Friday, 22 January 2010
Top Ten Worst Movie Cliches
Since I am an avid move goer I found this list of movie Cliches to be pretty funny and also very well done.
Also just found this list of 100 Cheeiest Movie Quotes, its worth checking out:
OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES (2006) - uncanny recreation of sixties' spy movies
OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES
(2006, France)
(2006, France)
A retro spy spoof with modern targets
At first glance this looked like a revival release of a lost French spy film that I'd never heard of. It turned out to be a recent spoof that looks back affectionately at the 1960's spy scene. Sort of like Austin Powers, but with some humour lost in translation, so don't expect the same amount of comedy, broad or otherwise. It's still laugh-out-loud funny in places, but I'd liked to have understood more of the verbal gags and the ironic jokes about France's history.
The character of OSS 117 is actually from a long series of spy novels that started before Ian Fleming typed the number 007. They've been adapted (seriously) as movies in the fifties and sixties, with actors like John Gavin (Psycho) and Kerwin Matthews (Seventh Voyage of Sinbad) in the title role.
What makes this new incarnation definitely worth seeing are the standout performance of Jean Dujardin, and the meticulous recreation of the look of 1960s celluloid. While Austin Powers gave lip service to sixties pop culture, it mostly joked about the fashions and the technology, but never looking at all authentic. OSS 117 at times made me think I was looking at a lost Sean Connery Bond film.
Though rubber-faced, Dujardin even resembles Connery at times, helped by wearing copies of many of his early Bond outfits. I was also reminded that James Bond's 'eyebrow acting' began long before Roger Moore took the role. Dujardin is astonishingly good at portraying the swaggering, self-centred bighead who thinks he's irresistible to women. Connery's clothes, hair, and also 'catlike' movement are meticulously copied and spoofed.
The spy's occasional detective work is offset by his obsession with his appearance and... his chickens. My favourite moment is when his glamorous accomplice has to drag him off the dancefloor to do some work because he's enjoying himself too much.
The story is crucially set in Cairo in 1955. Agent OSS 117 has been sent to solve the murder of his best friend (whose very name sends him into flashbacks to happier times), as well as sort out the problems of the Middle East (just as the 'Suez crisis' threatened to ignite another World War). He easily gets sidetracked by everything unimportant, even taking more time over his cover, the chicken-breeding business, than the job in hand. In the style of incompetent detectives, he still accidentally impresses his superiors.
His complete ignorance of life outside France makes him completely unsuitable as an international secret agent. His mission needs him to be knowledgeable about local customs and blend in with the mostly Muslim population. This of course highlights how little has changed with attitudes and indeed foreign policies.
This next trailer, for a 1964 OSS 117 movie (starring Kerwin Matthews), appears to be a direct influence on Jean-Paul Belmondo's superb spy spoof Le Magnifique (1973).
At first glance this looked like a revival release of a lost French spy film that I'd never heard of. It turned out to be a recent spoof that looks back affectionately at the 1960's spy scene. Sort of like Austin Powers, but with some humour lost in translation, so don't expect the same amount of comedy, broad or otherwise. It's still laugh-out-loud funny in places, but I'd liked to have understood more of the verbal gags and the ironic jokes about France's history.
The character of OSS 117 is actually from a long series of spy novels that started before Ian Fleming typed the number 007. They've been adapted (seriously) as movies in the fifties and sixties, with actors like John Gavin (Psycho) and Kerwin Matthews (Seventh Voyage of Sinbad) in the title role.
What makes this new incarnation definitely worth seeing are the standout performance of Jean Dujardin, and the meticulous recreation of the look of 1960s celluloid. While Austin Powers gave lip service to sixties pop culture, it mostly joked about the fashions and the technology, but never looking at all authentic. OSS 117 at times made me think I was looking at a lost Sean Connery Bond film.
Though rubber-faced, Dujardin even resembles Connery at times, helped by wearing copies of many of his early Bond outfits. I was also reminded that James Bond's 'eyebrow acting' began long before Roger Moore took the role. Dujardin is astonishingly good at portraying the swaggering, self-centred bighead who thinks he's irresistible to women. Connery's clothes, hair, and also 'catlike' movement are meticulously copied and spoofed.
