The Amazing Spider Man Sequel

We are officially excited for this movie. It’s 2 minutes worth of great information and a great visual idea of what to expect from this movie. We see a lot of new villains and are especially excited to see Jamie Foxx playing Electro. There has been a lot of teasing about Electro so seeing him in action and even have a short voice over established that he’s going to be a big threat (or at least one of many).

The tone of the movie looks a lot darker and more serious. The movie is raising the stakes for Spider Man and this may be the movie where (SPOILER ALERT) Emma Stone’s character dies. We can’t to see more teasers come our way! Are you excited to see the new movie?

The Future of the Fast and Furious Franchise

 

With the tragic and untimely death of Paul Walker, it seems the fate of the Fast and Furious franchise is currently suspended in limbo. Walker was one of the lead characters in the 6 movie series, and he was one of the anchors that tied down original grittiness and realism to an ever growing movie series.

 

Walker and the rest of the cast were currently filming the 7th movie and have since halted production until some kind of decision can be made. It will be hard going forward. The director has a couple of options: if Walker had filmed all of his scenes, the director can move forward and make the rest of the movie; if not then they can write Paul Walker’s character off; or someone can step in and play the character and they can refilm the scenes with the new actor.

 

We can only wait and see what will happen next.

Actors To Lookout For: Daniel Radcliffe

Although Daniel Radcliffe has had amazing success with the 8 movies from the Harry Potter series, he decided that instead of simply retiring on his early success, that he would show the world his continued talent and range.

 

Since then, Daniel Radcliffe has starred in a musical, in several movies including “The Woman In Black”, “Kill Your Darlings” and “Horns” and in the his show “A Young Doctor’s Notebook” alongside with John Hamm. He has tried his hand at everything and his talent seems to shine through every time, and if nothing else, his work ethic is something to be inspired by.

 

His forte seems to be in dark comedies, as he shines in “A Young Doctor’s Notebook”, but he can certainly handle many different kinds of genres. If he isn’t already on your radar, Daniel Radcliffe absolutely should be!

Enjoying The Rest of the Holiday Weekend

Thanksgiving is over, your initial shopping spree is done thanks to Black Friday (we’re assuming you survived the crowds) and the leftovers have been put away for now (they’ll probably be there for a while) so what do you do with the rest of the day? You snuggle up and watch some good movies!

Want something classic? We suggest “The Wizard of Oz”. You’ve probably seen it 100 times before, but seeing it again always puts you in a good mood!

Want something to put you in the Christmas mood? Watch “Love Actually”. It’s both a romantic comedy and takes place during the holidays. It’s been 10 years since it first premiered, you’ll have fun seeing so many now familiar faces.

Feel like dancing? There are a lot to choose from, nothing is better than “Dirty Dancing”! The big move makes you excited every time.

 

Got A LOT of time? Watch all 3 of them.

Giving Viewers The Full Experience

With movie budgets getting bigger and bigger, there is less room for failure. So how do advertisers ensure that the buzz around their movie is long lasting? The latest advertising move is putting the world of the movie into the real one. “Catching Fire” did a great job of this with their Capitol Couture website and mixing real world fashion with that of the fictional one.

 

THe same is happening for the new X-Men movie. We see fake commercials  for non-existent sentinels (that are somehow reminiscent of Transformers robots, but on a smaller scale) and now we have an entire website dedicated to the conspiracy of Magneto being the one who was responsible for JFK’s death. These obviously aren’t real, but it’s very clever form of advertising. For those who do know what this is for: they get previews of what’s to come in the movie. For those who have no clue what’s going on: they will become curious and want to know more and that is how buzz is created.

 

But can all these integrations from the movie world into our world equal movie success? If the opening weekend numbers for “Catching Fire” are any indication, then we might say yes. Let’s see if the same will happen for “X-Men: Days of Future Past”.

After “Breaking Bad”

 

While “Breaking Bad may have been all about Walter White, it’s safe to say that the breakout actor of this show was Aaron Paul’s character, Jessie Pinkerman. But instead of choosing to take a break after the end of the TV show, Aaron Paul has decided that he wants to keep acting.

 

We already know that he will be starring in the new movie “Need For Speed” an action movie that centers around revenge,

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsrJWUVoXeM

 

But we have also found out that he will be playing another serious role in the new movie ‘Fathers and Daughters’ with Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried. We know that Seyfried and Paul have great chemistry together, so we’re glad to see that they’re back together for this movie.

 

Like many other stars that suddenly become in demand, we are glad to see that Paul will not be sitting back, but instead capitalizing on his newfound star power. This moment for Paul is like catching lightning in a bottle, what most actors can only dream of. We’re glad to see that we’ll be seeing more of Paul, and who knows what role he will tackle next.

