Here’s some new character posters for Peter Jackson’s THE HOBBIT : The Desolation of Smaug – the movie open’s mid December….
Jason Reitman’s last two movies behind the camera have been top draw – 2009’s Up in the Air and 2011’s Young Adult
Next up Labor Day starring Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin and Tobey Maguire – the film open’s late January and early Feb – here’s the trailer… enjoy
SOLO (2013) – Movie Review ★★★
Cast – Annie Clark, Daniel Kash, Richard Clarkin and Steven Love – Annie Clark playsGillian a seventeen year old girl gets a job as a counselor at a Summer Camp, as part of her initiation to look after the kids at the camp she has to spend 2 nights alone on a remote island, with no camera and cell phone VERDICT the real find of SOLO is most definitely the lovely and talented Annie Clark who you may know from TVs Degrassi: The Next Generation playing Fiona – Ms Clark is not just a pretty face she’s a quality young actress with the ability to captivate and turn an average movie into a good one, hopefully given the right material we could see her as a leading lady in many pictures to come – Isaac Cravit‘s directorial debut in my opinion is not quite scary or dark enough to fulfill it’s potential – the writing is average, slightly predictable and the movies big bad is not quite menacing enough, I also felt not enough was done to capitalize on the film’s remote location, it could have been used to carry more bite and tension but instead I felt it was a mere spectator in proceedings – overall SOLO is certainly not the worst movie I have seen this year, Annie Clark looks like a star in the making and the film’s director is worth keeping tabs on for future projects….
Ender’s Game (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★
Cast Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Viola Davis, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin & Hailee Steinfeld – Based on the novel by author Orson Scott Card and directed by Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins) Ender’s Game tells of a young, brilliantly gifted kid called Ender Wiggin (Butterfield) who is recruited into a military program by Colonel Graff (Ford) who believes Wiggin to be the one who can save all human kind from the evil alien race known as the Formics VERDICT firstly I must say I’ve never read any of Orson Scott Card’s novels and unlike others who decided to boycott the movie due to Scott Card’s personal views that have been aired recently, I could not wait to catch the film on the big screen – the fact remains that Ender’s Game is an exciting story executed by a talented young filmmaker and delivered by a cast that encompasses some of the very best in young Hollywood and some of our finest movie veterans – the zero gravity scenes in the Battle Room are jaw dropping, the crews vision to pull this off deserves plaudits, along with the actors who worked for a month each having their own member of the famous Cirque Du Soleil team preparing them for their respective roles – all of the young stars in the movie excelled, they not only embraced the physical demands but their acting was top notch too, it was engrossing to watch the likes of Asa Butterfield onscreen sparring with the likes of Indiana Jones and The Mandarin and giving them as good as he got – overall the film is not only highly entertaining & visually superb but it’s a story built around some intriguing characters & ranks up there with the very the best scifi movies of 2013 – don’t wait for the Bluray or Dvd Ender’s Game should be viewed on the biggest screen possible with a jar of pepsi (diet of course) and a big tub of popcorn….
Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson & Sebastian Stan star in Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Enjoy this new trailer for Captain America’s latest adventure that lands on the big screen next April….
