New Hunger Games: Catching Fire Trailer!

CH-CH-CH-CHECK it out!

Seventh Son Trailer

I had to watch this one twice because I was a little confused what was happening. It vaguely Game of Thrones-y, which I think is in its favor. But, you've also got Julianne Moore turning into a dragon, so that's a little cheesy/Maleficent-y. I like both Jeff Bridges and Ben Barnes (old guy and young guy in the trailer), but I'm not sure about either of them in this movie. Overall, it just looks like every sort of fairy tale thing thrown into one film. But, that's not necessarily bad.

How to Train You Dragon 2

Not ashamed to say that this clip actually made me giddy. I mean, it just reminds you how much better your life would be with a dragon. Seriously, A LOT better. Also, nice little shot at the end there. I don't know about you, but I started singing "Hunky a-ni-ma-ted man. He's a hunky animated man" in my best bluesy/soul voice. Like actually. I started singing that out loud.

Review Roundup (ALL them summer movies): Pacific Rim, White House Down, The Lone Ranger, The Heat

After hearing some positive buzz about this summer action flick, I was feeling cautiously optimistic at the theater. Luckily, I had my memories of Charlie Day's character to ease my post-movie melancholy. Day's performance as a geeky, excitable, and extremely lovable scientist was by far the highlight of this monsters vs. robots epic. While it certainly wasn't the worst clash-of-the-large-things movie I've seen, it still fell short. It developed an interesting, apocalyptic world and some semi-intriguing characters (thank you Idris Elba), but was ultimately reduced to a lot of slow motion robots boxing with aliens. 

BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM *swoosh, hit to the jaw* BUM BUM BUM BUUMMMM *swoosh, hit to the comically large gut of something that looks like a large mutant ninja turtle* HARD METAL ELECTRIC GUITARRRRRR "Fire the laser gun!" BANG BANG BANG!

It's A LOT of that. Which is fine for a while, until you're brain starts to get bored, and you start coming up with questions. Like... if humanity has the technology to tell that these aliens have appeared in the ocean because of some sort of worm hole through space, has the technology to exactly measure the worm hole's dimensions, and knows how to destroy it - shouldn't they be able to come up with a better solution than giant robots? I mean, they have found a tunnel that takes you from one end of space to another. POOF. Like Star Wars. Like Star Trek. Like any movie/TV show where we have space warp technology. But... they're going with big robots. And why isn't the rest of the world trying to contribute? It's just these six guys who can pilot the robots and a bunch of dudes in Army uniforms who don't seem to serve any purpose at all running around a big hangar. Oh, and two scientists. That's all the world's got. Everyone else has just accepted that giant, alien monsters will soon take over the world? There was A LOT of time for my mind to come of with questions like these. Still, coulda been worse. 

I have the delight of having seen both Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down, so I can do a little compare and contrast. Here it is: Olympus Has Fallen is seemingly more serious, but with more ridiculous villains. White House Down is more playful and gives you Channing Tatum to look at the whole time. 

Now to just take a look at White House Down. The bad guys in this movie all seem pretty clumsy and ridiculous. But, that's because they were basically given the easiest pass ever into taking over The White House. Some pretty important people in the government/security just handed them the keys (metaphorically, I don't think there is actually just one set of keys that opens all doors in The White House, but maybe Bush needed things simplified). So you've got silly terrorists, charming Channing, and Jamie Fox as a confusing impression of Barack Obama. Don't think that was technically what he was going for, but you can't help but see some political comparisons. I'm not complaining about any of this. It still makes for a decent little action film. One added bonus that you don't expect is the girl who plays Channing's daughter. She's pretty excellent. She actually is the center of my favorite part of the movie. See below for a description of the best scene in the whole film (but it kind of gives stuff away. I mean not really. The world's in peril... blah blah blah.)

*SPOLIER SCENE*

Bad guy: I need your handprint Mr. President, so I can send a bunch of bombs to blow people up.

