Going into the new year, box office analysts predicted that 2011 was going to be a juggernaut year for Hollywood. Before the film industry could deliver the big guns, audiences had to go through the inevitable bottom-of-the-barrel movies that always get released between January and April. Although there were some exceptions, such as The Adjustment Bureau and Scream 4, there wasn’t anything else to call home to about. With box office receipts trailing behind those of this same time last year, movie theaters are relying on this summer’s tidal wave of hopeful blockbusters to bring Hollywood out of its springtime slump.
This year, there will be a record amount of sequels and comic book adaptations, each one competing for our wallets. While there is still the appetite for originality among moviegoers, if these sequels can still serve us some quality in between their action-filled sequences, then they should receive our attention.
Summer 2011 will bring a lot to the table. Thor, Captain America and the Green Lantern will have their first go-around on the silver screen; America’s dearly loved wolf pack will experience their second hangover; Captain Jack Sparrow has his next adventure on the big blue; and Harry Potter will work his magic in his heroic showdown with Lord Voldemort. That is just a small sampling of what May through August has to offer. There is a bounty of other films to get eager for in the following preview.
Thor (May 6) Summer’s first big blockbuster will come in the form of this famous Norse god (Chris Hemsworth). When the titular character is sent from his home planet to Earth as a result of his egotism, he must unite with a beautiful astrophysicist (Natalie Portman) in order to take down his younger brother, Loki(Tom Hiddleston), who seeks to destroy the world so he could become his father’s only heir. Also starring Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Rene Russo and Stellan Skarsgard.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (May 20) Captain Jack Sparrow makes a seaworthy return in this fourth installment of Disney’s swashbuckling saga. This new expedition has our favorite pirate and his crew searching for the fabled Fountain of Youth, while trying to fend off zombies and mermaids. Starring Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush and Keith Richards.
The Hangover: Part 2 (May 26) The wolf pack survived Las Vegas, now they must do the same in Bangkok while vacationing there for their friend Stu’s (Ed Helms) wedding. After waking up from a night of one-to-many, the friends realize that they have lost his fiancé’s brother. Then, they must search the streets looking for him while countless mishaps are hot on their heels. Also starring Bradley Cooper, Zack Galifianakis and Justin Bartha.
The Tree of Life (May 27) Details of director Terrence Malick’s latest film have been kept a tight secret. What we do know is that the story involves a family with three boys in the 1950s mid-west, the oldest of which suffers the loss of innocence. Starring Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Sean Penn.
X-Men: First Class (June 3) This prequel to the popular X-Men movies revolves around the first meeting of the young Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) as they create the first team of mutants in the early 1960s. Also starring Kevin Bacon, January Jones and Jennifer Lawrence.
Super 8 (June 10) In 1979, while a group of teenagers are making a zombie movie on their home video camera, they are nearly killed by a train that’s delivering something mysterious to Nevada’s Area 51. This creature of an unknown world is soon wrecking havoc on the friends’ unsuspecting town. After director J.J. Abrams’s wildly successful Star Trek reboot two years ago, there’s much to be thrilled about in his next science fiction excursion. Starring Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning and Riley Griffiths.
Green Lantern (June 17) Ryan Reynolds plays Hal Jordan, a member of the Green Lantern Corps, who keep the peace throughout the universe. Each member wears a ring that provides him with superpowers. When their new adversary, Parallax, threatens the safety of all life, the fate of Earth and the rest of the universe relies on Hal Jordan, the first human ever selected to be a Green Lantern. Also starring Blake Lively, Tim Robbins and Peter Sarsgaard.
Cars 2 (June 24) In Pixar’s twelfth film, tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable the Guy) goes to support his best friend Lightening McQueen (Owen Wilson) at the World Grand Prix. Mater then gets mistaken for an American spy and gets taken on a mission with two British agents: a sports car named Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and a state-of-the-art coupe named Holley Swiftwell (Emily Mortimer).
