In this clip of the upcoming 'The Grand Budapest Hotel', Ralph Fiennes' concierge is accused of murder by Edward Norton's policeman. While at first he seems calm and composed, at a moment's notice, Fiennes decides to make a run for it. The film will be released in March 2014 .
According to ComicBookMovie.com, the plot of ‘Dawn of the
Planet of Apes’ is described as such:
A growing nation of genetically
evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the
devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but
it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that
will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.
After watching the trailer for the movie, I can truly say
that I’m extremely anxious to watch this movie. Tonally, this film is
definitely darker than its predecessor, a trend familiar for most Hollywood
sequels nowadays.
Essentially, a virus has almost eradicated the human species
off the face of this earth. The film is set 10 years after ‘Rise of the Planet
of Apes’, so the virus has done its work effectively, since whatever left of
human civilization shown in the trailer, appears to have set back people by a
century or two. And if Gary Oldman’s voice in the trailer is to be believed,
humans fighting amongst each other would have also aided this regressive
transition for the human race.
The last movie had Caesar and his fellow primates residing
in The Red Oak Forest, seeking sanctuary among its towering trees. To move from
that to a state of anarchy and lawlessness is a big, profound and perplexing
jump. It is a massive, if not revolutionary change to have humanity at the
mercy of primates. This brings the question as to whether this upcoming
installment should focus on the ten years that have passed, or whether it
should pick up after humans have been brought to their knees.
Of course, most would say that the spread of the virus via
airline routes as depicted by the final scene, should be sufficient to clarify
this situation.Had a movie been
developed on the 10 years since, it would simply be another ‘Contagion’ or
other virus movie.
But what the trailer illuminated was that humans were now at
the mercy of Caesar and the other primates. Isn’t it worth knowing how we got
there? The virus and the genetically enhanced primates should be part of the
answer but not the entire response. After all, Caesar didn’t possess an army of
millions at his command to have mankind under his foot. The trailer also
reveals that his hairy friends still reside among the trees, instead of
sheltering in apartments and hotel suites. Maybe this is a sign that there’s
much more to come from this franchise, and more left for the apes to do in
upcoming installments. This franchise is truly alive and well with the reboot,
and a ten year fast forward from the last installment may be crucial, to spare
the film from turning into another generic virus-spread movie.
In fact, a fast forward may be necessary as detailing the
path that led humans to that sorry state may be too ludicrous to put on screen.
Of course, I understand that the film is
dealing with intellectually superior apes, which in itself is an otherworldly
phenomenon, but having primates messing around with things like nuclear weapons
and such may be preposterous (just an example), for now at least given that the
previous film didn’t elaborate extensively on how smart these creatures are,
since it was merely an introduction.
While I would have loved to understand how things got so horrible
within 10 years in the ‘Planet of the Apes’ universe in lurid detail, it
ultimately may be unnecessary and distractive, as everything could be pinned
down to the spread of a virus that affects human beings, and not the apes. And besides,
Caesar and his friends don’t seem to have done much during that time since they
seem to have been holed up in a forest, rather than proceeding with executing
some megalomaniacal plan. That decade which was skipped may, as a result, be
ignored, as the most interesting and compelling story may still be waiting to
be told.
22 Jump Street has released its red band trailer. Our
favorite characters Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) are back,
but I’m even happier to see the return of Ice Cube’s Captain Dickson who to me,
provided the best moments of the previous installment. Who can forget him
saying “Infiltrate the dealers, find the suppliers!”?
While I know that the film won’t fail to deliver on the side
of laughs, I’m slightly let down by the anticipated plot lines. The trailer
sees the police duo go through college, but it’s clear that they are once again
trying to find a drug cartel embedded in university. The previous film also
dealt with a drug bust, so are they going for a similar story? SlashFilm.com
reports that another component of the story will be the duo beginning to “question
their partnership.” This, too, was a strong element of 21 Jump Street where there was an element of role reversal and Hill was the cool guy in school while Tatum hung out with the geeks, drawing them apart. Will the
audience be disinterested if the film is more like the previous film, or less
like it?
Setting that aside, there are things going on that should
help differentiate this film from its predecessor. Firstly, Jenko and Schmidt
will be trying to infiltrate a college crime circle instead of one in high
school. We all know how different high school was from college, so there is definitely
potential to explore new areas. As the trailer mentioned, the fraternity aspect
comes into play. Secondly, the film sees the two cops requesting for the aid of
the last film’s villains, played by Dave Franco and Rob Riggle. That, too,
should add an interesting dimension to the new addition depending on how big a
role these actors will play. But still, it remains to be seen if the balance of
the old and the new will make a decent combination for movie goers.
