Alice in Wonderland Trailer – Well it’s not quite what I expected, but that should be expected from Tim Burton. Check it out here.
Iron Man 2 Trailer – So what happens when a superhero reveals himself to the world? Check it out here.
Robin Hood Trailer – He may not be an animated fox, but Russell Crowe being angry and violent is hardly anything to scoff at (especially considering he is back with his Gladiator director, Ridley Scott, for this). Check it out here.
Mass Effect 2 Blur Trailer – Check out this sneak peak of a full-length version being released tomorrow on XBOX Live. Check it out here.
Carriers may veer from the fast-passed, zombie-filled plot line I wrongfully assumed was coming after first seeing the trailer (I repeat, there are no zombies), which it is all the better for in the end. By doing so, it becomes a heart wrenching film that makes the viewer question what they may be willing to do to survive.
Following an outbreak that has killed most of the human population, 2 brothers, Danny and Brian (Chris Pine and Lou Taylor Pucci) decide to act on their last hope by taking Brian’s girlfriend, Bobby (Piper Perabo), and Danny’s friend, Kate (Emily VanCamp), on a road trip across the country to a place from their past that they believe will be unaffected by the spread of the disease. All they have to do is get there.
Shying away from the violence and gore of the usual horror film, Carriers decides to try to affect the audience in a grander way. Okay, there are some violent outbursts, but they are always necessary and not just to see what goes into rigging a head to explode… Anyway, what I am getting at is that Carriers is not the film relying on terrifying the audience with monsters and terror, but with our own psychological fears. First of all, the disease is never really explained. There is a little vague blurb about it in the beginning, but not enough to get comfortable with it. There are no overly scientific explanations, people with the disease show certain signs and have a few visible markers, but there is no puzzle being put together in order to find the cure. The disease just is, and that’s even scarier. What’s more is that there are few deaths on screen. In other words, the causes for the deaths are shown, but not the actual deaths themselves, which in a weird way seems worse because it is more uncomfortable. Especially because when those characters are out of sight, they aren’t out of mind. Instead, the question of what happens to them remains, and more often than not, their circumstances are dire, full of suffering and eventual death alone. What this film does show is the loss of hope, which becomes almost tangible. And this is worse than any death scene they could have shot.
With only having a disease that is not fully understandable as it blankets everything, it’s easy to try to find something else in this film to peg as the villain. However, it is too hard to do this with any individual character. For one thing, there is no one that I can point my finger at and scream “Evil! You’re Evil!” because everyone’s actions are warranted. They may not seem like the noblest thing to do, but they are necessary to survive, which is hard to fault someone for when it gets down to it. Okay, maybe the men in the safety suits are pretty bad, but no matter how horrible their actions are, it’s still possible to see why they do what they do.
As I delved deeper into a depression as the film progressed, I was slightly upset that the ending was not the one I was hoping for, but it does fit perfectly with the mood of the overall story arc, making it hard to see any ending that would have actually worked better. As the credits roll, the audience is again forced to wonder what will become of the people left in this world, which is a scary thing to think about in this dreary look at the degradation of humanity’s heath, morals, and worse of all, the human spirit.
Final Grade: B
Batman Arkham Asylum 2 Debut Trailer – It has been confirmed (not surprisingly) that there will be a sequel to this years Arkham Asylum game. Check it out here. On the same train of thought, a sequel to last year’s Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is also in production.
Mass Effect 2 Voice Cast Reveal Video – Not that the Mass Effect franchise isn’t enough on its own to have anyone who loves sci fi geeking out, but this cast is ridiculous. For me, the Battlestar Galactica and Chuck people were enough to send me over the edge, but there are plenty more people in here to get excited about. Now if only I could get Morgan Freeman into one of my games… Anyway… Check it out here.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Trailer – It has a great look to it and some spectacular computer graphics, but I am going to have to dock it some points for Nicholas Cage… Check it out here.