The spy's occasional detective work is offset by his obsession with his appearance and... his chickens. My favourite moment is when his glamorous accomplice has to drag him off the dancefloor to do some work because he's enjoying himself too much.
The story is crucially set in Cairo in 1955. Agent OSS 117 has been sent to solve the murder of his best friend (whose very name sends him into flashbacks to happier times), as well as sort out the problems of the Middle East (just as the 'Suez crisis' threatened to ignite another World War). He easily gets sidetracked by everything unimportant, even taking more time over his cover, the chicken-breeding business, than the job in hand. In the style of incompetent detectives, he still accidentally impresses his superiors.
His complete ignorance of life outside France makes him completely unsuitable as an international secret agent. His mission needs him to be knowledgeable about local customs and blend in with the mostly Muslim population. This of course highlights how little has changed with attitudes and indeed foreign policies.
The absolutely authentic look of course includes fashion and music, but with an obsessive amount of paddleball, depicted as a fad of the same popularity as skateboarding!
I'd liked to have seen more action, more fighting and maybe a car chase - all par for the genre. But the pleasant surprise that I didn't expect was a skeleton graveyard - a beautifully creepy scene that seemed to reference the 1968 Japanese horror The Living Skeleton! Am I reaching?
I'd liked to have seen more action, more fighting and maybe a car chase - all par for the genre. But the pleasant surprise that I didn't expect was a skeleton graveyard - a beautifully creepy scene that seemed to reference the 1968 Japanese horror The Living Skeleton! Am I reaching?
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, was popular enough to spawn a sequel, OSS 117: Lost In Rio (2009), with yet another in the works. The bare-bones UK DVD (from ICA) is nicely presented in 2.35 anamorphic widescreen but the English subtitles are rather large for the job. But they're the only translation - there's no dubbed Enlgish audio track.
English release trailer on YouTube...
English release trailer on YouTube...
This next trailer, for a 1964 OSS 117 movie (starring Kerwin Matthews), appears to be a direct influence on Jean-Paul Belmondo's superb spy spoof Le Magnifique (1973).
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Supporting Characters
This is a column about those actors who did a great job in some small role, but are people that I think really stand out when I see a movie. Todays supporting character comes the action defining movie, Die Hard.
Argyle:
De'voreaux White portrays what could be the coolest chauffeur in movie history. Argyle is a cool guy who loves big tips and rocking out to Christmas in Hollis my Run Dmc. He also happens to like chilling out in parking lots and tends to not notice buildings being taken over.
I think I recall Argyle so much because he is a cool cat and he and John McClane form an instant bond. Argyle just wants to chill and talk up some girls but when things go down he ends up using his limo as a tool for good and takes out some terrorists in the process.
Got to give it up for Argyle and De'voreux White's short yet memorable performance. White, really didn't blow up after his role he was mostly a TV show guy, and would go on to be in Frankenstein: The College Years in 1991 as well as playing Second Transvestite in the 2000 film Shadow Hours.
At least we all remember that cool and hip chauffeur who understood the problems between men and women in Die Hard, I salute you Argyle!
THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE (1976) - early Jodie Foster thriller
THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE
(1976, Canada/USA/France)
(1976, Canada/USA/France)
Martin Sheen as a very nasty man...
1976 was the year when Jodie Foster became a star! At the time, I hadn't seen Taxi Driver, but there was plenty of publicity about her controversial role. Amazingly she was still appearing in Disney films!
Bugsy Malone was a big hit in the UK. With goodtime girl Tallulah's slicked-down hair, she nearly wasn't recognisable. But her raunchy and mature attitude was fun - it certainly seemed to scare Scott Baio! Director Alan Parker's success with this children-playing-adults gangster musical led to his next project, the very different Midnight Express!
Foster had appeared in Disney productions as early as 1970, continuing after Little Girl with Freaky Friday and later Candleshoe. The original Freaky Friday was another popular hit for her in the UK, Foster being one of the few youngsters who was intelligent and rebellious enough to be 'cool', acceptable to teenagers who normally wouldn't be seen dead watching a Disney double-bill. In it she plays a tomboy with a skateboard who swaps bodies with her Mom.
