My Review: Star Trek Into Darkness (9/10)

¨You think your world is safe? It is an illusion. A comforting lie to protect you. Enjoy these final moments of peace. For I have returned to have my vengeance.¨

First off I have to say that I loved J.J. Abrams´ reboot of the Star Trek franchise in 2009 and I was highly anticipating this sequel. I had my reservations of whether or not Abrams was going to be able to maintain the same level of success he achieved with the prequel since the originality and freshness of the characters was going to be gone. It is much easier to reboot a known franchise and make it fresh with the introduction of new characters and letting us know how everything began (sort of like what Batman Begins did), but it is much more difficult to make a worthy sequel to such a beloved prequel. Somehow I think Abrams managed to pull it off once again by introducing a great villain and maintaining the freshness of the original film with some great chemistry between Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto along with the rest of the crew. At many points during the movie it even felt like a buddy comedy instead of a blockbuster sci-fi action film, but then Abrams managed to mix it all together quite nicely. It may be much lighter than The Dark Knight, but I felt he did something similar to what Christopher Nolan did with his trilogy by giving us a great villain and giving the movie several layers. This sequel may even be better than the prequel although many people may disagree with me. At least I think Abrams was able to maintain the same level of entertainment once again. This is a very fun and engaging movie with some great characters and spectacular visuals. This is the best film I´ve seen this year and by far the most entertaining one. I was never a big fan of the Star Trek TV series or the original movies, but I was completely hooked with the reboot and Abrams once again teams up with screenwriters: Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci to give us a gripping script with some great twists that Trekkies will probably enjoy. I don´t want to give away any spoilers, but if you´ve seen the film you know what I´m talking about. Star Trek into Darkness is the most fun I´ve had in theaters this year.

The movie takes place one year after the events of the prequel as we follow the crew from the USS Enterprise and their Captain, Kirk (Chris Pine), as they encounter new missions into foreign galaxies. In their latest mission they are trying to save a civilization from a volcano eruption without them knowing of their presence. Kirk and his First Commander, Spock (Zachary Quinto), manage to save the planet, but Kirk does so by breaking some rules. This doesn’t go well with Spock who despite being saved doesn’t agree with breaking protocol. When they arrive back to Earth, Spock informs their bosses and Kirk is discharged from the fleet. While this is taking place a former member of Starfleet, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), bombs an installation in London and later attacks a high ranking officers meeting at the Starfleet headquarters before managing to escape. Pike (Bruce Greenwood) is killed during this incident and Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) reinstates Kirk as Captain of the Enterprise in order for him to hunt down the terrorist. And so the new mission begins with Kirk and Spock back together again with the rest of their crew: Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Bones (Karl Urban), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin), all looking for revenge.

The relationship between Quinto and Pine´s character was probably the highlight in the prequel, and here once again we get to see how their relation has developed over time. The scenes they share together are really entertaining, but the supporting cast is exceptional once again with Simon Pegg and Karl Urban giving the funniest performances and lightening up the mood. Cumberbatch makes for one of the best villains I´ve seen this year and his performance is incredible. The twist with his character is really clever and it made me want to go back and watch the original films. The film is so good because it focuses on the characters and their relationships more than on the action and visuals, which are incredible nonetheless. I really look forward to what JJ Abrams and his crew are going to bring to the table in the Star Wars franchise because what they have done here was spectacular by combing comedy and sci-fi action. I am a huge fan of pretty much everything Abrams has done, ranging from what he did with the Lost series to his latest film prior to this one: Super 8. It will be very hard for another summer blockbuster movie to top this one this year. It has really raised the standard and the bar for the upcoming movies. Please go watch this film, you won´t regret it.

