My Fall Movie-Lineup (part 2)

So, at this point in my lineup (mid-October), things are starting to get serious with all sorts of movies vying for Oscar and other awards attention. Basically it's the most exciting time of the year for movies, and sadly, a time when most people don't see movies because of things like SCHOOL which many of us still have the pleasure of being a part of. ANYWAY....

"Nowhere Boy" - October 8th (limited)

I have to admit I do get tired of biographies because they're really not original (unless it's uniquely made like "Bronson") even if they do often have big name actors giving great performances. However, this one looks interesting. I like the idea of just telling the story of the early life of John Lennon without getting into The Beatles. After all, I'm pretty sure most people know enough about The Beatles to last a lifetime. Aaron Johnson ("Kick-Ass") plays young Lennon and Kristin Scott Thomas ("The English Patient") plays his snappy aunt. It's a dramatic turn around from the role of Kick-Ass for Johnson and it looks like he does a pretty good job. Scott Thomas is a great actress as well. So hopefully all these things combined with some good music will make a better than average biography.

"Red" - October 15th

It's often nice to have a break from all the dramatic award winners during Oscar season, and I think "Red" may just be the ticket. Although director Robert Schwentke's last work on "The Time Traveler's Wife" isn't encouraging, I'm hoping the star power of Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Hellen Mirren, and Morgan Freeman will overwhelm his inadequacies. And apparently this is based on a DC comic? Who knew....well I think as long as the characters and action don't resign to cheap stereotypes, this could be a fun ride.

"Monsters" - October 29th

I know it looks like a "District 9" wannabe but I think it'll be better. "District 9" was good and all but I think it got too carried away with the spectacle and action at the end that lost a lot of the 'documentary' style feel and credibility it had before. "Monsters" is about one of NASA's ship things returning with you-know-what aboard and these things infest an area that then becomes quarantined and off limits to anyone. Except these poor people are already in it and have to get out. I hope it sticks with the eerie, intense feel of the trailer rather  than what "District 9" chose to do. Can't wait for this one.

My Fall Movie Line-up (part 1)

Now that August only has like 1 day left, I figured it's about time I not only wrote a blog post of sorts since I've been really lazy about it lately but also let you all know what you should be excited for. That's assuming you'll have time to see movies at the beginning of the school year between your grueling papers and being generally busy aka hungover for those of you in college (Pullman, WA). K, here we go:

"The American" - September 3rd (that's this Wednesday)

I like to think of this as the end to the Michael Clayton trilogy beginning with the said film "Michael Clayton", the sequel "Up in the Air", and now "The American" where George Clooney is a spy and/or an assassin. Director Anton Corbijn received lots of praise for his first film "Control" about the lead singer of Joy Division (which I still intend on seeing soon) so I have hope that this will be great. I think it looks great, but most people are skeptical since the majority of spy thrillers are all the same and try to copy the Bourne movies. But come on, it's George Clooney, everyone loves him. And he has tattoos.

"Machete" - September 3rd (also Wednesday)

I'm sure you've all seen this trailer many times by now, but it doesn't hurt to see it again. Robert Rodriguez reunites with old friends Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin and new ones including Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, etc, for a rip roaring, bloodbath of ridiculous action. After seeing "Desperado", I'm definitely a fan of Rodriguez's style of ludicrous violence, characters, and action. And believe me, after seeing the restricted trailer for this, it's gonna be brutal beyond belief. At least for an R rating.

"Never Let Me Go" - September 15th (limited release)

Over summer break I decided to start reading books that have been (or will be) adapted into movies and Kazuo Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go" was one of them. It's a beautifully written, tragic story (as you can see from the screaming), and will definitely be a contender for best adapted screenplay and a number of acting nominations in next years' Oscars. Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley are fine young actresses and Andrew Garfield is really becoming quite famous with "The Social Network" and being cast as the new Spider-Man. It'll be a really sad movie if they do it right, but should have some powerful, complex characters since the book delves into the personalities of each so thoroughly. I really enjoyed direcor Mark Romanek's other film "One Hour Photo" with Robin Williams as well and is a great movie to check out in the meantime.