My willingness to watch predictably horrible horror films has struck again. I am ashamed…
Lucy Liu has a problem. The most obvious of which is that she agreed to star in this film. Okay, let me start over… Lucy Liu’s character, Sadie Blake, has a problem. For starters, she is an investigative journalist, and curiosity comes with the territory. Unfortunately for her, this curiosity has broken her “better judgment” part of the brain, allowing her to stumble upon something she was not supposed to see. So now she must die. However, instead of taking the route most do after this step in their life, she wakes up in a morgue drawer, naked, alone (well, those are to be expected), thirsty for blood, and with a bone to pick.
The problem with this “bone to pick” is that this revenge story is completely laughable. For one thing, where is my training montage? After Sadie is turned into a vampire a mysterious man takes her home with him so that he can teach her to overcome her curse and become a BA assassin. But apparently all he really needs to do was give her a jug of blood, a crossbow, and a pair of scissors because the only thing keeping her from these necessary skills is her long hair. And with that, she is ready to set out on her quest.
And oh what a short quest it is. In order to find the man she blames for her undead state of life she must first shoot her way through a few lesser evildoers. One by one they fall with little to no fight, allowing her to progress to whom she is really after maybe ten minutes after first setting out.
Now let’s talk about this “big bad.” Am I really to suppose to be that scared of a Josh Hartnett look alike? I don’t think so. Speaking of Josh Hartnett, I want to know how so many recognizable actors agreed to be in this film. If you take the time to pry your eyes away from the boobs that are more often than not exposed throughout the film, you may start making the connections too. For their sakes, I will pretend that I didn’t see them. But I will not extend this courtesy to Nick Lachey. When I saw him appear on the screen I knew that the tiny shred of hope I was holding out had just been spat on, and it quickly took its leave, distraught and dejected.
Finally, the one and only thing this film could have done right was to bow out gracefully, but Rise wasn’t even good enough for that. Instead, it ends with a brief moment after the credits begin to roll that completely nullifies everything that Lucy Liu’s character stands for.
For those of you who love moves but don’t always make the best decisions in which films to give the benefit of the doubt to (like myself), I have this to say: DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM!!! You will just end up feeling bitter, cheated, and ashamed.
Final Grade: D-
PS – Looking back, there is at least one thing I can compliment. Though the script proves to be awful in pretty much every aspect, there is one line that I thought was a great argument and defense for a vampire’s lifestyle: “Good and evil are just imaginary friends.” There, compliment given.
Brink Preview – This first person shooter looks to have some of the most fluid movement of this genre, comparable to some of the action adventure games today, like Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia. Check it out here.
Dark Void Official Trailer 3 - If the flight mechanics and vertical combat pan out, then this looks to be a great game to look forward to next year. Check it out here.
The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers – For those of you who love So You Think You Can Dance, you may remember a group of dancers that performed on Nov. 2. Well apparently they are doing something on the web that looks to be pretty amazing. Check it out here. And you can check out more of their videos on their youtube channel here.
Lost: Final Season Spanish Promo – Here’s a promo from Spain’s channel “Cuatro“ that will definitely get you thinking. Check it out here.
Up proves itself to be another hit for Disney-Pixar, to the enjoyment of children of all ages.
Towards the latter part of Carl Fredricksen’s life he decides to take a very unconventional trip to Paradise Falls, South America in order to fulfill a promise he made to his late wife. However, this sentimental trip inside a house toting mass of balloons proves to be much more when he quickly realizes that he has inadvertently kidnapped Russell, an 8 year old Wilderness Explorer who was hoping to obtain his last merit badge by helping Carl out (though he probably had something much simpler in mind). Once they finally reach South America, the journey to the falls proves to be harder than expected, filled with perils involving a giant bird named Kevin, a pack of talking dogs, and a blast from the past.
