This column will introduce you to the most popular movies that are coming out in theaters this weekend and why you should go see them.
What movie will you see this weekend?
Beauty and the Beast
Reasons to see this:
Inspired by Disney’s 1991 animated film, this live-action adaptation tells the story of a young woman and a cursed prince who fall in love. Starring in this magical fantasy musical are Emma Watson, Dan Stevens (The Guest), Luke Evans (Dracula Untold), Josh Gad, Kevin Kline, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, and more. Bill Condon is the director of this film. Condon has directed The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 & 2, The Fifth Estate, and Mr. Holmes. Now, go be a guest at a theater this weekend.
The Belko Experiment
Reasons to see this:
80 Americans are locked in their high-rise office and are forced by an unknown (unknown cawwwllllaaa) voice to participate in a deadly game. Starring in this horror thriller are John Gallagher Jr. (10 Cloverfield Lane), Tony Goldwyn (Ghost), Adria Arjona (Emerald City), John C. McGinley (Scrubs), Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station), Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), and more. Greg McLean directs this hellish office space. Mclean has directed Wolf Creek 1 & 2 and The Darkness. James Gunn penned the script for this flick. Now Belko to the theater this weekend.
Song To Song
Reasons to see this:
Song To Song is about two intersecting love triangles, set within the music scene in Austin, Texas. Starring in this dramatic romance film are Ryan Gosling, Natalie Portman, Michael Fassbender, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Val KIlmer (whoa, where has he been?), Benicio Del Toro, Holly Hunter, and more. Terrence Malick is the writer and director of this flick. Malick has written and directed The Thin Red Line ,The New World, and The Tree of Life. Need more Gos set in a music setting? Then check out Song To Song this weekend.
T2 Trainspotting
Reason to see this:
Trainspotting 2. After 20 years, Mark Renton reunites with his friends Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie. Ewan McGregor, Roger Carlyle, Johnny Lee Miller, and Ewen Bremmer all return for the sequel. Even Danny Boyle is back in the director’s chair. John Hodge who penned the first script is also back to write this one. Catch a train to the theater this weekend.
PLOT: There’s a new rule in the galaxy: No one touches Earth! But why has Earth suddenly become the most important planet in the galaxy? That’s what the Guardians of the Galaxy are going to find out! Join Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot and – wait for it – the Invincible Iron Man as they embark upon one of the most explosive and eye-opening chapters of Marvel NOW! The secrets these galactic Avengers discover will rattle Marvel readers for years to come! But while London deals with a brutal invasion by the Badoon, the fate of the Guardians may have already been decided millions of miles away! Why wait for the movie? It all starts here! Collects Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #1-3 & #0.1 and Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers #1.
REVIEW: In preparation for the new movie, I am reading through some Guardians of the Galaxy graphic novels to further my knowledge. I was not familiar at all with the group of superheroes until recently, so all of this is very new to me. As some of you know, I’m not much of a fan of the titles in Marvel NOW! except for a few. Granted, I wasn’t a fan of many Marvel titles previous to the major reboot, but I thought I would pick up a few more favorites during the NOW! initiative. This was one of the late books to come out of it, and I was so surprised that this was the real winner of the running titles. I’ve read everything from X-Men to Avengers, and Hulk back to Iron Man, Cap, and Thor. This Guardians of the Galaxy book has it all, and is probably one of the more, if not the most, complete book or first volume I’ve read from the reboot group. Thor may be at a tie with it, but it doesn’t quite have the “fun factor” this book has and while it does not suffer for it, it’s just an element of a comic that you sometimes want to have. This book also includes a large collection of cover variants and such in the back, so don’t forget to leave the book open after the last page of the comic book itself. Some of the Deadpool variants are fantastic. As you can see on the front cover as well, Iron Man is in this book too for added shenanigans and laughs.
Cosmic Avengers’ strength though is that it is extremely funny and the equivalent of a blockbuster popcorn flick in book form. It presents an intergalactic story with new characters (for some) and does it all within four issues which is really spectacular. Most volumes or collections of comics have at least five issues in them to tell a story, and sometimes the introductory volumes can be even larger. What this book accomplishes in four issues is amazing, and that is why I would recommend this book to anyone, whether you read comics or not. It is the total package, and it starts with one of my single favorite issues in the Marvel NOW! era. The first issue is #0.1 and is the story of how Star-Lord a.k.a. Peter Quill came to be, and it is done so well. It captures you interest from the get-go, and that issue leads right into the current story with the Guardians and holds you all the way until the end. This book will make you laugh, as Groot saves the day and Rocket “Blam! murdered you”’s everyone. This book will make you cry (if you’re weak like me), as Groot saves the day and Peter grows up without a father. This book will make you read and pay attention to every detail, because the Guardians of the Galaxy are awesome and Brian Michael Bendis is one of the Marvel masters behind this book. A must read for fans and outsiders alike, and an excellent introduction to a new favorite group of heroes come August 2nd.
