New Monsters University Character Posters!

Some great new Monsters University posters were released last week giving us a look at the crazy, carefree days of the Monsters, Inc. crew along with some new characters voiced by Dame Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Nathan Fillion, John Krasinski, Bonnie Hunt (yay!), Beth Behrs, John Ratzenberger (of course!) and many more! Take a look.

Helen Mirren as Dean Hardscrabble of the School of Scaring.

Alfred Molina as Professor Knight. Anyone else reminded of the mother-in-law from Dinosaurs?

Meet Terry Perry (Dave Foley) and Terri Perry (Sean Hayes), Oozma Kappa (OK) fraternity brothers.

More character posters and bonus news on Pixar's new film after the jump...

Movie Review: Celeste and Jesse Forever

Is there ever such a thing as "the perfect breakup"? Celeste and Jesse seem to think so.  They are best friends, constantly together and yet separated and in the process of a divorce.

Their friends think it's weird for them to act as if nothing is the matter and continue on in their lives as before.  But of course things do not remain this way for long.  Celeste (Rashida Jones), a trend forecaster, and Jesse (Andy Samberg), an illustrator with no real direction, must move ahead from one another.  Because sometimes your best friend, the one you'll love forever is also the person turns out to be wrong for you as well.

Celeste and Jesse Forever is an interesting take on modern relationships in which the Facebook mantra 'It's complicated' is never more evident.  And you know it's going to end in heartbreak for both of them.  The answer is never clear.  Celeste is driven, Jesse is not; they are the type of people who instinctively know each others' moods, happy or sad.   But as things are not working out, they decide to separate.

They date other people and Celeste especially tries to show that she's getting over Jesse.  But until she comes clean with herself and realize that one can never be right all the time.  At some point you do have to let things go.  One connection especially with Paul played by Chris Messina (last seen being adorably grumpy on The Mindy Project) proves to Celeste that life does go on.

Jesse too decides to pick up his own life and take a few steps into becoming a real man.  It may be what Celeste has always wanted but it's too late for the both of them now.  It's heartbreaking to watch. This isn't your typical rom-com where things get neatly tied up in a happy ending but a reflection of how relationships now work in this modern era. 

The lead actors show their character's vulnerabilities well and it's refreshing to see Samberg attempting something outside the usual route and kudos to Jones and McCormack on a fine first script.  Celeste and Jesse Forever shows a breakup in all its painful glory.

Directed by Lee Toland Krieger; Written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack;Cinematography by David Lanzenberg; Edited by Yana Gorskaya; Music by Zach Cowie and Sunny Levine.

Additional cast: Ari Graynor, Eric Christian Olsen, Elijah Wood, Emma Roberts, Will McCormack

Rating:

Around the World in Posters: The Great Gatsby, Elysium, Lone Ranger, Violet & Daisy and more!

There are some great new posters out this week giving us a look ahead to a summer of sci-fi, action and lots of end-of-the world action.  Have a look below.  

Kudos to the production design team for The Great Gatsby because the sets look absolutely stunning. I am loving these Art Deco posters.  

First poster for Neill Blomkamp's follow-up to District 9, Elysium starring everyman Matt Damon,  Sharlto Copley and Jodie Foster

These guys have clearly not learned their lesson and are back for more mayhem in The Hangover Part III.

Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer team up for Disney's The Lone Ranger.  

Roman Holiday is back in theatres with a lovely postcard feel of old Rome.  I want a Vespa too!

Benedict Cumberbatch is on the warpath in yet another Star Trek In Darkness poster.

Our first glimpse of Brad Pitt in World War Z.

The funniest guys in the room all get together to make an end of the world film.  This is the End hits theatres this June.

First poster for Violet & Daisy starring Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan.  

