[Official Trailer] The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Check out the first look at the Avengers sequel, hurry up since this will probably be taken down soon....


Will update with the official trailer once it's released....

UPDATED OFFICIAL TRAILER 8:50PM CST 10/22/14

Cindy Prascik's Review of Hercules & Lucy

Dearest Blog, today it was off to the cinema for a double-bill guaranteed to make me feel like a doughy old lump: Dwayne Johnson's Hercules and Scarlett Johansson's Lucy.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

First on the docket was Hercules.

Having successfully completed his legendary Twelve Labors, Hercules and his band of mercenaries find something besides gold that's worth fighting for.

Now, reader(s), you just knew this one was going to be silly, didn't you? Yeah, so did I, but it doesn't take itself very seriously at all, so I didn't mind. Dwayne Johnson is, as always, a truly engaging screen presence. You'll probably never see this guy carting home an Academy Award, but dude knows how to win and hold an audience.

You'll wonder why John Hurt and Ian McShane (one of my all-time favorites), even bother with stuff like this, but the movie is better for having them, so no complaints here. I'm sure their bank accounts have no complaints, either. The wonderful Rufus Sewell is also a welcome addition. Hercules' effects are decent and of course HUGE, if nothing too special. The story is passable entertainment, but, with such scintillating dialogue as, "Don't just stand there, KILL SOMEBODY!"...well...it isn't exactly Aaron Sorkin.

Hercules runs 98 minutes and is rated PG13 for "epic battle sequences, violence, suggestive comments, brief strong language, and partial nudity."

If it's just brainless fun, well, I'll take self-aware silliness like this over pompous drivel like the Planet of the Apes franchise any day.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Hercules gets five and a half.

Next up was ScarJo headlining Lucy.

A party girl living abroad is forced to carry drugs out of the country. When the package leaks inside her, it expands her mind's capacity to unthinkable levels.

Okay, confession time. I am what Hollywood refers to as "part of the problem." I don't generally see movies that star women. Women's movies don't interest me, and even an action thriller starring a woman wouldn't have made my list on a stronger weekend. Having said that, I've been falling a little bit in love with Scarlett Johansson's voice of late (but who hasn't...am I right, Joaquin Phoenix??), and since it was a weak weekend and Hercules wouldn't work with another screening of Jersey Boys, Lucy wound up the default closer of my double-header.

I admit, I was surprised by Lucy, and not altogether pleasantly. I wasn't bored--which I feared I would be--but at some point the movie degenerates from a solid-if-predictable action movie to broadly-drawn science fiction, and, while I didn't hate it, I also didn't love it. Johansson is capable in the lead, not to mention pretty darn hot, and Morgan Freeman is steady if somewhat underused.

I very much like the idea, but am unsold on its execution, and if the little science-class movie clips were kind of clever the first dozen times, I got tired of that trick before the halfway mark. To its credit, the movie keeps moving and doesn't wear out its welcome, but it would have fared better had filmmakers toned down the sci-fi a bit.

Lucy clocks in at 90 minutes and is rated R for "strong violence, disturbing images, and sexuality."

A little something different to break up your summer of superheroes and sequels, of a possible nine Weasleys, Lucy gets six...which would probably be at least half a Weasley higher if it were Louis instead.

Until next time..

Do I care if this movie is terrible? No, I do not.

MOVIE REVIEW: LUCY

Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson headline this EuropaCorp/TF1 Films co-production directed by Luc Besson, and released by Universal Pictures. The story centers on a woman (Johansson) who falls prey to sinister underworld forces, but who gains superhuman abilities that allow her to strike back at her oppressors. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Luc Besson 

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman

Release Date: Jul 25, 2014

Rated: R for Sexuality, Disturbing Images and Strong Violence 

Runtime: 1 hr. 28 min. 

Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller 

Review:

Luc Besson has made some solid films over his career but he’s made some fairly terrible ones as well.  Lucy falls into latter category in spite of Scarlett Johansson’s best Small Wonder impression.  Besson waste a fairly decent premise which is rather intriguing for an instant before it devolves into a rapid vortex of stupidity all while playing it straight.  Besson really thinks he’s making a thought provoking film that’s posing some serious questions, you can tell by the film student quick cuts of stock footage to hammer home points, instead it’s probably one of the stupidest movies I’ve seen this year.  By the time the third act pops up and Morgan Freeman shows up, presumably having walked over from the set of Transcendence, you just have to hold out to see when this silliness will end which it does rather quickly and abruptly.

D

MOVIE REVIEW: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER,

Steve Rogers continues his journey as the super-powered American soldier who's grasping to find his place in a modern world after being frozen in ice since WWII with this Marvel Studios sequel. Chris Evans returns to star, with Community director/producers Joe and Anthony Russo helming. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo 

Cast: Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson

Release Date: Apr 04, 2014

Rated: PG-13 for Gunplay, Action throughout and Intense Sequences of Violence

Runtime: 2 hr. 8 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure

Review:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of Marvel’s best scripted stories thus far.  That’s not to say it doesn’t have some issues but it’s a solid attempt at trying to dig a bit deeper into some complex issues with a complicated villain.  It’s rather blunt if earnest about it’s intentions.  If this all makes it sound rather dour well it is at time occasionally turning into a plodding and somewhat joyless experience that could have been trimmed by a good 15 to 20 minutes.  Personally, I might have been more impressed if I hadn’t seen a similar story line in a certain DC animated series I was fond of but I digress.  The film, when it hits its mark, delivers some excellent action set pieces and superhero action.  Evans does his best to bring some deeper layers to the Captain and he pulls it off for the most part.  Scarlett Johansson has a larger part which doesn’t require her to runaround in her catsuit and the film’s better for it as she displays some solid chemistry with Evans.  Newcomers Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford bring varying degrees of excitement to the proceedings.  Mackie is obviously having a blast throughout while Redford’s name brings some gravitas to the whole thing but he seemed as disinterested as can be.  Sebastian Stan’s Winter Solider is in the movie title but his screen time is surprisingly small in the grand scheme of things.  It’s a game changing film that does kind of blows up a lot of the establishment from the Marvel universe so it’ll be interesting to see where they from here, hopefully they’ll remember bring a bit more fun.  

B-

Cindy Prascik's Review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Dearest Blog, yesterday I chose an afternoon at the cinema over an afternoon at the office. In the common tongue, I believe that's what's known as a "gimmie." On the docket, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

Captain America finds himself at odds with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s thinking, and facing a surprising and dangerous adversary.

Well, dear Blog, first I should admit I'm not quite so much on the Marvel bandwagon as most of the world. They make good superhero movies, and I like good superhero movies, but they don't make anything that sets my world on fire like that last Batman trilogy did. A matter of personal taste, I know, but worth mentioning in the interest of full and fair disclosure.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier has many positives, so we'll start with those. It's a layered story that manages to hold your attention without becoming muddled and over-complicated. The action sequences are solid, and the CGI tricks look pretty authentic. The movie is filled with familiar names and faces, and it's as comfortable as hanging with a group of old friends when they name-check other characters from the Marvel universe. Chris Evans again serves the Captain well. If he's neither as charismatic as Robert Downey, Jr. nor as interesting as Mark Ruffalo, he IS the very picture of the all-American hero, perfect for this role. For my money, though, the actor who's really worth seeing here is Sebastian Stan. I've been a fan since his work on the short-lived NBC series Kings, and am positively delighted about his jump to the big-screen blockbuster. (I'd have been more delighted with more screen time, but since I watched Black Swan for about two minutes of him, I guess I'll live.)

On the negative side: Had the action sequences been trimmed just a bit, the movie would have been sharper and better paced; as it is, it does seem to drag a bit at times. Of more concern was the reaction in my pretty-crowded cinema, almost a total flatline. No spontaneous oohs and ahhs, almost no bursts of laughter at the comic bits, no chatter or applause at the end. For a movie that's been so well received, I found that very curious, especially as the crowd seemed mostly comprised of fanboys and kids.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier runs 136 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of violence, gunplay, and action throughout."

