A Quick Message Before 2012 Hits...

Yes, I know. This is the first post I've written since November. And we're only minutes away from 2012. It is pretty great that the blog has gotten this far. Ish. Ever since it started in late July, I've been proud to bring my opinions of the latest films that were present this year. Some of them have gotten praise, while others have been criticized. I'm fine with that. It's all part of life anyway. I know I was making progressively less when September hit, but I like to sort-of think of that as a little hiatus. I've been taking a longer one after the Twilight review. To make things short, I just want to say to whoever read the blog, thank you. Have a safe and happy new year and we'll see you all in 2012.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn- Part 1: Movie Review

Directed by Bill Condon
Screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel by Stephanie Meyer.
Running Time: 117 minutes (1h, 57 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for disturbing images, violence, sexuality/partial nudity and some thematic elements).
Distributor: Summit Entertainment

Here we go again. We get another one of these films. You know, the one with the sparkling vampire and the girl who falls madly in love with him. When you really think about it, you gotta wonder why anyone, especially a mother of three, write this? That question won't really matter to anyone anymore since it's a worldwide success and it's making teen heartthrobs out of almost every young cast member involved. So now we come to the first part of the final film in the series, which means Summit Entertainment used the Harry Potter trick in order to make more money. Does it work? Not to sound like every other film critic but keep reading to find out...

If you're a fan of the series, then you already know the story. If not, then here's this brief description. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), along with everyone close to them, must deal with a chain of tragic consequences brought on by their marriage and their unexpected pregnancy, which will lead to a childbirth that could kill her. If anything, just watch the trailer and the countless television spots. They help. Now, I want to make clear that I am not a fan of the Twilight saga. Even though I don't exactly mind seeing the movies, I think we all know that they're the franchise that made vampires lame. The countless Twilight wannabes don't help either, especially The Vampire Diaries. Worst. One. Yet.  True Blood is more of a better show. At least some of the vampires on that show are badass. But we're not talking about those two, so let's get back to Twilight.

As you know, this is the first part of the film, which I felt was weird because it seemed like everything big in this part happened. Yeah, I know Harry Potter did it, but they had enough material to split it into a two-parter. This however, doesn't. As I mentioned before, the two-parter trick was obviously done by the studio to make more money off this franchise, but it probably could have worked better had it been one long movie. Then again, with the exception of the fans, why would anyone want to sit through two-and-a-half to three hours of this? The performances are more of the same. Kristen Stewart is a notable example, at least in some scenes. I never liked her character and this film didn't change that at all.

In the first film, she was a little crazy. In New Moon, which is the worst film in the series, she went beyond crazy and acted like a total bitch. In Eclipse, she's still a bitch, always pitting the vampire and the werewolf against each other. In this one, she proves herself as needy, an example being a montage of scenes set during the aftermath of their time...you know...under the covers. After their first night of doing it, Bella wants it again and Edward refuses, only to give in later. Taylor Lautner starts okay, but gets progressively worse as the movie goes on. Most of his dialogue doesn't work and his character still constantly has hissy fits, especially in an unintentionally hilarious scene involving him in his wolf form and the rest of his wolf pack. When it comes to the three of them, Robert Pattinson was probably the better performer. Supporting is the same, not that it's a bad thing to these guys: Ashley Greene, Elizabeth Reaser, Peter Facinelli, Anna Kendrick, Billy Burke, Sarah Clarke and Kellan Lutz. As for Michael Sheen, I wondered why he was credited because he isn't even in the entire film. The only time you ever get to see him is right after the credits, which you should probably stay for if you want to get an actual hint of what will happen in part two.

The director this time around is Bill Condon. You might know him as the director of Gods and Monsters, Kinsey and Dreamgirls. Like the second film, it's looks like anyone could have directed this. At least in the first film, Catherine Hardwicke put some of her own visual style into the mix. Same with David Slade in the third. I think they should get someone like Zack Snyder to direct one of these films. I know it's too late now, but come on, think about it. Melissa Rosenberg returns as screenwriter and the script this time isn't that bad. Yes, despite some unintentionally funny scenes, there are also scenes that do contain some of the emotional, character-driven depth that was missing from the others. I do have to say the action scenes aren't shot that well. They're set in places so dark, I almost thought I was watching the film in 3D.

I didn't expect too much from this film, seeing as it's a Twilight movie. They were scenes that worked and they were scenes that didn't work. There are moments of interesting intensity (especially the scenes with Bella and the growing demon baby) and moments of unintentional laughter. I found myself in a mixed bag with this fourth entry, so I think the least I can give it is **1/2 (Two stars and a half).

The Descendants- Movie Review

Directed by Alexander Payne

Screenplay by Payne, Jim Rash and Nat Foxon, based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings.

Running Time: 115 minutes (1h, 55 mins.)

Rated R (for language including some sexual references).

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

(Note: This is a slightly edited version of the original Toronto International Film Festival review that was posted 2 months ago).

In a career that spans almost twenty years, The Descendants is Alexander Payne's fifth film. After the critical, commercial and Oscar-winning success of Sideways in 2004, I was starting to wonder how come it was taking so long for him to make another film. I guess he was just taking a break and a long one at that. I know that he was working on a draft of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with his writing partner Jim Taylor, but then Adam Sandler came in and started, in Payne's words, "sandlerizing" the script and along with Taylor, he produced this year's Cedar Rapids. But now we come to this film, which happened to premiere at one of the most popular film festivals in the world. Mr. Payne, it's good to have you back.

The film stars George Clooney as Matt King, a land baron and the head of an Hawaiian family with many descendants, which of course is where the film's title is taken from. His wife, Elizabeth, is suffering a coma due to a boating accident and the doctors tell him that there's no way that she'll come back from it. This is a way for him to re-connect with his two daughters: 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller), who first meet when she's picked up from school and 17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley), who returns home from boarding school. When Matt tells Alexandra the bad news about her mother, she doesn't seem to care, due to her and Elizabeth arguing over Christmas. Matt didn't know what the argument was about, until now. Alexandra tells him that they were arguing due to the fact that Elizabeth was having an affair with another man. Now, Matt is trying to find the man she was sleeping with while at the same time trying to figure out what to do with their last piece of land.

Like I said before, it's good to have Alexander Payne back in the game and it's clear that his talent hasn't slowed down at all, even after a seven-year hiatus. He brings us a movie that explores the relationships between the family and makes it hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. Payne takes the setting of the film and clearly states in the script that Hawaii isn't paradise. While I'm on the subject of the script, I also want to make a quick mention that one of the writers of the film, Jim Rash, is known best as Dean on Community. That's a surprise. George Clooney's character says, "Paradise can go f%$k itself", one of the lines that stayed with me throughout the screening. Speaking of Clooney, his performance is great and I would rank it one of his best. Payne stated at the TIFF Q&A that Clooney was the actor he had in mind when the script was being written. Clooney could get an Oscar nomination for this.

