All about movies...

Alright. Summer 2011 is here! Thor is the summer kick off movie. It delivers. Chris Hemsworth was convincing as Thor. He looked the part (he was jacked!) and carried the movie which I was afraid he might not be able to do. The movie never came off silly or over the top. The direction by Kenneth Branaugh kept everything within the world of Marvel. Natalie Portman is as beautiful as ever; I understand why they needed her but all I really wanted was to see Thor smashing stuff with his hammer. There’s still plenty of that, don’t worry. Clint Barton A.K.A. “Hawkeye” makes a brief cameo that didn’t make much sense, but hey, he’s there. There will be zero disappointment if seen in the theaters. It delivers exactly what is wanted and needed from a summer blockbuster. Hero is flawed, villain defeats hero, hero learns lesson, humbled hero defeats villain, hero gets the girl. The end. 

Released in 1977, Oh, God! starred folk singer John Denver as “text book nice guy” Jerry Landers and comedy legend George Burns as the representstaion of God on Earth. Landers is a simple man, has a beautiful wife (Terri Garr) 2 kids, and works as a well liked assistant manager of a supermarket. Everything is fine until one day, Jerry recieves a letter from God requesting an interview. God informs Jerry that he has been chosen to deliver his message to the world. A message that God is displeased with the way the world is and that it still has the potential to make things right. After early reservations, Landers comes to believe that He is indeed God and works hard to deliver the message. That’s the plot. That’s it. It made tons of money and did well enough to make two more movies based on the same plot. This film had the benefit of perfect casting. John Denver embodies that perennial good guy. Not the one who gets walked all over. But just a natural good guy. He is sincere and you want to believe him. Even though what he says sounds crazy. It helped that John Denver was at his most popular at the time. Then there was Geroge Burns. Those are big shoes to fill and it would be hard to pick anyone else to play God and not immediately think “hmph, not really who I would have picked” . Not so with Burns, I automatically accepted it. His gravelly voiced delivery of every nugget of wisdom is perfect. This movie holds up and is screaming for a remake. In this time of faith taking the back seat to religion this message of everybody setting aside their differences to make things right speaks to everyone. If you get a chance, please check this movie out. It’s a good one.

The wait is over. And it was well worth it. Iron Man delivers on all fronts. Robert Downey Jr. returns as industrialist/super hero Iron Man. The film picks right back up from the end of the first film and Tony Stark is being challenged by the U.S. government to turn over the Iron Man technology. A new enemy turns up to challenge Tony’s Stark monopoly on Arc reactor technology. The pressure mounts as secrets threaten to kill Tony. That’s enoughof the plot. I don’t want to spoil anything. Just know this: The sequel is better than the first. It builds from the world created from the first and runs with it. Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark has depth and heart and he is surrounded by a terrific supporting cast, Gwenyth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Scarlett Johansson. Rockwell and Rourke especially chew up each scene. If you liked the first movie. You will love the 2nd. Great story, great effects, and great cast. You couldn’t ask for a better movie to kick off the summer. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie. Stay until after the end credits. Stay.

The wait is over. And it was well worth it. Iron Man delivers on all fronts. Robert Downey Jr. returns as industrialist/super hero Iron Man. The film picks right back up from the end of the first film and Tony Stark is being challenged by the U.S. government to turn over the Iron Man technology. A new enemy turns up to challenge Tony’s Stark monopoly on Arc reactor technology. The pressure mounts as secrets threaten to kill Tony. That’s enoughof the plot. I don’t want to spoil anything. Just know this: The sequel is better than the first. It builds from the world created from the first and runs with it. Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark has depth and heart and he is surrounded by a terrific supporting cast, Gwenyth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Scarlett Johansson. Rockwell and Rourke especially chew up each scene. If you liked the first movie. You will love the 2nd. Great story, great effects, and great cast. You couldn’t ask for a better movie to kick off the summer. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie. Stay until after the end credits. Stay.

