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“Astro Boy” is the 2009 American computer-animated 3-D film based on the highly successful Japanese franchise of the same name by Osamu Tezuka. It is being produced by Imagi Animation Studios, the animation production company of “TMNT” and the upcoming “Gatchaman”. “Astro Boy” will be directed by David Bowers (”Flushed Away”) amd Freddie Highmore (”The Spiderwick Chronicles”) will provide the voice for the main character.
The plot for the film follows Astro Boy, a young robot who lives in Metro City who has incredible powers. AAstro Boy was created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving man’s expectations, Astro Boy embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the father who had rejected him.
The trailer looks really remarkable and I am thinking that this movie could be a surprise hit if the script is original. So far 2009 is shaping up to be a big year for animation and films in general! Watch the movie trailer for “Astro Boy” below:
I was apprehensive about all of the hype and buzz that surrounds “Twilight” at first. But there are some major differences between these vampires and Bram Stokers famous blood sucker. This cute little romance sticks to the love story between its leads instead concentrating on the blood and guts aspect of vampire mythology. Sure this film and the book are toned down for its millions of tween girl fans, but the pacing is well timed enough for adults to get sucked into the unfolding mellow drama.
“Twilight is the first movie of the “Twilight” book series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella “Bella” Swan who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington, and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. The first novel is followed by “New Moon”, “Eclipse”, and “Breaking Dawn”. The first filmed book in the series follows Bella and Edward as they fall in love with most of the action packed scenes taking place towards the tail end of the movie.
“Twilight” is a love story at its core but the most refreshing thing about this film is its witty underlined sense of humor and creative twists on vampire lore. Edward and his family of vampires are not like the “burst into flames at the first light of day” blood suckers you see in most movies. These vampires call themselves “vegetarian” because they don’t eat humans, their skin glows like diamonds in sunlight and they are able to fall in love with humans.
I felt myself falling like a little school girl for Edward’s drop dead gorgeous looks and magnificent hair. Even though the dialogue is sappy and feels like text book soap opera material, the chemistry between the two leads is electrifying. Director Catherine Hardwick (”Thirteen”) uses the right amount of slow-motion techniques to capture the intensity shared between the two main characters. When we first see Bella and Edward make eye contact in the cafeteria the charge is almost palpable.
A lot people and critics will dismiss this film as overheated or shallow, and they would be missing the point. The bond that Bella and Edward share is the perfect type of relationship for young girls to see played out on the big screen. I think it is refreshing to see a romance between two young people that doesn’t involve sex and foul language. “Twilight” captures the innocence of puppy love and teen attraction better than most young adult movies that come out these days. I now can add myself to the legions of fans that are rooting for both of these characters to live happily ever after.
Will Smith’s latest blockbuster tries to represent itself as a summer super hero flick but shortly after the film ends you can’t help but feel ripped off at the fake manufactured feeling of “Hancock”. The first 20 minutes of this film take a fresh approach to the played out comic book movie formula but soon after it becomes redundant, silly and completely uninspired. Smith’s wooden performance only confirms that he took this job just for the paycheck.
Smith plays an alcoholic and clumsy super hero who is the most hated person in Los Angeles. In spite of saving lives, he also destroys properties causing high cost to the city to fix his damages. When Hancock saves the life of a PR agent (played by the always cute Jason Bateman) from a train, Bateman’s character feels indebted to him and he decides to change his image as a way to say thank you. What he doesn’t know is that his wife and Hancock have a tumultuous past. Unfortunately for the viewer, this is where the film breaks down and becomes a mess.
I was hoping that Charlize Theron would be able to salvage this stinker but the “surprise twist” that involves her character bogs the film down with over sentimental hooey. The spiritual under tones in “Hancock” are what make “Hancock” feel contrived and sappy. This movie doesn’t know what it wants to be; a super hero film, a spiritual love story or a family film. The convoluted storyline and hammy performances only confirm how awful this movie is. It’s as if the director and screenwriter were painting by numbers.
