New Movie Trailer Rundown!

FYI: I’ll probably be giving away all my money to the movie theatre next year. That’s because trailers for next year’s summer releases are beginning to hit the web and I’m sitting at my computer and drooling all over them! So with your permission (if you keep reading you acknowledge that you are giving me permission) I’d like to run through several new trailers and give my thoughts and point out a few things you may have missed when/if you’ve seen them. So here we go!

Thor-Release Date May 6, 2011

Thor is a movie set in the Marvel Universe about the Marvel superhero Thor. The trailer starts with Agent Coulson (seen in both Iron Man films and played by Clark Gregg) interrogating Thor about his training. Switch to a montage of Thor beating up SHIELD agents. We get some shots of Asgard. The main distinction between the Marvel hero and the Thor of Norse mythology is that the Asgardians are aliens. We get some great shots of Odin (played by Anthony Hopkins) including a fantastic shot of him casting Thor to Earth. We got shots of the power of Thor and his hammer. Eventually we get to see the Destroyer armor, an invincible robot that can be worn by a person’s soul. All in all this looks like a fantastic film and I can’t wait to see it. The only worry is that it will be shown in 3D and that’s a very risky move.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-Release Date: May 20, 2011

Unlike many of you I did enjoy the Pirates movies. Not just the first one, all three. With that disclaimer out of the way let’s get into the trailer. Basically some rich dude in London wants Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp) to find the Fountain of Youth. Also questing for the Fountain are Barbossa (played by Geoffrey Rush) and Blackbeard (played by Ian McShane). It all looks to be a lot of classic Pirate fun and I’d suggest watching the trailer immediately. Johnny Depp looks great as Jack, Penelope Cruz seems capable as a Kiera Knightly replacement (meaning I think their characters will be similar)/Jack Sparrow love interest. Geoffery Rush seems a lot older than before but still looking good. Add in mermaids that eat their victims, zombies, and much more this looks to be a good fun film. All in all I’m really excited for this movie.

Green Lantern-Release Date: June 17, 2011

For those of you who don’t know, Green Lantern is a DC Comics Superhero who wields a ring that is powered by will. The ring allows him to create  hard energy manifestations of whatever he can imagine, as long as he has the willpower to do so. With that out of the way let’s talk about the trailer. The trailer opens with Hal Jordan (played by Ryan Reynolds) waking up to his alarm. He’s late so he leaves his “date” in bed and rushes off in his fast and dangerous bad-boy car. Hey Hal! Usually you set an alarm for when you want to wake up, not for when you need to be at an appointment. We then get a shot of Carol Ferris (played by Blake Lively), Hal’s boss, telling him off for being late.  I have no idea why Lively was cast for the role, she comes off looking like a robot! Anyway we then get some inner monologue then a shot of a downed alien spacecraft, and an alien inside. The alien, known to Green Lantern fans as Abin-Sur, is the best part of this trailer so far! While looking a bit CG, it still looks better than everything else so far. Abin Sur gives Hal his power ring and sends him to Oa, homeworld of the Green Lantern Corps. The Green Lantern Corps are basically space cops/peacekeeping forces. Each Lantern is given a ring and a sector to defend. The shots of the different Green Lanterns are all money shots! These sell the movie. Unfortunately you have to suffer through some cheesy CG montage of Hal’s flight to Oa before you get to the gold. The next important shot is one of Hal getting using his ring to defend himself against some would-be muggers. Let’s just say that I hated the shots of his ring. The hard energy looks more like some weird green smoke. It’s sad really. We then get Hal questioning himself (which goes completly against the character), a shot of the villain Hector Hammond, random explosions, then we get a good look at Hal’s costume. I’m still torn about it. The first shot looks fine, but the closeups look like garbage. All in all I’ll probably go watch this movie, but reluctantly.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon-Release Date: July 1st 2011

Ugh! Another Transformers movie?!?! Anyway this trailer is interesting because it doesn’t tell us anything about the plot or even feature any of the main characters. Basically the movie starts with a montage of the first moon landing. Then Walter Cronkite informs the audience that they have lost connection with the Apollo astronauts and it is revealed that the real reason the astronauts are on the moon is to investigate a downed spacecraft there. Apparently this spacecraft will be what the Autobots and Decipticons will be fighting over in the new movie. All in all not a bad trailer but really says nothing about the movie. I probably won’t see the movie because the previous two movies were disappointing but it was a good trailer.

