New Trailers: The Danish Girl and Macbeth

Hello world!

Sorry for absence. August was a busy month and also vacation time, and I’ve started my senior year in college. So, dis gurl’s busy. Kay?

But, as a welcome back for me to this blog, I thought it was just best to talk about the two newest trailers that hit the net yesterday: The Danish Girl and Macbeth.

The Danish Girl is of the story of Einar Wegener, who becomes to first documented person to receive sex reassignment surgery. The story follows first Einar’s life leading up to the surgery, the time when he worked as a painter along side his wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander). Einar poses as a woman for Gerda when her model fails to appear. Einar felt comfortable in the clothing, as is seen in the trailer, and the identification and transitioning to become woman goes from there.

Einar eventually becomes Lili.

The trailer looks amazing. Absolutely stunning colors and shots. Fabulous direction to show change within Einar.

And if you couldn’t tell from all the tears, it is bound to be an emotional journey for the audiences. Usually such convincing crying (aka good acting) will definitely get the waterworks started for me.

As comes with good acting also comes awards. Redmayne already won a Best Actor Oscar in February for his portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking, and this portrayal will definitely not be overlooked by the Academy. But he isn’t the only potential nominee.

Rising star Alicia Vikander can definitely also catch herself in the race for  Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress, depending on how she is classified (and which category she has the highest chance of winning). The Swedish (!) actress first caught attention in the movie Ex Machina and further attention as as psy in the summer film, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. She’s a very versatile actress and has already worked with many greats before being a great herself (Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Benedict Cumberbacth, Keira Knightley, etc, etc.). But she is getting there herself.

The film will hit theaters November 27 in the US.

The second big trailer is of Macbeth.

Back in June we got the first taste of Michael Fassbender’s Macbeth with a teaser (that I drooled about), and finally we have a trailer.

Just like the teaser, the trailer shows off beautiful shots of landscapes, wars and beach-side locations. The colors, again, are bright and stark and powerful. Scenes are bold and unique with slow-motion takes and angular close-ups.

What really catches my attention too are the accents. Fassbender has a very distinct one, and doesn’t sound Scottish. And neither does Marion Cotillard, Lady Macbeth, who again seems to keep the French accent (she is French in real life).

I doesn’t have the same strength to win awards, but nominated it will be. A few hints of toward the actor, screenplay, and cinematography categories I presume. We’ll see at what the PR gurus decide to attack.

Macbeth has been granted limited theater release to begin December 4th. Super sad face.

The 2015 seemed bleak with good films it had to offer (it has been a bit lax the past few years), but with the Oscar contenders finally hitting theaters now or soon, it seems like it will be a strong year for film.

Zoolander 2 Teaser

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com.

Oh no.

Someone ridiculously good-looking is back on the screen.

Beware: This teaser ain’t for no ants.

Zoolander is a cult phenomenon ever since it hit the screens way back when in 2001, when the world appreciated this kind of dumb humor, brought to you by Ben Stiller himself (and some other guys).

Ben Stiller is naturally back in the title role as super-model Derek Zoolander, along with his ex-rival Hansel, played by Owen Wilson. According to IMDb, the plot of the sequel is:

“Derek and Hansel are modelling again when an opposing company attempts to take them out from the business.”

Course none of this is made apparent in the teaser. Just that Zoolander has not become smarter these past 15 years. Oh help us.

Also according to the cast list on IMDb, the movie promises other veterans to show up, including Will Ferrell and Christine Taylor. Also in the list are today’s generation of comedians, including Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, Justin Bieber and Mr. and Mrs. West. Though the latter three probably won’t play characters, you can naturally find them in this dramatic parody on super-stardom while playing themselves. This will be good.

Screenplay is written by Justin Theroux, who now stars in the TV-show The Leftovers. He’s had his share of comedy as well in Wanderlust (2012), Your Highness (2011), Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003), among others, and he played the Evil DJ in Zoolander.

The second Zoolander was announced during the Valentino fashion show in March in Paris, when  Stiller and Wilson walked the runway. It made quite the stir, and was probably just what top-fashion critics wanted to see.

The tease was actually leaked over the weekend before it was quickly taken down. And then kind Paramount Studios released the official trailer on YouTube yesterday. How kind 😀

Zoolander 2 comes to theaters in 2016.

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. Another one of these movies is exactly what we need.

