The latest release of Walt Disney and Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 marks the third installment in the Iron Man/Tony Stark saga. Like any fantasy film, audiences must suspend their belief of traditional reality. Similar to previous Marvel films, Iron Man 3 has a lot of intense action, special effects, and ingenuity combined with superhuman abilities. Based on previous and current box office numbers, Marvel knows what they’re doing.
Iron Man 3 continues the long list of large-scale, superhero/comic book, fantasy blockbuster films from Marvel, including past films such asIron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers, and future films like Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Avengers 2, and more. Iron Man 3 does a great job of making the audience feel like they are in the right place and time following the events of The Avengers. This film is also the first of the Iron Man series available in 3D, creating a darker and different experience than before.
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Iron Man 3 takes place after the events of The Avengers, with New York City recovering from the aftermath of an alien invasion and the departure of the rest of the superheroes as they’ve gone back to their respective homes or planets. The film begins with Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) speaking to the audience and quickly flashing back to Stark’s younger party years, where he overlooked several people eager for his attention. Tony has no idea that these relationships will someday come back to haunt him. The audience is then taken back to present day, where Stark is tinkering in his workshop.
Soon after these events, a new threat presents itself to humanity: the Mandarin (played by the hilarious Ben Kingsley), who seems hell-bent on seeing man suffer and surrender as he carries out a series of terrorist attacks. At first, Stark is too preoccupied to interfere, but when his friend, Happy Hogan (Favreau), is caught in one of the Mandarin’s attacks, Iron Man must suit up to save the day. Stark quickly sends a public message to the Mandarin, including an invitation to come to Stark’s mansion along with his address, and the events that follow send Tony on a journey of rebuilding and retribution.
The new Danny Boyle film, Trance, is about a fine art auctioneer, Simon, played by James McAvoy, who teams up with a gang in order to steal an expensive painting, but after suffering a blow to the head, forgets where he hid the painting. As a result, the gang’s leader, Frank (Vincent Cassel), hires a hypnotherapist, Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson) to look into Simon’s mind. As Simon’s mind begins to unravel, it is soon very unclear who is good or bad, who is lying, and what is real.
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Trance is reminiscent of Inception or the recent film, Side Effects, in the way that it’s filled with very complex, in depth content, with many twists and levels to uncover. The film utilizes flashbacks/forwards, filling in pieces like a puzzle until everything ultimately comes together. Trance is a film that makes you think. It demands your attention; without it you will quickly be lost. The hypnotherapy is very interesting, and it seemed to work well within the film. However, we quickly learn how manipulative and deceiving Dawson’s therapist can be.
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The unique look captured in Trance is in keeping with a Boyle film (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 DaysLater, and Trainspotting). The film is very violent, with a lot of blood, gore, and multiple shocking scenes that can make you feel as though you’re the one being tortured. There is also a significant amount of nudity and sexual content. (more…)
Jack the Giant Slayer, now in theaters, is an entertaining, special effect-filled, teenage action film. Starring Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Eleanor Tomlinson, and Ian McShane, Jack the Giant Slayer takes a familiar story and creates a unique perspective of the fairy tales, Jack and the Beanstalk and Jack the Giant Killer. In this reboot of the folk tales, the moviefeatures just about anything one would remember from the original story, specifically the character of Jack, a beanstalk, magic beans, and the classic phrase, “Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum”. Directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men), Jack the Giant Slayer takes the audience on a magical journey filled with a combination of humans and computer-generated characters and effects.