Weekly News Update: First Look at Violet & Daisy, Anne Hathaway joins Interstellar and Ebert's last review

(Photo: Enterntainment Weekly)

• First Look from Entertainment Weekly on Gregory Fletcher's debut flick on teenage assassins, Violet & Daisy starring Alexis Bledel, Saoirse Ronan and James Gandolfini.  If the director's name name sounds familiar, it's because Fletcher won the adapted screenplay Oscar in 2010 for Precious.
• EW also has some great news stills from Star Trek Into Darkness that I quickly skimmed through and tried to forget as I want to experience it all on May 17th.  Take a look, the gang's all back! 
• If you want to know how production's going on the new X-Men: Days of Future Past, follow Bryan Singer on Twitter who seems to tweeting lots of new pictures and info regarding the film.  
• Post her Les Miserables success, Anne Hathaway is reportedly thisclose to joining Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. Nolan does have a habit of working with actors from his previous films so look for some familiar faces to pop up here soon.
• Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) and Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) are now part of the cast of Kung Fu Panda 3 which will also be directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson.
• And finally, it is with a heavy heart that I link to Roger Ebert's last review aptly for a film called To The Wonder.  This review is Ebert at his best who asks all the right questions, he writes: Why must a film explain everything? Why must every motivation be spelled out? Aren't many films fundamentally the same film, with only the specifics changed? Aren't many of them telling the same story? Seeking perfection, we see what our dreams and hopes might look like. We realize they come as a gift through no power of our own, and if we lose them, isn't that almost worse than never having had them in the first place? This makes me want to experience Malick's To The Wonder even more.  His website just got updated to a new look this week and contains a wealth of information for any movie fan to explore.  Do check it out, you'll find yourself seeking out some of the great films he championed over the years.  

Roger Ebert: The Balcony is Now Closed

In a film released this year, Stand Up Guys, Al Pacino playing a character named Val says: They say we die twice. Once when the breath leaves our body, and once when the last person we know says our name. Film critic and author Roger Ebert who passed away on April 4th 2013 leaves behind such a legacy that his name will live on in the annals of film history and criticism.

I discovered Ebert’s film review show way back in the ‘90s when ‘Siskel & Ebert’ used to play on Channel 7 on the weekends and I instantly loved it. These two film critics, Ebert and Gene Siskel would argue passionately about films and how much they liked or disliked a film, it was either ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’. The show fuelled my obsession with the Oscars with their discussions and their own picks and I tuned in religiously every Oscar season.

It wasn't until I went to college and saw the old classics in film studies classes that I finally understood what he was talking about, watching films through screenings instead of DVDs. I got to experience movies like Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, comedies like Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday and all-time greats like Rashomon, Breathless and Citizen Kane which changed my life and approach to films. In fact, listening to Ebert's commentary on Rashomon (available on the Criterion edition) adds another layer to trying to understand Rashomon.

I looked forward reading his reviews every Friday, now through my inbox with his newsletter. Ebert wrote lengthy insightful reviews and usually revealed an extra tidbit about the film, director or its cast that you wouldn't find elsewhere. I always liked to think they gave his reviews an extra special touch and gave it that personal connection. When he championed certain films, you really felt his passion for them. Even his reviews of bad films were hilarious, it takes a special skill to put into words how much you really hated, hated a film. And Roger had whole books on them!

But he was also gracious to admit where he was wrong (see Brown Bunny) and brought up intriguing debates from the movies he reviewed and expanded those further on his blog. Reading about what he thought of world events or his personal opinion was both fascinating and educational. I often read his reviews after most films that I watch, it helps me understand the film better and in my home, we usually pick films to watch mostly if Roger liked them.

The first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1975, he eagerly embraced new technology and was even awarded the 2010 Person of the Year at the Webbys and had over 800,000 followers on Twitter. He was a film critic at the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years and regularly saw over 200 films a year and attended numerous film festivals (as much as his health allowed after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2006). How many 70-year-olds can you say that about?

Only two days before, he stated in his last blog post that he would be taking ‘a leave of presence’ and would ‘’be able at last to do what I've always fantasized about doing: reviewing only the movies I want to review.” I’d like to think he’s doing that in heaven.

I don’t know what I will do next Friday when I know for sure there will be no more reviews by him. I am going to miss his literary voice so very much and will forever think of him every time I watch a new film and wonder, ‘What would Roger say?’. Goodbye, Roger Ebert and thank you for your insights, recommendations and movie memories and for nurturing my love of the movies.

Movie Review: Jurassic Park 3D

It has been 20 years since the first Jurassic Park film released in theaters to become a gigantic summer blockbuster and launched a dino-franchise that still holds steam today (Jurassic Park 4 is already in the works).  This week, the original Jurassic Park is back in theaters in a 3D avatar and while the 3D may seem unnecessary (I think that has to do more with the theater I watched it in. It will look awesome in IMAX), one can’t deny that even after all these years, the film still has the power to awe you. 