The Definitive Ranking of The “Mission Impossible” Movies

Another continuing franchise, means another definitive ranking of it’s ancestors by me! I know you have been waiting for this.

(And so have I cause I haven’t written anything in over a week. Yikes!)

So let’s get to it.

On Friday the fifth movie in the Tom Cruise led Mission Impossible franchise hit theaters, called Rogue Nation. It’s four years since the fourth installment, which revived the franchise by adding Jeremy Renner (Brandt) and making Simon Pegg (Benji) a recurring character. (Which Renner is now also.)

The movie has been gaining lots of positive press and reviews already from critics and audiences, with very few saying the franchise is “dead” and “shouldn’t continue/be revived,” as many did for Terminator Genisys. But Mission Impossible is clearly a different beast as it continue to add amazing stunt work by Cruise and cool gadgets, while keeping the humor fresh.

As you can tell by the trailer:

(And the leading woman is Swedish! Represent! :)))))))) )

Now to the ranking:

4) Mission: Impossible (1996)

Again the first in the franchise manages to be the lowest rank. I can’t help what I like and don’t like. Some things just get better with age (like wine!).

Being of a younger generation and not having seen the first Mission until my later teens, going back to see this one felt like I was watching a plot that had been told many times. That of a senior executive getting greedy, betraying everyone, and setting up someone who can take the blame. You see it coming.

But what I enjoyed so much was seeing the technology young Ethan Hunt used to find Job. It was very foreign to me and I didn’t understand how that was actually possible (no pun intended).

Cruise’s drop and balance stunt though will forever be a classic, and it was the catalyst to what other stunts he’s willing to do now-a-days (like hanging on to an Airbus plane).

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. This is a very cool stunt/scene as well.

3) Mission: Impossible II (2000)

I really like the plot of the story, I like the bad guy and the edge if offers. What I didn’t like: the. Drama. Oh my gosh, the amount of dramatic stares and turns and slow-motion pans is just too much. It’s laughable. It takes away the danger that essentially exists with this horrible virus strain and turns it ridiculous. (Was this somebody’s boggart that they used the ridikkulus charm on so it looks silly?!)

This movie also added a pinch of sexiness that the others lack, a la James Bond, that which exists between Ethan and Nyah at all times. The hair-flips neither aid nor count.

The edge it offers: the bad guy is so much more present, which allows more exploration of this bad guy and what drives him. He really is a psycho…in love. And because of his henchman doubting Nyah suddenly turning up and distrusting it, the heart beats a little faster as you hope Nyah gets out of there in time to not raise suspicion. The main edge it offers for me is when Sean knows he’s being played after Nyah replaces the envelope in the wrong pocket. Now he’s just waiting for Ethan.

Game on.

And the constant use of masks makes the movie clever. Still a little unbelievable and silly.

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. Oh god.

2) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Ghost Protocol was a step back from the third one’s cruelty (discussed below) and went back to the fun. The hacker, Benji, will forever be hilarious, and he works as the comic-relief to the other serious characters (there has to be one). But even Brandt and Carter add their own relief with their cynical and harsh personalities.

The plot also focused more on its characters rather than the bad-guy. Yes, the danger was ever present, but there was so much more dimension to the characters as they had their demons, faults, and motives. The reason why Brandt was so important was so that Renner could take over the franchise from Cruise, which, at this rate, clearly isn’t happening. But it was fresh to know the team and have them fighting each other (verbally). Dynamic quatro!

It also upgraded a lot with technology and stunts. Cruise actually scaling the Burj Khalifa…oh my goodness that was amazing and terrifying to watch. I mean wow. It added the cool factor and wow factor, and it was just amazing.

The story was iffy, however, and was hence overlooked because there was too many other things happening. That was okay because the other things made up for the storyline.

I also liked this movie cause of this guy:

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. 😀

1) Mission: Impossible III (2006)

The third one is by far my personal favorite because for once, this was the real nitty-gritty movie that exuded danger and death. And simply based on the opening sequence where you see Ethan trying to stop the bad-guy Davian from shooting his wife, Julia, in the head, you know s***’s about to get real. But even so,  still within in the first half hour, Ethan’s trainee is killed right before his eyes. It’s going down for real.