  

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My Review: Tomorrow You´re Gone (1/10)

¨You want to tell me what went wrong last night? ¨

I think I just found the number 1 contender for worst film of the year, at only 90 minutes long this film is so tedious and pointless that I felt it was never going to end. It tries too hard to be an art house film, but we´ve seen these character driven neo noir films done much better in the past. I don’t even think this film makes sense or tries to deliver any sort of message. You don´t even know when the main character is imagining things or living reality; everything is so ambiguous and vague. Tomorrow You´re Gone never goes anywhere and it´s a shame because Stephen Dorff and Michelle Monaghan are pretty good actors. This is just a waste of their talents and a waste of our time. Director David Jacobson (Down in the Valley) has made one pretentious movie  and with the help of screenwriter Matthew F Jones (Deepwater and A Single Shot) he has made one of the worst films I´ve seen in a long time. I usually take something positive about a film no matter how much I dislike it, but I cannot say anything good about this movie. There is not one single thing that I like about this pretentious thriller. Willem Defoe could be the best thing about this film, but he is in this movie as much as he is in the trailer. This is a complete waste of time so stay away from this film.

Charlie Rankin (Stephen Dorff who gave his best performance in 2010 in Somewhere) is getting out of prison after four years, but before he leaves he receives a letter from his mentor in prison, the Buddha (Willem Dafoe), who asks him to kill someone for him. As soon as Charlie gets out of prison he goes looking for this man and receives a special payment from the Buddha. However, something goes wrong with the hit and Charlie can´t quite settle his debt with him. Along the way Charlie encounters a mysterious woman named Florence (Michelle Monaghan) who for I don’t know what reason sees the good in Charlie and tries to rescue him from his pain. Together they embark on a road trip and half of the time you don’t even know what the two are talking about. It´s hard to explain the plot of the movie when nothing really makes much sense and most of the things going on seems like they are all imagined by Charlie. There is a thin line between reality and fantasy here, and Charlie has some serious and dark unresolved issues going on. I really hated this movie and I can’t say it enough times, stay as far away from this film as possible.

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My Review: Side Effects (7/10)

¨Depression is the inability to construct a future.¨

Side Effects is said to be Steven Soderbergh´s last film, but I expect him to come back from retirement sometime in the near future. If he decides this is really going to be his last film then he will go out with a good resume, although I wouldn’t consider Side Effects among his best works, which are Traffic, Ocean´s Eleven, and Out of Sight, but it still is a strong film to go out with it. I actually enjoyed Contagion and Magic Mike more than I did this, but the variety of films that Soderbergh has directed is proof of what a versatile director he really is. His films are all very different from each other and even Side Effects takes a tremendous turn halfway through the movie proving what a great director Soderbergh can be. The movie begins as sort of this drama about pharmaceuticals and depression, but at the midway point it transforms itself completely to a provocative suspenseful thriller. This is not an easy task, but Soderbergh manages to make the transition masterfully. I had a hard time with the pace of the first part of the film, but your patience is really rewarded through the second part where the film picks up completely and has you second guessing everyone´s intentions. None of the characters in this film are likeable, they are all morally ambiguous but somehow we care for what happens to them. My only complaint would have to be that Channing Tatum´s character doesn’t get much depth, but the film really doesn’t focus on him so it is ok. His role could have been played by a nobody and it would have been pretty much the same thing. This is probably one of his weakest performances as of late. Rooney Mara, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta Jones on the other hand give very strong performances and have us siding for each one of them at different times. This is something only Soderbergh could have pulled off, completely switching the genre of the film halfway through the movie.

This is one of those films that fortunately the trailer doesn’t give away much and that the less you know about the plot the better because the twists are really rewarding. I will describe the plot as brief as possible without giving anything away. Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) had her world turned upside down when her husband Martin (played by Channing Tatum) was imprisoned for some kind of financial fraud. He was imprisoned for four years and he is finally being released. Emily is trying her best to adapt and make the transition back to her normal life after having decided to wait for him, but she´s finding it very difficult to deal with and is suffering from some sort of severe depression. One day she tries to commit suicide by smashing her vehicle into a concrete wall. She ends up in the hospital being treated for mild injuries and Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) treats her and makes a psychological evaluation. He decides to let Emily return home after she promises to continue treatment with him several times a week. During the days that follow, Emily continues to struggle with depression and Dr. Banks begins testing some new medication on her since she is struggling with the side effects. He also decides to set an interview with Dr. Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta Jones), Emily´s former shrink who treated her during Martin´s time in jail. Somehow Emily begins to experience some strange side effects and something goes terribly wrong putting both Emily and Dr. Banks’ life in the public eye.  

