Summer Movie Preview 2013

May 1st is soon upon us, which means its time to break down what to look forward to and what to look forward to being disappointed by in the summer movie season. There is a lot to cover this year, so lets get to it.

May 1st:

Iron Man 3- The first Marvel movie since the Avengers, and possibly the last Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man solo film. Jon Favreau steps aside for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang director Shane Black. Ben Kingsley costars as The Mandarin.  Guy Pierce and Rebecca Hall also join RDJ, Don Cheadle, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

May 10th:

The Great Gatsby- This Leonardo DiCaprio take on the classic tale was delayed from last Oscar season for unknown reasons. Director Baz Luhrman is incredibly hit or miss, if he hits (Moulin Rouge) he is great, but when he misses (Australia), the results are catastrophic. Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton costar.

May 15th:

Star Trek Into Darkness- The second part of JJ Abrams planned Star Trek trilogy (we'll see how him taking over Star Wars affects his completion of the trilogy) looks a great bit darker than the first. We get Benedict Cumberbatch as villain John Harrison, and while we don't know much about the plot, the trailers are fantastic.

May 24th:

Fast and Furious 6- The final chapter in what Vin Diesel called "the second trilogy" of the F&F films. Dwayne Johnson returns as tracker Luke Hobbs, and while he was the best thing about 5, the film as a whole was the first since the original to be classified as good.

The Hangover Part III- The final chapter (sorry, it just keeps happening) of what director Todd Phillips claims "was always a trilogy" sees the wolf pack return to Las Vegas. Considering how bad Part II was, this can only trend upwards. All the main cast members return.

Only God Forgives- Ryan Gosling reunites with his Drive director Nicholas Winding Refn for this film of which little is known. The IMDB summary indicates Ryan Gosling plays a criminal in the Bangkok underground who seeks revenge on his brothers killer. Kristin Scott Thomas costars.

May 31st:

After Earth- M. Night Shyamalan returns from a necessary hiatus to direct this Will and Jaden Smith vehicle about a father and son who crash land on a ruined Earth. While Will Smith is front and center in the marketing, it appears to be Jaden's film.

Now You See Me- A great cast (Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, and Michael Caine) star in this film about a team of magicians (Eisenberg, Fisher, Harrelson, and Dave Franco) who rob banks in the middle of the their act and give the money to the audience. The preview leaves much to be desired.

June 12th:

This is the End- A comedic take on the classic end of the world film, this one takes place at a party at James Franco's house, where the surviving members of the party (Franco, Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride) try to survive when the world outside their door ends. Also stars Rihanna, Michael Cera, Aziz Ansari, Emma Watson, and plenty of other members of young hollywood.

June 14th:

Man of Steel- Zach Snyder and Christopher Nolan's take on Superman finally arrives. Personally, I am not a huge fan of Superman, but the marketing for this film is top notch and makes me very excited for it. Hopefully DC's want for a Justice League movie doesn't get in the way of letting this film stand on its own.

June 21st:

World War Z- Another film pushed back from Oscar season last year, apparently the ending was garbage and the effects needed to be retooled, but Marc Forester has been very solid in his other films, and Brad Pitt usually makes smart decisions. Getting to be a bit much with the zombies though.

Monsters University- The long awaited follow up to the hit Pixar film.

June 28th:

White House Down- The second white house takeover movie of the last few months, this one stars Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx as the rescuer and POTUS, respectively. Roland Emmerich directs.

The Heat- Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy team up as a buttoned up FBI agent (Bullock) and a reckless homicide detective (McCarthy) to take down a drug dealer. From Bridesmaids director Paul Feig.

July 3rd:

Despicable Me 2- The sequel to the animated hit.

Lone Ranger- Gore Verbinski re teams with his Pirates star Johnny Depp for this retooling of the Lone Ranger told from Tonto's perspective. Armie Hammer costars as the Lone Ranger.

July 12th:

Pacific Rim-Finally, Guillermo Del Toro directs a film again. This one is about giant robots created to battle a species of monster that attacks from under the sea. Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunham and Ron Perlman star alongside Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day as well as Idris Elba. 

