the final shot of the movie with the xenomorph had people rolling their eyes. Was this inserted because FOX pried it into the movie? Did Scott want to give Alien fans a link to both stories? Probably not. 

The creature was known to exist by the Engineers as shown by the mural and the theory of the base being a military facility. Based on Scott’s comments in the Director’s commentary above, I believe the Aliens change based on the species they come in contact with. This would also explain why the face huggers that come out of the eggs are different than the one Shaw gave birth to.  

                Theron's character (Vickers) was pointless. I didn't say the film was without flaws, but I still believe they are easily ignored flaws. Why do we even care that her character is pointless? Does it bother viewers who were expected her to have a bigger role in the premise? I think if anything her character serves as an opposite to Dr Shaw's character; she was a cold SELFISH human being (and arguably non-human), which is proven towards the end when she escaped the ship to save her own life. This was well represented in the motifs of the notion of self-sacrifice of “Prometheus”, which Vickers has no interest in partaking. If anything, her fate was well depicted. Shaw on the other hand is a believer "in God" with a "very strong faith". Her personality evolves through the film as seen with the discovery of the star map and then later with an internal conflict of her belief system and then a physical conflict fighting for not only her life, but all of Earth. And even when the battle is over, she still has the determination to continue to question her beliefs, to find more answers.

                Prometheus is not to be part of the Alien universe. It was made for different reasons and Scott pulls it off. It will not end up considered an instant classic, but it is a great way for Alien and Scott fans to rejoice to what is an interesting concept manufactured inside an existing fictional universe. I'm on board with this new storyline and I await the sequel to help quench my thirst for more Space Jockey. 

Grade: 91

Review: The Dark Knight Rises (Chris Nolan, 2012)

It’s been months since I’ve done an update, and rightfully so; in that time I’ve earned myself a nifty new post-graduate degree. Now that I have all this extra free time after work, I have the freedom to watch movies, play sports, go out with friends and do things that I’ve been dying to do but couldn’t in the past 21 months. My first update will be about the Dark Knight Rises, my number 1anticipated movie of 2012.

                The Dark Knight Rises was everything I had hoped it to be, even with a running time of 165 minutes, far exceeding the length of the first two films. The movie begins 7 years after the events in The Dark Knight. Gotham is quiet and crime free, while a badly worn out Bruce Wayne hides inside his mansion mourning over the death of his love Rachel and struggling with an internal battle realizing how much he has given up, for so little in return.

                The three new characters introduced are the most interesting parts of The Dark knight Rises. They include; a talented cop, John Blake (JGL) , who suspects Bruce Wayne to be Batman, Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a mysterious jewel thief who is described to be an associate of the main villain but appears to only act in her own selfish manner,  and the main villain Bane (Tom Hardy), whose menacing voice and monstrous appearance hides behind a respirator. The new characters are pivotal to the climax of the movie. Nolan did a fantastic job building the relationship of Selina and Bruce and at the same time intertwining the stories of the first two films to uncover Bane’s master plan. Hathaway is perfect as Selina, (but don’t call her Catwoman!) as Nolan portrayed her in a tight, black suit with cat ears that fold down to night vision goggles.  Bruce/Batman also has an incredibly memorable fight scene with Bane and Nolan depicts quiet clearly how the 7 years held up in his mansion has taken a toll on his body and it appears Batman is most definitely physically outmatched.

                The complaints I have are minor in scope. I didn’t expect Nolan to produce excellent action sequences and I was right to assume so. The Dark Knight Rises probably has more action set pieces than the previous two films and with the exception of one emotionally great sequence involving a stadium, the Dark Knight Rises chugs through bits and pieces of car chases, fist fights and aerial shots that are not exceptional. They also don’t need to be. They feed the story fine. Nolan also doesn’t do humor. There’s no witty comebacks like Spider-man is known for, no cute banter that makes Tony Stark so charming, there’s just stone cold Bale.

