Inception - Trailer

I've never heard of this movie before but it seems kind of crazy.  The trailer leaves me a little bit lost but very interested.  Not quite sure what to make of this beast.

Inception Trailer

Title: Inception
Release Date: 16 July 2010
Genre: Action
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan
Studio: Warner Brothers

Plot:
A CEO-type becomes involved in a blackmailing scandal.

I think that I will need to see another trailer before I decide wether or not I will see this or not.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

I just finished this book and it's been a long time coming.  I think my dad got it for me about 3 months ago, and I've been dying to read it.  Dan Brown is probably my favorite contemporary mystery thrill writer.  I absolutely love his writing style.  He keeps his chapters short and each one ends in a cliffhanger that keeps you reading and wanting more.

The Lost Symbol is a continuation of the series involving the character Robert Langdon, a Cambridge professor of symbology.  The first two books about Langdon were Angels & Demons and the world famous The DaVinci Code.  Both are excellent and I recommend that you read them.

In the Lost Symbol, Langdon is tricked into coming to Washington D.C. were he brought into a world of world of secrets by an ancient symbolic invitation.  With the government breathing down his neck and his friend facing imminent death, he is forced into a crazy thrilling journey into conspiracy theories and ancient wisdom.

The book is excellent.  The villain is the craziest one yet.  A man so smart that he has gone off his rocker just a little bit.  There are more puzzles, intrigue, and death than ever before.  The twist at the end, no one will see coming.  The only problem that I had with the book is that the plot and the mystery ended at around page 450 but the book continued on for another 50-60 pages trying to explain stuff that wasn't relevant to the plot.  Up until then, I was completely hooked.

Rating: 4.5★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation: This book is awesome.  I think everyone should read this book and it's predecessors.  The only reason the book loses half a star is for the drawn out 50 last pages.

Toy Story 3: First look Scene

I've seen the first two toy stories and they were Pixar perfection.  I have no doubt that this third one will be just as ballin for people of all ages.  I'm excited.  There's going to be dramarama in this one.  It appears that this movie is kind of the opposite of the 2nd.  In the second Woody gets sold and everyone else tries to save him.  In this movie, the other toys are accidently thrown out and Woody has to save them.

Title: Toy Story 3
Release Date: 18 June 2010
Genre: Animation
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, John Ratzenberger, Joan Cusack, Michael Keaton
Director: Lee Unkrich
Writers: Michael Arndt
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Plot:
Woody, Buzz, and the rest of their toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, departs for college.

Check out the Scene

I will most likely see this in theatres and I will probably have a movie marathon before it.

Kick-Ass - Hit Girl: Trailer

Holy Shnikees!  This trailer is frickin awesome!  Maybe it's the fact that a little kid is kicking the shit out of bad guys, or the fact that she is cursing up a storm.  I don't know but it get's my blood pumping.  Check out this trailer (Warning:  It is a mature trailer so youngins shouldn't watch) you will not regret it.  I would like to clarify that Hit Girl is just one character in the movie and not the main character, though she might be my favorite because of this trailer.

Hit Girl

Release Date: 16 April 2010
Genre: Action | Comedy
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, Lyndsy Fonseca
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Jane Goldman, Mark Millar
Studio: Lionsgate

Plot:
Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

I want to see this movie already.  I will definitely see this in theatres.  I just showed the trailer to my brother and he says it looks weird.  He doesn't want to see it.  I guess guys just can't handle a women in charge.

Daybreakers - Scenes

The world has this crazy obsession with Vampires right now.  Don't quite get it.  I mean I get the Twilight thing cause that's tween love at it's best.  Now everything is vampire this, Vampire that.  It's almost exhausting.  Daybreakers seems like an interesting story.  Humans escaping the growing vampire population.  I've found a few scenes.  There are good and bad things about releasing scenes.  The good is that you feel like you get to know characters a little bit better before you see them in theatres.  The bad, they don't always portray the movie the best way out of context and when you actually see the movie they can be annoying to re-watch.  I recommend that you watch the scenes in order.

Release Date: 8 January 2010
Genre: Action | Horror
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig, Isabel Lucas, Claudia Karvan
Writer: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Studio: Lionsgate

Plot:
In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.

The Accident

Birthday Party

Attack!

