The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Pre-Trailer Trailer: Wake Me When It’s Over Over…

I didn’t like the reboot at all for many reasons and I don’t think I’ll like this sequel equally at all either (he said, intentionally mangling the language with relish). If this one’s as overblown and underwhelming as the reboot was, I’m only going to be smiling when the people who think this will be better get what they deserve when they pay up for that movie ticket. Now, I don’t wish Spidey any ill will at all, mind you. I just wonder how a TV series would do as a weekly show or series of monthly movies that might cost a lot less than what’s looking like a CGI-packed ego project (with Stan Lee popping up in a cameo again). Then again, other than bits and pieces, none of the Spider-Man films has ever really been my favorite. I think I’ve seen the first one three times, but every other one except for the reboot twice. That one I saw once on cable and I almost changed the channel when (yet again) Peter Parker was mask-less for too long as if it’s contractually obligated for his secret identity to be revealed to as many people as possible at the most inopportune moments.

Bleh. Anyway, all these days of “Ooh, here comes the trailer!” trailers and the resulting foaming at the mouth and pants from the usual suspects online only add to the sense of desperation I sense going on from folks who so want this to be bigger than it needs to be. These folks so want the movie to be better than it is that they’ll fool themselves that it’s much more awesome than it actually turns out to be. Of course, that’s Hollywood these days, so I guess I can take it or leave it as usual. Leaving it gives me more time to do stuff I care about a lot more than a film with what’s going to be a four or less month trip to Blu-Ray at the end of the day…

ELYSIUM Headed to Blu-Ray/DVD December 17. You Forgot ALL About This One, Right?

Okay, okay… so I almost did, thanks to the huge flood of movies rolling into theaters this year and some other distractions major and minor (alright… it was too many games, mostly). Anyway, at least Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi epic took longer to hit home video than other flicks that came out, disappeared faster and sprung up on discs sooner. Yeah, I liked District 9 a lot and Blomkamp’s visual stule, so I’ll be snapping this up at some point. I rarely take the reviews of others into consideration because I’m old and cranky enough to know some people who review films and games approach them from a completely incorrect perspective, but you can’t stop them from presenting their opinions no matter how wrong-headed they are. Anyway, I’m looking forward to finally checking this out without any hootin’ and a’hollerin’ from the peanut gallery as well as seeing what this very talented director has up his sleeves for a next project…

Noah Trailer: Saving Up For Those Rainy Daze…

 
Somewhere, Cecil B. DeMille is stomping around in knee-length leather boots and aviator pants yelling into his megaphone at this trailer. I can see him saying something like “There needs to be a ten commandments of movie-making!” or something similarly snarky. I may catch this on cable at some point, but spending my hard earned money on a movie like this is out of the question for me. Well, it should be entertaining and thankfully, wasn’t advertised as “based on”, “inspired by” or “from the incredible” true story or anything close to that. But hey, between the action movie music in the trailer, the expensive CGI effects and a cast of actors all looking worried or pissed off or hopeful at the right moments, I guess this will rake in the bucks no matter what the biblical scholars and fundamentalists have to say. I certainly wouldn’t want to be in between that particular rock and hard place, that’s for darn sure…

Need For Speed Trailer #2: Road Rage, Revisited…

 
Well, given that this one’s headed at full speed towards being either a mega-hit or a mega-bomb, it’s at least nice to see all the actors throwing themselves into their parts as much as those CGI cars are throwing themselves across the screen. Granted, I’m betting people aren’t going to be seeing this for the “acting” all that much, as it seems the car body count will be high enough to keep them more distracted than any great thespian action going on. Of course, the laws of physics are being broken to hell in this one in the same manner it’s busted up in other popular car carnage flicks. But heck, if you’re expecting total “realism” as a fan of the video games this flick is based on, you probably still have a 3DO plugged in and on top of your old analog TV. Hey, I liked that first NFS game back in the day too…

Sabotage Trailer: Nobody Gives Him (Another) Raw Deal (But Me)…

Ah, the Ah-nuld resurgence continues, I suppose. Yeah, this upcoming (April 2014) flick looks nice and gritty and it certainly has a pretty surprising cast in some respects (Mireille Enos as an action heroine?!). But I always start up my cable countdown clock when I see one of these trailers because it’ll be the usual two to three weeks at or near the top of the box-office charts before being bumped off by the next blockbuster or surprise indie hit, then three or four months later onto Blu-Ray and a few months after that it’s popping up as a surprise early premiere (hopefully on a cable channel I can access at home).

