November 2014 Preview!

Here is a quick look at the films I plan to see in November:

Interstellar (11/5/14)
"A group of explorers make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage."x
Directed by Christopher Nolan, written by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Ellen Burstyn, and John Lithgow.

Big Hero 6 (11/7/14)
"The special bond that develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes."x
Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams, written by Don Hall, Jordan Roberts, Robert L. Baird, and Daniel Gerson, starring the voices of Ryan Potter, Maya Rudolph, Genesis Rodriguez, Jamie Chung, Daman Wayans Jr., Alan Tudyk, and James Cromwell.

The Theory of Everything (11/7/14)
"A look at the relationship between the famous physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife."x
Directed by James Marsh, written by Anthony McCarten, starring Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Emily Watson, and David Thewlis.

Foxcatcher (11/14/14)
"Based on the true story of Mark Schultz, an Olympic wrestler whose relationship with sponsor John du Pont and brother Dave Schultz would lead to unlikely circumstances."x
Directed by Bennett Miller, written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Sienna Miller, and Vanessa Redgrave.

The Homesman (11/14/14)
"A claim jumper and a pioneer woman team up to escort three insane women from Nebraska to Iowa."x
Directed by Tommy Lee Jones, written by Tommy Lee Jones, Kieran Fitzgerald, and Wesley A. Oliver, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, John Lithgow, James Spader, William Fichtner, Hailee Steinfeld, and Meryl Streep.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (11/21/14)
"Katniss Everdeen is in District 13 after she shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta and a nation moved by her courage."x
Directed by Francis Lawrence, written by Danny Strong and Peter Craig, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanly Tucci, Toby Jones, Sam Claflin, and Donald Sutherland.

Horrible Bosses 2 (11/26/14)
"Dale, Kurt and Nick decide to start their own business but things don't go as planned because of a slick investor, prompting the trio to pull off a harebrained and misguided kidnapping scheme."x
Directed by Sean Anders, written by Sean Anders and John Morris, starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, and Kevin Spacey.

The Imitation Game (11/28/14)
"English mathematician and logician, Alan Turing, helps crack the Enigma code during World War II."x
Directed by Morten Tyldum, written by Graham Moore, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Mark Strong, Rory Kinnear, and Charles Dance.

Which films do you plan to see in November?

Weekend Preview: And We're Back!

I haven't done one of these in a long time! Now that I'm posting movie reviews on my YouTube channel, I thought it would be a good time to restart this series of posts!

So this weekend the Caretakers of the Cosmos will easily out-funk the Godfather of Soul. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy will blast into 4,080 theaters, while James Brown biopic Get On Up will get on down to 2,466 theaters. In limited release, Fox Searchlight is bringing Irish drama Calvary to four theaters domestically.

Guardians is the fourth (but not final!) Marvel film to be released this year, but its unique combination of quirk and camp should help it overcome the superhero fatigue that possibly had a hand in this summer's drastic drop in attendance. However, Guardians has always looked like a risky move for Marvel. This is the first MCU film to be set entirely in space, without any of the major characters who have appeared in the films up to this point. Plus, the property isn't very well known outside of the hardcore comics fanbase. Disney's advertising campaign has definitely gone to great lengths to overcome these hurdles by showcasing the film's comedic elements, and I think it will pay off for the most part. But even with a well loved cast led by Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, and Lee Pace, Guardians will have a hard time reaching its siblings' $90+ million opening weekends. It will make more than the $65 million made by the first Captain America and Thor films, but a gross above $80 million seems unlikely.

The only other new wide release this weekend is James Brown biopic Get On Up. Even with positive critical response, rising star Chadwick Boseman will have a hard time making much music this weekend, and that's not just due to the competition. Music biopics are notoriously hard box office sells, no matter the subjects' star power. The two highest grossing films in the sub-genre are Walk the Line and Ray, neither of which opened to more than $25 million. James Brown is certainly as much of a legend as both Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, so a similar opening weekend would be reasonable for Get On Up.

Actor Brendan Gleeson is probably most well known on this side of the pond for his performance as "Mad-Eye" Moody in the Harry Potter films, but now we get to see him as a Catholic priest trying to figure out which of his parishioners is trying to kill him. This will probably start out around $200,000 this weekend since it's only in four theaters. If it does perform well, we should expect Fox Searchlight to begin an aggressive expansion, and maybe even an Oscar campaign for Gleeson.

Lastly, A Most Wanted Man expands nationwide this weekend. It will now be in twice as many theaters, but isn't likely to double last weekend's $2.6 million gross. Hopefully it will earn around $3 or $4 million.

My top five predictions for the weekend:
Guardians of the Galaxy - $75 million.
Get On Up - $25 million.
Lucy - $20 million.
Hercules - $12.5 million.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - $7.5 million.

What is your top pick for the weekend?

August 2014 Preview!

Here is a quick look at the films I want to see in August:

Guardians of the Galaxy (8/1/14)
"In the far reaches of space, an American pilot named Peter Quill finds himself the object of a manhunt after stealing an orb coveted by the villainous Ronan." x
Written and directed by James Gunn, starring Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Lee Pace, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Benicio Del Toro, John C. Reilly, and Glen Close.