Reviews are back! And I’m going to try to stay away from long drawn out reviews and stick to the facts and not really bore you with crazy details. Sooooo……Onward. I have to say, out of all the slasher and horror characters, Freddy is my favorite. He is my favorite because he was the first I remember watching. And he was the one I remember being afraid of after the light went out for bedtime. I was expecting a lot. The original is a classic. It gave us one of the greatest and recognizable movie villains ever. Why remake a classic? Why not leave it alone? Well, money. What else? The remakes to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Friday the 13th, so this was the logical next choice. Verdict? It was good. Not great. Jackie Earle Haley was awesome. His Freddy was a lot more angry and revenge fueled. Freddy had an edge that was not there in the original. But, the problem is it left me wanting more Freddy. Too much time was spent on the kids. Nancy again is Freddy’s main victim and we find out very disturbingly why later in the film. The use of CGI hurt the film too. Even though it is used now for everything, there is a lot to be said about good old fashioned effects. That’s just picking nits at this point. So, should you go see it? Yes. It was a great slasher film and you won’t be disappointed in the scare factor. But, you will leave wishing you had more of Freddy. If you’re looking for a good scare, it delivers. But for die hard fans like me, you’ll leave a little disappointed.

Do you remember this movie? I do. What was cooler than a bunch of kids fighting classic monsters like Dracula, Wolfman, Gill man and the Mummy? Nothing really. so sources say that a remake might be coming.

“The 1987 fan fave monster-mash The Monster Squad is getting a remake, which isn’t surprising at all given the nostalgic love so many folks have for the original. But what is kind of a surprise is who is making the film: Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes.

Deadline is reporting that Rob Cohen, producer of the original film and helmer of pictures such as The Fast and the Furious and xXx, hopes to direct the project for Paramount. He’s also producing with Platinum Dunes’ Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form. They’re currently meeting with writers.”

We’ll see if this gets anywhere past the development stage. Messing with a classic is always fraught with peril. I hope they can pull it off.

I love this story. Most people don’t. Most people think it’s a really cut up story and doesn’t really go anywhere. I like it because it’s weird. Downright weird. And how it got lumped into the “children’s book” category is beyond me. So, when I hear that Tim Burton is making a movie. I thought “who could be better”? He brings together his cast of regulars of Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, and some new ones like Crispin Glover, Alan Rickman and Mia Wasikowska as Alice.

    The story starts off with Alice in the real world, all grown up. She has been having nightmares ever since she was a child and can’t seem to shake them. She’s off to a party where she ultimately needs to get away and ends up down a rabbit hole. She enters Wonderland, thinking she is in a dream. Not remembering she has already been there. She is told that she will be the one to free Wonderland from the Red Queen.

The main problem with the film was that there was never any conflict. As Alice is meeting new creatures and experiencing new things you never once feel that she will not succeed in doing what is foretold. If I may compare it to the Matrix real quick: The Matrix  kept you guessing if Neo is “The One” up until the end. You saw him try and fail, and you saw him make a decision even though he still thought he wasn’t “the one”  to make things right. With Alice, she just moves along and then finally decides to move on with what was told to her. No mystery, no discovery, no conflict.

Johnny Depp is always good. But I feel he was wasted here as the Mad Hatter. He did a wonderful job and gave the character many levels but still there was a bit of it that seemed forced and contrived. Anne Hathaway as the White Queen never seemed to decide if here ethereal character was truly like that or just a caricature. Helena Bonham Carter was wonderful as the Red Queen. Angry when she should and soft when needed. As for Mia Wasikowska as Alice, She looked the part and she was fine. But her range of emotions were very limited, she either always looked confused or angry confused. 

The film itself looked wonderful in 3D. Everything seemed more vibrant, even the dark forests, the red Queens  gloomy castle we’re given much more texture with 3D. The look was definitely a Tim Burton film. But it did not feel like a Tim Burton movie. It could be the “PG” rating or working for Disney, but for a while now I have not been blown away by something Tim Burton has done.  Big Fish was the last really wonderful Burton flick. Now that he may be putting out an Addams Family movie, we’ll see if he can capture some of that magic and make a film that only he can envision and make.

Steven Spielberg is working on The Adventures of Tin Tin right now. It’s set to release 12/23/2011 but this news kinda blows my mind. Technology freaks me out and makes me a little sexually excited at the same time. Weird.

Spielberg used the performance capture technique out of “my respect for the art of Hergé and wanting to get as close to that art as I could,” he said.

“Hergé wrote about fictional people in a real world, not in a fantasy universe,” Spielberg added. “It was the real universe he was working with, and he used National Geographic to research his adventure stories. It just seemed that live action would be too stylized for an audience to relate to. You’d have to have costumes that are a little outrageous when you see actors wearing them. The costumes seem to fit better when the medium chosen is a digital one.”