It's got an interesting plot.  It reminds me of the Matrix only with vampires.  I liked the Matrix, but I could see this movie becoming extremely corny.  They will really need to amp up the action on this.  Probably won't see this unless someone else tells me it's awesome.  Let me know what you think in the comments.

The Karate Kid - Trailer

So if you haven't heard Will Smith is doing a remake of the Karate Kid and He is using his son Jaden as the main character, Dre Parker, and Jackie Chan as the Mr. Miyagi figure, Mr. Han.  I have yet to see anything on this, but I just found the trailer.  Should be exciting.  Click the link to see the Trailer.

Watch the Trailer

Release Date: 11 June 2010
Genre: Action | Drama
Cast: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson
Director: Harald Zwart
Writer: Michael Soccio

Plot:
Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the boy embraces kung fu, taught to him by a master.

The remake isn't an exact copy, but I wasn't sure how they were going to do that anyway.  It seems like they are taking the most important elements and modernizing them, and making the story cross-cultural.  So far what I see I like.  Although there was one part in the trailer where Chan's character says the only way to stop them is to face them.  I'm pretty sure Mr. Miagi would never have said that.  He was the world's ultimate pacifist.  The main character seems a little young to me too.  I mean, Daniel Larusso was a high school kid, Dre Parker is probably just reaching middle school.  I don't know if I will see this in theatres because I don't have an unlimited budget, but I guarantee you that I will see it eventually.

Sex and the City 2: Trailer

So I think that I am going to take this blog in a new direction.  So far I have been only reviewing movies, but from here on out I will also be bringing you trailers and letting you know what I think of them, and whether or not I plan on seeing them.  I will also hopefully have a book review for you soon, so keep your eyes out for Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol.  The first trailer review I bring you is Sex and the City 2.


Check it out:


Now I wasn't much of a show fan.  Actually I am not and never was a fan of the show.  However I did see the 1st movie and was pleasantly surprised by it.  Now that I have seen the trailer I am intrigued by the second movie.  People who get paid the big bucks to make trailers sure are good at what they do.  I think this trailer looks awesome.  It's very sleek and hip.  It will be interesting to see the girls outside of New York.  The whole premise of the show and first movie was finding love IN New York City.  I will probably see this movie.

ROBsessed

Ok, I know what you're thinking.  Why on earth did I watch this?  I got it as a birthday present.  I love R Patz but I probably wouldn't have bought this on my own.

ROBsessed is a documentary of Superstar Robert Pattinson's life.  It has some great photos, good sources and an indepth look at where his fame began.  Believe it or not, this guys story is what every young actor out there dreams about.  One day he's a brooding musician, playing gigs at open mic nights and the next he's Edward Cullen, a heartthrob vampire in one of the world's biggest movie franchises ever.

The documentary pretty much gushes over how pretty he is and how he came from humble beginnings with a taste for dramatic acting and music.  There is no RAW footage of R.Pattz at all.  Neither he nor his family or any of his costars are interviewed.  Some of his early indy directors, a playhouse director and photographers are interviewed, but no one truly close to him.  I was a little disappointed that we didn't actually see R.Pattz in his natural habitat, just had people talking about it.  That being said it is an eye opening documentary in the sense that you do feel like you know him a little bit better by the end.

Rating: 1.0★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation: Only diehard fans will get real enjoyment out of this documentary.  Buy it only for those who truly are ROBsessed.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Three Months out of the year the Trans-Siberian Orchestra goes on tour.  Their show consists of a Christmas based story that is narrated by one of the greatest voices of our time, a deep compelling voice that can lull anyone into a trance, and music accompaniment in the form of Christmas Rock.  There are original songs from the orchestra and remakes of Christmas classics with a rock twist to them.

The show is complete with an excellent light show, beyond excellent vocals, and tons of pyrotechnics.  The fire alarms went off in the arena as everyone was exiting.  That just goes to show you how intense the whole show is.  Crowd participation is important, so be prepared to cheer, holler and cat-call whenever possible.

Rating: 4.0★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation: This is a great show that's fun for the whole family.  It's rock, but not so hard core that a grandma wouldn't enjoy.  If it comes to your town, see it!  Tickets might get a little costly, but it's worth the 3+ hours of a show that you will get.

