With the new trailer imminent Fox has released 4 new posters for Matt Reeves Dawn of the Planet of the Apes that lands next summer – the movie stars Andy Serkis (Caesar), Judy Greer (Cornelia), Gary Oldman, Keri Russell and Jason Clarke – loved Matt Reeves 2008 Cloverfield and enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes so this sequel is high on my watch list for 2014 – here’s them posters to whet the appetite…. Enjoy!
Gareth Edward’s latest is a movie remake of GODZILLA that will hit our screen’s in 3D next summer and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche – I got high hopes for this movie as I loved 2010’s Monsters directed by Edwards – here’s the trailer…. enjoy!
Godzilla – US (16th May) – UK (16th May) – Australia (15th May)
known as the “Woman of a Thousand Faces” Eleanor Parker has died aged 91 at her home in Palm Springs, California – although most remember Ms Parker for her superb portrayal of The Baroness in 1965’s The Sound of Music, it was earlier in her career at the start of the 50’s that she really made a name for herself, playing a teenager in Cromwell’s prison drama Caged, starring alongside Kirk Douglas in Detective Story and playing opera singer Marjorie Lawrence in 1955’s Interrupted Melody all three performances delivering Ms Parker an Academy Award Nomination – another couple of personal favorite’s was the John Sturges western Escape from Fort Bravo showing great chemistry alongside William Holden and Otto Preminger’s 1955 Frank Sinatra led movie The Man with the Golden Arm – she was one of the true greats of the silver screen, a fabulous actress with the looks of a Princess – she will be sadly missed….
Jupiter Ascending is the latest movie offering from the Wachowski’s and stars Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne – take a peak at this trailer and imagine these great visuals on the big screen…. enjoy!
Jupiter Ascending – US (25th July) – UK (25th July) – Australia (N/A)
Since making his movie debut opposite Barbara Stanwyck in 1946’s The Strange Love of Martha Ivers Kirk Douglas was destined to become a Hollywood Great – in his wonderful career Kirk appeared in over 70 movies, was nominated for 3 Academy Awards and in 1968 was the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award – he appeared alongside his friend Burt Lancaster on 7 different occasions and 3 times alongside John Wayne – some of my favorite movies include: Spartacus, War Wagon, The Vikings, Lust for Life, Ace in the Hole and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral – In my opinion he is the greatest actor of his generation – Happy Birthday 97 year old Kirk Douglas
CARRIE – (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★
Cast – Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Gabriella Wilde, Judy Greer and Ansel Elgort – from the mind of Stephen King and a remake of De Palma’s 1976 horror comes a re-telling of CARRIE, a supernatural tale of a child born by her deeply religious mum who abuses her and shelters her from society, at times locking her in a “prayer closet” beneath the stairs punishing her for any wrong doings & telling her to to pray for forgiveness – as Carrie grows into her teenage years, she discovers she has telekinetic powers and starts to control them – but during an incident at her senior prom Carrie unleashes an almighty fury on her peers and the town that pushed her too far VERDICT having loved Stephen King’s novel and being a huge fan of Sissy Spacek’s Oscar Nominated deliverance of Carrie back in ’76 I was initially dead against yet another dumb Hollywood remake – but having just seen Kimberly Peirce’s horror movie on the big screen, I’m here writing whilst eating humble pie and reflecting on a 100mins of fabulous acting, great camera work and a film that comes awfully close to surpassing it’s original – Julianne Moore is pretty terrifying and gives an unforgettable performance as Carrie’s mum, a religious woman who takes to self harming to rid herself of her demons, she truly is creepy, sadistic and unbalanced and if the Academy Awards rewarded great performances from ALL movie genres and not consistently ignore that of the Horror Film then Ms Moore would certainly be in the running for a gold statue, her turn as Margaret White is in my opinion that good – Kick-Ass’s Chloë Grace Moretz filmed this movie aged 15 and once again displays a talent far beyond her years, stamping her own disturbing print on that of Carrie White – also I must comment on an impressive movie debut by Ansel Elgort he is certainly one for the future – overall Kimberly Peirce’s Carrie is one to savor, a remake that’s truly worth watching and after a five year absence the Boys Don’t Cry director returns to helm one of 2013’s Best Horror pictures that will not only scare the bejesus out of you but also delivers a message to what can happen if one is pushed too far by those evil bullies of society….