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 1) In this third film of Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise, the Autobots receive knowledge of a spacecraft on the moon that holds secrets of their home planet, Cybertron. The Autobots must race against the Decepticons to find out all the information they can, which might help them in the Transformers’ ultimate battle. Starring Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (July 15) The first part of the grand finale ended with Lord Voldemort obtaining the powerful Elder Wand. The second part has Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) trying to find the remaining Horcruxes, which are objects that hold pieces of Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) soul and are the key to his survival. The film will lead up to an explosive final battle at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is the movie that everyone has been waiting for in tremendous anticipation for, and it’s finally almost here. Mark those calendars.
Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22) It’s 1942, and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is determined to enlist in the U.S. Army to help fight the Nazis in World War II. After being told he is physically unfit to be a soldier, he signs up for the secretive military venture, Project: Rebirth, which turns him into a super-human and he’s given the title of Captain America. With the help of his sidekick, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), he sets out to battle the villainous Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), who is Hitler’s head of high-tech weaponry. His plans involve gaining control of the world through a supernatural object called the Tesseract. Also starring Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci, Dominic Cooper and Hayley Atwell.
Cowboys and Aliens (July 29) In 1873 Arizona, Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes up to find a strange shackle around his wrist and his memory vanished. As he stumbles into the pioneer town named Absolution, he bumps into Col. Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), who is a past enemy that Jake can’t seem to remember, and Ella (Olivia Wilde), a town prospector. When aliens start abducting Absolution’s citizens, the three characters must unite to save the day in the wild west. Based on the graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (August 5) When scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) tests a possible cure for Alzheimer’s on apes, his test subject Caesar begins to go through a swift increase of intelligence. Caesar then encourages his other chimp inmates and the rest of the world’s apes into rebelling against the humans. Also starring Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis, Tom Felton and Brian Cox.
There are a plethora of other motion picture adventures to choose from the marquee, but the above are just a few that viewers should keep an eye out for. Some of these films might be dazzling enough to warrant two viewings. So in between visits to the beach or to the local pool, take a couple of hours to escape into a different world, whether it be a world of superheroes, wizards or pirates. Immersing oneself into a movie on a hot summer day can be well worth anyone’s time, and will let the imagination soar.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Ghostface attacks teenagers, remakes and reboots
I felt a pang of nostalgia when the phone rang in the opening of Scream 4. Although it has been six years since I first watched the original Scream, this scene brought me back to my first encounter with the dreadful voice that asked, "What's your favorite scary movie?" This question caused many of us to fear the ringing of a telephone or to be in a house all alone. Now, 11 years later, the return of Ghostface is what we needed to satirize the film industry's onslaught of unnecessary reboots, remakes and uninspired sequels.
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is finally getting her life back together after facing several tragedies. She has penned a self-help book based on her experiences, and hasn't been harassed by a certain killer in years. As she's returning to her hometown for the last stop of her book tour, she reunites with her two fellow survivors of the Woodsboro murders, Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), who are now married. This isn't a case of home-sweet-home for Sidney, however, since her return sparks the murders of two neighborhood girls, both by the knife of none other than Ghostface. With the help of a new generation of teenagers, they soon have to find out who is the one donning the notorious white mask and black cloak, while at the same time learning the "new rules" on surviving a scary movie.
In spite of the lengthy hiatus, the three main Scream actors fit comfortably back into their roles. Campbell asserts her girl-power status as the heroine who doesn't hesitate when the time comes to protect her friends and family. We are drawn to her because she immediately taps into her survival instincts when Ghostface is near, and isn't afraid to challenge the killer. Courteney Cox brings the thunder again as Gale Weathers. Her feisty and doesn't-take-no-for-an-answer attitude makes her another tough female character for the Scream saga. Gale will put herself in danger if it means she will grab the latest news story. As usual, she gets many of the film's best lines, and they're a hoot. David Arquette resumes his role as the dimwitted, yet loveable Officer Riley.
The franchise's latest group of pop culture-savvy teenagers includes Jill (Emma Roberts), who plays Sidney's cousin; Hayden Panettiere as Kirby, a secret film-enthusiast; Rory Culkin as Charlie, the brains of the new rules of horror movies; Erik Knudsen as Robbie, a sort of new-age voyeur with his head-set video camera; and Nico Tortorella as Trevor, Jill's mysterious and untrustworthy boyfriend. Each young star contributes to what is a melting-pot of hip high school personalities.