And my biggest gripe about Nolan (SPOILERS AHEAD *** skip this paragraph) is his inability to induce any sense of a drama into a villains defeat. We saw what happened to Two Face in The Dark Knight, which could possibly go down as the weakest character death in the history of all cinema.  There was speculation that Two Face wasn’t dead and was being held inside Arkham Asylum, but the Dark Knight Rises squashes that theory pretty quickly. But more annoyingly, the movies spend a great deal of time building up Bane as an unstoppable monster only to dispatch him in a pseudo-deus ex machina event.

                Although Nolan had more time to tell his story, there does seem to be a bit of rushing editing involved. Nolan is known for using cross-cutting (a type of editing that simulates events occurring at the same time) in his past films but there are sections of The Dark Knight Rises that really stand out as rushed. In Nolan’s defense, the cross-cutting is a technique used to power the audience through a lot of the silly (but important) pieces of information but the audience is vulnerable to get confused on just how much time has actually passed between scenes. None of these critiques affect the love affair I had with the on screen characters. They were casted perfectly and to read more about how Nolan and David Goyer (an avid comic book fan) were influenced on all three movies, I invite you to read 20 Batman Stories Most Influentialto “The Dark Knight” Trilogy.  

                In the end, Nolan left the Batman universe with another tremendous effort with a satisfying conclusion, which should leave Batman fans smiling. Chris Nolan has ended his saga with Batman with a beautifully written love letter. The hopes of Nolan being involved in a future Justice League movie are doubtful. It’s best for him to walk away at this point, let someone else spin a Batman story of their own. But Nolan has transformed comic book adaptations as we know it (as evidence with The Amazing Spider-Man and The Man of Steel).  Not only will the next Batman predecessor have a huge challenge in front of them, the filmmakers will be challenged with creating a story following the best trilogy ever made. 

Grade: 95

Most Anticipated Movies of 2012 (UPDATED)

APRIL UPDATE: I feel like i need to make a quick adjustment to this list since some movies have been pushed to 2013 (Oz, World War Z) and I need to clean up some mistakes in my original post. The meat of the list remains the same.

20. Chronicle (Trank) To finish off the list I have a movie that appears to be what Akira fans have been waiting for. Another low budget thriller. Trailer is very promising.

19. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Bekmambetov) Replacing World War Z on my list is the film adaptation of the best selling novel- What if before Lincoln was President, he killed vampires for a living? It's being directed by the guy who ruined WANTED, but also adapted Night Watch and Day Watch nicely.

18. The Lords of Salem (Zombie) Rob Zombie’s last Halloween movie was a disaster, so he’s returning to Salem Massachusetts to direct a movie about the witch trials. Actually, the synopsis sounds a lot like an R rated Hocus Pocus.

17. John Carter (Stanton) An interesting adaptation, but the trailer is too much CGI for me. Brings back horrific memories of Attack of the Clones. Trailer below.

16. Total Recall (Wiseman) Colin Farrell seems to be rebooting his carrier with strong performances in Horrible Bosses and the Fright Night remake. We all love Arnie’s original, will the remake be as strong?

15. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Jackson) No description necessary. Trailer Below.

14. Dark Shadows (Burton) Replacing Oz, surprise surprise Burton and Depp team up again to remake this 1960 soap opera. Also not surprising, it looks like Depp has added a fun new character to his resume. 

13. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence (Neveldine & Talor) The first movie was horrible, so the studio decided to reboot it with a quasi-sequel that was darker. The first footage they released during comic con had Nicholas Cage pissing fire. Will the movie hold up? Trailer below.

12. Silent Hill: Revelation (Bassett) – Not much has been shown other than some set work on their Facebook page. The first movie was the closest we’ve seen to a decent video game to movie adaptation. Can we expect equally great things from Silent Hill 2?