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Jack the Giant Slayer begins in a time long after a war has taken place between humans and giants, the latter living high in the clouds after the only connection between their two worlds, a large beanstalk, is cut down to prevent further destruction. After a bag of magic beans ends up in the wrong hands, a massive beanstalk once again grows from the Earth. In the midst of the bedlam, the princess (Tomlinson) of the realm becomes trapped in a small house, which is taken up into the clouds by the beanstalk. Jack (Hoult), a poor farmer, along with the king’s (McShane) best guards and the princess’s future husband, Lord Roderick (Tucci), climb the beanstalk in search of the missing princess. When one of the lords discovers a crown that will control the giants, he decides to take matters into his own hands, and all chaos erupts. Jack is left to try and rescue the princess who he has fallen in love with, and the king must do everything he can to prevent the giants from coming down to earth, even if it means cutting down the beanstalk and leaving his daughter in the clouds. Jack the Giant Slayer is a clever take on the Jack and the Beanstalk stories for the 21st century. (more…)
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Hayden Pittman |
January 24th, 2013 at 10:36 am
After taking off several years from acting to pursue a career in politics, Arnold Schwarzenegger once again stars in a feature film, The Last Stand, along with Johnny Knoxville, Forest Whitaker, Luis Guzman, and Peter Stormare. Aside from minor roles in The Expendables and The Expendables 2, The Last Stand is Schwarzenegger’s first film since being the Governor of California. Although his character acknowledges his age in the film and plays up his “experienced” role, Schwarzenegger is a much older person, and it definitely shows. However, even at the age of 65, the Govenator still kicks ass in The Last Stand as if he had never stopped doing action films.
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Schwarzenegger plays the role of Ray Owens, a sheriff of a small border town, who has recently left the LAPD narcotics division for a more quiet life in Sommerton Junction. When a Mexican drug lord escapes police custody and heads for the border, he sets his sights on this unlikely, small, peaceful town as his crossing point into Mexico, leaving the FBI in the dust and no choice but for Sheriff Owens and company to try and stop him. The Last Stand shows what a small group of people can do with a little bit of experience, the right motivation, and no choice but to defend their town from crime and destruction. (more…)
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Hayden Pittman |
January 11th, 2013 at 11:25 pm
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Oscar nominated Zero Dark Thirty is a thrilling tale of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Starring Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, and Kyle Chandler, this film tells the story of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden and his death at the hands of US Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011. From director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Zero Dark Thirty is a nail-biting, true account of these events, which makes the audience nervous and even a bit scared at times, but in a good way.
Called by some “the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man,” Zero Dark Thirty is filled with jaw-dropping torture scenes, elaborate military missions, and fascinating government analysis, which ultimately led to the death of Osama bin Laden. Jessica Chastain’s portrayal of a CIA officer is remarkable, and the supporting cast makes for a very captivating film. Although being fairly accurate on most accounts, there has been considerable controversy over the depiction of a pro-torture stance by the U.S. as well as the suggestion that we allegedly obtained improper access to classified materials. (more…)
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Hayden Pittman |
January 6th, 2013 at 11:29 pm
Over the past few weeks and during the Holidays, there have been a lot of new movies released in theaters. Below is a brief description of a few of the movies recently released. Enjoy!
Django Unchained is an extravagant, outrageous film by director Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Inglorious Bastards). This film tells a very unique story about a bounty hunter (Waltz) and a slave (Foxx) living in the south during the Civil War who team together to rescue the slave’s wife (Washington) from a plantation in Mississippi. This film is very brutal, gory, and over-the-top in a Tarantino-like way. Some have called Django Unchained racist and offensive, while others find it to be wildly entertaining and complex. Starring Christopher Waltz, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kerry Washington, Django Unchained could be one of Tarantino’s best and complete films. This film is a bit long, running 2 hours and 45 minutes, but it will keep you engaged throughout. Django Unchained is rated R for strong graphic violence, vicious fight scenes, language and some nudity. 4.3 out of 5 stars.
Starring Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, and Robert Duvall, Jack Reacher is an action crime thriller about an ex-military investigator who tries to solve a mass shooting case involving a trained military sniper with multiple random killings. This film is action packed and features Tom Cruise kicking ass as Jack Reacher. The fighting sequences are decently realistic looking, and Tom Cruise does a fair job as an unstoppable detective. The plot is a bit complicated, and there are many twists that constantly change the story. Jack Reacher is rated PG-13 for violence, language, and some drug material. Running time is 2 hours and 10 minutes. 3 out of 5 stars. (more…)
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Hayden Pittman |
December 15th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, now in theaters, is a magical adventure back into the brilliant mind of director Peter Jackson and the fantasy world of Middle Earth, which is the setting of Jackson’s previous “The Lord of the Rings” films. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey instantly hurls the audience back into a familiar setting and satisfies every expectation. From the names, music, locations, and recognizable faces, this film feels every bit like Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” and offers more to behold. The film, set prior to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, takes the audience on an exciting journey meant to creatively dazzle the viewer, taking him to great heights. For some, the movie may fall short, but for me, the vision of this director makes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey a spectacular experience.