An Explosion of Trailers in the past week or so

(yes, I had trouble coming up with a title for this blog entry)

"Fair Game" or "21 Grams 2"

I must say, I laughed out loud when I saw that Sean Penn was Naomi Watts' husband in this. For those of you who've seen Alejandro Inarritu's brilliant "21 Grams", you know what I mean. Anyway, does this trailer make sense to anyone? What exactly is she in trouble for? And why is she the CIA agent while her husband Harvey Milk is just some business guy who's opinion is somehow valuable to the freaking Central Intelligence Agency of the U.S. of A? Shouldn't they know everything? Aside from that and people asking her if she had killed anyone as an agent (I would be like "hell yeah, 100's"), "Fair Game" looks mildly intriguing. Basically the only thing it has going for it is Penn and Watts' star power and the director of "The Bourne Identity". I'm a huge fan of both actors (even though Penn is a rumored a-hole in reality) and their work so I hope it turns out to be better than average.

"Black Swan"

I'm sure I'm not the only one who was constantly uttering "wtf?" at nearly every scene for this one. Although I'm a fan of all of Darren Aronofsky's work ("The Fountain", which should've been mentioned in this trailer since it's my favorite Aronofsky movie), I have to admit that he's always pushing uncomfortable boundaries of weirdness and intensity in movies. Just set "Pi" and "The Wrestler" side by side and you'll see what I mean. But these matters aside, what is happening to poor Natalie? Is she actually TURNING INTO a black swan in this? Maybe that's what happens to you when you become obsessed with competition and beating other people. You become what you compete for! There you go. I just solved the movies driving conflict, ending, and message. No need to even see it now. So while the notion of making a movie out of competing ballerinas who start making out randomly sounds BORING, I have faith that Aronofsky will create something quite disturbing, interesting, and visually astounding. We'll see. Plus Vincent Cassel is so good at looking awesome but really creepy at the same time.

(hit the jump for more unexciting movies!)

News: First photo and look at "True Grit" (2010)

OH. MY. GOD. this may not look like much to some people, but anyone who knows what this is should be freaking out right now. For those of you who don't know, "True Grit" is the next movie from Joel and Ethan Coen who have made some of the best movies ever in the past two decades such as "Fargo", "The Big Lebowski", "Raising Arizona", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", "No Country for Old Men", etc. Also for those of you who don't know, that's Jeff "the Dude" Bridges as Marshal Reuben Cogburn in his first movie with the Coens since "The Big Lebowski". To top it all off, the cast includes Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Barry Pepper. "True Grit" is based on a book that was already adapted into a movie back in 1969 with John Wayne in an Oscar-winning performance as Cogburn. Word has it that this updated version will be more like the book and more violent and dark than the Wayne version. I think we all know what that means.....mix in some "No Country for Old Men" violence/darkness with even more of a Western feel along the lines of "Unforgiven" with a visual twist that only the Coens can deliver. This and Alejandro Inarritu's "Biutiful" are probably my most anticipated movies of the winter so far. We'll see what else arises and what other movies try to squeeze into the December slot in time for the awards season. In the meantime, just look at this picture a bit more and fathom the awesomeness.

Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Oh nerds. There's something special about involving yourself in something that only seems to appeal to a select group of individuals (usually between the ages of 20 and 35 who live in their parents' basement). I ventured into this world when I saw "Watchmen" at midnight (which shall ever be one of the worst decisions I've ever made) and has continued on with other comic book films, the latest being "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World". I knew I was in for something extra special when the theatre full of these people I have just mentioned exploded into laughter at the sight of the Universal Studios planet symbol in arcade form with the theme song in dinky arcade style music as well. It was a bit overwhelming at first, and to tell the truth, the movie itself is a bit overwhelming. However, I feel like it's the best kind of overwhelming.

