Spider-Man and Electro face off in this latest international poster for Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The awesome-looking sequel comes out on May 2nd, and I'm sure we'll end up getting a new trailer sometime in the near future, so stay tuned!
I've got a great funny short drama for you to check out today called "Dinner and a Movie." The tagline says it's a heartwarming story about love, life, and prison dating websites. It was directed by Ben Aston, and it delivers some good entertainment. It's a very well scripted, acted, and directed film, and I think a lot of you will enjoy it.
Lovestruck Randy is thrilled when his prison pen pal Crystal is finally released and they can meet in person, but is woefully unprepared for the hard truths (among other things) she brings along with her to their date.
This is an original concept, and I really liked how it turned out. Below the video I posted a statement from the director about the ending of the film explaining why they ended it they way they did. Check it out when you're done watching it.
From the director:
We originally tried to write it so that they're relationship works out, like, he saves her or whatever. But it just felt so dishonest. Once it clicked that she would of course rob him then it all came together.
It's still a positive ending, In a way it's the ONLY happy ending, their relationship wasn't built out of mutual love and respect but out of Randy's fear, he's imprisoned by it (wink). He's scared at the very idea of being rejected. As such the idea of letting a convict into your home seems safer than just meeting a girl in a bar. But the reality is that love requires you to open yourself up to the possibility of being hurt or rejected. And that's Crystal's gift to him, the WORST DATE EVER, anything afterwards is easy by comparison.
We could just have ended there, but we show that there is hope at the end of the tunnel, he finally does what he was unable to and just meets a girl on a date. He too finally leaves prison :)
We've got another TV spot for RoboCop for you to check out. It's got some new footage from the film, including a narration Alex Murphy, a.k.a. Robocop, played by Joel Kinnaman. The movie is set to be released on February 7th, 2014.
Jonah Hill appeared on The Graham Norton Show this week with a story most guys can relate to in some way. It all starts right after Hill finished shooting the plane orgy scene onThe Wolf Of Wall Street. We've all been there man, we've all been there.
Writer & Director: Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Anton Yelchin, Mia Wasikowska, and John Hurt
Synopsis: A story centered on two vampires who have been in love for centuries.
Emily Dunbar and Free Reyes review Only Lover Left Alive.
Dear Arrow/Show Writers/Stephen Amell,
You guys have one of the best superhero shows I've ever seen. Keep up the good work. You guys are making a damn good show that finds an awesome balance between fan service, new material, and mainstream appeal. All that said, I almost raged out while watching "Blast Radius" this week.
The tension between Felicity and Oliver at the end? It's completely unnecessary and ridiculous. I'll admit it was cute when we first met Felicity and her constant unintentional sexual innuendo made things awkward, but I was hoping it would stop there. Now all the sudden Barry Allen is in the picture and Oliver is all down on her and getting crappy because she was checking up on a guy she liked that is in a coma?! It's the jealous alpha male s*** that really got under my skin in the first season when he was all up in Tommy and Laurel's business.
A quick glance through the episode guides shows that if you include Laurel,s lawyer friend (first season) and the Queen in the Royal Flush Gang, you have ten female characters who have been involved in the story thus far in the series. Oliver has slept with six of those ten. Laurel, Sara (Black Canary), Shado (we only saw the ocean scene but Slade's face said it all), Huntress, the random cop he dated for awhile, and the board member of this company. TWO of those ten are Moira and Thea Queen so when we really get down to it Oliver has slept with 3/4 of the show's characters, and with Malcolm Merlin's revelation earlier this season, he could be gunning for Thea next!
Is that too gross? I certainly think so, but given Oliver's love of creating drama in relationships and horn dog attitude, the show makes it plausible! We all know that Stephen Amell is an attractive man. I get self-conscious every episode he takes his shirt off. I also know that a playboy billionaire is going to pull a lot of ladies, but there's something to be said about being an unattainable object.
If Oliver Queen wasn't taking every woman in the show to the bone zone, I think it would legitimately make him more attractive to audiences. His attitude towards women would be a bit less douchey, and I think we would all like him a lot more as a person. This isn't to say Oliver can't have a relationship, but rather one that has deep meaning and not a hot love spell that lasts for an episode and a half and then cycles back to square one until it happens again.