Into the Storm (8/8/14)
"A group of high school students document the events and aftermath of a devastating tornado." x
Directed by Steven Quale, written by John Swetnam, starring Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, and Jeremy Sumpter.

Frank (8/15/14)
"Jon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he's bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank." x
Directed by Leonard Abrahamson, written by Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan, starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Scoot McNairy, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Life After Beth (8/15/14)
"A young man's recently deceased girlfriend mysteriously returns from the dead, but he slowly realizes she is not the way he remembered her." x
Written and directed by Jeff Baena, starring Dane DeHaan, Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick, and John C. Reilly.

Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (8/22/14)
"The town's most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with some of its more reviled inhabitants." x
Directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, written by Frank Miller, starring Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Juno Temple, Josh Brolin, Jamie Chung, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Christopher Meloni, Lady Gaga, and Ray Liotta.

The Congress (8/29/14)
"An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider." x
Written and directed by Ari Folman, starring Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Jon Hamm, Paul Giamatti, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Which movies do you want to see in August?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.

Well this should wrap up my week of getting caught up on reviews...for now...

The first Captain America movie was pretty good. It isn't my favorite from Phase One, but it was a very enjoyable film. Winter Soldier, on the other hand, was great. I loved it, and it is currently my second favorite film of the year so far.

Why? Well it had great visual effects, a lot of fun comedy, and awesome action sequences, but what makes this one of the best Marvel films ever is the characters. The writing, directing, and performances came together beautifully, from the mysterious father figure, the bad-ass best friends, the tragic back-stories, all wonderfully focused around the amazing Chris Evens (who just might actually be Captain America in real life.)

What is your favorite Marvel film of all time?

4 out of 5 stars.
Viewed at LOOK Cinemas Prestonwood in Dallas, TX on April 12, 2014.

The Avengers, Part 2

The Avengers (2012)
Directed by Joss Whedon

So I just got home from seeing The Avengers with the girlfriend.  Don't worry, I won't be posting any spoilers in my review.

We arrived at the theater around 9 pm.  We waited in line outside the theater for an hour while Lockout finished its last show of the night before being seated.  The next two hours passed quickly as the theater filled to capacity.  Then the commercials and trailers began, only three of which are worth mentioning.  First was the final Dark Knight Rises trailer, which commanded the most silence I have ever witnessed while watching a trailer in the theater.  Second was one of the original trailers for Prometheus, not quite as interesting as the most recent international trailer, but still amazing.  Lastly was an Amazing Spiderman trailer which I had not seen before.  And then the Avengers assembled.

To be honest, I was less than excited about this film to begin with.  I was skeptical of how well Joss would meld all of the previous films, all of the characters, and all of the mythologies into one cohesive and engaging story.  While the film was by no means perfect,  I am definitely convinced that my doubts were unfounded.

So what did I like the most about it, you ask?
The effects were awesome, there was enough action to fill ten blog posts, and ScarJo is HOT (and luckily not Jossed, but I'm not saying who is).  But my absolute favorite part of the film is something that Joss is know best for: character interactions.  Not the times when everybody is together delivering exposition to the audience though.  The moments that, in my opinion, make the movie more than just a summer tentpole actiony popcorn flick are the small moments, the one-liners between characters at the most random and unexpected times which truly reveal the characters' identities, even as the end of the world is potentially swirling around them.  The moments are quirky, original, and last only a few seconds each, but they make the characters immensely  relateable, which is quite an accomplishment when the characters are superheros battling aliens who have come to enslave the earth.

I have to be a little nitpicky though.
Ironically, since my favorite part of the film was some of its dialogue, the part that disappointed me the most was also some of the dialogue.  Without going into specifics, majority of the dialogue in the beginning of the film is overly expository.  Granted, there is a lot of information and backstory to be assimilated, but I feel that it could have been worked in to be less obvious.  Also, a few of the actors seemed to do less-than-stellar line readings for  parts of the film.  Overall the dialogue was well delivered, but there were a few times where the line readings were distractingly stiff.  Lastly, the 3D conversion didn't do much for me.  I don't know if it was just me, the projector, or just a bad conversion, but at times the images didn't fully line up, especially on the sides of the frame.  It didn't ruin the film for me, but it pulled me out of the moment.  The main point of 3D is to enhance the experience, but all too often it becomes yet another distraction.

The Final Word:
Go see it.  It is a fun, action packed film, perfect for viewing in a crowded theater, although if you didn't see it tonight you definitely missed out on a good experience.

4.5 out of 5 stars
Viewed 12:01 am, May 4, 2012

The Avengers

The Avengers (2012)
Directed by Joss Whedon

Waiting (not as) anxiously (as my girlfriend) for the midnight premier.
We bought tickets about a year ago.
Will it be awesome?
Will it be another $250 million flop?
Will ScarJo get Jossed?
Will Loki look less ridiculous?
Will I fall asleep 2/3 of the way through?
Only time will tell!

What about The Avengers excites you the most?
Sound off below!

To be viewed May 4, 2012.