05.24.2013 | By Jack Rico |
We’re introducing “The 1-4-0”, a brand new movie review summary that will begin each review in 140 characters or less that you can then copy/paste onto Twitter. Enjoy!
The “1-4-0”: ‘Before Midnight’: wait to be reeled in, have your heart exposed, trounced & then mended by an incredible visceral dialogue. A special film. Read More
04.23.2013 | By Karen Posada |
‘The Impossible’ or ‘Lo Imposible’ is a well-crafted natural disaster movie that’s touching, beautiful and definitely haunting. Just from seeing the trailer you know you will need tissues for this one, you would probably need a lot more tissues if the trailer didn’t give most of the movie away. Most films that are based on real life are able to get to the audience and this one certianly is the tear-jerker of the year. The Tsunami this film is based on hit South East Asia 8 years ago, although it might sound like it was a while ago this film makes it feel much more recent because the images and plot are so haunting. One thing to remember though is that wanting to keep so close to the real facts limits the story in itself. Read More
06.19.2012 | By Karen Posada |
They’ve began shooting ‘Safe Haven’ a romance based on the story by Nicholas Sparks, who wrote ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Dear John’; like most of his movies this will be shot in his native land of North Carolina in the town of Southport. Director Lasse Hallström has already casted Josh Duhamel from ‘Transformers’ and Julianne Hough from ‘Rock of Ages’ as protagonists, David Lyons is also part of the cast. The writers of the script: Dana Stevens and Les Bohem along with the rest of the production team make up a group of artists that have worked in movies or TV shows focused on romance; which tells us this movie will be a romantic voyage.
‘Safe Haven’ is a story full of suspense and affirmation about Katie (Hough), a young woman who is struggling to find love once again when she arrives in the small town in North Carolina. The people see her as suspicious when she seems to not want to be part of the community, but slowly she becomes to appear familiar and begins a relationship with Alex (Duhamel), a widowed that owns a story and has two small children. But her past (Lyons will play Hough’s estranged husband) gets in the way of her new life and the terror will force her to rediscover the meaning of sacrifice and what is like to rely on the power of love in this moving romantic thriller.
The studios involved in the production are: Relativity Media, Temple Hill Entertainment and Nicholas Sparks’ own production company. The movie will open on February 8, 2013.
03.29.2012 | By Jack Rico |
The new film from Mexican actor Gael García Bernal, ‘A Little Bit of Heaven’, is just weeks away from premiering in the United States and four new pictures of Bernal, in the film, have been released online.
This time, Bernal plays doctor Julian Goldstein, who tries to cure a woman (Hudson) suffering from cancer, but then becomes her love interest.
In the pictures we can see Bernal’s character dancing, lunching and chatting with Hudson. The actor from ‘Amores Perros’, usually doesn’t do romance films, besides ‘Letters to Juliet’ but he seems comfortable in this role in which he’s not asked to be a Mexican but an Anglo-Saxon.
The plot of the movie mainly focuses on Marley Corbett (Kate Hudson) a beautiful and fun young woman that is scared to open up to true love. Despite of the fact that she uses her sense of humor to avoid her romances to becomes serious, a visit to her doctor (Bernal) sends both to an adventure of mutual discovery, which allows personal and intimate revelations to occur which neither one of them thought possible.
The director from ‘A Little Bit of Heaven’ is Nicole Kassell (The Woodsman) and stars Kate Hudson, the famous daughter of legendary actress Goldie Hawn. The film will debut on May 4th along with ‘The Avengers’ in the United States.
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08.12.2011 | By Jack Rico |
From drama to comedy, Michael Peña, the Chicago native with Mexican blood from Jalisco and San Luis Potosi, is in my opinion, one of the most underrated actors in the film business. He is also the next Latino actor who will win an Oscar. His performance as Jesus Martinez in The Lincoln Lawyer was as visceral and absorbing as any performance this year in a supporting role. The scene where Peña is being harassed by Matthew McConaughey’s character in an interrogation room is riveting. You couldn’t take your eyes off him. Read more after the jump. Read More
05.6.2011 | By Jack Rico |
The “1-4-0″: ‘Last Night’ explores temptation from the female and male perspectives. Which one will give and the questions that surround it in is what this film centers on.
The Gist: Infidelity. Can people really be faithful to one another no matter how in love they are? This is the topic director Massy Tadjedin explores in an authentic, intimate, emotionally charged depiction of love in New York City. During an evening apart, married couple Joanna and Michael encounter tempting opportunities to cheat on each other: Michael spends time on a business trip with his sexy colleague, Laura, while Joanna crosses paths with a former flame, Alex.
What Works: I really enjoyed this film. ‘Last Night’ is a realistic look at what happens to people when sexual temptation is presented to them front and center. What most pulled me in was how director Tadjedin delved deep into the struggles of infidelity. The performances are modest here, but great casting choice in Eva Mendes who was perfect as Washington’s seductive paramour. This is an eye opener, one that shows how much pain and anguish one goes through when feelings of unfaithfulness begin to take hold. You stick around intensely engaged to see how the whole thing will it end. Will they cheat on each other, will you as a viewer lose faith in your own relationship because of it? The storyline is relatable, the outcome is unexpected, just like in real life.
