Review: The Kids are All Right

"Indie" movies these days are just all the rage. Ever since "Little Miss Sunshine" (I believe) people have noticed that there's other movies out there besides the big blockbusters that Hollywood puts out, hoping explosions and robots and 3D will bring in the most $$. Then "Juno" came along and everyone fell in love with Michael Cera (even more) and were once again surprised by these Sundance-esque pieces. I saw the "indie" movie "Cyrus" a while back and liked it for its simplicity of showing believable people react and interact in believable circumstances. Because that's what most "indie" movies do. Whereas big blockbusters and movies with larger budgets go for the simplicity of stereotypes like the stupid stoner, buff action-hero, sinister bad guy, and so on and so forth, movies like "The Kids are All Right" attempt to show real life. And that can be a really hard thing to do. Much harder than blowing up a building like Michael Bay.

Fortunately enough, this movie succeeds on multiple levels of character development bolstered by top-notch acting combined with a great original script that, surprisingly enough, isn't that predictable. Here we have Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening), a lesbian couple with two kids, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) the 18 year-old daughter, and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) the 15 year-old son. Everything's just dandy with this family until Laser finally convinces Joni to contact Jules and Nic's sperm donor Paul (Mark Ruffalo). What started as curiosity for the kids soon turns into friendship that begins to have its effects on the family and Jules and Nic's relationship.

Cast of "The Avengers" at Comic Con '10

Apart from some guy getting stabbed in the eye with a pen, I really don't care much for Comic Con and all the hype around it. However, there are a few things that come out of each year's festival that I usually find exciting. The introduction of "The Avengers" cast from Marvel is probably the coolest thing that happened this year. Yeah, it wasn't really a secret and everyone was split over Edward Norton being denied the chance to return as The Hulk, but if you watch the video below, it's still exciting to see all these well known faces come out on stage, being introduced with their super-hero title. Here we have from left to right "Iron Man", "Agent Coulson", "Black Widow", "Thor", "Captain America", "Nick Fury", "Hawkeye", "The Hulk", and director Joss Whedon. Although this movie won't be coming out till 2012, we have "Thor" to look forward to with Chris Hemsworth bringing the god of thunder to life in 2011 and then Chris Evans will star as "Captain America" in the same year. These two movies will give audiences a taste of what's to come with "Avengers". It's one powerhouse of a cast with the presence of Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, and Mark Ruffalo. Every nerd in the world is crossing their fingers and shaking uncontrollably for 2012. Will they be disappointed? Whedon's record doesn't really impress me that much even though I haven't seen "Serenity" or the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Even if this movie doesn't live up to the majority of expectations or movie criteria in general, I still think it'll be awesome to see all these actors/actresses on screen together. (I also like how Downey Jr. acts exactly the same in real life as every character he's played in a movie).

Trailer: Tron Legacy (#2)

And here we have a BRAND NEW trailer for Tron Legacy unveiled at the San Diego Comicon where basically all the big movies for the next 2 years are being discussed and nerded over by people in storm trooper and predator costumes. But on the other hand, this trailer makes me WAY more excited. I finally saw the first Tron a little while ago and thought it was bizarre and hard to follow and interesting with tacky graphics, but now I finally get what's going on! And what those big, hovering "U" shaped machines are, as well as the light-cycles and the disc fighting, etc. Fun fact, did you know you can buy a light-cycle? Well, of course it's really just a motorcycle shaped like a light-cycle with lights on the wheels and stuff, but still. I'm just excited to see Jeff "the Dude" Bridges back as Flynn, the witty, charismatic, but determined computer nerd/hero. Not to mention the special effects look awesome and may even be worth seeing in 3D despite my general loathing for the current 3D craze and how it's just a gimmick for studios to make more money off of more expensive tickets. Plus, this trailer clarifies the existence of plot other than getting sucked back into the computer. So Flynn's son needs to rescue his father from a computer program pretending to be his father? Intriguing! Anyway, be (even more) excited for this and its December 17th release! It may even end up being the Volk family's traditional Christmas-family-movie-outing, who knows. 

