Trailer Friday: Your Highness

Trailer courtesy of Hollywood.com and Universal Pictures

After the few bombs they've suffered recently, I didn't think they'd be willing to try this again, but it looks like we have yet another nerdy comedy from Universal here. Color me pleasantly surprised.

By now most of you have probably already seen it, but if you want an opinion from me, I think this movie looks promising. I've really been liking James Franco's comedy stuff as of late, and Kenny Powers and Natalie Portman look pretty good in this trailer as well. The jokes don't look like anything particularly spectacular, but they sound pretty funny.

I guess I don't have anything all that enlightening to say about this movie, but hey, it looks pretty funny. Besides, anything at this point looks a lot better than Sucker Punch.

So yeah, Your Highness. If you got the time and money tonight, you might want to check it out. Of course, you can watch the trailer up there and decide for yourself.

Trailer Friday: Sucker Punch

Trailer courtesy of Viso Trailers, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures

You could say that me and Zach Snyder have a bit of a complicated relationship.

I thought that 300 was corny as hell, but I also found it really enjoyable for that same reason. I liked Watchmen, although I fully admit it wasn't one hundred percent perfect, and I have a feeling that everyone who saw that movie in the theater was expecting to get let down to some extent. I admire Snyder's passion for a script and story once he really gets working on it, even if the end result isn't quite as satisfactory as one would expect.

That being said, I don't think much of this Sucker Punch trailer. I liked the Silversun Pickups and Led Zeppelin songs they use, I like seeing Emily Browning in a samurai schoolgirl get-up, and I like seeing dragons and robots. But that's the only level on which I like it. I couldn't for the life of me accurately describe what the hell this movie is about from the trailer alone. I couldn't tell you why the girls, who I assume are the protagonists, had their families killed and were put in that asylum, I couldn't tell you how their escape plan is supposed to work...it looks like Inception got mashed together with a slew of unrelated comic book movies. It looks like Style Over Substance: The Movie, as if the very concept of excess itself got turned up to 11.

To put it simply, it looks like a mess. A fun mess, but a mess nonetheless. At least, that's the way this trailer makes it look.

I haven't read many reviews for it yet, but from what I hear it's getting slammed pretty hard. I guess if you like pure, brainless fun, this movie looks pretty good, but I don't know if I'm too interested in it personally. Seriously Zach, what the hell.

Complete update failure

Due to technical difficulties and several other reasons, updates this week have been missed.

I'll see if we can talk about the Sucker Punch trailer tomorrow. I had something in the works for tonight, but it looks like I might have to either save it or scrap it. It's real short anyway.

For now, I think I'm gonna have to seriously reconsider this update schedule.

Trailer...Saturday? I dunno, here's Captain America.

I have to admit, I'm starting to get really weary of superhero movies. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm starting to think they're all awful or something, but while the X-Men movie back in 2000, Spider Man back in 2002, Watchmen, the first Hellboy film and the Nolan directed Batman movies have all been just lovely, a string of releases from Marvel ranging from mediocre to just plain bad, combined with numerous lackluster parodies of the sub genre and a serious lack of output from DC have somewhat made me disenchanted not just with watching superhero movies, but following their production as well. There isn't a whole lot from either comic company catching my interest, and unfortunately due to the harsh nature of the industry right now adaptations of smaller, slightly more interesting comic properties seem less likely in the future.

That being said, there is one superhero related project that I am looking forward to, albeit only somewhat. You may remember seeing this TV spot during the Super Bowl:

Chris Evans looks like he may very well fit into the role, and the much more subdued costume and special effects look pretty good. Some of the lines in this teaser sound a little cliche, but I'm sure that's par for the course by now. Really, the only real reason I have any interest in this is because of Evans, and the fact that they are tying it into the Avengers film coming out later. The idea of a shared universe of films is pretty cool, but I hope Marvel is careful with how they present the story and plot elements because if they screw up even one little thing, that could cause the whole little house of cards they're trying to build to come toppling down.

TV spot courtesy of Marvel Comics and Paramount Pictures.

Aubrey Plaza and Bill Hader in "The Hand Job" (WARNING: kind of NSFW)

OK, so Wednesday's update this week didn't pan out like I thought it would. It was a very busy day, that's all I'm gonna say about it.

This time, though, I have a rather interesting bit of news regarding fans of actress Aubrey Plaza. It turns out she's been cast as the lead in a comedy called "The Hand Job," a sex comedy being scripted and directed by the wife of SNL star Bill Hader, Maggie Carey.

More details about the project are shared in this story written by Ethan Stern of the Onion AV Club:

The film stars Aubrey Plaza as a studious high school valedictorian who decides that she wants to have experiences with boys before she goes off to college, so she makes a bullet list of everything she needs to do—stuff like “hand-job, titty-fuck, blowjob, fingering”—then checks them off one by one.

Starring along with Hader and Plaza are some of the hippest comedians and actors around: Andy Samberg, Donald Glover, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Alia Shawkat,Mae Whitman, Johnny Simmons, Scott Porter, Connie Britton, D.C. Pierson, and Onion News Network writer Dominic Dierkes.

I can't find any information on whether or not a studio has picked this up or greenlit it yet. I'm hopeful, since Hader seems to be pushing for it pretty hard, and if it does get made I'll be pretty excited to see how it turns out. The premise sounds like solid gold to me, and I love Plaza's sort of cynical, deadpan humor. It's also really nice to see a teen sex comedy with a female lead, especially since that's still kind of a rare thing even now.

The rest of that cast is stellar, too. Donald Glover is probably one of the primary reasons I watch Community on NBC right now, and I'm always up for something with Andy Samberg and/or Mae Whitman in it (especially Whitman, who is kind of underrated in my opinion). I'll try and see if I can get more information on this as it develops.

