New Ghostbusters reboot trailer!

It's here!! We're waiting until summer gets here to feast our eyes on Paul Feig's Ghostbusters reboot but until then, we'll satisfy ourselves with the trailer instead. Introducing the characters played by Melissa McCarthy, Kirsten Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, a group of scientists who get together to save the city from paranormal activity. Hey, somebody's got to do it. We also get a brief glimpse of their devastatingly handsome receptionist (Hi, Thor!) and some very familiar ghouls. Ghostbusters returns to theatres July 15, 2016. 

New Photos: Ghostbusters Reboot

Now, we've all heard enough on the new Ghostbusters reboot by Paul Feig to get us all excited. But, I have to say, these new photos of the Ghostbusters cast make me want to watch the trailer RIGHT. NOW.

Melissa McCarthy as Abby Yates
Paranormal researcher, supernatural scientist, entity trapper

Kristin Wigg as Erin Gilbert
Particle physicist, academic firebrand, spectral warrior

Kate McKinnon as Jillian Holtzmann
Nuclear engineer, munitions expert, proton wrangler

Leslie Jones as Patty Tolan
Ghost tracker, municipal historian, metaphysical commando

Chris Hemsworth as Kevin
Telecommunications expert, reception services technician, unemployed actor

(Photos: Official Website)

The new stills give us some more info on the new characters and the roles they'll play in the new film. Chris Hemsworth's role as the Ghostbuster's receptionist is already becoming my favourite thing about the movie. The good news, according to Feig, is that the trailer is due to drop this month. So it shouldn't be long now. Ghostbusters hits theatres this summer, July 15, 2016

New Cast Photo: Ghostbusters

Director Paul Feig had been teasing us with photos from the upcoming reboot of the Ghostbusters releasing next summer. First there were the updated suits, their proton packs, their Ecto - 1 ride and finally, here is it, the official cast photo with the hashtag #whoyougonnacall. Uhm, the Ghostbusters, amirite?

(Photo: Paul Feig)

Actresses Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kirsten Wiig and Kate McKinnon look absolutely badass posed in front of the Ecto - 1 with that iconic logo in the middle.

There is one cast member who is missing from this photo and that's the Ghostbusters' receptionist played by Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth. Annie Potts was the receptionist in the 1984 version. I personally love this bit of casting and Feig's prior track record with ensemble casts could show us another side to Hemsworth's as yet untapped comedic abilities.

The film, which is currently being shot in Boston this month, will release on July 22, 2016. Are you already humming the Ghostbusters song? Who you gonna call? 

Movie Review: Spy (2015)

Paul Feig has found his comedic muse in Melissa McCarthy and the results are simply marvellous. Bridesmaids, The Heat, and now Spy have all made me bust a gut in the theatres. Watching a good comedy is so rare these days, in the end, you like some parts but not the whole film. Meanwhile McCarthy has become the de facto queen of summer movies (barring Tammy last year) proving her name alone guarantees time well spent at the movies.

In Spy, she's Susan Cooper, a CIA analyst who has the chops to become an agent, but chooses to stay in the shadows to help Bradley Fine (Jude Law) out on his missions. Obviously, she's also got a hopeless crush on him and he's got no clue. He treats Susan more like his secretary than what she actually is, his right hand woman.

When Fine is tragically killed on assignment and the identity of the rest of the CIA agents has been revealed, it's up to Susan to step up to the plate, expose the villains and save the world from a nuclear bomb. She travels to Paris to set the plan in motion. But first, she must have a new identity as an undercover spy.

Susan wants to be somebody and even her undercover identities are boring and normal. She's easily typecast as a mom of four and owner of ten cats. But as a longtime analyst, Susan has good instincts and backed up by her friend Nancy (the hilarious Miranda Hart), they go about finding Sergio De Luca (Bobby Cannavale) and Reyna Boyanov (Rose Byrne) who the CIA suspect have the bomb.

Throwing a large kink in Susan's plans is former agent Rick Ford (a surprisingly funny Jason Statham) who reminded me a bit of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's conversation in Hot Fuzz on all the things he's done on the police force. Rather than saving the day, he ends up being more of an impediment to Susan.

Susan, on the other hand, emerges to become a badass bodyguard to Reyna (take that, Midwestern mom!). This was, by far, my favourite part of the movie. All of sudden, Susan's not hesitant or scared anymore. She goes for it 100%. She gives herself a makeover, makes grown men cry and kicks  some serious ass. All this with an extremely potty mouth. It was glorious.