Some folks are saying The Winter Soldier is even better than Marvel's Avengers, seemingly the current benchmark for a great superhero movie. For my money, they're about the same: fun times that perfectly fit the lighthearted summer-blockbuster mold.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Captain America: The Winter Soldier gets seven and a half.

Until next time...

 

 

Any room for me up in there?

MOVIE REVIEW: HER

A sensitive and soulful man earns a living by writing personal letters for other people. Left heartbroken after a long love affair ends, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) becomes fascinated with a new operating system which reportedly develops into an intuitive and unique entity in its own right. He starts the program and meets "Samantha" (Scarlett Johansson), whose bright voice reveals a sensitive, playful personality. Though "friends" initially, the relationship soon deepens into love.. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Spike Jonze

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara, Amy Adams

Release Date: Dec 18, 2013

Rated R for language, Brief Graphic Nudity and Sexual Content

Runtime: 1 hr. 59 min.

Genres: Romance

Review:

Spike Jonze Her is a beautifully told love story that’s about as dense as week old muffins. Jonze’s, who also wrote the script, film is set in the hipster populated near future where a lonely man falls in love with a sentience operating system but it’s all a proxy for a myriad of themes and ideas. It’s delicate and harsh at the same time with the emotional journey ringing true throughout. You could say this film is about increasingly detached world or about journey we go through in relationships or the evolution of a person as they grow and learn. Any one of those would be correct in my opinion and there are still other thematic elements at play throughout. Joaquin Phoenix turns in an awards caliber performance, especially when you consider the fact that he was acting by himself for the better part of the film only with Johansson’s voice to work with. It’s an impressive turn from the start were we sense the character’s loneliness and the emotional journey he goes through. It maybe his best work to date. Johansson’s voice work is equally impressive. She creates a tangible character with emotional weight which is quite a trick since she’s just a disembodied voice. They both have a discernable rapport together which makes the emotions feel real. It’s a strangely impressive feat for the film. There are some issues albeit minor ones. The allegory does occasionally veer into pretentious territory by taking things into silly extremes. Additionally, the story is overlong, needlessly meandering for portions of the 2nd act before moving to its inevitable conclusion.

A-

[Trailers] Captain America: The Winter Soldier & Anchorman 2 US and International

A couple of new trailers have hit the interwebs over the last few days so let’s dig right in.

First up is the trailer, which looks surprisingly impressive, for the Captain America sequel. There’s a noticeable tonal shift from the first film which I never loved or hated. This one seems more like an international flavored action thriller with superheroes in the mix. Lots of familiar faces pop up along with plenty of new ones, check it out….



Earlier this week a couple of new Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues trailers hit. The 2nd US trailer showcases plenty of new footage. If that didn’t wet your appetite check out the international trailer which has even more new footage. I’m a huge Will Ferrell so I can’t wait for this, check them out below…

2nd US Trailer….



International Trailer….

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Prisoners & Don Jon

Dearest Blog, today it was off to the cinemas for a double-feature of strange bedfellows, Prisoners and Don Jon.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing the trailers didn't reveal.

First up was last week's number-one box office draw, Prisoners.

Two young girls go missing on Thanksgiving day, and while locals and law enforcement attempt to find the girls and the culprit, one father takes matters into his own hands.

To be perfectly frank, I wasn't buying much of the hype about Prisoners. It looked like a good enough whodunnit, but nothing special. Sadly, it didn't surprise me.

Dear reader(s), by now we know one another well enough that I don't need to tell you

Prisoners is too damn long. It clocks in at two and a half hours, and starts feeling like it's never going to end somewhere around the 90-minute mark. The mystery itself is interesting, if nothing new, but the pacing is slow and never really gains any momentum.