Some of his shine, though, is stolen by the young actors in the film. Many of the great scenes come from Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller and Nick Krause. Woodley has obviously played a teenager before, all thanks to that crappy pregnancy show, The Secret Life of The American Teenager, but unlike that show, she truly embodies the actions of a teenage person. Basically her performance is surprisingly excellent. She has the chance of getting an Oscar nom. Then we have Miller, who makes her screen debut. She's good here too. But the one who really has a breakout role is Krause, who plays Sid, Alexandra's friend. His lines range from "Sup, bro" to "I didn't know old people hit like that" to even talking about his mentally challenged brother.

Sid is kinda stupid, but he shows a smart side as well. I think Krause is one of the best things to come out of this entire film. Oscar, pay attention to him too. There are also some fine performances that come from Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Beau Bridges. Phedon Papamichael is the cinematographer behind this film and he renders the Hawaiian landscapes and mountains wonderfully. Papamichael last collaborated with Payne on Sideways and he did a great job there. Its Hawaiian-like score also stayed with me, long after I left the theatre.

The Descendants is definitely one of my favourite films this year. It's an intelligent portrait of a man and his not-so-perfect family that's often funny and often sad. It's very clear that Alexander Payne, Fox Searchlight, the cast and the rest of the crew truly have an Oscar contender on their hands. I give the film a very enthusiastic **** (4 stars).

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas- Movie Review

Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson
Written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg
Running Time: 90 minutes (1h, 30 mins.)
Rated R (for strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use and some violence).
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures (New Line Cinema)

The darkness of Halloween is out of the way, so now it's time to get right into the joy and bright lights of Christmas. The jolly songs on the radio, the stores filled with big toys and games, the various amounts of drugs spread onto a toddler...you probably wonder why I mentioned that last part, aren't you? Because of these guys. The Cheech & Chong of our generation are back and this time, they're holding nothing back, especially in 3D.

Set six years after their zany escape from Guantamano Bay, Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) have been estranged from one another, replacing each other with different friends and living completely different lives. While Harold has a great job in Wall Street, a big house and is now married to Maria (Paula Garces), Kumar is living a nasty apartment and spending all his days getting high. Things change on Christmas Eve when a mysterious package brings the two guys together and when a joint burns down Harold's father-in-law's (Danny Trejo) Christmas tree, they travel across New York City to find the perfect one. Through their mission, trouble ensues at every single turn.

If you've seen the first two films, then you know what to expect. If you're new to this franchise, prepare to get shocked, because this time around they're really pushing the envelope, one notable example being a baby getting exposed to marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy. Expect parent groups to be all against that. Another example is the 3D. It may be unusual that a film like this would be filmed in the format, but it does work really well. While it makes fun of the technology, it also embraces it, having many things fly at us like weed smoke and splattering eggs.

John Cho and Kal Penn still have the chemistry that drove the first two films and of course, back from the dead is Neil Patrick Harris. Harris plays himself once again: the drug snorting, very heterosexual version of himself. Here in this, he makes fun of his real-life public image, pretending to be gay. NPH pushes that further when he sexually assults a Rockette. Danny Trejo is perfectly used as Harold's menacing father-in-law. We don't see too much of Paula Garces as Maria, just like the first two films and Danneel Ackles returns as Vanessa, Kumar's on-off girlfriend.

Directing this time around is Todd Strauss-Schulson. This is good direction, especially when this is his feature-film debut. The writing is funny, filthy and inventive. Writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg send up many references to Christmas classics like A Christmas Story and even going into a claymation sequence, which lasted a bit shorter than I expected it too. I liked it, but Community did it better. Just saying.

I liked this film. Sure, it doesn't live up to the first, but it's slightly better than the second. While many people might be offended by what happens in the film, there are many people who know how to take a joke and have a good time. I am one of those people. I give the film *** (3 stars).

Johnny English Reborn- Movie Review

Directed by Oliver Parker
Screenplay by William Davies, story by Hamish McColl.
Running Time: 101 minutes (1h, 41 mins.)
Rated PG (for mild action violence, rude humor, some language and brief sensuality).
Distributor: Universal Pictures

For many who don't know, Johnny English Reborn is a sequel to Johnny English, the spy parody which was released eight years ago. But I guess the first film wasn't the most memorable of Rowan Atkinson's wacky characters, which explains why I, like everyone, was surprised that a sequel was getting developed after all those years. This isn't Hollywood's doing, by the way.

Atkinson returns as Johnny, who disappeared from MI7 long ago and is living in a remote area in China. But when the agency learns of an assasination attempt on the Chinese premier, English is the only agent in contact and he must swing back into action to stop it. That's pretty much the whole premise. With that premise comes much of Atkinson's signature slapstick humor. This however features nutshots, English falling down constantly and a urinal joke. Now from that whole description, you probably think I hated this film as much as I hated Spy Kids: All the Time in the World. No, I didn't. 

As Spy Kids 4 was a unnecessary sequel filled with unoriginality and a bunch of jokes involving poop, flatulance and barf, Johnny English 2 has some originality left in it- even if it is a spoof. It still suffers some problems. Mainly its script. While it has some funny moments, it never really goes anywhere and has a lot of cliched moments. Then again, it is a spoof, so you never really know if it making fun of those cliches or it's just in there. There's also a scene where English is attacking the elderly mother of MI7 Head Pamela Thornton (Gillian Anderson, with a British accent and being unamusing). That was obviously ripped from Austin Powers.

While Atkinson does good as usual, the rest of the cast sometimes fail to keep up. I already mentioned Anderson, but there's also Dominic West and Rosamund Pike, both of them great actors. West tries too hard to be funny. As for Pike, although she has some fine moments, it seems like this role is just a way for her to relive her Bond girl days. I did like Daniel Kaluuya, who played English's new partner. His scenes with Atkinson provide some laughs. Oliver Parker is the director of this, though it would have been more nicer if they brought Peter Howitt, the director of the first film, back. I guess he didn't want to do this one.

Let me just end this review by saying that while I did laugh, I didn't laugh enough. Despite it being another one of those spy movie spoofs, it's hard not to point the cliches involved in this. Some of the performances aren't really in touch with the film and the script gets tiring. I like how it's slightly darker than its the first, but overall I didn't get a whole lot much from this film. I give it ** (2 stars).

