Fast & Furious 6 (!) Trailer: Wishing For A “Thelma & Louise” Finale (Please)…

Posted on April 28, 2013 by geelw

Yeesh. I still can’t believe this crash cow franchise has run this damn long, but hey – I’m not the one buying up all those tickets. The last thing I heard, the “crew” split a big fat multimillion dollar payoff, which would in the real world, make ME disappear forever to some nice country that’s not sinking under riots and bad government with my stupidly large game collection so I can finally finish a bunch of games and reviews. “Fatima, peel me a grape!” and all that. Anyway, here we go again and yep, it’ll rake in another mint no matter what the critics say. Oh well, I guess it’s better than seeing a TV series popping up and becoming a big “hit” on cable or whatever. Then I’d need to write something snarky every seven days or so and burn out from all the bad car puns I’d need to come up with. Oh well… I guess one more go-round for this franchise is a good thing after all…

Random Film of the Week(end): The Palm Beach Story

Posted on April 27, 2013 by geelw

You’ll probably need to watch Preston Sturges’ The Palm Beach Story at least twice if you’ve never seen it before. The second time will be to catch some of the rapid-fire dialog you missed the first time out from laughing so hard as your brain attempts to keep up with the wild setups and payoffs the movie hits you with. Sturges’ gift for well-timed comedy direction comes through excellently in yet another gem he also wrote and you have to give the man major credit for letting his actors fly through scenes (and sometimes the scenery) as if they were tossed around sets by small cyclones. Of course, having some great actors throwing those lines around helps quite a bit… Continue reading →

Iron Man 3 TV Spot 7: Getting Closer To That Heavy Metal Madness…

Posted on April 26, 2013 by geelw

I haven’t followed any of the early reviews and in fact, I don’t even know if there are any out there yet. OK, I did hear about a few today, but I didn’t even bother to peek at one. Yeah, I’m THAT disinterested in some parts of pop culture because (dammit) I really like to be surprised (dammit!). That said, it would be pretty hilarious is this film was really bad when all is said and done. Hey, I’m NOT wishing that on this flick at all, folks. I was at the library today and some kids were having a rather animated conversation about that very thing for some reason and although I wanted to beat them all with a heavy book for yapping so loudly, they made me laugh as well AND get an idea for a post. So, yeah, kids are good for something after all (hee hee)… Continue reading →

Pain & Gain: Reality Bites Harder Than In Bay’s Gaudy Live Action Cartoon…

Posted on April 26, 2013 by geelw

Hollywood revisionism isn’t anything new, but I’d say a few films over the last few years including this one have stood out for being more vile than most when going for the funny when they needed to go somewhere else. Did you see 30 Minutes or Less and leave that theater laughing? Well, that “comedy” was “inspired” by an actual series of events in 2003 that led to the death of one man and the arrest and trial of those who planned the crime. Paramount’s Pain & Gain is actually a tad more disturbing when you follow the even weirder and horrifying true story the film is based on. It’s a pretty compelling read, that’s for sure and may have made for a better (and yes, harder to watch) documentary than a heavily re-scripted popcorn flick with some mega-stars chewing the scenery up.

Of course, I’d bet you a wooden nickel that anyone seeing this film won’t give a hoot in hell at all and sure, you can rattle off a whole list of films that bleach out the awful truth and mine the results for comic gold. Eh, perhaps I’m complaining too much here… on the other hand, too many people seem to get their truth solely from these “based on a true story” flicks and yep, that’s a damn dangerously dumb person to try and hold a conversation with…

Iron Man 3 Updates: Clip Joint, World Premiere, And Wait… A New Game, Too?

Posted on April 25, 2013 by geelw

Hmmm… you know, “Roll out the Barrel” should be playing right about now, what with Marvel in full non-stealth mode dropping all these Iron Man 3 videos. of course, they’re just doing what they need to to get fans excited (well, more excited) and non-fans reaching for the remote or finding a new site to poke around that doesn’t have ads for the film all over it. Good luck with that or even better, just embrace the madness that is marketing. Hell, it’s not as if Marvel is going to send people to your home in order to drag you to that theater…
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Star Trek: Into Darkness Clips: A Lesson In Undressin’…

Posted on April 24, 2013 by geelw

Hmmm… you know, Paramount… there’s such a thing as TOO much exposure when it comes to some reveals. Now, I love a good tease once in a while, but I say take a lesson from the late, great Sally Rand and not show it all off all at once. Some things are worth waiting for, so a little anticipation goes a longer way than just whipping everything off all at once. Of course, I’m also wanting to see more, so your little ploy has worked out quite well…

That said, it IS a J.J. Abrams flick, so the template is there and easy to pinpoint. That bodes well for the movie, but also makes it a wee bit too predictable to some longtime fans or those who can catch the telegraphing of plot points a few star systems away as the film hits its thematic notes in their proper order. Granted, THAT part is up to the editing team as well as the director’s skills… but I’m not too worried about either.