Side Effects may suffer from a very slow opening, but it does get better once the suspense begins. I loved the way in which Soderbergh suck me into the film and had me second guessing everything that was going on. That was what made this film enjoyable because I was prepared to stop watching when we got to the midway point. Jude Law and Rooney Mara were both superb in this film; they gave strong performances and had good characters to work with. The screenplay was also really well written with some great dialogues and fun twists. It was written by Scott Z. Burns who had worked with Steven in the past (Contagion and The Informant). He also is responsible for adapting the screenplay for The Bourne Ultimatum. His filmography is proof of what a talented writer he is, and he doesn’t disappoint here with a very clever and ingenious script. Side Effects is one of those movies that sticks with you and has you thinking for days to come. It is a very rewarding and satisfying film, but I´ve had more fun with other Soderbergh movies.

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My Review: Safe Haven (4/10)

¨There´s no safer place for you than here with me.¨

Chicks will definitely love this film, but I found it to be yet another recycled Nicholas Sparks adaptation. Sparks may have a fan base through his novels and movie adaptations, but if he continues to write the same movie over and over again he will eventually lose them all. I was a fan of The Notebook because the relationship felt authentic and Sparks writing was new to me, I really liked it, but Safe Haven is completely flawed. Not only is it full of romantic clichés (we get to see another canoeing scene in a lake interrupted by rain like in The Notebook), but it has some of the worst plot twists I´ve seen in film history. I guess it was an attempt from Sparks to make this film different from the rest, but the suspense and thrills never worked. It felt like The Stepfather with the melodrama from any chick flick you´ve seen. It´s too bad Safe Haven didn’t work because I like Swedish director, Lasse Hallstrom, who has made Chocolat, What´s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules, and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. This is one film that he would probably want to erase from his resume. The writers in charge of adapting Sparks´ novel were Dana Stevens (City of Angels and For Love of the Game) and Gage Lansky. The script was weak, predictable, and extremely mushy. The film also suffers from a weak lead performance from Julianne Hough who was much better in the musicals she starred in: Burlesque and Rock of Ages. Her performance never felt believable and that hurt the chemistry with her co-star Josh Duhamel, who has also made a living off rom-coms like When in Rome, or Life as We Know It. Those mediocre movies look like masterpieces when compared to Safe Haven. Duhamel is a likeable actor, but Hough´s performance made it difficult to tolerate this film.

The movie begins with a young scared girl named Katie (Julianne Hough) making a frenetic escape from her hometown in Boston to a small North Carolina town known as Southport. She´s running from something, but we are never shown exactly what happened. All we know is that something happened in her home involving a knife and a man, and now she has cut her hair and died it blonde and has escaped to this isolated place. Police officer, Tierney (David Lyons), tries to hunt her down but gets to the bus station a few seconds late. Katie decides that Southport is the perfect place to start over and finds a nice little cabin in the woods and a job at a local coffee shop. Katie tries to keep to herself, but she forms a nice bond with a little girl named Lexie (Mimi Kirkland) who is the daughter of widowed Alex (Josh Duhamel). Alex soon falls for Katie´s good looks and they grow closer together. However Katie never mentions anything about her past. Katie also befriends her neighbor, Jo (Cobie Smulders), who seems to always be there for her for good advice. As Katie begins to fall for Alex more and more, she is still haunted by her past and isn’t sure what her next move should be. Thus the melodrama begins.  

Safe Haven had some beautiful shots of romantic locations, but it was full of clichés and bad dialogues. At times while the music was playing the film even felt like one long music video or commercial. Safe Haven also suffers from an extensively long plot. At almost two hours I kept waiting for the end to approach, and it never did. One plot twist after another the film continued to grow increasingly tiring and tedious. By the end if you thought the film was entertaining you will be left with a bad taste in your mouth because the final twist is just ridiculous. Yes the film is romantic and sweet and girls will love this movie, but I don’t think the male audience will be won over by the suspense and thrills. It didn’t work for me, there was just no depth to the characters or the story.