11. Argo (Affleck) Ben Affleck’s new film about a CGI agent freeing Americans at the Canadian ambassador. Affleck’s last movie The Town was quite good, and he might be on the rise as a prestige Hollywood director.

10. Skyfall (Mendes) The new Bond movie due out next year. No set pieces or trailers have been released yet.

9. The Avengers (Whedon) What as the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor brought us? Finally a movie with seven super heroes teaming up against some dark evil. Trailer Below.

8. The Hunger Games (Ross) The book was a huge hit (even if it was a complete rip-off from Battle Royale) so the movie should get extra attention. Will it? Trailer Below.

7. Brave (Andrews & Chapman) Pixar’s new beautiful movie. Trailer Below

6. The Dictator (Charles) Sacha Baron Cohen’s genius is returns to the big screen. Trailer Below

5. The Amazing Spider-Man (Webb) After Sam Raimi was forced out from the studio due to creative differences, Spider-Man was rebooted with a new director and cast. Hard to tell from the first trailer how good it will be. I sure hope that FPS view at the end is cut out of the final movie. Trailer Below

4. Django Unchained (Tarantino) Quentin Tarantino’s new movie: Synopsis: “With the help of his mentor, a slave-turned bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

3. Taken 2 (Megaton) Did you see Taken? Well Taken 2 should have even more Liam Neeson kicking ass. No trailer is released yet.

2. Prometheus (Scott) Ridley Scot returns to the genre he created with what appears to be a prequel to Alien (only he won’t describe it that way). I highly recommend watching this trailer in HD. Trailer Below

1. The Dark Knight Rises (Nolan) Chris Nolan and Christian Bale return for the epic conclusion of the Batman trilogy. Trailer Below

Review: The Hunger Games (Gary Ross, 2012)

It’s no surprise that the next Twilight, the next Da Vinci Code, the next Harry Potter was going to be the Hunger Games. This highly anticipated adaptation has had the masses lusting over the movie for months after the success of the trilogy. I read the first book in a weekend; It’s a quick read but you can tell the author Suzanne Collins did not want the book to appear too gratuitous so it could appeal to younger readers. The movie took the same approach with a PG-13 rating. My first impression of the book was fairly flat- uninhabited and missing something. The Hunger Games shocked the American audience by portraying a futuristic world where kids fight other kids to the death. Unfortunately this is not a novel concept; Japan was fortunate to get a novel and a movie out of Battle Royale back in 1999 and 2000 respectively, which like most concepts in the U.S. appeared to have been ripped off by Collins, but Collins maintains her innocents in never hearing about that story until her book was turned in. It’s almost been 10 years since I saw Battle Royale, but its moments were so vivid and etched in my memory, that after reading and watching Hunger Games, there’s just not enough creativity to think the movie is anything special.

The Hunger Games is number 8 (out of 20) on my anticipated movies of 2012. I wish I had put it lower or had replaced it completely. Director Gary Ross paid very close homage to the original works by not straying too far from the source material. In an effort to satisfy fans of the book, you will know every next scene in the movie, possibly even the next lines.

Where the Hunger Games comes up short is through the storytelling. The book is narrated through the 16 year old mind of Katniss, who explains every emotion, every thought, and every bit of her excruciating experience through the Hunger Games. Every single death is felt by Katniss no matter how brutal, which she describes through fear and humility. The movie cannot depict this. Instead, it adheres to a PG-13 rating where the deaths happen quickly, sometimes in slow motion with off camera shots. We never know about most of the kids aside from the snarling looks we are given before the Games begin. From the audience perspective, those are the bad kids and then there is Katniss, so it’s OK that these other kids die in the meantime. The supporting characters are completely undeveloped and it hurts the emotion on screen, especially if you have read the book.

Overall, I suppose it is not a terrible adaptation. It’s hard to overlook the huge marketing strategy of the trilogy’s followers- The studio of course wanted Twilight boxoffice receipts out of this. They sure got it with $155 million weekend opening, almost breaking the Dark Knight’s record of $158 mil. The average movie-goer will probably enjoy it. I just can’t sit back and pretend it’s anything special while this story has been done before (and better) over 10 years ago. Watch Battle Royale instead. 


