The summer movie season is typically dominated by the biggest and most expensive movies. In recent years, that has meant giant robots, men in tights, and all manner of explosions. Studios know that audiences can get tired of these films and will also release smaller movies to balance out the movie-going experience. Unfortunately, a lot of these films don't get the same kind of marketing push because it's really not worth it from a business stand point to spend huge amounts of money marketing a small 5 million dollar (or less) indie film. I thought I'd take some time and spotlight a few films I've seen recently that are still out in theaters and are more than worth your time and money.
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada
Hugh Jackman has brought Wolverine to life on the big screen 5 times. It's always difficult to keep any character fresh and interesting for that long and comic book films don't have the best track record. In fact Jackman's last X-film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was easily the worst of the bunch. James Mangold's The Wolverine aims to be a smaller , more introspective Wolverine tale. Fans of the Wolverine comics know that there's more to Logan than razor sharp claws and ridiculous hair. I think James Mangold does his best to deliver.
Writers: Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson, and Dan Scalon
Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Charlie Day
Much has been made of Pixar's supposed decline in quality. One of the reason cited as evidence of the decline is their choice to develop sequels instead of original stories. Their most recent effort revisits the world they introduced in "Monsters, Inc." all the way back in 2001. 12 years later "Monsters University" brings us back to the world where monsters use the screams of to power their world. This time we go back to Mike and Sulley's time as students at Monsters U. They don't exactly get along at first. After endangering their spot in Monsters University's prestigious School of Scaring, they must put everything on the line and participate in the Annual Scare Games to prove they are the best of the best.
The lovely gentlemen at Out Now with Aaron and Abe had me on their latest episode to talk Fast & Furious 6 among other things. Also joining in on the fun was the always cool Jimmy O from JoBlo. We get into some trailer talk, play some games, talk a little bit of box office, and review Fast & Furious 6. If you have some time to kill give it a listen and check for links to more episodes after the jump.
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Sung Kang
"Do you believe in ghosts?" This question could just as easily apply to the Fast and Furious franchise. 2001's "The Fast and the Furious" didn't exactly take home any Oscars. It wasn't nominated for any nor was it even a part of awards season conversation. The film, however, did have a good share of cultural impact especially with the way the street racing culture was blowing up at the time. I was just young enough at the time that I had a blast with the film. It was exciting and had these tough guys driving these extravagant cars really fast. After that the series languished and by 2009's "Fast and Furious", it seemed that the series had nothing left in the tank and was effectively dead. The series' third entry, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift", was the lone bright spot and I mainly enjoyed the original for the sheer nostalgia factor. Then "Fast Five" came along and breathed life back into this franchise. It proved that director Justin Lin and writer Chris Morgan knew exactly where to take this franchise to make it not only relevant again but also quite enjoyable. "Fast & Furious 6" promises bigger action and that "All roads lead to this." Does it live up to the hype?
Today is National Hitchcock Day! To be honest I just found out about this "holiday" today but I'm a big Hitchcock fan so I thought I'd throw up a quick post especially since I've been really busy and haven't posted anything for a while. I don't think I can say anything about Hitchcock that hasn't already been said so I just though I'd share a recent experience with one of his films I quite enjoyed.
Some times making the trip out to the movies is a little too time consuming and it's much more enjoyable to stay in and enjoy a good movie on the couch. Heading into the weekend I've got two solid picks for you guys to check out that should give you enough variety to choose from.
I decided to start my AFI 100 years 100 Movies project with number 21: Chinatown. Chinatown is a 1974 film starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway and directed by Roman Polanski. The description from IMDB is as follows:
A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.
One of my resolutions for 2013 was actually put some new content on this blog. In an effort to do that I'm going to attempt watch the American Film Institute's list of the best movies of all time as compiled in their 100 Years...100 Movies list. This list was created by the AFI with the input of 1500 film artists and critics. A friend of mine and I have always wanted to attempt to watch all of the movies on this list and I thought it would be a great topic for me to blog about. The majority of these films are considered classics and I've only seen a small percentage. As a self described cinephile/movie geek/film junkie this list is pretty much required viewing. I'll be following the 10th anniversary version of the list simply because it is the most recent. I haven't decided yet how to tackle this list. I'm not sure if I should start at 100 and work my way up to 1 or vice versa. More than likely I'll watch them out of order just because of the availability of each film varies wildly. Look forward to this and a few other things on this blog! Also see the complete list here.