What Doesn’t Work: If you’re not used to intensive dialogue, even one as interesting as this one, then you shouldn’t watch this film. It’s for people who enjoy cinema that cates to real issues that people can identify and connect with.
Pay or Nay? Pay. Keira Knightley is becoming good at acting in these indie romance NYC films that focus on women in search for love in the big city. The movie serves up a good dose of raw emotion and tension in the form of temptation. It’s a wonderful date movie, one which will perhaps spark many questions about your own relationship.
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08.9.2010 | By Jack Rico |
When you have a smile like that then you must be none other than Julia Roberts. I sat down with the EAT PRAY LOVE star to talk amongst many things, porn, yes porn, and what she thinks happiness really is.
05.18.2010 | By Jack Rico |
The first 20 minutes of ‘The Messenger’ should remind you of the power movies can have on anyone. It is very well acted, but a tough movie to watch. This film is not for most people, but if you can stomach it, it is worth the time and money to see. It’s not every day war movies are released and less so when they have to do with such a gut-twisting premise as this.
In his first leading role, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband’s death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
Let me tell you why the film is good and worth the watch. The Messenger will jolt you emotionally, close to the way Precious does. It’s emotionally raw with situations that feel very real and unsettling. It’s brutal. You say “why do I want to see that?â€, but it’s like watching a car wreck on the highway – you slow down to see the post carnage. It’s the macabre part in all of us. Once the story reels you in, the film hits you with excellent acting from Foster and Harrelson. They own the screen and you are absorbed by their lives, problems and thoughts. Just when you can’t take enough drama, Harrelson breaks the tension with off the cuff humor which reminds you that this is just a movie. However, the pacing is off and it feels choppy at times. It goes off into tangents sometimes the way a conversation with a friend might. You can reel him back in, but you can’t do that to a movie. Part of those tangents that didn’t work were the bizarre romantic scenes with Morton and Foster which just didn’t match the level and intensity of the rest of the film, then a wedding crash by the protagonists which seemed out of place.
Credit goes to first time Israeli director Oren Moverman and Italian co-writer Alessandro Camon for creating a script that effectively captures the tribulations of post war trauma and the complex scenarios they harbor within them.
You won’t find many films that shake you ardently the way this does. Even with some of its flaws, it was a satisfying piece of work that you can for sure be pleased with.
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12.21.2008 | By Mack Chico |
Jim Carrey’s new comedy “Yes Man” got the nod from moviegoers across North America, but brutal weather in key markets combined with holiday shopping distractions to hit overall ticket sales.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, “Yes Man” earned $18.2 million during its first three days, winning a closely watched duel with the Will Smith drama “Seven Pounds.” The decidedly downbeat film opened to a lightweight $16 million, Smith’s worst performance in seven years.
A third new entry, the mouse cartoon “The Tale of Despereaux,” followed at No. 3 with $10.5 million. Last weekend’s champion, the sci-fi remake “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” fell to No. 4 with $10.2 million.
Ticket sales on the East Coast, Pacific Northwest and parts of the Midwest fell victim to a winter deluge of snow and ice. Boston, for example, is a top-10 market, but it plunged to the lower reaches of the top 25 on Friday, studio executives said.
The top 12 films grossed $83 million, essentially flat with last weekend but down 44 percent from the year-ago period, according to tracking firm Media By Numbers.
Warner Bros Pictures, which released “Yes Man,” said the bad weather knocked about $2.5 million off the film’s total. But the Time Warner Inc (TWX.N)-owned studio hoped to make the money back in subsequent weeks.
Carrey plays a bank officer stuck in a personal and professional rut. After he attends a self-help seminar, he must say “yes” to all ideas and requests, leading to both comic and dramatic pitfalls. It cost in the $70 million range to make, said Dan Fellman, the studio’s president of distribution.
11.20.2008 | By Mack Chico |
DreamWorks and Paramount have agreed to release fact-based Jamie Foxx–Robert Downey Jr. drama “The Soloist” on April 24 instead of March 13.
DreamWorks was caught off guard last month when Par pushed back the release of “The Soloist” from this year to March 13 at the 11th hour.
The Joe Wright-directed pic was originally to have opened Nov. 21.
In the April 24 slot, “Soloist” will open one week before the official start of the summer box office, which is primetime for moviegoing.
Based on a series of articles by Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, film tells the story of a homeless schizophrenic musician’s dream to play at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
After moving “The Soloist,” Par relocated Paul Rudd comedy “I Love You, Man” from Jan. 16 to March 20, according to Rentrak. Peter Jackson‘s “The Lovely Bones” is still tentatively skedded to bow on March 13, but the DreamWorks/Par film is ultimately expected to open later in the year.
