100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 1: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Director: Tommy Wirkola
Genre: Action/ Fantasy/ Adventure/ Horror
Runtime: 88 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare, Pihla Viitala, Thomas Mann

Description: Hansel and Gretel are left alone in the woods by their father and captured by a dark witch in a candy house. However they kill the witch and escape from the spot. Years later, the orphans (Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton) have become famous witch hunters. When eleven children go missing in a small village, the Mayor summons Hansel and Gretel to rescue them, and they save the red haired Mina (Pihla Viitala) from the local sheriff (Peter Stormare) that wants to burn her accusing Mina of witchcraft. Soon they discover that the Blood Moon will approach in three days and the powerful dark witch Muriel (Famke Janssen) is the responsible for the abduction of children. She intends to use the children together with a secret ingredient in a Sabbath to make the coven of witches protected against the fire.

Review: Who doesn’t know the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel, where two kids wander of in the woods and find a house of candy? It’s actually one of my favorite fairytales and I always like fairytale retellings. Director Tommy Wirkola decided to tell this old story with a twist.
The story starts out the way we know it, but the kids Hansel and Gretel grow up to be heroes, witch hunters. And they’re pretty good at it.
Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton are believable as a brother and sister and have the “it’s us against the world” mentality. When I looked at the style of the film, the clothing, it made me think of the movie “Van Helsing” (2004): leather and steampunk like weapons. A lot of humor is used to give the characters some dimension, but besides Hansel and Gretel they are all pretty one dimensional. The visuals are pretty good and it’s a perfect popcorn movie. Was it a good movie? Well, no, but it was highly entertaining.

Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (66) 2013 Preview

Like last year I'm going to share with you trailers of movies I'm looking forward to seeing next year. Some of them I already shared in a previous "Movie Trailer Sunday". Here they are.

World War Z
Description: United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.
Director: Marc Forster
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox, David Morse
Trailer: Trailer "World War Z"
Comment: This was actually on my list last year, but there wasn't a trailer yet. Now there is and I'm super stoked about this film.

Monster's University
Description: Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) are an inseparable pair, but that wasn't always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn't stand each other. "Monsters University" unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends.
Director: Dan Scanlon
Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Dave Foley, Julia Sweeney, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn
Trailer: Trailer "Monster's University"
Comment:

Ganster Squad
Description: Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and--if he has his way--every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop...except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen's world apart.
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Robert Patrick, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña
Trailer: Trailer "Gangster Squad"
Comment: I really don't want to skip this movie in 2013!

Zero Dark Thirty
Description: "Zero Dark Thirty" focuses on the black ops mission to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, which culminated in his death during a high-stakes raid on his compound in Pakistan.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, Nash Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Harold Perrineau, Frank Grillo
Trailer: Trailer "Zero Dark Thirty"
Comment: I heard so many great things about this film.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
Description: We follow the siblings Hansel and Gretel (Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton) 15 years after the incident at the gingerbread house. The two are now specialized bounty hunters looking to put down the cackling black-hat set.
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare
Trailer: Trailer "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters"
Comment: I love darker versions of fairytales!

Oz the Great and Powerful
Description: When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot-fame and fortune are his for the taking--that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity--and even a bit of wizardry-Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: James Franco, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Zach Braff, Bruce Campbell
Trailer: Trailer "Oz the Great and Powerful"
Comment: You know I love James so I have to see this. And Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz are all great too. And the visuals look fantastic. I'm in!

The Great Gatsby
Description: We follow would-be writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan), and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.
Director: Baz Luhrman
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher
Trailer: Trailer "The Great Gatsby"
Comment: It looks amazing.

To the Wonder
Description: Marina (Olga Kurylenko) and Neil (Ben Affleck) meet in France and move to Oklahoma to start a life together, where problems soon arise. While Marina makes the acquaintance of a priest and fellow exile (Javier Bardem), who is struggling with his vocation, Neil renews a relationship with a childhood sweetheart, Jane (Rachel McAdams).
Director: Terence Mallick
Starring: Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem
Trailer: Trailer "To the Wonder"
Comment: Shared it last week, but this looks so amazing!

Movies I'm lookig forward to seeing, but don't have a trailer yet: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The World's End, Kick-Ass 2, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Knight of Cups, Twelve Years as a Slave

Movie Trailer Sunday (51)

This weeks trailers are about Hansel & Gretel, a classified plan, a woman and her son escaping, grandparents babysitting and an elderly choir.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
Description: We follow the siblings Hansel and Gretel (Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton) 15 years after the incident at the gingerbread house. The two are now specialized bounty hunters looking to put down the cackling black-hat set.
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare
Trailer: Trailer "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters"
Comment: I thought, why not start with my favorite of the week. How awesome does this look? Really want to see it!

Argo
Description: On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA "exfiltration" specialist named Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.
Director: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Kyle Chandler, Clea DuVall, Chris Messina, Taylor Schilling
Trailer: Trailer "Argo"

Twice Born
Description: Gemma (Penelope Cruz) visits Sarajevo with her son, Pietro. Sixteen years ago they escaped the war-torn city while the boy's father remained behind and later died. As she tries to repair her relationship with Pietro, a revelation forces Gemma to face loss, the cost of war and the redemptive power of love
Director: Sergio Castellitto
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Emile Hirsch
Trailer: Trailer "Twice Born"

Parental Guidance
Description: Old school grandfather Artie (Billy Crystal), who is accustomed to calling the shots, meets his match when he and his eager-to-please wife Diane (Bette Midler) agree to babysit their three grandkids when their type-A helicopter parents (Marisa Tomei, Tom Everett Scott) go away for work. But when 21st century problems collide with Artie and Diane's old school methods of tough rules, lots of love and old-fashioned games, it's learning to bend, and not holding your ground, that binds a family together.
Director: Andy Flickman
Starring: Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei, Tom Everett Scott
Trailer: Trailer "Parental Guidance"
Comment: Billy Crystal always makes me chuckle. And I'm glad to see Tom Everett Scott again.

Song for Marion
Description: Grumpy pensioner Arthur (Terence Stamp) is reluctantly inspired by his beloved wife Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) to join a highly unconventional local choir. At odds with his son James (Christopher Eccleston) it is left to choir director Elizabeth (Gemma Arterton) to try and persuade Arthur that he can learn to embrace life. Arthur must confront the undercurrents of his own grumbling persona as he embarks on a hilarious, life-affirming journey of musical self discovery.
Director: Paul Andrew Williams
Starring: Gemma Arterton, Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Eccleston
Trailer: Trailer "Song for Marion"
Comment: This trailer really stole my heart.