Want to talk about two movies on totally opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of interest for me? The disparity couldn't be more different than between Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby and Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor. Phew, that's a long-winded title. A pair of posters have emerged for both films, which both deal in lust and infidelity. Along with them come two fairly standard one-sheets for two fairly standard action movies featuring members of The Expendables: Bullet to the Head with Sylvester Stallone, and Parker with Jason Statham.
The first is a Japanese poster for The Great Gatsby, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio as the mysterious Gatsby, and Carey Mulligan as his old flame Daisy Buchanan. I don't know how Fitzgerald's classic classic reads to those in Japan, but they'll almost certainly turn out to see the popular DiCaprio in action. This image aims for simplicity rather than flashiness, which is probably a smart move. The Great Gatsby arrives on May 10th.
After venturing into the world of gritty action thrillers, and mostly falling on his face a little, Tyler Perry is back to doing what brought him to the dance to begin with. He's writing and directing Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, and the poster hints at something sultry and seductive. So no cross-dressing grannies, this time? I'll believe it when I don't see it. The film stars Jurnee Smolett-Bell(The Great Debaters), who I genuinely like a lot, and follows a married marriage counselor who falls into a passionate affair with a patient, only to have her husband find out and the man she fell in love with begin to reject her. Vanessa Williams, Brandy Norwood, Lance Gross, Robbie Parker, and Kim Kardashian(!?!) star in the film which opens on March 29th.
It's January, must be time for a Jason Statham movie. There are a certain segment of people who are eagerly awaiting anything the tough Brit actor does, and I count myself as one of those folks. Parker is based on the series of novels by Donald Westlake, and features Statham as an ex-con beating up the guys who double-crossed him. The only real difference between this and Statham's other annual slugfests is the presence of Jennifer Lopez as the hottie du jour, and Oscar-nominated director Taylor Hackford behind the camera. Parker opens on January 25th.
Revenge may never get old, but Sylvester Stallone certainly does. Bullet to the Head looks like one tired old relic of an action movie, and the Sly one never looking more broken down than when he's opposite the much younger, much more athletic Jason Momoa(Conan the Barbarian). There's always the chance this turns out to be an effective throwback film, and with Walter Hill(The Warriors) directing it very well could be, but the trailers don't inspire a lot of confidence. Stallone plays a New Orleans hitman who teams up with a young DC cop(Sung Kang) to take down the guy who killed their partners. Opening on February 1st, Bullet to the Head co-stars Sarah Shahi, Christian Slater, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. [RecentMoviePosters]
