This February director Josh Trank releases his first feature film, and it looks pretty damn sweet. Chronicle tells the story of 3 friends who acquire super powers, and then follows as they learn how to use, and eventually abuse them. As you can see in the trailer, things get out of hand…
The most recognizable actor in the movie is easily Michael B. Jordan who you may recognize from Friday Night Lights or Parenthood, but the movie also features character actor Michael Kelly and up-and-comer Ashley Hinshaw. Considering how good the effects looks, that’s not bad on budget of less than 10 million dollars.
To me this looks sort of like the early episodes of Heroes, but better. The only thing that I’m unsure of is the whole ‘Blair Witch’ camera work which can get old quick when in the theater. But I guess we’ll find out February 3rd.
On December 16 of this year, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows will release in theaters everywhere. In this, the second of the new series of Holmes movies, Sherlock Holmes (Downey) meets his match. Sherlock crosses paths with a criminal mastermind by the name of Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). The Professor is not only smart… he is Sherlock Holmes smart! To pair with his extreme intelligence, Professor Moriarty also lacks a conscience, so he can be pure evil with a complete lack of sympathy.
In the movie, the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead. Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan) deems his death a suicide. However, Holmes does not agree, and is of the opinion that the death was a murder facilitated by Professor Moriarty. During Sherlock Holmes’ investigation, he meets a gypsy at a gentlemen’s club. She sees that he is very involved in the situation regarding the Prince’s death, and agrees to help him.
This movie looks like an action-packed good time! It seems like every post from fans in online forums is about what a great pick Jared Harris is for the evil Professor. I would absolutely agree. His popularity from Mad Men will help to promote the movie, and I loved him in Mr. Deeds. I will be seeing this movie! There are a ton of new movie posters for this one, so here are some very lovely ones and a video!
Everyone loves racist jokes. Everyone loves pot jokes. Everyone loves racist pot jokes (it’s true don’t deny it). These three facts may be an explanation behind the strangely successful Harold & Kumar franchise, which is now on its third film. The other strange thing about the franchise is that it’s one of the only, if not the only successful franchise led without a Caucasian character in a lead role. I’m sure there are others that I’m forgetting, but that’s really not important.
In A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, six years have passed since the previous sequel, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantonomo Bay. On an unrelated note, considering that both Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle and Escape From Guantanomo Bay take place during the same week, and the first Harold & Kumar came out in 2004, the whole 6 years passing thing is extremely close to being accurate as far as the time-lapse. Not very important, but I felt like sharing, now back to the review.
Harold (John Cho) has since married his dream girl Maria (Paula Garcés – Below), who now wants to have a child. Kumar (Kal Penn), who was dumped by his girlfriend Vanessa (Danneel Ackles), now lives alone spending his days getting high and talking to his annoying neighbor, Adrian (Amir Blumenfeld, in what should be his breakout role).
Christmas Eve rolls around, and this is where the fun begins. Harold’s very scary and very Mexican in-laws are in town for the weekend, led by their patriarch, Mr. Perez (Danny Trejo), bringing with him an extremely important and cherished tree that he’s been growing for eight years for this specific Christmas. Harold just wants to show to him that he’s a responsible husband and won’t ruin Christmas.
On Kumar’s side of things, with nothing to do, he decides to go out with Adrian, but hours before doing so, Vanessa drops by to give Kumar a little news; she’s pregnant. On top of all that (yes, there’s more), a package arrives for Harold who hasn’t lived in that apartment for almost five years. With all this on his mind, Kumar and Adrian head to Harold’s house to drop off the package and get out of their as soon as they can, but of course, we know the formula by know, that’s not going to happen.
Basically, to shorten the sequence, Kumar leaves the package on the front stoop and tries to get out clean, he ends up slipping on ice, Harold hears it, comes out, greets him, and invites him in for coffee. Kumar reluctantly agrees only to see that Harold’s new house is, and I quote, “not s**ty.” Harold and Kumar, after their awkward introductions, finally get around to opening the mysterious package, only to find a ridiculously large joint with the words “I killed Bob Marley” written on the side of it (I’m only kidding about that last part). Kumar immediately begins smoking the joint, and Harold forces him to throw it out. The joint, accompanied by some slick movie magic, is thrown out of the window, to only boomerang back into another open window, placing itself neatly on the cherished tree, thus lighting it on fire. Here’s where the adventure begins.