First off, we have Edgar Wright directing who has made very popular cult flicks like "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" (which are both fantastic) and his style of editing and general flow is very unique, choppy, and  may be hard for some to get used to. I for one LOVE his style and it definitely fits the very quirky, cartoonish style of the movie. As I said before, the bizarre nature of the characters and added effects may be annoying to some but I believe it to be one of the most original styles for any movie in a while and only adds to the effect that this is indeed a full blown comic-book movie.

Review: The Other Guys

So far I've been adhering pretty faithfully to my summer picks, except for "Dinner for Schmucks" because news on that one wasn't so good. And now, the next one on the list, "The Other Guys". Adam McKay, the director of "Anchorman", "Talladega Nights", and "Step Brothers" reunites with Will Ferrell once again and adds Mark Wahlberg to the mix for a police action comedy. I had my doubts about this one all along considering Wahlberg has made some bad casting choices lately and the script material seemed ho-hum. Yet I still had hope that maybe Wahlberg would snap out of it and be like he was in "I Heart Huckabees" and Ferrell would be hilarious as usual and we'd have some great action on the side. It'd probably just end up trying to be like "Hot Fuzz", hilarious but really cool at the same time.

Except not. What we get are transitions from gag to comical gag, Wahlberg yelling a lot and Ferrell being silly as usual. I definitely laughed, but I wasn't on the verge of tears like in "Pineapple Express". The humor is funny at times and usually relies too heavily upon the audiences' familiarity with Ferrell as a "funny man".

Review: Valhalla Rising

Oh what a wonderful thing movie blogs are! Otherwise I would never know about movies like "Valhalla Rising", the latest movie by Nicolas Winding Refn, director of "Bronson" and the "Pusher Trilogy". Just like "Bronson", I discovered "Valhalla Rising" on the internet and its crazy trailer and was excited because it had burly vikings in it. And just like "Bronson", I was delighted to find out how different it is.

"Bronson" is a brilliantly crafted biography that is bizarre and profits from its visual appeal but mostly relies on Tom Hardy's ("Inception") stellar performance. "Valhalla Rising", on the other hand, is all about the visuals. I have a huge soft spot for visually striking movies and will generally fall for them without much thought for other details of the film such as acting, script, characters, etc. Although there isn't much exemplary acting or a detailed script involved, none of that matters in this movie. The acting isn't bad, and neither is the story, it's just not necessary when the imagery and scenery draw you into the movie like nothing I've seen for a long time. "Inception" was fantastic because of the 'dream world' it created and the details therein. However, this movie actually feels like a dream, and most of it like a nightmare.

Trailer: Don't be Afraid of the Dark

More Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Videos

So here we have Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) writing and producing with a certain Troy Nixey directing. I've never heard of this director before and it makes sense since it seems he's only written and directed some movie called "Latchkey's Lament" back in 2007. Thankfully, I've grown to trust and love del Toro and his work over the past few years (especially since Pan's Labyrinth) and I hope his influence will proliferate this film like it did with "The Orphanage". Some may find the extremely creepy voice and sound effects in this trailer a bit cheesy....but I thought it was pretty dang chilling. Like if I just happened to be in my basement with the lights off late at night, I would've gotten up and turned on some lights; especially with that ending. GEEZ. That's the last thing I'd want to see as a little kid being afraid of something coming up under my blanket. According to the ever trustworthy IMDB, this is a remake of an old British TV show (or movie?) about a couple that inherits an old mansion. Once they move in though, small demonic creatures begin to try and take the wife into their world. In this remake it seems the couple has a daughter who is the new target of these little monsters. Sounds like a good 'ol classic horror story to me. It makes me even more excited that Guy Pierce (The Proposition, Memento) is playing the husband but only mildly excited that Katie Holmes is playing the wife. Guy Pierce is awesome. Too bad we have to wait till 2011 for this one. Which really isn't that far away I guess seeing as it's 2010 and over halfway through year.....wow, how time flies!