Jamie Fox: No way man.

Bad guy: I'll shoot Channing Tatum's daughter if you don't do it.

Jamie Fox: Little Channing Tatum's daughter, you understand that I can't let him blow up a bunch of people just to save you.

Channing Tatum's kick-ass daughter: I understand.

Say whaaattttt? This is awesome for two reasons. One: Jamie Fox doesn't just crumble and destroy the world because of stupid emotions like every other character ever. Two: THIS GIRL IS BADASS. 

*END OF SPOILER SCENE* (and anything else I have to say about this movie)

Haven't seen the original Lone Ranger anything. Have no context for the history of this brand. Just saying.

Why is it that all movies think they need these lame story devices to pull everything together? I mean the last time that worked was in The Social Network, when the whole thing was told through the court cases. And that only worked because of the brilliant script and my love of Jesse Eisenberg. In The Lone Ranger, a small boy goes to see an exhibit about the Wild West in 1920-something. There, he meets an ancient Tanto (Johnny Depp) who tells him the whole story of his adventures with Armie Hammer (who plays The Lone Ranger). Why can't we just watch the story? Why do we need the kid and ancient Johnny Depp? Anyway, pet peeve. Moving on.

I don't watch a lot of Westerns, so I feel like I don't have much to compare this too. It's definitely not as good as The Mask of Zorro, which for some reason kept coming up in my mind as something similar. But, everything seemed like the right ingredients. A rivalry between brothers, a score that needs to be settled, corrupt people trying to take over all of new America, silver, train fights, horse-riding, a wise/crazy Native American, a woman with a gun for a leg (thanks Helena), a woman who's worth fighting for - it all seemed to line up. It doesn't hit home or leave you with much of a message, but it's a pretty good hero's journey. 

Last because I'm least sure what to say about this one. First off, I think it's hard for Sandra Bullock to out do herself in Miss Congeniality as an uptight FBI agent. That role really put her on the map, and this character and this movie just aren't as good. It's not nearly as bad as I anticipated though. 

Melissa McCarthy is a comic genius. But, I don't necessarily feel I've gotten that from her recent roles. My favorite performance of hers is still as Sookie in Gilmore Girls. She's hilarious, and it's not in a dumb, physical comedy, gross sort of way. Maybe I just miss her actually acting. That being said, she was still funny. Not as stupid/funny as I feared. She's a smart enough actor to make the role more than that. And her and Bullock's relationships is endearing. But, no one will remember this movie. Hopefully, the same can't be said for McCarthy's career in a year or so. 

Thursday Trailers: The Canyons, Out of the Furnace, Saving Mr. Banks, and The Lifeguard

First up, in The Canyons Lindsay Lohan makes a movie about how no one sees movies anymore and how she doesn't like Hollywood. Sounds ground-breaking.

Out of the Furnace has an incredible cast including Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, and Woody Harrleson. Very serious business, this movie.

Saving Mr. Banks stars Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, and is about something you don't care at all about - the making of Mary Poppins. Seriously, zero caring here. The bit actors look like the best parts of this movie. 

The Lifeguard is Kristen Bell's dive (PUNS) into the indie world. Basic idea: pre-mid-life crisis. Kristen's happens to involve dating a high school kid. Haven't decided how weird that is yet. 

The Way, Way Back (SPOILER: IT'S REALLY GOOD)

Looking for a summer movie that isn't a sequel/superhero action stupidness/BAD? Then The Way, Way Back has got a cure for what ails you. I've been PUMPED to see this movie for months, and now I can officially say that it is Tony the Tiger "Grrrrreeaaaatttttt!" See trailer here for some context to my enthusiasm:

Still not convinced? Then you have no soul! Just kidddingggggg. Sort of *cough* not really *cough*

From the same guys who recently won an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for The Descendants, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, comes something nothing like The Descendants (which is good for me because I didn't really like that movie). This movie is all those great, cringey, coming-of-agey things it should be. It's still a light and fun summer flick about a kid who gets a job at a water park, but with heart and definitely a large dose of Sam Rockwell humor. By the way, if you don't know who Sam Rockwell is, IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU LEARNED, and this is a great movie to catch him in. He plays the young Duncan's fast-talking mentor/water park boss. The cast overall is great, and it's both horrifying and awesome to see Steve Carell play the villain for once.