As for a trailer to talk about...better check back either tomorrow or Saturday. I'll try to find something good. Here's hoping next week is a little more on track.

Trailer Thursday (on Friday, derp)

So, did anyone go see this tonight?

Trailer courtesy of Columbia Pictures and IGN.

I don't know if I'll currently have the time or money to see Battle: LA at the moment, but this trailer really makes me want to. The music they picked for it is awesome, and the acting and editing here are incredibly intense.

I honestly haven't heard a whole lot of news about this movie up until now. Some think it looks like a really generic disaster/war movie, and for all I know it could be. Nevertheless, kudos to whoever cut this trailer for making it look really interesting.

Alright, that's my spiel for now, check back either Tuesday or Wednesday. This time I'm pretty committed to getting an update in.

Ugh, sorry

OK, I know I said to check this Tuesday, but I forgot that I usually go bowling that night. Also, I couldn't decide on a trailer to talk about tonight either.

But don't worry, I found a REALLY good one to talk about for a movie coming out tomorrow. Check back tomorrow night.

New Schedule

Okay folks, after months of planning, here's what I've decided on:

I'm going to try and stick to a twice a week schedule, maybe upgrading to three times a week but I'm not sure yet. For now, I'm just gonna try for Tuesday and Thursday.

Tuesdays will be either thinking about a current news item, or commenting on a certain movie. Thursdays will be all about trailers, as I'll basically link to a trailer and try to comment on its content.

I may post outside of this for movie reviews, and general musings. It's not exactly super strict or anything. I just figured that I'm gonna try this to at least get some kind of regular update schedule up and running.

So, there you have it. Check back this upcoming Tuesday.

Oh hey. Awards season.

Hey everyone. I'm currently sitting at home with a fever of 104, so I figure now's a good a time as any for one of my monthly posts.

I just finished up the Expendables, and you know what? It wasn't that bad. I mean, it wasn't that good either, but it wasn't terrible. I really wish Terry Crews and Dolph Lundgren had more screen time, but Stallone and Statham's characters were the main ones so I can kinda see why most of the focus was put on them. Plus, we at least got to see some sweet moves from Jet Li.

This movie's kind of old news at this point, so I'm not sure if I'm really interested in going more in-depth in it, at least for the time being.

Also, there's Oscars this Sunday. Might watch this year for at least the hosts, I like both Hathaway and Franco but I don't know if they have chemistry or not, so it may be interesting to see if they do.

I've only seen four out of the ten or so Best Picture noms, so I don't know if I can give a thorough opinion of it all, but I will say this. Hailee Steinfeld deserves a nom for Best Actress, not just Best Supporting. Yes, even if she has to go up against Natalie Portman. I finally saw True Grit last month, and it was, while not really amazing, pretty good. One of the best things about that movie was her performance, though. So yeah, my hat's in the ring for her to win this year.

Still haven't seen Social Network, but I gotta congratulate Jesse Eisenberg on getting this far. I remember seeing him in Zombieland and thinking he was really funny. A lot of people just thought of him as a Michael Cera clone though. I wonder what they think of him now :)

Alright, after MONTHS of slacking off, I think I may finally be soon able to end this once-a-month bullshit for good. Check back either Wednesday or Thursday.

Insert Witty Tron-themed title here

From left to right, Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hetlund in Tron Legacy. Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

Oh boy. I have a feeling this isn't gonna go over well.

I know that I promised this review, like, weeks ago. Unfortunately, things didn't go as smoothly as I thought they would. I pretty much kept editing it until it was down to nearly nothing, mostly because I feel like by now, everything that I said in the review has pretty much been repeated all over the internet, and people are probably sick of hearing. Combine this with how stressful things have been at work lately, along with a bout with the flu and a serious lack of real motivation, and, well, we are pretty much where we are now. I feel guilty as hell about this, and I don't want to leave you guys with nothing, so I hope that this short blurb of a review will suffice.

I thought this movie was OK. It was really style over substance, but that was pretty understandable when you consider that the source material was more or less the same.

The story is one gigantic clusterfuck, but if you don't think about it too much it doesn't really hamper your enjoyment of it. As I expected, the special effects are fantastic, with the exception of some scenes that involve younger Kevin Flynn. Speaking of him, I liked Jeff Bridges' performance, along with Olivia Wilde's, the best, along with whoever played the David Bowie looking dude in the middle of the movie (but that was mostly because of how batshit insane it was). The leading guy, though, was so dull that I can barely even remember his name. I had to look it up for that picture up there.

The Daft Punk soundtrack wasn't too bad either, and fits the mood of the movie nicely.

Overall, Tron Legacy was enjoyable, maybe even rewatchable, but I can only really say that it's OK in terms of quality.

I might post about my motivational crisis later this week, only because I just don't feel up to talking about it right now (I know, ironic). As for movie related content, I unfortunately didn't get to see True Grit. But, I do have a bunch of blu-rays on my backlog from Christmas, one of them being The Secret of Kells, a film I heard nothing but good things about around Oscar time last year. I also just got The Expendables in my Netflix envelope last week. I can't remember whether or not I promised a review of that one, but who knows, I might just give it one anyway.

Review Coming Soon

Just stopping in real quick to give you guys a progress report.

My Tron Legacy review has just been started on and I'm going to plan on having it finished at least for Saturday night/Sunday morning. We'll see what happens though.

I also plan to see True Grit sometime this week, but again, we'll see what happens.

Hopefully this month I can decide on a schedule for my posts, so I can post content more consistently. Until then, hang in there.