In Focus: Tom Hardy

Prior to seeing Inception I was excited to find out that a certain British actor who I had recently become acquainted with is part of the "dream team" which includes Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Ellen Page in Christopher Nolan's newest hit. This actor is Tom Hardy, who portrays the nonchalant action-hero Eames in Inception. But right before this role Hardy portrayed Charlie Bronson, England's most dangerous and violent inmate in the 2008 movie "Bronson". Hardy's crazy and thoroughly convincing portrayal of Bronson earned him a lot of notoriety everywhere. And as you can see from the picture at right, he went through quite a physical change to adapt to the role.

Bronson is a great cerebral movie that will shock you with its violence and psychological quirks, but it is also really well done visually and supported most of all by Hardy's performance. Nicolas Winding Refn (the Pusher Trilogy) directed and is now coming out with Valhalla Rising which looks equally as crazy, dark, and visually stunning, and who's trailer you can see here. 

But back to Hardy, he's definitely one of my new favorite actors. Like many dashing, bulky action heroes out there like Sam Worthington and Christian Bale, it looks like Hardy will rise pretty fast after Inception. But unlike actors specifically like Worthington, Hardy has a lot of diversity. Even though Worthington recently told the press he wants to play characters with a little more depth now, that doesn't ignore the fact that he's only taken 1 dimensional heroes from Avatar, Terminator Salvation, and Clash of the Titans to rise to the top. Hardy on the other hand likes anything and everything and new things as he professes in a truly fascinating interview over at cinematical. 

And he's definitely proven it by taking roles ranging from "Wuthering Heights" to "Star Trek: Nemesis" and "Rocknrolla". Now, Hardy's most recent casting news and the most exciting to be announced for a while about anyone is his role as Max in two new Mad Max movies directed by original director George Miller (who apparently also directed Happy Feet? wtf?). If you combine Hardy's portrayal of Bronson with Eames from Inception, I'd say you have a pretty awesome Mad Max. Sadly, filming has been currently delayed for Mad Max, but I'm sure it will start eventually. Who doesn't want to see those movies redone? I don't care how much of a cult following they have, the originals are TERRIBLE. Please give us something better, Mr. Hardy and Mr. Miller, because Mr. Gibson is in no shape to return to any sort of acting as we all know from a few certain tapes.

Anyway, everyone should pay more attention to Hardy. Even though his character in Inception isn't as extreme as Bronson, he got the job done and is my favorite character in the movie because of it. I hope to see him in much more from now on. I have included the "Bronson" trailer below for your enjoyment and a possible viewing on Netflix since it's on instant watch right now.

Review: Inception

This is it. The movie I'd been waiting all year to see. So far I've been amazed by director Christopher Nolan's work which includes Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight. Nolan always loves to play with the audiences' mind in regards to his twisting plots and the psychological themes and ideas therein. No one can craft a plot with such precision, intensity, and perfect pacing like he can. And Inception just takes the cake on that note.

I will do my best not to reveal anything about the plot or its ideas that may take away from the movie going experience. But I will tell you that it is one complex movie-going experience. I really can't recall a recent time when I was so thoroughly engrossed in a movie because not only are you trying to follow the intense and awesome action sequences on screen (and there are many), but you're also trying to keep track of the tricks of the trade of dream invasion.

After the beginning, the plot takes a bit of time explaining to the audience just how dream invasion works, what you can and can't do, what different things mean, and the multiple levels to dreams and who controls what. For me, all this information was almost a bit too much to handle with one sitting and definitely requires multiple viewings of the movie to get just exactly how all these "rules" play out in regards to the plot. And as for the plot, all you need to know is that Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) leads a team of dream experts comprised  of Eames (Tom Hardy), Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Ariadne (Ellen Page), Saito (Ken Watanabe), and Yusuf (Dileep Rao). Each one of these characters has their own duties concerning dream invasion and what they control. In the same way, each one has a plot function that doesn't really give their character much depth.

