Movie Trailer Sunday (168)

Here are this weeks trailers.

The Loft

Description: It's the story of five married guys who conspire to secretly share a penthouse loft in the city, a place where they can carry out hidden affairs and indulge in their deepest fantasies. But the fantasy becomes a nightmare when they discover the dead body of an unknown woman in the loft, and they realize one of the group must be involved. Paranoia seizes them as everyone begins to suspect one another. Friendships are tested, loyalties are questioned and marriages crumble as the group is consumed by fear, suspicion and murder in this relentless thriller.

Director: Erik Van Looy

Starring: James Marsden, Karl Urban, Rachael Taylor, Rhona Mitra, Isabel Lucas, Wentworth Miller, Eric Stonestreet, Matthias Schoenaerts

Trailer: Trailer "The Loft"

Comment: I already shared this trailer a long time ago (checked: august 2012). This is an extended version and it's finally coming out this january.

 

Insurgent

Description: Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart.

Director: Robert Schwentke

Starring: Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Octavia Spencer, Theo James, Shailene Woodley, Jonny Weston, Rosa Salazar, Suki Waterhouse, Keiynan Lonsdale

Trailer: Trailer "Insurgent"

Comment: Haven't seen "Divergent" yet, but did read the books though.

The Gunman

Description: An international spy (Sean Penn) must clear his name in order to save himself from the organization that he used to work for.

Director: Pierre Morel

Starring: Ray Winstone, Jasmine Trinca, Javier Bardem, Sean Penn, Idris Elba, Mark Rylance

Trailer: Trailer "The Gunman"

Comment: Sean Penn is super cool, I think this is going to be a good movie.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Description: An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and almost everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max (Tom Hardy), a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.

Director: George Miller

Starring: Charlize Theron, Megan Gale, Tom Hardy, John Howard, Nathan Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, Richard Carter, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Riley Keough, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Courtney Eaton, Josh Helman, Jennifer Hagan, iOTA , Angus Sampson, Joy Smithers, Gillian Jones, Melissa Jaffer, Melita Jurisic

Trailer: Trailer "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Comment: My adreline was pumping while watching this trailer!

Tracers

Description: Wanted by the mafia, a new York City bike Messenger (Taylor Lautner) escapes into the world of parkour after meeting a beautiful stranger.

Director: Daniel Benmayor

Starring: Taylor Lautner, Marie Avgeropoulos

Trailer: Trailer "Tracers"

Comment: The name Taylor Lautner is probably warning enough for me not to watch this movie.

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 145: Big Miracle

Director: Ken Kwapis

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 107 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, Dermot Mulroney, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Root, Rob Riggle

Description: In small town Alaska, news reporter Adam (John Krasinski) recruits his ex-girlfriend Rachel (Drew Barrymore)- a Greenpeace volunteer - on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle.

Review: ‘Everybody loves whales’. This is a message given a lot in “Big Miracle”. And people have been fascinated by these giant mammals for centuries. The movie is based on a true story, about three whales who trapped in the ice in Alaska in 1988.

Lead role is for John Krasinski, who plays reporter Adam Carlson, who happens to find the whales who are trapped. Soon the whales are worldwide news. To save the whales, a path has to be created to set them free in the ocean. Adam and his ex-girlfriend Rachel, who is a Greenpeace activist, try everything to save them. But it costs money and who is willing to help out?

The story is touching, but the scenario doesn’t really succeed in that area. The base of the film is historically correct but it’s still a movie. Maybe the movie would have been a bit better if it weren’t a film. Some storyline take your attention away from the actual happenings and you really don’t care about all that.

“Big Miracle” does have enough to offer in the end. It will keep the attention of young and old and it was an enjoyable film. It would have been better to keep the focus on the whales, because everybody loves whales.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 144: Dark Shadows

Director: Tim Burton

Genre: Fantasy/ Comedy

Runtime: 113 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee, Alice Cooper, Michael Shannon, Bella Heathcote

Description: An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.

Review: Bringing a vampire story to life is off course perfect for director Tim Burton. His good friend Johnny Depp portrays the leading character Barnabas Collins, who has been obsessed by this character for years. Both actor and director are fans of the series created by Dan Curtis, aired during 1966 and 1971.

In the prologue of “Dark Shadows” we see the history of the Collins family. In 1752 they move from Liverpool to Collinsport, Maine where they earn their money with fish. Son Barnabas becomes the big shot, a man who can get any woman. Everything changes when he breaks the heart of maid Angelique Bouchard, a witch who takes revenge by killing Barnabas’ love Josette and changing him into a vampire. He is buried alive and is freed two centuries later. In 1972 Barnabas sees that Collinwood Manor is a big mess.

Tim Burton made the movie look dark and it’s filled with great décor, beautiful costumes and morbid humor. Depp fits his character perfectly. And Eva Green is a strong opponent. Other character don’t get much room to exploit, but do have their moments. And the plot twist around Chloë Grace Moretz’ character doesn’t really work. “Dark Shadows” is above all the big ‘Johnny Depp show’. The execution doesn’t really meet the expectations we all had. The humor does also lose its edge.

“Dark Shadows” is a perfect movie for both Burton and Depp, with the bizarre characters and macabre setting. It’s still a fun film to watch, but not surprising at all for Tim Burton fans.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: Saddest Deaths on "Sons of Anarchy"

The series finale aired this week and it was epic. I’m sad “Sons of Anarchy” has ended, but I also think it was the right time for it. Some great moments we shared with the guys and we lost some great characters along the way. Here are the five saddest deaths on “Sons of Anarchy”.

