Are you ready for another Quentin Tarantino film to blow your mind and possibly make you question your sanity? We are. Definitely.
The second trailer for Django Unchained was released today, and now we’re wishing that time travel really was a thing so December would be here already.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
The film is set in the pre-Civil War era and tells the story of Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave living in the Deep South who is sold to Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is actually a bounty hunter, and offers to help free Django’s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from a ruthless plantation owner (Leonardo Dicaprio) as long as Django agrees to help him kill off a gang of killers known as the Brittle Brothers.
For me, seeing Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Jonah Hill, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio side-by-side immediately made me think, “WTH?” But from what we can see in the trailer, it appears that they all have great chemistry, especially between Foxx, DiCaprio, and Waltz. Hill of course has one of his snippets of funny inserted into a rather bleak and upcoming KKK-type raid, and Jackson always seems to be a BAMF no matter what role he plays. DiCaprio’s performance will probably disgust me because he’s such a good actor (and he’s the bad guy, so there’s that).
The trailer reveals an odd-yet-expected-because-it’s-Tarantino mixture of spaghetti western mixed with slightly modern dialogue and lots of gun shooting and explosions. The costumes and sets appear to be period, though, so as not to make it too funky. And Django wants everyone to know his name is spelled D-J-A-N-G-O, where “the ‘D’ is silent.”
Emily Blunt? Ruth Wilson? — according to Bleeding Cool, either one of these lovely leading ladies could be up for the role of Ms. Marvel in the next Avengers movie.
Like so many college bros, I too have seen Boondock Saints and loved it for it’s over the top stylized charm mixed with light social commentary on vigilante justice. What could have been a full on movie franchise based on cult popularity turned pretty sour due to the directors own selfish, arrogant hubris. The film’s own quality and buzz ended up costing him any and almost all connections and bridges he once had, before burning them to the ground as documented in Overnight. It was pretty harrowing watching Troy Duffy turn from a seemingly talented, almost Tarantino-esque indie filmmaker into a total douchebag. After the events that transpired as documented in that film, and the subsequent release of that film, it seemed like we’d never get a sequel to Boondock Saints. Suddenly though, we did. And it was… Less than good. Pretty bad actually.
Paranormal Activity is rapidly becoming a franchise dangerously close to overstaying its welcome. Even though the first one and second had their fair share of haters, I thought they had told a pretty solidly creepy story. The third, not so much. As I said in my last update, if they wanted us to accept this an anthology type series, they’d have started with 2. My guess is the “creepy” kid from the trailers is the child Katie took at the end of PA2, who now may or may not be a demon. I guess it’s a good half measure between a full on continuation and a wholly new story. The good folks over at Bloody-Disgusting have an informative update from the directors, who give the briefest of glimpses into what the actual plot for the film is, as well as whether a particular character will return or not.
Catfish duo Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman talked Paranormal Activity 4 in the newest issue of EW where they confirm that the sequel, in theaters October 19, will be a modern-day take. They also reveal that they’re working on expanding the mythology into a fifth film (obviously).
“I can tell you this – we’re definitely expanding on the mythology and the history of this demon,” Schulman says of PA4. “We’re really trying to get to the bottom of it!”
Were told that the sequel will explore the family of witches (who live next door to a newly introduced family) in this fourth film from creator/producer Oren Peli. While inside insiders tell us Katie Featherston won’t return, the filmmaking duo refuse to clarify. I guess we’ll find out in just under two months!
Along with those details are a few photos that have been released on Facebook and Instagram for PA4, which show some shadows and the main girl character levitating. The thing that makes me suspicious about all of this promotion is how the last movie was promoted. So many interesting ads and clips were released that implied almost an entirely different (read:scarier) movie. These promotional photos sure look captivating, but who’s to say they’ll even be indicative of the final product? I wouldn’t be surprised if this blond girl character turned out to not even be the main character at this point.
Those photos are nice and all, but boy am I skeptical about this one. The one positive, definite change I can see is its set in modern times, so we’ll avoid any weird anachronisms like the last one. If I sound overly negative, it’s because I’m the most critical of things I love the most, and boy did I love PA 1 & 2. I’m really hoping to be surprised by this film, but like all things I prepare for the worst.
