The Wolfman, Fearnet and Other Things
My apologies for not posting sooner. Life derails you after you’ve been a car accident the size of the Rhode Island. I’m back now and still recovering, but that’s not going to stop me from posting.
As the summer is ending, we move into a new season of scifi and horror. The Wolfman and Avatar highlight the next wave of “must-see” movies while Christopher Nolan’s newest flick, Inception, which looks like a mix between The Matrix and Equilibrium (starring Christian Bale if you didn’t know) and Book of Eli bring up the rear. Let’s not forget about 2012. This summer’s blockbusters were lackluster with Transformers 2 , Harry Potter and District 9 being the best of the bunch. There are some promising movies coming out over the next few months so it should make up for a summer where the blockbusters were supposed to be abundant.
Speaking of movies that have promise, I must talk about Wolfman. This movie has perhaps been redone at least twice, but this one will have a bit of a spin in it. Bencicio Del Toro, uncharacteristically, has signed on to be the lead and the ever cute Emily Blunt co-stars. If you’ve seen the trailer, you know Del Toro turns into the wolf man, but obviously there’s something more sinister that’s going on. Those who have seen the original know that the 2010 version should realistically be called a reimaging, not a remake. There’s lots to be excited about this movie. I highlight this one because, quite frankly, I’m a huge fan of the Wolf Man because the original did a lot for the werewolf genre, but also to filmmaking. I only hope this movie is a good homage to the original. Most importantly, I’m anxious to see if Del Toro can pull off a creature. Make no mistake, it will be hit or miss with him in the role. The Wolf Man also stars Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving. Read more
Avatar Teaser Now Available
A lot of people are eagerly awaiting this masterpiece by James Cameron. Avatar will star Sam Wothington (Terminator: Salvation) and Sigourney Weaver (Alien Trilogy) and will revolve around a war between aliens and humans. This movie is set for a December release and judging by the other movies set to come out around that time frame, Avatar should crush Christmas-time box office sales. For a look at the teaser trailer, click here.
District 9: Innovative Storytelling, Original and Refreshing
If you haven’t seen it, make an effort to see it. This is about as original of an alien story you’ll find. Shot in the vain of the Blair Witch Project and most recently, Cloverfield, District 9 follows the storyline of aliens who have found their way onto earth and being treated like second rate citizens. One of the members of a “team” evicting the aliens to a new section of town is exposed to some of their technology. As in my typical fashion, I will not divulge anything spoiler related. I will say that this movie is a unique look at the alien culture. If you want to go deeper and explore the movie’s social and political implications, go right ahead. There is plenty of that. The ending is something to behold and doesn’t hold to the normal science fiction cliche. Though many expect the ending a mile away, you just hope that it doesn’t happen. But I will say the thing that captured me the most is that, while we are all humans (I hope), we found ourselves believing that there is a true alien culture out there. We felt for them or we hated them. You’ll see when you see it. On a scale of 1-10, this movie gets my first 10.
GI Joe: Rise of Cobra — A Franchised Ruined
There was much advertising and marketing for the movie since the Super Bowl. That hype very well should have turned into despair. GI Joe, a beloved remnant of American society was revived for the first time ever on the big screen. What’s not to love? The classic battles between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, the behind the scenes love story of Duke and Anna/Baroness and the stone cold demeanor of General Hawk. All these things are great–but not as a live action movie. It should have stayed in the cartoon series. Don’t get me wrong, there were some good parts, but not enough to warrant an overly excited review. The story arc was a great premise to work with and incorporating modern technology and future technology was a great touch, but you keep getting the sense that the movie is going to go somewhere with those elements. Instead it merely introduces a few things and then quickly carries on to the action and drama. This movie seemed more like an excuse to display explosions and high octane action sequences. There was little development, little script and little great acting. Channing Tatum as Duke was not a good choice and Marlon Wayans as Ripcord is laughable. On a scale of 1-10, this movie is deserving of a 4.
New Movie Posters Revealed For Saw 6, Avatar, Jonah Hex
Some amazing posters were revealed with Saw 6, Avatar and Jonah Hex leading the way. Below are images of the posters with a brief description of the movie.
Hoffman returns as Jigsaw and because the movie repeats its cycle of blood and killing. There’s not much more to say about this movie.
There is no telling if this movie will follow the lines of the comic book, but assuming it does, Hex is a bounty hunter (formerly a Confederate officer) who rids the world of evil. A cliche synopsis, but the synopsises on IMDB or other fan sites can be misleading.
