Just a a brief round up of some movie news, and some great new trailers for you all! First up is action movie '3 Days to Kill' starring Kevin Costner and Amber Heard:
I saw this described on a website as potentially being "Kevin Costner's Taken". It does look quite promising, and it's great to see Costner back in a leading role. It was a nice to see Costner return to box office success in 'Man of Steel' earlier this year, and for a man who dominated Hollywood in the early 90s, this could be his opportunity to remodel himself as a born again action hero just like Liam Neeson did. The film also appears to have some comedy moments and it seems like it would be a great "popcorn flick" to watch with your mates. Next, we have the long awaited 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes':
By contrast this doesn't give too much away, but it certainly gets the heart racing. After laying the groundwork in 2011's prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes, we now pick up on the story 15 years later with humans and apes engaged in all-out war. This sequel is highly anticipated and though we're not sure what it will entail altogether, the menacing sight of Caesar at the head of an ape army and the gravitas tones of Gary Oldman screaming that he needs to speak with him has us counting down the days until its release next year. Finally we have romantic comedy 'Blended' with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore:
The premise reminds me a little of 'Just Go With It', another Sandler venture, but I'm convinced that if Sandler and Barrymore can recapture some of the chemistry we saw between them in '50 First Dates' then this one will guarantee plenty of laughs. Blended is also due out next year. As for today's news: Warner Bros. are said to be interested in casting Joaquim Phoenix in the role of Lex Luthor for their upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie. With 2000's 'Gladiator' Phoenix proved he had the acting chops to take on the role of the lead villain, and this speculation seem to startle anyone in the same way the Batfleck scandal did earlier in the year. Keeping with superhero movies Marvel are said to be holding talks with Paul Rudd over the casting of the titular character 'Ant-Man' in the forthcoming 2015 movie, directed by Edgar Wright. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's name was also in circulation a few weeks ago, but it now seems Rudd has established himself as front-runner for the role. And to finish just thought I'd share this video of this guy I came across on Facebook, I think he's pretty talented. Enjoy!
Congratulations are in order this morning for one Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Johnson took to his official Facebook page this morning to announce he had become the highest grossing actor of 2013, beating the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Steve Carrell and his co-star in the 'Fast & Furious' franchise Vin Diesel. Johnson, as humble as ever, used social media sites to thank his fans for making it happen and promised to #BreakOutTheTequila in celebration! I'm really pleased for Johnson to earn this prestigious title; he emphasises that tireless hard work and a great attitude to media, the industry and his legions of fans certainly pays off. And how! Johnson grossed an estimated $1.3m from his combined movies in the last year, a truly incredible figure which shows just how far Johnson has come. On account of his muscle-bound wrestler image many could only envision Johnson playing bit-part roles as "the heavy" in movies, oh how wrong they could be! Johnson has become a prolific, diverse and most importantly credible actor and is now a major player on the Hollywood scene. So massive props to the guy as he's earned it and seems like an all-round genuine bloke!
Johnson as Hercules
His movies in the last year have been: Snitch, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Pain & Gain, and Fast & Furious 6. These combined with a lucrative return to the world of WWE saw The Rock (and those working with him) raking in the big bucks.
And with Johnson set to reprise his role as Luke Hobbs in 'Fast & Furious 7' due out next year, along with potential new franchise starter 'Hercules: The Thracian Wars' directed by Brett Ratner, it's hard to see anyone taking this title off him anytime soon!
So last night I got around to watching a movie quite late, so I looked for something a little shorter than usual. Browsing through the Lovefilm catalogue I was surprised to come across 'Source Code' the sci-fi thriller starring Jake Gyllenhall, coming in at just 93 minutes, so I decided to give it a try.
'Source Code' is the second feature film from English director Duncan Jones (David Bowie's son) following his 2009 independent success 'Moon'. The brief summary sounded a bit puzzling especially as I was already quite tired. Time travel, alternate realities, secret government organisations but I stood by my decision. Source Code needed to grasp my attention from the outset. It certainly did and it never let go. Here's the trailer:
The movie is entertaining on two levels in my opinion. Firstly as a "popcorn movie" because it features some great high-octane action. There are some brilliant set pieces from Jones including the critical train explosions, all produced on a relatively modest budget of $28m, which I thought to be rather impressive. Secondly however the movie operates well as a character piece and gradual evolves into a psychological thriller of sorts. Jake Gyllehall takes the responsibility of the lead well as Captain Colter Stevens a war hero who awakes in the body of another man. He discovers that he is being used as part of government technology known as 'Source Code' so that he can relive the last 8 minutes of that man's life, in order to discover the culprit behind a terrible train explosion. The inventor of the 'Source Code' Dr Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) hopes that if Stevens is successful in his mission his team will be able to stop the terrorists before they plan their second strike. Vera Farmiga also does well as the operative Goodwin who assists Stevens and essentially tries to maintain his sanity along the way. Michelle Monaghan completes the cast as Gyllenhall's love interest, and although she is perhaps underused, provides believability and good chemistry with him. The movie effectively deals with the theme of free will as Stevens is told that even though he can do all this to help the government, the lives of those on the train cannot be saved. This haunts Stevens and Gyllenhall portrays his inner torment well. A critical twist however (which I will not reveal here) adds tension, emotion and admittedly confusion to the plot. The concept of alternate realities and time travel can often be tough to tackle for filmmakers and even tougher to understand for viewers, but I feel Jones achieves a good standard and offers a film that is enjoyable for its action and suspense but also commendable for the way it develops its characters. I'd definitely recommened 'Source Code' to others. There is plenty of tension, big explosions, and a stellar cast to boot, it's a lovely little watch with your mates on a Friday night. But, you may be scratching your head in some places along the way . . . at least I was anyway. As for the next films I plan to watch, I really enjoyed Jones' style of direction, so 'Moon' will definitely be on the cards in the future I think. I've also read that 'The Manchurian Candidate' is quite similar to 'Source Code' with soldiers unknowingly being brainwashed and used by the government. I appreciate movies that deal with ethical issues in this manner, so that one could be on the agenda quite soon too. I'll let you know soon enough!
My first post begins on a bad note this morning as I discovered late last night that the great British actor Peter O'Toole has sadly passed away, aged 81.
Although I'm a big film fan I haven't actually seen that many of O'Toole's movies but I remember watching him play King Henry II in the films 'Becket' and 'The Lion in Winter' in history class. He was a formidable presence on screen and brought intense energy and talent to this challenging role.
In a career spanning over 50 years O'Toole is known for several great roles, especially for his turn as T.E. Lawrence in 'Lawrence of Arabia', which earned him his first of an unprecedented 8 Oscar nominations. Surprisingly it's one of those films I've never actually seen. I realise it always places high on "Greatest Ever Movies" list so today I'm gonna give it a watch in memory of a great actor, and a man with a sparkling personality off screen also.
I found a quote of his on the web earlier which I though was brilliant, it was after he turned down his honorary Oscar in 2003, when he declared he was "still in the game and might win the bugger outright" emphasising his fighting spirit and all-round charisma. I'll give you my verdict on the film a little later on but I'm convinced I won't be disappointed.