  

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My Review: No (8/10)

¨Adios, Mr. Pinochet¨

No is one of those films which I wasn’t looking forward to seeing because I just wasn’t interested in the subject matter. I´m not into historical political movies, but this film was much more than that. No works more as a media satire than an actual political movie. The satire works really well and it reminds us of how important the media can be in our society. No should be required viewing for all advertising students in schools around the globe. The film works in great part thanks to Gael Garcia Bernal´s performance as the ad executive who comes up with the campaign for No in the referendum. Bernal has proven in the past that he’s a very reliable actor, and one of the best in Latin America. The film also has great direction from Pablo Larraín, who decided to shoot the film using U-matic video tape to give it a more 80´s vibe since that was the type of video which was used then. That brought a sense of realism to the movie, and at times it felt like a documentary. This was a well crafted film, and a decent contender for best foreign film of the year. It lost to Amour in the Oscars, but received a lot of love in the Cannes Festival last year. The screenplay was very well adapted by Pedro Peirano (who also wrote the screenplay for 2009´s The Maid, a well received Chilean film) from Antonio Skarmeta´s (famous for his novel Il Postino) play. This is one art house film you won´t regret watching.

It´s the end of the 80´s and Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, has called for a national referendum after being pressured by international organisms. After 15 years of dictatorship, Pinochet is allowing the country to vote Yes or No to him extending his rule for 8 more years in the country. Everyone is convinced that this is all a farce and just a means for Pinochet to legalize his authority. Pinochet is also convinced he will win the elections considering that he has brought economic stability to the country. For 27 days both parties will be allowed to have a 15 minute spot of uninterrupted television air time in which they can campaign. This is where the young ad executive known as Rene Saavedra (Gael Garcia Bernal) comes to play. The No coalition decides to hire him to lead their campaign, but what they don´t realize is that he will bring a unique approach to the campaign. Since Pinochet´s dictatorship was known for its brutal intimidation and censorship, everyone in the No coalition expects to make their voice heard and focus on the violence and brutality of his government, but Saavedra has a different view: He wants to make a joyful, colorful, and upbeat campaign where the primary message is that ¨Chile: happiness is coming.¨ Everyone in the campaign is upset about this, including Saavedra´s ex wife, Veronika (Antonia Zegers), who thinks all this is just a waste of time. However, the campaign begins resonating with voters, and Pinochet´s people decide to hire Saavedra´s boss, Lucho Guzman (Alfredo Castro), to counteract the comedic and joyful campaign. Things won´t be easy for the No coalition because the government begins intimidating and pressuring them through violence, but Saavedra knows that his campaign can change the course of the country for the better.    

Advertising is a powerful weapon in today´s world, and more than ever we see governments trying to control and censor the media. The reason being that they know that it can shift elections and bring down tyrannical leaders. That is why more than ever, we must fight to keep governments from trying to control or censor the media. What a lot of politics have done is use advertising wisely to get elected. The film is a great case study on politics and media and how they are correlated. No is a film everyone involved in media and politics should see because it shows the advantages and disadvantages that this medium has. Pablo Larrain has directed a powerful film which teaches us how the media can influence public opinion so easily. If only we could have more uplifting and joyful political campaigns like this I would be much more interested in voting. I vote yes: go see this movie.      

