DVD Radio: John Carter, Safe House, Journey 2
06.6.2012 | By Jack Rico |
06.5.2012 | By Mack Chico |
The action thriller Safe House provides reasonable entertainment for someone looking for something to divert their attention for two hours and a little more. By no means is this movie bad, it just isn’t very memorable. It goes into the category of recycled action movies like Bourne Identity ripoffs that have come and gone. Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds deliver what is expected of them but nothing more. The action sequences are perhaps the best part of the film and worth the rental. Overall, Safe House does the trickÂ
The storyline uses the tired scenario of a corrupt CIA mole doing everything within his/her power to avoid discovery. That includes killing the man who has obtained a file containing proof of the misdeeds of every American and British agent on the take. This man, Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), is a former elite agent who went rogue a decade ago and has been in hiding since then. He has been branded as a traitor by his former employees, but his name is legendary. When he unexpectedly walks into the U.S. Consulate in South Africa, no one is sure of his motives. He is transferred to a safe house for interrogation. A hit squad pursuing him locates the safe house and slaughters everyone there except Tobin and untried agent Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds), who survive the massacre and go on the run. The CIA gives Weston orders about where to go but, since there’s a mole in Langley, the bad guys are always one step ahead.
At nearly two hours, the movie is at least 30 minutes too long.
Safe House tries to be a little different by not transforming into a buddy film. No warmth is evident between Frost and Weston, who remain adversaries almost to the end. Some sort of relationship, however, might have been preferable. By not feeding off one another, the characters remain inert; there’s no urgency or spark in their interaction – they are merely sharing the screen when required by the story. Frost is as much of an enigma at the end as at the beginning, although his aura of invincibility has been punctured. Weston, on the other hand, transforms with little motivation into a crusader.
Washington could do this role in his sleep, which is close to what he accomplishes. For an actor with such range and ability, it’s a disappointment to see him bring so little to a part that cries out for a bravura performance. Despite his strong work in Buried, Reynolds has yet to show the ability to carry an action film (The Green Lantern, in fact, offers evidence to the contrary) and Safe House argues that he’s too lightweight for darker material. The secondary cast, which includes accomplished character actors Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, and Sam Shepard, represents a wasted pool of talent. For the most part, they sit around in a situation room in Langley and provide background information on Frost and Weston.
The decision to release Safe House in the middle of February can be seen as a tacit admission by Universal Pictures that expectations are limited. Films like this, if they wow a distributor, will be favorably placed for a summer or holiday slot. Safe House probably looked better on paper than it does on film, which is regrettably true of many movies dotting the multiplex landscape at this time of year. One can only hope that 2012’s “legitimate” Bourne sequel offers more than this lackluster Bourne imitation.
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Swedish director from Chilean parents, Daniel Espinosa, has a style that is reminiscent of that of Tony Scott with a lot of shaky hand-held shots.
06.5.2012 | By Karen Posada |
‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’ is an adorable, fun, adventure for the whole family, with some minor setbacks. The 3D version of the film pops out with florescent colors, shapes and stunts, which kids are sure to love. The biggest set back is the storyline, in the sense that kids will surely want to go pay a visit to the circus thinking it’s a place where wild animals belong and this idea I can’t endorse; unless the parents are conscious enough to explain that this movie is the best way to enjoy that experience.
In the third installment of this successful franchise the four friends that were stranded in Madagascar: Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria de hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer); decide they miss the big city where they came from, NYC and it is time to return home. First they must take a detour through Europe with the help of the two lemurs King Julien XIII (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer). The only way they can safely do that, so that an evil animal control officer Capitaine Chantel DuBois (France McDormand) doesn’t catch them is by joining a traveling circus. Here we are introduced to a couple of thrilling new characters, including Stefano the Italian Sea lion (Martin Short).
