I don’t watch much TV. Maybe it’s a window into my personality, but TV requires a commitment, even with DVR, that a 90 to 120 minute movie theater viewing does not. Plus, excluding some cable TV shows, most of the drama on the boob tube is sub-par storytelling and bland acting, at best. I realize movies don’t always knock it out of the park, but like a one-night-stand, at least I can sneak out of bed and not feel obligated …
Category: Trailer Tuesday
I stumbled upon the trailer for Peter Weir’s (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, The Truman Show, Dead Poets Society) new epic escape/adventure film by accident, but after watching the preview, looking at the cast list and reading about the story, it is definitely on my must-see list for 2011 (it opens in limited release, probably holding out hope for Oscar season, on December 29, 2010, and wide release on January 21, 2011). The Way Back stars …
I fell asleep about 15 minutes into Tron, the 1982 DayGlo sci-fi adventure starring Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner, so about the only handshake I have with the movie is countless quarters wasted on the arcade game of the same name. When a sequel was announced – this December’s Tron: Legacy – I yawned and gave 3D another fierce shake of the fist. To this date I have seen nothing, story-wise or visual elements, that has pulled me from the …
Despite almost being on Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 2) and Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) overload, I’m beginning to shed my initial reluctance to director Todd Phillips’ new comedy, Due Date. After the second full-length trailer and this new redband preview, I have to admit, this looks hilarious. Still, I think Due Date probably will fare better for Downey Jr. than it will for Galifianakis. Why? Look at Downey Jr.’s resume. The guy has talent and range; he can star …
Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and the Coen brothers are four names that would drive any cinema lover to the movies expecting great things. Okay, wait. I take that back. After Jonah Hex, I can’t quite put Josh Brolin in that context, but you get where I’m going – these names, when linked together, probably mean we’re going to get a picture that will be receiving Oscar nominations come January 2011. Honestly, after the first trailer for Joel and …
Ugh, I can’t decide which has me more riled up – the actual contents of this trailer, Nicholas Cage’s craptastic and heavily hairplugged acting, or the fact this surefire box office bomb is suckling at the shriveled old 3D teat. Seriously! Will someone please set fire to every pair of 3D glasses and smack some sense into an obviously cash-strapped Nicholas Cage? I’d rather watch a weeklong marathon of The Nanny than have to sit through something as equally, if …
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are easily two of the best actors working in Hollywood, so the pairing of the duo in Blue Valentine, a film more than a decade in the making and an entry at the Sundance Film Festival last January, seems at once natural and wonderful.These two exceptional performers were seemingly star-crossed to display their talents alongside each other. Gosling mesmerized me when I saw him in The Believer at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, three years …
True confession time: I hate scary movies. Okay, maybe hate is a strong word. I don’t hate scary movies like I hate overweight Walmart hillbillies who spit in the faces of their two-year old kids because they are crying. No, I hate scary movies like I hate being tickled or riding roller coasters. It’s uncomfortable, slightly irritating, but yet I can’t stop laughing, and when it’s over, I thump my chest and talk about how “fun” it was. That was …
The Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, have produced some of the most enjoyable, an acclaimed films, of the last 25 years. From Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? to No Country for Old Men and Burn After Reading, the sibling’s eclectic directorial and storytelling sense is as wide as the subject matter they cover and as laser-focused as Hollywood’s best and brightest. You can imagine the giddiness, despite me never seeing the original (Shuuuuuun! Shuuuuuuun …
Clint Eastwood turned 80 years-old in May and he might be, in his old age, one of the busiest men in Hollywood. If he’s not the busiest, then definitely he might be one of those most acclaimed filmmakers of the last decade. Think about it: Invictus, Gran Torino, Changeling, Letters from Iwo Jima, Flags of Our Fathers, Million Dollar Baby, and Mystic River are highly acclaimed (and awarded) films in the last six years. But this should come at no …