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In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, we follow the character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as a young man embarking on an epic quest to help a group of dwarves try and reclaim their homeland, the lost kingdom of Erebor (also the Lonely Mountain), which has been desecrated and taken over by the dragon Smaug. Along with the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), legendary dwarf king and warrior Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), and twelve other dwarves, Bilbo and company set out on a journey across Middle Earth, facing goblins, orcs, giant spiders, sorcerers, giants, and more. While fighting their way through the wild, Biblo also encounters the creature Gollum, where he discovers the “precious” ring, which will forever change the fate of Middle Earth. (more…)
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Hayden Pittman |
November 22nd, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Red Dawn is a combat-filled movie about survival and fighting to save your home. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas, Connor Cruise, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, this film takes a fairly realistic look at what it would be like to defend your town from foreign enemies. In spite of feeling like one of Michael Bay’s “Transformers” films with wild explosions and untamed special effects, Red Dawn turns out to be a very enjoyable film.
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Red Dawn begins like a typical small town, high school flick but quickly turns into action-packed, all out war with numerous casualties on both sides. After a small town is attacked and taken over by North Korea, a group of young kids must ban together to fight back to save their town and rescue their friends and family. Fortunately for the group of kids, Jed Eckert (Hemsworth) has just come home from Iraq and is readily prepared to fight. After witnessing the town’s destruction and the death of some of those closest to him, Eckert puts together and trains a group of teenage soldiers in hopes of causing enough chaos for the North Koreans to make a difference. Most of the teenage fighting is played out like guerrilla warfare, using surprise elements, sabotage, and tactical measures necessary to defeat a larger opponent. (more…)
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 picks up right where Part 1 left off, with Bella now a newborn vampire as a result of her irregular pregnancy, and her daughter, Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy), as a half-vampire, half-human baby, who is aging at a rapid pace because of her hybrid structure. Bella quickly learns the ways of being a vampire, and everything seems at peace, until a member of a nearby vampire clan, Irina (Maggie Grace), spots Bella and Renesmee in the forest, and quickly runs away in fear, assuming that the child is a vampire, or an “immortal”. Knowing it is against vampire “law” to turn a child into an immortal, Irina visits the Volturi, a group of royal, law-enforcing vampires, to report the “crime” that she suspects. Keeping in mind that the Volturi is made up of the strongest, most powerful vampires, the Cullens and company unite, hoping to explain their situation and avoid a fight. Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 features many new vampire faces, many of whom are equipped with special powers similar to Edward’s mind-reading and Alice’s visions. (more…)
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Hayden Pittman |
November 9th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Once again, Daniel Craig resumes the role of 007 James Bond in the newly released Skyfall. This film is a James Bond reboot of sorts, and a reinvention of the character we have loved for almost 50 years. Skyfall gets back to the basics that Bond fans are familiar with, such as the always alluring “Bond girl”, the quick 007 comebacks, and the stylish British vocabulary from our favorite spy. This film creates its own story, separate from the previous Daniel Craig films, and involves a lot of changes to the recent MI6 structure we have come to know. Skyfall stars Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, and Ben Whishaw.
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The most recent Bond films, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, kick off the beginning of James Bond’s career as a younger, up and coming rookie MI6 agent, who experiences love, loss, and physical confrontations he must overcome to survive. In Skyfall, 007 is still growing into himself, but there is a layer of experience and wear-and-tear as we witness an aging James Bond, once again fighting back against all odds to save England, MI6 (British Secret Intelligence Service), and the ones closest to him. Skyfall takes place in present day and gives a fresh look at James Bond while transitioning into the Bond of old. The audience is met with Bond’s new quartermaster, “Q”, a young, smart, computer nerd, who instantly establishes a connection with 007. We also meet a wide range of other characters that will forever change the MI6 family. (more…)