Grown Ups 2- Apparently someone out there wanted a sequel to the Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and Chris Rock vehicle. My guess is David Spade and Rob Schneider want (need) it more than anyone.

July 19th:

R.I.P.D.- Ryan Reynolds stars as a hot shot cop killed in duty, just to find out he was recruited by an afterlife police force and paired with a Wild West lawman to bring down those who won't stay dead. From Red director Robert Schwentke. The first trailer makes the film look like Van Helsing meets Men in Black, with way too much Van Helsing.

Red 2- Ironic that the director of the first film has his next movie debut on the same day as the sequel to his first big hit? Dean Parisot takes over directing as the old crew comes out of retirement...again.

July 26th:

The Wolverine- Hugh Jackman returns as Logan for the 5th time in the most misunderstood film I can remember. It was widely reported to be a prequel to the trilogy and take place in feudal China, you know, Wolverine vs Samurais. But when the first trailer came out...well apparently its not a prequel and takes place in modern day....so its Wolverine vs the Yakuza. And to be honest, it sounded much cooler before.

August 2nd:

300: Rise of an Empire- Noam Murro takes over the directing duties from Zach Snyder in this prequel to 300. This tells the story of the rise of Xerxes' Persian empire and his domination of the sea.

2 Guns- Not a lot of information on this film, other than Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg teaming up and shooting things, lots of things.

August 7th:

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters- This sequel to the underwhelming first film tells the continued story of Percy and his demigod friends.

August 9th:

Elysium- If you haven't seen the trailer for this film, Neil Blomkamps follow up to District 9, I suggest going and checking it out right now, because its fantastic and can't be described. Matt Damon and Jodie Foster star.

August 16th:

Kick-Ass 2- This follow up to the hit off beat super hero film follows the same group of heroes as they are hunted by Red Mist. Jim Carrey costars.


Well those are the notables. My five most anticipated are as follows:

5. Man of Steel
4. Pacific Rim
3. Iron Man 3
2. Elysium
1. Star Trek into Darkness.


-Maximus

50 Movies to See Before you Die-Jurassic Park

In the next installment of our 50 Movies to See Before you Die series, we tackle one of the most groundbreaking and original films of all time, Jurassic Park. It seemed a fitting time to talk about JP as the film was just released again in 3D and Imax. I saw it thirteen times in theaters when it originally came out, and added one more to my list so I could see it in all its large, technical glory once again. The re-release of the film highlights one of its greatest achievements, that it still holds up 20 years later.

Lets start with a brief summary of the film in case you have been living under a rock for the last two decades. The film is about an amusement park magnate named John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) who employs scientists and billions of dollars to create the ultimate zoo, a zoo full of creatures long extinct. Before the park opens, he must get a paleontologist and paleobotanist (Sam Neill and Laura Dern respectively), and a mathematician (Jeff Goldblum) to sign off on the park so the lawyers and investors can fully understand what Hammond and his team have accomplished. However when a disgruntled employee sabotages the system to steal dinosaur embryos, the visitors and employees of the park must go from surveying to surviving as the dinosaurs run free.

While the main plot of the film is about survival and it becomes a effective and amazing horror film once the dinosaurs are let loose, the backbone of the film is the knowledge and dialogue backing up the visuals. While I am not saying the way they recreate the dinosaurs is 100% accurate (considering this is currently impossible), they do a convincing job of making you forget the implausible. In addition the conversations between the doctors and the creators and the scientists are fast, smart, and impeccably delivered by some great acting performances. In addition to the four actors already mentioned, you get great performances from Joe Mazzello and Ariana Richards as Hammond's grandchildren, Bob Peck as the big game hunter turned raptor enthusiast, and Samuel L. Jackson in one of his early roles as the park engineer.

