Monthly Archives: July 2013
Redband Trailer for Oldboy (2013)
Oldboy (2013)
This preview is approved for appropriate audiences.
10 years after the Korean film Oldboy (2003), Spike Lee decided to direct an American version. The original film was quite twisted and the remake appears like it will follow suit.
Oldboy (2013) is about a man (Josh Brolin) who is kidnapped and imprisoned for 20 years. When he is finally released, he sets out for revenge on his unknown captor. Why was he kidnapped and held for so long? Who did it and why did they let him go?
The rest of the notable cast includes Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, Michael Imperioli, Lance Reddick, Sharlto Copley, Max Casella, Rami Malek, James Ransone, and Grey Damon.
Brolin continues to choose his roles carefully. If he pulls off his part, as it appears like he definitely will, this remake should be intensely awesome.
I am totally looking forward to this one!
The film is set to release on 11/29/13.
Now In Theatres Movie Reviews July 12th – 18th
Now In Theatres Movie Reviews July 12th-18th
Click here for Now In Theatres Movie Reviews August 23rd – 29th
I have not seen all of the movies that are currently in theatres right now, but I have seen and reviewed 19 of them. Some of the films have been in theatres for a while now and others are newer releases. If you are having trouble deciding what movie to see in theatres, I hope that you will consult my list for help. Movie ticket prices are pretty expensive these days, and I might be able to help save you some of your hard earned cash. My ratings will help you decide what are the best movies currently in theatres and what are the worst movies currently in theatres. Also, at the bottom of the list I have provided you with previews of movies that are out that I have not seen yet.
Click on each title below for a preview, poster artwork, and my full review of that movie:
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Oz The Great and Powerful (2013)
The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)
Click on each title below for a preview and poster artwork of that movie along with my opinion of whether or not I think that film will be any good:
Redemption (2013) (also known as Hummingbird (2013)
I hope that you found my reviews helpful. I will continue to update this list when I have seen more movies, so feel free to check back regularly. Also, I plan on making a new list each week as more films are released. Happy movie watching from www.brockingmovies.com
Click on this link for Now In Theatres Movie Reviews July 26th – August 1st
This is the End (2013)
This is the End (2013)
When you get a cast together that includes James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson, you just know that you are in for a raunchfest. The rest of the cast were basically all cameo appearances and they included Channing Tatum, Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, Michael Cera, Mindy Kaling, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart, David Krumholtz, Chritopher Mintz-Plasse, Jason Segel, Rihanna and The Backstreet Boys.
The movie is written and directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, but based on the short film “Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse” by Rogen, Goldberg, and Jason Stone.
Seth Rogen basically took a page from Adam Sandler’s book and got all of his buddies together and decided to make a comedy about the end of the world. Arguably Sandler has been doing this at least once a year, but his movies lately have been making you wish that it was the end of the world.
Each actor plays themselves in This Is the End. They all go over to James Franco’s house for a party. The rapture crashes their shindig and they are forced to stay holed up in Franco’s house trying to survive.
The film started out a little stale and immediately I was worried that it was going to be a complete disappointment. Eventually the god of laughter smiled upon me and I found myself convulsing with amusement. However, it seemed like I was simply having laughing spells. The movie would be really funny and then it would get too cheesy and stupid and then funny again. The Comedy seemed to cycle through all types of humor. Sometimes it was hilarious and other times, not so much. It was crude, crass, vulgar, stupid, tasteless, and just plain dumb. Sometimes these things worked and sometimes they didn’t.
Overall the movie was too inconsistent. After a while, the inconsistency caused the film to drag on. The humor dissolved and all that remained was tacky stupidity. I did have a good time laughing while it lasted.
I rate this movie a 6 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
The Machinist (2004)
The Machinist (2004)
Before he played Batman, Christian Bale turned into a character named Trent Reznik in The Machinist. Reznik is an insomniac who has not slept in a year. His body begins withering away. His mind begins to deteriorate. He is so exhausted that he becomes delusional and paranoid. Eventually his symptoms cause an incident at work that sets off a chain reaction that sends his life spiraling out of control as he loses grip on reality. He becomes a man tormented by his own mind.
The film is written by Scott Kosar and directed by Brad Anderson.
The rest of the notable cast includes Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Michael Ironside, John Sharian, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Reg E. Cathey, Craig Stevenson, and Anna Massey.
The Machinist is brilliant. The plot has so many twists and turns that will keep you entranced and guessing until the conclusion sneaks up on you.
9 years after watching this movie for the very first time, it’s still just as potent as ever. That is a symptom of excellence. It never gets old.
Christian Bale appears like he went through hell preparing for his role as Reznik. He went from being in close to perfect shape to looking like death. He was so bony that he literally appeared like he could drop dead of starvation at any moment.
Shortly after seen this movie for the first time, I remember reading that Bale lived off of nonfat lattes, green apples, and cigarettes. That was his diet. It was basically all that he ate for weeks. I think it’s incredible how his body went from one extreme to another. To top it all off, shortly after The Machinist, he got into even better shape than he was prior to filming The Machinist, in order to become Batman. Talk about a man dedicated to his work. His devotion to his character helped to turn this movie into a masterpiece.
