Tonight marks the end of the TV show Lost, and with that in mind, I wanted to fire off a quick post about the show.
I'll really miss the show. Sure, I may have spent most of the past five seasons yelling at the television, since admittedly I came a bit late to the game and didn't actually start watching till during the second season. The plot had more twists than a Franklin Township road, and made me yell at the screen more often than not, but that's part of the fun. If you're into a show in that manner, i think it means you've really invested yourself in it, which I think is a sign of a great television show.
The greatness of the show has brought out several great acting performances. Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn, if you ask me, have guaranteed their careers will have steady work because of this show. Their scenes together are the TV equivalent of watching Picasso and Chagall painting at the same time. Truly, art in it's highest form. Nestor Carbonell revealed this season that he also has great acting talent in his Emmy nomination worthy performance in the episode in which we learn how he got to the island. The rest of the ensemble, as a result of these actors and their stellar performances bring their A games as well. What does that leave us? Blown away.
I'll miss the story of Sun and Jin, a married couple who prove that true love only grows stronger. Charlie, a man who started out as a totally unlikable character, only to redeem himself and produce a tear-jerking death in Season 3 (btw, multiple hanky worthy). Same goes for Sawyer in the likability department. He started as a con man who evolved from a self-centered individual to someone who would pass up a chance to leave the island, to a sensitive man who is in a loving relationship till his girl dies, all the while maintaining a bit of that bad boy charm that I'm told makes the ladies like him.
How do I want it to end? Don't know. What I do know is that the show is the most intelligent I've ever watched. It's made me go to the Internet to read theories, laugh, cry, scream, run the full gamut of emotions. It's the only show that's ever made me do that, sometimes in the space of a single show.
Perfect illustration of it's intelligence: I'm actually thinking of watching it from the beginning when the final season comes out in August.
And for that, I'll be grateful.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Book to Movie: How to and How NOT to..
One source for movie scripts has always been the world of books. You've seen it yourself. This movie is "based on the book by," that one is "inspired by the book ..." and so on down the line. And as with everything else, there is a right way to do a movie based on the book, and a wrong way. I think we've all been there at some point. We find out they're making a movie based on a book we've readd and enjoyed and hope they do it justice. Sometimes they do. Sometimes.....yeah. Here are two recent movies based on books, one of which got it horribly wrong, and the other put it pretty close to the target.
First the failure.
Last April, The Soloist, a movie baseed on the book of the same name by Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Lopez, made it's way into theaters. It's the story of the author and his burgeoning relationship with Natahaniel Ayers, a resident of the city's Skid Row who it turns out is a virtuoso on the violin, but his gifts ar eimpeded by his long struggle with schizophrenia. Sounds easy enough to pull off, right? If only they would have succeeded. The first bad sign this movie fell victim to was a switch in release date, from late 2008 to April 2009, about a week before all the summer roster of movies starts to come out.
What did the movie get right. The names of the two major characters and that was about it. Other than that, it seemed to me as though they played fast and loose with things, adding an unncessary religious facet to a musician Nathaniel meets when he gets to the LA Philahormonic as one example of this. Next, was the work of the movie's director, Joe Wright (Atonement). It seemed as though, he was trying to make a very artsy film, talking what I called the "Terrence Malick approach to Cinema --(if you've sat through The Thin Red Line, this will make perfect sense) the character the scene should focus on, the sky, a tree, some lights, and on to something else. All this together combined for a movie that I felt was so bad, I did something I've only ever done once before--I walked out of the theater, waiting for the people I went to see the movie with in the lobby.
Did this sour me on seeing a movie based on a book? To some extent, yes. But then I saw one that more or less got things right.
The Blind Side is based on the book of the same name by author Michael Lewis. It takes a look at the background and life of former life of former Ole Miss offensive lineman Michael Oher, focusing on the period of time after he was befriended by the Tuohy family.
To be honest, when I first saw a preview for this movie, I thought I saw the major flaw I found with this movie, in two pieces. The first of these was the casting of Sandra Bullock as the matriarch of the Tuohy family, Leighanne, and its part of what I perceived as the "Disneyification" of the story, in that everything in Oher's life, professional year included, was wrapped up in a happy little bow. I couldn't been further from the truth. The filmmakers had actaully created a flick where the only real issue I had with the film was that Tuohy child Collins is the same year in school in real life as Oher, not the year younger she is depicted as in the film. The movie also won points with me for introducing the concept of the "blind side" the same way the book did, by talking about the play in 1985 where Joe Theissman had his career ended after his leg was broken by Lawrence Taylor who came from the QB's blind side. Knowing the grisly nature of the injury, I covered my eyes till the film itself started.
