Sunday, May 10, 2009

Trailer Review- Terminator Salvation



This May marks the release of a new Terminator film that has a promising cast, great special effects and a great plot. The film takes place in the year 2018 a post apocalyptic nation exists with Terminators roaming the planet and killing humans. John Connor played by Christian Bale plays a character who appears to be the only person to recognize that the terminators are taking over the planet and thus becomes some sort of a leader on the worn down planet.

One of the big-early summer films to make its way into theaters. "Terminator Salvation" stars: Christian bale (John Connor), Sam Worthington (Marcus Wright), Bryce Dallas Howard (Jane Connor) and the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to have a role in this film.

It's been almost six years since the last Terminator film swept into theaters "Terminator 3: Rise of machines" and according to the director McG, he expects this to be the first film in a new trilogy of Terminator films. That is good news for the die-hard fans who cant get enough of this franchise. Personally, I reccomend you watch the trailer which showcased the usage of some very good effects and some very good Voice-Overs from Christain Bale. I'm not sure if this film will be the firsts of a legacy or just be remembered as one action/summer film.

I think it was a smart decision to get a well known and prolific actor such as Christian Bale to have a starring role. That will hopefully draw many people and the addition our California governor/ex- Movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger



Check out the trailer's

Trailer #1 (More of a preview)

Trailer #2

Trailer #3


"Terminator Salvation" heads into theaters May 21st and is currently rated PG-13.

-Bwebs

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Beginning of the "Season"

Last Weekend showcased the beginning of summer films. One of the first summer blockbusters made its way into theaters everywhere . That film is "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." Despite being faced with a lot of challenges such as a bootlegged and leaked version and a ton of negative Reviews. According to boxofficemojo, the film earned around 85 million dollars. It will be interesting to see how well it will hold out throughout the month. Next week "Wolverine" will face a large challenge against J.J Abrams new "Star Trek" film. Of course in a few weeks we will see the new Terminator film called "Terminator Salvation" try to live up to the franchise name. The film "X-men Origins: Wolverine" is the second best in that X-Men franchise and proves that the world still loves a good action film over a more serious dramatic film.

Recently I have started to feel a little spoiled when it comes to superhero films. After being one of the many fans of last years big summer blockbuster "The Dark Knight", I began to have high expectations when I sit through any superhero films. Every time I see one like "X-Men", The image of the Heath Ledger's Joker yelling "Why So Serious" comes rushing to my head. I believe that hopefully more superhero/action films will begin to take a more realistic approach like The Dark Knight because of that films success. It also makes the story more believable and more enjoyable.

In second place, in the boxoffice came a romantic comedy from the guy in "Failure to Launch" Matthew MCconaughey and the always famous Jennifer Gardner. Personally I am not surprised this did not live up to the normal Jennifer Gardner and Matthew Mcconaughey boxoffice revenue. They picked a poor weekend to release a romantic comedy next to the first large blockbuster of the summer. Regardless this film feels more geered toward Women then Men. The film earned around 15 million dollars. Not terrible but not at the same level of their previous films.

Last weekend also showed a slip in some films. The unexpected Powerhouse "Obsessed" slipped a good deal but did not do terrible. The "Soloist" didn't decrease by a great number however, this film still has a way to go if it wants to earn some cash. To me that film was a surprise. It has Robert Downey Jr. who has shown that the world still loves him and Jamie Foxx. But, given the circumstance of this world and that people would rather see a Poorly put together film and a comedy over seeing a powerful true-based movie. Hopefully this film will get some acknowledgment for the performances of the actors and it still remains on my radar of films to see this month.

New Releases

The long waited release of "Star Trek" sails into theater on the shoulders of JJ Abrams. Hopefully he took the challenge properly and will do a great job.

Check out the trailer:


Cool poster below
























Enjoy- More Summer previews/reviews coming soon!

-Bwebs

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Trailer Review- Funny People

Summer is just around the corner so I thought it would be nice to take a look at some of the summer movies hence, my last two reviews. "Funny People" is the third film that Judd Apatow will be directing. His first two efforts were very successful and that was "40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." People who have watched those two films have noticed that he does a good job making comedies about different experiences in life. His latest effort "Funny People" seems to follow that format, as well.