The Machinist is pretty warped. The film will mess with your mind in its own unique sort of way. Prepare to be puzzled. This is filmmaking at its best.
I rate this movie a 10 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? BUY!
If you liked The Machinist, then you will probably enjoy the following films:
Trailer for The Family (2013)
The Family (2013)
Robert De Niro returns to his mafia roots in this film where he plays a former mob boss who enters witness protection to protect himself and his family from getting whacked. Now they all must try to adapt to leading normal, average lives and this proves to be difficult.
Michelle Pfeiffer plays De Niro’s wife and Tommy Lee Jones is the man who put the family in witness protection. The rest of the notable cast includes Dominic Chianese, Vincent Pastore, Dianna Agron, Joseph Perrino, and John D’leo.
The film is directed by Luc Besson and produced by Martin Scorsese.
The movie looks like an entertaining dysfunctional drama that could also be good for a few laughs. It has a great cast and some of the best filmmakers in the business are a part of it. That’s good enough for me to want to see.
The film is set to release on 9/13/13.
Happy Birthday to Tom Hanks
Happy Birthday to Tom Hanks! He is one of the most well-known actors of all time and he turns 57 years old today.
Hanks has been on the top of the acting food chain for over 20 years, until recently. Although he has continued to make a number of movies over the last few years, it seems like his popularity has decreased lately. Besides contributing his voice for Toy Story 3 (2010), Tom Hanks has not had a quality acting part in a successful movie since Angels & Demons (2009).
His upcoming role in Captain Phillips (2013) appears like it has the potential to revive his career and bring him back into the spotlight. If it doesn’t, I guess there is always Toy Story 4.
Just think about all of the solid performances that Tom Hanks has given to us over the course of his career. The man sure has been consistent.
My favorite Hanks movies are Saving Private Ryan (1998), Road to Perdition (2002), Catch me if You Can (2002), Big (1988), Forrest Gump (1994), and A League of Their Own (1992), just to name a few.
If Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall Traded Characters in The Shining (1980)
If Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall traded characters in The Shining (1980), things would have turned out a little differently don’t you think?
The Lone Ranger (2013)
The Lone Ranger (2013)
I went into The Lone Ranger without the greatest of expectations. The film’s trailers made it appear like it was going to be outrageously exaggerated and therefore hard to enjoy. But, at the same time, I knew that the film was created by the team that made the first 3 Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so it had to be good for something. Also, it’s a Johnny Depp movie. When was the last time that Depp disappointed?
The film is about a very old Native American named Tonto (Johnny Depp) who tells the story of his encounter with a man named John Reid (Armie Hammer) and how that man eventually became The Lone Ranger.
The movie is directed by Gore Verbinski and the rest of the notable cast includes William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale, Barry Pepper, and Ruth Wilson.
The film was not as exaggerated as I anticipated. The parts in the movie that were unrealistic were done tastefully and intentionally. Instead of those scenes being hard to enjoy, they usually were pretty comical. That was a welcomed surprise.
Depp was delightful, as per usual. His character had more hysterical one-liners than all of Bruce Willis’ action movies combined. Depp stole the show, as he normally does. The film almost should have been called Tonto instead of The Lone Ranger. Tonto is just another piece to the puzzle of insanely awesome characters that Depp has portrayed.
Hammer was okay, but at times his character felt more like the sidekick. He did what he could for his role, but he was no match to Depp’s Tonto.
Wilson was nothing special at all. She was a poor choice for a female lead. She seemed like a cheap version of Michelle Monaghan without the talent.
The rest of the cast had cameo-like appearances with the exception of Fichtner and Wilkinson, who were both excellent.
Overall, The Lone Ranger was a little long and drawn-out at times, but also fun to watch. Depp made the film worthwhile. If you enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), then you will likely get a kick out of The Lone Ranger.
I rate this movie a 7.5 on scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
Happy Birthday to Kevin Bacon
Happy Birthday to Kevin Bacon! He celebrates his 55th year in this world today.
When I think of Kevin Bacon, the first thing that comes to mind is the game “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” This guy has acted alongside so many of the greats in so many excellent films that they named a game after him.
So how do you play “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” you ask? Well, great question, thanks for asking. The object of the game is to link any given actor to Kevin Bacon in 6 steps or less. The less steps the better. For example I’ll use Angelica Huston as the other actor because she shares birthdays with Kevin Bacon, except today she turns 62. Now let’s try to link Huston with Bacon in the least amount of steps. Huston was in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) with Bill Murray, that’s the first step; Murray was in Wild Things (1998) with Bacon, and that’s the second and last step. There you go. I successfully linked Angelica Huston to Kevin Bacon in 2 steps. Obviously the only thing better than 2 steps is 1 step. The only way that you could link the two actors together in 1 step is to find a movie that they were both in together. That example was pretty easy. Sometimes the game can get pretty intricate and difficult.
I used to play a variation of “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” The version that I would play was to link any 2 random actors together, rather than always Kevin Bacon and 1 other.
Not everyone can play those games. You almost have to have a real movie obsession to be any good at them.
You know than an actor is pretty awesome when they name a game like that after him.
Click on the links below to read my Kevin Bacon movie reviews:
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