Trailer: Biutiful

Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year was Alejandro González Iñárritu's new movie Biutiful starring Javier Bardem from No Country for Old Men and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Anyone who's seen Amores Perros, 21 Grams or Babel knows Iñárritu's movies are not your average day viewing or a typical Oscar-winning, emotional drama. They're about as raw and intense as you can get. And like 21 Grams, Biutiful seems to be dealing with a redemption theme which means it's going to be sad, dark, and gritty, naturally. IMDB's synopsis (as posted by some anonymous person) says this: "This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger of death Struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him in order to forgive, for love, and forever." It's a bit vague here exactly what this is about but I like it better that way. Although it looks like Iñárritu is leaving behind his old "multiple characters and how their lives connect" story to focus on one person. I think this looks awesome. It will definitely be an Oscar contender and I hope it has a wide opening in the USA.

Review: The Girl Who Played with Fire

This isn't actually a shot from the movie. I just think it looks really badass.

Anyway, so here we are with the sequel to The Girl with the Drago Tattoo and I doubt really anyone cares or knows what the heck I'm talking about unless you've read the books that apparently have sold millions of copies worldwide. I have't read the books and just decided to jump in and see what they're like. And let me tell you, this is dark, twisted stuff.

After journalist Mikael Blumqvist (Michael Nyqvist) and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) solved the previous mystery of brutal murders of woman around Europe done in sadistic, ritualistic fashion, Lisbeth manages to help uncover evidence against the man who put Mikael in jail and steal his money at the same time. So she's traveling all over the world just for the fun of it. Well she decides to come back to Stockholm, Sweden and in the meantime a young reporter joins Mikael's paper with a story about local businessmen and politicians involved in sex trafficking. Anyways, Libseth eventually gets framed for the murder of the young reporter and his wife as well as her old lawyer (who used to rape her, btw). Mikael then sets off to solve why someone would want to frame Lisbeth while she is on the run.

Whoo. That's a lot to explain. It sorta hurt my head to go over everything that happened again. And that can either be off-putting for many people or be fresh and interesting for others. I really enjoy going into movies that I know next to nothing about and this was one of them. The story may be fairly complex and the plot moves slow (like the first one) but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Trailer: The Social Network (one that actually shows footage)

So I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one annoyed by the first trailers for this movie that just involved big, white lettering and voice overs of people talking about "BILLIONS of dollars" and "we should sue him in federal court!" (a great line, btw). The only thing that kept me interested in this movie was the fact that A) David Fincher is directing and B) I don't know anything about how Facebook was created and seeing as how it's become an easy (creepy) way to spy on people and see everything they do, I figured it'd be interesting to see how it all started in the first place. Now here we are, a trailer with people. So? It's got Fincher's signature darkness and faces obscured in shadow with any yellow/brown colors accented which you can see in Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and many more. So yeah, Fincher is a great director, but I just find Jesse Eisenberg annoying. His voice is just so.....I don't know....it just is. Zombieland was great and he's good at doing the nervous but sweet nerdy teenager (there's so many of those though!). Hopefully we'll be able to see a new side of him here with a bit more emotion involved besides talking really fast and stuttering. Also, has anyone else noticed how many movies this Andrew Garfield guy is in? He's the one who screams "MARK!" at the end. First of all, he's cast as the new Spiderman, he's in Never Let Me Go, an Oscar contender coming out this winter, and was in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus last year. And now this. He's really heading for the big time. Anyway, I'm a bit more excited for this now seeing as there's actually people in this movie and not just voices. Or big white letters.

Trailer: Due Date

This movie is definitely going on my 'most excited for' list. It's got everything going for it at this point. Basically because of Zack Galifianakis. But so many other things as well! The director of The Hangover has returned with Zack and added everyone's favorite Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. to the mix. I'm not exactly sure what's going on in this plot other than Downey Jr. and Galifianakis go on some sort of road trip. And naturally, hilarity ensues. I really don't see how this could not be freaking hilarious. There's really not much more to say here except: Be excited everyone.

Review: Predators

A while ago (spring break to be exact), I decided to watch all of the Predator and Alien movies. I'd seen the first two Aliens and liked them, but I should've stopped there. The 3rd and 4th are embarrassing. And then I watched the Predators, and I'm sorry to admit I hadn't seen the original till then. After getting through the whole series (yes, even the silly AVP's), I was naturally more excited for Nimrod Antal's Robert Rodriguez produced reboot of the series, "Predators". This time, the humans go up against the expert hunter/killer alien race in the beasts' own habitat and on some unknown planet.