The script by Scream scribe Kevin Williamson retains the terror, albeit less so, and the comedy aspects that have mixed well in these films. After an 11 year gap in between the third and fourth installments, I was very much looking forward to this entry, especially the opening sequence. While nothing can compare to the spine-chilling beginning of the original Scream, I still had my hopes up for this one, given the considerable amount of time there was to create it. There isn't a doubt that it's carried out in a clever fashion, but it is lacking to some extent in the scare department. There are some decent frights throughout, but others fall into predictability. Luckily, it isn't easy to figure out who the killer is; because, just like the three other installments, Scream 4 persists in its guessing game that we as an audience love to play. The tongue-in-cheek dialogue and dark humor are the film's strong areas. Williamson successfully made this sequel relevant to today's media-obsessed populace, incorporating features such as Facebook and video-blogging to serve its plot.
Scream 4 is superior to most recent horror sequels, and it has been hinted that it might be the start of a new trilogy. Hopefully, the writers have in mind a scarier and more suspenseful future for the saga. If so, then I'll be in the theater, ready to jump out of my seat. If not, then they should end it here and give Sidney the peaceful life that she deserves, lest this narrative spawns more pointless follow-ups. I'm looking at you, Saw series.
Final grade: B
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is finally getting her life back together after facing several tragedies. She has penned a self-help book based on her experiences, and hasn't been harassed by a certain killer in years. As she's returning to her hometown for the last stop of her book tour, she reunites with her two fellow survivors of the Woodsboro murders, Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), who are now married. This isn't a case of home-sweet-home for Sidney, however, since her return sparks the murders of two neighborhood girls, both by the knife of none other than Ghostface. With the help of a new generation of teenagers, they soon have to find out who is the one donning the notorious white mask and black cloak, while at the same time learning the "new rules" on surviving a scary movie.
In spite of the lengthy hiatus, the three main Scream actors fit comfortably back into their roles. Campbell asserts her girl-power status as the heroine who doesn't hesitate when the time comes to protect her friends and family. We are drawn to her because she immediately taps into her survival instincts when Ghostface is near, and isn't afraid to challenge the killer. Courteney Cox brings the thunder again as Gale Weathers. Her feisty and doesn't-take-no-for-an-answer attitude makes her another tough female character for the Scream saga. Gale will put herself in danger if it means she will grab the latest news story. As usual, she gets many of the film's best lines, and they're a hoot. David Arquette resumes his role as the dimwitted, yet loveable Officer Riley.
The franchise's latest group of pop culture-savvy teenagers includes Jill (Emma Roberts), who plays Sidney's cousin; Hayden Panettiere as Kirby, a secret film-enthusiast; Rory Culkin as Charlie, the brains of the new rules of horror movies; Erik Knudsen as Robbie, a sort of new-age voyeur with his head-set video camera; and Nico Tortorella as Trevor, Jill's mysterious and untrustworthy boyfriend. Each young star contributes to what is a melting-pot of hip high school personalities.
The script by Scream scribe Kevin Williamson retains the terror, albeit less so, and the comedy aspects that have mixed well in these films. After an 11 year gap in between the third and fourth installments, I was very much looking forward to this entry, especially the opening sequence. While nothing can compare to the spine-chilling beginning of the original Scream, I still had my hopes up for this one, given the considerable amount of time there was to create it. There isn't a doubt that it's carried out in a clever fashion, but it is lacking to some extent in the scare department. There are some decent frights throughout, but others fall into predictability. Luckily, it isn't easy to figure out who the killer is; because, just like the three other installments, Scream 4 persists in its guessing game that we as an audience love to play. The tongue-in-cheek dialogue and dark humor are the film's strong areas. Williamson successfully made this sequel relevant to today's media-obsessed populace, incorporating features such as Facebook and video-blogging to serve its plot.
Scream 4 is superior to most recent horror sequels, and it has been hinted that it might be the start of a new trilogy. Hopefully, the writers have in mind a scarier and more suspenseful future for the saga. If so, then I'll be in the theater, ready to jump out of my seat. If not, then they should end it here and give Sidney the peaceful life that she deserves, lest this narrative spawns more pointless follow-ups. I'm looking at you, Saw series.
Final grade: B
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