Like all of Disney-Pixar’s films, they can be summed up as being hilarious, inventive, and magical. Basically, they are awesome. However, Up seems to move past a lot of the previous films in subject matter. For starters, the dedication Carl shows to his wife that runs through the entire film, which is the reason for this ridiculously crazy journey, is one of the cutest and most touching love stories ever. And I am not ashamed to admit that their life story and his loss early in the film had me in tears within 10 minutes of it starting. But that is just the beginning, and only one of the many darker elements that this story has, from infertility, murder, and the many problems that come with growing old, such as assisted living situations and being alone.
Thankfully, Up keeps its surface level fun for the viewer, full of excitement, adventure and comedy, which is more often than not fueled by the unexpected relationships that form through the circumstances. For one thing, who would never think that a giant tropical bird would lend a helping wing in warming a crotchety old man’s heart? Well, with Disney-Pixar, I should have known that anything is possible.
Final Grade: A
Even with director Catherine Hardwicke’s take on bringing the first book of this series to screen, Chris Weitz fails to do little more than use her vision as a guidebook on how to direct The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and therefore, recreates a lot of the problems that plagued the first film while simply trying to appease the salivating masses of obsessed fans.
If you have read the books of this series, then you know exactly what happens in this ridiculously faithful adaptation. For those of you who haven’t, New Moon begins with Bella’s 18th birthday, which proves to be just as traumatic as she believed it would be. While at a party the Cullen family chooses to throw her, Bella (Kristen Stewart) gets a paper cut of epic proportions, sending one vamp into a blood hungry state of mind. Brooding over the opinion that this is all his fault, Edward (Robert Pattinson) chooses to take his family and run away from Forks, promising to never interfere with Bella’s life again. Falling into a pit of lonely despair, Bella eventually resurfaces, only to attach herself to Jacob (Taylor Lautner), who just so happens to be a werewolf.
Following the lead of most of the characters in this film, or rather, the actors’ interpretations of their characters, this film tends to take itself way too seriously, making it hard to relate to the story and characters more often than not. Let’s start with the most obvious: Bella’s dependence on the males of this series is a little excessive, and I half expected her to end the film early by slitting her wrists. Instead, we just get to witness her complete dedication to teen angst and depression, complete with night after night of screaming into her pillow as she contorts her body in agony. And once she finally decides to return to the land of the living, she continues to mope as she competes with the others over who can be the most melodramatic and brood in the corner with the most intensity.
With that said, because the main characters seem to have little expected of them in their range of acting, this film easily goes to the supporting cast, who often only appear in a couple of scenes. First, there is Jessica (Anna Kendrick), who shines in her hilarious rant about the true meaning of a film Bella forces her to sit through, becoming a much needed burst of fresh air in this overly suffocating film. Harry Clearwater (Graham Greene) follows her lead with more comedic relief, along with Bella’s dad, Charlie (Billy Burke), who proves to be a saint for putting up with that child. And finally, the Volturi coven, the oldest clan of vampires, is fleshed out with a lot of great people, including apathetic Marcus (Christopher Heyerdahl), creepily enthusiastic Aro (Michael Sheen), and pain invoking Jane (Dakota Fanning). But lets face it, Dakota Fanning is Dakota Fanning, so no surprise there.
Continuing on this path, the supporting cast is not the sole item in the pro column fighting against the cons. For starters, though a lot of the music and camera work still proved to be over the top at times, there were a few moments when all the elements actually came together beautifully, such as when the wolf pack chases Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre) through the woods, showing that Weitz actually may have some talent after all. Speaking of the music, though the orchestral scores were a little much, the soundtrack to the film is full of many strong selections. And finally, though I complain a lot about how melodramatic the film is, this actually proved to be a great source of unintentional hilarity, and made the film more enjoyable than I am letting on.
Overall New Moon fails to expand on what was expected of it following the first film, proving to be a disappointment to me, but still enjoyable in how easily one can make fun of it. And let’s face it, my complaints will more likely than not go unnoticed by the screaming girls this movie is aimed at.
Final Grade: B-
PS – when you have incredibly ripped boys taking their shirts off left and right, at least try to pretend there is a reason for this happening.