The one flaw that the third mission is that it is a story already told: showing the difference between life with the IMF and without it. The whole movie explores the theme of what is normal for the characters, and that they can’t have the normal. As operative Declan says, “We can’t have real relationships, but you see, I love that,” when Luther tries to dissuade Ethan from being with Julia.

As the other movies have the big WOW factor with their stuntwork and über-cool gadgets, I feel that MI III has less of that while it increases it’s brutality factor. It’s more gruesome and raw than the others. It lacks in the comic-relief area as well. And for some reason this is what I expect more of spy movies, much like the Bourne and James Bond movies. This may have been done to really differ between the domestic life and spy life. Yet, this gave the movie a very intense experience, which is why I love this movie the most.

Also, I think this is the best Tom Cruise has looked in a while. But that’s besides the point.

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. Boomyah.

P.S. Young Aaron Paul plays Julia’s younger brother?! They all have to start somewhere.

What makes the MI movies work so well is that none of them are the same. They are all almost stand-along movies that happens to have the same lead character in it. They differ in the main plot-points, opening up the view to all the events that a spy may face. That of trying normalcy, falling in love with their associate, being set up, being disavowed and all that fun stuff.

Rogue Nation hit theaters this past Friday with an amazing opening weekend of $121+ million globally, and Paramount is backing a Mission: Impossible 6 already.

Cruise won’t stop running anytime soon.

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. Run, Cruise, run!

Review: Ant-Man

Here is the next piece of many that fits in to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, that continues to expand into movie theaters and dominate the box office the weekend it comes out.

This is the first MCU film that really normalizes the existence of superheroes, the Avengers and SHIELD. Ant-Man, aka Scott Lang (played by the hilarious Paul Rudd), mentions the Avengers, see the SHIELD’s facility from Avengers: Age of Ultron, and even meets an Avenger. So things are getting tied together, both past and present.

So for this other male superhero origin story, Rudd plays burglar Scott Lang, who spent several years in prison for his theft. When he is released and comes to terms with not being to keep a job based on his record, he goes back to his old habits. And so he plays into the hands of Dr. Hank Pym  (Michael Douglas, Wall Street), who’d been waiting for Lang, of course. Pym sees the potential in Lang to become the ant-sized superhero. Together, they and Pym’s daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lily, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) plan to destroy another minimizing suit from being created, which would create chaos around the world (’cause you won’t see it coming).

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com.

The trailer looks exciting and fun. It was funny. But it lacked in the actual storyline department (as in this is not a comedy, so that shouldn’t be it’s main point).

The climax of the movie was very dissatisfying. There was a build up, a very, very long one, but then it fell short once it arrived. In that sense it was a big letdown since the movie was doing so well (it had over an hour to set the stage), but the end was predictable. Also, one of it’s main punchlines had been ruined by the movie’s trailer.

But, the comedy want kept up to pace through most of the movie, even in the bitter end. Which is it’s redeeming quality. Though I’ll say that Michael Peña’s character, as the trusty friend and side-kick (and comedic relief) Luis, stole the show for comedy. He was brilliant. (And this article by HitFix.com says it may be the funniest Marvel movie to date, potentially beating out Iron Man and Guardian’s of the Galaxy.)

This may partly irrelevant to my review (and also maybe not) but I always wrinkled my nose as hoards of ants started crawling around and doing things. I guess it was an instinct to sit back in the seat so the crawlers don’t crawl over me instead.

Acting was definitely on point by these old-timer pros. No complaints. Especially cranky Douglas. He’s awesome.

Visual effects very convincing and detailed. But gives you the idea that Rudd did more voice-acting than anything.

I give this movie a 7 (out of 10). IMDb cited 8.0 (as of posting time). Rotten Tomatoes 80%, Certified Fresh. MetaCritic 64.

Meaning, Ant-Man has quality and value, though lower scores of the two. It appears to be more of a set-up into the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, while they did the best they could out of Ant-Man’s origin story. (Much like the first Captain America, which I thought was a horrendous movie, but it set the stage for everything else.)

As per the end-credit scenes (because obviously they exist), there is a high probability for an Ant-Man sequel (with another upcoming hero in the mix also). Yay?

Before that happens though, Ant-Man will be seen in Captain America: Civil War next May.

What did you guys think of Ant-Man?

P.S. Remember to stay after the credits. And yes, that means the really long credits when they cite everything and everyone involved in the production. You don’t want to miss this scene. Trust me.