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane was another very different film for her repertoire, and seemed to represent what I imagined her own personality might have been. Independent, private, wanting to be treated like an adult. Interested in learning more about everything. There's a great interview that was shot on the set, maybe it was a publicity film, where she says that eventually she wants to direct. She was deadly serious, at a time when there were even fewer women directors, ridiculously young. But if anyone was going to do it, she sounded like she could, and also knew where she was going.
Her character, Rynn, is supposed to be from England - the creepy Frank (Sheen) has to explain some of the customs of Halloween 'because the English don't celebrate it'. Proof that before the movie Halloween was a hit the UK, we Brits didn't even consider it as an opportunity for fancy dress, let alone trick or treating.
Little Girl feels like quite a small film, but has a uniquely odd atmosphere. So much action is centred on Rynn's home, it could very easily be adapted as a play. There are even several key moments that are described rather than shown, robbing the film of some potential shock moments. More damagingly, it's quite hard to follow everything unless you listen to every line of dialogue. I always forget the storyline because I haven't witnessed everything. This also keeps the film in the mystery/thriller genre. While it verges on horror, it needs a few more explicit moments.
A small cast of characters adds to the claustrophobia, especially with the early arrival of the sleazeball played by a young Martin Sheen, when he usually played sleazeballs. He was on the wrong side of the law in Badlands, a hustler in The Cassandra Crossing, and here a dangerous paedophile.
Foster's character is aged 13, but Frank is still very interested in her. The problem is that his mother is also her landlady, one of the most powerful landowneds in the area, with maybe even the police in her pocket. Everyone locally knows what Frank is capable of, but are reluctant to intervene. From his first appearance, we know he's threatening to probe the secrets of her mysterious family. She gains an ally in likeable local boy Mario (Scott Jacoby), but an accident threatens her precarious hope that everyone will leave them alone.
Once again, the film-makers were keen to exploit Foster's image sexually at such an early age. While she'd been a prostitute in Taxi Driver, and a vamp in Bugsy Malone, the actress understandably baulked at a nude scene. Doubtless wanting a little more respect despite her junior status. To be treated with more respect - not to mention gender equality - her star status failed to remove the scene from the script.
So there's this huge (very seventies) paradox. The villain is a paedophile, but the film-makers still want a gratuitous nude scene of a character who's only 13! This was actually performed by Foster's 21 year-old sister, flashing breasts and butt. But the brief scene fooled us all at the time into thinking we were seeing Foster nude, which again she was far from happy about.
It's a sufficiently intriguing film with some unnerving moments, good twists and engaging characters. Besides Foster's age, the film is dated by the music score - some nasty keyboards and wakka-wakka guitar detract rather than complement the atmosphere early on in the film, but thankfully this disappears as the plot thickens.
It's fascinating to see Jodie Foster as a child star, years before she found success as an adult, and Martin Sheen's career off-course before he starred in the awesome Apocalypse Now.
For a long while Little Girl was absent from DVD but eventually appeared in both the UK and US (with subtly different cover art) and apparently uncut. It's more generously framed than the VHS release (above), to which I can now finally say goodbye...
1976 was the year when Jodie Foster became a star! At the time, I hadn't seen Taxi Driver, but there was plenty of publicity about her controversial role. Amazingly she was still appearing in Disney films!
Bugsy Malone was a big hit in the UK. With goodtime girl Tallulah's slicked-down hair, she nearly wasn't recognisable. But her raunchy and mature attitude was fun - it certainly seemed to scare Scott Baio! Director Alan Parker's success with this children-playing-adults gangster musical led to his next project, the very different Midnight Express!
Foster had appeared in Disney productions as early as 1970, continuing after Little Girl with Freaky Friday and later Candleshoe. The original Freaky Friday was another popular hit for her in the UK, Foster being one of the few youngsters who was intelligent and rebellious enough to be 'cool', acceptable to teenagers who normally wouldn't be seen dead watching a Disney double-bill. In it she plays a tomboy with a skateboard who swaps bodies with her Mom.
