One film I’ve been decidedly mixed on is John Carter, Andrew Stanton‘s live-action debut. Much as I love the talent involved — stars Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, etc., screenwriter Michael Chabon, and of course Stanton — I haven’t loved the footage we’ve seen of it so far. But trailers, clips, and Super Bowl spots only tell us so much, and some of the buzz from the early screenings have made the project sound a bit more promising. Hit the jump for more.
Posted on Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 by Germain Lussier
When people think of 1999 movies, titles like Fight Club, The Matrix and Being John Malkovich are just a few of the influential titles mentioned. One that regularly gets overlooked is American Pie, which not only was a massive hit, it launched a franchise, multiple catchphrases and the careers of several actors. It’s now 13 years later and 2012, once again, has a very impressive set of films coming out and, once again, American Reunion is getting overlooked. The fourth theatrical Pie film returns the entire cast for their 10 year high school reunion and will be released on April 6.
The film test screened earlier this week in New York and Los Angeles and fans took to Twitter to voice their opinions. What did they think? They loved it. Read some early buzz after the jump. Read More »
One of our most anticipated 2012 releases is Looper, which comes from Brick and The Brothers Bloom director Rian Johnson. The movie shot some time ago, but will not be distributed until next year, and the wait is one I’m not suffering patiently.
Looper is a time travel movie, of sorts. It stars Bruce Willis (in the first still from the film, above) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as two men on opposite ends of a timeline. The central conceit is that there is a society in which time travel exists and is banned. Time-travel tech is still in use, however, as an execution tool: gangsters send targets back in time. When the target lands in the past, specialized hit men, ‘loopers,’ make the kill. But what happens when a target escapes the execution? And what further complications ensue when the target is the future self of the looper meant to pull the trigger?
New reports from a Looper test screening are not going to make the wait any easier. A few high profile web writers caught the film, and their opinion of the film, which was shown in unfinished form, is extremely high. Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 by Russ Fischer
Taking a page from Paramount’s campaign for Young Adult and the promo push for other ‘word of mouth’ movies like The Help, DreamWorks has avoided the festival circuit with Steven Spielberg‘s War Horse and taken the movie straight to the people. Some of the first screenings for the movie are taking place away from big metro areas in the US, and the first reactions are in. (The screening schedule is below, though it’s too late for tickets to most of them.)
The general response to War Horse seems to be quite positive, but most of the people who are chiming in are folks whose taste in movies we don’t really know, so some of the superlatives and criticisms might be taken with caution. We’ve rounded up a few below. Read More »
Posted on Monday, October 17th, 2011 by Russ Fischer
The first review of Steven Spielberg‘s The Adventures of Tintin hit last week, and we offered up a few choice quotes from that generally very positive assessment. Over the weekend quite a few other reviews hit, and we’ve sampled them below. The aggregate impression is generally positive, with a lot of praise aimed at the energy and adventure setpieces. Not everyone is taken with the performance capture technology that powers the film. That’s to be expected, and I’m fairly impressed that more reviewers seem to be accepting of that process than put off by it. The film opens on October 26 in the UK and won’t hit the US until December 21. Get a sample of the early reviews below. Read More »
Posted on Friday, October 14th, 2011 by Russ Fischer
Steven Spielberg‘s The Adventures of Tintin premieres in Paris next weekend, and on October 26 will start to hit theaters in the UK and Europe. But you don’t have to wait two more weeks for some elements of the film. Previews of John Williams‘ score have hit the internet, so you can hear a few seconds of his classic-sounding adventure themes.
The first review of Tintin has hit, as well. It is generally quite positive; check out pullquotes from that, below. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, October 11th, 2011 by Angie Han
Hugo represents unfamiliar territory for Martin Scorsese, being both his first family film and his first 3D project, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the movie. The legendary director has crafted a charming piece of all-ages entertainment that’s absolutely stunning in its use of live-action 3D — even in the unfinished version I saw, a work in progress with visible green screens, some very rough CG, and a temporary sound mix. This is the kind of work filmmakers are talking about when they insist it isn’t just a cheesy, money-grabbing gimmick, but a true next step in cinematic technology, because this is the kind of movie that’s actually worth shelling out the extra bucks and dealing with those uncomfortable disposable glasses for. Read on after the jump.
Posted on Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 by Peter Sciretta
Paramount Pictures has begun test screening Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo, with screenings in New York City and Chicago. Like many of you, I’ve been anxiously awaiting this film. Not just because its a new Scorsese film, but I’m really interested to see what a master filmmaker can do with the 3D camera. Advance buzz coming out of the first test screenings is quite positive. Read the first spoiler-free reactions, after the jump.