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My Review: Mama (5/10)

¨A ghost is an emotion bent out of shape, condemned to repeat itself time and time again.¨

Another South American director has made his splash on Hollywood after the successful debut of Mama in theaters this year. Argentinean director, Andres Muschietti, made over 70 million dollars in the box office and received decent reviews for this horror/suspense film based on a short 3 minute movie he directed in 2008. That short film garnered the attention of movie executives such as Guillermo Del Toro who decided to produce and present this film. The fact that Del Toro´s name was used here and that the coveted Jessica Chastain signed on to play the main character gave Muschietti the tremendous possibility of debuting on a high note. The formula worked pretty well because critics and audiences seemed to enjoy this film alike, and we could be heading to the start of a new horror franchise. I enjoyed most of the movie, and loved Jessica Chastain´s performance, but the ending just ruined the entire film for me. It is kind of the same problem pretty much every ghost story film has. I feel like most of the endings in this genre are pretty unsatisfying and ruin the entire suspense the film has been building throughout the story. There is no denying that Japanese films have heavily influenced the genre with films such as The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water, and One Missed Call which have all been remade, but the truth of the matter is the only film that really worked with critics was The Ring. They have tried to imitate its success, but I haven’t been scared like I was with The Ring, which had a pretty satisfying ending compared to the rest. I do prefer this type of psychological horror more than the gory slasher films, but I find it troubling that they can´t find a satisfying ending. My favorites in this genre will always be the first two I saw: Zemeckis´s What Lies Beneath and The Ring. The rest have all fallen short. Mama was close to achieving that similar success in my opinion, but the ending really hurt it.

The film centers around two girls named Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) and Victoria (Megan Charpentier) who are abandoned in a cabin in the middle of the woods after their father murdered their mother and was attacked by some presence inside the cabin. Five years later the search finally pays off and their Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) finds them. To everyone´s surprise the two girls have managed to survive on their own, but they live like animals crawling around the floor and talking to walls. Lucas and his girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica Chastain) decide to raise the kids with the help of Dr. Dreyfuss (Daniel Kash) who continues to treat the girls in order for them to make the transition from their isolated lives to a normal and nurturing family life. Annabel soon discovers that these girls might have never been on their own and that somehow the presence that was with them in the cabin might be in their home as well. Several suspenseful and horrifying events begin to take place while the girls continue to talk to shadows in the walls and call out for Mama.

The film has several thrills and suspenseful moments with a great performance from Jessica Chastain. It was good to see her try out a different role and she proves she can do about everything. It´s hard to find good performances in horror films, but this may be one of the best. The movie also has its weaknesses like pretty much all horror films do considering the protagonists always seem to make stupid decisions, but that is what makes the genre so entertaining at times. They are clichés which we have learned to accept. The two girls were also surprisingly good, they had strong performances as well. I really enjoyed everything about the movie up to the last 15 minutes which pretty much ruined everything. Psychological thrillers usually have this impact: they begin with a lot of promise but end up on the wrong note, and that is exactly how I felt about Mama along with Sinister, a similar movie I got to see a few months ago. The film is above average thanks to Jessica Chastain, and Guillermo Del Toro´s influence in the production of the movie, but that is about it.

     

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My Review: Layer Cake (7/10)

¨Always remember that one day all this drug monkey business will all be legal. I´m not a gangster. I’m a businessman whose commodity happens to be cocaine.¨

Layer Cake is the film that made Hollywood turn its eyes on Daniel Craig to become the next James Bond. Despite playing an anti-villain in this film, he displayed several qualities that we actually see in some of his recent roles as Bond. If it weren’t for Layer Cake, I can´t imagine Craig being considered for the role. But Layer Cake wasn’t just a breakout role for Daniel Craig; this was also Matthew Vaughn´s directorial debut. Vaughn who had previously produced some of Guy Ritchie´s work including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch was heavily influenced by his directing style and Layer Cake is living proof of that. After the success Vaughn had with this film he went on directing different projects like Stardust, Kick-Ass, and X-Men First Class, which in my opinion were superior to Layer Cake. In Layer Cake I felt, Vaughn took a lot of things from the British criminal genre that Ritchie made famous, but in his next movies he was able to break free and try new things. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good time with this crime thriller, but I felt like it didn’t stand out from the rest of the films in this genre besides Craig´s superb performance. The film requires its audience to play close attention to the story because several things are happening at once and at times I felt the pace of the film was a bit rushed. There were way too many things going on to fit everything in a 100 minute movie. The screenplay was based on J.J. Connolly´s successful novel.