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane was another very different film for her repertoire, and seemed to represent what I imagined her own personality might have been. Independent, private, wanting to be treated like an adult. Interested in learning more about everything. There's a great interview that was shot on the set, maybe it was a publicity film, where she says that eventually she wants to direct. She was deadly serious, at a time when there were even fewer women directors, ridiculously young. But if anyone was going to do it, she sounded like she could, and also knew where she was going.
Her character, Rynn, is supposed to be from England - the creepy Frank (Sheen) has to explain some of the customs of Halloween 'because the English don't celebrate it'. Proof that before the movie Halloween was a hit the UK, we Brits didn't even consider it as an opportunity for fancy dress, let alone trick or treating.
Little Girl feels like quite a small film, but has a uniquely odd atmosphere. So much action is centred on Rynn's home, it could very easily be adapted as a play. There are even several key moments that are described rather than shown, robbing the film of some potential shock moments. More damagingly, it's quite hard to follow everything unless you listen to every line of dialogue. I always forget the storyline because I haven't witnessed everything. This also keeps the film in the mystery/thriller genre. While it verges on horror, it needs a few more explicit moments.
A small cast of characters adds to the claustrophobia, especially with the early arrival of the sleazeball played by a young Martin Sheen, when he usually played sleazeballs. He was on the wrong side of the law in Badlands, a hustler in The Cassandra Crossing, and here a dangerous paedophile.
Foster's character is aged 13, but Frank is still very interested in her. The problem is that his mother is also her landlady, one of the most powerful landowneds in the area, with maybe even the police in her pocket. Everyone locally knows what Frank is capable of, but are reluctant to intervene. From his first appearance, we know he's threatening to probe the secrets of her mysterious family. She gains an ally in likeable local boy Mario (Scott Jacoby), but an accident threatens her precarious hope that everyone will leave them alone.
Once again, the film-makers were keen to exploit Foster's image sexually at such an early age. While she'd been a prostitute in Taxi Driver, and a vamp in Bugsy Malone, the actress understandably baulked at a nude scene. Doubtless wanting a little more respect despite her junior status. To be treated with more respect - not to mention gender equality - her star status failed to remove the scene from the script.
So there's this huge (very seventies) paradox. The villain is a paedophile, but the film-makers still want a gratuitous nude scene of a character who's only 13! This was actually performed by Foster's 21 year-old sister, flashing breasts and butt. But the brief scene fooled us all at the time into thinking we were seeing Foster nude, which again she was far from happy about.
It's a sufficiently intriguing film with some unnerving moments, good twists and engaging characters. Besides Foster's age, the film is dated by the music score - some nasty keyboards and wakka-wakka guitar detract rather than complement the atmosphere early on in the film, but thankfully this disappears as the plot thickens.
It's fascinating to see Jodie Foster as a child star, years before she found success as an adult, and Martin Sheen's career off-course before he starred in the awesome Apocalypse Now.
For a long while Little Girl was absent from DVD but eventually appeared in both the UK and US (with subtly different cover art) and apparently uncut. It's more generously framed than the VHS release (above), to which I can now finally say goodbye...
Saturday, 16 January 2010
HAUNTED SCHOOL 4 (1999) - a great Japanese ghost story
HAUNTED SCHOOL 4
(1999, Japan, Gakko no kaidan 4)
One of the best, modern, Japanese ghost stories
After seeing Ring (1998) for the first time, I was soon scrabbling around for more non-English horror movies, led only by their titles and cover art. I started into the Japanese Haunted School movie series at the last film but, as it happens, the best of the bunch. These films are nothing to do with the 2007 Hong Kong horror Haunted School, produced by Andrew Lau, that was aimed at older teenagers.
Haunted School 4 is very different from the first three, with a far less patronising attitude and no goofy, infantile humour. Despite a cast made up mostly of children, the acting is solid and realistic, especially the little girl in the middle of it all. What's OK to scare Japanese children is still fairly strong for most adults, some of the shocks match Ring and even Korea's The Host. Surprisingly, the director, Hideyuki Hirayama, also made Haunted Schools 1 and 2.
There are so few similarities with the rest of the series that it's not really a sequel. No recurring characters, alive or dead. The story centres around a school, but that's about it. Here that's not even an existing building, but rather the ghostly memory of one.