Big Ass Spider (2013) – Movie Review ★★
Cast Greg Grunberg, Lombardo Boyar & Ray Wise – whilst receiving some treatment for an insect bite at a local hospital an exterminator (Grunberg) gets in the middle of the military & a bunch of scientists that are tracking and attempting to kill an alien Big Ass Spider – VERDICT – sadly the best bits of Mike Mendez’s B-Movie homage are left to the camp and it must be said dreadful visuals, you know the ones I mean? the Spider chasing a car down the road, the Spider rampaging into a team of bikini clad volleyball players and last but not least the Spider ascending a tall building in almost King Kong style – I usually adore these type of B-Movies, all tongue-in-cheek and mostly lots of fun, especially the ones that include some sort of mutated insect or an alien being hell bent on destroying earth but sadly Big Ass Spider did not take me on the ride I had hoped it would – it is 80mins of very bad acting, horrible visuals, some wasted onscreen talent (Ray Wise) and some terrible comedy dialogue – Overall Big Ass Spider will not be joining the likes of Eight Legged Freaks and Arachnophobia in the ranks of decent, well done Spider flicks, instead it will joining the likes of Sharknado on my list of movies that shall be forgotton & never revisited…
Escape Plan (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★
“You hit like a vegetarian”
Cast Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Vinnie Jones, Amy Ryan, 50 Cent & Sam Neill – Ray Breslin (Stallone) is a former prosecutor and now owns a security firm specializing in testing how reliable maximum security prisons are in the country – Breslin takes the unusual steps by getting put away in these prisons and then attempting to break-out, in the process testing the prisons design, it’s security and how escape-proof that particular prison is – during a board meeting at his firm a CIA agent offers Breslin 5 Million Dollars for his services in breaking out of a top-secret prison, the prisons location must remain secret – Breslin agrees to the terms, gets himself captured and the next thing he knows is when he wakes up in his cell, a room that is part of a complex of cells with no outside windows, so Breslin is none the wiser to where he has placed and that’s when the fun really begins VERDICT this is what the movies are all about – popcorn flicks get no bigger than a feature film starring the best two action stars in the business – Swedish director Mikael Håfström known for his work on 1408 and The Rite handles this action flick superbly well, it’s got everything a cinematic ride should have – a delicious villain played by Jim Caviezel, an evil henchman Vinnie Jones, a quick tempo with some fun fight scenes and fabulous cheesy one liner’s that only Arnie and Sly could deliver – overall Escape Plan is brilliant entertainment and I just hope that these two action heroes don’t leave it too long before teaming up in a feature movie one more time….
Movie Action Heroes
Around the age of eleven I was like many kids my age discovering the world of the movies, my dad would bring home some videos and we would spend many a family evening watching some of the action movies I have grown to love and appreciate even more as the years go by – I remember the summer of 1985 and my first experience of a Stallone movie on the big screen, my uncle had taken me to see Rambo: First Blood Part II in the local town, and it’s a day I will cherish forever, it was my first taste of an action hero at the cinema – hearing the cheer of the crowd as one of my heroes did his thing was immense – I was only 14 that year and the effect Stallone and Arnie had on me growing up was huge, they were my first real action hero crushes, my fascination of all things MOVIE came from watching and being inspired by these two action stars – their haul of movies during the late 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s included Rocky’s, Rambo’s, Terminators & Conan films, Commando, Red Sonja, Over the Top, Predator, Total Recall, Tango & Cash, Running Man, Cobra and many more – over the years these two cinematic giants have set the bar high in the Action Genre, their huge muscular physiques, magnificent screen presence and their ability to deliver delicious film quotes that were plentyful in the movie scripts of their day, have helped enhance both their repertoires making Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger the complete Action Hero Package that I doubt in my lifetime we shall see the like again…
Monsters University (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★
Vocals by Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Joel Murray, Charlie Day, Helen Mirren & Alfred Molina – after a school trip to Monsters Inc. a young monster by the name of Michael “Mike” Wazowski dreams of becoming a Scarer – 11 years later at Monsters University Mike comes across James P. “Sulley” Sullivan – at first the two loathe each other, trying to outdo the other by any means necessary BUT if they are to make their monster dreams a reality and become Scarer’s then they must put aside their dislikes and team up to win the annual “University Scare Games” VERDICT I love the Disney Pixar Universe and Monsters University is one of their best in recent years – it also happens to be their first movie prequel and contains another delicious soundbite by Randy Newman – you will have so much fun watching Mike and Sulley first meet, joining the Oozma Kappa team at the Scare Games and their hilarious encounter with new characters such as Dean Hardscrabble’s evil looking dragon centipede that runs the University – she truly is scary – some of the movies best moments include the scene when Mike & Sulley are chasing down Archie the Pig and of course the Scare Trials towards the end of the movie are so much fun – overall Monsters University is a rare breed, a movie prequel that’s better than it’s original – if you like your animation to be cute, full of smart dialogue and so funny your sides will split then Monsters University is for you!
