Without Matt Damon in the lead role, The Bourne Legacy promises to be a difficult sell. But luckily, if the trailer below is any indication, it looks as though Universal has found a worthy successor to Damon: a series of black bars that dramatically float in and out of the frame and instantly establish a sense of mystery and intrigue. Oh, and I think I also may have spotted The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner in there too at some point. He's usually pretty good. But yikes, those black bars were too intense.
The number of movies made about the West Memphis 3 has doubled within the last two years, and within the next two years, that number will likely double yet again.
First there was the Paradise Lost trilogy (the final installment of which is nominated for an Oscar), then there was the Peter Jackson produced West of Memphis (which premiered at Sundance), and soon there will be The Devil's Knot (a dramatization starring Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon). Now according to Deadline, Johnny Depp's company Infinitum Nihil has purchased the rights to Damien Echols' upcoming death row memoir, which should bring the total number of West Memphis 3 movies up to six.
If you’re a Twi-hard then the only reason you could possibly be reading this review is to confirm what you already know—that Breaking Dawn—Part 1 was the best movie ever and that Bella and Edward (Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson) were meant for each other.
For everyone else, a surprising revelation: Breaking Dawn—Part 1 is not awful. It should be—after all, it’s preceded by the legacy of Stephenie Meyer’s heinous source material and three hokey prequels, but under Bill Condon’s direction, Meyer’s ridiculous premise becomes not only palatable, but dare I say it, enjoyable. In any case, I blame Bill Condon for my reluctant conversion to the Twilight franchise.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has voiced his disappointment in the "certain amount of snobbery" involved with the Best Picture Oscar snub of Deathly Hallows: Part 2. In speaking to the Radio Times, Radcliffe expressed his dismay at the Academy's failure to honour the final instalment of the Harry Potter franchise.
"I don't think the Oscars like commercial films, or kids' films, unless they're directed by Martin Scorsese," said the 22-year-old actor. "I was watching Hugo the other day and going 'Why is this nominated and we're not?' I was slightly miffed." Continuing on, he ascribed to the Academy a "certain amount of snobbery". "It's kind of disheartening," he added. "I never thought I'd care. But it would've been nice to have some recognition, just for the hours put in."
In the two-minute-long Chrysler spot that aired during the Super Bowl half-time show, Clint Eastwood gave the event's 100 million plus viewership a fairly generic pep talk about overcoming obstacles and sticking together. "This country can't be knocked out with one punch," Eastwood says, speaking directly into the camera. "We get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, it's half time in America, and our second half is about to begin."
Pretty straight forward and uncontroversial, right?
Let's just pretend that first trailer never happened, shall we? It's an exciting day today for die-hard Spider-Man fans, as the new and vastly improved trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man has arrived online. Amending all the wrongdoings of its predecessor, this much-anticipated second trailer can be summarized in one word: more. There's more action, more bravado, more web-shooters, more swinging, more fighting, and yes: more of Spider-Man himself. While some may still be concerned about the volume of maskless Spider-Man images, this trailer is, at the very least, a step in the right direction.
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (7/10)
After the disappointing outing of Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, I was somewhat hesitant in my approach to A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. For one thing, so much of the latter's title just reeked of wrong; thankfully, my hesitance paid off, as I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer revelry and over-the-top scope in which the film made use of current 3D technology (an achievement that many misleading Hollywood blockbusters could learn from).
For those who missed the Super Bowl, the Giants beat the Patriots 21-17, M.I.A. flipped off the audience during the half time show, and Clint Eastwood reversed his position on the auto industry bail out. Oh, and a bunch of trailers for big summer movies were shown at a cost of $3.5 million per 30 seconds of air time. Here are a few of them.
New in theatres this week: Daniel Radcliffe, Abbie Cornish, and a group of teenagers with superpowers star in a bunch of movies that football fans will probably have no interest in seeing.
Here’s to Kristen Wiig, who not only brought us last year’s funniest film, but who refuses to ruin it by turning Bridesmaids into a franchise. It’s a controversial choice, one which EW columnist Mark Harris supports. “Lighting rarely strikes twice in comedy,” he points out. “Nobody ever says, ‘You know what I really loved about Home Alone 2?”
But that’s not the only mercy Wiig is granting by passing on Bridesmaids 2. She’s also squashing the demeaning debate that has surrounded the film, sparing us the cluck-clucking about whether women are suddenly/still as funny as men. And as much I relished seeing Maya Rudolph defile her wedding gown mid-street (more for what it did to subvert the status surrounding THE DRESS than for what it said about intestinal disturbances), it was enough gross-out humour to last me the year. Not everyone thinks women are as funny as men, but surely we all know that when it comes to effluvia, women get the lion’s share of liquids. Like the rest of us, Kristen Wiig understands that diarrhea jokes are just skimming the pot, and I think we should all be grateful she’s put a kibosh on refills.
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