You know a film is good AND funny when not only are you laughing but also repeating the lines to yourself because it's that entertaining. I found myself doing that quite a bit. McCarthy and Feig will reunite once again for the Ghostbusters reboot next summer all but guaranteeing McCarthy's summer reign will continue. I can't wait.

Written and Directed by Paul Feig; Cinematography by Robert Yeoman; Editing by Melissa Bretherton and Brent White; Music by Theodore Shapiro

Running Time: 120 minutes

Rating: 

Around the World in Posters: Jurassic World, The Walk, Dil Dhadakne Do

It's been quite a while since we've gone around the world with posters, but with all the summer films gearing up for release, I found some posters that have caught my fancy. Let's have a look.

Jurassic World wants to scare the crap out of us with these enormous, and I mean, enormous dinosaurs inhabiting the park in the latest sequel.  

 This view from The Walk featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes us over the edge.

Channing Tatum is back to the grind in this poster from Magic Mike XXL.

Melissa McCarthy channels Goldfinger in this new Spy poster.

The Bella Bardens get up close and personal in the Russian poster for Pitch Perfect 2.

The Japanese poster of Tomorrowland shows the past and present coming together in the futuristic city.

And finally, on the heels of its first trailer, Dil Dhadakne Do revealed two new posters featuring the ensemble cast.

New Trailer: Spy (2015)

Director Paul Feig and his frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy are trying being spies this time around. After the very, very successful Bridesmaids and The Heat, the director-actress duo are surrounded by Jude Law, Alison Janney, Rose Bryne and Jason Statham as they tackle the world of spies.  McCarthy is Susan Cooper, the CIA's top analyst, who has to step up when all of their agents' secret identities are exposed.  Who's the only one to rise to the occasion?  Much hilarity ensues as Susan tries to figure out the spy game.  This trailer looks hilarious and Melissa always makes me laugh. Spy releases May 22, 2015.

What I'm Thankful For: Movies Edition

 
1) Gravity: Every year we read dozens of pieces about the decline of cinema and how originality is lost and then a movie like Gravity comes along and shuts everybody up. Splendidly! A story of a veteran and rookie astronaut in space became the ultimate tale of survival in completely foreign and hostile environment.  Oh, and here's where it gets better, the films stars two of Hollywood's best, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock but the movie really belongs to Bullock and Clooney's just the supporting player. Say what? Did I also mention that the film's a neat 90 minutes and features some of the best CGI and 3D work seen in film so far? Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuaron and written along with his son Jonas, was the definitive film experience for me this year. And even though the wait was long, I'm thankful the end result was completely worth it. 

2) Minions:  If the Dementors from the Harry Potter universe suck all the happiness out of the universe and eventually your soul, think of the Minions as their zany, fun-loving yet inappropriate equivalent.  The scene-stealers from the first Despicable Me are having their moment in the spotlight.  They came back strong in the sequel and will star in their own feature in 2015.  It's a good time to be a Minion, I think.  They bring the smile to your face, at least they do to mine. I would be even more thankful if I had one of them to have around the house.

3) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: Speaking of Harry Potter, that J.K. Rowling sure knows how sneak one up on her fans. Fast on the heels of the surprising revelation that she wrote the underrated The Cuckoo's Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, she also broke the news that she's writing the script for the new film based on Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them in collaboration with Warner Bros., who are pursuing more films in the Potter universe of magic and wizardry. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to the books and films so to have this unexpected, bonus surprise, is indeed thankful.

4) The Heat: No movie has made me laugh as much this year than the surprise (to everyone who isn't female) hit of the summer, the Paul Feig directed The Heat, a female buddy cop comedy starring Sandra Bullock (who's really having a stellar year) and Melissa McCarthy. The $159 million plus blockbuster proved that in summer filled with superheroes and zombie flicks, there is room for a well-enacted and, most importantly funny, comedy featuring women to perform well.  It also helps when your lead actresses are as talented as Bullock and McCarthy.  Not only did I have tears of laughter running down my face, my stomach hurt from laughing too much.  These days when the laughs are far and few in life and in movies, I'm thankful for comedies that can deliver.