There are so few errors in this film that I actually have to reach for one, which isn't really an error. Houston Nutt is depicted as the coach of the Arkansas football team who comes to recruit Oher. Nutt WAS at the time, but was Oher's coach at Ole Miss during the latter's academic and athletic career there. Not really an error, but I just felt like being knit picky.
Two films. Two books. Two completely different executions. One good. One bad.
They just happened to be focusing very heeavily on the positive ending in the marketing campaign. In other words, the film got everything right.
First the failure.
Last April, The Soloist, a movie baseed on the book of the same name by Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Lopez, made it's way into theaters. It's the story of the author and his burgeoning relationship with Natahaniel Ayers, a resident of the city's Skid Row who it turns out is a virtuoso on the violin, but his gifts ar eimpeded by his long struggle with schizophrenia. Sounds easy enough to pull off, right? If only they would have succeeded. The first bad sign this movie fell victim to was a switch in release date, from late 2008 to April 2009, about a week before all the summer roster of movies starts to come out.
What did the movie get right. The names of the two major characters and that was about it. Other than that, it seemed to me as though they played fast and loose with things, adding an unncessary religious facet to a musician Nathaniel meets when he gets to the LA Philahormonic as one example of this. Next, was the work of the movie's director, Joe Wright (Atonement). It seemed as though, he was trying to make a very artsy film, talking what I called the "Terrence Malick approach to Cinema --(if you've sat through The Thin Red Line, this will make perfect sense) the character the scene should focus on, the sky, a tree, some lights, and on to something else. All this together combined for a movie that I felt was so bad, I did something I've only ever done once before--I walked out of the theater, waiting for the people I went to see the movie with in the lobby.
Did this sour me on seeing a movie based on a book? To some extent, yes. But then I saw one that more or less got things right.
The Blind Side is based on the book of the same name by author Michael Lewis. It takes a look at the background and life of former life of former Ole Miss offensive lineman Michael Oher, focusing on the period of time after he was befriended by the Tuohy family.
To be honest, when I first saw a preview for this movie, I thought I saw the major flaw I found with this movie, in two pieces. The first of these was the casting of Sandra Bullock as the matriarch of the Tuohy family, Leighanne, and its part of what I perceived as the "Disneyification" of the story, in that everything in Oher's life, professional year included, was wrapped up in a happy little bow. I couldn't been further from the truth. The filmmakers had actaully created a flick where the only real issue I had with the film was that Tuohy child Collins is the same year in school in real life as Oher, not the year younger she is depicted as in the film. The movie also won points with me for introducing the concept of the "blind side" the same way the book did, by talking about the play in 1985 where Joe Theissman had his career ended after his leg was broken by Lawrence Taylor who came from the QB's blind side. Knowing the grisly nature of the injury, I covered my eyes till the film itself started.
There are so few errors in this film that I actually have to reach for one, which isn't really an error. Houston Nutt is depicted as the coach of the Arkansas football team who comes to recruit Oher. Nutt WAS at the time, but was Oher's coach at Ole Miss during the latter's academic and athletic career there. Not really an error, but I just felt like being knit picky.
Two films. Two books. Two completely different executions. One good. One bad.
They just happened to be focusing very heeavily on the positive ending in the marketing campaign. In other words, the film got everything right.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Beautiful Disasters
After taking a short break from the blog to watch the Olympics (or more specifically, the car accident that is curling, and the men's ice hockey), and be told that one of the people that reads my blogs sees it as being written in the style of an Anthony Bourdain (which upon reflection, I take as a major compliment), I'm back to cover a topic I feel as though I know a little about--beautiful disasters.
What do I mean by the term "beautiful disaster" you may ask? By my definition, it is something that, while being something of high quality, is deeply flawed on some level. For the most part, I've applied this term to a few cd's in my cd collection. For those of you don't know what a cd is, you might be using one as a coaster, or remember them as the thing you used to play your music on before you got the iPod nano that shoots video. And to answer your next question, I still buy cd's, I just load them onto my iPod and play them in my car.
Anyway, here are a few cd's and at least one movie I view as "beautiful disasters."
What do I mean by the term "beautiful disaster" you may ask? By my definition, it is something that, while being something of high quality, is deeply flawed on some level. For the most part, I've applied this term to a few cd's in my cd collection. For those of you don't know what a cd is, you might be using one as a coaster, or remember them as the thing you used to play your music on before you got the iPod nano that shoots video. And to answer your next question, I still buy cd's, I just load them onto my iPod and play them in my car.