Landing next summer THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 that stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Paul Giamatti, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Chris Cooper and Sally Field – for a movie remake 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man impressed me enough for me to look forward to this sequel, a sequel that includes an old friend Harry Osborn (DeHaan) and comic book villains Electro (Foxx) and The Rhino (Giamatti) – here’s the first trailer and some new stills…. enjoy!
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – US (2nd May) – UK (18th April) – Australia (17th April)
SCENIC ROUTE – (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★
Cast – Josh Duhamel & Dan Fogler – from the directing duo of Kevin and Michael Goetz Scenic Route follows two friends, Mitchell (Duhamel) and Carter (Fogler) on a road trip through Death Valley – when Carter orchestrates a breakdown and attacks some of Mitchell’s life choices their friendship gets seriously tested and things slowly start to spiral out of control VERDICT having not read any publicity or watched the trailer to Scenic Route I went into the movie not knowing what to expect, yes I’d seen Duhamel in Transformers and some rom-coms and laughed at Fogler in comedies such as Fanboys and Balls of Fury but paired together in a psychological thriller directed by two relitavely unknown’s Kevin & Michael Goetz a couple of filmmakers who’s only other venture behind the camera was 1998’s independent short Mass Transit – surely this film was doomed for failure? – thankfully my negative thoughts were turned to positive within the first 30mins, along with the beautifully shot exteriors and Kyle Killen’s gripping story the real success of Scenic Route was the electrifying chemistry between the films two leads, it was like watching two actors plying their trade on the Broadway stage, pummeling each other, getting under each other’s skin and finally breaking down – it was at times a very dark, emotional and brutally gripping 87 minutes – overall this under the radar thriller is one of the best of it’s kind & deserves your viewing – hopefully it won’t be too long before we’re treated to the next movie by Kevin & Michael Goetz….
STATIC – (2012/3) – Movie Review ★★★½
Cast – Milo Ventimiglia, Sarah Shahi and Sara Paxton – Static is the directorial debut of Todd Levin and in centered around a young couple Jonathan (Ventimiglia) and Addie (Shahi)who are facing marital difficulties after loosing their young child in a freak drowning accident, their life is thrown in to further disarray when a mysterious visitor knocks on their door in the middle of the night VERDICT all credit goes to first time director Todd Levin (who also wrote the script) on delivering a home invasion movie with a twist – the movies slow pace lends to the tension and creates some descent character building, Ventimiglia is an excellent young actor who handles the lead extremely well and is solidly backed up by Shahi & Paxton – the director does well in veering away from the standard slasher style flick and unlike most modern day horror’s Static has very little violence but is one of eerie suspense and great use of sound to deliver it’s message – overall Static doesn’t break any new ground but is a well produced, well acted and entertaining thriller that leaves you more than satisfied when them end credits roll….
THE FAMILY – (2013) – Movie Review ★★★¾
Cast – Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron, Domenick Lombardozzi and John D’Leo – The Family is the latest movie from Fifth Element & Leon director Luc Besson and is based on the novel Malavita : aka: Badfellas written by Tonino Benacquista – the film follows a Mafia family under the witness protection program who are relocated to Normandy, where they’re given a new identity and attempt to blend in to their new surroundings – but it’s not too long before chaos ensues after the crime kingpin tracking down The Family discover their new home VERDICT after discovering the wonderful Luc Besson in 88s The Big Blue and then in the mid 90s his epic Leon and The Fifth Element it’s been a pretty mediocre last ten years or so for this talented french director – but I’m happy to report that The Family is a return to form, the movie has a quick witted script and has some fun performances especially by Dianna Agron who gives her finest acting display to date playing the sexy, no nonsense daughter to Bob De Niro’s mob boss Giovanni Manzoni – Michelle Pfeiffer is also well worth the admission playing the bored housewife who like the rest of the family enjoys causing mayhem, her scene in the supermarket is fabulous with her facial expressions nailing the moment – another of my favorite scenes is when the mobsters come off the train in sleepy Normandy accompanied by the Gorillaz track Clint Eastwood it’s such a terrific moment with John D’Leo‘s character Warren watching on in awe and disbelief – overall The Family is a dark humored mobster flick that contains barrels of violence and some stylishly shot action scenes, the best of which are during the movies final quarter – The Family may not hit the standards of his early movies but Luc Besson has reminded us once more of his film-making qualities….
