The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Directed by: Peter Jackson Written by: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving
It’s been almost a decade since The Lord of the Rings last appeared on the big screen. A lot has changed in that period of time, especially concerning the director the studio and lawsuits and negotiations over the content. Add in budget negotiations, timetable struggles and a director backing out, The Hobbit has probably undergone one of the most difficult journey’s too get made. On Tuesday night, fans were surprised with the trailer release: proof it’s finally here. Continue reading →
The Dark Knight Rises Directed by: Christopher Nolan Written by: Jonathon Nolan, Christopher Nolan Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
With everything at stake in the final film and conclusion to Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale’s much-venerated Batman series, The Dark Knight Rises trailer appears to address all our concerns while making us scratch for more. In the four years since its predecessor, which poised itself as the third highest domestic box office grosser of all-time and near critical masterpiece with eight Academy Award nominations, Nolan let the dust settle on the franchise, instead moving on to Inception. Needless to say, expectations for the final Batman film are considerably high. Continue reading →
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Directed by: Rob Marshall Written by: Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush
The third film never exactly left the franchise concluded and satisfied. With a small cliffhanger, another billion in the bank and a chance to make swords swing out at audiences in 3D, Disney brings back the beloved peculiar swashbuckling pirate saga with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Whether there is an audience demand or a creative reason to refuel the franchise or not is not a concern to the studio that is likely to pocket another billion for the fourth installment after worldwide box office gets boosted by 3D. Taking the title from a the 1988 Tim Powers’ novel which shares plot elements with the film, Disney plucks Rob Marshall to take over the Gore Verbinski directed franchise. After coming off of last year’s overhyped flop Nine, Marshall uses his expertise in stylization and glamour seen in Chicagoand Memoirs of Geisha to add a splash to the series. Continue reading →
Never enough can be said about one of the most important, yet unrecognized directors of the past decade whose triumphant films include Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain and most recently, The Wrestler. Two of the films are highly ranked in IMDB’s top 250 films of all time and find themselves frequently on best of the decade list, for innovative editing, large as life performances and storytelling that rips the pages of storytelling our with your heart and explores the deepest and darkest parts of humanity. Yet for some reason, Darren Aronofsky remains quite underrated and quite under appreciated for his contributions to modern cinema. Black Swan stretches to change that all. Continue reading →
The Social Network Directed by: David Fincher Written by: Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Ben Mezrich (book) Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Rashida Jones, and Justin Timberlake
There’s always that early fall movie that gets ridiculously good reviews. Last year it was Precious, and this year it looks like David Fincher’s Facebook exposé The Social Network. Already hailed as a classic by publications as diverse as Rolling Stone and Film Comment, it looks to be yet another “movie of the moment,” much like Up in the Air. It’s hard pressed to make that kind of judgment until the movie actually comes out, but the trailer itself doesn’t speak this highly of the movie.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Directed by: Oliver Stone Written by: Allan Loeb & Stephan Schiff Starring: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, and Josh Brolin
It’s kind of weird that with the slew of franchise reboots and unwanted fifth entries in series, Oliver Stone has decided to make a franchise out of his 80’s exploration of the costs of big money. Even when you look at the times we’re in, it seems odd that Stone wouldn’t just make a completely different movie with different characters that explored the modern age. But here we are, leaving one of the worst summers in recent memory, heading into a fall that hopefully lifts the year up. Stone can either help or hinder with his oddly risky sequel, and from the looks of the trailer, he may in fact knock it out of the park.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Directed by: David Slade Written by: Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay) Stephen Meyer (novel) Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
The third installment is finally here. Not like the wait was long from lasts November’s New Moon, but non-Twihards are anxious for this franchise to get wrapped up so we don’t have to hear about it from the news, tabloids, and endless marketing campaigns by the studios who are doing a great job on cranking out these half rate movies while the blood is fresh in the franchise. A summer release will be interesting for Summit, to see whether it can pick up movie goers, or if fans will abandon it with so many other better options out there.