We’ve all caught the film plenty of times either on DVD or TV but seeing on the big screen again is a different kind of pleasure altogether.  From the first glimpse of Isla Nublar where the theme park is located, to the sight of the first dinosaur, to everyone’s reactions to the dinosaurs, everyone is just amazed that dinosaurs can be brought back to life. Paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), a paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum who pretty much looks the same even today) have been brought in to assess the stability and viability of the park before the park opens to the public.  The park’s creator and financier John Hammond also invites along his two young grandchildren Lex and Time (Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello) to round out the weekend excursion but of course as we all know, things aren’t going to go as planned in Jurassic Park.

Based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, the book and film both explain the re-existence of dinosaurs back on planet as just a matter of time.  All it takes it some blood derived from mosquitoes embalmed perfectly all these years in amber.  Back then, I totally bought the explanation. But the scene where we first see the dinosaurs is still awe-inspiring and a personal favorite.

While watching the film, I had forgotten so many scenes in the film.  The eerie entrance (and first glimpse) of the T. Rex, Dennis Nedry aka Newman getting his comeuppance from a truly scary Dilophosaurus, that amazing shot of T Rex bellowing in the Visitor’s center as the sign ‘When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth’ flutters down to Dr. Sattler getting the fright of her life in the main control room.  They still have the same impact and the film is classic Spielberg. 

I love, love, love the T. Rex chase scene where the dinosaur advancing on the car as glimpsed in the side mirror that says ‘Objects in mirror are closer than they appear’ has gone down in film history.  That and the water ripple in the glass in the career.  Simply iconic!  And earlier in the year, Spielberg also released Schindler’s List which one him his first Best Director Oscar.  To have two films as diverse as Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List is truly amazing and mind-blowing.  

The main reason why the T. Rex and velociraptors still look menacing in 2013, the mastery of Stan Winston’s realistic models that hold up even today mixed in with just the right amount of CGI to even things out.  The film was a game changer for 1993 and as Spielberg himself admitted, “It changed special effects forever and for better or for worse, it really did introduce the digital era.”  

Rightfully so, the film won 3 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effect, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing.  The sound of the T. Rex roaring at the kids in the jeep and the creepy sound of the velociraptors preying on Lex and Tim in the kitchen still sends a chill down my spine and more so watching it again in the theater in proper surround sound.  

And last but not least, let’s talk about the iconic score for the film by the always underrated John Williams.  The man is a living legend and when he gets together with Spielberg, he produces magical stuff. The quiet reflectiveness of the theme of Jurassic Park, the wonderment of seeing the dinosaurs for the first time to the final attempts from everyone to escape the park that heightens the suspense.  This music simply stands the test of time.

It was absolutely wonderful walking down memory lane with Jurassic Park all over again.  Watch it again and step into the world of dinosaurs one more time. 

Top Moments to Remind You It’s Still 1993

• B.D. Wong was using a pen and clipboard.  For kids today who only use iPads, I’ll bet they were wondering what is that ancient contraption?
• The classic Mac OS 9 in those clunky and gigantic machines.  My first iMac was in OS 9 way back when.  Ah, memories!
• The kids marvelling at the CD-Rom in the car.

Top Lines from the Film

• Lex: He left us! He left us!
• Dr. Ian Malcolm: If The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists.
• Dr. Ian Malcolm: God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs.
•  Dr. Ellie Sattler: Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth.
• Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson): Hold on to your butts.

 Directed by Steven Spielberg; Screenplay by Michael Crichton and David Koepp; Based on the novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton; Cinematography by Dean Cundey; Edited by Michael Kahn; Music by John Williams

Rating:

Casting News for Captain America, Interstellar and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• Matthew McConaughey continues to impress with his choice of projects.  According to The Guardian, he has confirmed his lead role in Christopher Nolan’s next film Interstellar.  This should be an intriguing combination.  
• However, the most intriguing combination award of the week goes to Robert Redford and Marvel. The veteran actor-producer-director and founder of Sundance joins the cast of Captain America: The Winter Soldier as “the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.”. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.
• And finally, Will Arnett will feature in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as yet unnamed character.  Let the speculation begin!