“Hancock” cannot even be called a “popcorn flick” because it can’t even muster up an original idea and it barely entertains you. The special effects are the only thing in the film that make you perk up and pay attention. The gritty cinematography of this movie gives it an amateurish and over stylized look that only heightens it’s negative tone. “Hancock” may not be the worst film of 2008, but it does have the distinction of being the worst super hero of the year that is for sure!
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“Let the Right One In” is the new remarkably shocking horror film based on a 2004 vampire fiction novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist. The title refers to the Morrissey song of the same name (featured on the Viva Hate special edition album) but also to the aspect of vampire lore which says that vampires cannot enter a house unless invited. All of these details combine to make a truly original, horrific and spellbinding film that is breathtaking and scary all at once.
“Let the Right One In” follows Oscar, an overlooked and bullied boy, who finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire. This plot gives way for some pretty intense themes and shocking scenes that climax into one of the creepiest and sweetest endings of a horror film ever created. What you won’t expect going into this film is the underlined comedy aspect which by all accounts doesn’t belong in a blood soaked thriller.
The movie takes place in Blackeberg, a working class suburb of Stockholm. Both the film and book focus on the darker side of humanity, dealing with issues such as bullying, drugs, theft, pedophilia, prostitution and murder as well as the obvious supernatural themes. At its core this movie is a non-traditional love story with some mind bending and controversial elements that involve a young cast of super talented actors.
The quiet moments and images of falling snow give this film a real atmospheric and moody quality that is perfect for creating tension amd ominous feelings. The gorgeous cinematography and drab location of a small snow drenched Swedish town adds an artistic and sleak look to this film that heightens the suspense. The intense, bizarre and at times touching relationship these two young characters create make this film an intelligent and original horror movie that perfects the sometimes mediocre vampire film genre. With its shocking premise and scandalous ending this movie is hands down my pick for the best horror film of 2008.
“Star Trek” is the re-imagining of the classic science fiction movie and TV series that will be directed by J. J. Abrams (”Cloverfield”, “Alias”) written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is the eleventh “Star Trek” film and features the main characters of the original “Star Trek” series, who are portrayed by a new cast.
The new film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) enrolling at Starfleet Academy, his first meeting with Spock (Zachary Quinto), and their battles with Romulans from the future, who are interfering with history. The film is scheduled to be released on May 8, 2009 in North America and the United Kingdom.
(ZACHARY QUINTO & CHRIS PINE PLAY “SPOCK” & “CAPTAIN JAMES T. KIRK”)
Development of the film began in 2005 when Paramount Pictures contacted Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman for ideas to revive the franchise. The creative team contrasted Orci and Lindelof, who consider themselves “Trekkies”, with casual fans like Abrams, who all aimed to create a film that would interest a general audience. They wanted to be faithful to “Star Trek” canon, but also introduced elements of their favorite novels, modified continuity with the time travel storyline, and modernized the production design of the original show.
(SIMON PEGG PLAYS “SCOTTY”)
Filming took place from November 2007 to April 2008 under intense secrecy. Midway through the shoot, Paramount chose to delay the release date from December 25, 2008 to May 2009, arguing the film would perform better in the summer. After watching the trailer below I agree with that decision 100%. This movie will be huge, “Batman” huge!
(THE ENTERPRISE YEAR ONE)
WATCH THE MOVIE TRAILER FOR THE NEW “STAR TREK” FILM BELOW:
“Race to Witch Mountain” is an upcoming remake of the original 1975 film “Escape to Witch Mountain”, using elements from the originating book of the same name. The film is directed by Andy Fickman and stars Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, and Carla Gugino. “Race to Witch Mountain” is scheduled to be released on March 13, 2009.
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“Crossing Over” is a film starring Harrison Ford about immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film deals with the border, document fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures. Crossing Over was written and directed by Wayne Kramer, himself an immigrant from South Africa.
“Crossing Over” is a multi-character canvas about immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film deals with the border, document fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures.
“Revolutionary Road” is a 2008 British/American drama film directed by Sam Mendes (”American Beauty”, “Jarhead” and “Road to Perdition”). The screenplay by Justin Haythe is based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates. The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 26, 2008. This is the first movie since “Titanic” that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have starred in together.
The plot centers on the characters April and Frank Wheeler who are a young, thriving couple living with their two children in a Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. Their self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job, and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career.
Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. As their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfillment are thrown into jeopardy.
I have said it numerous times before and I will say it again; I love animated films! The original “Madagascar” was a surprise treat when it was released over a couple of years ago and the sequel “Madagascar 2: Escape from Africa” is even better than the first. Sure this film is nowhere near the perfection that Pixar creates but the charm and laughs in this movie rival that of any other cartoon released this year.
Cartoon sequels never capture the same excitement and sweetness of the original (”Ice Age 2″ anyone?), only “Toy Story 2″ was able to improve upon an already well established classic film. “Madagascar 2″ isn’t as brilliant as the “Toy Story” movies, but it does have a fun whiz bang feel and plenty of laughs. “Madagascar 2″ uses all the things we loved from the first film and improves upon them instead of rehashing the same joke over and over like other animated films have done before (”Shrek 3″ anyone?).
The character work in this film makes it better than your average animated big screen outing. Ben Stiller does some impressive voice work as “Alex” the lion and Sascha Baron Cohen steals the show as Julien the insane king of the lemurs. But we all know the real reason why we love this series is because of the gut busting antics of the penguins. They deliver on the laughs by the truck load in this follow up. I personally love Mort the little lemur voiced by Andy Richter, he has some side splitting moments that left me in tears.
The animation in this series has never been as mind blowing as Pixar or DreamWorks but the silly hand drawn cartoonish look of “Madagascar 2″ makes it a bit easier on the eyes and it lends itself well to the silly jokes and old school cartoon gags. The tight script and hilarious pop culture references in this movie make this sequel one of the best animated follow ups ever. If you are a kid at heart and you can’t get enough of those wise cracking penguins, then this is the movie to go see with the whole family.
After seeing Tina Turner’s Break Every Rule and Whitney Houston’s Greatest Love tours in the 80’s, you’d think that The Virgin Tour or Blonde Ambition would have been must-see’s in my young concert playbook. Unfortunately, Madonna’s early concert tours fell through my hands. I’ve only seen the ‘Post Girlie Show’ shows. I have however, seen all of these tours, including a slightly misguided stint at Coachella in 2006.
After enjoying the Sweet and Sweet Tour in Oakland on 11/1, I officially throw in the towel. Madonna wins. She is simply amazing.
I thought that this tour was the showcase of a mature artist and an accomplished writer. Rather than haul around a behemoth set, she relied on state of the art LCD screens that displayed amazing animation, visuals and video compilations of Madonna’s past and present. As usual, she also used these screens to show off her overwhelming sense of civic duty, which has had varying degrees of success for Madonna over the years. During this show, only days before electing Obama as our president, the images complimented the music, the energy and the excitement of the sold out crowd. By focusing the energy away from set design, Madonna relied on her dancing, her dancers, her costumes, her voice and most importantly, her music to carry us through the 2 hour set.
Madonna always was and still is the best dancer in the business. Period. Artists like Janet have dancing skills, but no one has ever challenged themselves the way Madonna has. She has always rewritten the book on choreography, and searched out the newest, most cutting edge styles as her backdrop (eg: voguing, krunking and even her use of yoga as dance). This night was an absolute barrage of dancing. At 50, Madonna still rocks. Her newest version of Into the Groove was a stand out, incorporating double-dutch her dancing, while Keith Haring’s artwork was brilliantly shown above. And, much to the crowd’s delight, Vogue, which she mashed up with 4 Minutes to Save the World, was a great throw back.
Madonna’s voice is her challenge. Because it didn’t come ‘naturally’, like, say, Mariah, she had to learn to work with her voice. She learned during the Drowned World tour to change the music to fit her voice. She continues that tradition, by continually reimaging her library. She brought back Borderline, but as a hard edged punk song, that kept the chorus and verses well within her range. During one of the slowest parts of the evening, she slowly emerged from a trap door atop a grand piano, singing You Must Love Me, the Oscar winning song from Evita. She sounded lonely, subtle and soft. It was a testament to the hard work she’s done since we first heard her squeak through Everybody in 1981.
