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Re-Animating the Dead in the Trailer for The Lazarus Effect
While I may have originally overlooked the forthcoming horror film The Lazarus Effect as just another retread of an earlier and, in some cases, superior movie (say Pet Semetary or Flatliners), the pedigree of the people involved with The Lazarus Effect and the film’s first trailer makes me think this film can rise above my fanboy concerns. Before we get to the trailer, you should be warned t...[Read More]
New Trailer for Cyber-Slasher Horror Film Unfriended
This April revenge comes online in the new cyber-slasher film Unfriended. MTV launched the new trailer for the horror film recently (see above). And now, thanks to Universal Studios, the film finally has an official release date set for April 17, 2015. Unfriended, you may recall, was originally called Cybernatural as it made its way through the genre festival circuit. The death-by-Skype tale of a ...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: American Sniper Takes Aim at January Record
While it spent three weeks in limited release, American Sniper benefited greatly from an increase in the number of theaters over the weekend, as well as Oscar buzz and good reviews. Its estimated $90.2 million weekend is a box office record for January, and nothing else even came close. Not to say the competition fared poorly in comparison to their own goals…The Wedding Ringer was not well r...[Read More]
Movie Review: Blackhat
Blackhat is a film about computer hacker, a “black hat” in IT parlance, causing mayhem and destruction. In light of the recent world events, what more timely a topic could Hollywood possibly tackle? The film is directed by Michael Mann, who is known for films like Thief (1981), Heat (1995), and Miami Vice (2006) to name only a few. Mann is all about a gritty approach and hitting action beats aggre...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: Meet the Size-Changing Avenger in Ant-Man
It’s not even halfway through January, dear readers, and we’ve already seen trailers for many of the year’s big movies. Such is the case with this week’s Trailer Trashin’ column, which examines our first look at Marvel’s upcoming July release Ant-Man. Premise: Petty thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must aid his mentor Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) in safeguarding t...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Audiences Taken for a Third Time
Critics may have been very much unimpressed with the Liam Neeson-helmed Taken 3, but audiences made the latest in the action-thriller franchise a box office hit over the weekend. With an estimated $40.4 million, nothing else came close, even the acclaimed Selma, which entered wide release this week and earned an estimated $11.2 million. Still, both films made strong bids against their production c...[Read More]
Interview with Hollywood Legend Marion Ross, Star of A Reason
When you think about someone like Marion Ross, I suspect your mind is immediately taken back to memories of watching Happy Days on television. What you may not know is that Ross has been in show business since the mid-1950s and is showing no signs of stopping. Her latest role, in director Dominique Schilling’s A Reason, is a departure of sorts. Ross plays Aunt Irene, an elegant, yet villaino...[Read More]
Movie Review: Selma
Ever since standing inside a frozen moment at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis – looking across to where the bullet must have issued, taking the life of an icon of nonviolent resistance – the image of Dr. Martin Luther King has become something more intimate to me. Black and white schoolroom footage becomes flesh, the voices less distant, when you stare into the full horizon of the cultural landscape...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: Simon Pegg is a Hapless Assassin in Kill Me Three Times
Happy New Year, dear readers! I hope you all enjoyed your preferred end-of-year holidays, and are ready to ring in 2015. And to mark the occasion, the Trailer Trashin’ column is back with a look at the Australian black comedy/thriller Kill Me Three Times. Premise: Professional assassin Charlie Wolfe (Simon Pegg) is hired to kill Alice Taylor (Alice Braga), the singer wife of the wealthy Jack...[Read More]
The Music of Into the Woods Featurette
Into the Woods is a modern twist on several beloved fairy tales, intertwining the plots of a few choice stories and exploring the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests. This humorous and heartfelt musical follows the classic tales of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone), and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), all tied...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Hobbit On Top for a Third Time
The numbers have spoken, and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies is still the lowest earning of the Peter Jackson Middle Earth films…still, when the lowest earner remained in first at the box office for the third week in a row, picked up an estimated $21.9 million, and has earned $220.8 million in domestic box office alone, it is not a particularly bad track record. However, 2015 is off to...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Hobbit Stays On Top
While it may have had a comparatively rough ride (and remains the lowest-earning of the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings movies), The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies proved Hobbits can still be surprising, earning an estimated $41.4 million, losing a little less than a quarter of the opening weekend audience and raking in $168.5 million in domestic earnings (and a hefty $573.6 million in worldwide take,...[Read More]