I love you Oliver, but don't go near my woman.
Mick
ABC has announced that Pixar is developing a holiday special called Toy Story That Time Forgot. The news comes from Variety, which says that the special will revolve around "a post-Christmas play date for the Toy Story gang when a group of action figures turns out to be dangerously delusional.”
All the Toy Story shorts that have been made have been pretty awesome, and the whole original voice cast will be returning to reprise their roles! Those actors include Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz, Kristen Schaal as Trixie, Kevin McKidd as Reptillus Maximus, Wallace Shawn as Rex, Timothy Dalton as Mr. Pricklepants, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head ,and Joan Cusack as Jessie.
The last Toy Story special was Toy Story of Terror, and it was great! Hopefully you got a chance to watch it. If not, check it out when you get a chance. I have no doubt that special will be just as entertaining.
Jason Schwartzman's Listen Up Phillip is on our list of movies to see at Sundance. A teaser trailer has been released for the movie, and as you'll see, it has a very awkward vibe. The movie comes from writer and director Alex Ross Perry, and it also stars Elisabeth Moss, Krysten Ritter, Jonathan Pryce, Joséphine de La Baume (Rush), and more.
Anger rages in Philip as he awaits the publication of his sure-to-succeed second novel. He feels pushed out of his adopted home city by the constant crowds and noise, a deteriorating relationship with his photographer girlfriend Ashley, and his own indifference to promoting the novel. When Philip’s idol, Ike Zimmerman, offers his isolated summer home as a refuge, he finally gets the peace and quiet to focus on his favorite subject—himself.
Schwartzman tends to pick projects that I enjoy. It definitely looks like one of those interesting Sundance films, and we'll let you know how it is!
We've got some new promo art for Marvel's upcoming sci-fi action adventure film Guardians of the Galaxy. It features the main characters Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Groot, and of course, Rocket Raccoon, who is soon going to be everyone's favorite Marvel character. The James Gunn-directed film is set to be released on August 1st, 2014.
Via: CBM
Showtime has another trailer for their new horror series Penny Dreadful for you to watch. It includes some decent new footage from the series, including a look at several of the cast members, such as Josh Hartnett, Eva Greene, and Timothy Dalton. The series looks great, and I'm really excited about it!
Here's a funny new trailer for the upcoming Nick Frost and Chis O'Dowd comedy, Cuban Fury. Frost plays Bruce Garrett, who uses his non-existent dancing skills to impress his smart, funny, gorgeous new American boss. O'Dowd plays Bruce's co-worker and rival, Drew, as they compete for the same woman with salsa dancing. I'm a fan of both these actors, and it looks like they've made a great comedy together. The movie also stars Rashida Jones as their boss and Ian McShane as Frost's intense dance instructor.
There's no U.S. release date for the movie yet, but it will be released in the U.K. this Valentine's Day. Just in case you don't keep track of those kinds of things, that's February 14th.
A few days ago it was reported that Donal Logue from Sons of Anarchy was offered the role of Commissioner Gordon in the upcoming Batman-inspired TV series, Gotham. Logue quickly denied that he was offered the part. Latino-Review admitted they made a mistake due to some confusion, but they are back with an update on the story saying that Logue was actually offered the role of Detective Harvey Bullock in the series, which is an even better fit part for the actor!
Here's the update from Latino-Review's Elmayimbe:
FANBOY NATION! I have an update on the Donal Logue/Gotham story. I was wrong. My bad. He actually got offered DET HARVEY BULLOCK.
There was then a little Twitter conversation between Elmayimbe and Logue, and this time, Logue doesn't deny it.
.@donallogue Hey. My bad. Sorry for the confusion. Looking forward to you hopefully playing Det. Harvey Bullock. That would be dope!
@elmayimbe ha! No problem. It's only bad if they ain't talking about you
In the series Bullock will be in his 40s and will act as Gordon's mentor. So there you have it! If Logue accepts the offer, it would be amazing! I hope it happens.