Hey guys! (All two of you...) The guys over at Out Now with Aaron and Abe were gracious enough to have me come on their show and chit chat about a few topics. We dive into Zero Dark Thirty for the main review and also talk bit about Sundance, the Oscar nominations, and play some movie themed games. There were two other awesome guests on and the show was a lot of fun.
Check it out on their official site HERE on the HHWLOD Podcast Network or use the player below to listen on this page. Follow the show!
Don't forget to share/like/tweet/print or whatever you do with things you enjoy.
The gentlemen and scholars over at Out Now With Aaron and Abe let me join them on their show again to chat about Ted and Magic Mike. On the podcast we also talk about some current movie trailers and predict some box office results. Aaron and Abe host a good show and it's always a lot of fun.
The awesome guys at Out Now with Aaron and Abe were gracious enough to have me( as well as Mark Hobin and Maxwell Haddad) join them for their latest episode reviewing Men in Black 3. I had a lot of fun being on the show and hopefully I'll be on again some time in the future!
I have been thoroughly enjoying Avatar: The Legend of Korra on Nickolodeon. I was late to the Avatar: The Last Airbender party but I devoured the series on once I discovered how amazing it was. Korra continues the series traditions of gorgeous animation, breath-taking action, and an amazing blend of humor and serious themes. I've been following the show pretty closely and I had a thought/theory about what's been going on in the show.
There's been some interesting theories floating around about Amon and about his identity as well as Korra and where the show is headed. I heard an interesting theory about Korra not being the Avatar. While I think that would be really interesting I doubt that the creators would pull the rug from under us like that. However, I had a thought that spun out from that theory.
There's been a pretty strong theme of balance and duality in Korra. We can see it in the tension between benders and non-benders, the way that Korra herself has struggled between the spiritual and non-spiritual, and even the old vs. new of pro-bending and traditional bending styles. Jumping off from that theme and from the aforementioned theory I had theory that perhaps Korra is and isn't the Avatar. What if she is only half?
Let me explain: Keeping with the theme of balance, what if the Avatar is no longer a single person. The Avatar is charged with keeping the world in harmony. What if the Avatar has been split into two people who together bring the world into a state of peace. We've seen Korra struggle with airbending and with the spiritual side of bending in general. It's been incredibly difficult for her even under the tutelage of "Mr. Spiritual" himself, Tenzin. Now for my theory to work the obvious other half must be Amon. Despite being a non-bender Amon speaks often of the spirits and certainly seems to be tied in with the spiritual world. This could all be a lie and there are definitely reasons not to take what Amon says at face value. And although he's positioned as the big bad of the series there's been an effort to make him slightly sympathetic. His backstory is sympathetic enough and his general message is one of equality. He takes that to an extreme but he's not a purely evil entity. Amon could be the other half of the Avatar. I can see the end game being Korra and Amon coming to terms on their disagreements. Maybe their battle escalates and brings even more destruction into the world and they have to broker peace for the greater good. Or maybe they must unite to stop a bigger threat.
Whatever the specifics end up being, I believe that having Amon and Korra come together and uniting as two halves of the avatar would fit perfectly into the themes this season. They could be the example of balance the world needs.
Anyway that's my crazy theory. I am most likely way off base, but the idea struck me and seemed to make a lot of sense(at least to me). I thought I'd get it out there.
Before Sunrise is a romantic movie from writer-director Richard Linklater and starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. From IMDB:
A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe and wind up spending
one romantic evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that
this will probably be their only night together.