The movie is filled with funny moments and a lot of entertaining action, including the chase scenes in Monte Carlo. This animated film is so keen on detail that is hard not to appreciate the beautiful shots, such as the ones taken in the streets of Rome with precise images of the Coliseum, the Vatican and Capitoline hill. The light show in the last sequence is hypnotizing with all the colors and shapes. The soundtrack is full of upbeat music, which adds more entertainment to the film.
Capitaine Chantel DuBois is one of the best evil characters I’ve seen in a children’s movie, she is a combination of animals inside a superhuman which makes her unstoppable and unmatchable; obviously great work on McDormand part as well as the animation crew. All the original characters are just as quirky and silly as in the past movies, specially Rock and his character Marty; Stiller’s lion is still the brains behind it all, Pinkett Smith’s hippo is the “mom” – as she described in our interview- and voice of reason to all specially to Schwimmer’s giraffe. Short’s Stefano the sea lion is my favorite new character and Bryan Cranston’s tiger Vitaly is not far behind.
All in all, I enjoyed the movie because of the captivating animation and job well done by the actors. My biggest fear is that it might represent the wrong idea as what a circus that has animals is like, wild animals do not belong in a circus and they are not meant to entertain humans. That point being made clear by this reviewer, I hope people keep that in the back of their minds and opt instead to enjoy this movie for what it is, a fictional work that doesn’t represent at all what a real animal circus hides behinds the scenes.
06.4.2012 | By Karen Posada |
New York, NY (June 4th, 2012)- The Tony Awards just announced all the performances to be seen this Sunday, June 10 for the 66th Annual Tony Awards. This spectacular night will have more entertainment than ever seen before, it will have presentations by Nominated Musicals for this year’s Tony 2012 including: Evita with Ricky Martin and Elena Roger; Follies with nominated Tony actor Danny Burstein; The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess with Tony nominees Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis y David Alan Grier; Jesus Christ Superstar with nominated Tony actor Josh Young; Leap of Faith with Raúl Esparza; Newsies, with nominated Tony actor Jeremy Jordan; Nice Work If You Can Get It with Tony nominees Matthew Broderick y Kelli O’Hara; and Once with Tony nominees Steve Kazee, Cristin Millioti y Elizabeth A. Davis.
There will also be presentations by nominated plays, such as: End of the Rainbow with nominated Tony actress Tracie Bennett; One Man, Two Guvnors with nominated Tony actor James Corden and Peter and the Starcatcher with Tony nominees Christian Borle and Celia Keenan-Bolger. The show will also have a presentation by Corbin Bleu and the cast of Godspell and Ghost The Musical with Bryce Pinkham, Caissie Levy and Richard Fleeshman.
Don’t miss the Tony Awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, broadcast live, from the Beacon Theater on CBS, Sunday, June 10 from 8:00-11:00 p.m. (ET/PT time delay)
06.4.2012 | By Karen Posada |
When I first saw previews for ‘John Carter’, I thought it was going to be a confusing mess with mediocre CGI, but boy was I wrong. There is definitely a lot going on in the film and if you get up to use the restroom it might be hard to catch up, otherwise the story unfolds slowly enough for you to not get lost. It is advertised, as it being the predecessor of ‘Starwars’ and ‘Avatar’ and it isn’t a false statement, seeing how this character has been around in comic books for 100 years. This mix of human, aliens, and other weird beings set in the planet Mars gives us an adventure that is sure to become a franchise and it will gain many followers. Â
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The movie beings by giving us a background of the planet Mars and the situation there, then it jumps to New York where John Carter’s nephew comes to his rich uncle’s house and learns about the biggest adventure of his uncle’s life. John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) served as captain in the civil war, we are given very little background information on him, he seems to have shut himself out from the world, to not have many friends, doesn’t want to take part on anyone’s war and only wants to get rich.
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By chance he is transported to Mars, where he meets aliens and human like beings and he goes back and forth between being a hero and a traitor to all. His main motivation unexpectedly comes from a princess, Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) who inspires him to fight for a cause against: Sab Than (Dominic West) and a stronger force they barely know exists, the Threns,Matai Shang (Mark Strong) in particular. With the help of the Thark, especially Sola (Samantha Morton) and Tars Tarkas (Williem Dafoe), John Carter gets involved in a story he could have never imagined.