Written and Directed by Steven Knight
Starring: Tom Hardy, Ruth Wilson, Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott, Tom Holland, and Bill Milner
Synopsis: On the eve of the biggest challenge of his career, Ivan Locke receives a phone call that sets in motion a series of events that will unravel his family, job, and soul.
Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) is a man who has chosen to face his destiny, and he knows it is going to cost him a lot. And he is totally on the verge of losing it the entire movie. He is an astoundingly conscientious man, a well-respected construction director and family man who has earned the admiration of everyone who knows him. And he spends the movie blowing all that up and trying to build something new and worthy out of the mess.
We spend the entire movie in Hardy’s car, but the cinematography and editing keep things interesting. We basically only see what you can see from the front seat of a car, so headlights, streetlights, other cars, the rearview mirror, the dashboard and navigation system, and his bluetooth phone display, which is in constant use. Plus, of course, Hardy. There are a lot of crossfades, the streetlights and headlights vary in color beautifully, and while the scenery is a bit monotonous, it is never boring.
Wright also does a fantastic job of building tension by doling out the information piece by piece, phone call by phone call. Then once we know the situation, he does a great job of keeping us guessing. Is his work going to go to hell? How’s his family going to take it? Can he deal with the latest problem? Will he turn back? Even though we’re just riding in a car with Hardy, there are several storylines spinning out from the phone calls, and each one is engaging.
It is lucky that Hardy is maybe the most charismatic actor currently working, so he holds your attention. And he’s playing fairly extreme distress and anxiety, which isn’t anything I’ve seen from him before. He kills it. He isn’t over the top–he is very, very controlled. He is precise and meticulous and gentle. His projection of calm reassurance rarely breaks, and almost never when he is interacting with another character. This is a bravura performance, maybe the best of his career. He manages to get the audience on his side right away, and somehow keeps them on his side through all of his problems, which, it should be noted, are entirely of his own making.
Hardy will get all of the attention for this, but he gets a major assist from his costars, who deserve major accolades for building convincing characters using no tools but their voices. Of particular note is Andrew Scott, who provides most of the movie’s laughs as Locke's in-way-over-his-head assistant. Ruth Wilson and Olivia Coleman are also in fine form as the two people most affected by Locke’s lapse in judgment.
Buried, but not nearly as claustrophobic.
This isn’t a movie with mainstream appeal, but Hardy is big enough (and good enough) that it should see a limited release. Look for it at your local art house theater.
Starz has released the first full episode of the Michael Bay-produced pirate series, Black Sails. You can watch it below thanks to Machinima. I've really been looking forward to this series! I'm up at the Sundance Film Festival right now, and I've only had time to watch the first 10-minutes, but I'm in, and I can't wait to watch the rest of it as soon as I can.
Black Sails is a new drama that looks at pirates like you've never seen before--a cutthroat world of murderers, outcasts, and thieves, all hustling to survive. Will these captains and their crews find the treasure they seek? Or will foreign navies destroy their life of freedom at sea before they reach their prize?
The series doesn't air until January 25th, but now you don't have to wait that long to watch it! Check it out!
Writer/Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto
Starring: Nao Ohmori, Lindsay Kay Hayward, Hairi Katagiri
I'm going to be completely upfront with you... I have no idea how to review this movie. It made absolutely no sense at all! I don't think it's supposed to. There's always one movie at Sundance that catches you off guard and punches you in the face. R100 left me with a bloody nose, and you know what? I think I liked being punched in the face, but I'm still not sure. This movie was so strange, so weird, and so whacked out insane!
The basic plot of the story follows a man who signs a contract with an S&M company called Bondage. The contract states that their dominatrixes will appear at any given time to put him through hell and beat the shit out of him. It gives him a euphoria high that oddly transforms his face into a happy state. The reason for all this is to take his mind off of the problems with his wife who is in a coma. Sounds like a pretty simple concept, right? Well, it's not! The world he enters gets deep and dark, and even his young son is pulled into the insanity. At one point a dominatrix hogties and hangs the kid from the ceiling, while another dominatrix disgustingly spits on his dad while he is tied up on the floor. The kid is alive, he's just hanging there. That's just an example of what happens in this movie. There's even a dominatrix that swallows people whole like a snake for cryin' out loud!