And here's the trailer:
What a lovely film! I really really enjoyed it. The movie isn't a typical story in the sense of it having a beginning, a middle, and an end. It's really just a day in the life of these two characters. Jesse(Ethan Hawke) is an American tourist traveling through Europe and Celine (Julie Delpy) is a French student returning to Paris after a trip to Budapest. They meet by chance on a train and after hitting it off Jesse suggests that they spend the rest of the day together. His flight back to the states leaves the next morning and without enough money for a hotel he planned on exploring Vienna until it's time for him to go. Celine agrees and they get off the train in Vienna together.They spend the day exploring Vienna and talking about life and love. They share stories from their backgrounds and discuss all kinds of topics. Eventually they run out of time and Jesse must catch his flight and Celine continues home.
Not much happens in this movie beyond the two characters talking and walking around. In a lesser film this would immediately bore me and I would never get through it. I never felt that way here. The combination of strong writing and great performances from Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy kept me involved at all times. Jesse and Celine feel like real people. They way they talked and interacted with each other was so genuine that I felt like I was spying on real people. I could imagine walking down a street in Vienna or sitting at a cafe and overhearing them having these conversations. And the conversations they have are great. All their dialogue felt very natural and they managed to have discussions about love and relationships without ever falling into speaking in cliches. Hawke and Delpy have great chemistry and you never question how these two could fall for each other. The movie does a great job of capturing that feeling when you meet somebody and are immediately drawn to them. There's this wonderful scene where Jesse and Celine are in a record store and they decide to listen to a record in the listening booth. They squeeze into this tiny booth and listen to the music with out saying a word. They both quietly steal glances at the other never catching each others eye. It's such a genuinely sweet moment and very true to life. I couldn't help but smile.
The film is a beautiful portrait of these two people making an amazing connection in spite of the fact that they only have one day together and may never see each other again. Personally I'm a sucker for super romantic stories so I really really loved this movie. Jesse and Celine have this amazingly romantic night wandering Vienna and taking in all its beauty. They are both such likeable characters and their connection feels so real that you can't help but be swept up in their little journey. If you're a fan of romantic movies you'll love this movie, especially if you're tired of formulaic romantic comedies. And even if you're not a big fan of romantic movies I think the movie has enough to say about life and love and is a great little slice of life that you'll still enjoy it.
Wow, its been forever since I posted a recap. I got really lost in school work and other commitments and I let this blog dye off. But I really want to start this back up and hopefully I can post semi-regularly. I'm on Thanksgiving break right now and I'm hoping to get maybe two recaps up. I was supposed to do 13 Assassins next but I wasn't really feeling in the mood for it. I decided to go with Before Sunrise instead because its been a while since I've seen a good romantic movie and I've heard great things about it. I just finished watching the movie so look for that recap later today! To my lovely audience (all 2 of you), I hope I can keep you guys entertained.
Luther is a British TV show centered around a London detective played by Idris Elba. From IMDB:
Luther follows the cases of a troubled yet brilliant English police detective, DCI John Luther (Idris Elba). Separated from his wife, whom he loves passionately, he is torn between an unrelenting approach to solving serial killings and his attempts to rekindle his marriage. Luther is a highly charged emotional man who is not above stretching the law to solve a case or save a life.
And here's the trailer for Series 1:
I was originally planning on just checking out the first couple episodes of Luther and then doing a quick recap but I failed miserable because I just couldn't stop watching. The first season of Luther is only 6 episodes long and each episode is about 50 minutes long. Often British TV shows have very short seasons compared to to American shows. This can be frustrating because they almost always leave you wanting more, but this also often means the show creators have complete control over the shows and are able to craft tight, well paced stories.
Luther is exactly that. It plays almost like an extended movie with an overarching narrative that slowly builds steam and explodes in the last episode. I'm glad I decided to wait until I had finished season 1 to recap the show because if I hadn't I would have thought that the show was just a well executed police procedural with a bit of British flavor and flair. While there's nothing wrong with that it just wouldn't have stood out in the sea of police procedurals already on TV. However, the different story elements that are set up and later payed off and the character development really elevate the above the dredges that are CSI and NCIS.