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There’s no great acting in this film, in fact the dialogue besides the different dialects and weird names of things is very plain and just enough to carry us from scene to scene. What makes the movie is the action and the images, most scenes are full of action and even when there’s not much happening the background and the surroundings are enough to keep you entertained. The 3D certainly enhances the film but I think it would fare probably just as well in a regular screen.
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My favorite things: The Thark, Woola-Carter’s pet in Mars so adorably ugly, the strength in both sexes throughout the movie, although they do play the damsel in distress angle at times. Lastly, technology mixed in with archaic backgrounds of temples and desert. The love story was one of the things I disliked, simply because it was too predictable, at times it even felt pushed and it wasn’t convincing. Carter is almost cave man like, his strength overpowers logic; he acts before thinking in almost every scene and I don’t know if I can consider that ‘hero’ like qualities.
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I dare to say that this is as of now one of the best movies 2012 has offered because of all the elements it combines. It has the ability to combine such different scenarios, eras, times, zones, beings, etc.; into one movie without being overly complicated and that is what a good entertaining action film is about. It does start to feel a little long towards the end, but it is able to end the chapter in a very decent and clean way without being overly dramatic. Most importantly it leaves us wondering what will come next. Â Â
06.4.2012 | By Karen Posada |
After the successful premiere of Marvel Studios’ “Marvel’s The Avengers” which set the opening record of $207.4 million dollars nationally and continues to break records being the Walt Disney Studios’ biggest blockbuster globally and nationally and it’s the studio’s fifth film to earn more than 1 billion globally. The shooting of the much-awaited “Iron Man 3” begins, directed by Shane Black, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Some of the other place to shoot will be Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, Miami, Florida and China.
Based on the published comic books from 1963, “Iron Man 3” returns with Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark or Iron Man, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle as James “Rhodey” Rhodes and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan. It will premiere May 3, 2013 in the U.S. “Iron Man 3” will be the second film complete distributed and owned by Disney, since it acquired Marvel in 2009.
‘Iron Man 3” continues with the billionaire inventor and superhero adventures of Tony Star better known as “Iron Man”. Marvel’s President Kevin Feige is producing the film, Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Charles Newirth, Victoria Alonso, Stephen Broussard and Dan Mintz are the executive producers.
The creative production team for the film include photography director John Toll winner of two Oscars, ASC (“Braveheart”, “Legends of the Fall”), design producer Bill Brzeski (“The Hangover”, “Due Date”) editors Jeffrey Ford, A.C.E. (‘Marvel’s The Avengers”, “Captain America: The First Avenger”) and Peter S. Elliot (“Fantastic 4: Riso of the Silver Surfer”) and costume designer Louise Frogley (“Quantum of Solace”, “Contagion”).
Going back in time in summer 2011, Marvel successfully took out two new franchises with “Thor” starring Chris Hemsworth and “Captain America: The First Avenger” with Chris Evans. Both movies premiered at number 1 in the box office and collected more than $800 millions globally together. In 2010 ‘Iron Man 2” starring Robert Downey Jr. Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johanson and Mickey Rourke, took first place in its first weekend collecting $128.1 million nationally.
In summer of 2008 Marvel produced two blockbusters “Iron Man” in which Robert Downey Jr first invented his superhero’s armor and also starred Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow; it opened May 2 2008 and right away was extremely successful and remined at number one for two consecutive weeks collecting more than $100 million in its first weekend. “The Incredible Hulk” was the other blockbuster” opening June 13 2008, showing its second number one opening that summer.
Now we have to wait and see how successful this third part of the “Iron Man” franchise will be.
06.4.2012 | By Karen Posada |
Universal’s ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ opens at number one with $56.3 million dollars. This interesting twist to the classic fairytale has surprised many, not only because of Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth performances, but also because of its popularity.