Anyway, here are a few cd's and at least one movie I view as "beautiful disasters."
- Pearl Jam's No Code--first, please contain your shock that I have criticized something Eddie Vedder related. Second, don't get me wrong, I like this album. Notice I didn't say I love it. Because I don't. This album and I strictly platonic. It is from the late 90's, during the period where the band almost broke up, and the drummer at the time, Jack Irons, left before the album's supporting tour for his own personal issues. Let's just say all the tension in the band is evident. OK, there's that, but nothing says "let's break the tension" more than making an experimental album, and arguably the group's most experimental one, borrowing Middle Eastern percussion, being one example of the experimentalism. What all this together is a decent album crippled by one's own artistic grandiosity. In other words, a beautiful disaster.
- U2's Pop--this album may have been doomed from the start. It was part of the experimentation U2 went through during the 90's. Sadly, third time was not the charm. Having drummer Larry Mullen out of the mix with back issues didn't help either. Add to that, the three remaining members putting together songs they felt had to be completely rework upon Mullen's return. Oh, and then, getting an album that, in hindsight, really wasn't done, to the record company to meet a deadline. Throw them all together and what do you get--an album that I think is decent at best, but critically yields mixed reviews and commercial was a dud. How much of a "beautiful disaster" is this record? U2 has talked about, on several occasions, going back into the studio, and reworking the album, so that it is the way they actually wanted it. In other words, they want to actually complete it.
- U2's No Line on the Horizon--I must admit, I didn't think of this as one till I started writing and took a look at the cd shelf to see if I could find more examples. It has all the hallmarks. Start with Rick Rubin as your producer, but then shelve your ideas and go back to your "old reliables" producing wise in the forms of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Move forward to the editing and mastering process, during which you almost scrap the whole album idea and release it as two EP's. Thankfully, the band came to their senses and assembled the best tracks into an album. Sadly, some of what they assembled wasn't all that great. Like a quarter of the album. What do you get (and stop me if you've heard this before, a critically mixed album that fails to deliver commercially). Unlike the other two cd's, this album has yet to grow on me as being good, although with that said, it's about a year old.
- Pearl Harbor--this is a good movies. No, I didn't not run spell check, or hae a grammatical hiccup in the previous sentence. This movie is actually two very good movies. Sadly, director Michael Bay, in his infinite wisdom, shoved them both together, and a yielded a beautiful disaster. There is a good romantic drama in this movie, but unfortunately, it's stuck rapped around a great war movie. The glue holding the whole
thing together is cheesiness. Absolute cheessiness. - Watchmen--this movie gets added to this list for one simple reason--Zack Snyder filmed a movie out of a comic book series that many thought was unfilmable. What he creates is something that, while good, is a very divisive force. You either like it or you hate it for reasons such as the cartoony at times violent, the interspersed cheesy moments, and the changing of the ending from the comic. Personally, I am more of a fan of the Director's Cut of this movie. It fits a little better to the comic book.
- Kingdom of Heaven--this movie gets this designation based on one reason--the version seen in theaters is a victim of poor edits which lead to horrible transitions. Then again, these things happen when after showing the movie to test audiences, it's decided you have to cut out about 50 minutes of the film. Thankfully, director Ridley Scott also released his Director's Cut (read this as Original Version) of the film on DVD. What this yields is a brilliant film, which is sadly trapped in the shadow of it's beautifully disastrous theatrical counterpart.
Music and movies are works of art, some of them are things of beauty, some disastrous failures. As you can see, there are a group of works that manage to straddle that line.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Fear not my lovelies...
I haven't forgotten about you, I've got a case of Olympic fever, or to be more specific, hockey fever. Well, there's that, and the fact that I have an idea for my next entry. The problem is that I can't think of a way to better flesh it out. In other words, I have a subject to write on, I just don't think I'll get much mileage out of it.
That said, see you all in March.
That said, see you all in March.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Getting a Divorce
For those of you who know me well, you're likely thinking "I didn't even know you were married." To which I respond, nothing has happened that you all need to know about in terms of a personal relationship. What I do mean is that one of the shows on my appointment television list have agreed to see other people, or to be more accurate, I've decided to stop seeing them.
Let me explain.
Almost since it premiered in 2000, I've been a loyal viewer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. And when i say loyal, I mean very loyal, so loyal in fact, that I ended an argument with an ex-girlfriend to watch the show. And while that may not have been a great idea in hindsight, it illustrates to me the concept of "appointment television." A show you think is good enough that you will drop everything to watch. Something so intelligent and engrossing that you need to be able to sit and digest it for the hour it's on no matter what. As of late, that hasn't been the case.