Footloose- Movie Review

Directed by Craig Brewer
Screenplay by Dean Pitchford and Craig Brewer, story by Dean Pitchford.
Running Time: 113 minutes (1h, 53 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for some teen drug and alcohol use, sexual content, violence and language).
Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Out of all the films Hollywood recycled for this generation, Footloose is probably one of the oddest. I know many people who love the 1984 original, despite some of its cheesiness and its silly plot. Personally, I think the original is decent stuff and something that shouldn't be attempted to remake. Looks like Paramount didn't listen to that last part. What's next: Flashdance? Oops.

For those who haven't seen the original and don't know what the plot is: Big-city guy Ren McCormick (Kenny Wormald) moves to the small southern town Bomont to live with his aunt, uncle and cousins. When Ren finds out that dancing and loud music has been banned due to a car accident that killed five teenagers three years ago, one of them being Rev. Shaw Moore's (Dennis Quaid) son, he decides to challenge the law and during that time, falls in love with Ariel (Julianne Hough), the reverend's troubled daughter.

Now, I'm gonna keep this review brief since I have another film to screen. I mentioned before in this and in an earlier post dating back to August that a remake was unnecessary, but after watching this, I am surprised. With the exception of Fright Night, most remakes this year have been pretty underwheming. Luckily, this isn't. Sure, it's has the same silly plot and there's still some cheese, but between the cheese is some grit. Yes, I'm saying this remake is a bit more grittier than the original.

The performances are pretty good. Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough are fine as the leads. This is bound to make Wormald a big star, much like what the original did for Kevin Bacon. Same for Hough, who with the number of roles she's been getting lately will be much bigger than the original's Lori Singer. Dennis Quaid is good as Shaw originally played by John Lithgow and Andie MacDowell is fine as Shaw's wife. Miles Teller is great as Ren's friend Willard, which was originally played by the late Chris Penn. Teller played the same role in the stage musical version.

Direction comes from Craig Brewer, who also wrote the screenplay with the original film's scripter, Dean Pitchford. Brewer knows things about music, as we learned from his last two features: Hustle & Flow, which brought us into the rap music world (and which got rap group Three 6 Mafia an Oscar win) and Black Snake Moan, which featured a lot of blues music. Here, it's country, rock and some rap. Brewer directs it well, even a little better than the original's Herbert Ross. In this new version, Brewer shows the car accident that caused the ban of dancing and the opening credits, where we see a bunch of feet dancing along to the title song (Kenny Loggins' original version, Blake Shelton's version appears at the end), is set on the dance floor which is unlike the original.

I'm not exactly sure if this is a better version than the original because despite some changes (especially the dancing), it does feel like the original. However, I had a lot of fun with this one. There are good performances, some awesome choreography (by Jamal Sims) and good direction. Anyone who's fresh to this will enjoy it and anyone who's seen the 1984 film will likely enjoy it as well. The audience in my screening was a mix of both those people and they clapped right after the movie was over. I give the film *** (3 stars).

Trailerpalooza Exclusive: The Avengers

It's time. You know you've been waiting for it. And now it's finally here. The first trailer for The Avengers has just been released on the web. It's enough to satisfy the fanboys (me included) out there for now, but you know that one trailer won't be enough sooner or later. You can read my opinion of it after the jump, but now, without further ado, here is a Trailerpalooza exclusive: the first official trailer for one of the most highly-anticipated films of next year: The Avengers.

Now, let me give my own opinion on this. Like I said, one trailer isn't enough, so I'll be expecting a few more as the time goes by. Not too much, though. We don't want the advertising campaign to be like Green Lantern (Not that I'm insulting the movie. I didn't think GL was bad. But it could have been better). Like many who watched the past Marvel Studios films, I have been waiting for this film since the first Iron Man in 2008 and so far from this trailer, I like what I see. Only problem is why couldn't this be filmed like the other Marvel films: in the 2:35- 2:40 aspect ratio. 1:85 is okay, but for a film like this, it just doesn't seem right. I expected more of a bigger scope when I see this in the theatres, but you know, what can you do?

It's great to see everyone back: the always brilliant Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, the two Chris's (Evans- Captain America and Hemsworth- Thor), Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow (in that same black suit, Score!), Jeremy Renner returns as Hawkeye after that brief cameo in Thor, Mark Ruffalo replaces Edward Norton as the Hulk, which is sad, but I trust Ruffalo to play this well and after all those cameos (except for Iron Man 2), Samuel L. Jackson's back as Nick Fury. Tom Hiddleson returns as Loki, the mischieveing, evil brother of Thor. We hear him in the beginning. The only person missing from this trailer is Cobie Smulders, who plays S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill. Hopefully, we see her in another trailer.  It's gonna be nice to see her transition from TV star (you probably know her as Robin on How I Met Your Mother) to major movie star.

The director and screenwriter is Joss Whedon, who is loved by the fanboy commuinity. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a fine show, Dollhouse was pretty good, but for me, Firefly was one of his best. Although sadly cancelled after one season, he continued where the final episode left off on the big screen with Serenity, which I also liked. To see him direct this is pretty cool, especially since a long time back, he was supposed to make a Wonder Woman movie (with Smulders in mind), but that never came through (Since David E. Kelley's television pilot was scrapped, I hope that Warner Bros. lets Nicolas Winding Refn do the Woman Woman movie). I can't judge Whedon's direction or writing, mainly because it's a trailer. I just hope that he'll do a good job. Also on a side note, for those who want to know the song playing in the trailer, it's Nine Inch Nails' awesome opus, "We're in This Together" from their 1999 album, The Fragile.

Well, that's it. That's my whole opinion on the first Avengers trailer. Hopefully, this trailer satisfies you. If it doesn't, then I wish you luck. The Avengers hits theatres May 4, 2012.

Trailerpalooza: Young Adult, Tower Heist, My Week With Marilyn, Happy Feet Two, The Raven, Arthur Christmas, The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse

Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of Trailerpalooza. This week is stuffed like a turkey with new trailers that include another Juno reunion between its director and writer, a bunch of guys trying to rob their boss, Marilyn Monroe in England, the return of the dancing/singing penguins, the stories of Edgar Allen Poe inspire a serial killer, we get to meet Santa's son and two Steven Spielberg flicks. So, stop what you're doing and let's get started.

