We've been pushing F. Gary Gray's revenge flick since the first images hit our desks, and now that it's finally here I'm more worried than hopeful at it being worth the wait. That's thanks in large part to a brutally bad TV campaign that undermines the cheesy awesomeness of the movie trailer. Gerard Butler stars as a father who seeks bloody revenge against the system(represented in it's entirety by a wide-mouthed bass taking the form of Jamie Foxx) after it fails to convict the man who murdered his daughter. Oh it looks awful. Awfully fun. Gerard Butler does psychotic violence better than most, so I hope he lives up to it here.
Fans of Maurice Sendak's 1963 classic picturebook need not worry that any of the finer details get lost in the translation to the big screen. What they can count on is a magical, energizing, dark, and often frightening escape into the imagination of a young boy with anger issues. The Wild Things, the real draw for most people, are the most unbelievably real movie monsters I've seen. But the question remains whether or not this is truly a movie for kids. I think there's enough for everyone to enjoy. I saw it a few days ago(read my review here), but a movie this big needs to be experienced more than once.
Despite Tucker Max's claim that his film, based on his highly controversial book of the same name, would be "a massive, genre-defining hit", the simple truth of the matter is that the film has been plagued by picketers and boycotts. But the film's biggst roadblock is a lack of distribution, making it rather difficult for anybody to catch this thing and decide for themselves just how degrading to women it truly is. The story involves noted womanizer Max, who tricks his friend into admitting something that threatens his upcoming wedding. The book and the film are full of Max's supposedly real alcohol enduced sexual exploits with numerous women. This fact alone has led people to cry that the story promotes a "culture of rape". I don't know enough to know if that's true, but I'm willing to see for myself and find out. Right now this is playing at the Regal Kingstowne theatre, but knowing them they'll pull it just as I'm walking up to buy my ticket.
I'm a sucker for cleverly packaged, easily digestable bite sized movie trailers full of catchy tunes and quirky images that capture your imagination. Unfortunately most of these trailers tend to be for movies I end up hating. New York, I Love You is probably going to end up being one of those films. This is the follow up to 2007's Paris, Je'taime, a collection of various stories all revolving around the central theme of falling in love in the most beautiful city in the world. Directed and starring big name stars, only a handful of the dozen or so stories were truly entertaining. The New York follow-up features the likes of Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Blake Lively, Orlando Bloom, Chris Cooper, Andy Garcia, Christina Ricci, and that's only part of it. I've become enamored with this film for one reason only: the snappy trailer blazes to Phoenix's hit song, "1901", a track I've had on repeat-mode in my brain for weeks. Think they'll play the song through the 2 hours of the film? Probably not. Already a letdown in some small way. Guess where it's playing? Landmark E Street of course.
If there's time...
I'm not upset that they remade one of the lamest "thrillers" of the 1980s. My biggest beef is that the trailer literally tells you everything that's going to happen. I'm not going to spoil it here for those who somehow have missed it, but I already know Dylan Walsh's(Nip/Tuck) character's every motivation for doing what he does. These guys really need to take a cue from whoever made the brilliantly deceptive trailer for A Perfect Getaway a few weeks ago. Combine this fact with the addition of Sela Ward, who looks like she's visited the Nip/Tuck offices a few times herself, an unknown dude(Penn Badgley who I'm assuming is on the CW somewhere), and a creaky premise and this is one movie that I don't think I'm guilty enough to enjoy. But we'll see.
No...just...no..
Supposedly this documentary doesn't focus as much on "the global icon" King James himself as I think it does. But considering he is a producer on the film, I'm willing to bet it ain't all that penetrating, either. And frankly, I see enough of that loud mouth on Sportscenter everyday, so why should I pay to see his back story? I'm gonna do something Lebron doesn't do nearly enough: Pass.