The story centers on a cocaine dealer who considers himself a businessman and not a gangster. He´s working as sort of a middle man between the underground wholesalers and street dealers. He´s not named, but the credit roles call him XXXX (Daniel Craig). XXXX is a very intelligent and cautious businessman who knows what he´s doing, but happens to work for very dangerous people who sometimes get him into trouble. He´s planning on retiring from the business, but before he can do so his boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) asks him to locate Charlotte Ryder (Nathalie Lunghi), who happens to be the daughter of another powerful underground mob leader named Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon). XXXX works alongside with Gene (Colm Meaney) and Morty (George Harris) who watches his back, but he also has two other employees who work for him: Clarkie (Tom Hardy) and Terry (Tamer Hassan). Everything gets complicated for XXXX when a group of junkies steal two million pounds worth of ecstasy pills from a wholesaler named Dragan (Dragan Micanovic) and he´s forced to find and give back the drugs. The person who stole the drugs is Duke (Jamie Foreman), and he´s not willing to give them back. While Duke´s hiding out, XXXX encounters his nephew and ends up falling for his girlfriend, Tammy (Sienna Miller), making matters even worse. XXXX will soon find out that the British mob is like a cake which consists of several different layers.

The film has so many characters and different thing going on at the same time that it’s very difficult to follow everything. Layer Cake is a bit too complicated and messy, but it is still a great crime thriller in which Daniel Craig gives a very solid performance. The rest of the characters don’t get too much screen time. Sienna Miller is much underused here and her character doesn’t bring much to the film. I love Tom Hardy as well but he has almost nothing to work with here and goes unnoticed as well. Michael Gambon and Colm Meaney give the best supporting performance in my opinion, but the rest of the cast is totally forgettable. We´ve seen many crime thrillers and this one doesn’t stand out from the rest. It is above average but nothing groundbreaking in my opinion. I love Vaughn´s films, but this is probably my least favorite film of his.

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My Summer Movie Guide

With the premiere of Iron Man 3 Summer has officially begun so I have decided to make a list of the big budget Blockbuster films I am looking forward too. I´ve already seen Iron Man 3 so that won´t be included here. I made a list at the beginning of the year where I mentioned several independent and smaller films, but now it is time for the big boys. I am an indie sort of guy so summer isn’t the best time of the year for me movie wise, but I still highly anticipate some of these big summer movies. If you haven’t checked my other list out then visit http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-most-anticipated-films-of-2013.html. So here is my list in order of what films I really want to see this summer:

1) Kick Ass 2: I loved the first film starring Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl and am looking forward to this sequel with the addition of Jim Carrey as one of the supporting characters. This is my most highly anticipated summer movie of all.

2) Star Trek Into Darkness: Another sequel happens to be in second place in my want to see list, but how can you not be excited for this sequel after JJ Abrams rebooted this successful franchise in 2009 in such a spectacular way.

3) Fast & Furious 6 Summer movies usually mean sequels and this is yet another I am looking forward after the highly successful fifth film. Before the fifth movie came out I wasn’t too excited about this franchise, but now it has just gotten rebooted.

4) World War Z: Warm Bodies may have brought the fun back to the zombie genre, but Brad Pitt might bring back the scares in the classic horror genre. I´m looking forward to what new things this film will bring to the table.

5) Man of Steel: I´m no huge Superman fan, and really didn’t like Superman Returns, but this film actually looks like it’s going to be great. Here´s hoping Henry Cavill will portray a great Superman.

6) After Earth: M Night Shyamalan hasn’t been on a role lately, but this film looks like it will lift him up once again. He was one of my favorite directors so I´m hoping this film does well. This seems to be the perfect film for Will Smith as well.

7) The Lone Ranger: Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp team up once again after their successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Everyone loves the classic Lone Ranger character so this film looks really great.