5. Bobby Munson (Season 7)

He was probably the most loyal club member of them all. After his finger and eye were taken already, he was shot by August Marks, right in front of Jax and the guys.

 

 

4. Otto Delaney (Season 6)

We know Kurt Sutter killed off many people on the show, but the character he portrays himself probably had the hardest role. His life of torture and suffering was ended by a bunch of guards after Otto killed Lee Toric.

 

 

3. Wayne Unser (Season 7)

I think everyone expected him to die sooner, because he had cancer. But he made it a long way. He was killed by Jax in the episode before the series finale and I hated that. I really wanted Unser to make it to the end.

 

 

2. Juan Carlos ‘Juice’ Ortiz (Season 7)

One of the sweetest characters of the show spend the entire season 7 hiding and running from the club. Juice helped Gemma to cover the murder of Tara. After telling Jax about it when Juice was in jail, he was ready to leave this life. Fellow inmate Tully stabbed him in the neck.

 

 

1. Harry ‘Opie’ Winston (Season 5)

Opie probably died in the most brutal way of them all. The fan favourite died in particularly brutal fashion (a pipe to the back of the head) after volunteering to take one for the team. Epecially his best friend Jax, while they are in prison. It was violent. It was devastating.

 

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: Half-Sack, Piney Winston (Season 4), Donna Winston (Season 1), Gemma Teller (Season 7) Tara Knowles (Season 6), Jax Teller (Season 7)

Video of the Week (30)

Musicals are my guilty pleasure, so whenever a video like this pops up I get really excited. The Australian cast of the musical "The Lion King" decided to sing "The Circle of Life" on a plane. AWESOME!!!

 

Movie Trailer Sunday (167)

Here are this weeks trailers.

Pan

Description: the film follows the story of an orphan who is spirited away to the magical Neverland. There, he finds both fun and dangers, and ultimately discovers his destiny-to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan.

Director: Joe Wright

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Nonso Anozie, Amanda Seyfried, Rooney Mara, Adeel Akhtar, Levi Miller, Jack Charles, Taejoo Na, Kathy Burke, Kurt Egyiawan, Lewis MacDougall, Leni Zieglmeier

Trailer: Trailer "Pan"

Comment: I never liked Peter Pan that much, but this movie looks good.

Terminator Genesys

Description: The year is 2029. John Connor, leader of the resistance continues the war against the machines. At the Los Angeles offensive, John's fears of the unknown future begin to emerge when TECOM spies reveal a new plot by SkyNet that will attack him from both fronts; past and future, and will ultimately change warfare forever.

Director: Alan Taylor

Starring: Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Jai Courntey, Arnold Schwarzenegger, J.K. Simmons, Matt Smith

Trailer: Trailer "Terminator Genesys"

Comment: Not as excited as when the trailer was announced...

Black or White

Description: A grieving widower (Kevin Costner) is drawn into a custody battle over his granddaughter, whom he helped raise her entire life.

Director: Mike Binder

Starring: Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, Anthony Mackie, Jennifer Ehle, Andre Holland, Gillian Jacobs, Bill Burr, Jill Estell

Trailer: Trailer "Black or White"

Comment: Yeah... finally a Kevin Costner movie that might give him an Oscar nomination.

While We're Young

Description: A middle-aged couple's career and marriage are overturned when a disarming young couple enters their lives.

Director: Noah Baumbach

Starring: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver

Trailer: Trailer "While We're Young"

Comment: I love Naomi Watts and I really want to see this film.

Vice

Description: Julian Michaels (Bruce Willis) has designed the ultimate resort: VICE, where anything goes and the customers can play out their wildest fantasies with artificial inhabitants who look, think and feel like humans. When an artificial (Ambyr Childers) becomes self-aware and escapes, she finds herself caught in the crossfire between Julian's mercenaries and a cop (Thomas Jane) who is hell-bent on shutting down Vice, and stopping the violence once and for all.

Director: Brian A. Miller

Starring: Bruce Willis, Thomas Jane, Bryan Greenberg, Ambyr Childers, Johnathon Schaech, Charlotte Kirk, Tyler J. Olsen

Trailer: Trailer "Vice"

Comment: This is probably one of those movies with a great concept and a bad execution.

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 143: Devil's Due

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin

Genre: Horror

Runtime: 89 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Allison Miller, Zach Gilford, Sam Anderson, Roger Payano, Vanessa Ray, Bill Martin Williams, Geraldine Singer, Julia Denton, Colin Walker, Madison Wolfe, Joshue Shane Brooks, Aimee Carrero, Robert Belushi, Donna Duplantier, DeMaris Gordon, Robert Aberdeen, Catherine Kresge, Kurt Krause

Description: After a mysterious, lost night on their honeymoon, a newlywed couple finds themselves dealing with an earlier-than-planned pregnancy.

Review: “Devil’s Due” deals with a newlywed couple that are having a baby earlier than they expected. They are happy, but along the pregnancy strange things start happening to the expecting mother. When reading the synopsis of this film, you think of “Rosemary’s Baby”. With that “Devil’s Due” lacks originality.

The film doesn’t have a constant suspense feel to it, it’s more relying on the element of surprise. The actual jump scares are very rare though. Those moments are very predictable, you know something is going to happen. The sound effects do help to make it a little bit scarier.

The movie is shot with a handheld camera for the most part. This is to give it a more realistic touch, but it doesn’t really work here. And it shows many similarities with “Paranormal Activity”, a movie that did a much better job at scaring the audience. Although the two leading actors do a good job, the movie isn’t scary and original. “Devil’s Due” is a horror film that you should probably ignore.

Rating: 2/ 5