Jay (Neil Maskell) and Shel (MyAnna Buring) are your average English family. They’re middle class, live in a nice suburban house and have a child named Sam (Harry Simpson). The only thing that might be construed as a bit odd is that Jay is a hitman, rather an unemployed hitman, who, after messing up a job in Kiev, has been sitting at home rotting for eight months with his wife getting to her boiling point because he isn’t making any effort to get another job or to fix their hot tub.
When Gal (Michael Smiley), Jay’s business partner, comes over for a dinner he offers up details on a new job that will offer a big payday. Three assassinations and the two are going home happy. After the first is completed without incident, something happens during the recon stages of the second that turns Jay’s world upside down and his newfound paranoia leads him to a dark and disturbing place.
I have nothing against whales – except that hardly any of them bothered showing up during a 9th grade whale watching trip I went on for Biology class – but it’s tough to watch a movie like Big Miracle, based on the 1988 multi-million dollar campaign to save three whales trapped under ice in northern Alaska, and not realize how the movie “expects” you to feel about what some people see as an uplifting moment in animal rights history and others see as a colossal waste of time, money, and resources.
At first glance, you might dismiss The Woman in Black as “Harry Potter and the Haunted Mansion,” and you’d be wrong. Watching TWIB is akin to taking a tour through a well-conceived fun house with expertly crafted spooks and scares around every corner. Best of all, the film successfully does what most horror movies fail to do; frighten you.
I’ve been very curious over the past few months to see what Ti West’s new film, The Innkeepers, was all about. Having heard some good thing about one of his prior films, House of the Devil, and then reading all the positive buzz about this one from the festival circuit, I started getting really excited about seeing it. I shouldn’t have built up my expectations without understanding exactly what the film was about because then I wouldn’t have been as let down as I was.
Writer/Director Andrew Niccol, the man who brought us the highly acclaimed sci-fi feature Gattaca, has returned to the genre that brought him fame with In Time, a movie starring Justin Timberlake (The Social Network), Amanda Seyfried (Red Riding Hood), John Galecki (The Big Bang Theory), Olivia Wilde (Cowboys & Aliens) and the always great Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins). His new film hits the Blu-ray/DVD shelves today so be sure to check it out!
In Time takes place in the future where time has officially become the currency of the world. People have been genetically altered to stop aging at 25 and once they hit that age they are given one year’s worth of time and either have to work to earn more time or face their death within said year. One humane but poor resident of the ghetto named Will Sallis (Timberlake) has a chance run-in with a millionaire and is given his time. When the Time Keeper, Raymond Leon, (Murphy) accuses Timberlake of killing the wealthy man, Will becomes one of the State’s most wanted and decides that he will go to any means to bring down the system that has taken so much from him, including kidnapping a businessman’s daughter (Seyfried).
Starring Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney and Ben Brey, The Greytells the story of a group of oil drillers in Alaska whose plane crashes in the wilderness on their flight home. Only a handful of men survive and now, with most of them harboring some sort of injury, they must work together if they want to survive the fierce icy weather and the pack of ferocious wolves who are hunting them down.
As you may have guessed, the self-appointed leader of the survivors is Liam Neeson, known as Ottway in the film, as his job while working at the oil drilling sites was to shoot and kill any wolves who tried to attack the workers while in the field. Ottway is an interesting character because the day before the crash he was contemplating suicide since his wife left him. As the men travel through the wilderness, we see flashbacks of Ottway’s most profound memory with his wife. While it is a source of
Man on a Ledge stars Sam Worthington as Nick Cassidy, a convicted criminal on the run who, upon escaping, decides that he will have to prove his innocence by threatening to jump off a hotel. While Lydia Mercer, the police psychologist played by Elizabeth Banks, attempts to talk Nick safely back into the hotel per Nick’s request, the biggest diamond heist ever is being committed only a block away. The diamond belongs to an aggressive and ruthless real estate tycoon named David Englander played by Ed Harris. In addition to the aforementioned stars, the film also features Jamie Bell, Ed Burns and Anthony Mackie. It’s directed by Asger Leth.
