In the final act of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, as primary characters face horrific fates and a Highlander film’s worth of decapitations flickered on the screen, I struggled to wrap my head around a realization: I might have to convince some of my friends to see this movie. For someone who has sat through — I might even hyperbolize “endured” — the previous four films, this was new. Enjoyment. Enthusiasm. The battle scene hinted at in the image above is exactly the sort of thing films such as the entire Underworld series have struggled to create. Here, it’s tossed off with seemingly little effort.
But then there’s the movie wrapped around that sequence. This is still Twilight, full of gravely serious vampires far better at posing with faces full of concern than than they are to be at actually sucking blood. Is this, the last film in the series, any good? No, not really.
But this time – and this is important – everyone involved, from director Bill Condon on down, finally seems to be in on the joke. I’d swear that Michael Sheen, playing the leader of dire vampire enforcement clan the Volturi, was running lines from Rocky Horror in his head. A pair of Transylvanian guys (or are they characters cut from Sprockets?) throw so much Lugosi into their voice that they’re nearly unintelligible, to oddly funny effect. And a CG baby is used when a perfectly normal human baby would have worked just as well. Seriously: a CG baby. That alone nearly merits a curiosity viewing. Read More »
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Posted on Friday, November 16th, 2012 by Angie Han
As you head into the weekend, we’ve got a few last sequel-related tidbits to chew on. After the jump:
- Warner Bros. limited The Hobbit‘s 48 fps rollout to “do it right”
- The Hobbit‘s Dori pledges himself to England’s Prince Charles
- Will Breaking Dawn Parts I and II be re-released as one movie?
- Paramount is pushing for Transformers 4 to be set in China
- Keira Knightley says Jack Ryan wraps shooting in December
- Chris Pine has vague comments about Star Trek Into Darkness
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Posted on Tuesday, November 13th, 2012 by Angie Han
Pandas and hobbits and singletons, oh my! After the jump:
- Marc Webb hints at costume changes for The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- Guillermo del Toro offers Puss in Boots 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3 updates
- Author Helen Fielding has a third Bridget Jones novel due out next fall,
- Listen to Howard Shore‘s full score for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 almost received an R rating
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As a genre, the zombie film is pretty thoroughly mined at this point. There has even been a zombie romantic comedy (or zom-rom-com) that made a few fans. You’ve probably seen Shaun of the Dead four or five times by now.
But Warm Bodies, from director Jonathan Levine (50/50, The Wackness, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane) might not be as redundant as the idea of another zom-rom-com might seem. It plays with the tropes of rom-coms and zombie films even more, creating an exaggerated “wrong side of the tracks” romance where, in this case, the “track” in question is actually the line between life and death.
See, Nicholas Hoult is a zombie, but when he meets Teresa Palmer, his heart starts to beat again. Her father, John Malkovich, isn’t too keen on this. Eventually, it seems other zombies are edging back towards life, too, but in the meantime there’s some weird comedy and romance to play with. Two trailers for the film have hit today, and through them you can start to get an idea of how the mix all works. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2012 by Angie Han
Could Sean Connery return to the Bond franchise? Believe it or not, it almost happened a third time. Also after the jump:
- The Muppets shoots this winter, Bret McKenzie returns to write more songs
- Wreck-It Ralph director Rich Moore has ideas for a sequel
- Robert Zemeckis isn’t planning a Roger Rabbit sequel
- Daniel Craig says Dragon Tattoo sequel needs a script
- Watch a montage of A Good Day to Die Hard filming
- Star Trek Into Darkness will be released in Dolby Atmos
- Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura talks about Red 2
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It’s strange to have a very recognizable actor in a found-footage movie, because the whole “realism” concept of found footage relies upon our ability to relate to the normalcy that is eventually shattered by whatever weird entities beset the characters. But I’ve been hearing great things about Sinister, which stars Ethan Hawke as a guy whose discovery of old reels of film in his house leads to some horrible encounters.
And I think this new red-band trailer for the film is excellent. It features almost no dialogue, working instead off image and sound. It is red-band thanks to some partial nudity, expletive-laden pullquotes, and a generally intense tone, and I’d say that just about everyone should check it out. Those who’ve seen the film tell me this is a bit spoilery, and while it probably does show a lot, I didn’t feel as if I’d seen too much. Use your own judgement there. Read More »
Posted on Friday, September 7th, 2012 by Angie Han
Hansel and Gretel won’t be the only witch hunters headed to the multiplex in the near future. Vin Diesel has just entered talks to play the lead in the similarly themed The Last Witch Hunter, which has had The Crazies and Sahara helmer Breck Eisner signed on to direct since last year.
Hmm. On the one hand, Cory Goodman‘s screenplay landed on the 2010 Black List, and with some competent direction from Eisner and a likable performance from Diesel, this could end up being a fun bit of genre fluff. On the other, Goodman’s other credits include the critically derided Priest and Apollo 18. More after the jump.
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When you realize so little new blood gets into a genre that’s based on blood, it’s actually kind of sad. Almost every horror movie released on a massive scale is a sequel, remake or PG-13 money grab. Original ideas are hard to come by, but one that’s coming soon is Sinister. Directed by Scott Derrickson, the film stars Ethan Hawke as “a true crime novelist who discovers a box of mysterious, disturbing home movies that plunge his family into a nightmarish experience of supernatural horror.”
Sinister has some great buzz growing from the festival circuit and opens October 5. However the gang at Tugg.com is hosting a bevy of early, free screenings in cities across the country. After the jump, check out the new poster for the film and find out how you can see Sinister first. Read More »
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