A lot of people walked out of the movie because of its madness. But it's that same madness that kept me in my seat. I had to know how it ended, I needed to know the point of it all! But guess what? There was no point! In fact, there's a fictional 100 year old director in the film that directed the movie (but not really), who says that only 100 year old people would get the movie. We all know that's not true, though!
The movie was insanely stupid, but it has its moments of utter awesomeness. For example, when things hit a level of jacked up stupidity, the movie stopped and cut to a scene of studio executives who are watching the same exact film, and they are breaking it down, talking about how stupid it is and how it doesn't make any sense. They literally talk about and say all of the things that the audience is thinking. After they finish they go back in to watch the movie, and then the movie continues for the audience. This happens a couple of times throughout the film, and it's pretty damn funny.
You really can't appreciate or not appreciate this movie unless you actually see it for yourself. It's not something I can recommend to just anyone. The best thing I can compare it to is a really strange live-action anime. Take the strangest anime you've ever seen, and this is probably stranger. If you like insanely weird movies that don't have a point and make no sense, then you will want to watch this movie. It's seriously not for everyone though.
Official Synopsis:
Mild-mannered bureaucrat Takafumi Katayama has a secret. He spends his days at his meaningless office job, while at night he cares for his young son and comatose wife. But every now and then, his routine is interrupted by a series of sultry, leather-clad dominatrices, each with a more bizarre skill set than the last. Katayama has joined a hidden, mysterious S&M club that specializes in surprising its clients in public and applying sadistic, sexual torture in any place at any time. Then a line is crossed, and an escalating game of vengeance ensues.
Employing an exuberant swirl of gonzo set pieces, imaginative plot twists, and absurd metaexperiences executed with complete control, director Hitoshi Matsumoto unleashes a wildly over-the-top, intense sex comedy upon an unsuspecting international audience. Even the title, referencing Japanese rating systems, suggests that no mind younger than 100 years old can grasp the fantasia within the film. Be warned.
God's Pocket is one of the better films that I've seen at Sundance this year. I still have a long way to go, but I've already seen more crap than good films. Needless to say, it was nice to sit through a movie that I didn't want to fall asleep in.
The film has an incredible cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, John Turturro, RIchard Jenkins, and a few other actors you may or may not recognize. First and foremost, the acting in this movie was fantastic. They all gave great performances, and in my opinion it's one of the best roles that Hoffman has played in a long time. As for Hendricks, she's great, and I'm hoping to see her get more lead movie roles. The woman has talent.
Hoffman plays Mickey Scarpato, who is a resident of a tight-knit neighborhood called God's Pocket. His dipstick stepson Leon is murdered at work, which the other workers cover up. Mickey is tasked with taking care of all arrangements for the funeral, and at the same time his wife, played by Hendricks, knows that something is wrong and wants him to get her some real answers. Things end up getting crazy with all of it, though, and Mickey "finds himself stuck in a life-and-death struggle compounded by a body he can't bury, a wife he can't please, and a debt he can't pay."
The story was really solid and engaging, and the writing and dialogue were fantastically witty. It has a lot of humor, and that was nice because the movie deals with some pretty heavy subject matter. The director, John Slattery, does an incredible job taking the audience though the world in which the story is set, and it has just the right amount of humor mixed in with the intense drama. He even manages to bring out the humor during some of those dramatic intense sequences. Slattery, who stars in the TV series Mad Men, is a talented writer and director, and I think he could have a solid career ahead of him doing just that.
The movie isn't for everyone, I could see some people thinking that it's slow and dull. I've heard that from a few people talking about it around the festival. I thought the pacing of it was fine. You just have to like this kind of movie. I just want to point out again that it really is very funny. It's just a dry sense of humor that some people just might not find funny. Except for the part where an old lady pulls out a gun and blows a couple of thugs away. That was amazing! There are a few surprises like that throughout the film.
I'm pretty confident that God's Pocket will at least get a limited theatrical and VOD release. It's not a film that needs to be seen on the big screen, but if you're a fan of anything that I mentioned in the review, then it's a movie you should check out.