Opening with a carefree game of hide-and-seek ('kakurenbo'), tragedy strikes in an impressive sequence with a horrifying climax. One of my favourite scenes in a Japanese horror, because it took me by surprise. Possibly because I was expecting a less hard-hitting, children's movie.
The story skips from the past to modern day, as a quiet coastal village is struck by a series of child disappearances... and a reappearance. Events so unlikely that they're dismissed by the adults, leaving the children to solve the mysteries. Why is there always an old man on the quayside staring at the sea? Why do some of the children keep hearing voices? What's going on at the school building that's closed for the holidays?
The hot and sunny seaside location, presumably in Okinawa, is popular as a holiday destination for Japanese families from the main island. A policeman demonstrates a huge heavy door in the huge storm defences, which closes with just a hand crank. There's also a scene showing the Japanese lantern festival, as departed relatives are remembered with a flotilla of floating lanterns.
There are many intricate and cleverly designed visual effects that use extensive digital composting and even a little CGI which still looks really convincing, at least on this unremastered DVD. But the FX designs and the ideas, together with the performances combine to create a ghost story that delivers very visual surprises and a few shocks. The genuine feeling of loss, portraying ghosts as 'once human' rather than vengeful monsters makes a refreshing change.
Beautifully shot 2.35 widescreen, with flashbacks in striking monochrome, some of the scene transitions were so cleverly done, I had to rewatch to check what I'd just seen.
The film really needs a title change, like if they lost the '4' and sold it to the US. A high number on a sequel makes it look like a bad movie - but this should be high on any list of Japanese ghost story movies.
The Hong Kong DVD I watched is transferred from a print that had English and Chinese burnt into it, rather than optional subtitles. These are poorly translated and hard to read against lighter backgrounds - but it's the only translated version that I know of. It's a non-anamorphic widescreen release, all-region NTSC.
I couldn't find many photos, but there are some screen grabs on this German site...
I've already done short reviews of the first Japanese Haunted School (1995), and Haunted School 3. But I'd recommend instead the Gakko No Kaidan anime series of 2000, sold on DVD as Ghost Stories in the US.
Haunted School 4 is very different from the first three, with a far less patronising attitude and no goofy, infantile humour. Despite a cast made up mostly of children, the acting is solid and realistic, especially the little girl in the middle of it all. What's OK to scare Japanese children is still fairly strong for most adults, some of the shocks match Ring and even Korea's The Host. Surprisingly, the director, Hideyuki Hirayama, also made Haunted Schools 1 and 2.
There are so few similarities with the rest of the series that it's not really a sequel. No recurring characters, alive or dead. The story centres around a school, but that's about it. Here that's not even an existing building, but rather the ghostly memory of one.
Opening with a carefree game of hide-and-seek ('kakurenbo'), tragedy strikes in an impressive sequence with a horrifying climax. One of my favourite scenes in a Japanese horror, because it took me by surprise. Possibly because I was expecting a less hard-hitting, children's movie.
The story skips from the past to modern day, as a quiet coastal village is struck by a series of child disappearances... and a reappearance. Events so unlikely that they're dismissed by the adults, leaving the children to solve the mysteries. Why is there always an old man on the quayside staring at the sea? Why do some of the children keep hearing voices? What's going on at the school building that's closed for the holidays?
The hot and sunny seaside location, presumably in Okinawa, is popular as a holiday destination for Japanese families from the main island. A policeman demonstrates a huge heavy door in the huge storm defences, which closes with just a hand crank. There's also a scene showing the Japanese lantern festival, as departed relatives are remembered with a flotilla of floating lanterns.
There are many intricate and cleverly designed visual effects that use extensive digital composting and even a little CGI which still looks really convincing, at least on this unremastered DVD. But the FX designs and the ideas, together with the performances combine to create a ghost story that delivers very visual surprises and a few shocks. The genuine feeling of loss, portraying ghosts as 'once human' rather than vengeful monsters makes a refreshing change.
Beautifully shot 2.35 widescreen, with flashbacks in striking monochrome, some of the scene transitions were so cleverly done, I had to rewatch to check what I'd just seen.
The film really needs a title change, like if they lost the '4' and sold it to the US. A high number on a sequel makes it look like a bad movie - but this should be high on any list of Japanese ghost story movies.