The film has a monster comedic cast that stars some regulars like Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and Leslie mann. It also stars some big time stars like Adam Sandler. And some New people to the Apatow clan like the rapper RZA and Eric Bana.

Adam Sandler plays George Simmons, a comedian who has a near death experience after discovering that he has some sort of deadly disease. He then runs into a younger comedian, when performing, Ira Wright, played by Seth Rogen. The two comedians appear to strike up a quick friendship and Ira Wright appears to actually get a taste what the real stand-up world is like. George (Sandler) hires Ira (Rogen) to come up with jokes for him. It seems that George Simmons is very lonely and looks for a person to comfort him through his sickness. Which may be the reason why he hired Ira (Rogen) to write jokes for him, in the first place. It is revealed early on in the trailer, that George Simmons does not die from the disease. The film is not just about a comedian who is going to die. It is about a man (who happens to be a comedian) re-discovering the important things in life (friendships, relationships and fame)

Other Characters
I read online that RZA plays some sort of role involving where Ira Wright works, a deli. Leslie Mann plays one of George Simmons Ex-girlfriend who he visits in wake of the disease. Eric Bana plays the husband of Leslie Mann (in the film). Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman play two different comedians that appear to be more successful then Rogen's character. But, they appear to be friends. Expect a lot of Cameo's from other famous people in the movie industry such as famous comedians.

The film sure looks like a great one coming out this summer. It stars an all-star cast, a great director and a great story. It seems like a dream to have both Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler as the star of a film. Two different Generations of men who took control of the world of comedy through films. This is one of the great summer films that is on my radar.

Trailer

Trailer #1

Inside Look

More summer reviews coming up

"Funny People" opens in theaters July 31st.

-Bwebs

Monday, April 20, 2009

The Weekly Report- 2

This past weekend had two, big releases in theaters. "State of Play" and "17 Again". It appears that the Zac Efron film that also stars the guy from "Friends", Matthew Perry, took the top spot in the box office earning around 23 million dollars. It is quite interesting to note how two "Disney Stars" films are released in the span of two weekends and both had a significant amount of success in the box office. The other New Release was "State of Play" a political thriller that showcased an all star cast that included Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck. I have not seen this film but it underperformed in a puzzling way. This is the case of a good film finding no home. It has a great rating on Rotten Tomatoes but only earned around 14 million against a 60 million dollar budget. Looks like this film will struggle to make a profit. I however, am curious to see this film after hearing some great reviews posted online.

The rest is what should be assumed. "Hannah Montana: The Movie dropped in value of around 58 percent earning around over 13 million dollars. Not too bad for a film that had barely any advertisements but luckily had the logo of Disney Channel and a hit TV show. I guess the success of the box office sometimes comes form pre-existing pieces of media. Like adaptations of tv series and comic books. It will be interesting to note the success of the "Arrested Development" TV series film that is scheduled ot come out in a few years to see if that theory will still apply down the road. Of course we have seen examples of that theory being false. The "Dragonball Evolution" film had a following from the hit cartoon series and did poorly at the boxoffice. I'm not even sure if it will be in theaters by next weekend. "Observe and Report" lost some steam but still looks like it made some profit with a weekend gross of over 4 million dollars that brings the total to over 18 million (production cost=18 million).

New Releases-

Speaking of next weekend. The theater world brings us the first, possible critical claim film of the year. That film I mention is "The Soloist" that seems like it is ringing with the words oscar contender. Unfortunately I think this film was released a little too early for it to be in the category of the oscars. However it looks very promising with a cast that includes the one and only Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. You can gather a basic premise by watching the trailer below.
Looks very well done and hopefully this will get a lot of much-deserved praise.

The Soloist Trailer



Also in Theaters the film "Fighting" (no comment on title) and the what appears to look like a creepy story/film called "Obsessed" and a "Tyson" Documentary that I actually want to see.

Go see "The Soloist"

Opens this weekend.