This is Asger Leth’s feature film debut and it isn’t a terrible one. He is able to deliver your stereotypical heist film in a way that manages to keep your attention and moderately engrossed while also exposing the typical pitfalls of films in this genre. What I mean by that is the film is made to be full of twists and turns but the problem is that you can usually foresee what’s going to happen because the script isn’t strong. The cast desperately tries to make it work, and gets it part of the time, but the twists aren’t sharp enough to make your jaw drop. The good part is that you won’t leave confused but you may have one or two questions about potential plot holes.
There are many action films that I would count as a guilty pleasure, but with Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, Haywire, I’ll gladly shout my love from the rooftop. Mallory (Gina Carano, first time actress and Mixed Martial Arts Champion) is a highly trained covert ops specialist trying to piece together a puzzle of betrayal and conspiracy after she’s framed for murder. Combining the style of Soderbergh with the intensely realistic action sequences, the film has the spirit of independent cinema with mainstream appeal. Gina Carano is supported by an amazing cast of A-list actors including Ewan MacGregor (The Men Who Stare At Goats, The Ghost Writer), Michael Fassbender (Shame, Inglourious Basterds), Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe), Michael Douglas (Traffic, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps), Bill Paxton (HBO’s Big Love) and the charismatic Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live In, Desperado).
Well Go USA is releasing The Front Line in select theaters across the country to an eager Asian film loving audience who have waited patiently for director Jang Hun’s follow-up to Secret Reunion. Hun’s war drama was South Korea’s entry into the Academy Awards’ Foreign Language race and though it didn’t make the cut, it is still a decent picture with some serious production value behind it.
As the Korean War nears its end and a ceasefire is called, there is one area of land called Aero.K (in the Aerok Hills) that is considered a strategic point to both sides and, as such, fighting continues to rage on in that spot. The story focuses on the best soldier on the front line, known as Alligator Company, but when an officer is found shot with a bullet from the gun of a fellow officer, Lieutenant of Defense Security Command Kang Eun-Pyo (Shin Ha-Kyun) is sent to investigate the incident.
There aren’t many Chinese directors out there who constantly have a presence in the US market as much as Dante Lam recently has. The man has made his mark here with his stylistic and sometimes even intelligent action films and he is now set to release his latest big budget thrill ride, The Viral Factor, starring Jay Chou, Nicholas Tse and Bing Bai.
While on a mission in Jordan to protect a scientist who knows the whereabouts of a modified smallpox virus, International Security Affairs Agent Jon’s (Chou) life gets flipped upside down as the mission goes haywire because of a traitor on his team. This results in a former lover being killed, a bullet getting lodged in his head, and the virus being controlled by money hungry criminals. While on medical leave from his headshot, Jon finds out from his mother that he has a brother who is currently residing with his father in Malaysia. Jon decides to take a trek and meet up with his family but things begin to get crazy as he finds out that his brother, Yeung (Tse) is working as a mercenary for the same guy who stole the smallpox virus.
We revisit my review from the 2011 New York Film Festival:
There were only a handful of films at this year’s NYFF that truly excited me. One of those films was Gerardo Naranjo’s Mexican drug drama, Miss Bala, which stars Stephanie Sigmanas the unfortunate victim of the corrupt Mexican government and their drug cartel counterparts.
Miss Bala, which is inspired by a true story, is about a beauty pageant contestant named Laura Guerrero who unfortunately gets stuck in a bathroom of a club when a drug cartel ambushes the joint, massacring the crowd. After the disappearance of her friend that night, Laura approaches the police for help but instead they deliver her to the cartel leader. At that moment she loses her freedom and is forced to do illegal jobs for the cartel in exchange for finding her friend, returning to the beauty pageant, and keeping both her family and herself alive. The movie is about just one of the thousands of people whose lives are affected daily by the drug trade and corruption in Mexico.