The Hong Kong DVD I watched is transferred from a print that had English and Chinese burnt into it, rather than optional subtitles. These are poorly translated and hard to read against lighter backgrounds - but it's the only translated version that I know of. It's a non-anamorphic widescreen release, all-region NTSC.
I couldn't find many photos, but there are some screen grabs on this German site...
I've already done short reviews of the first Japanese Haunted School (1995), and Haunted School 3. But I'd recommend instead the Gakko No Kaidan anime series of 2000, sold on DVD as Ghost Stories in the US.
Monday, 11 January 2010
Films in 2010
I did this column last year looking forward to such films as Watchmen, G.I. Joe, Inglourious Basterds, Fanboys, Public Enemies, Sherlock Holmes, and The Wolf Man. This year looks to have even more movies that make me excited, here are just a few of the movies I am eagerly awaiting in 2010:
Kick-Ass - Ever since I bought the first issue of this comic book while on vacation in Los Angeles I knew this would be something special. The movie version has come out really quickly but has a lot of talent in it, including director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake and Stardust) and Nicholas Cage. The movie simply shows what would happen if normal type people decided to be superheros. I think the movie will play for a lot of laughs but also kick major ass!
Clash of the Titans - This movie looks like a ton of fun, you get a lot of action and some good special effects. Any movie that has Liam Neeson as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes as Hades cannot be all that bad. I think this will be a fun action/adventure flick, the preview makes me long to see the Kraken!
The Wolfman - Making its second appearance on my list, it was scheduled to be released in 2009 but was pushed back, not usually a great sign. This time the movie should come out in early 2010 and the good news I hear is that it's rated R. The previews they have released so far look pretty good, and I am still pretty stoked to see the movie.
Iron Man 2 - The first one was so much fun that how couldn't you be stoked to see Robert Downey Jr. come back?! The first preview released shows that they are sticking to the same fun loving type movie, and you get to see War Machine in action!!
Alice In Wonderland - Tim Burton directs and Johnny Depp is the mad hatter, need I say more? I am looking forward to seeing the world that Burton creates for Alice, the movie were always somewhat trippy as is/was. I always like Burton's take on classic stories, and this movie looks pretty fun and its in that disney 3-D so the visuals should look amazing, peep it here:
The A-Team - I remember having the toys of the A-Team as a kid, not to sure if I recall the show itself, but this movie looks pretty cool. I was a tad worried when I heard they were remaking the show into a movie but so far the preview looks cool. You have Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley (District 9), Jessica Biel, and a guy who looks a lot like Mr. T used to (Quintin Jackson). So for the movie looks fun, and I like the use of the old tv show theme in the trailer.
Toy Story 3 - I love most Pixar movies and since I am always a big kid i am really looking forward to Toy Story 3, this time the boy from the movie has grown up and no longer needs his toys. The gang of toys now find themselves being played with by all new kids and embark on some new adventures. Can't wait to see Toy Story 3!
Hot Tub Time Machine - How can't you look forward to a movie with that title? It has a good cast and the preview looks really funny, but I have this on my list for the title alone. Cant wait to see how these guys act and change things up when they are transported back to the 80's, the preview makes me laugh a lot. Cusak!
The Expendables - I mentioned this movie in an earlier post and the trailer confirms that this movie should be all action. You have this amazing cast all in one movie: Slyvester Stalone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, and cameos from Arnold and Bruce Willis have been confirmed. This movie just has too much muscle to let me down!
Inception - Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight) directs and Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard and Joesph Gordon Levitt star...I think thats about all I need to say. Easily one of the most anticipated movies for me in 2010.
The Green Hornet - You have Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) directing and a script from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad and Pineapple Express) and the movie stars Seth Rogen, cameron Diaz and Chritoph Waltz (in his follow up too Inglourious Basterds) and I do not see why this movie will look and be amazing. Cannot wait to see the trailer for this and see how they have a nice mix of serious action yet with a comedy twist.
Paul - Another film that has a good cast and director. Paul is a film by Greg Mottola (Superbad and Adventureland) and reuintes stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz). This time the guys are two sci-fi geeks who head to Area 51 looking for aliens. I cant wait to see how this movie looks, the cast also includes Sigourney Weaver and Jane Lynch. This one should be a great comedy.