8) Elysium: Neil Blomkamp worked his magic with District 9. He made one of the best sci-fi films in years with an incredibly low budget. Now with more money and Matt Damon to star in his film, this looks really great.

9) The Bling Ring; Based on the true story of a group of teenagers who steal millions from celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, this looks like another good bet for the summer.

10) 2Guns: Staring Mark Walberg and Denzel Washington, two of the best action stars, this film looks very promising.

11) The Wolverine: Another superhero film, but the Wolverine seems to always deliver the goods.

12) The Hangover Part III: I was a huge fan of the first film. One of my favorite comedies, but was a little disappointed with the second film.

13) The Internship: Another promising comedy starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. I was a huge fan of The Wedding Crashers which was the last film these two worked together in. They haven’t done anything funny lately, so it was a good idea for them to team up once again.

14) The Great Gatsby: One of the most talked about films. It looks great and should transport us all to the fabulous 20´s. Leonardo DiCaprio is a safe bet these days.

15) RIPD: I´m not sure about this film, but I like the pairing of Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. The premise seems pretty interestin so I´m giving this film a chance.

16) Pacific Rim: Another film I´m not too sure of, but the effects seem like they are going to be interesting. Guillermo del Toro is a great director so it can be promising.

17) 300 Rise of an Empire: The original film was great, I´m not too sure about this one. I think the novelty may have warn off a bit on me.

18) The Kings of Summer: This could be last year´s Moonrise Kingdom. The story seems promising and the trailer is hilarious.

19) This is the End: Reuniting James Franco and Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express) and including Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Emma Watson, and Paul Rudd this film has to be hilarious.

20) White House Down: Another Roland Emmerich film. He delivers great effects and poor stories, but Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx can make this entertaining.

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My Review: The Man with the Iron Fists (2/10)

¨When it comes to money, things get funny¨

The Man with the Iron Fists is yet another early contender for worst film of the year. It seems like this year I have watched far too many terrible movies, and am in desperate need for the first breakout movie of the year. RZA directs this kung fu action/comedy film which fails at many levels. First of all it has too many characters crammed into one film. RZA intended this movie to be over four hours long and divide it into two parts, but instead of that they edited everything and made it into one 100 minute movie. That really hurt the pacing of the film which moves at a ridiculous pace and seems to hurry everything. The film doesn’t works as either an action film or a satire because in the first place the action scenes are quite terrible and in the second it is far from being funny. The script also lacks some clever lines and a better story, while the acting in this film is terrible. I know that in some way this film tries to pay homage to the 70´s Shaw Kung fu films, but it still was messy, and the spoofs really didn’t work. This is one of those movies I really don’t want to spend too much time talking about because I feel it was a complete waste of time. The film may be presented by Quentin Tarantino (because he is friends with RZA and has had his music on many of his own screenplays), but it is far from his work. RZA could have used some help from Tarantino because this is another proof that making violent films isn’t an easy thing.

The film begins by introducing several different characters which are all linked to Jungle Village. A blacksmith (RZA) narrates the action as he tells us what is going on. The leader of the Lion´s clan, Gold Lion (Kuan Tai Chen), has been brutally murdered by Silver Lion (Byron Mann) and Bronze Lion (Cung Le) after they hear that the Governor´s gold is going to pass through their village. Gold Lion was assigned the task of protecting the gold while it was being transported, and now that he has been betrayed, Silver and Bronze Lion prepare an army to steal the gold. In the meantime, Gold Lion´s son, Zen Yi (Rick Yune) decides to avenge his father´s death and attack those responsible. Zen Yi is defeated however by Brass Body (Dave Bautista), who works for the Lion´s clan, but before he´s killed, the blacksmith manages to save him and escape. Silver and Bronze Lion manage to steal the governor´s gold and hide it in Madam Blossom´s (Lucy Liu) brothel. Jack Knife (Russell Crowe), an emissary of the Emperor, happens to be staying at the brothel when all this occurs. While these events are taking place, the blacksmith is caught by Brass Body and has his arms severed. Jack Knife decides to help the blacksmith and makes iron arms for him. They join forces along with Zen Yi and together they face the Lion clan in a blood bath.