PLOT: Launching out of Annihilation: Conquest, Marvel’s sci-fi heroes unite to protect the cosmos. Back-to-back Annihilation wars have weakened the boundaries of our universe. Dark gods and monsters are seeping through the cracks, reigning horror upon those still reeling from the recent calamities. In the face of terror, who stands to defend a desperate universe? Star-Lord and his squad of butt-kickers – the modern day Guardians of the Galaxy. You’ve heard that Annihilation: Conquest rocks – the guy at the comic shop keeps telling you to try Nova – well, now’s your chance to experience the glory that writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and artist Paul Pelletier can unleash. All this…plus a wise-cracking raccoon and a telepathic dog. C’mon, people, time to lock and load Collecting Guardians of the Galaxy #1-6.
REVIEW: So it probably doesn’t help that I read the Marvel NOW! Guardians title first, but I didn’t enjoy this book nearly as much as that. I was disappointed because I purchased this one to brush up before the movie, but the other I borrowed from the library. I’d like to trade this one in for the other, but this book is not without its plusses. I think one of the major reasons this wasn’t entertaining for me is that I have not read the event that took place before this book to kind of set it up. The Guardians team assembled in this book is also a little different than that of the movie coming out, or in the NOW! team. All of the normal people are there, but there is also Quasar, Warlock, and a telepathic dog. Yeah, a telepathic dog. It’s definitely on the spacey wacey type of mojo that typically dominates older Marvel titles, which is yet another reason I’m more of a fan of the DC Universe. However, I did mention those plusses and it would be fair to share those too before the book has been completely ruined.
As usual, Rocket Raccoon dominates every frame and page he’s on. His humor in these books is just so doom and gloom, but with a hint of sarcasm to make it hilarious. He’s really much funnier in the newer books, but he had a great running joke throughout the second issue of this book. While they are trying to figure out their team name, he can be spotted every other frame or two suggesting names and bugging the other team members. Eventually they just give in to get him and shut up, but its his persistence despite the team’s reaction to him that draws the laughs. The main plot really isn’t as great as in Cosmic Avengers, but from what I’ve read there seems to be some basis in here for the movie coming out. I’m not sure what they’ll use, but I’d imagine if anything it will probably be very lightly lifted from this book. I think the new book benefits from the existence of the movie, as it was created after the movie’s inception. This volume of Guardians of the Galaxy by Dan Abnett is hard to find right now, but it appears that it will be published in trade paperback for the release of the new film. It’s a pretty well-reviewed volume or Marvel stuff, so if space, time, and superheroes in the Marvel Universe is your thing, I’d still give this a shot. I’m just not huge on the extraterrestrial realms of Marvel, and I think that is why the NOW! title exceeds this one because it is accessible to any reader unlike this one.
Plot: Academy Award® winners Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) tear up the screen in this action-packed thriller. Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) is lured back to his family estate to investigate the savage murder of his brother by a bloodthirsty beast. There, Talbot must confront his childhood demons, his estranged father (Hopkins), his brother’s grieving fiancée (Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada) and a suspicious Scotland Yard Inspector (Hugo Weaving, The Matrix Trilogy). When Talbot is bitten by the creature, he becomes eternally cursed and soon discovers a fate far worse than death. Inspired by the classic Universal film that launched a legacy of horror, The Wolfman brings the myth of a cursed man back to its iconic origins.
Review:
I just bought the Blu-Ray of The Wolfman remake starring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins featuring the theatrical version and a new Director’s Cut of the film, and all I have to say is that each version gives a very different feel to the movie.
Now the idea of a Director’s Cut has lost its meaning recently with the onslaught of so called “unrated” versions of movies that sport just a few seconds of harsh language or some extra gore that typically adds up to about five or so minutes. But the Director’s of The Wolfman is sixteen minutes longer, and to me it makes the movie more successful and also a little bit lesser than the theatrical run. Let me explain this for you….spoilers may lie ahead so read at your risk please.
The theatrical version feels much more Hollywood than the Director’s Cut, it starts out with Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) making his way home back to London with a voice over explaining that his brother has gone missing. Once he gets there we are introduced to the three leads of the film, John Talbot (Hopkins) and Gwen (Emily Blunt) giving only a brief twenty minutes before Lawrence is bitten by the werewolf at a gypsy camp as he investigated his brothers death.
After that encounter with the wolf we watch as he begins to heal at an unnatural pace and starts having vivid hallucinations about a weird looking boy and we learn that he stumbled upon his mother who has committed suicide. There is very little back story to help us really sympathies with Lawrence other than the fact that he is dealing with the death of his younger(?) brother. It was a decent first act that did what it had to do to introduce the characters and set up the carnage that was about to be seen.
The entire mid-section of the film is pretty much seen it the trailers and commercials, he turns into the wolf and runs a rampage; killing everyone in his way, leading to his capture, and eventual escape and even more mayhem as he runs around the city killing mindlessly.
That pretty much sums up the second act of the film.
The films final act is all about revenge, I am not going to say who the revenge is towards but it is pretty obvious and predictable that Lawrence was going to go down that dark road. The films final act is an all out chase scene that involves ***SPOILERS**** a fight scene between two werewolves that could have lasted a bit longer but was still very entertaining. And an obvious set up for a sequel ***END SPOILERS****, the last twenty minutes or so was the most exciting part of the movie watching as The Wolfman laid waste to all that stood before him. The ending of the film was very cliche but it fit in with the whole tone of the movie (in my opinion it did anyways).