First off is Young Adult, Jason Reitman's latest feature. He reunites again with writer Diablo Cody, but don't expect to be anything like Juno, their last collaboration. It's more dark like Jennifer's Body (which Reitman produced, didn't direct). You know, without the whole demonic stuff going on. The comedy-drama stars Charlize Theron as an alcoholic writer of teen literature who comes back to her hometown and decides to take back her high-school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson), even though he's happily married to someone else and has a child. It's sad that Paramount hasn't been giving it to any film festival, especially Toronto (where all three of Reitman's films have premiered), but maybe this is just their way of getting people pumped up. Who knows? The film hits select theatres December 9th and expands nationwide December 16th. After watching that trailer, you can go to /Film to watch an exclusive alternate version of the trailer, which replaces the shopping scene for a scene with a much raunchier joke.

Next up is a new trailer for Tower Heist, which follows a hard-working staff who plan to rob the penthouse residence of a wealthy Wall Street businessman. This new trailer has more hijinks than the last. The film received some controversy this week when Universal announced that three weeks after its theatrical debut, the film will hit Video-on-Demand for a huge rental price of $59.99. The controversy began when the Cinemark movie chain threatened to not show the film in any of its theatres if the studio really goes through with the VOD experiment. I have to admit that doing this three weeks after its release could probably do a little damage to its box office run, but it'll still be a popular movie. Hopefully we get another funny performance from Eddie Murphy. The film hits theatres November 4th.

The next film is My Week With Marilyn. Based on two books by Colin Clark, the film focuses on the week Marilyn Monroe spent being escorted around Britain by Clark, who was an assistant on the British set of the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Monroe and Sir Lawrence Olivier. What makes this film so interesting for me is that Michelle Williams is playing Monroe. Williams, of course, is a talented actress and so far, at least from what I can say about the trailer, I think she's pretty fine. We'll see if it's even better when the whole thing comes out. Also starring Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson and Judi Dench, the film hits theatres in limited release November 4th.

Next up is the new trailer for Happy Feet Two. This sequel to the 2006 hit has Mumble (Elijah Wood) trying to teach his son to dance, but he encounters a penguin that can fly. To make matters worse, the penguin population is covered by ice and all the penguin nations and allies must team up together to find an escape. The trailer doesn't really get that story across well, which makes me a bit worried that this sequel will lose all the fun the first film had. It is nice to see at least some of the original voice cast back, including Wood and Robin Williams. It's also filled with a lot more new people, like Sofia Vergara, John Goodman, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. Oh, and expect lots of singing and dancing. The film hits theatres November 18th.

Next up is The Raven, which is not based on Edgar Allen Poe's poem of the same name. Instead it follows the famous author trying to solve a series of murders based on his stories. John Cusack plays Poe, and it also stars Alice Eve, Luke Evans, Kevin McNally and M. Emmet Walsh. The way this trailer is making the film comes across is kinda cheesy and maybe that's why I'm not amused. James McTeigue is the director, but it doesn't look as stylish as his last two films, V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin. The film hits theatres March 9th, 2012.

From there we go to Arthur Christmas, an animated Christmas comedy brought from Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation. Set on the North Pole, the film follows Arthur, the nice but clumsy son of Santa Claus. When a present for a little girl is missed, Arthur must go on a mission with his grandfather and an elf to deliver it before Christmas morning. Seeing as we don't have a lot of Christmas movies being made these days, this one doesn't look like a bad one to see. Featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton, the film comes out on November 23rd.

Now, it's time to end things off with not one, but two of Steven Spielberg's latest films. The first is The Adventures of Tintin, Spielberg's first performance capture 3D film. Based on Herge's series of comic books, the film shows Tintin as he sets to find the treasure of his ancestor Sir Francis Haddoque (Andy Serkis), with the help of a prison escapee and Detectives Thomson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost). This film looks amazing. As I mentioned before, Spielberg is one of my all-time favourite directors and since he's teaming up with Peter Jackson on this, that makes it even more exciting. Two new international trailers were released this week and I have them both right now. The film hits theatres in most of Europe October 26th and in North America December 23rd.

The second is War Horse, which comes out two days after Tintin's North American release. A new trailer for the adventure drama was released this week and it shows more of the story that the first trailer didn't exactly get across. The film, based on Michael Morpurgo's novel of the same name which later got turned into a Tony Award-winning play, is set during World War I and tells the story of Albert Narracott and his beloved horse, Joey. When Joey gets sold to the cavalry and is shipped to France, Albert, who isn't old enough to enlist in the army, goes on a dangerous mission to get him back. The film is already getting awards buzz, with some people even predicting the film could be in the Best Picture Oscar race. Why not? The film looks great and this new trailer still keeps that sweeping score composed by longtime Spielberg collaborator John Williams. I can expect a Best Score nomination from him. Now, I don't know if I should be in these "which Spielberg movie should I see" situations, because I want to see both. War Horse hits theatres Christmas Day.

Drive- Movie Review

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Screenplay by Hossein Amini, based on the novel by James Sallis.
Running Time: 100 minutes (1h, 40 mins.)
Rated R (for strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity).
Distributor: FilmDistrict

"If I drive for you, you give the time and a place. I give you a five-minute window, anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours no matter what." That is the line Ryan Gosling's unnamed character (we simply know him as Driver) opens Drive with. These are his rules when he moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals, which you must be able to follow. During these five minutes, he has a timer which he sets for five minutes and while listening to a sports game on the radio, he has police reports on another. When he drives, the skills he has are incredible. When driving two criminals, he's able to evade the police in a quick moment, hiding his car behind the back of a truck and eventually at the Staples Center parking lot, which is crowded with people. That scene just grabbed me and that was only the beginning...

Other than moonlighting as a getaway driver, Driver is also a mechanic at his friend Shannon's (Bryan Cranston) garage and an occasional Hollywood stunt driver. He becomes involved with his neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan), a single mother with a young son. The two develop a romantic connection, even when her husband, Standard (Oscar Issac) returns home from prison. Standard needs to pay off his protection money to a mobster, so he asks Driver to help him rob a pawn shop. The heist, however, goes horribly wrong when Standard gets shot and Driver must do everything he can to protect Irene and her son, Benicio (Kaden Leos), when he realizes the gangsters are after more than just the money.

For those who haven't seen the movie yet, please don't think that mentioning the opening scene was a spoiler, because it wasn't. That scene just shows you what he does. Even some of it is shown in the trailer. What isn't shown in the trailer (red-band and green-band) is the amount of brutality and blood this film has. Driver crushes a guy's skull...with his boots! Although I wasn't one of those few people who left the Ryerson Theater, which is where it premiered at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (I wasn't there for the premiere), I can somewhat understand why it happened. While audiences at Cannes could have probably handled it, Toronto audiences are, I think, more calm in sorts. Luckily that kind of reaction didn't translate into my screening, but the audience was still stunned and shocked at the other scenes, especially that elevator scene. But let me move my focus away from the violence and to the movie in a whole.