Annnnd of course, Arnold is now pissed off at me for this post, as I found out sooner than I’d liked (as in as I was typing):
 
Hey, Mister Angry Dude, you’ll live. TO quote Mister Freeze: “Chillllll…” Now get back to counting your money or something. You certainly don’t need my seal of approval at all. I’ll see your escapist flick soon enough (well, on my own schedule)…

Random Film of the Week: The Man in the White Suit

(thanks, thecinelady!)

the man in the white suit USI recall seeing Alexander Mackendrick’s 1951 film The Man in the White Suit listed as both a comedy and a science fiction film in two separate movie books and as I hadn’t seen it at that time, I was a bit perplexed. Of course, I think I was also about twelve years old, so I was perplexed about a great many things. And in a constant state of perplexed about those great many things believe you me.

Thankfully, once I finally saw this classic a few years later, all my questions were answered – it’s a comedy AND a science fiction film (and a bit of social commentary, to boot). And of course, it’s an Ealing Studios film so it’s just about perfect in every aspect and yes indeed, comes very highly recommended…
Continue reading

Random Film of the Week: Bad Santa

bad_santa_xlgSo, did you hear the one about the people who want to do a sequel to “It’s A Wonderful Life” getting an internet sized hobnailed boot thrown at them for even deigning to think of such an outrage? Neither did I, as that could be disaster flick was only just announced. That’s one reason why Bad Santa and A Christmas Story have long since replaced that well-known and beloved classic as my favorite holiday movies.

Yeah, yeah, there’s also been a sequel announced for the former (but nothing has appeared to date)while the latter has become a “must-see” holiday show for tourists coming here to New York City, but Terry Zwigoff’s mean-spirited, outrageously funny masterpiece grabs your Yuletide wishes by the short hairs, yanks hard and starts punching everywhere so hard that you may find yourself crawling around looking for your eyeballs under the table they rolled under after they pop out a few too many times… Continue reading

Random Film of the Week(end): War of the Worlds


war_of_the_worlds_4These days, I’m not much of a loyal Tom Cruise fan, but I happen to like some films he’s in when the cast around him gets to do some decent work around his not so silent takeover method of acting. That said, 2005’s War of the Worlds is pretty much Stephen Spielberg’s film to win or lose as he puts Cruise, the rest of the cast, some stellar visual effects and a mostly tensely coiled John Williams score to work in this updated version of the classic H.G. Wells science fiction story.

Save for some overuse of the “Hollywood escape” and still not yet patented Cruise running style in scenes where plenty of extras get vaporized or otherwise killed as the actor and his movie kids make a few too many narrow escapes (at least for the first part of the film) and a wee bit too much allegory on the director’s part, this is a solid little movie that still packs a bit of a punch… Continue reading

Random Film of the Week: “X”- The Man With The X-Ray Eyes

 

X-TheManWithTheX-RayEyesMPOhhhh-kay... I’m having a SERIOUS case of déjà vu here. I know for a fact that I’d written up a review of this great 1963 Roger Corman “B” flick a few years back and posted it either on the old blog, here or somewhere else, but it’s nowhere to be found as far as I’ve checked. Crazy! Or perhaps I had such a vivid dream about writing this up that I merely THOUGHT that I’d run a review. Hey, it happens. But only to me, it seems…

Anyway, I despise rewriting stuff, so it could be that I did a draft that was close to completion but somehow was deleted or accidentally overwritten thanks to that oddball WordPress flaw where if you have two “Add New Post” tabs open and make the mistake of using them for new posts, you overwrite the first post with the second. Anyway, this is one of those really surprising low-budget films that, thanks to some great casting and some genuinely tight direction, manages to be much better than it should be… Continue reading

The Raid 2: Berandal Trailer – It Hurts to Look, But Look You Must (Maybe)…

Speaking of non-stop ass-kicking, The Raid: Redemption was and is still one of the most insanely kinectic and violent action pictures I’ve seen where even my most jaded brain cells were getting their eyeballs kicked out of the back of their heads. This sequel looks to be even more insane and painful for those stuntmen who are earning whatever keep they do and then some. If you’re at all squeamish about people getting the crap kicked out of them (or into them in some cases). don’t click that PLAY button. Seriously. You’ve been warrrrrned…

Yeah, you clicked it. I can tell. Breathe. Thaaaaat’s it. Feel better now? Good. OK, it’s MOSTLY a guy punching a prison wall and some short clips of bits of angry-looking people and later, more violence (ouch!). But the sense of impending dread (and MORE violence) is pretty palpable (ouch!). If you did and haven’t seen the first film, go do that ASAP, as it’s pretty darn amazing stuff. If you didn’t but happen to know someone who likes flicks like this, go have them watch this and let you know how it was. I bet they’ll be busy watching it again a few times before they come up for air…