I won’t explain all the things that happen next, but I can say one thing; it’s funny as hell. The Harold & Kumar films, as mindless and raunchy as they may seem, are for the most part expertly plotted, smartly written, and extremely funny films, this being no exception.
The only thing that I thought was more or less distracting was the overall change in style. I can’t quite put my finger on everything that was different, but it’s like watching a sequel or a remake to your favorite movie. It’s probably good, but it just isn’t the same. Another distracting element was the almost constant use of slow-motion and 3D. Unfortunately, I was forced to see the film in 2D, as well as sober, so I probably only got about 1/10th of the effects that every stoner with a pair of 3D glasses did.
But for all the stylistic changes, the addition of new and hilarious characters, including Thomas Lennon as Todd, a naïve father who inadvertently involves him and his even funnier baby girl Ava in Harold and Kumar’s misadventures, as well as the return of all the old characters, notably NPH (whose cameo may be his best yet) and Rosenberg and Goldstein (whose cameo scene will have fans of the original in stitches), make this 3rd outing better than it has any right to be. Additionally, the use of meta-filmmaking makes for some even better laughs than almost any joke in the film. The real genius of this 3rdHarold & Kumar film, is that, it will most likely please fans of the original, but it also makes room for millions of new fans who have not yet been introduced to the antics of this lovable stoner duo.
Storms are a scary thing. They’re big, they kill people, and they can sweep up houses easily. You know what else is scary? Big, brawny men attacking you and your daughter in your dreams, causing you to pee your pants and have seizures, that’s what. These are a couple of the things that Take Shelter’s troubled protagonist Curtis (Michael Shannon) experiences. A working husband and father in his mid 30s, Curtis begins to experience apocalyptic visions of a storm that will wipe out a huge amount of the population. These nightmares provoke him to start building an expensive storm shelter in his backyard, a mere weeks before his daughter is scheduled to have a surgery that will permanently fix her hearing problem.
So last month we told you about the upcoming 5th installment of the Die Hard franchise – A Good Day to Die Hard, and we had some casting suggestions as to who we’d like to see play McClane’s son. Well now rumors are surfacing about the front-runners for said role, and they appear to have totally ignored me. But that’s fine, I’m gonna go opening night anyhow.
So here are, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the front-runners:
Die Hard 5, which is now called A Good Day to Die Hard, will attempt to find the young man to play Bruce Willis‘ son, with frontrunners Liam Hemsworth, Aaron Paul, and Ben Foster among those who will take part in chemistry reads with Willis, reprising his role of John McClane, on November 12 and 13. (We¹re hearing the part of Hemsworth’s to lose.)
So, they think that Liam Hemsworth (Thor‘s little brother and upcoming star of the Hunger Games) has the role barring a terrible screen test. I have to say, that even though I didn’t name any of these guys on my list, I’d be fine with any of the 3. And while I’m pretty apathetic towards Hemsworth, I actually really like the other 2.
Aaron Paul of course is the co-star of AMC’s Breaking Bad, and I’m a big fan, but my pick of the 3 would be Foster.
Drinking, drugs, sex, fun and writing; these were the five words that Hunter S. Thompson lived by. For years he traveled the world, ingesting copious amounts of illegal narcotics, drinking until he blacked out, and then wrote about it the next day with a hangover and a Bloody Mary. He was a man’s man, with a very straightforward love for guns, and an even more straightforward hate for Richard Nixon. Thompson was never afraid to voice his not-so-humble opinions. He wrote many novels and memoirs, most notably Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Hell’s Angels, but early in his career, while residing in Puerto Rico, he wrote the novel, The Rum Diary.
Following a journalist named Paul Kemp, the semi-autobiographical novel wasn’t published until much later in his career. Many claimed the novel has no plot and is reflective of a pre-Gonzo Thompson; in other words, a less interesting one. I’ve not read the novel, but after viewing the film, I can make a prediction and say that I’d have to disagree.
Grizzly Bomb 