On the motion capture stage (called the volume), Spielberg could watch what the actors were doing — in real time — on a screen that showed them in the film universe.

“When Captain Haddock runs across the volume, the cameras capture all the information of his physical and emotional moves,” the director said. “So as Andy Serkis runs across the stage, there’s Captain Haddock on the monitor, in full anime, running along the streets of Belgium. Not only are the actors represented in real time, they enter into a three-dimensional world.”

Crazy huh?

Casablanca was playing at a local theater here and I had the opportunity to go. I was a little apprehensive because I had never seen it, and I don’t know if I am the only one but with old films there’s always this expectation and worry that it won’t hold up. For example, It Happened One Night,  and Singing In The Rain still hold up. They look great and you can see why they make every “greatest” list. Others like Doctor Zhivago, not so much.

Casablanca is one that exceeded my expectations. It takes place in Africa,early World War II. Refugees fleeing Europe to get to America had to go through Casablanca to get to Lisbon where from there they would be able to fly to America. But to obtain a Visa out of Casablanca was next to impossible. The story centers around American Rick Blaine who run the hottest nightclub in town and all is well for him until an old flame walks through the door.

That’s all the plot i’ll give. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are wonderful. Bogart is perfect as a hard as nails guy with a soft heart. You’ll be surprised to find how many famous lines are from this. I knew a couple but was still surprised.The fact that it was made during World War II gives it that extra,”Wow, this movie means something” factor.

There is something about a great movie that you just can’t deny. The Goonies is a good movie. You’ve got mail is a good movie. But a great movie has that special something that stands the test of time. Casablanca is a great movie. I can understand now why it makes every “Top movie” list. It deserves to be in the top 10. Take the time and catch up on this classic.

In honor of Valentine’s Day passing here are my top 5 romance movies. And these are mine, so please feel free to tell me yours.

1. Baz Lurhman’s Romeo And Juliet

There is no better film about young love. The scene at the Capulet party where Romeo and Juliet first meet, Romeo meets his angel complete with wings and angelic doe eyes. With “Kissing you” being sung in the background, this one scene makes you believe in love at first sight

2. Princess Bride

It’s a romance wrapped in action and adventure. But the element that drives the movie is Wesley’s love for Buttercup. Through all the laughs and action, the “inconceivable’s!” and rhyming giants one thing remains and that is death cannot stop true love.

3. The Story Of Us

I can’t help but love this movie. It is a movie about a husband and wife with marital troubles. There ups and downs of what married life is all about and ultimately how a marriage survives because the love for a best friend, companion and mate cannot be replaced with anything else.

4. Little Manhattan

I know you’re saying “I’ve never even heard of this one”. If you haven’t, go and rent this right now. Right now. The story of young love, the first time those feelings of jealousy, heartache, euphoria, bliss and confusion of the opposite sex are captured so heart-warmingly that i’m getting a little teary eyed writing this. It’s about a little boy, 11 or 12 falling in love for the first time, set in New York City. It’s a beautiful movie.

5. The Notebook

I’ve never cried so much in a movie before. That’s all I have to say about it.

Honorable mentions

Love Actually

Moulin Rouge

It happened one night

Return to me

Win a date with Tad Hamilton

Made of Honor

Enchanted

So, I was flipping through the channels looking for something to watch and I come across Men In Black. I caught the last 30 minutes of the movie. Do you remember that movie? Well, I forgot how awesome it really was. I was thinking…

Why not make a prequel of Men In Black? We see the organization in present time but why not go back to when it first started out with “K” (Tommy Lee Jones’s character) as the main focus. You know, without all the really cool technology at hand in the beginning and seeing how they evolve. I’d watch that. I’d watch the hell out of that. Wouldn’t you?

Remember, this is just rumor. Awesome as they may be. Please. These are just rumors.

“they claim that the villain of the piece is The Riddler and that Arkham Asylum will feature heavily in the story. Apparently several other classic Bat-villains will cameo - including The Penguin and Mr. Freeze (although only in his Dr. Fries incarnation.)

According to the source, Barbara Gordon’s role will be beefed up and Dick Grayson may also make an appearance, though probably not as Robin.

Finally and potentially most excitingly; Commissioner Gordon could name-check the Superman universe in the film, with Metropolis and Lex Luthor getting a mention.”

My mind is still trying to wrap around the thought of Superman being a part of the Batman films. Sweet.