-Bwebs

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Trailer Review- Public Enemies


This summer looks like a great one in the film Industry. It will be interesting to note the success many films find in the summer especially at the box office. Among one of them looking to have a great run is "Public Enemies". I know what many are thinking "How many Gangster movies does this world need?" This one however has a different feeling about it, a positive feeling. Unfortunately, it is not directed by the man who can captivate the power of gangs and gangsters the best, Martin Scorsese ("Gangs of New York" and "The Departed.") Luckily it still has a great director, Michael Mann.

The basic premise of this film revolves around an FBI Agent named Melvin Purvis played by Christian Bale, attempt to rid the streets of Chicago of crime. This includes capturing the Great Bank Robber John Dillinger played by Johnny Depp and other sort of people involved in crime. The film takes is set during the Era of the great Depression which will definently place an interesting perspective on crime during this period. It will show America at its low point, as a country, and show the false-hope that was experienced among people which probabally led to John Dillinger (Depp) doing the Heidious crimes that he committs. As many people note the Great Depression was one of the worlds most difficult times.

It will be Interesting to observe two great actors who got involved with Blockbuster films early in their career and try to place an "Oscar" worthy performance on this new film. What I mean is that, both Johnny Depp and Christain Bale have been the leading men of a Franchise, (Bale- "The recent Batman series" and Depp "The Pirates of the Carribean Series.) Depp has shown his great acting in that series and in other critically praised films that helped him earn 3 nominations. It will be interesting to watch and see if this will be his first win. Bale, on the other hand, is also looking for his first Oscar and first nomination.

Other News about this Film:
It was once pitched as a Miniseries to HBO. Based off a book that was written by Bryan Burrough called Public Enemies:America's Greatest Crime Wave and birth of the FBI, 1933-34

The film is Scheduled to be released July 1st.

Check out the Two Trailer's.

Trailer 1

and

Trailer 2

-Bwebs

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Weekly Report

Another week has gone by, rather quickly. A lot of movies have flown in and out of theaters over this rather long weekend. Without much of a surprise, "Hannah Montana: The Movie" took first place in this weekend box office grossing around 32 million dollars. We all figured that it was pretty much a lock for "Hannah Montana: The movie" to take the top spot figuring that it is a holiday and holidays tend to have a lot to do with families and "Hannah Montana: The movie" is a family film.

I don't know much about the movie besides it is an adaptation of the TV show, with the same name, and not one of those movies on my radar. Similar with "Fast and Furious" which seemed to have hit a bump in the road after starting off with a rather strong opening weekend. In fact, the film which grossed 72 million last weekend fell to around 28 million, and took second place. Obviously 28 million dollars is still a lot by any standards but, the numbers, will likely fade in the coming weeks until the next "great" sequel to a car film enters theaters.

Is it surprising that Seth Rogen's new film "Observe and Report" only grossed 11 million dollars? Absolutely not. This was what is known as a limited type of film. It appeals to certain people who enjoy this dark humor. By no means, was this anything like "Knocked Up" or "Pineapple Express" but I heard a lot of comparisons to a comedy version of "Taxi Driver". It is very hard to market a film like "Observe and Report" because of its rating and timing of release and since there was just another mall cop film released a few months back "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" which resulted in unfortunate comparisons. The film was released on Easter weekend. A time people like to spend with family and friends and watch a good heart-warming movie. Although I thought this film was awesome, it may just not be what the public wanted to see. I want to clarify one thing by no means was it a flop, yet. The film was made for only 18 million dollars and has already grossed more then half its budget back. However, it will not be seen in the same category of "Knocked Up" or "40 year Old Virgin" as R rated comedies that happen to find a home in the box office. Read my review on the post below for more information about "Observe and Report."

Another problem that I find with Box office numbers when it comes to Rated R films is accuracy. When I saw "Observe and Report" there was a lot of teenagers, with friends who most likely "snuck in" to the film. Since it wasn't a family R rated comedy like "Knocked UP" parents most likely would not want to sit through the movie and would rather watch something with a more family appeal to it. However, this won't stop the kids, who want to see it, from getting in. They most likely bought tickets to a film like "Fast and Furious". If you think about it, if enough kids follow this princepal then it would most likely hurt the box office performance.