While we are still early in the series, this is the second film by director Steven Spielberg to make the list, and it won't be the last. Spielberg had a banner year in 1995, winning Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for Schinder's List, and three more technical Oscars for Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park was a visual marvel for its time, one of the first films to use CGI, but Spielberg knows better than most when to use CGI and when classic puppetry and animatronics were necessary. JP is one of my favorite films, and is without a doubt the movie I have seen the most times, but it never gets old or stale, and if somehow you have not seen it up until this point, come over and we'll watch it together.

-Maximus

50 Movies to See Before you Die – Patton

Obviously we are not bias just favoring newer movies that were created during our generation, as both Maximus and myself are from a more recent generation, missing out on some of the great of all time.  Thankfully they were recorded and most transferred to DVD for our viewing pleasure.  So though this movie is not as ancient as a few of the movies that have made the list, let’s just say I wasn’t even a thought in my parent’s minds when this movie was released.

Patton is a biographical depiction of George S. Patton and his triumphs and misgivings throughout World War II.  Patton was by far one of America’s top Generals in WWII and showed it time and time again as he rolled his tank division through Africa, Italy, and then into the Fatherland itself.

Throughout the film, Patton is shown as a fearless and brilliant General who’s outspoken and order defying behavior leads him into losing his command more than once.  The film begins with a brief monologue and then moves to Africa where Patton begins his path to victory.  He itched to go head to head with Ernest Rommel, one of the most revered tacticians of the Third Reich.  He does not get that chance in Africa which makes his victory there bittersweet for him.  This alone shows the man’s competitiveness and his warriors thirst for battle against the best and the glory he would win if given the chance.  He finds himself in trouble because of his outspoken behavior so is forced to follow a British commander into Italy instead of leading himself.  Next he defies orders through his actions by dominating his opposition and rolling in to conquer cities ahead of his slow moving British counterpart.  So he wins glory again but finds himself sitting out on one of the biggest invasion in history, D-Day.  After awhile though the heads of the US forces in Europe could not keep his talent out of the fight so they give him the Third Army, which he forms into one of the most crack divisions in the US Army.  He becomes a juggernaut, pounding into the enemy lines, rolling through France and other occupied territories until he drives his tanks right into Germany itself.   

George S. Patton was played by, and don’t get confused now, George C. Scott.  Scott was so perfect in this role, much different than the type of characters he played in his other movies in my opinion, that he was nominated for Best Actor.  He refused the Oscar nomination with a letter saying “The whole thing is a go***** meat parade.  I don’t want any part of it.”  Evidently his performance was too outstanding to be denied as he went on to win the award for Best Actor.  He did not accept it and it is now in the Virginia Military Institute museum in Lexington, Virginia.

Since this was a historical movie, I did mention some of the events that happen throughout the movie.  I mean we all know who won, right?  What you may not know much about is one of the main figures behind America’s eventual victory over the tyranny of the Nazi Third Reich.  I would highly recommend taking a few hours on a weekend sometime and watching Patton, especially if you enjoy history.  If you do, you won’t be sorry.  Make sure to let us know what you thought of the movie!

-Diomedes

50 Movies to See Before you Die- Seven

In our next installment of the 50 Movies to See Before you Die, we are going to talk about David Fincher's amazing, terrifying, twisted, and excellent Gothic masterpiece, Seven. Seven stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as Detective Mills and Somerset, respectively. Detective Mills is a new transfer and is set to replace Detective Somerset, who is a few weeks away from retirement. Those plans are complicated when a serial killer begins murdering victims according to the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, pride, and lust.

What makes Seven so spectacular is that you cannot define its genre, it has equal parts horror, thriller, noir, and even some buddy cop elements. It has the best parts of films like Chinatown, Silence of the Lambs, and Lethal Weapon while still maintaining its own unique identity. Each crime is more shocking than the previous one, and as the murders get more depraved, the hunt for clues intensifies. The acting in the film is top notch, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman turn in performances that defined their careers, and Gwyneth Paltrow really shines in her first big film role.