Grade: 43

Most Anticipated Movies of 2012

2012 looks to be an epic year in cinema with three huge blockbusters. The first two being #1 and #2 on my list and the third being Peter Jackson’s epic two part return to Middle Earth. Here's the list, and I swear, I didn't see MadMan's list before I made my own.

20. Chronicle (Trank) To finish off the list I have a movie that appears to be what Akira fans have been waiting for. Another low budget thriller. Trailer is very promising.

19. World War Z (Forster) The book was nothing special, and multiple delays and reshoot have dropped this movie to the bottom of my list, but I still need to see how Brad Pitt is going to deal with a zombie apocalypse. It’s also being directed by the author of the book, which is a bad sign...

18. The Lords of Salem (Zombie) Rob Zombie’s last Halloween movie was a disaster, so he’s returning to Salem Massachusetts to direct a movie about the witch trials. Actually, the synopsis sounds a lot like an R rated Hocus Pocus.

17. John Carter (Stanton) An interesting adaptation, but the trailer is too much CGI for me. Brings back horrific memories of Attack of the Clones. Trailer below.

16. Total Recall (Wiseman) Colin Farrell seems to be rebooting his carrier with strong performances in Horrible Bosses and the Fright Night remake. We all love Arnie’s original, will the remake be as strong?

15. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Jackson) No description necessary. Trailer Below.

14. Oz: The Great and Powerful (Raimi) Speaking of Sam Raimi, he has his own adaptation of the Wizzard of OZ due out next year. Not much is known, except that Bruce Campbell will be making an appearance.

13. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence (Neveldine & Talor) The first movie was horrible, so the studio decided to reboot it with a quasi-sequel that was darker. The first footage they released during comic con had Nicholas Cage pissing fire. Will the movie hold up? Trailer below.

12. Silent Hill: Revelation (Bassett) – Not much has been shown other than some set work on their Facebook page. The first movie was the closest we’ve seen to a decent video game to movie adaptation. Can we expect equally great things from Silent Hill 2?

11. Argo (Affleck) Ben Affleck’s new film about a CGI agent freeing Americans at the Canadian ambassador. Affleck’s last movie The Town was quite good, and he might be on the rise as a prestige Hollywood director.

10. Skyfall (Mendes) The new Bond movie due out next year. No set pieces or trailers have been released yet.

9. The Avengers (Whedon) What as the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor brought us? Finally a movie with seven super heroes teaming up against some dark evil. Trailer Below.

8. The Hunger Games (Ross) The book was a huge hit (even if it was a complete rip-off from Battle Royale) so the movie should get extra attention. Will it? Trailer Below.

7. Brave (Andrews & Chapman) Pixar’s new beautiful movie. Trailer Below

6. The Dictator (Charles) Sacha Baron Cohen’s genius is returns to the big screen. Trailer Below

5. The Amazing Spider-Man (Webb) After Sam Raimi was forced out from the studio due to creative differences, Spider-Man was rebooted with a new director and cast. Hard to tell from the first trailer how good it will be. I sure hope that FPS view at the end is cut out of the final movie. Trailer Below

4. Django Unchained (Tarantino) Quentin Tarantino’s new movie: Synopsis: “With the help of his mentor, a slave-turned bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

3. Taken 2 (Megaton) Did you see Taken? Well Taken 2 should have even more Liam Neeson kicking ass. No trailer is released yet.

2. Prometheus (Scott) Ridley Scot returns to the genre he created with what appears to be a prequel to Alien (only he won’t describe it that way). I highly recommend watching this trailer in HD. Trailer Below

1. The Dark Knight Rises (Nolan) Chris Nolan and Christian Bale return for the epic conclusion of the Batman trilogy. Trailer Below