All in all the theatrical version of the movie is much more of an Action/Horror film. Which isn’t a bad thing whatsoever it just would have been nice if there was a little more meat to the movie other than the quick set up and predictable ending. Luckily the Director’s Cut gives a more dramatic version of the film.
The sixteen minutes that the Director’s Cut has put back in gives more character time and helps the viewer connect with them easier, making you care what happens to them as the film plays out. The best part about this version is that it is MUCH more character and story driven than the theatrical cut, which some might be turned off by because it is after all a monster movie. But the added scenes between Lawrence and Gwen are more meaningful and we see that they begin to fall in love, but neither of them are going to follow their desire because they both know that it is wrong.
One of the films biggest differences is that the lead doesn’t get bitten until about forty or so minutes into the movie, and he doesn’t turn into the titular beast until about an hour into the movie. I for one enjoy the fact that Director’s Cut takes the movie a bit more serious and doesn’t rush the story along just to get into the action. While there is more character time, that also means that the werewolf action seems to be even less leaving about fifty minutes of real werewolf craziness going on, as in the theatrical he turned into the wolf about halfway through (45 minutes) and it was pretty nonstop werewolfdom until the end. Same can be said, for the DC, once he becomes the werewolf it turns into the Action/Horror vision that the theatrical cut was.
Overall I respect both versions of the film, the theatrical as a fast paced Action monster movie and the DC as a strong character and story movie that has the big payoff of Action monster movie that the theatrical had to offer. Neither version is perfect but they are both entertaining to watch. It really depends on what kind of movie mood you are in when it comes to choosing which version to watch.
I give the Theatrical Cut 7/10
I give the Director’s Cut 8.5/10
The film is framed in 1.85:1 with nice dark colors, the city of London looks great with the moonlight flowing over it as The Wolfman ran across the rooftops. Some scenes seemed a little bright..too bright for night scenes, and some were too dark for a night scene. I couldn’t notice any grain in the picture so I am going to say that I give the Picture Quality 9/10
Danny Elfman’s score was pumpin me up and it couldn’t have sounded better. The bass was nice and the heavy breathing of the beast sounded great. Only one thing caught me and bugged me, towards the final moments of the films a character is breathing rather heavily and there is some ringing as he does it. It only lasted for a few moments but I still expected more from a Blu-Ray, especially a new released movie such as this one. I give the Audio a 9.5/10
********************************************** Special Features
Some deleted scenes and extended scenes that don’t really add up to much, I can see why they were taken out of the movie.
Two alternate endings, both leaving the film more open for a sequel than the actual ending that ended up in the film.
A making of feature
A make up feature
And for a limited time the Blu-Ray is offering a streaming of the original The Wolfman, which I suggest everyone checks out, because it is awesome.
I highly recommend this movie, both versions to anyone who loves horror, or for someone just looking for some quick monster action (go for the theatrical if you are)!
Pop the movie in and just sit back and have a howling good time……..bad pun, but I had to.
I get drunk and watch a lot of movies. So much so I’ve lost track as to what I love and what I hate. Any random Friday night I can find myself picking a new favorite film of all time depending on how much rum has fallen down my throat. It’s even worse with individual scenes. If my glassy eyes can focus on the screen for more than five minutes at a time and it’s a pretty sure bet I’m going to declare whatever I just watched as the greatest scene of all time. I have approximately 693 of these. So I need your help. I’m going to break down the following scene from WAY OF THE GUN and you tell me if my drunken declaration is justified or simply another stupid drunken declaration. Here’s the shit:
This is why I think it might be the greatest scene of all time.
That guy’s hair. When you’re drunk and watching this at four in the morning, you want hair like that. It’s like an infomercial.
Everything Sarah Silverman says. It’s like a buffet of every swear word in existence mashed up together so quickly you don’t even care if what she’s saying makes any sense. “…fucking baby-head fuck?” What does that even mean? Doesn’t matter.
This line – “Shut that cunt’s mouth or I’ll come over there and fuck-start her head.” Now, even if we find that this isn’t the greatest scene of all time, I think we can agree that that is one of the greatest lines of dialogue ever spoken in film.
The way the one background guy laughs after that line above is spoken. It gets me every fucking time I watch the scene (which is going on 47 times in a row as I type).
When Benicio Del Toro flips the hood ornament as he’s being called “…your fucking gay uncle over there”. It’s the little things that make me giggle for hours (months).
The first punch. I’m not for violence against women or anything like that but I’m pretty sure 99.9% of the viewing audience screamed “YES!” the first time they watch Silverman get blasted in the face.
Benicio biting the guy’s calf.
Silverman’s exploded face.
That’s just a short recap of what they’re doing right here. Make sure you watch the whole scene above to get the entire package. When you’re done, let me know in the comments below if this is one of the greatest scenes of all time. I’m pretty sure it is. But I’m shitfaced.