Also in theaters, over the weekend, is the poor downfall of one of Americas most prized Anime series, Dragonball. This show has the words "box office champ" engraved all over the title but not the film. The film is engraved with big gray letters "flop". I have not seen this film but I have heard almost all negative reviews from people. The box office reports for this film reflects another series that should have achieved gold, "Speed Racer" like "Speed Racer" the film "Dragonball Evolution" failed to reach to its core fans and thus resulted in a dismal performance of around 4 million dollars. I really don't want to keep going into detail how bad that is but I truly find it amazing how poor the marketing was in the USA. I did not see one commercial before the release of the film or any major promotion. It was almost as if the studios all new the fate of the film and delayed the opening in the US as long as possible, opening in other countries.

Opening this weekend
17 Again-
We still have a while before Judd Apatow takes over the summer with his films "Year One" and "Funny People" but his wife Leslie Mann costars with Matthew Perry "Friends" and Zac Efron "HSM 1-3" in this going-back in time film.











Trailer


And:

State of Play

Russell Crowe makes his triumphant return to the big screen after staring in last years, "Body of Lies." hopefully this will do better in the boxoffice then that film. The political thriller: stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Jason Bateman. The film is an adaptation of the TV series with the same name.











Trailer


-Bwebs

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Movie Review: Observe and Report

Let me start off by saying, this film is not for every person. There are scenes in this film that may leave you perplexed and confused. From the start of the film, some people won't like it. This film has definitely pushed the boundaries of a standard film to the most extreme, which is why I loved it and thought it was hilarious. If you are looking for an entertaining way of spending ten dollars and have more manhood that will prevent you from seeing "Hannah Montana: The Movie" then go see "Observe and Report." As much as I love, Seth Rogen's, films like "Superbad" or "Pineapple Express" it was nice to see Seth Rogen show potential, in a different type of role. And please don't think about comparing this to that crappy "Paul Blart" film that earned a lot of money.

Seth Rogen plays a Mall Security Guard named Ronnie Barnhart who wants to do more with his life and ponders joining the police force. Ronnie (Rogen) suffers from a mental illness known as Bi-Polar disorder and is at times forced to take medication. Anna Faris plays Ronnie's love interest, Brandi, a Make-up Counter lady who doesn't appear to like him and finds him creepy. Ronnie (Rogen) believes that his chance to show the world comes when a Flasher starts freaking out the people inside the mall and then exposes himself to Brandi. Ronnie (Rogen) decides he will stop at no cost to find the pervert that is terroizing the mall. But, Ronnie's (Rogen) ambitions are cut short when the police gets involved with the case. The police is led by Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) and his and Rogen's character clearly do not care for each other. Ronnie (Rogen) believes that he has what it takes to become a real police officer. But the problem arises when other people don't believe Ronnie is fit to handle the role of a police officer. The movie then takes us through the life of Ronnie as he tries to prove everyone wrong by catching the pervert and trying to find more meaning in his life then just being a mall security guard.

I don't want to spoil the whole movie for people reading this post. But, seriously there are a lot of funny moments in this film that made the audience crack up, especially the ending. On the other hand, there are a lot of depressing things in this film that is brought to light. It shows the cruelty that exists between other humans and also brings light the world of people suffering from mental illnesses. If you read other reviews then you would know that there are some controversial scenes (hint with Anna Faris character) and all I have to say is that it is completely over exagerated and is exatly the scene that you see briefly in the Red band trailer lasting a few seconds. There are also some awesome action scenes that makes Ronnie (Rogen) look like a vigilante and there are also some dramatic scenes that will surprise you about Rogen's acting ability. Overall I think it is worth giving it a chance.

It would be very hard to rate this film out of 10 because it is a lot different then most standard films.

If you liked "The Foot Fist Way" or the HBO series "Eastbound and Down" then you will love "Observe and Report" if not then you may think about seeing another movie. I however thought the movie was awesome.

Watch a clip

clip #1

clip #2

Enjoy

-Bwebs