On the other hand… if Into Darkness gets too formulaic, it means there’s room for improvement and a writing team (or hell, ONE writer) who can deliver the goods fans of the different Trek franchises can approve of. It’s hard to please so many generations of people who grew up watching or have caught the Star Trek bug over time, but the minute that magic moment happens, the person behind that particular wheel will become an intergalactic treasure of sorts…

Iron Man 3 TV Spot 6/Featurette 3: Who Knew Billionaires Were So Cool?

Posted on April 24, 2013 by geelw

Usually, it’s all pompous 1-percenting about tax shelters, how much that gold-plated platinum toilet (with bidet, of course) cost and trying to get legislation passed that keeps the poor from doing no more than scraping the outside of the bottom of the barrel for scraps they toss down, but I bet if Tony Stark were a real guy, he’d be fun to hang around with. Well, provided he wasn’t constantly having people like the Mandarin trying to get rid of him. One minute, you’re talking with him about the possibility of trying on a non-working Iron Man prototype and the next minute, you’re hiding under one of those suits because the ceiling just fell in. Whatever happened to “Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams…”, I say…

Hmm, I wonder what Bill Gates is up to? I’m sure he’s not having crazy guys with too many rings on their fingers putting holes in his property (unless he’s getting a golf course put into the back yard)…

Random Film of the Week: Peeping Tom

Posted on April 23, 2013 by geelw

peeping tom poster Based on what transpired after it hit theaters back in 1960, one could almost say that career suicides don’t come any better or more stylish than acclaimed director Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom. Controversial immediately upon release in the UK, the film was banned for many years from public showings in some countries, but took on a life of its own as the years passed and is seen as a genre classic by many horror fans today.

Despite its age, there are some extremely intriguing psychological themes and visual elements some easily upset types will probably find shocking. That said, it’s not as if Powell planned on his directing life in Britain going down the drain with this film. He was simply applying his well-honed talents all too well to a screenplay that happened to be extremely well-written and precise in its portrayal of a very troubled photographer and his special camera…
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Thor: The Dark World Trailer (UK): If I Had A Hammer, Too…

Posted on April 23, 2013 by geelw

OK, everybody… SING! Yeah, if you’re old enough like me, you know how that music goes. If you don’t, there’s a visual aid below:

“Cross the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard,
Where the booming heavens roar,
You’ll behold in breathless wonder
The God Of Thunder, Mighty Thor!”

The Marvel movie revival juggernaut continues with this upcoming sequel set for an October 30, 2013 launch in the UK. Marvel’s US YouTube page seems to a wee bit slow on uploading the US version, so here you go. Even though there’s a bit of corny on display above, I like the way this sequel looks. Then again, I liked the first film because it was pretty fun and quite amusing thanks to the direction and a solid cast. Of course, there’s that interesting crossover thing happening here, meaning it’ll be fun to stick around for the credits and see what new Marvel flick gets teased. I do wonder if we’ll see some sort of huge blockbuster that brings in ALL the current Marvel movie heroes, as I’d bet the most hard-core fans would line up for that one a year in advance if it were announced…

Iron Man 3 TV Spot #5: Rust Never Sleeps (II… and Neither Does Tony Stark, It Seems)…

Posted on April 22, 2013 by geelw

I thought we’d see something like a dozen different ads by now, but Marvel is taking their time on rolling these out it seems. Either that, or it’s because they’ve shown so much of the action scenes in bits and pieces that revealing the actual story would be a bad thing. Of course, as I’m not one of those internet poker-a-rounders digging up every plot point or on-set screenshot out there so I can spoil my screening, I don’t mind the slow reveals one bit. Actually, it would be amazing to see a major motion picture that’s not a Terence Malick film pop up with not so much spolieriffic fanfare and blow audiences away because it was under-hyped and amazing. Eh, like that ever happens these days…