Images

Images
"Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange." -Inception

Sunday, October 30, 2011

First Look: The Hunger Games Character Posters

My embedded The Hunger Games countdown tells me there are 144 days to go until the film releases.  That long!! How will we wait??? Fortunately, this week Lionsgate revealed, through various different websites, 8 brand-new character posters. Let's have a look and discuss.



Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) and Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks)

  

Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) and Cato (Alexander Ludwig)



Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) and Peeta Mallark (Josh Hutcherson)




Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Rue (Amandla Stenberg)

I love that almost everyone is looking left yet Katniss is the only one looking the other way.  That's our Katniss, never conforming to what everyone else is doing.  A rebel to the end.  The posters are presented a very artistic style as well, I love the lighting on this as if they are slowly revealing the characters before they step out of into the spotlight.  I'm feeling extremely positive about this adaptation.  Hopefully, a trailer is not far away. 

Movie Review: Real Steel


I was clearly misinformed about Real Steel.  I thought this was just about boxing robots and Hugh Jackman somehow builds a fighting superstar or something like that.  I think I looked at the trailer all wrong.  This film is not just about boxing robots (I take it back) and Jackman kinda has little to do with the creation of the awesome robot in the movie, Atom.  No, in fact, it's all Max.

Who is Max, you say? Max Kenton played by young Dakota Goyo is the surprise package of the film.  Set in the distant future where robot boxing rules, Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a former boxer whose fighting robots are on a permanent losing streak.  (FYI: I did not realize this was set in the future until after the movie, a future where fighting robots is the only technological achievement is hardly cool.  Where are the flying cars?) When his ex-girlfriend suddenly dies, his 11-year son whom he never really thought about comes back in his life.  Both Max and Charlie are wary of each other and their relationship is rocky until one night when at a salvage yard for parts for a new robot, Max finds Atom, an old robot who was never meant to be a fighter.  Atom changes Max as he blossoms into a confident, smart little kid who figures out how to take on the big guys.

Charlie is mostly unlikeable for the first half of the film until he comes around to Max's way of thinking and fighting.  Played by Jackman, all around nice guy, this was strange to see.  But the relationship between father and son grows as they learn how to fight in the arena and think on their feet.  Especially fun to watch were dancing sequences between Max and Atom before each fight.  I loved their energy.  It was hard not to root for them.  Real Steel is futuristic robotic David and Goliath story that really impresses.  I'll be looking forward to seeing what Dakota Goyo does next, he has real potential.

Directed by Shawn Levy; Screenplay by John Gatins; Story by Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven; Cinematography by Mauro Fiore; Editing by Dean Zimmerman; Music by Danny Elfman

Additional Cast; Evangaline Lilly; Hope Davis, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand

Rating:

DVD Review: Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides


Before watching this film, I was unsure whether I would like it or not.  Should I let the Pirates saga be at film three where we left off previous beloved characters of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann?  Would I like any of the new blood added to this film? And finally can Jack Sparrow save this film?  Well, the answer is yes to the final question and the saving grace of this film.  It is totally Johnny Depp's film.  I was reminded yet again of why I liked and admired this character the first time around.  Jack Sparrow is truly unique.

The film opens another misunderstanding for Jack Sparrow as he is hauled before the current King of England and asked to aid the English Navy (now, headed by ex-pirate Barbossa for some strange reason) to help them find the fabled Fountain of Youth before the Spanish do.  Such is the case with the legend of Jack Sparrow, everyone believes he's already been there, (he hasn't) and is planning to put together another crew (he isn't).  The rumors are persistent and soon even Jack begins to believe in them.

He finds out that his former flame, Angelica (Penelope Cruz) is planning a trip to the fountain to save her father, the dreaded pirate Blackbeard (Ian Shane).  Jack doesn't believe Blackbeard has a heart and tries to warn Angelica about the dangers of dealing with him.  Angelica is adamant to do some good for him.  I do like Penelope Cruz but I felt she and Depp had very little chemistry together and there were too many closeups for my liking as Cruz was pregnant at the time and you could totally make out there was a body double the whole time.  Way to make it obvious guys!

There are certain rituals that have to be performed to get to the Fountain of Youth and it somehow involves mermaids.  But this isn't some Disney version of mermaids, these are deceiving sirens who hide a more sinister agenda.  An interesting concept which they could have focused on more but it would have the already long movie longer.  And oh, yeah, two newbies were introduced this time around to fill the spots made vacant by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley.  Sam Claflin as a missionary Philip and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as Syrena the mermaid were supposed to appeal to the youth demographic who wanted pretty things to look at but their story was never developed properly.  Stick with Jack, I say!

The movie essentially works as the continuing adventures of Jack Sparrow which I would love to see.  Depp has really worked to create a character for the ages.  Even when you know he is in the wrong, you'd love to root for him.  He's selfish, always drunk, and likes to antagonize people in authority.  What's not to like?  I would not be opposed to seeing the continuing adventures of Jack yet again especially since he's got the Black Pearl back.  Worth a watch only if you are a big Johnny Depp fan or else you'll keep comparing this current installation to the previous films, it's better if we treat it as a standalone.

PS-See if you can spy the Judi Dench cameo! Can we incorporate her in every movie?

Directed by Rob Marshall; Written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert, Tim Powers (novel); Cinematography by Dariusz Wolski; Editing by David Brenner, Michael Kahn, Wyatt Smith; Music by Hans Zimmer

Additional Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Richard Griffiths, Kevin McNally, Stephen Graham, Keith Richards and Jack the monkey!!!

Rating:

I'm Back!!

A long self-hibernation there but there are two things that brought me back to the world of blogging and they are: finally, watched some good movies out there and I have movie updates that I'm actually excited about again.  Holiday season and awards season nears and all the studios bring out their big guns to show to the public.  So, let's get blogging again.  Here we go!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...