First up here’s a movie poster for How to Train Your Dragon 2 that lands next year, with vocals from the likes of Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill and Gerard Butler – the films are loosely based on the series of books by Cressida Cowell and is once again directed by Dean DeBlois – the second poster is for Blue Sky’s Rio 2 and continues the journey of Blu & Jewel – vocals include Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway & Jamie Foxx – the film will be the last of writer Don Rhymer who sadly died last year!
How to Train Your Dragon 2 – US (13th June) – UK (4th July) – Australia (10th July)
Rio 2 – US (11 April) – UK (4th April) – Australia (10th April)
Renny Harlin has his critics but I’m not one of them – with films such as Cliffhanger, Mindhunters, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Deep Blue Sea and of course Die Hard 2 Harlin specializes in making sure you have some fun whilst watching the big screen and I applaud that style of filmmaker. Early 2014 will see Renny Harlin take us on a journey to ancient Greece and the Legend of Hercules – the film stars Kellan Lutz (Twilight), Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2) and Liam McIntyre (Spartacus) – here’s the trailer and some new movie stills…. enjoy!
Hercules: The Legend Begins lands 2014 – in the US on January 10 and in the UK on August 8
It was the year that Pixar Studios opened, Amber Heard was born and Sydney Pollack’s Out of Africa won a Best Picture at the 58th Academy Awards – it was also the year screen legend James Cagney died and Mike Tyson became the youngest Heavyweight World Champion in the history of Boxing – it was also the year two of my movie heroes starred opposite each other for the last time – Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster first appeared together in 1957’s Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and in 1986 they would star in their seventh & final movie together Tough Guys….
My Definitive Action Movies of 1986 : at Number 1 is James Cameron’s epic scifi movie ALIENS that sees Ripley alongside a group of kick-ass Colonial Marines trying to stay alive down on LV-426 – at Number 2 Maverick & Goose fly into Top Gun coming up against the best Fighter Pilots the navy has to offer – and at Number 3 Sylvester Stallone plays Marion Cobretti a cop and part of the “Zombie Squad” who loves nothing better than Telling it to the Judge and putting the bad guys down in Cobra – at Number 4 is John Carpenter’s superb Big Trouble in Little China that sees Burton played by Kurt Russell battling a sorcerer named Lo Pan down in Chinatown – and finally there can be only one at Number 5 and that’s Russell Mulcahy’s Highlander don’t you just love that Queen soundtrack, that amazing Scottish backdrop and Clancy Brown’s villainous Kruger? – as you can see 1986 was an incredible feast of action movies, I was only 15 years of age at the time and my love affair with the movies was only just beginning….
THE HUNGER GAMES : CATCHING FIRE – (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★
Cast – Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman & Sam Claflin – Catching Fire starts with Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark preparing for their victory tour throughout the country – President Snow is growing suspicious of Katniss’s true feelings for Peeta and wants her eliminated, blaming her for the recent uprising in the districts and the announcement of Panem’s third Quarter Quell, a special version of the Games held every 25yrs throws Katniss & Peeta back in the arena where survival at all costs is top of the agenda VERDICT – with I Am Legend director Francis Lawrence on-board for the sequel to 2012’s The Hunger Games and a group of actors more familiar with their surroundings and current status amongst Hollywood’s elite, Catching Fire entered rare territory by becoming a movie sequel that’s far superior to it’s original – everything from the film’s sets, the film’s urgency and the exhilarating action were far superior to the first movie – especially the District 12 sets, the poison mist and the Monkey Mutts chase scene were breathtaking – hats off to some of the newcomers to the franchise, my favorites being Jena Malone’s Johanna, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Heavensbee & Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair all playing pivotal roles and shining when the spotlight was on – overall THE HUNGER GAMES : CATCHING FIRE does fine justice to the world created by Suzanne Collins and surpassed any expectations I had going into the theater – the third and final book is being adapted over two movies the first of which lands late 2014 and if Catching Fire hasn’t whet the appetite for what’s to come then the cannon must have sounded and your dead somewhere ready to be craned off to the Capitol….
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