Gosling really nails his performance as the unnamed driver, who's kind of a silent person. Everyone has been comparing his performance to a young Steve McQueen. I've seen Bullitt, so I guess I could see the resemblance. Carey Mulligan is pretty good as the girl he ends falling in love with and I also liked Bryan Cranston too. Oscar Issac is good as well, but I liked him better in Sucker Punch. Ron Perlman is okay. Christina Hendricks has a small-but-vital role as Blanche and as small as it was, it was pretty memorable. The surprising member of the cast is Albert Brooks, who plays the foul-mouthed Bernie Rose, a former film producer-turned-mobster. He starts off as a calm character, but as the movie progresses on, he becomes much darker and even a bit scary. Brooks will floor you.

Nicolas Winding Refn is the director of the film. Audiences might know him best for directing Bronson, the film that skyrocketed Tom Hardy's career. In terms of production countries, this is his first American motion picture and he doesn't disappoint. With the film made on a budget of $13-15 million, I could tell from the film's first scene that he didn't want to make this Fast and the Furious-type of flick. Refn provides a visual style to the film with wide-angle shots amazingly rendered by cinematography Newton Thomas Sigel. From the helicopter-like shots of Los Angeles to the scenes where Gosling is in the car, the whole movie looks beautiful.

I find it hard to believe that this is based on a book, mainly because I've never read it. I don't think I even heard of the book until the movie came out. The script by Oscar-winning screenwriter Hossein Amini brings some depth to these characters. We don't know too much about them and I think it was meant that way. I love the score provided by Clint Martinez. It brings a lot of that '80's vibe to the film as it's mostly based on electronica and europop. Along with that, I loved how they used Kavinsky's song, "Nightcall" during the film's opening credits. Also, I'm starting to love College's "A Real Hero" featuring Electric Youth. Basically, before I mention more songs, what I'm trying to say is buy the soundtrack either on iTunes or physically in a record store.

In closing, Drive is one of the boldest films that I've seen brought into a mainstream release. Most of the performances are impressive and some of the scenes are pretty unpredictable. It's romantic, thrilling, bloody and brutally violent. Like I said before, don't expect The Fast and the Furious, otherwise you'll be pretty upset. I give the film ***1/2 (3 stars and a half).

Trailerpalooza: Dragon Tattoo, Big Miracle, The Thing, Man on a Ledge, J. Edgar, One for the Money, The Grey

Welcome to another edition of Trailerpalooza! This week, we have the feel-bad movie of Christmas, whale lovers, a shape-shifting alien for a new generation, someone on a ledge, a controversial lawman, another Katherine Heigl movie and Liam Neeson versus a wolf. That last one sounded crazy, right? Well, it's supposed to! Now, let's get to it.

First, we have the brand-new trailer for David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. If you've read my past posts on the film, you'll probably know that this is a must-see on my list and judging by the trailer, it definitely looks like Fincher is probably going to bring a more faithful vision of the book. I'm not saying the Swedish film version wasn't faithful, but we'll see if Fincher's version gives the original a run for its money when it hits theatres December 21st.

Do you like whales? Then you'll probably like Big Miracle. Inspired by a true story, the film stars John Krasinski as a small town news reporter who teams up with a Greenpeace worker (Drew Barrymore) who's just happens to be his ex-girlfriend to rally several rival world groups like Inuit natives and American and Russian military to save a family of whales trapped by ice in the Arctic Circle. Formally titled Everybody Loves Whales, the film will hit theatres February 3rd, 2012.

Next, we have the red-band trailer for The Thing, a prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter cult classic. This movie follows a group of American and Norweigian scientists who originally discovered the shape-shifting alien that kills the the people it imitates. This remake... I'm sorry... prequel doesn't look bad. I don't know if it'll be good, but with a cast that includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton, hopefully this doesn't go wrong. This new trailer more of the shape-shifting stuff as well as some gore in between. The film comes out October 14th.

From Antarctica, we go to the streets of New York as a man plans to commit suicide by jumping off a ledge in Man on a Ledge. Sam Worthington plays Nick Cassidy, an ex-cop and a wanted fugitive. While a NYPD negotiator (Elizabeth Banks) tries to talk Nick out of jumping, he is also helping his brother (Jamie Bell) pull off the heist of a $40 million diamond that Nick was accused of stealing. With that, it'll be the only way he can prove his innocence. Also starring Kyra Sedgwick, Anthony Mackie, Edward Burns and Ed Harris, the film hits theatres January 13th, 2012.

Next up is J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood's latest biopic, which focuses on the life and career of FBI director John Edgar Hoover. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the controversial lawman, who was also alleged of being a closeted homosexual, and joining him is Naomi Watts, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Lucas, Armie Hammer and Judi Dench. I'm pretty excited for this, not just because of its cast, but Eastwood is one who knows how to direct a good picture. You can expect some Oscar buzz going for it, probably mostly for DiCaprio's performance. Written by Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black, the film will hit select theatres November 9th and will open everywhere two days later on November 11th.

From there, we go to One for the Money, an adaptation of the Janet Evanovich novel of the same name and a film that's been in release date limbo since this July, which is the month it was originally scheduled to open on. It stars Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum, an unemployed woman who lands a job at her cousin's bail-bonding company. Her first assignment is capture a wanted cop (Jason O'Mara), who just happens to be the same guy who dated and dumped her in high school. I don't really don't know about this film at all. I've never read the book, so I'm just going to go ahead and say this. The whole "she's gotta capture a guy from her romantic past" is something I've heard before, so either this is going to be this action comedy that it's supposed to be or this is just gonna turn into another one of Heigl's crappy romantic comedies. We'll just wait and see when the film comes out January 27th, 2012.

However, Heigl's got some competition on that day and that comes from Liam Neeson, who's always a boss. He stars in The Grey, an adventure thriller that follows a group of men who end up stranded in Alaska after their plane crashes. When a pack of wolves come after them, they must use more their heads to survive. The film also stars Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo and James Badge Dale. The plot sounds a bit cliched, but judging by the trailer, the way it's executed looks pretty cool. Hopefully, that translates into the whole picture. I'll make it clear once more: this film comes out January 27th, same day as One for the Money.

Moneyball- Movie Review

Directed by Bennett Miller

Screenplay by Steven Zallian and Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin, based on the book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis.

Running Time: 133 minutes (2h, 13 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for some strong language).
Distributor: Sony (Columbia Pictures)

Before I start this review, I would like to make it clear that I saw Moneyball two weeks earlier when it made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. I didn't write a review then, so I decided to see it again today, so I can refresh my memory on how the film played out. Now there have been a lot of baseball movies in film history, but now we finally have one that celebrates not only one of the greatest American sports, but the stats that go along with it.