Today marked the release of the first trailer for the upcoming 5th installment of the Die Hard franchise. Set for release on Valentine’s Day 2013, this will be a better present than any box of chocolates. What we know is that McClane heads to Russia to bail his son out of trouble, this will be met with explosions and one-liners. Not sold yet? Check out the trailer, when ‘Ode to Joy’ starts playing you’ll remember why you should be excited for this movie…
In probably the most groan inducing and obvious news to ever surface, a sequel to this year’s The Amazing Spider-Man is in the works. After the first one came out to a generally positive reaction from audiences, this money grab new franchise reboot seems determined to follow through with its shameless planned effort to make a new Spider-Man trilogy. At the time however, director for the first film, Marc Webb, was unconfirmed for a return. Now it seems like we’ll have to endure get to see another film starring the wonderful Mr. Garfield and his spectacularly lame portrayal of the hippest, least relatable, and most lame-sauce version of Peter Parker yet. [Editor’s Note – I totally disagree, Garfield > Maguire]
Aren’t I tortured?
Now if it wasn’t clear, I’m not a fan of the movie. I found myself trying really hard to stay positive about the movie right up until I actually saw it, but boy was I ever let down. I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece of epic proportions, nor was I even expecting a knockout, drag down epic superhero film. What I got instead was probably one of the stupidest, most uninteresting, boring superhero films I’ve ever seen. As I was watching it I found myself groaning in disgust or facepalming at the inanity of everything, literally every 5 minutes. Not to mention the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in a movie since the Hulk Dogs from Ang Lee’s Hulk; The goddamned lizard mouse. Plus the sweaters Peter wears, oh GOD the layers on this guy! What is he anemic? Dude wears at least 4 layers of clothes in every scene where he’s not in his Spider-Man garb.
4! Four layers of clothes! Ah! Ah! Ah!
I’ve never seen a film with such a perfect mix of boring, dumb, and redundancy. I kept trying to forget all of the previous things in the film that I found retarded, for lack of a better word, but they just kept coming. Eventually I realized the true meaning of this film lied in it’s franchise value, and the lack of any substance, or anything new or interesting was because of this. People often talk about who is or isn’t a hack in Hollywood, and the guys who wrote this, god bless them for trying. They’re obviously fans of the character, who had to deal with immense studio pressure to make the film as toyetic, commercial, broad and franchisable as possible. What I mean by this, is that it’s the case of a studio counting its eggs before they hatch. The whole film felt like an attempt to make a movie, solely to make other movies, rather than actually tell an interesting, coherent, original story.
Script? Story? Just make the damn movie, we need that Spider-Cash!
So hearing that Andrew Garfield and Marc Webb are coming back isn’t exactly a surprise, but leaves me with no real feelings of joy either. I had no huge problems with Garfield, although he did seem to be sleepwalking through the scenes that didn’t have to have him crying, skateboarding, or crying while skateboarding. He’s not the blame for his character being utterly shit-tastic. I’ve never seen a guy whose shit was so ruined despite looking cool, having a hot babe be obviously into you, being rad at skateboarding, and being a goddamned genius. Furthermore all of the awesome camerawork that was promised by Marc Webb was mostly absent, as I recall a big hooplah being made about the POV swinging sequences, of which I can barely remember. I don’t mean to trash them both, because they did what they could with what they had. The entire thing was a massive failure on every level, except for monetary gain. Which it was made for to begin with, so in that regard it’s a success. I know I’m in the minority with that opinion here at GB, (4.5/5) but It’s how I feel.
Seriously, look how tortured he is!
Will I be looking forward to seeing the new Spider-Man film? No. Will I see it? If somebody else pays for the ticket, snacks, and then is willing to sit through my rant after the film is over? Yes. Will I be continuing further coverage of the sequel as plot details are released? Yes, but only because my editor hates me. [True.]
4! Four layers of clothes! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Grizzly Bomb 