Predators - Predators is the long follow up to Preadtor II, I think. Any info about the movie is sketchy at this time but the cast is very intriguing for a movie like this. So far they have announced Lauernce Fishbourne, Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, and Danny Trejo. Quite the cast there...this one looks to be more of man v.s predator and should be a lot of fun to see what they do here.
Get Him to the Greek - This movie is a sort of sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall from what I am hearing. You have the same director of Sarah Marshall (Nicolas Stoller) and Rusell Brand is renewing his character Aldous Snow from Sarah Marshall. This movie also stars Jonah Hill as a record company intern in charge of getting Snow to a show at the Greek theatre in Los Angeles. I am eager to see how this movie looks, I hope it has the same humor from Sarah Marshall.
A few more...
Cop Out - Kevin Smith directs someone else's movie for the first time, and it has a pretty good cast in Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as two old partners on the case.
Due Date - The Hangover's Todd Phillphs follow up stars Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, and is a road trip movie about Downey's character getting home to see his child being born.
Machete - It is awesome that they even making this movie, a movie that was made out of a fake trailer from the Grindhouse movies. Danny Trejo is back as Machete and rumors about the cast seem pretty awesome. Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Steven Segal, Lindsay Lohan, Don Johson, and Rose McGowan all have parts in the movie.
Kick-Ass - Ever since I bought the first issue of this comic book while on vacation in Los Angeles I knew this would be something special. The movie version has come out really quickly but has a lot of talent in it, including director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake and Stardust) and Nicholas Cage. The movie simply shows what would happen if normal type people decided to be superheros. I think the movie will play for a lot of laughs but also kick major ass!
Clash of the Titans - This movie looks like a ton of fun, you get a lot of action and some good special effects. Any movie that has Liam Neeson as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes as Hades cannot be all that bad. I think this will be a fun action/adventure flick, the preview makes me long to see the Kraken!
The Wolfman - Making its second appearance on my list, it was scheduled to be released in 2009 but was pushed back, not usually a great sign. This time the movie should come out in early 2010 and the good news I hear is that it's rated R. The previews they have released so far look pretty good, and I am still pretty stoked to see the movie.
Iron Man 2 - The first one was so much fun that how couldn't you be stoked to see Robert Downey Jr. come back?! The first preview released shows that they are sticking to the same fun loving type movie, and you get to see War Machine in action!!
Alice In Wonderland - Tim Burton directs and Johnny Depp is the mad hatter, need I say more? I am looking forward to seeing the world that Burton creates for Alice, the movie were always somewhat trippy as is/was. I always like Burton's take on classic stories, and this movie looks pretty fun and its in that disney 3-D so the visuals should look amazing, peep it here:
The A-Team - I remember having the toys of the A-Team as a kid, not to sure if I recall the show itself, but this movie looks pretty cool. I was a tad worried when I heard they were remaking the show into a movie but so far the preview looks cool. You have Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley (District 9), Jessica Biel, and a guy who looks a lot like Mr. T used to (Quintin Jackson). So for the movie looks fun, and I like the use of the old tv show theme in the trailer.
Toy Story 3 - I love most Pixar movies and since I am always a big kid i am really looking forward to Toy Story 3, this time the boy from the movie has grown up and no longer needs his toys. The gang of toys now find themselves being played with by all new kids and embark on some new adventures. Can't wait to see Toy Story 3!
Hot Tub Time Machine - How can't you look forward to a movie with that title? It has a good cast and the preview looks really funny, but I have this on my list for the title alone. Cant wait to see how these guys act and change things up when they are transported back to the 80's, the preview makes me laugh a lot. Cusak!
The Expendables - I mentioned this movie in an earlier post and the trailer confirms that this movie should be all action. You have this amazing cast all in one movie: Slyvester Stalone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, and cameos from Arnold and Bruce Willis have been confirmed. This movie just has too much muscle to let me down!
Inception - Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight) directs and Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard and Joesph Gordon Levitt star...I think thats about all I need to say. Easily one of the most anticipated movies for me in 2010.