The bleak late-fall/early-winter landscapes (Georgia masquerading as Pennsylvania) set the perfect tone for what is a humorless, miserable film. I'm not a fool, and I don't expect pratfalls and belly laughs in a story about child abduction, but there's a sort-of graveyard humor that's common among folks who work in grim circumstances, and the movie could have used some of that.

The cast is a who's who of Awards season darlings: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo and Paul Dano. I can't say anyone gave the performance of his or her career, but everyone was more than adequate. I might fairly be accused of some personal bias in Mr. Gyllenhaal's favor, but I thought he captured his stressed and twitchy detective especially well. And I will never complain about two hours of Melissa Leo. Ever.

Prisoners clocks in at 153 minutes (you heard me!) and is rated R for "disturbing violent content including torture, and language throughout."

Prisoners is an average thriller that's blessed with, but ultimately can't be saved by, an extraordinary cast.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Prisoners gets five.

Lightening things up a bit for the second half of our doubleheader, I sprinted across the cinema to catch Don Jon, starring, written, and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

A young New Jerseyite is content with his life of working out, clubbing, and watching porn...until he meets the girl of his dreams.

Lest any readers get the wrong idea, and I think the wrong idea easily could be gotten here, I'll state up front that the following thoughts are based on this film only, there's no underlying discomfort with or distaste for the subject matter. (Read: I'm entirely okay with porn.)

Don Jon isn't the straight comedy sold by the trailers. When it's funny, it's very funny. The drama is equally well done, but--not being what I expected--it left me feeling a bit off-kilter about the whole. The film is very crass throughout. It's short by today's standards, but I suspect it would have worn out its welcome long before the end if Gordon-Levitt weren't so charming. Scarlett Johansson is fantastic as his Jersey Shore-esque dream woman, and Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, and Glenne Headly are strong in supporting roles.

Before I saw this, if you'd asked me to list ten ways I thought it might end, I wouldn't have come close to guessing the way it does end. Full marks for one of the best cinema surprises I've had in a good, long while.
Don Jon runs 90 minutes and is rated R for "strong graphic sexual material and dialogue throughout, nudity, language, and some drug use."

Don Jon isn't a perfect film, but it's confident, funny, and charming enough to be worth a rental, if not a trip to the cinema.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Don Jon gets six.

Now, seriously, I've already had enough of this crap. Remind me when Thor's out again, please??

Until next time...........



If I ever go missing, please send Detective Jake Gyllenhaal!

MOVIE REVIEW: HITCHCOCK

HITCHCOCK



Director Sacha Gervasi adapts Stephen Rebello's book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho to explore the relationship between the legendary British director (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren), who played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in the making of her husband's terrifying 1960 classic Psycho. Scarlett Johansson co-stars as Janet Leigh and James D'Arcy portrays Anthony Perkins in a film also featuring Jessica Biel, Danny Huston, Toni Collette, and Ralph Macchio. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Sacha Gervasi

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, James D'Arcy

Release Date: Nov 23, 2012

Rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content and thematic material

Runtime: 1 hr. 38 min.

Genres: Drama

Review:

Hitchcock takes a fun and lighthearted look into the trials, tribulation and machinations of the making of one his seminal films. Sasha Gervasi, helming his first non documentary film, makes it feel like we are watching a sort of accurate cliff notes version of what actually happened. As such he keeps it from being overly dry, allowing his cast to relish in their roles. Anthony Hopkins, under heavy prosthetics which work with varying degrees of effectiveness, delivers one of his better performances in a good while. He can’t hide his singular voice but occasionally he does get the tenor of Hitch down perfectly. Hopkins allows us to see various sides of Hitch, his obsessive controlling nature along with his voyeuristic tendencies. Helen Mirren makes a good match for Hopkins as Alma, Hitchcock’s long suffering wife/collaborator. Mirren takes on the meaty role and she shares a steady effective chemistry with Hopkins and they play out the collaborative but dysfunctional relationship the couple shared. Both can carry a scene easily and are given plenty of chances to shine. Supporting players like Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Toni Collette, Danny Huston and James D’Arcy, doing an impressive turn as Anthony Perkins, all do solid work filling out the film. The film ends on a tad bit too much of a happy note for my taste. A good companion piece to follow up with is the recent HBO film The Girl, which covered the making of The Birds, with a very effective Toby Jones playing a creepier Hitch as he tormented Tippi Hedren played by Sienna Miller.