Jennifer's Body

I had a lot of trouble figuring out Jennifer’s Body.  At first I thought I was laughing at the movie because everything was so ridiculous, but I talked to people and remembered to take in who wrote the movie.  Diablo Cody (Juno) wrote a very unique movie.  It’s a satirical spoof of horror films as well as a social commentary.

Needy (Amanda Seyfried) is best friends with Jennifer (Megan Fox) who is the hottest, most popular girl in school.  Everything is fine in their small town until an Indy band passes through.  They take an interest in Jennifer.  They need to sacrifice a virgin for a ritual that will make the band rich and famous, and Jennifer is their choice, but little did they know that Jennifer isn’t even a “backdoor virgin.”  The band gets what they want, but what they leave is a demon in the form of Jennifer.  Now she must feast on the flesh of humans to stay strong and beautiful.

The dialogue is great because it is so ridiculous and extremely quotable.  I laughed through the whole thing.  There were moments of suspense and even some spots that make you jump.  Megan Fox did a great representation of a high-strung high school girl.  It’s hard to believe that she says she was never actually popular in high school.  The photography was excellent.  There were a lot of unique camera angles and wide variety of shots.  The whole film was very visually interesting.  There was one make out scene in the middle of the movie was quite random, but guys will love it.

Rating: 3.0★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation: This is a fun movie for those who don’t like scary movies.  There is a little something for everyone, but it’s more directed towards young adults.  I don’t think older generations will get a lot of the jokes.  It would make an good rental choice.

Twilight Saga New Moon

O Twilight, how tweens and twi-moms love the.  New Moon was a definite step up from it's predecessor Twilight, and audiences around the country agree.  In it's first night it racked up $140.7 million making it the 3rd most attended midnight showing in the history of movies behind The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3, and just in front of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (that's ridiculous, and twice as much as Twilight).  What is more surprising is that that movie only took $50 million to make.  They made a profit in it's premiere hours.  So far the movie has sold close to $220 million in tickets.

Now I bought my ticket about 2 months in advance on fandango and was right there for the midnight showing.  I loved the movie, but that's because I love the story.  So saying that, I will try my best to give an objective review.  Here we go...

New Moon is the sequel to Twilight, and the movie opens in one of Bella's (Kristen Stewart) dreams on the dawn of her birthday.  She doesn't want to get older since her vampire love, Edward (Robert Pattinson) can't age.  The Cullens throw Bella a birthday party, and all hell breaks loose when she gets surprisingly bloody paper cut that sends Jasper on the attack.  Edward decides it's in Bella's best interest to leave and let her live a normal life.  This sends Bella into a depression where she can only find peace in her friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner).  But Jacob starts acting weird and disappears for a while.  It turns out that Jacob has a special Quillette gene that turns him into a Werewolf who hunts vampires.  Bella is still hung up on Edward and sees visions of him whenever she does something dangerous.  Edward learns of one of her daredevil attempts, thinks she's died and decides that he no longer wants to live.  Now it's up to Bella: stay with Jacob or rescue Edward.

New Moon had a new director, Chris Weitz, who also directed films like The Compass.  Depending on what review you read, he either did a horrible or a terrific job.  I'm following the latter.  He did a much better job of portraying vampires running, and he was good for all the animation that they used.  The acting was better too, but only slightly.  I'm not sure if any director can get Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson to jell on screen.  If they do have a relationship, why don't they translate that to the screen.  On the other hand, Kristen and Taylor Launter had tons of chemistry.  The feel of the movie was much warmer, but the pacing was off for most of it.  Drama was drawn out where it didn't necessarily need to be.  I didn't notice this the first time cause I was so amped to see it, but the second time it was pretty clear.  Lautner was topless for half the movie which will have young girls (and cougar moms) squealing everywhere.

Rating: 2.7 ★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation: Boys, take your girls to this movie (unless you are insecure about your body). This is the yet another perfect tween movie, but if your not a fan already, I'm not convinced that the films will do it for you.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Ah, Transformers...what can I say? It brings out the little boy in all of us. Just the name, Optimus Prime, makes boys everywhere giggle like school girls.

Ah, Michael Bay...what can I say? He can make anything explode. Just the sound of his name sends crashes and bangs to my ears. He makes audiences everywhere “Ooooooh” and “Aaaaaaaah” with his high intensity actions sequences.