The Green Hornet - You have Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) directing and a script from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad and Pineapple Express) and the movie stars Seth Rogen, cameron Diaz and Chritoph Waltz (in his follow up too Inglourious Basterds) and I do not see why this movie will look and be amazing. Cannot wait to see the trailer for this and see how they have a nice mix of serious action yet with a comedy twist.
Paul - Another film that has a good cast and director. Paul is a film by Greg Mottola (Superbad and Adventureland) and reuintes stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz). This time the guys are two sci-fi geeks who head to Area 51 looking for aliens. I cant wait to see how this movie looks, the cast also includes Sigourney Weaver and Jane Lynch. This one should be a great comedy.
Predators - Predators is the long follow up to Preadtor II, I think. Any info about the movie is sketchy at this time but the cast is very intriguing for a movie like this. So far they have announced Lauernce Fishbourne, Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, and Danny Trejo. Quite the cast there...this one looks to be more of man v.s predator and should be a lot of fun to see what they do here.
Get Him to the Greek - This movie is a sort of sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall from what I am hearing. You have the same director of Sarah Marshall (Nicolas Stoller) and Rusell Brand is renewing his character Aldous Snow from Sarah Marshall. This movie also stars Jonah Hill as a record company intern in charge of getting Snow to a show at the Greek theatre in Los Angeles. I am eager to see how this movie looks, I hope it has the same humor from Sarah Marshall.
A few more...
Cop Out - Kevin Smith directs someone else's movie for the first time, and it has a pretty good cast in Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as two old partners on the case.
Due Date - The Hangover's Todd Phillphs follow up stars Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, and is a road trip movie about Downey's character getting home to see his child being born.
Machete - It is awesome that they even making this movie, a movie that was made out of a fake trailer from the Grindhouse movies. Danny Trejo is back as Machete and rumors about the cast seem pretty awesome. Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Steven Segal, Lindsay Lohan, Don Johson, and Rose McGowan all have parts in the movie.
Friday, 8 January 2010
#1 MOVIE OF 2000-2009 is...
#1 - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and Return of the King (2003)
Not one movie.... THREE!!!!
There was no doubt in my mind that when I started writing this list that these movies would be #1. I just love what Peter Jackson did here with these movies, they are not only well acted and jaw dropping cool looking but they have some real intense action that keeps you glued to the screen the entire run time (which was pretty long). These movies also work out really well with the extended cuts on dvd, the dvds really add a lot to the movies and make them an overall better trilogy. Since the re-release of the Star Wars prequels LOTR is now tied with Star Wars as my favorite series of films ever. These movies were so good that each one was nominated for best picture, that alone is mind blowing! I loved just every movie the same, they all really are well done pictures, in reality they were all filmed at the same time so they play out well as one gigantic movie, but breaking them up also works well and just made me have to wait another year to see how the movie unfolded. If I had to say I had a favorite it would be ROTK, because the movie did not disappoint in giving me the climax I so desired, it fact I would say it was my favorite film ending of the decade. What happened here with all three movies will most likely never happen again, and not to honor these movies as #1 would be an injustice to movie making in general. So there ya go my #1 movie of the decade. I hope you enjoyed this list!
Not one movie.... THREE!!!!
There was no doubt in my mind that when I started writing this list that these movies would be #1. I just love what Peter Jackson did here with these movies, they are not only well acted and jaw dropping cool looking but they have some real intense action that keeps you glued to the screen the entire run time (which was pretty long). These movies also work out really well with the extended cuts on dvd, the dvds really add a lot to the movies and make them an overall better trilogy. Since the re-release of the Star Wars prequels LOTR is now tied with Star Wars as my favorite series of films ever. These movies were so good that each one was nominated for best picture, that alone is mind blowing! I loved just every movie the same, they all really are well done pictures, in reality they were all filmed at the same time so they play out well as one gigantic movie, but breaking them up also works well and just made me have to wait another year to see how the movie unfolded. If I had to say I had a favorite it would be ROTK, because the movie did not disappoint in giving me the climax I so desired, it fact I would say it was my favorite film ending of the decade. What happened here with all three movies will most likely never happen again, and not to honor these movies as #1 would be an injustice to movie making in general. So there ya go my #1 movie of the decade. I hope you enjoyed this list!
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