P.S.S. My PhD in Material Science friend was very amused by the explanations behind the science of the minimizing suit. I was quite amused by it too after he tried to explain that it can’t happen. But MCU is clearly a very different universe with different laws. LOL.

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. Till next time.

Review: Magic Mike XXL

The trailer says, “We didn’t want to show the best parts of the movie in this trailer but it was very,very hard to resist.”

Well, I can understand why they couldn’t resists because they were literally the best parts of the movie. The rest was quite dull.

Now this may be a spoiler,or a huge disappointment, depending on who you are, but this convention that these gentlemen are going to basically takes place in the last 15 minutes of this 1 hour and 55 minute movie.

Since the trailer hints that the convention is the big idea and major plot point, yet it turns out it was a rather minor point of the story.

These gents go on a kind of odyssey of self-realization and discovery of their potential. And brotherhood. And the stripper convention is the end-result, which ends up being a banging good performance based on what these guys went through on their trip from Tampa, Florida, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

(It may not be as deep of an odyssey as The Odyssey or Iron Man, but what is?)

So though it may be a disappointment in the duration category, there’s more to these Magic Mike movies than just abs (not that I don’t mind a movie all about abs and dancing). So don’t cry “false advertising” just yet, unless you expected to see some very specific things not already shown in the trailer.

But one theme this movie focuses on quite distinctly is that of fulfilling what a woman wants. It’s not about the man anymore and what a woman can do for him, but vice versa. And these male entertainers know that’s what it’s about, especially as they encounter some middle-aged, unhappy married and divorced women. The gents make that point quite clear.

My score is a 4 (out of 10). IMDb rated it at 6.3 (the audience has spoken!). Rotten Tomatoes 64% (making a a fresh tomato). MetaCritic gave 60. Consistent scores across the board.

It lacked in story and quality. It was dull, as I’ve already said. I got a sense that it was more about the dollar bills, and making a riot of a trailer filled with sexual innuendos, than making a meaningful insight to male entertainers (which the first one succeeded more in).

So, if you haven’t seen it already, now you know whether to drop the money on it or not.

P.S. I had great fun writing this brief, albeit criticizing, review.

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. Gotta cool down in the summer heat.

Review: Terminator Genisys

The Terminator is back…and less monotone than ever (finally!).

The fifth installment of the Terminator franchise hit the screens 31 years after James Cameron’s vision started it all. And what a vision it was.

The movie opens in 2029 after years of battle between Humans and Machines. The Messiah, John Connor, and his resistance army are close to finally defeating Skynet, the program that made machines self-aware and caused nuclear fallout, leading to the battle for Earth. But before they can stop it, Skynet sends a Terminator to kill Connor’s mother, Sarah, iin 1984 so that John is never born to lead the resistance. To protect her, John sends back Sergeant Kyle Reese.

So far so good in accordance with the original timeline.

But then, everything changed (when the fire nation attacked…just kidding).

Kyle lands in 1984 and ends up being saved by Sarah (who very much doesn’t look like she even lives in the 80’s). She knows everything about Terminators, Skynet, Judgement Day, that she mothers the savior of humanity. Oh, and she has a protector Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who saved her from being terminated in the 70’s after her parents were terminated, and he’s called “Pops.” Daaawwww.

Though I always felt that Schwarzenegger’s Terminator distracted from plot with his one-liners (excluding the first and fourth movies), he may be the savior of this movie. The reason? He’s the constant character that brings it all together, despite the new timeline. And he’s more important to the plot now, and not just the muscle of the operation (he still is, but he has a more human qualities now). So Schwarzenegger did good.

And the other actors…

Emilia Clarke (Daenarys in Game of Thrones) and Jai Courtney (Eric in the Divergent trilogy) who play Sarah and Kyle, respectively, lack chemistry to make their new relationship work (I say new ’cause it blooms differently from the original Terminator). Most of the time they just argue and belittle the other’s knowledge. The one topic they do connect over: John, which makes sense because they’re John’s parents. But it is hard to believe that these two characters will still end up falling in love.

Jason Clarke (Malcolm in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) does pretty well too as the human-machine hybrid. But more on the hybrid later.

Plot: time-travel is always interesting. But Genisys fails it. It’s just not logical.

