Coming Up- August 22, 2009

This weekend I am looking forward to viewing the film I most looked forward to at the beginning of the summer.

The last Tarantino movie that I saw was Death Proof. This, along with with its double-feature guest, Planet Terror, provided an amazing amount entertainment. Pure Awesomeness.

Inglourious Basterds, also directed by Quentin Tarantino, has been promoted as at least the equal of Death Proof in terms of awesomeness production.

At the same time, there is another new release that seems to look a little bit interesting.



Post Grad may just be trying to take advantage of the recent recession business, but it seems to me to be the kind of story that has been ignored in a lot of ways. There have been multiple stories that tell the coming of age story from the male perspective, but few that tell the story in a seriously funny way from the female perspective.

Read on...

Coming Up, Friday August 7

There is actually something of a competition this week.

URBAN:
While I included GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra in the list of films I was looking forward to, I have to say that I have been let down by most of my picks. So far, the big budget action films this summer have all focused on explosions at the expense of even the slightest amount of story.

I fear that GI Joe will be no different.

FRANCL:
I'm not sure I'm really excited for either of these options this week. I fear that GI Joe is going to more closely resemble the recent onslaught of second-rate superhero movies, plus I wasn't a big G.I. Joe fan growing up (I tended towards the Ninja Turtles). When I see the previews, the guy in the camo parachute pants and 90's beret makes it hard for me to want to watch that fashion statement for two hours. However, I am a sucker for hi-tech weaponry, and I don't doubt this would be full of it. This is a movie I'll rent, but don't think I'd want to see in theaters.

URBAN:
With this in mind, Julie and Julia has been holding its own. It looks like something another blogger might be able to watch and enjoy.

FRANCL:
I actually think Julie & Julia is going to be a better movie top-to-bottom, mostly because I expect it'll have a story that a lot of people can relate to. I can't exactly relate to chasing down a corrupt arms dealer (GI Joe: Rise of Cobra), but I think we've all asked ourselves what we're going to do with our lives (Julie & Julia). That said, if I'm going to the theater, I want to see a movie that's going to be enhanced by the big screen, and that's definitely G.I. Joe. Also, if it's able to hit in the same vein as the first Transformers (another Hasbro collaboration) and less The Mummy Returns (also directed by Stephen Sommers), then it definitely has the upside potential.

What it comes down to is that I'm much more excited for the trifecta coming out next weekend: District 9, The Goods, and The Time Traveler's Wife, all of which I think have sleeper potential.

URBAN:
I will agree wholeheartedly with the first two for next week,,,,, but THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE!!!!! No Way!!! When I saw the preview for that, the only thought that entered my mind was CREEPY! You could prominently hear people whispering the word "pedophile" to each other after seeing the opening part where adult Eric Bana tells that little girl that she would fall in love with him... That was just weird.

As for tomorrow, still undecided, so look for the review tomorrow morning.

Read on...

Summer Blockbuster Update

Most Disappointing film of the summer thus far?

URBAN: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I agree that it is sometimes nice to watch a movie that is less engaging, but this film goes entirely in the opposite direction. I just hope that one of the adventure movies this summer comes close to the success achieved in Ironman/Dark Knight last summer. I'm afraid that GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is going to be a joke.

Best Film of the summer thus far?

Star Trek

Star Trek was good. The story, characters and action were interesting and fun, but it was too dependent on time travel and its paradoxes while avoiding serious themes that are required for a film to make a lasting impression.

In an odd way, I believe that it is going to be the films that aren't blockbusters. The Hangover impressed and 500 Days of Summer has been reviewed really well and I am really looking forward to Funny People. I don't quite know what to make of the upcoming District 9, which is produced by Peter Jackson. The advertising so far has caused ambivalence. On one hand, it looks Verhoevenish and counter-culture. On the other hand, the aliens seem really corny. Who knows?

Read on...

Coming Up, Friday June 26

URBAN:
As you probably expected, this week it has got to be Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. This film hasn't been reviewed well, but it is still the biggest show in town, having already taken in $16 million at the box office.

The first edition in this franchise did a good job of making viewers take interest in the human characters, focusing on their story as a part of the larger robot mythology. Of course, director Michael Bay will be serving up plenty of explosions and effects that will be interesting. I just hope that the robot fight scenes come off a better this time around.

Read on...

Coming Up- Friday, May 8th

Another week, another summer blockbuster. Star Trek is the movie to see this week, regardless of how tired the series may be. Next Day Air has The Wire connection that Obsessed did, but this week there is real competition.