Idris Elba is amazing as DCI John Luther. Luther is a troubled man. Caught in between his devotion to his job and his resolve to fix his marriage he has a lot of inner turmoil. On top of that his job causes him to struggle with his morality. Over the course of the show Luther tries to decide what is right and wrong when dealing with the madmen he encounters. Elba is wonderful at conveying all of Luther's emotions. He's wonderfully intense and gives you this feeling that Luther is constantly fighting to keep himself in control, that he's on the always brink of losing it but somehow manages to keep it all reigned it. That makes it so much more impacting when Luther does lose it. Its a good reminder that he's only human. Luther is so good at his job he seems superhuman at times. He's pretty much Batman, but without the costume and gadgets and that makes difficult to feel like he's ever really in danger some times.
The rest of the cast is great as well. Some of the supporting characters seem a bit one dimensional at first but there are small character moments that makes them feel real. The show may be called Luther but there are are other people involved in his story that are almost all significant in their own way. Ruth Wilson really stood out to me because she was just amazingly creepy as the genius and insane Alice Morgan.
Overall I really enjoyed the show. It had interesting characters and a compelling story. The cast was solid and the show looks great. If you like crime dramas, thrillers, or police procedurals this should be right up your alley and the show runs circles around stuff like CSI. Sometimes tension is lost because Luther is just so good at what he does you're just waiting to see exactly how he'll get out of something, but Luther's internal struggle is so engrossing you really don't mind. I rated it 4 out of 5 stars.
Next time I''l be covering Takashi Miike's samurai epic 13 Assassins.
Brick is a the first film from director Rian Johnson and stars Joseph Gordon Levitt, Lukas Haas, and Emilie de Ravin. The tagline from IMDb reads:
A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
And here's the trailer:
Wow, what a ride! I had trouble getting into the movie right away because it starts a little slow and the dialogue can be a little off-putting at first. I actually almost fell asleep. But the movie slowly drew me in and once I was along for the ride I really enjoyed the movie. This movie is basically an old school film noir detective story in the same vein as movies such as The Maltese Falcon or Sunset Boulevard but with teenagers and set primarily in a high school. It has many of the staples of film noir, including the cynical detective, the femme fetale, and slick dialogue. The cast is great across the board and although it sometimes seems like they're overacting I think that's just the way the characters in this genre feel. Rian Johnson does a solid job as the writer-director. The plot has all the twists and turns and his dialogue is snappy and left me wishing I could talk the way these characters do. His direction is great and really grounds the movie in the tone and mood of film noir. At the same time he is able to stamp the movie with a distinctive style in the way he frames shots and moves his camera around. He shoots the school in these awesome wide shots that give it this feeling of emptiness. There's also a lot of wide shots of Levitt's character as he travels around that really make you feel his isolation.
Overall I ended up really enjoying the movie once I settled in. The movie takes a bit get moving but once it does you're really happy to be along for the ride. Definitely check it out if you're a fan of classic who-done-it detective stories. This was a nice way to kick off this project. I personally rated the movie 4 stars out of the five possible on Netflix's rating system.
For my next item I'll be checking out the British tv show Luther starring Idris Elba as a police detective who specializes in catching serial killers.
After adding the 100th item to my watch instant queue on Netflix I came the realization that while I am constantly adding new things to watch I never actually, you know watch anything. This realization coupled with the fact that I am kinda broke and was considering just cancelling my Netflix subscription, have inspired me to try and watch everything on my queue. As I mentioned earlier, I am now up to 100 items on my queue and I don't expect to get through them all very quickly. By starting this blog project I hope to slowly work my way through the list. My plan is to watch something on my queue and then write up a short recap on it and post it on this blog. In a perfect world I'd watch one item a day but with school starting back up soon I know that's just a dream. The hope as of now is to get through at least one item per week. If I have time for more then I'll definitely watch more, but for now lets just plan one item per week. If you're interested in listening to the incoherent ramblings of a lazy, inarticulate, and occasionally witty, if I do say so myself, movie and tv addict, then stay tuned.