B+

[Trailer] Hitchcock

The first trailer of Sacha Gervasi's "Hitchcock" has gone online and it looks like it’ll be a fun film for fans of Hitchcock and film in general. The tone of the film looks much lighter than HBO’s upcoming Hitchcock based film The Girl.

Anthony Hopkins appears to be incredibly focused even if the make up might be a bit jarring. His onscreen pairing with Helen Mirren looks to be the highlight of the film rounded out with a strong supporting cast.

Personally, I can’t wait to see this….

MOVIE REVIEW: THE AVENGERS

IN THEATERS

MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS 3D



Marvel Studios delivers the ultimate comic-book film, which ties together such characters as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) for a big-screen franchise team-up like no other. Taking center stage this time is Nick Fury (played once again by the note-perfect Samuel L. Jackson), leader of the peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury, along with former Russian spy Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), recruits a super team to combat Thor's ever-deceptive brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) after he brainwashes ace archer Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) while stealing a cosmic cube from an underground base. Thus the heroes must learn to work together alongside outlaw scientist Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who can track down the artifact's gamma signals when he's not hulking out into a giant green monster. Show runner Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) adapted and helmed the script by Zak Penn. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Joss Whedon

Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson.

Release Date: May 04, 2012

Rated PG-13 Intense Sci-Fi Action/Violence and A Mild Drug Reference

Runtime: 2 hr. 23 min.Genres: Action/Adventure

Review:

Marvel’s huge gambit started with Iron Man’s post credit scene and went on from there. It was a terribly risky and ambitious. Once all the stand alone films were done Joss Whedon was tasked with the incredibly difficult task of putting it all together and giving each character its due while creating a story that would justify these characters coming together. Whedon, to his massive credit, delivered a spectacle which will be remembered by children for years to come. Whedon’s love of the characters and genre is readily apparent in the ever single frame of the film. Whedon knows his audience and delivers the kind of film that fans want. Massive action set pieces that give each character a time to shine as the film goes along, leading up to a an insane climatic battle that gives us more destruction than Transformers Dark of the Moon. It would have been easy for Whedon to just deliver an endless battle royale but he gives his film time and allows each character to have simpler quieter moments that let you into their head and motivations. The cast is on target throughout and while it would have been easy for Robert Downey Jr. to have run the show, he’s kept in check and gives the other actors room to breathe and shine. Mark Ruffalo’s take of Bruce Banner is impressive, so much so that I’d say we finally have a definitive film version of the character. Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner do as much as they can with less screen time than the other stalwarts. Tom Hiddleston provides a great villain for the super group to fight, sadly he only lacked a long twirly mustache. 2 post credit scenes provide more fun to ease you off your high. The first sets up a sequel and latter is a wonderful moment showcasing Whedon and the cast. A perfectly fitting end to a film that’s blockbuster filmmaking at it’s finest.

A

[Official Trailer] Avengers Assemble

New name, new poster and new trailer, geekness levels rising……..

More footage is on hand it makes everything look appropriately fun and epic….

[Official Trailer] The Avengers

Official trailer is finally out and it’s pretty damn Geektastic, watch it for yourself.

You get a nice sense of the scale that Whedon is going for and some nice action shots of all the heroes, of course Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark gets the best line in the trailer…..

[Trailer] The Avengers

After last weeks The Dark Knight Rises bootleg now it looks like another bootleg of a hotly anticipated comic book film has hit the internet.

The teaser to The Avengers, which is going to play before Captain America, is out and kind of cool looking, at least from what little I could see, quality is pretty shoddy and will probably be pulled down sooner than later…….

I’ll post the official one as soon as it’s out…..