Seeing a movie that has a glaring illogical plot, it feels like the writers didn’t spend enough time to make it work. Or, they said “Screw logic!” and threw in some jargon and hoped the audience rolls with it. I did not. Once you realize it doesn’t make sense, it difficult to look at the movie with a good eye.

It is interesting to see John go back in time and be the villain (he essentially is the one who chases our heroes, like Schwarzenegger did in 1984, Robert Patrick in 1991 and Kristanna Loken in 2003). Through the character John himself doesn’t get to develop, the villain is finally dimensional and complex. He’s more than just a monotone machine that gets shot and gets back up. He’s able to explain and feel. There’s layers to explore.

But it’s just weird, too. John’s the Messiah. Like, no.

CGI was amazing. I always love to see what they can accomplish with machines and tech. It’s not a redeeming feature for Genisys however.

Bottom line: I will say it’s an entertaining and good summer movie. It’s good for summer blues. But I won’t go so far as to say it’s a good movie.

Also, in terms of ranking it among the the previous films in the franchise, as I did right here,  I’d say it comes in 3rd place.

P.S. There’s a post-credits scene. A.K.A. sequels are coming!

P.P.S. Watching Genisys was more fun and interesting if you see the first Terminator beforehand so you can see the parallels.

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com.

The Definitive Ranking of Terminator Movies

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. He’s back, and he couldn’t be happier about it!

In honor of the July 1st release of the brand new and updated Terminator: Genisys (brand new and updated just like the machines themselves. Pat on the back for being so clever), I decided to look at all the previous films and definitively rank them.

And boy, it was quite a journey of “what’s?” and nervous laughter and cringe-worthiness and questions marks. But I survived.

So, the Terminator franchise has been around for a VERY. LONG. TIME. First one came out in 1984, back when, according to my mom, society was a little scared of machines taking over because machines were taking over so many jobs and technology was evolving so quickly. So it’s kinda cool that the movie actually reflects society’s fear and let’s them know the absolute worst case scenario of what can happen if they do. Hmmmmm……. I do think it’s a little curious that the first Terminator came out the same year that George Orwell’s 1984 takes place. Cause then, again, the tech had evolved so very much and controlled people’s lives. (The Illuminati is real!)

But this is not a history lesson or a philosophy session. So, time to rank the four Terminators….

4) The Terminator (1984)

Yes, the one that started it all is really the worst one.

The biggest annoyance I had was probably that the movie was very unclear. You got through half the movie when you finally understood what the hell was going on. Sure, I knew ahead of time because I read the synopsis, but I had seen this in 1984 (can you imagine the clothes I’d be wearing to see it?!) and I had no synopsis and clearly not seen it’s descendant movies, I would’ve been quite lost.

Also: camera angles and action shots sucked. It just looked so goofy and bad and had zero flow.

It was just so 80’s, but then again it was the 80’s, but STILL.

Overall silliness. Like Arnold’s flapping hair, or Reese falling in love with Sarah from her picture alone, to Arnold’s face prosthetic…

Too. Many. Car. Chases.

Ending was quite good though, when they’re in the factory and the half-Arnold left is crawling after Sarah. Pretty good suspense. But other than that…it has very little credit to it. Boy, can you imagine my surprise when I saw it was rated 8.1 on IMDb?! Just, wow.

3) Terminator: Rise of the Machines (2003)

There’s general hate for this movie all around. It has the lowest IMDb rating of all the movies. Which tells you something, even though by this time the CGI is much better and the budget is bigger. Generally, I think most hate it because of a sucky storyline, and John Connor being a whiny little brat (and he’s like 20!).

What makes it better than the original for me was that it was more like a movie…I can’t quite explain it, but I guess because it has more of the feel that contemporary movies do…aka movies of my time, with the resolution of today’s cameras and good direction. That’s how I can explain it.

Too. Many. Car. Chases! And too long! Terminator is not Fast and Furious movie, and they have less chases!

It was just a huge hide and go seek movie.

Plot was flimsy. Not sure why Kate’s important ’til much later, which was a drag. And when you found it, it was like “dumb!” Just overall “meh” film.

2) Terminator: Judgement Day (1991)

This was just really amazing. There’s really a huge jump between 3rd and 2nd place…there should be like 5 number’s between there. Clearly, there was a budget increase for this one…and better writing. (I’d just like to point out that James Cameron wrote the script for the first movie and this one. Now, I’m talking about the James Cameron behind Titanic and Avatar. Let that sink in.)