Well there you go. Hope it wasn’t too long for you. Have fun at the movies next year!

Iron Man 2 Movie Review

Well the summer movie season officially kick off with the release of Iron Man 2. With the surprise success of the first movie, many audiences were eagerly anticipating the arrival of Iron Man 2.

First of all the story picks up right where the first movie left off. For those of you who don’t know, the Incredible Hulk movie is set after Iron Man 2. The movie does a great job of setting the stage. The time period between the first and second movie, the theme of the movie and the most of the main players are all established very quickly. The theme of the movie is legacy but the actual story can be summed up this way. In the beginning of the movie Tony Stark says that no one can beat him on his best day. The rest of the movie is spent bring Tony down from the god-like level he attained, back into the world of mere mortals. The story is good altough the pacing could use work. The beginning and end are very solid but the middle of the movie feels slow and there is a definite lag.

The Acting is probably one of the best things about this movie. Downey Jr. is born to play Tony Stark. Unlike Johnny Depp in Pirates 2, Downey Jr. manages to retain all the charm of his original Tony Stark performance without it feeling stale. Sam Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, and Jon Favreau (yes he’s a director and an actor) all turn in solid performances. Don Cheadle makes everyone forget about Terrance Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow turns in another solid yet flustered performance. Mickey Rourke manages to hit all the right notes and gives an almost perfect performance. However the real surprise is Sam Rockwell’s take on Justin Hammer. He plays his part of “anti-Tony” so incredibly well it’s hard not to like him.

The direction in the film was excellent. One point in particular, the scene where Justin Hammer is presenting his robot Iron Man knock-off drones to the Stark Expo crowd is just so well done that you almost feel like clapping for the villain. On the other side, the beginning has a very awkward “Tony’s eye view” scene that is just too clunky to work right. The soundtrack perfectly compliments the movie in every way

The only real weaknesses in this film, other than the slow middle, is that the film tries to be several films at once. It teases Thor, Captain America, and the Avengers. It’s a sequel, a stand-alone film, and a middle film in a trilogy. (Iron Man 3 is not announced but you can easily envision this as the 2nd in a 3 part movie franchise) While the film handles the many different characters and plot lines well, it’s still the weakest link, especially if you don’t know about Marvel’s bigger plans (the Avengers, Thor, Captain America etc.)

In terms of how family friendly it is I’ll just say this: if your kid saw the first movie, the second one will be no problem. The sexual double talk is still in the film, but it’s toned down. Other than a scene with Natalie changing in the back seat of a car, (She is alone in the back seat and the audience just sees her with a bra and a bare leg) there’s nothing to object at in the film. There is a bleeped out cuss word and a drunk Tony, but both are minor and neither one is shown to be commendable.

So bottom line? If you’re a comic book fan or you enjoyed the first movie, you MUST see Iron Man 2. If not, watch it once it goes to the dollar theater or it comes out on DVD.

Rating 9.0 out of 10 (if you’re a fan boy) 8.0 out of 10 for the general public.

Welcome to… Randomness!

Unlike previous random news posts, this post will be small snippets of information and opinions that are too small to warrant a post of their own. So without further ado:

• The Oscars were last night and basically we can take this away: As long as your film features average acting and a realistic plot, you’ll win big. Avatar won for its visuals and art but besides that they were shut out. Up won best animated feature, which gives Pixar their second Oscar in a row.
• The Iron Man 2 trailer debuted and the only thing I can say is WOW! It looks like this film will be really big!
• Speaking of Iron Man, has anyone noticed that Marvel has a lot of red-headed girlfriends? I think Stan Lee must have liked red hair. There’s Mary Jane (Spider-Man’s gf), Jean Gray (Cyclops’ gf), the Black Widow, and Pepper Potts. (Both are in Iron Man) Of course you could also make the case that he liked blondes too. There’s Karen Page (Daredevil’s one time gf), Susan Storm (Mr. Fantastic’s wife), Gwen Stacy(Spider-Man’s first gf), and Agent 13 (Captain America’s gf).
• Rush Limbaugh’s New York Penthouse is on sale for $13.95 million. If you haven’t seen the pictures go take a look. I can’t tell whether it’s neat, wasteful, or just plain over the top.
• Yahoo news blog has a post about President Obama making the same mistakes as Bush.  It’s a good post that deserves a read. I only wonder, why is it that the last two presidents made the same mistakes?
• The Cincinnati Bengals are in talks with Terrell Owens. All I can say is that even if Ochocinco and Owens don’t produce results on the field, the off the field antics would be awesome!
• A new study has concluded that men become more accident prone in the presence of a beautiful woman. Basically a male’s testosterone levels go up which leads to a reduced sense of caution which in turn leads to more spectacular feats as well as more accidents. All of a sudden cheerleaders at sporting events make a lot more sense!(Note: Not that cheerleaders don’t keep spirits high, but in a huge college or professional stadium you can’t see them unless you’re on the field or on the bench)

Rapid Fire Movie News!

Fasten your seatbelts once again, I’m going to run you (the reader) through some of the latest movie news as well as a bit about the Oscars as well.

• I can’t wait for the Oscars! Not because I want to watch them, but after the Oscars, Robert Downey Jr. will unveil another Iron Man 2 trailer on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
• It’s rumored that Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds will be shot in 3D
• Harrison Ford said that George Lucas is working on Indiana Jones 5. If all goes according to projections, Harrison will be 70 when the movie is filmed.
• Marvel’s editor in chief has said that the first draft for the Avengers movie has hit his desk.
• The Battleship movie will feature aliens as the enemy. (At this point I’m thinking Avatar Lite)
• Wolverine 2 will begin filming next January.
• The first movie still from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie were released this week
• Fans are buzzing about a possible Thor cameo in Iron Man 2
• Sacha Baron Cohen has disappeared from the list of Oscar presenters. The reason being that the producer of the Oscars is worried that Cohen’s Avatar spoof sketch would upset James Cameron. You’d think that showing the world you’re scared of Cameron is a big mistake and you’d be right. However it’s nothing compared to the mistake of letting Cohen present during the Oscars.

Well that’s all I’ve got! Tell me what movies are you looking forward to?

News from the Movie Front!

I realize I haven’t covered movies in a while. Since there’s nothing out there but romance movies (and Avatar, which could come under this category) and I don’t watch them, I thought I’d just start talking about movies that are coming, could be coming, or could possibly might start thinking about coming out soon. So hang on cause here we GO!

• Christopher Nolan is in talks with WB about being a mentor for the Superman reboot. He won’t direct, but if this happens, he’ll have some creative influence on the film. Also, it’s rumored that he’s working on Batman 3.
• Marvel has brought in several actors to audition for the role of Captain America. The film will take place in WWII.
• The main actor from “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” has been rumored to be in talks with Sony about starring as Peter Parker in a Spiderman movie. (Not one of my picks, but not a bad choice) The Spiderman film will take its cues from the new Ultimate Spiderman books.
• For those of you who don’t know, a new Muppet movie is in the works and will begin shooting this summer
• A Smurf movie is scheduled for release towards the end of this year.
• The Chronicles of Narnia franchise has been picked up by Fox. Filming is expected to be finished in November.
• The Hobbit is set to begin filming in June 2010. Peter Jackson has said that they are casting unknowns for the role of Bilbo Baggins. Andy Serkis and Ian McKellan are set to reprise their roles of Gollum and Gandalf.
• Kirk’s dad in Star Trek has been cast as Thor in the new Marvel movie. Natalie Portman (Padme from Star Wars) will play Thor’s girlfriend. Filming began in January.
• Jon Favreau says that Iron Man 2 is set before the Incredible Hulk. This probably doesn’t mean much, but I just wanted it thrown out there.
• For those of you who haven’t heard, James Cameron has said that there will be an Avatar 2 and possibly Avatar 3.

Well there you go, hope it wasn’t too fast. 2010 and 2011 look to be big years for the big blockbuster hopefuls!