‘Men in Black 3’ falls to second place with $29.3 million dollars, earning less than its predecessors. The alien packed movie had a great summer opening weekend, but that has quickly ended to make way for the rest of the other summer blockbusters.
Although ‘The Avengers’ ended up on the third spot with $20.3 million dollars, it still continues to break records, becoming the third highest grossing domestic release ever. The superheroes surely have kept up a good fight.
The Top 10 Movies in the Box Office are:
1. Snow White and the Huntsman – $56.3 mil
2. Men in Black 3 – $29.3 mil
3. The Avengers – $20.3 mil
4. Battleship – $4.8 mil
5. The Dictator – $4.7 mil
6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – $4.6 mil
7. What to Expect When You’re Expecting – $4.4 mil
8. Dark Shadows – $3.9 mil
9. Chernobyl Diaries – $3.0 mil
10. For Greater Glory – $1.8 mil
06.1.2012 | By Karen Posada |
New York, NY (June 1, 2012) The biggest night for Broadway is Sunday June 10, because of the 66th Annual Tony Awards, Broadcast Live from the Beacon Theater on CBS from 8pm-11pm (ET/PT time delay). Presented by The Broadway League and the American Theater Wing.
It had already been announced that they would be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, winner of an Emmy Award. The rest of the people that will appear are: Nick Jonas, Amanda Seyfried, Tyler Perry, Jessica Chastain, Jim Parsons, Paul Rudd, Ellen Barkin, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Candice Bergen, Christopher Plummer, James Marsden, Mandy Patinkin, Sheryl Crow, Trey Parker and Matt Stone among others.
The Antoinette Perry Tony Awards reward theater professionals because of their outstanding performances on Broadway. This is the 66th anniversary of the Tony Awards, which were held the first time on April 6, 1947 in the Grand Ballroom in the Waldorf Astoria.
To receive the latest news of the Tony Awards follow them on Facebook.com/TheTonyAwards or Twitter.com/TheTonyAwards
05.31.2012 | By Jack Rico |
Summit Entertainment, the studio responsible for the “Twilight” film series, has revealed the first “motion poster” from the horror movie “Sinister“. These types of posters are scarce in the movie industry, but when they’re unveiled, they are hypnotic.
The plot, written by director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) stars Ethan Hawke, a crime novelist who moves his family to a house where gruesome murders of various families were carried out. His intention is to write the next great crime novel. But when he finds a box of home videos that shows other families being brutally murdered, he realizes that he may have made a big mistake by moving into the house. His investigation leads him to a supernatural entity that could now be looking to kill his family.
The premise of “Sinister” sounds intriguing and Ethan Hawke has become a reliable actor who is building a reputation of delivering a good performance a good film. If you don’t think so, watch TAPE from Richard Linklater.
The film also stars Vincent D’Onofrio and James Ransone. “Sinister” makes its theatrical debut August 24.
05.31.2012 | By Jack Rico |
After Tim Burton’s recent Dark Shadows box office flop, he is trying his hand at a new animated comedy called “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. The first poster of the film is here and it looks like… ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ part 2. It’s Tim Burton‘s style so what do you expect. We hope to see a better follow up poster for the film, because this isn’t going to get me to the movie theater.
The premise focuses on a boy named Victor who after unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, he harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.
A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” was filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D, which elevates the classic style to a whole new experience. That’s like seeing ‘The Artist’ in 3D.
A great voice cast was assembled: Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder. Tim Burton directs, produces and came up with the idea.
Actually, when he originally conceived the idea for “Frankenweenie,” he envisioned it as a full-length, stop-motion animated film. Due to budget constraints, he instead directed it as a live-action short, released in 1984. As you can take a quick look below…
“Frankenweenie” follows in the footsteps of Tim Burton’s other stop-motion animated films “Corpse Bride” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”—both of which were nominated for Academy Awards®. Over 200 puppets and sets were created for the film.
