Upcoming Attractions

These are the upcoming movies that I am getting pumped about:


Public Enemies - This is by far my most anticipated of the summer. It puts together three things I could never get enough of Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral, Last of the Mohicans), Christian Bale (TV's Mary,Mother of Jesus, the voice of Thomas in Disney's Pocahontas) and Johnny Depp (Cry Baby, 21 Jump Street). Putting these three together in a movie should be the cinematic equivalent of solving cold fusion.

I am also a big fan of period pieces that actually try to stay true to form. This will not be a Knight's Tale. Mann shot much of the film in parts of Wisconsin that still have a Depression-era feel.

The female lead is Marion Cotillard, from La Vie En Rose, she should add to the film. Giovanni Ribisi is also in the film and I love everything he does, even his role on Friends, hopefully he expands past his type-casting of "slow person" for this role.

I am a bit concerned,however, due to Mike Mann's last movie, Miami Vice, not sure if I blogged about how horrible this film was. Or about my eternal disappointment of Colin Farrell. Either way, while Mann has created Heat, Last of the Mohicans and the Insider. He allowed the ugly, red-headed stepchild of Miami Vice, out of the basement. I will cringe until I am actually in that movie seat.

Public Enemies is set to be released on July 1st.

Bruno- I really liked Borat. I know that Sacha Baron Cohen is definitely a hit or miss type comedian with most fans, but I think that while his movies are outrageous, he is able to show how absurd some Americans are in real life. Released July 10th.


Inglorious Basterds - Quinten Tarintino's WWII flick. Starting Brad Pitt and Ryan "The Temp" from the Office. I always like Tarintino's stuff so I am expecting the same here. Of course, like everything from the past decade, this is a "re-imagination" of a 70's film that will get absolutely no credit. Debuts August 21st.


There will be more movies to discuss, but this is a short list to start with.

Star Trek

Star Trek was really good. I recommend seeing it in theaters. I give it 7.5 Goobers. Great summer action film. The cast worked out well. The story line was entertaining. Go see it.

25 Years Later...

Now, for the second installment of my 3-part Summer Blockbuster Analysis. Today we will be looking at Terminator Salvation. While I can’t say that I liked the movie that much, I can say it was better than the critical beat down it suffered at the hands of journalists and bloggers. The first I heard of the new Terminator movie was at some point two years ago, probably during a theatrical trailer prior to The Dark Knight. I was initially very skeptical about the project, but kept an open-mind.

Pros:
- Sam Worthington, an Australian actor plays the role of Marcus Wright, who is a human turned cyborg. Go figure he was recommended for the role by James Cameron, the visionary who created the first two Terminator movies. We also share a birthday. Look for his next big role in Cameron’s Avatar
- Nice surprise pseudo-cameo towards the end of the film, that’s all I will say
- Moon Bloodgood is gorgeous
- As always, I get way too excited by trailers, especially this one that features NIN: Deceptive!
- Bale digs deep into roles and the added aggression led to his "freak out" on the Director of Photography...which led to the Youtube Dance Remix

Purgatory:
- Ron Howard’s daughter was neither good, nor bad. Just there.

Cons:
- Weak story. The action scenes did not justify a poor plot.
- Bailing on the R rating for $$$.
- Christian Bale mails in his performance, he blends a little Batman voice, with a bit of weight loss and zero emotion. Very disappointing from one of my favorite actors.
- The story did not utilize some of themes from the original Terminator, the movie did not really highlight on the “chase” aspect of the first two and was also void of humor. Humor plays a critical role to the success of the first two films.
- McG did not do much to enhance the quality of this film, he should go back to directing music videos for Korn

After watching this, I made sure to make it up to my eyes/brain/ears by viewing both Terminator & T2. These two films were created in ’84 and ’91, respectively. It was just a disappointment to think of the 25 years that have passed since the original and this is what McG and co. produce. The original Terminator had sooooo much vision and creativity. This film, similar to T3, was destined to fail due to unrealistic expectations. It reminded me of a darker version of Transformers.

Overall: Wait for Redbox/Netflix…or as a cure for Insomnia in 4 years when it is on Spike TV in the 1am to 3am spot.
Alternative: The third installment will give you one alternative. Another is to rent one of the first two Terminator films, make sure to check for the James Cameron seal of approval.

Terminator Salvation
“The End Begins.”
Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Other People…including annoying Michael Cera knock-off Anton Yelchin
Directed by McG
Written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris (Catwoman & Primeval…should have known…to be fair they did write The Game)
Run time: 115 mins
Shot in: New Mexico

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438488/
terminatorsalvation.warnerbros.com



5 Goobers. Uninspired.