Jupiter Ascending Trailer with Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis
IMDB.com explains the story of ‘Jupiter Ascending’ as such:
"In a universe where humans are near
the bottom of the evolutionary ladder, a young destitute human woman is
targeted for assassination by the Queen of the Universe because her very
existence threatens to end the Queen's reign."
I am not overly enthusiastic about this premise, or rather
the manner in which the trailer put the story out. What put me off was that
massive spotlight enabling people to travel upwards. It resembled the transportation
beam I saw in ‘This is the End’ which allowed Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel to
enter Heaven.
Then there was that introduction which initially painted
Channing Tatum’s character as the ultimate hunting machine. A few seconds later
and he’s fawning over Mila Kunis. It seems that my reservations are created by
the little components of the film instead of the actual plot, which can
actually be illustrated in a better manner. Incorporating a romantic aspect
into the film with Tatum and Kunis makes the whole thing icky.
Today saw the release of the new trailer for Godzilla, the
reboot that is to be released in May 2014. It stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron
Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen. I must say that it is extremely strange to
see Cranston sporting a longer hair style after his outing in Breaking Bad, where
we were accustomed to seeing him without any hair on his scalp.
Anyway, the trailer starts off with a speech from David
Strathairn I presume, where he speaks to a group of soldiers who jump off a
plane into a smoldering city. This sequence was exceptional, where a wide angle
shot allows the storm of dust and debris Godzilla has created to be caught. It truly
looked like an apocalyptic nightmare. Then we move into the first person view
and witness the carnage from the perspective of one soldier as he descends into
the city from the skies. The teasers are set up perfectly here, as we can only
see a glimpse of Godzilla’s spiky back through a screen of filthy air and fire.
The teasing continues, with us only being able to see the
destruction the Kaiju monster creates until the last few seconds of the trailer,
where we once again see his spiky back, as if massive shards of glass were
jutting out, and then we see his head. Unlike the 1998 model of the monster
which was more like a T-Rex, this version has a shorter snout (I hope it’s the right
word). I wanted to look at the various versions of the creature that had
appeared in film, since its inception in 1954.
The 1954 film was made by Japanese film company Toho and
decided to have a monster that was a combination of a Tyrannosaurus Rex,
Stegosaurus and an Iguanodon. Filming for the first film relied on a scaled
model of Tokyo and it was a man in a suit (Haruo Nakajima) that played the role
of the Kaiju monster. As of today, Toho has released 28 Godzilla films with the
last being distributed in 2004, so I’m not going to go through each iteration.
Instead, I wanted to compare the original monster with the
ones in the American productions. I was first introduced to Godzilla through
the 1998 American film when I was 3 years old. Naturally, I hold this film in
high regard despite universal objection by the masses. What can I say, kids are
easily impressed by anything surreal. This version seemed to specifically focus
on the T-Rex look for the monster, opting to discard or minimize the influence
of the other dinosaurs that served as inspiration for the original Japanese
film. Hence, we got a longer pout and a faster creature.
And now, with the 2014 reboot trailer being released, I can
honestly say that it is more faithful to the original than the 1998 Mathew
Broderick film. What stood out to me was that massive, plated back and the
shorter pout, features that were present in the 1954 Japanese original. The monster
in the upcoming feature also appears to be larger than in the 1998 feature, but
much slower. This makes sense since a larger creature generally tends to travel
at reduced speeds.
The problem for me is that I’m partial towards the 1998
monster, simply because it was the first Godzilla movie I watched and I love
the T-Rex in general, so it created a stronger impression on my mind. While the
upcoming version of the reptilian hybrid looks more intimidating, the shorter
pout makes it look slightly comical. As of now, I’m conflicted about which
iteration had the most awesome-looking monster. I think it’s the 1998 version, but then again,
we’ve only had teasers of the monster in the 2014 movie so we can certainly
expect more to come.
I am always weary of time travel movies, especially because there will almost always be a loop hole to find in the rules of time travel. Thus, when the decision was made to make Days of Future Past a time
Wes Anderson has a signature style that is central to all
his movies. A comparison of Moonrise Kingdom and the now available trailer for ‘The
Grand Budapest Hotel’ makes it
After an almost decade-long absence, the world’s favorite
doll (for adults that is) is back on camera. This time round, Chucky has had
quite a radical makeover. His iconic red hair is combed more thoroughly and his
hillbilly overalls seem