Based on a true story, the film centers on Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), general manager of the Oakland Athletes. The team has been losing most of the games, espcially the ones where they're up against the richer teams, and now they've lost three of their best players. New ones must be found, but they have to be enough to pay for, due to the A's being on a tight budget. Beane, however, challenges the baseball system by teaming up with Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), an Ivy League graduate who has no baseball experience whatsoever and assembles a team by using sabermetrics (computer-generated baseball analysis) and that leads them to an expectedly successful season.

Now, I'm not a baseball guy. I've watched a few games, but I never really got into the sport, even though I've watched similar sport movies like Field of Dreams or The Natural or even The Benchwarmers. That might change after watching this movie. I was really cheering for the team as the film went along, but it's not only about the team. It's about Beane and how he started a revolution. Brad Pitt (who's also one of the producers) plays him with amazing wit and anger, both emotionally and physically. From the film's view, Beane is a complex character. He throws a lot of stuff (two being a TV and his own desk) and he doesn't watch the games that much. His scenes with Jonah Hill and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who plays team manager Art Howe, are great and hilarious to watch.

Speaking of Hill, he makes a big move from raunchy comedies to a more calmer role. When I say calm, I mean he doesn't spew out filthy language or dirty sex jokes, but I didn't expect that from him anyway. He's pretty great in this, as well as Hoffman, as he plays Howe with a gruff personality. There are also some other fine performances from Chris Pratt, who plays team player Scott Hatteberg, Stephen Bishop, who plays David Justice, Robin Wright, who plays Beane's ex-wife and newcomer Kerris Dorsey, who plays his singing daughter.

What makes the movie even better comes from the script, the direction, the cinematography and the score. This is Bennett Miller's first film since Capote six years ago and like that film, he doesn't disappoint. He has some close-up shots of Beane from his eyes to even his hands. He also goes back to Beane's childhood, where he played for various Major League Baseball teams. The script doesn't disappoint either. Steven Zallian and Aaron Sorkin sprinkle this with humorous, fast-paced, memorable dialogue and the score provided by Mychael Danna is effective as well. Wally Pfister's cinematography is great in here too. The Oscar-winner renders Miller's direction steadily, whether it comes to the scenes that take place on the field or the scenes that take place off.

Moneyball is a film that exceeded my expectations, with standout performances, an smart, witty, emotional script, awesome cinematography and an equally outstanding score. You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this film. Like I said before, I'm not one, but after watching this movie (for the second time), I might be willing to give the sport another try. Maybe you will too. I give the film ***1/2 (3 stars and a half).  

TIFF 2011 Review: The Descendants

Venue: Elgin Theatre (Visa Screening Room)
Programme Type: Special Presentation
Directed by Alexander Payne
Screenplay by Payne, Jim Rash and Nat Foxon, based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings.
Running Time: 115 minutes (1h, 55 mins.)
Rated R (for language including some sexual references).
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

In a career that spans almost twenty years, The Descendants is Alexander Payne's fifth film. After the critical, commercial and Oscar-winning success of Sideways in 2004, I was starting to wonder how come it was taking so long for him to make another film. I guess he was just taking a break and a long one at that. I know that he was working on a draft of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with his writing partner Jim Taylor, but then Adam Sandler came in and started, in Payne's words, "sandlerizing" the script and along with Taylor, he produced this year's Cedar Rapids. But now we come to this film, which happened to premiere at one of the most popular film festivals in the world. Mr. Payne, it's good to have you back.

The film stars George Clooney as Matt King, a land baron and the head of an Hawaiian family with many descendants, which of course is where the film's title is taken from. His wife, Elizabeth, is suffering a coma due to a boating accident and the doctors tell him that there's no way that she'll come back from it. This is a way for him to re-connect with his two daughters: 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller), who first meet when she's picked up from school and 17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley), who returns home from boarding school. When Matt tells Alexandra the bad news about her mother, she doesn't seem to care, due to her and Elizabeth arguing over Christmas. Matt didn't know what the argument was about, until now. Alexandra tells him that they were arguing due to the fact that Elizabeth was having an affair with another man. Now, Matt is trying to find the man she was sleeping with while at the same time trying to figure out what to do with their last piece of land.

Like I said before, it's good to have Alexander Payne back in the game and it's clear that his talent hasn't slowed down at all, even after a seven-year hiatus. He brings us a movie that explores the relationships between the family and makes it hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. Payne takes the setting of the film and clearly states in the script that Hawaii isn't paradise. While I'm on the subject of the script, I also want to make a quick mention that one of the writers of the film, Jim Rash, is known best as Dean on Community. That's a surprise. George Clooney's character says, "Paradise can go f%$k itself", one of the lines that stayed with me throughout the screening. Speaking of Clooney, his performance is great and I would rank it one of his best. Payne stated at the Q&A that Clooney was the actor he had in mind when the script was being written. Clooney could get an Oscar nomination for this.

Some of his shine, though, is stolen by the young actors in the film. Many of the great scenes come from Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller and Nick Krause, all of whom were there at the Q&A. Woodley has obviously played a teenager before, all thanks to that crappy pregnancy show, The Secret Life of The American Teenager, but unlike that show, she truly embodies the actions of a teenage person. Basically her performance is surprisingly excellent. One of the scenes that stayed with me is where her character is told that her mother will die and she cries. In the pool. With that, she has the chance of getting an Oscar nom. Then we have Miller, who makes her screen debut. She's good here too. But the one who really has a breakout role is Krause, who plays Sid, Alexandra's friend. His lines range from "Sup, bro" to "I didn't know old people hit like that" to even talking about his mentally challenged brother.

Sid is kinda stupid, but he shows a smart side as well. I think Krause is one of the best things to come out of this entire film. Oscar, pay attention to him too. There are also some fine performances that come from Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Beau Bridges. Phedon Papamichael is the cinematographer behind this film and he renders the Hawaiian landscapes and mountains wonderfully. Papamichael last collaborated with Payne on Sideways and he did a great job there. Its Hawaiian-like score also stayed with me, long after I left the theatre.

The Descendants is definitely one of my favourite films this year. It's an intelligent portrait of a man and his not-so-perfect family that's often funny and often sad. Judging by the long standing ovation, it's very clear that Alexander Payne, Fox Searchlight, the cast and the rest of the crew truly have an Oscar contender on their hands. I give the film **** (4 stars).