Car chases. Yes, they were there, but they were neither annoying or too long. And, they were just much more dynamic.

I really liked the two separate storylines of Sarah and her son, John, and how they come then come together. Because of these storylines, you find out so much about their characters, their pasts and presents. You see how strained their relationship is, how they have to work together to move forward. There’s more genuine feeling as they reconnect and build their new relationship.  Dynamic relationships go a long way in my book.

Overall plot just had so much going for it, from John first realizing everything his mom told him is true, to seeing Sarah in the mental hospital, to her escape/rescue, to their fleeing the country, Sarah deciding to kill the creator of Skynet, then destroying everything about Skynet. See?! This movie’s biggest plot wasn’t that of the machine chasing our heroes, which the previous two were.

1) Terminator Salvation (2009)

Okay, before you attack me and hate me for basically liking the one movie in the franchise that didn’t have Schwarzy in it, so technically this movie doesn’t count as some think, remember, this is my definitive ranking. And despite missing the one important character (you could say it did, but he was just CGId), it had many of the other aspects that make it a Terminator movie. Like:

1) Final battle happens in a factory (seriously, every single one has this setting!!!)

2) There are numerous car chases

3) “I’ll be back” line

4) Extensive voice-over

5) Badass women

So, let’s all calm down. It’s just really good (in my opinion).

In my notes, I wrote that I liked this movie the most because it was more about the actual, important central characters instead of Arnold’s monotone one-liners. Which is completely true. There is so much development for these characters and understanding what drives them, how they came to be there, what’s going on in the war. It brings together so much of what the other movies have told but in the “present,” so it’s cool to see the actions going on in the future when the war is going on that leads to the past events…which is the present. Following along?

Like Judgement Day, the plot was much better. There’s conflict and misunderstanding and intensity and backstabbing and morality. And the whole thing with Marcus Wright is just an huge ball of intrigue that pulls you in instantly. It’s also cool to meet the characters before they’ve filled their role in the franchise, like Kyle Reese.

Can’t wait to see where Genisys stacks up. And what Schwarzy’s butt looks like now!

(Ok, the latter, not really, but he just keeps showing up naked so I’m sure he will again in the new one.)

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com. Do you realize that if Schwarzy had long hair…this would have been the hairflip of the century?!

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Producing FIFA Drama

This will be my shortest post ever because all I have to say to this is:

Why are two major Tom Brady lovers producing a movie about soccer?

Why are American film production companies even thinking about this at all?

Soccer is the sport everyone makes fun of in America. Most Americans don’t care about soccer, most don’t understand soccer. Yet, two men, who are full-blood Patriots fans, have been asked to produce this movie!

Yes, it’s a lucrative drama. But do many really care? Yes, FIFA just recently had another major corruption scandal a few weeks ago, which, thanks to the American FBI, was brought to light as several officials were arrested in Switzerland. And now they decide to make this movie? That’s convenient.

Anyone else giving this a second look, a raised eyebrow, narrow eyes, cringing a little?

Casting Updates: Hired Spider-Man, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller

(Updates from June 23-June 25)

News broke this week that the new Spider-Man has been picked and he is…not the one I predicted. *Self-five*

I wrote in my previous post regarding the new lead, and  about how Sony were looking at only young actors for the new role, and during the final rounds I was betting on Asa Butterfield. But the gods have spoken, and as such, I was wrong.

Meet your new Spider-Man: Tom Holland (he’s 19)

Photo courtesy of Just Jared. Will he be the new swoon king? He’s quite dashing, tbh.

 

The studio picked a young actor as they wanted to bring back Peter Parker to high school, and not have almost 30-something actors playing college students (aka Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire). So the new leading man is taking over for Garfield and his Amazing Spider-Man franchise.

His previous works include The Impossible and Wolf Hall.

Holland will make his first latex-costume appearance in Captain America: Civil War, which comes out May 6, 2016.

Congrats!

Next: Emma Watson

The actress continues to make a name for herself, from the UN to the big screen, as she now tackles a project with American sweetheart Tom Hanks. Watson will star along-side Hank’s The Circle, which explores cyber-privacy in the digital age, according to Variety.

The movie is based on the 2013 novel of the same name, written by Dave Eggers. He;s obviously ahead of his time, as this is a very heated topic as it is in today’s age.