Fincher's direction is nothing short of amazing. In his first big film since Alien 3, he was not afraid to fail, he went for uniqueness and shots that served the film better than most could have imagined. The film is expertly written by Andrew Kevin Walker, whose only other big film screenplay credits are the underrated Sleepy Hollow and 8mm, as well as the terrible update of The Wolfman. It would have been easy for Walker and Fincher to lighten the film up or water down the material to make it more palatable, but they wisely stuck with their ideas and made one of the great thrillers in film history.

Any conversation about Seven though really needs to focus on the ending of the film. This is were we get into spoiler territory, but I will not reveal anything that would ruin the film as knowing the ending would diminish the remainder of the film. But while the film is billed as a "whodunit" throughout most of the run time, when the killer is revealed, you discover that sometimes big stars take small parts when they know they are dealing with A+ material. And the shocking ending of the film will make you remember that not every director ends his films with a neatly wrapped, shiny bow. This is truly a climax you will never forget.

Like my previously reviewed Saving Private Ryan, and Diomedes' reviewed The Shawshank Redemption, Seven is a new classic, a film of the last twenty years that will be etched in the memory of those who have seen it forever. I cannot recommend this amazing piece of cinema enough.

-Maximus

50 Movies to See Before you Die – The Shawshank Redemption

As Maximus has pointed out, we are starting our trek through the top 50 movies you have to see before you die.  These are in no certain order and are not to be confused with the best movies of all time, though there would be many similarities were you to compare the two lists.  The Shawshank Redemption is one that most certainly would be one of those similarities.  If I had to guess, I would guess this movie makes 90% of the top 10 movie lists that have been created.  It is an excellent story filled with explicit details of life in prison with all the brutality and comradery that goes into serving a life sentence.

This movie started as a Stephen King thriller.  Unlike most Stephen King books, there is nothing supernatural about it except the will of an innocent man to make a life for himself in prison and never give up hope.  Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, is a framed banker whose wife was sleeping around and got shot while cheating on Andy.  Andy is such a distant type of person that he completely looks guilty and like a man devoid of emotions.  The movie continues on with narration by another inmate, Red, who is played by Morgan Freeman.  Without spoiling anything I will only continue by saying it follows Andy’s and Red’s interactions and hones in on an inmate’s chance at ultimate redemption.

I will be the first to say that I am not a Tim Robbins fan.  But I will also be the first to say that no one could have played this part better.  You never really like his character because he is distant and a little creepy but wow, do you feel sorry for the guy.  And even though he is not a character you would think to champion, you are totally rooting for him the by the middle and end of the movie.  Morgan Freeman, as we all know, has an excellent voice for narration.  Even though he is a character in the movie, he narrates at parts that are placed perfectly though out the movie because had it just been dialogue with the characters of the scene, it would not of had half of the impact that Morgan brings to you in his mellow voice while some horrific action is going to take place on screen. 

Not so well known Frank Darabont hit a home run directing this movie and was nominated for his Best Adapted Screenplay of the Stephen King novel.  He actually went on to Direct another Stephen King novel “The Green Mile” which was another excellent story which unfortunately didn’t make our top 50 list.  Composed by Thomas Newman, who was also nominated for Best Original Score, the score worked perfectly with the different emotions of the film.  Maximus mentions in his post about Saving Private Ryan that it was one of the biggest mistakes in Oscar history with it losing out to numerous different movies like Shakespeare in Love for Best Picture and Hanks to Benigni for Best Actor.  I completely agree with him.  But I do have to say that Hanks had a little redemption of his own back in 1994 with Forrest Gump as it dominated the Oscars the same year Shawshank was up for 7 different nominations.  Shawshank won none of them and Forrest Gump (which you will see later as it made the list) went on to win 6 including Best Picture and the Best Actor award for Tom Hanks.  If you were to put Shawshank in a different weaker year, I think it would have taken home at least a few awards.  But hey there is no shame losing to Forrest Gump in my opinion!

Alright, if you haven’t seen it, go watch it right now…I mean right now…what are you waiting for?  Now!!!!  If you have then share with us what you thought!