Who doesn’t like a good smuggling movie? They’re just like heist films except that they criminals aren’t stealing anything. Plus, what makes these movies fun is that the person who orchestrates the heist is almost always pretty smart and finds creative ways to complete the job, so is the case for Baltasar Kormákur’s new film, Contraband.
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi and Kate Beckinsale, Contraband tells the story of a man named Chris Farraday (Wahlberg), a guy who was known as Houdini in the smuggling business but has quit the game to start a legitimate business and raise his family. When his dumbass brother in-law decides to smuggle cocaine into the states, customs boards the ship and he has to dump it, thus angering his dirty and violent
Margaret Thatcher served as the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to her resignation in 1990. The trailer presents the story as Thatcher’s triumph in male-dominated political landscape, but in actuality, The Iron Lady, provides a view into her world as a person who put the needs of her country in front of anything else in her life.
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia), the film presents the life of Thatcher with honesty and without prejudice. The film could have easily made gender the prevalent issue, but instead puts that aside as well as her politics and focuses on how her relationships suffered.
Starring Michael Biehn, Rosanna Arquette, Lauren German and Milo Ventimiglia, The Divide is about a group of ten people who take refuge in the basement of their NYC apartment building after a nuclear attack occurs, destroying their city and potentially their country. The band of odd characters must survive together for days, testing each others’ patience as their food and water supply begins to dwindle and their fear of isolation and the unknown slowly sinks in.
Based on Michael Morpurgo’s bestselling novel and the stage play by Nick Stafford, War Horse tells the story of Joey, a horse who is raised and trained by a young and determined teenager named Albert (Jeremy Irvine). The two form an incredible bond that gets severed by Albert’s father (Peter Mullan) on the day World War I begins. After being sold, we follow Joey’s incredible journey through the war as he affects the lives of the various people he encounters.
Not sure if the first story impacted the other, but they both revolve around the same date so I figured I would combine them. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that The Trouble With the Curve, starring Clint Eastwood as a baseball scout on his last recruiting trip and Amy...
South By South West or also known as SXSW, just released their film festival line-up for the event which takes place March 9-17th in Austin, TX. After briefly glancing over the line-up which has a ton of great, or what should be great, films we are finally ready to...
VOD Overdose is Movie Buzzers’ coverage of video-on-demand developments and upcoming films premiering on VOD. With an increasing number of studios embracing VOD as a way to premiere and distribute films, this column covers movies that might be worth a look even though they aren’t playing at your local...
I have nothing against whales – except that hardly any of them bothered showing up during a 9th grade whale watching trip I went on for Biology class – but it’s tough to watch a movie like Big Miracle, based on the 1988 multi-million dollar campaign to save three...
Yesterday was the highly anticipated Twitter conference for Marvel’s The Avengers. Unfortunatly the entire cast was’t available but we did get director Joss Whedon, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg and Tom Hiddleston for about 40 minutes. After the tweeting was over Marvel gave us a look at the infamous...
If you asked me seven years ago if I thought there would be a chance in hell that I would write a review of Robert Mulligan’s film adaptation of To Kill of Mockingbird, I would have told you “that ain’t gonna happen.” Well, after many changes in my life,...
The first time I saw Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage was way back in October when it was available on VOD. Now, with its Blu-ray and DVD release set for today thanks to Magnolia Home Entertainment, I’ve taken a second crack at the film and have concluded that my feelings for...
For some reason the cool thing to do during Super Bowl season is to give a 5 to 10 second teaser of a film’s 30-60 second long trailer. So basically we are getting a teaser for a trailer for a film. Got it? Good! Later today we will get a 10...
It seems that if you’re a Hollywood director all you really need to get your next project greenlit is to have a strong opening weekend. Take Joe Carnahan, for example. His last two films — Smokin’ Aces and The A-Team — both exceeded their opening weekend expectations estimates, which...