The only thing any of the crew (which include the likes of Adrien Brody, Danny Trejo, Topher Grace, etc) remember is falling from the sky into the jungle. But they soon find out something's not right and mysterious beings are hunting them. Of course, it's pretty obvious to the audience who/what these things are. And, unfortunately, that takes away from the movie as a whole.

But don't get me wrong, this is a top of the line action/thriller.

Trailer: Machete (official)

Many may have seen the first "trailer" for this when it was a fake movie and the trailer was made specifically for the Grindhouse movies with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. But now, it's actually real. Danny Trejo is playing Machete: the biggest, meanest, most badass Mexican you've ever seen. Ever since seeing Desperado, I've become a Rodriguez fan (he produced Predators too) and this looks just like the same reckless action and violence that made that movie so much fun. It also stars quite a few famous actors like Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Jessica Alba, and the up and coming Michelle Rodriguez from Avatar and LOST. I don't care how ridiculous it looks, that's the fun of it. Physics and the amount of ammo a gun can hold never mattered much to El Mariachi and it won't seem to here either. Be even more excited for September now.

Review: Cyrus

Before I even start, I just have to wonder: why hasn't this movie been given a wider release or more publicity? Look at the cast: John C. Reilly (Step Brothers), Jonah Hill (Superbad), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler), and Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich). These aren't 'no name' actors here, obviously. We all know how successful Hill is and Reilly as well since he's gone with comedies now like Talladega Nights and Step Brothers. You'd think everyone would be interested in this movie.

Star-power aside, I wish this movie could get more attention because it is funny but remains realistic. Reilly plays John, a depressed, lonely guy who just learns his ex-wife (Keener) is getting married so he's even more depressed. His ex-wife then invites him to a party in the hopes that he meets someone. And what do yah know, he does, in the form of Molly (Tomei). Things are great right off the bat for the two until John meets Cyrus, Molly's 22 year old son.

News: Ian McKellen may not wait for "The Hobbit"

This is a crushing bit of news, but thank goodness it's not for sure yet. Still, I saw this pop up at cinematical today concerning an interview conducted with Sir Ian McKellen on a New Zealand TV program. The British actor was questioned on his involvement with "The Hobbit" since it's been confirmed that Peter Jackson will return to the directors chair. Even though McKellen had said he'd reprise his role as the kindly, courageous wizard before, now that pre-production is taking forever, he may not be willing to wait.

Naturally, I'm quite distraught along with the rest of the LOTR fanbase. I believe it is safe to say that McKellen's portrayal of Gandalf was the best casting and character in the entire series. He IS Gandalf. I really can't see any other actor taking on the gnarled staff and grey cloak. Like I said before, McKellen hasn't completely rejected the role, he just doesn't want to waste his time. I can understand this. Look at it from his perspective. Actors act and have to keep doing so to make a living and keep their name alive. If he just sits around waiting for production to start and rejecting other roles in the meantime, it may not be good business for him.

But still, I can't imagine "The Hobbit" without him. And if he doesn't return, who could possibly do it? I tried to think about this while I was doing the dishes a little while ago and one name did come up. As crazy as it may seem, I could almost see Gary Oldman doing it. Think about it. He's pretty old and a very versatile actor. The only thing he lacks is the deep, booming voice McKellen could bring out of nowhere. Let's just hope things will get going soon with "The Hobbit" so we won't have to worry.

Review: Knight and Day

So this movie has been out for almost two weeks now, but I finally saw it yesterday on a spur of the moment thing. My mom came in the door and was like "let's go see a movie!". Naturally, with my vast knowledge of movies and which ones are out at the moment and would be appropriate for my mother, I narrowed it down to this one and Toy Story 3. Even though I'm aware there's other PG and PG-13 movies out there (like Karate Kid and A-Team) I wasn't interested in those, and since my little brother and I had already seen Toy Story 3, I suggested Knight and Day, the new spy/action movie starrgin Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. In the end, it's the type of movie you see if you're in the exact situation I found myself in: a spur of the moment movie trip where you don't care too much about what you see. And with that in mind, it ended up being fun enough, but it sure wasn't perfect.