If you weren't there at the premiere, don't worry. It's not too late. The film will screen again at the Elgin Theatre on Saturday, September 17th at 11:00 am. The festival runs all the way to September 18th. The film hits regular theatres November 18th in a limited release. Hopefully if it's marketed right, audiences who weren't at TIFF will check it out, so it can expand to more theatres. So if you're one who doesn't plan to see the latest Twilight flick or a sequel to a film with CGI penguins who sing and dance, then I suggest you choose The Descendants. I highly recommend it.

Here's the trailer. Basically it's a taste of just what you can expect:

News, News, News: Box Office, New Clip for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

The Labor Day weekend was a pretty big one for The Help. It remained in the top spot for the third weekend in row, earning $19 million and lifting its total to $123.3 million. The last film to do that was Inception last year. It was pretty obvious of a win. I also have to mention that Rise of the Planet of the Apes not only rounded out the top five with $10.2 million, but it became one of August's top earners of all time. Now to the new releases.

Focus Features and Miramax's The Debt took the second spot with $12.5 million, doing even better than they expected. It brought more older moviegoers (70 percent of the audience was age 40 and over) and brought its amount to $14.4 million since its Wednesday debut. It was better than the $12 million earned by another Focus feature, The Constant Gardener, back in 2005. What I'm predicting is that with good reviews (which include mine) and good word-of-mouth (B on Cinemascore), it could gross more than people might be predicting. It might not get the same numbers as The Help, but still.

Two horror flicks had modest debuts: Apollo 18 came in third, taking in $10.7 million while Shark Night 3D brought $10.3 million, slightly edging out Apes for the fourth spot. Audiences didn't really enjoy both films with Cinemascore reporting SN3D got a grade of C and Apollo getting a grade of D. As modest as they were, Apollo 18 had the weakest launch for a "found-footage" film while Shark wasn't as big as last year's Piranha 3D.

While it might not be what The Weinstein Company were predicting, the movie only cost $5 million to make, so there's no worrying for them. However for Relativity, they should be hoping Shark Night grosses as much as Piranha or it'll be a box office disappointment. On Sunday night, Lionsgate showed nationwide sneaks of their MMA drama, Warrior, before it hits theatres this Friday, and those sneaks proved strong.

The first clip for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has gone online and it nice to see a role where Mark Strong has some hair. It recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is making its way to the Toronto International Film Festival, which starts this Thursday. Hopefully, I'm there. The film hits the UK on September 16th and in North America December 9th.

Just Really Quick...: Riddick 3 Concept Art

You read that title right. A third film focusing on one of Vin Diesel's iconic characters, Richard Riddick, is in pre-production. If you liked Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick, then you're probably happy. If you only liked one of those movies, you must feel okay or if you didn't like both, sucks for you. Vin Diesel told his Facebook fans that filming will begin in Canada, which is where Chronicles was filmed. He also says that they're trying to go for an R rating, like Pitch Black. Going for that rating could help this film be a much better installment. All that's needed is a good script and awesome special effects.  Concept art has been released coming from Diesel's Facebook fan page. Check it out.

The Debt- Movie Review

Directed by John Madden.
Screenplay by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan, based on the 2007 Israeli film of the same name (or Ha-Hov in its original language) by Assaf Bernstein and Ido Rosenblum.
Running Time: 113 minutes (1h, 53 mins.)
Rated R (for some violence and language).
Distributor: Focus Features/Miramax

On December 3rd, 2010, The Walt Disney Company committed what I think had to be one of the biggest mistakes in their history: they sold Miramax Films for $663 million to an investment company entitled Filmyard Holdings. At that time, at least four films were developed at Miramax and were ready for release. It's a good thing they weren't put into oblivion, so they decided to delay them in order for a proper release. The four films developed there were The Debt (the movie that is the subject of this review), a remake of an Israeli film of the same name, The Tempest, Julie Taymor's adaptation of the William Shakespeare classic, Gnomeo & Juliet, an animated retelling of another Shakespeare classic which involves gnomes, of course, and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Guillermo Del Toro's version of the 1973 television film of the same name.

Disney decided to keep The Tempest and Gnomeo and Juliet and release them both under its Touchstone Pictures banner while Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and The Debt were sold to FilmDistrict and Focus Features respectively. While Tempest didn't make close to a million when released last December, Gnomeo became a surprise hit, grossing a impressive $99.9 million domestically earlier this year. Dark was released last week and has been struggling at the box office and now we come to The Debt. Basically, two reasons why I saw this film was because it was out of the respect I have for Miramax Films and I needed some good thrills and Shark Night 3D didn't satisfy my needs.

The thriller shifts between two time periods: the 1960's and the 1990's. The movie begins in 1997, when retired Mossad agents Rachel (Helen Mirren) and Stefan (Tom Wilkinson) learn that their former partner, David (Ciaran Hinds) has died (can't say how due to spoilers). They undertook a mission back in 1966, when all three (played in their younger years by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas and Sam Worthington) had to track down Vogel (Jesper Christenson), a notorious Nazi doctor who's done human experimentation in extermination camps. The mission was accomplished and Rachel wrote a book detailing the events. But not everything in the book is what it seems. Developments in the Ukraine have said that the Surgeon of Birkenau is still alive, so either Rachel and David didn't know or they're not admitting the real story. Phew, made it through that without any big spoiler. Sometimes I find it hard to write a review on a thriller.

The performances in here are exceptional. I don't need to talk too much about Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson. They're both great as always. It's the younger versions of themselves that I really enjoyed. I liked Sam Worthington. It's roles like this that continue to cement his status as a great actor. Marton Csokas (who I remember well from the Lord of the Rings trilogy) is good as well, but it's Jessica Chastain that steals the show in a lot of scenes. From getting some awards buzz for The Tree of Life to making a guy like me drop his jaw on the floor in The Help, this is definitely her year. Jesper Christenson displays the fear of the evil doctor superbly, especially in the scenes where he plays with the young agents' minds.

The greatly stylish direction comes from John Madden (not the football dude, in case you were wondering), who directed the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love (third time I mentioned Shakespeare in this review). Frankly as much I enjoyed that film, when it was up against Saving Private Ryan, I don't think it should have won Best Picture, but hey, I'm not part of the Academy, so I can't go back in time and change that. While the opening credits roll, Madden sets up a one-shot sequence which is wonderfully shot by cinematographer Ben Davis. Somehow, my heart started pounding with this sequence, even though I didn't know what was going to happen next. The writing co-written by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, the same team that brought us Kick-Ass, Stardust and X-Men: First Class, is smart, taut and politically charged.