Where this concert shown the greatest, however, was in the catalog itself. We were reminded that this amazing artist: fashionista, singer, dancer and pop art icon, is most importantly a song writer. For 2 hours we listened to Madonna retell us the story of her life. She told the story as only she can. Her lyrics are not overwhelming. And, nobody’s ever accused her of being too ‘deep’. But, her lyrics obviously resonate; otherwise she would not have enjoyed these decades of success. In song after song, we were reminded of the breadth and depth of her catalog, all while putting on the best show around!
SET LIST: Intro/Candy Shop
Beat Goes On
Human Nature
Vogue
Video Interlude - Die Another Day Into The Groove
Heartbeat
Borderline
She’s Not Me
Music
Video Interlude - Rain/Here Comes The Rain Again Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You
Spanish Lesson
Miles Away
La Isla Bonita/Lela Pala Tute
Doli Doli (Live interlude - Romanian folk song)
You Must Love Me
Video Interlude - Get Stupid (About saving the planet) 4 Minutes
Like A Prayer
Ray Of Light
Hung Up
Give It To Me (Finale)
WATCH FOOTAGE OF MADONNA PERFORMING “THE BEAT GOES ON” @ THE OAKLAND ARENA BELOW:
WATCH FOOTAGE OF MADONNA PERFORMING “LA ISLA BONITA” @ THE OAKLAND ARENA BELOW:
“Monsters vs. Aliens” is the new computer-animated 3-D feature film scheduled for a March 27, 2009 release from DreamWorks Animation. The release date was moved up to prevent competition with James Cameron’s upcoming “Avatar”. This will be the first computer animated movie which will be produced in real 3-D instead of converting the film into 3-D after it is finished, which added $15 million extra to the film’s budget.
When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California girl named Susan Murphy and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger, on a desperate order from The President, the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction!
“Monsters vs. Aliens” is starring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson with Stephen Colbert and Kiefer Sutherland. I am a huge fan of animation and I love to collect toys from animated films and boy does this cartoon have some kick ass characters and voice work! By the looks of “Wall-E”, “Kung-Fu Panda”, “Bolt” and now this film, animation is going through a creative boom! I am as giddy as a little child with anticipation.
The official one-sheet poster of Pixar next upcoming film “Up” has been revealed! “Up” is an upcoming computer-animated 3-D film being produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It will be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, and is scheduled for release on May 29, 2009. The film is directed by “Monsters, Inc.” director Pete Docter and features the voices of Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai and John Ratzenberger. It is the first Pixar film to be presented in Disney Digital 3-D.
“Zack & Miri Make a Porno” may on the outside have an all too familiar sitcom feel (friends that have no idea they are secretly in love with each other) but at it’s core it is a smart, tender and progressive comedy with a bunch of gut busting jokes and a slew of draw dropping images and gags. Once again Kevin Smith adds his unique brand of writing and down to earth people skills to craft another scathing and crackling movie that has more real life elements in it than any other major Hollywood comedy this year.
The casting of this film is inspired and you can tell the whole crew had a blast filming this movie. Most of the charm and authenticity in “Zack & Miri” comes from Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Bank’s spot on performances as down on their luck roommates who come up with the ultimate money making idea to make a porno. The couple is instantly believable, and even when the plot aggravates you with its “misunderstanding” plot device, you still end up rooting for this group of cute misfits in the end.
The supporting cast of characters enhance the films comic tone and timing with their subtle nuances, the whole cast is very likable. Justin Long gives one of the most over the top and hilarious performances as a gay porn star that will have you rolling in the aisles. Tracy Lords has one scene that had me gasping and then crying with laughter in shock. If it weren’t for the supporting this cast this film could have been a seriously big mis-fire.
Kevin Smith is one the best directors alive that can truly capture the culture of young people and how they talk. This film may not be as sharp as “Clerks 2″ or “Chasing Amy” but it is a smart adult comedy that depicts the sex industry as something other than just a sleazy racket that preys on women. And once again Kevin Smith handles homosexuality and straight men in an authentic way instead of masking homophobia as jokes. This movie is shocking and nasty, but it’s also a short and sweet comedy that delivers on the laughs big time.
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Liveblogging the Oscars: Act III
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