Humans will battle people on a distant planet. The humans are lead by Sully, played by tbe badass half-human, half-machine Sam Worthington. Should be a good one. Sigourney Weaver and James Cameron reunite. Stay tuned for more updates from San Diego Comic Con.
Transformers: Why the Serious Analysis
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen has recently been slammed in many ways from the lack of character development to the inaccuracies of geography. I respond with this (in homage to Heath Ledger), “why so serious?” Critics have lambasted the movie stating such nonsense as “the movie lacks a transformative will of characters to overcome their on-screen egos” (whatever that means) and my personal favorite, “the lack of believability insulted my intelligence.” Give me a break. When was the last time you encountered automobiles and planes transform into robots? Here’s my personal review of it in non-pretentious terms: “Enjoyable. Action-packed and a good use of two-and-a-half hours.” My question to the reviewers and others who put such a philosophical slant to their reviews is did you know the movie is based off a toy? Sure, I can see a philosophical or sociological interpretation to, say, the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe or the Golden Compass where both books are based on books that have a dominant religious or anti-religious interpretation. But when you try to do the same for Transformers, doesn’t it cheapen what Transformers is, a gkid’s toy. Sure, there are plotholes. What movie doesn’t? Cut it some slack and take it for it is: a movie that is designed to have action and lots of it. It’s robots from outer space, people. As a cigar is sometimes just a cigar, so too is a scifi movie just a scifi movie.
Mutant Chronicles: Theater Release Quality
As promised, here is a review of Mutant Chronicles. Overall, not bad. In many parts of the movie, the flow and story arc went hand-in-hand, giving the movie some kind of believability even though it is a scifi movie. I am big on character development and believability. Thomas Jane and Devon Aioki, were the most well developed of the bunch. Ron Perlman wasn’t bad either. The movie tried to emulate styles of The Spirit, 300 and Sin City. It is my theory that the failed attempt at a theater release was due to the attempted style of this movie, which the public was still getting used to. When you see the movie, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Through the movie, you had a sense of apathy for the characters because of the hopeless situation they found themselves in. As many movies of this nature do, they attempt to divide the movie into two parts: Watered down storyline, then the action to resolve the issue. This is a different story. There’s not as much action in this movie as one would expect based off of previews, but the movie will pleasantly surprise you. On a scale of 1-10: 8.
Memorial Day Movie Weekend On SciFi Channel
Memorial day weekend will be full of movies and specials. While it is the norm to showcase the Twilight Zone marathon on holiday weekends, the SciFi Channel is doing something different. Starting Friday, May 22, the SciFi Channel will be airing a movie marathon. It will be mixed with SciFi originals with more popular movies like John Carpenter’s The Thing or Judge Dredd. Then on Monday, May 25th, they will air a Land of the Lost marathon in preparation to air the movie that stars Will Ferrell. The schedule will resume to normal after the long weekend, but it is nice to get a good break once in a while.
Wolverine: Origins Review–Worth It, Kind of
The much-anticipated Wolverine has finally come out and there has been lots of talk about whether or not the movie was worth the price of admission. Well, yes, and no. Hugh Jackman again turns in the performance of Logan/Wolverine and the edginess and toughness he showed in previous films and the comic book are there. The story arc and the action were great considering cut down budget prior to filming. You also get to see characters that weren’t in other X-Men films like Deadpool, Silverfox, the Blob and most importantly, Gambit. There is one character that is not befitting to the movie, not because his character isn’t wanted. Sabertooth, played Liev Schrieber, does not epitomize a good Sabretooth. Tyler Mane’s Sabertooth fit the persona much better and I see Liev Schrieber’s casting into the part questionable at best. Depending on the movie theater you decided to go to, there are different endings so beware.
Despite the inconsistency with the casting of Sabretooth, the movie lived up to the expectations and the hype. It is worth seeing if you can stomach the fact the Sabretooth shouldn’t be Liev Schrieber. On a scale of 1-10, the movie is deserving of a 7. The acting’s not that bad and the story is believable…in the scifi world.
Which One’s Better: Ghosthouse or After Dark
When it comes to independent horror films, it’s hard to find a film or films that stick out; films that make you sit back a minute because you were utterly scared. Of course the budgets are small and many of the writers and directors are fairly new in the craft. Every year, Ghosthouse pictures and After Dark release movies that are are marketed as either “too scary to show in theaters” or something along those lines. Scary marketing and scary movies, too…not in the I-scared-myself-silly kind of way. Scary as in the movies, cinematically, are pretty bad. However, there are a fair share of good ones, which leads to the debate: who has the better movies, Ghosthouse or After Dark. Read more