The news that many of us have been waiting for has finally arrived: the cast for the new Star Wars movie has been announced! And while at this point there wasn’t a lot of doubt that some of the cast from the original trilogy would return, it’s still fantastic to see it confirmed, especially when accompanied by this awesome photo from what appears to be a script reading. So lets get the big news out of the way first. Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) will all be reprising their roles in at least the first film of the new trilogy!
Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be fascinating.
I’m a big fan of stage musicals, I’ve seen a lot of shows on Broadway and countless others on tour, and I also happen to be a Four Seasons/Frankie Valli fan, yet somehow I’ve never managed to see Jersey Boys. (Though, interestingly, it’s coming to my town in just a couple months.) I was very excited when I heard that they were adapting the Tony Award-winning musical into a film. But when I first watched the trailer I wasn’t nearly as excited as I thought I would be. Take a look below and read on for my thoughts:
Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be fascinating.
The Giver, by Lois Lowry, came out when I was 9 years old, and I think may be the only person my age who didn’t read it. I’m not sure how I missed it, as I read a lot and even had a copy of it, but somehow I never got around to it. So I was more than a little intrigued by the trailer for long-awaited film adaptation and by the reaction of fans of the book. Based on what I’ve read, I think it’s safe to say that this may not be the most faithful film adaptation in recent years. Take a look at the trailer below, and read on for my thoughts:
I have to say that I wasn’t particularly thrilled by Captain America: The First Avenger. As the last film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be released before The Avengers, it felt like just one more piece in the puzzle rather than a compelling story in its own right. That’s not to say that I disliked the film, or that it was particularly bad (still a big step ahead of Iron Man 2), it just wasn’t as interesting to me as Thor or Iron Man. It was another solid origin story, with a strong cast and a fun setting, but the end result of the film seemed to just serve as setup for The Avengers. (In a recent rewatch of that film, I’ve realized that I might have judged it a little too harshly upon my first viewing.) Three years and four movies later we now have Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which might be the most complex and interesting film Marvel has made to date, not to mention one of the most entertaining, and it’s a game-changer for the universe its predecessor helped to create. Continue reading →
Obviously, there are spoilers for Captian America: The Winter Soldier ahead, so wait to read this until after you’ve seen the movie if you don’t want it ruined for you.
Agents of SHIELD has recently been calling itself Agents of SHIELD: Uprising, along with momentarily replacing the SHIELD logo with Captain America’s shield, and the events of the last episode led up to the events of the film. Clearly, Captain America: The Winter Soldier will have a big impact on the show going forward, not to mention the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I have some quick thoughts about what this might mean for Coulson and his crew going forward. Continue reading →
To the casual observer, Divergent might seem like an attempt to cash in on the success of The Hunger Games, especially when you consider the number of similarly themed previews that showed before Divergent. It seems like “young adult” (hate that term) post-apocalyptic stories are “in” these days, and those who haven’t read the Divergent books might be tempted to write the film adaptation off as just another clone. However, to do so would be a mistake, as the Divergent series has a lot to offer, even if this first film is perhaps not everything we might have hoped it would be. The books are filled with interesting ideas and compelling characters and I hope the remaining books are adapted for the screen, because the story covered in the two remaining books is interesting and unconventional, and would make for movies very different than we’re used to.
Divergent tells the story of Beatrice Prior, who was born in a ruined, future version of Chicago, where the citizens are divided into five factions, each of which embodies a certain desirable trait and fulfills a certain role in society. Continue reading →
If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably bought many DVDs and Blu-rays over the years that have come with “digital copies,” which you proceeded to ignore. Until recently, I had no interest in digital versions of my movie collection. I had no interest in watching movies on my computer when my TV is just one room away, I didn’t want my hard drive filled up with movies I would never watch, and I didn’t own a portable device capable of playing a digital copy. However, for the past couple weeks I’ve been in the process of going through my many boxes of empty DVD cases (I keep all of my DVDs in sleeves/booklets) and while removing the paperwork from the cases I ended up with a stack of redemption codes for digital movies. When I combined that stack with a newly purchased computer and my iPhone, I started to reconsider digital copies. In the process of sorting through these movies and codes I learned a few things that might be of interest to anyone else out there like me, who has these codes but doesn’t know what’s involved in obtaining a digital copy or why such a thing would be appealing. I would imagine at this point most average consumers still don’t care much about owning digital copies of movies (and this is without getting into the whole Digital Rights Management debate, which is a topic for another time), and are content with their physical copies or streaming services like Netflix. However, I would bet the average movie watcher owns at least a few “combo packs” that came with a digital copy, and might be curious about it. So here are some things that you might find it useful to know. Continue reading →
2011’s The Muppets was hilarious, heartfelt, emotional, nostalgic, zany and inventive, and it brought the Muppets back to the level of success and relevance they deserve. Muppets Most Wanted is all of those things as well, but to a somewhat lesser degree. The Muppets was such a revelation and a revitalization that it would be impossible for Muppets Most Wanted to match, but this new film wisely strikes out on its own path, taking things on the road and steering well clear of recycling the story from the last movie. And in the end, no matter how the rest of the film plays out, it’s always good to see the Muppets together again.
Muppets Most Wanted picks up literally right where The Muppets left off, replicating the final shot of that film. Continue reading →
Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be fascinating.
Here’s the thing, I absolutely love the 1990 film version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I watched the VHS obsessively and it was one of the first films I completely memorized. I had all of the action figures, watched the cartoon every day, and was a Ninja Turtle twice for Halloween (Michelangelo and Donatello). But above all the other Turtle-related things, the film was what cemented my attachment to the characters. It was dark and unique, funny and emotional, with a great cast and some truly impressive design work. It was also very New York. The Jim Henson-created Turtles will always be the perfect incarnation of the four brothers, and are what I immediately picture whenever they’re mentioned.
So it’s more than a little understandable that when Michael Bay announced that he was rebooting the series I was not happy. Michael Bay has had a wildly successful career, and has actually made some genuinely good movies, but he is in no way the person I want involved with the Ninja Turtles. Add in his comments that the Turtles would be aliens (a statement he has since retracted) and his casting of Megan Fox as April O’Neil and things started to look pretty grim. So I was prepared to hate the new trailer that debuted today. Imagine my surprise when I came away with some mixed feelings after all. Take a look below and read on for my thoughts:
Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be fascinating.
We’ve gotten what will probably be the final trailer for Maleficent, now that the film is just two months away, and this final trailer goes deeper into the story we’re going to see, while giving us some new looks as well. The first trailer mostly focused on the film’s imagery, while telling us little about the movie itself. The second trailer gave us a bit more, while highlighting the parallels between Maleficent and Sleeping Beauty. But this final trailer is the one that for the first time has lead me to being genuinely excited about the film, beyond the curiosity that had held my interest thus far, though I fully admit that it may just be the dragon that’s gotten my attention. Take a look below, and read on for my breakdown of the trailer:
The Love Pirate 