I'm not exactly sure if I'd call this one of the best films of the year just yet, but I do know that this film gave me a hell of a good time. It's clear that Madden, Vaughn, Goldman and Peter Straughan have created a nicely-crafted, almost heartstopping espionage thriller filled with unforgettable performances, a smartly written script, some good twists in between and awesome action sequences. I give the film ***1/2 (3 stars and a half).

Shark Night 3D- Movie Review

Directed by David R. Ellis
Written by Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg
Running Time: 91 minutes (1h, 31 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for violence and terror, disturbing images, sexual references, partial nudity, language and thematic material).
Distributor: Relativity Media

Now, if you didn't read the credits at the top or maybe you did, I'll make it clear once again. Shark Night 3D is a PG-13 rated film. That means no extreme gore, no sex or nudity (except for the exposed butt of a guy modeling for an art class and I guess I can count the sexual remarks), no extreme language and to repeat myself, NO GORE! Just a little, but still none that you see in the Saw movies or a movie that's pretty much a huge inspiration to Shark Night 3D, Piranha 3D.

The story is very simple: a bunch of hot, young students at Tulane University spend the weekend at a lake house, only to be attacked by sharks shortly after they arrived. But what they don't know is that someone's watching and this is their form of entertainment. Each of these people have a type, because in films like this, there's always gotta be a type (sarcasm). You got the nerdy dude, the tough black athlete, the free spirits, the girl next door, etc, etc and the audience is gonna have one they want eaten.

This review will have plenty of comparisons to last year's Piranha 3D, because as I mentioned before, that's pretty much the big inspiration. Piranha 3D was one of the best films of the year in my opinion. It was the most shameless, goriest (even gorier than Saw 3D), funniest thing I saw all year with creative kills, over-the-top performances and nudity galore. Basically it wasn't afraid to be what it was and what it was was ridiculous, but in a good way. This is also ridiculous, but in the opposite way. Instead of being fun and exciting like Piranha was, it's kinda serious. I know Jaws was a serious film, but that was fun too and it had characters that we actually cared about. This doesn't. It tries, but later, it fails.

At many times, this film gets stupid, again not in a good way. What even raises its stupidity is some guy who chuckles as if he wants to be the next Larry The Cable Guy. He's played by Joshua Leonard, who you might remember from The Blair Witch Project. At least he made his performance somewhat believable. With the exception of Joel Moore (who I remember well from Avatar), the rest of the performances aren't believable. Then again, I don't think they should be. They're not trying to make a Oscar contender anyway. The 3D is effective in a couple of parts, but otherwise it's pretty gimmicky. I know it was filmed with a 3D camera, but at times it doesn't feel like it, which kinda sucks.

The film's director is David R. Ellis, who brought us two Final Destination films (2 & 4), Cellular, with Kim Basinger and a pre-Captain America Chris Evans, and the movie that had Samuel L. Jackson give one of the best lines of all-time, Snakes on a Plane. I really don't know what to say about his direction, not that it's a bad thing. I never really said anything about his direction on his past films.

Look, as much as this is a film to see in 3D, it's not really one that you have to rush to the theatre to see. It's more of a DVD/Blu-Ray rental if you think about it. Yes, as I mentioned before, it's ridiculous (not in a good way) and at times, it felt like a TV movie (then again, TV movies like this are worse, an example is Sharktopus), but at least I wasn't bored and some of the performances were somewhat entertaining. At best, this gets ** (2 stars).

Just Really Quick...: The Future According to Films

The future has been part of film for decades and it really helps us wonder if it going to like that. Maybe, maybe not. But never have I thought someone would make a timeline that takes dozens of movies that have their own versions of the future, until now. Michael Hobson, or @tremulantdesign on Twitter, has created one that as I mentioned before, takes dozens of films that have their own versions of the future. Take a look below. Click the picture for a more enlarged look.

Summer 2011: My Picks of the Worst Films of the Season

Now for the second part of my picks. These are my worst films of the summer. Instead of five, this list has only four films. Three of the films that are on the list were not reviewed by me, because I didn't start the blog at the time. Originally, I would've put Battle: Los Angeles and Beastly on the list, but those came out in March, so technically they're not summer releases. They both felt like ones, though. Let's kick it off with #4 which is...

#4- Zookeeper
It has a good premise- a zookeeper who gets love advice from animals who talk in order to win his ex-girlfriend back- but the way the film executed it was sadly disappointing. Usually I don't expect a lot from a Happy Madison production, but from the trailer, it looked kind of funny. I was wrong. A highlight of the film is Adam Sandler voicing the monkey. It sounds like a weird combination of Louis Armstrong and who knows what? One question I gotta ask: how does Kevin James get a chick like Leslie Bibb in this?

#3- Priest
I liked the manga that this was based on and I was glad to hear a movie was being made. After many delays (because of the conversion of 3D), the film finally came out and it sucked. Why? Because while the manga was so original, this film felt the opposite. It was cliched as well. As much as I liked Paul Bettany in this, unfortunately he wasn't enough to save the film.

#2- Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (Read the original review)
I don't even want to write this again, because it just gives more thoughts on how I should bash this piece of crap sequel. Just read the review. You'll know why this is on the list. After that, you can read my defense of the review. But this film wasn't as worse as what's about to come next. My pick for the worst film of the summer movie season is...

#1- Something Borrowed
My God, this film was an annoying nightmare that you wanted to wake up from. I believe movies similar to this get made for women who must be stupid enough to believe that some rom-com cliche can happen and boy, this movie is filled with cliches from the plot to the lines that are said. Ginnifer Goodwin is boring as the main character. She's usually better than that. Colin Egglesfield (or Tom Cruise Jr.) is just dull, and Kate Hudson is plain annoying. Nothing to say for John Krasinski, though. In fact, he almost saves the film. Almost. The most surprising credit of the whole movie was "Produced by Hilary Swank". You can't be serious. Hilary Swank, a two-time Academy Award-winner, produced this?! Whatever, luckily this film came out against Thor, which means it had kind of a hard time at the box office and even though it made back its $35 million budget, most of the movie's marketing was overshadowed by star Kate Hudson's pregnancy. That's good enough for me, because that means not a lot of people saw it. Let me just end this by saying that this is the worst romantic comedy of the year so far. I don't know who will beat it. We'll just see as the year goes by.

Well, that's it. That's my best and that's my worst. The end of the summer movie season isn't really such a bad thing. The fall movie season looks even bigger with films like Contagion, Warrior, Drive, 50/50, Abduction, Moneyball, Real Steel, The Ides of March, Paranormal Activity 3, Killer Elite, Like Crazy, Anonymous, In Time and The Rum Diary. I guess I'll see you in the fall.