If still none of that convinces you, I have solid math to prove my opinion (because that's how opinions work).

The Way, Way Back was made for under $5 million dollars. Man of Steel was made for $225 million. So, really The Way, Way Back only needs to be 2.2% as good as Man of Steel. And it is approximately 525,457,143.8849% better than Man of Steel THEREFORE... MATH SAYS YOU SHOULD GO.

Snowpiercer Trailer

Watch first, read second.

So short a trailer, and yet there is SO MUCH I need to say. First off, in the summary I just read of this movie it says, "'Snowpiercer' is set in post-apocalyptic AD 2031, in which the passengers on a train are the only survivors left on Earth." So, just to be clear, these are THE LAST PEOPLE ON EARTH, and Chris Evans and his buddies decide to start killing people because their seats suck? Had to be pointed out. Also needs to be pointed out:

1) Chris Evans seems to be playing Captain America in a hat.

2) Tilda Swinton is doing an incredible Margaret Thatcher impression.

3) This is basically Elysium on a train. 

Austenland Trailer

Ever wonder what it would be like if you fell into a Jane Austen novel? You'd probably bruise yourself because books are hard. BA ZING. Anyway... check out the trailer for Austenland, where Austen fanatics get to actually experience the whole high-class, romantic experience.

Delivery Man Trailer

Normally I'm not a big fan of Vince Vaughn. Oh, are you waiting for me to say "but"? I'm not going to. Here's the trailer for Vince's new movie, Delivery Man, where he plays a man with like 500 kids via sperm donation. He proceeds to grow a soul.

Romeo and Juliet Trailer

In case you missed it when it came out, here's the trailer for the new Romeo and Juliet. It stars Hailee Steinfeld, the amazing young actress from True Grit. I'm a big fan of young actresses who don't suck in general, so I'm hoping the movie doesn't blow, for her career's sake. It also stars Chuck Bass with a British-ish accent.

The Boxtrolls Trailer

Both politically conscious and childishly delightful. I AM SO IN.

World War Z

Making this review short and sweet because I have little to no experience watching zombie movies. It's pretty much Zombieland, and I'm out. I can't tell you if these zombies are slimier or more decayed or if their eyes bulge more, but what I can tell you is that one of them makes a hilarious clicking sound and the whole audience laughed. This happened to be during the scene where Brad Pitt's life is potentially about to end and with it the last hope for the world. But, there we all were, laughing because of this clicking zombie. Intentional? Probably not. Added to the overall experience? Definitely yes. I think if you keep an audience tense for 2 hours, it's nice to give them a little break.

Other than Sir Clicks-a-lot, this is a pretty exciting action film. Brad never stops moving, which keeps it interesting. He visits multiple countries in search of a cure, and apparently is the only person who has the ability to make an observation. This skill allows him to come up with a brilliant idea that can save the world. It seems incredible that Brad doesn't get bitten, but he does have some pretty fantastic survival skills. He wraps magazines around his wrists (so zombies can't bite them of course), he almost throws himself of a building when he thinks he might turn into a zombie, he blows up a plane - really, this guy must be like an eagle scout with mad skills like these. Ultimately, it's a travel show starring Brad Pitt as a charming do-gooder, family man with a lot of zombies thrown in. And, I'm okay with that. 

Passion Trailer

I believe they'll be selling this one as "Rachel McAdams kisses girl." Could be a decent thriller. UNLESS, they actually do show the end of the movie at the end of this trailer.