5) Gone Girl Film Adaptation: No sooner I did finish Gone Girl, the novel, I thought to myself, "This is needs to be a film." Actress Reese Witherspoon bought the rights and I had my fingers crossed as David Fincher as a dream director for this project. And what do you know? Sometimes the universe does listen to you.  The film adaptation of Gone Girl hits theaters next fall and will be highly anticipated as Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris join Fincher in bringing the book to the big screen.  I'd like to believe to myself that I wished this one into existence.

Those were some of my thankful moments with film this year.  What were yours?   

Movie Review: The Heat

(Poster: Mondo)

In a summer filled with robots, zombies and actors pondering the end of the world, leave it to the lone female comediennes left to bring The Heat to the season. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy team up for one of the more hilarious films you'll see this year and it's rare sight as well because it's one of the few instances of women headlining the blockbuster summer season.

Bullock plays FBI Agent Sarah Ashburn who's uptight, meticulous and all about getting the job done. McCarthy is Dectective Shannon Mullins who's rowdy and boisterous methods somehow get the job done. But when these two women are forced to work together is when the sparks really fly.  Mullins' abrasiveness and Ashburn's nerdiness (she has a good work shirt) put together make a good team, only they aren't aware of it.  There's a scene of when they first track down a suspect and bug his phone in a nightclub that had me in tears of laughter as I watched Bullock and McCarthy navigate a dance floor.

Most of the laughs come from the physical comedy and both McCarthy and Bullock excel in it. For a so-called chick flick (only because two women are in the lead), this is actually a male film in disguise with Bullock and McCarthy blowing up, stabbing, shooting and taking care of business in Boston.  The reason why their characters are forced to work together to take down a drug lord seems unfocused and the time lapses in the film never made any sense to me.  Did they take down all those dealers in a day or had a week passed by?

But who cares so long as the action and the laughs keep on coming.  Bullock proves she's still got it, she plays Ashburn's need to be perfect (down to the side pin in her hair) just right and you can see through McCarthy's foul-mouthed threats, that deep down she really cares. It's not easy being the only female in a job where the men don't often agree with you and you're mostly considered a loner or an outsider and they bring out their characters insecurities, both professional and personal, nicely.   

McCarthy delivered all her lines as such zingers, I'd sure like to see that sequel where she's teams up with Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man to fight crime on a global level. So if you're looking for a respite from all the male testosterone films this summer, look no further for the laughs and head over to The Heat.  

Directed by Paul Feig; Written by Katie Dippold; Cinematography by Robert D. Yeoman; Editing by Jay Deuby and Brent White; Music by Michael Andrews

Additional cast: Damian Bechir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rappaport

Rating:

Trailer Time: Stoker, Life of Pi, Identity Thief, and Pitch Perfect

This upcoming 2013 English film debut by director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) and produced by Ridley Scott and the late Tony Scott has an interesting story. The script written by Wentworth Miller (Prison Break) was on the 2010 Black List of best unproduced screenplays.  Young India's (Mia Wasikowska) father passes away and her mysterious Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) moves in with her and mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman).  Sound familiar?  Comparisons to Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (one of my favorite Hitchcock films) aside, this looks highly interesting and I can't wait see it.  Going on top of my list of must-see films for next year.

The latest international trailer of Life of Pi promises to be a visual treat.  Based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel and directed by Ang Lee, the new trailer shows us more of Pi (Suraj Sharma) and Richard Parker the tiger and their ardous journey on the high seas.  We also see glimpses of Pi's life in Pondicherry at his family zoo.  The trailer opens with the adult Pi (Irrfan Khan), with a curly mop,  telling Rafe Spall about his incredible story.  Parts of the trailer come very close to how I imagined it when I was reading the story.  Eagerly awaiting this in November.

Also coming in 2013, Identity Theft features two big comedic talents in Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.  Bateman is Sandy Bigelow Patterson whose identity is stole by McCarthy and decides to go to Florida to get it back and teach her lesson.  Little does he know who he's dealing with.  The trailer is bit low on laughs but high on gags.  Directed by Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses), the film is due to release this coming February 2013.

So Anna Kendrick can also sing, good to know.  Produced by Elizabeth Banks, Pitch Perfect brings the a cappella college scene to life that features a Glee type competition scenario (but without the annoying Mr. Schue).  The hilarious Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp and Brittany Snow are also part of the cast.  I should resist this film but I always have this absurd urge to watch anything featuring actors singing.  Jason Moore who directed the very funny Avenue Q on Broadway makes his directorial debut with this film that opens this October.