-Diomedes

50 Movies to See Before you Die- Saving Private Ryan

In the first entry of our 50 movies to see before you die series, I wanted to choose a film that really, really struck me, one that I never go long without thinking about, and one that made me appreciate film exponentially more than I did the day before seeing it. I chose Saving Private Ryan, starring Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Ed Burns, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper, and Giovanni Ribisi. The film is directed by Steven Spielberg, and won the Best Directing Oscar. The film follows a squad of soldiers who just survived Dday (Hanks, Sizemore, Burns, Diesel, Pepper, Ribisi, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies) who are sent on a mission to go retrieve a soldier deep in the heart of Germany. This soldier, a Private Ryan (Damon) is one of four sons, and his three brothers were killed in the war. The military wants to send him home alive so his parents can have one of their four sons come back. The film takes you on the search for Private Ryan, and also the search each member of the squad has internally, why does this man get to go home? Why are we risking our lives for one man when we also have parents wishing we would come home? As the squad goes from one dangerous situation to the next, losing some of their squad mates along the way, this struggle becomes even more evident.

Now that the main foundation of the film is set, lets talk about why its an absolute must see for everyone. War films have been around forever, and there have been amazing and brutal and realistic war films before this one. But with SPR, today's technology combined with Spielberg's amazing talent give you the most realistic and gut-wrenching portrayal of war we'll ever see. The opening sequence, taking place on the beaches of Normandy, is a heart breaking experience that will stick with you forever. The first time I saw the film, myself and a friend went with my Aunt, and I will never forget her sobbing and the way her nails dug into my arm as she tried to stomach the authenticity and brutality of what she was witnessing. Now, for some people, this is a reason not to see the movie, but like another Spielberg film that will be on this list, Schindler's List, sometimes you have to gut it out to witness something equal parts amazing and terrifying. The remainder of the film is not quite a shockingly violent, but it continues to crush your soul as you get to know the members of this squad and watch some of them die for their mission. One scene in particular, and this will be a mild spoiler, has Giovanni Ribisi's medic talking to Hanks' Captain, explaining a broken relationship with his mother, and how some nights she would work all day and come home, just wanting to talk to him, but he would pretend to be asleep, and he doesn't know why he did this. The next day when he is shot and knows there is nothing that can be done to save him, he screams "mama" while dying.

Once you get past the authenticity and the film's true devotion to showing you what soldiers in WWII went through, you can really appreciate other parts of the film as well. The acting is top notch. All the actors mentioned already plus small parts from actors like Ted Danson and Paul Giamatti give fantastic performances. Spielberg films SPR with an eye that only he has, the editing, cinematography, and general look of the film are amazing. John Williams' brings his A game for the score, and delivers a score so poignant and perfect, just hearing it will allow you to picture what scene it was in.

Unfortunately, SPR was the victim of the biggest mistake in Oscar history, giving Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love over SPR, and Actor to Robert Benigni over Tom Hanks is quite a travesty on its own. SPR is not without fault. As its critics will tell you it has one, very large continuity error with the way the narration is framed, but there are many reasons for this, and I will not get into it specifically as to not spoil it.

Saving Private Ryan is a film experience you will never, ever forget. It is gripping, amazing, brutal, and honest, and is one of the absolute best films I have ever seen. Let us know your thoughts of SPR in the comments section, we would love to hear from people who had not seen SPR prior to reading this. Check back later this week for the first entry in this series from Diomedes.

-Maximus

The 50 Movies to See Before you Die

For a long time we have batted around the idea of doing a list of 50 films you have to see before you die, not the 50 greatest films ever, not our 50 favorite films, but the ones that everyone needs to see. Well we have finally been able to hammer out that list. Starting this week we will each be discussing one movie off our list per week. We would love to hear from you in the comments, do you agree with our choices? Are we insane? How could Citizen Kane not make this list? Just remember, these are the 50 films we feel you need to see, and more importantly experience, to really appreciate where cinema can take us. We hope you enjoy reading these discussions as much as we enjoy having them.

-Maximus