Despite the eager fans the franchise has, the franchise shows up with a little less enthusiasm. The trailer looks much of the same old Twilight we’ve already seen in the first two films. People fight over Bella. Bella has to pick a man. Men go around tearing each other up over a bony pale virgin Arizona. Not much else happens. Ever. Continue reading →
Toy Story 3 Directed by: Lee Unkrich Written by: Michael Arndt (screenplay) Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, and Don Rickles
Pixar’s only franchise thus far gets a new installment this summer, and it looks to carry the tradition of animation excellence that they remain unrivaled for. Though the Toy Story movies are by no means their best work, without their existance Pixar wouldn’t exist. Plus, they probably need a break from lonely robots and cranky old man. An established storyline and characters would be much easier to work with after creating their masterpieces of the last two years.
The trailer only sets up the basic plot, hopefully not giving away all of the funny moments like so many trailers are prone to do. I have faith that what we see on the surface is really just the surface and not the whole picture.
What a surface it is, too. They take the aging toy motif to the next level, moving Woody, Buzz and the gang to a preschool hell while their owner Andy moves on to college. The moment when the young children enter and begin thrashing the toys around and the aftermath where the toys recover is the high-point. This looks to be a cartoon prison breakout movie, something Pixar will surely be able to put a creative take on.
The company has long been the only thing keeping Disney afloat in the quality department. Sure they put out a crappy Hannah Montana cash-in every once and awhile, but the films coming out of Pixar will be examined years down the road. Toy Story 3 looks to add to that legacy, if not raise the bar of it.
Highs: The preschoolers beseeching the playroom and tearing the toys apart and the idea of a big pink teddy bear as a villain
Lows: Why do these toys insist on returning to an owner who gives them up?
Salt Directed by: Phillip Noice Written by: Kurt Wimmer & Brian Helgeland (screenplay) Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Zoe Lister Jones
Angelina Jolie typically has two types of roles. The bad-ass action chick, a la Wanted, or the heavy dramatic roles, a la Changeling. This summer, she will be playing more of the former, with a little of the heavy stuff mixed in.
Salt, from director Phillip Noice, seems from the trailer to be a summer action flick filled with acting talent and perhaps a plot that doesn’t suck. The thrills in the trailer seem to be grounded in some kind of distorted realism. Jolie appears to be playing kind of a girl Superman, hiding in broad daylight and not wearing a mask when she becomes the ass-kicker.
Liev Schreiber also stars in the movie, so it’s nice to see that Mr. Noice appears to be favoring talent over names that will just sell, though Jolie will do just that. The trailer hits all of the normal bells and whistles when it comes to this kind of intrigue-based action/thriller.
It sets up the kidnapped boyfriend premise while interspersing some well choreographed action sequences featuring Angelina tasing some meddling policemen. In all, it appears to be a typical summer flick, though it may end up being more or less than either of those by its July 23rd release date.
Highs: The casting, especially that of Angelina Jolie. It’s always nice to see her throttling cronies.
Lows: No real complaints with the trailer other than it’s mundane, over-used structure. Would it kill people to have a trailer like the one for A Serious Man?
Iron Man 2 Directed by: Jon Favreau Written by: Justin Theroux (screenplay), Stan Lee (comics) Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, and Don Cheadle
Part of what made the first Iron Man such a breath of fresh air was the devotion to excellence from everyone in the cast, most notably Robert Downey Jr. It wasn’t exactly anything new and original, and was overshadowed by Christopher Nolan’s box-office/critical superior The Dark Knight. This summer, the now-franchise is launching its second installment with no Caped Crusader in sight.
The trailer for the film looks like it will hit all of the summer action bells and whistles. Downey Jr. reprises his role as the man in iron, as does Gwyneth Paltrow as his love interest and assistant. The rest of the cast is mostly new. Don Cheadle steps in for Terrence Howard. Scarlett Johansson arrives, hopefully to give Paltrow a run for her money, but you can’t tell much from the trailer.
The biggest gripe I have in the casting is Mickey Rourke. Based on the trailer alone, his character appears corny, badly written, and has a just plain stupid Russian accent. It may not turn out that way, but it appears that there will be at least one glaring error in the casting.
As far as plot goes, not too much is revealed. Tony Stark is now out of the closet as a super hero, which may offer some unique takes on the genre. He’s out to stop Whiplash (Rourke) from taking over the world or something. The trailer is decent, but the content in it just makes this seem like it will be a typical sequel.
Highs: Downey jumping off an airplane after talking to Paltrow and Downey and Cheadle suiting up together in Iron Man suits.
Lows: Mickey Rourke’s Russian accent/character and the lack of Scarlett Johansson footage.
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