From the mind and the direction of the brilliant Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom & Rushmore) comes a tale of Gustave H, a hotel’s concierge and his friendship with a lobby boy at a famous European hotel between the wars….Ralph Fiennes looks like he’s having a ball in this the first trailer of Wes Anderson’s latest The Grand Budapest Hotel – the film lands early next year….
trivia: this movie is Wes Anderson’s seventh collaboration with Bill Murray
MAN OF TAI CHI (2013) – Movie Review ★★★¾
Stars Tiger Hu Chen, Keanu Reeves, Karen Mok and Simon Yam – making his directorial debut “Matrix” star Keanu Reeves takes us to China – Tiger Chen is an exciting young Martial Artist who get’s noticed by Donaka Mark (Reeves) and is lured into being his champion in the lucrative underground world of the “Fight Club” – Sun Jingshi (Mok) is a police officer trying to bring Donaka to justice after one of her undercover operatives suddenly disappeared VERDICT I had lots of fun with this movie, very reminisent of the old Bruce Lee movies back in the 70’s, visually superb, performed with a stylish flair and delivered in breathtaking fashion by it’s stars – Tiger worked as a stunt man on “Crouching Tiger” and the last two “Matrix” movies and judging by this performance in this movie we could be seeing more of him as the actor rather than the man behind the scenes, he’s the complete package – as for Reeves his first movie behind the camera was impressive and as an actor he plays the villain with a delicious swagger – overall I really enjoyed Man of Tai Chi the cinematopgraphy and action scenes were flawless and Reeves love letter to the East was a terrific one!
The Conjuring (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★
Stars Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor and Joey King – a couple of paranormal investigators “The Warren’s” (Wilson & Farmiga) are called into help a young family who believe that their house is haunted – on investigating the house The Warren’s discover that a spirit of an evil witch named “Bathsheba” is looking to possess someone and create some holy carnage VERDICT at 36yrs of age James Wan the director of (Saw, Insidious & Insidious 2) has managed to scare the hell out of me with every picture he directs – his attention to detail married to his surreal vision of unorthodox camera angles and creepy ass movie settings always seem to produce unnerving results and overall The Conjuring is no different – it’s yet another James Wan scary masterpiece! – I particulary enjoyed the scene with the music box, the reflection and the scary notion that something or someone was going to jump out at any moment – this is truly great filmmaking, keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat, biting their finger nails or hugging the nearest pillow incase that notion becomes reality – role on the movies sequel….
Escape from Tomorrow (2013) – Movie Review ★★
Stars Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady & Alison Lees-Taylor – Escape from Tomorrow is the debut movie from writer/director Randy Moore and was filmed on location at Disney World and Disneyland without Disney’s permission – the film is set around a family’s last day on vacation at the parks, from the moment Jim White (Roy Abramsohn) gets that call on his balcony about loosing his job everything starts to slowly spiral downwards into a creepy Lynch-esqe film of weirdness that just keeps getting weirder VERDICT we’ve all done it, sat through a movie and then commented “what the HELL was that all about?” well Escape from Tomorrow is that movie – Randy Moore’s film is a quite unsettling, quite unpleasent Disneyland ride that may get some cult-status for it’s dark material and black & white neo-noir style, but overall it’s a film I failed to enjoy and one I certainly would not recommend….
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) – Movie Trailer
this looks hilarious… another big screen outing of everyone’s favorite newsreader Ron Burgundy played by funny man Will Ferrell – apart from the “Mugatu” character from Ben Stiller’s Zoolander Ron Burgundy is easily Will Ferrell’s funniest character – Director Adam McKay returns to helm the sequel that also includes cameo’s from Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Harrison Ford – this looks like it could be one wild ride…
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (2014) – Movie Stills
Directed by Bryan Singer & stars Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult & James McAvoy
“Characters from the original X-Men trilogy join up with their younger selves in a battle to change the past – to save their future”
After the brilliant Wolverine I am so amped for this latest movie featuring the X-Men – to whet your appettite until next years release here’s a bunch of new movie stills…
absolutebadasses 