As you can tell there are a lot of different things going on at the same time and way too many characters for a short film like this. Everything just seemed so disconnected that it never even worked as a spoof. I really didn’t care much for any of the characters either, and to say that there is no character development whatsoever is an understatement. I also had a lot of issues with the editing of the film with so many chops here and there. The action scenes never felt believable, and everything felt like a complete waste of time. This film may have had some interesting actors working here, but it is just terrible. Please skip this film.

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My Review: Iron Man 3 (8/10)

¨Ladies, children, sheep... Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher. Lesson number one: Heroes, there is no such thing.¨

Iron Man 3 is the first film following the events of The Avengers, and if you wondered if the movie was going to lose entertainment value considering it shifts the focus back to only one superhero, you were wrong. Despite not having all those great characters together, Robert Downey Jr. manages to capture the audience’s attention once again with his vibrant portrayal of Tony Stark. He has been the main reason why I´ve enjoyed these films so much because they are just a perfect fit. New director, Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), who worked with Downey in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, knows that the secret to the success of this franchise is letting Downey be himself and focus on his character. In this third film Starks is stripped down of his toys and questions whether or not he is worth anything without the suit. The Nolan effect which has been a key element in superhero movies is present at the beginning of the movie. We see a much more vulnerable Tony Stark, who is suffering from panic attacks due to the events in The Avengers, and who makes mistakes like putting his beloved Potts in danger due to his big mouth. This first part of the movie didn’t work very well because it felt like a different kind of hero, but the effect wears off real quickly and Starks is once again back to his normal self once he realizes he is what makes the suit and not vice versa. Having his character stripped of his toys and having to manage to depend on simple things once again to defeat his foes is what made this film so entertaining. It was like if Stark had to go back to the basics and rediscover himself, although he never loses his goofiness. The villains in this film were also a huge improvement from its predecessor. This might not be as great as the original Iron Man, but it is an improvement from the first sequel. Black did a decent job following Jon Favreau´s work and he manages to keep the franchise afloat.   

Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) has to face a new set of villains in this third film which takes place after the events of The Avengers. A terrorist who calls himself The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is terrorizing the world through several explosions across the globe. Meanwhile Tony has found himself absorbed trying to perfect his suits and may have crossed the line trying to overprotect his love interest, Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). The reason behind his obsession is that he can´t afford to lose what he loves most. When Stark threatens The Mandarin, his army destroys his home leaving him for dead. Stark has to hide out while he figures out more information about this terrorist. He discovers some information about an AIM program run by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) which seems to be involved with the well known terrorist. Without being able to use all his equipment and technology, Stark is forced to use his intellect and capabilities to defeat his new enemies, while at the same time trying to protect Potts. Along his quest he makes some new friends, like the young boy named Harley (Ty Simpkins) who helps gather some materials for him to work with, and counts with his always reliable friend, Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle). Rebecca Hall also has a small role in this film as Killian´s assistant, and Paul Bettany lends his voice once again to Jarvis.    

As you would expect, the visuals in this film are great and the action sequences are also very entertaining. The two hours go by in a flash thanks to some decent pacing. The franchise doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but it still offers some great summer popcorn fun entertainment. Iron Man 3 is the perfect way to start off the 2013 summer and we can only hope the rest of the films keep this streak going. I loved the little twists and turns the film takes here by making you think it is going to be so much darker than the rest of The Avengers, but then all of a sudden it returns to its playful self. The Marvel universe is one that doesn’t have to be taken so seriously because we have fun with the lightness of the characters and situations. The entire spin with The Mandarin was incredible. I wasn’t too pleased with the opening minutes of the film considering Stark was much more vulnerable and not as fun as his usual self, but once he got his confidence back everything seemed to play out really well. Black is a master at mixing some great action scenes with tons of comedy (Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang are proof of that) and we see it once again with Iron Man 3. Downey Jr. continues to deliver with his clever lines and charismatic self. He is the only reason we need to want to go see this movie.

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