Check out this fantastical cool piece of fantasy sci-fi character art created by CGHUB user zhongfenghua. It's called Base, and it introduces us to an epic new world. I like the style of the illustration, and that suit design that the girl is wearing is pretty awesome. The artist gives no details on the piece, but I would love to know what his back story is behind it.
Warner Bros. has released a new adrenaline-fueled TV spot for 300: Rise of the Empire to keep fans pumped up and excited for the film. There's more to come though, so stay tuned! Later today a new full trailer is supposed to be released that is sure to be packed with even more footage to keep your excitement level peaked for the historically set fantasy action film. The movie will be released in IMAX and theaters on March 7th, 2014
Via: THR
Miles Teller, the star of one Sundance's most buzzed about films, Whiplash, is set to play Dan Aykroyd in the John Belushi biopic in development. Teller is an awesome choice, and he will star alongside Emile Hirsch who is playing Belushi. It was Hirsch who actually made the announcement at a Sundance party, saying...
"A shout-out to Miles Teller! We’re going to be working together soon. He’s playing Dan Aykroyd in the Belushi movie."
The actor's reps say that the announcement is premature, but that Teller has been offered the part. They go on to say that "the actor will take a beat to committing to any new project until after Sundance wraps and he finishes his press duties for his upcoming movie That Awkward Moment."
Aykroyd played a huge part in Belushi's life, they not only worked together on Saturday Night Live and The Blues Brothers, they were also best friends.
Teller is an amazingly talented young actor, and I'm sure he'll end up committing to the role. The actor has been in a few films over the years, but it was a Sundance movie called The Spectacular Now that launched his career to a new level.
The Belushi biopic is being written and directed by Steve Conrad, and it's based on the book Belushi.
The Sleepwalker is one of those slow burning kind of thrillers. Throughout the film you sense that something is brooding in the background of the story, like there's something coming that you can't see, and it's something bad. It has this great creepy music to help play with your thoughts and emotions as well. It really does a great job building the suspense of the movie. The only problem is, that terribly bad thing that is supposed to happen... never happens. That awful reveal that you felt coming throughout the whole film never comes. There is absolutely no satisfying conclusion to this movie, and it's one of those films where you wonder what the point of making it was.
The one thing I will give this movie is that it stimulated my imagination. It also had a very eerie atmosphere to it that I liked. As I watched the movie I imagined all of the bad things that could have happened, but never did. In fact, there was no closure to anything. Even the way the film ended made no sense. I just didn't understand what the filmmaker was trying to say. Maybe the whole thing was to stimulate the audience's imagination, but seriously, there were still events that took place that were pretty ridiculous. Especially the ending that they went with.
Here's the official synopsis that gives a little glimpse of what the story is about,
Kaia enjoys a quiet life with her boyfriend, Andrew, on her late father’s secluded, 1920s, Le Corbusier–style estate, isolated from the rest of her rural Massachusetts town. Their restoration of the elaborate, but gutted, home is interrupted by the middle-of-the-night arrival of Kaia’s sister, Christine, followed the next morning by Christine’s WASPish fiancé, Ira. Immediate friction develops among the quartet as Christine announces her pregnancy, questions Kaia’s relationship with Andrew, and objects to the relics of her and Kaia’s shared childhood being discarded.
Yes, there is a great deal of tension in the film, but there is no climax. There are also a ton of questions that are never answered. It's actually kind of sad because it was an interesting movie, but unfortunately, there was no payoff for the audience. In the end it was just a big tease and an empty story.
The acting was decent enough though, it doesn't star anyone you would be familiar with but the cast includes Gitte Witt, Christopher Abbott, Brady Corbet, and Stephanie Ellis. The movie was co-written and directed by Mona Fastvold, and it was done well. Its main problem was the story… it seemed to lack a third act. It's like the film just stopped right before the movie was supposed to get really good. I can't help but imagine as they were writing the movie they came to a point where they didn't know what to do with the story so they just kind came up with a couple silly and uninteresting scapegoats and ended it. The movie had potential, it just wasn't all that it could be.