A Best Stunt Man Award?

Jason Statham’s recent interview with Vanity Fair brought up a very good point about stuntmen in the entertainment industry and the genre of action films in general. When we think of Oscar contenders, a movie like “Die Hard” probably doesn’t come to mind. They usually comprise of very emotional and are usually at some level meant to be thought provoking. But where does that leave the action movie genre?

 

The action movie is usually considered for simply entertaining purposes and not really considered for it’s cinematic merit. And what about the stunt men in this sprawling industry? They should really be considered the unsung heroes of the industry. These are the people that make the major actors like Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie look good on-screen, yet you would have no idea who they are or what they do unless you who someone personally.

 

There have been some stunt crews that have had small vignettes about them, the ones that come to mind would be from the fighting coordinators for “Spartacus” and for “Game of Thrones” and that’s because they feature unusual weapons. But does that mean that they should be held at the level as costume and set designers who are nominated for Oscars and other major awards? An argument could be argued for it. The job is by no means an easy one. These people put their bodies and well being on the line in order to execute very difficult and intricate moves, it may be time for them to have more recognition for what they do.

 

To read the rest of the interview, click here: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2013/11/jason-statham-stunt-oscars

The Rumors Are Confirmed

 

While Samuel L. Jackson let it slip months earlier that the actress for “Scarlet Witch” has been found, it’s nice to finally hear that Elizabeth Olsen has finally confirmed the rumor herself. For those who aren’t familiar with some of the lesser known comic book characters, Scarlet Witch is one of the special characters that crosses comic books is present in both the X-Men and Avengers universe (along with the character’s brother Quicksilver).

 

Elizabeth Olsen has become a movie star in her own right. With movie credentials like “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” “Liberal Arts,” “Oldboy” and next year’s “Godzilla,” filling up her expanding resume Elizabeth has shown a great talent and range in her work. That talent and range will be needed to play this complicated new character. In an interview with Mike Ryan, Olsen described her character “And her life is insane. And for obvious reasons you can’t talk about certain background [Magneto is her father, but Fox owns the rights to Magneto], but it is so much fun. And it’s so funny, everyone always talks to me about, “Do you really love having all of these psychological problems and things like that?” And I’m like, “I don’t mean for that to happen.” And with Scarlet Witch, I’m like she’s complicated, that one! You know? Like, She might be the most damaged of them all! Which is so cool.”

 

This news has made the anticipated 2015 Avengers movie “The Age of Ultron” so much more fun to look forward to. We know that she can only add to the already great dynamic between the star studded ensemble cast! Are you looking forward to seeing her play “Scarlet Witch”?

Movie Ratings (Part 2)

We did a post 3 months ago about the interesting shift in movies and being concerned about what kids can see. The MPAA is in charge of rating movies and deeming what is appropriate for which age group. Unfortunately, the growing trend of questionable choices seems to only be growing.

 

A recent study shows PG-13 movies show more gun violence than movies that are rated R. We see movies like The Dark Knight and movies similar to it,  show a lot of violence and the destruction of entire cities. While these movies clearly have a younger audience in mind, does that excuse the exposure of these movies to a younger audience.

 

Movies like “The Hunger Games” which show a great amount of violence, complicates the situation because it is based on young adult novels. With the rise of this genre in books and movie adaptations of these books, how does the MPAA bases its decisions. The YA genre lends itself to dystopian imagery, but the question is: should a younger audience be allowed to see these almost inherently violent movies.  

 

It seems that the issue won’t be going away anytime soon.

Box Office Superhero

Going from the 2 dimensional medium of comic books to movies has been an interesting transition for some of our favorite caped crusaders. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 13 years, you can see the explosion of movies based on comic book heroes, but some names translate better to the big screen than others.

 

So what’s the big secret? Well, it helps to have a big name. Superman, Batman, Spiderman, The Avengers. A lot of people know these names and love their stories. Batman has the most movie incarnations. It helps that his character can be up for interpretation and can run the gambit from brooding to almost cartoony. Spiderman has already gotten 2 reboots in the last 13 years alone, with the first one cranking out with three movies and the second reboot having made 2.

 

So what happens to second tier superheroes? Movies like Daredevil and Elektra have shown that not every story is made for the big screen, but with the news from Netflix they might serve better for television. Not everyone has aliens and complete world destruction to deal with in their storyline, sometimes they simply keep the street of their neighborhood safe. That works for tv. It’s more drawn out and takes longer for the story to develop, because sometime you need more than 90 minutes to tell a good story.