Here we have this guy Roy Miller (Cruise) wandering through the airport, acting casual (but we know he's not because he's Tom Cruise), and he spies June Havens (Diaz) lugging he heavy suitcase around. Naturally, she manages to run into him.Then she does it again. Finally, they're at the same gate and June is rejected because the flight is apparently "booked". Quick flash to Agent Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard) following Roy's progress at the airport from security cameras and they see him make contact with June twice. They then decide she may be involved with whatever it he's doing and get her on the plane with him. And now the action starts, and it really doesn't let up through the entire movie. So if you're looking for action, it's a good bet you'll have fun. But for how long before you start to question other things?

Movie Mashup: 100 Greatest Movie Insults (very NSFW)

As said above, PLEASE be aware that the level and variety of language in this video is probably more than you've heard in the past year. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but not by much. So, now that that's covered, it's actually pretty funny to hear all the combinations people can come up with (namely screenwriters). Some of them are actually quite funny and I wish I could remember some and use them later. One of my favorites has to be "what you just said is so stupid that everyone in this room is now dumber because of it." I'd like to use that sometime. Also, "you should go clone yourself" "why?" "so you can go f*** yourself!" Thank you Arnold. Anyways, just thought this was entertaining. Watch at your own discretion and put those headphones on if you do.

Trailer: Let Me In

I've been waiting for this for some time now, and it's FINALLY HERE! Most of you probably don't know what this is, but a few years ago a foreign movie came out called Let the Right One In about a kid living in an apartment complex (like the one in this trailer) who is a quiet, normal enough kid. But then some neighbors move in and guess what? The little girl is a vampire! I really liked the original foreign version of this story and agree with the rest of its fanbase out there that it is definitely one of the best vampire stories out there (sorry, Twilight). It's power is derived from the interesting relationship derived from the vampire (played my Chloe Moretz who was Hit Girl in Kickass and Joseph Gordon Levitt's sister in (500) Days of Summer) and the boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee, the boy in The Road). It's a tense and gentle relationship and not something you see in other vampire tales. However, there's still plenty of thrills and chills and a considerable amount of violence and gore. Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) is heading this remake, and according to reviews with him and the producers, they're trying to remain as faithful to original story as possible. And by the looks of this trailer, they've done a pretty dang good job of it. I'm definitely excited for this now and will be eagerly awaiting its October 1st release date.

My Summer picks (for what's left of it)

So here we are, the beginning of July. Summer has about two more good months (sorry if that's not enough), and unfortunately, we haven't seen much. Yeah, Toy Story 3 was good and everything else was "ok" or terrible. When's the good stuff coming, those summer blockbusters we can count on to not only be popcorn entertainment, but actually decent? Well, I've taken it upon myself to comprise a list, in chronological order, of the ones I think you should keep an eye out for. But always have the other eye on rottentomatoes.com just to be sure. OK, here we go.

Predators (July 9th)

I'm assuming everyone's seen Predator so you know what I'm talking about and what this movie will be like. Predator 2 was alright but the AVP's sucked. I'm really hoping they can get this one right and it looks like they will. Nimrod Antel, director of the foreign film Kontroll which is basically a foreign Fight Club, has a lot of promise and with producer Robert Rodriguez (Desperado) behind him, I have faith. Not to mention we have Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Danny Trejo, and a few others playing the valiant killers/warriors dropped on the predators' planet to do battle with the legendary creatures. Should be dark, violent, and hopefully fantastic. Definitely see this one.

Inception (July 16th)

So this one is hands-down my most anticipated movie of the summer and of many others as well. Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight) has taken a break from the Batman franchise to create this little mind bender about the world of dreams with Leonardo Decaprio heading the cast but he has a strong backing of Ellen Page (Juno), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Cillina Murphy (Batman Begins) and others. Nolan has never failed to deliver and is an utterly brilliant filmmaker. His expertise in film revolves around psychological twists and themes that are usually a bit more subtle, but it seems he's going all out with Inception by invading dreams. I'll be in line at midnight for this one.