Here’s Variety’s plot summary of the movie:

Watson will portray an employee hired for a big job in an Internet monopoly called the Circle, which links users’ personal emails, social media, banking and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. The novel turns into a contemporary thriller about the perils of life in a digital age where personal data is collected, sifted and monetized and used for surveillance, rendering privacy obsolete.

This is the second thriller Watson is starring in. She’ll be seen in Regression later this year along side Ethan Hawke.

Last but certainly not least: Ezra Miller

The Perks of Being a Wallflower star is eyed to play a lead character in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the expansionary spin-off franchise from the Harry Potter world. Variety reports that he was the primary choice since the beginning, but Warner Bros. have only now started negotiations for Miller to play Kredan.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that Eddie Redmayne would play the lead of Newt Scamander. Katherine Waterston’s casting as Tina was announced a few weeks ago as well.

That means there are 2 lead character spots left to be filled (if Miller is cast, that is).

Apart from this wonderful casting in Fantastic Beasts, Miller will be taking on the speed of superhero The Flash, also for Warner Bros (this was announced like 8 months ago, but I wanted to remind errbody). He will be the first to play The Flash in a live-action movie. Meaning Ezra is making some strides. No word yet on when he’ll make his introductory appearance, as he is not confirmed for Zach Snyder’s Superman vs Batman: Dawn of Justice film, which comes out next year. Before either of these two, however, Miller can be seen in Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck, and The Stanford Prison Experiment.

 

Congrats to all the new castings. Can’t wait to see all y’all!

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com.

Review: Inside Out

Disney Pixar’s newest animation adventure finally hit the screens this past weekend and had the highest opening weekend ever for an original film beating out 2009’s Avatar. (Original meaning non-sequel, non-sourced work.)

Aren’t you filled with JOY about that?! I am, because it is so well deserved.

Inside Out is about the five emotions that exist in the 11-year-old Riley, and how they help shape Riley’s life growing up by having happy to angry to scary to sad to disgusting memories. Then, things start to get messy as the emotions try to control Riley’s feelings when her family suddenly moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. Then all hell breaks loose when Sadness ruins pretty much everything, and it’s up to Joy to fix everything while traversing Riley’s mind.

Where do I even begin?

The first six minutes of the film just introduces the whole idea of what is going on, as narrated by Joy (Amy Poehler). You see Riley’s first emotions, how her core memories are created, her different “islands” that make up her personality (like honesty, goofiness, etc), and how it all works.

In just six minutes, I’m in love with this movie. In six minutes, I’m smiling and feeling happy. In six minutes, the actual plot hasn’t even started yet, and I just feel amazed of the sudden impact it has. The headquarters for the emotions…it’s so creative.

I thought that was really creative.

But then I saw how Riley’s mind was built up, from Imagination Land to the prison containing her darkest fears. Just wow.
(I just get this feeling of happiness thinking about it! #gushing.)

I wrote in my Jurassic Park review that I love it when I feel wonderment as a movie-goer. It’s such a genuine feeling, showing that the makers of the movie created this literally incredible thing and can affect viewers this way.

(Sidenote here: this is why we need original works and less of the sequels and remakes that are showing up all the time. This feeling is hard to replicate or redo, regardless if that was the intention or not. Also, the the overwhelming feeling of appreciation of a movie, even when the subject matter is horrible (i.e. Schindler’s List, Hotel Rwanda), is so rewarding. This is what makes me love movies, when they have that affect on the inside and not just saying, “It was awesome.” But more on this in another blog post.)

The actual plot of the movie was amazing. Seeing as Joy and Sadness have to overcome tribulations over and over, which makes it clever while showing the rest of Riley’s mind, fitting in so perfectly to reveal what makes us so complex.

What made this good as well was probably how you recognize yourself in Riley growing up, with the range of emotions you’ve experienced, especially when you don’t know why you feel the way you do. And how quickly they can change. According to the trivia I read about Inside Out on the handy-dandy IMDb, director Pete Docter’s inspiration came from “watching his own daughter go through this turbulent part of growing up.” This again makes the movie genuine because it’s based on on real things.

So basically, this gets the highest marks all around. I would gush more, but I think it’s better to just say: Go watch it! It will leave you so enlightened and full of powerful emotions!

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com.  This gif absolutely killed me with happiness :))))))))