Here’s the deal with Transformers, you have to judge it on two scales: 1) compared to other feature films 2) compared to Michael Bay films. I have included 2 star ratings to justify the film for both scales. Most women will judge by the first, and from my experience, most men judge by the second.

The movie was essentially a 2 1/2 hour action sequence. I saw it at midnight, and frankly, I wanted to fall asleep because I got so action bored. In order for action to be awesome and exciting, there needs to be breaks, to allow the audience to catch up. I became numb to the action after the first hour and a half.

For all you drooling men out there waiting to hear about Megan Fox, here you go...

I was a little bit upset by how much she was objectified in this movie. In the first half hour, there wasn’t a single scene with her in it that didn’t include a full body tilt. I get it, she’s hot, whatever. Her acting was acceptable.

Shia LaBeouf sported a hand injury for a car accident in real life that had to be worked into the film. It worked out. His acting was by far the best in the film. He didn't have much to work with dialogue wise, but he worked it nonetheless.

Don’t get me started on the dialogue. If negative dialogue is the equation dialogue - explosions = total dialogue then this movie would be so far negative that it would reach the bowels of hell. Sure it was cute and funny in the beginning, but it had nothing to offer the story. (Ha, STORY!)

Rating: 2.0 ★ stars (out of 5)

Michael Bay Rating: 6.0 ★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation: If you're not seeing it at midnight, at the IMAX, or are a man reliving his youth, then there's no need to see it. Renting it when it comes to the RedBox will be just fine, just make sure you have a big TV and preferably HD.

Yes Man!

How many opportunities are missed simply because we say “No” to a simple suggestion?  Yes Man is a not so serious movie with a thought-provoking undertone that would have been better suited as a serious film as apposed to a comedy.

Yes Man star Jim Carrey plays Carl Allen, a recently divorced man whose life has been stuck in a rut for several months.  He says no to everything, which has lead to the neglect of his friends, work and personal wellbeing.  It takes an old acquaintance to get him to question, whether or not this “No” life is what he wants.  As a result Carl attends a “YES!” conference where he makes a covenant with himself to say “Yes” to everything.

At first his “yes” ventures seem to lead him only to trouble, but as Carl begins to embrace the concept, more positive results start pouring in, like a new girlfriend, and a promotion at work.  But nothing good lasts forever.  Carl must learn that the classic rule of “everything in moderation” the hard way.  You shouldn’t say yes because you have to, you should say it because you want to.

Zooey Deschanel plays Allison, Carl’s love interest.  Allison is a classic Deschanel character, quirky and against the grain.  I love this character.  Maybe its because I feel I can relate to it, but whatever it is, Deschanel plays it perfectly.

Carrey did everything that he possibly could with his role, but still the film felt lacking.  The laughs were cheap and not well thought out.  I feel as though so much more could have been done with this movie, but instead it decided to skate by

Rating: 2.0 ★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation:  Wait until this comes to TNT or USA.  I wouldn’t see it in a theatre or at least not for full price.  It’s a good movie to watch with the family.

Role Models

What do you get when you cross an ultra depressed man and an extremely chipper sex-crazed co-worker?  You get a classic comedy duo and two very unlikely role models.  Paul Rudd plays Danny, a seriously depressing man, who despises his job as a representative of the energy drink company set to keep kids off drugs, Minotaur.  Scott plays Danny’s co-worker Wheeler, a frat boy who never grew up.

The drama begins when Danny’s girlfriend breaks up with him.  His day continually gets worse resulting in a nervous breakdown that leads both Danny and Wheeler into trouble.  What kind of trouble?  The kind you get when you mount a Minotaur truck on a high school’s Trojan statue.

The two men are sentenced to 60 hours of community service at the mentor program Sturdy Wings.  The men are matched with two troubled kids whose back-stories are as unique as they come.  A dark undertone sets the stage but the laughs mask any unfriendly feelings.

Role Models is one of the most quotable movies that I have ever seen.  Stupid humor and sarcasm litter the dialogue.

Rating: 3.5 ★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation:  The film is definitely aimed at the college and young professional demographic.  Males everywhere will love the film, and I would recommend it as a date movie.