Lucas:
J.J. Abrams made his fortune with Lost, now it's time to see if his magic can work on the big screen, and with an established franchise. To be honest, I'm worried. Wolverine's awfulness this weekend has reminded me just how easily a movie can go wrong when it tries to insert a new story into the continuity of an existing universe. Besides the fact that Star Trek has been done again and again and again, there's the additional danger of using CGI as a crutch. We've come a long way from the cheap plastic models of the original series, but replacing those models can't replace storytelling... there needs to be a compelling, plausible plot to back up whatever the effects department dreams up.

Further, that story must somehow fit into the existing mythology. For example, we know that Kirk cheats on the Kobayashi Maru test, the test that is supposed to be unwinnable. Star Fleet uses the test to see what candidates will do under extreme pressure, but Kirk thinks there is no such thing as a situation that is unwinnable. Part of the mystique of James T. Kirk is that he defeated this test... but that mystique was aided by the fact that we didn't know how he did it. Will J.J. Abrams's vision live up to what we have imagined? And finally, there's the time travel bit. From what I've been able to glean from articles and trailers, Kirk saves the universe in this film. Now, is that really necessary? Why couldn't the film just be about one man's struggle through the training process of Star Fleet, with a wink and a nod toward the audience who knows that he will become one of the most celebrated officers in the fleet? Instead of showing a simple story in extraordinary surroundings, they've decided to make an extraordinary story in extraordinary surroundings. It's possible, but not plausible.

Add all of this up, and it comes down to this: I'm worried.

Urban:

Okay, I have to weigh in on this one,,,,, but from a completely different point of view. I know very little about Star Trek, other than having seen The Voyage Home and The Final Frontier when I was younger. I guess my principle way of assessing why I want to see this film is that as someone who doesn't know very much about the multiple series', the prequel is the best way to introduce the characters. It is also a genius way to incorporate new life and some hip-ness into a franchise that seemed to be losing steam. Also, the advertising Paramount has commissioned looks really good.

I agree in principle with the themes that Mr. Lucas addressed. Storytelling is often cut at the expense of thrills and explosions during the summer blockbuster season. However, from the opinion of the outsider, this series has never been based on special effects, but rather by grinding out a story (one of the main reasons that I never watched it, though I was intrigued by the philosophical/sociological themes is that I thought it was exceedingly dull) that is based on some great characters. I don't expect that to change.

Read on...

Coming Up Friday, May 1

URBAN:
When you look at the offerings at your local theater you will realize that none of the other studios expect to make any money by competing with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. With that being said, I have to admit that I already have low expectations for this film. The advertising thus far would lead one to believe that this film is the equivalent of last year's The Incredible Hulk, in the amount of money spent on effects, budget for actors, and (most importantly) writing and directing.

It does look like it is going to attempt to place Wolverine in some historical context. If it can pull this off as a plausible explanation of the origin of the character this film might possibly overcome the obvious reliance on special effects in place of the story. In this case, the film might be able to rise to the level of Ironman, rather than The Incredible Hulk.

Wolverine was always my favorite X-Men character when I was a kid. I just hope that it isn't ruined by opportunists trying to make a quick buck copying the proven success of recent superhero films, and especially the Batman franchise with it's focus on the explanation of a character's gritty origins.


LUCAS:
I'm still holding out hope. I had a lot of reservations when they announced the first X-Men, for many of these same reasons... they're childhood icons, screen representations and actors won't be able to live up, etc. But they managed to put together a fairly good movie, and the actors met their roles reasonably well.

So, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. They don't have Brian Singer involved, which was part of what made the first two movies work, but they also don't have Brett Ratner, which is part of what made the third movie fail. I don't know what to expect with Gavin Hood, as I haven't seen either of the films he's directed previously, but I'm staying optimistic. But perhaps the wish is the father of the thought.

Read on...

Coming Up Friday, April 24...

URBAN:

So, for this week, once again we have three choices.

A. The Soloist: Star power, and a tale of the untiring strength of the human heart.....I'm thinking this looks very much like a cross between The Pursuit of Happyness and Rainman.







B. Fighting: The equivalent of last week's Crank 2, an action film for guys that need GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF ENERGY!!!!!!










C. Obsessed: Stringer Bell. Seriously, even though this doesn't look that great, I loved Stringer Bell in The Wire. That's enough for me.









I guess the best bet for a film that we could recommend would be The Soloist, but I kind of want to see Obsessed because I would get to see Stringer Bell.


LUCAS:
To be honest, I'm leaning toward Obsessed as well. I like Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx both, but the trailer for The Soloist didn't really do it for me. And, as much as the roles look they will give both leads the chance to show off their acting chops, I'm not in the mood for an overcoming-all-obstacles movie this week. I'd rather see sexy people be nasty to each other. And it's Stringer Bell.


CONCLUSION:
Obsessed.

Read on...