I blame the disappearance of Gil Grissom into the jungles of Central America. When William Petersen decided he didn't want to be involved in the show any more in an acting capacity (he still serves as an executive producer), he said a 10 episode goodbye that ended with him reunited with his wife in the jungles of Costa Rica. That's where the show fell off to me. It brought about three major events, that I would classify as "irreconcilable differences."
Let me explain.
Almost since it premiered in 2000, I've been a loyal viewer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. And when i say loyal, I mean very loyal, so loyal in fact, that I ended an argument with an ex-girlfriend to watch the show. And while that may not have been a great idea in hindsight, it illustrates to me the concept of "appointment television." A show you think is good enough that you will drop everything to watch. Something so intelligent and engrossing that you need to be able to sit and digest it for the hour it's on no matter what. As of late, that hasn't been the case.
I blame the disappearance of Gil Grissom into the jungles of Central America. When William Petersen decided he didn't want to be involved in the show any more in an acting capacity (he still serves as an executive producer), he said a 10 episode goodbye that ended with him reunited with his wife in the jungles of Costa Rica. That's where the show fell off to me. It brought about three major events, that I would classify as "irreconcilable differences."
- The addition of Laurence Fishburne as Langston--Don't get me wrong, I likes me the Larry. But at the end of the episode, he's no Grissom. The show just isn't the same. His character is a great addition, but no Grissom means the show is just lacking.
- An overall decline in quality--the show had begun to slip slightly as it stands, as is the case with most shows after they've been on for any length of time. This show experienced a steep decline within half a season. The quick addition and shoddily explained exit of Riley Adams would be my Exhibit A for arguing this point. Exhibit B would be the increasing reach to interconnect the A and B cases every week. Oh, and also, you really don't need to have some sort of "serial killer" (e.g. Jekyll and Hyde) in a show like this. Stand alone cases will do me just fine.
- Stunt casting--because nothing says "Oh shit, we're reaching" like stunt casting. Add all the celebrities you want (three golfers a few weeks ago, Taylor Swift just as she was catching fire, and Rascal Flatts in the upcoming episode), but if the show blows, it ain't gonna help ya.
I'm sorry to see it go, I really am, but my TV watching time is precious, and if there's no quality or a lack thereof, you've got to go. Will I go back to it? It's anyone's guess, but I don't see it happening any time soon. And that's a shame.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
It's a Great Day for America, Everybody!
If you've me for any length of time, you know that the recent late night happenings at NBC don't effect me, as my late night show of choice is The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I've been a fan of the show since Craig was an auditioning guest host in late 2004, probably about the only time I've ever been happy to have been unemployed in that I got to watch his run from its beginning.
To be honest, I don't know why David Letterman went with Craig after the open auditions to fill the seat of Craig Kilborn, but I'm glad he did. What we've gotten in return is an intelligent show, which doesn't take itself too seriously, and provides consistently funny material. What other shows on late night television can say that? Should Craig still have this gig when Dave retires, I hope they give the Late Show to him.
Many times as of late, the cold open of the show has featured puppets doing routines to varied tunes, with overacting and lip syncing to boot. The recent 1,000th episode of the show was in fact hosted by a puppet, one alligator named Wavy Ranchero to be exact.
With an assist from the capable trolling of the interwebs by my good friend Alley (one word: pterodactyls. Really, just one word. The other word in the search term just makes it disturbing on so many levels), here is a collection of the puppet routines and some of the other great moments from the Late Late Show.
Puppet Musical Cold Opens (all of them to date)
As a side note, the guy in the leather outfit is on Craig's staff and wears that for every show.
To be honest, I don't know why David Letterman went with Craig after the open auditions to fill the seat of Craig Kilborn, but I'm glad he did. What we've gotten in return is an intelligent show, which doesn't take itself too seriously, and provides consistently funny material. What other shows on late night television can say that? Should Craig still have this gig when Dave retires, I hope they give the Late Show to him.
Many times as of late, the cold open of the show has featured puppets doing routines to varied tunes, with overacting and lip syncing to boot. The recent 1,000th episode of the show was in fact hosted by a puppet, one alligator named Wavy Ranchero to be exact.
With an assist from the capable trolling of the interwebs by my good friend Alley (one word: pterodactyls. Really, just one word. The other word in the search term just makes it disturbing on so many levels), here is a collection of the puppet routines and some of the other great moments from the Late Late Show.
Puppet Musical Cold Opens (all of them to date)
As a side note, the guy in the leather outfit is on Craig's staff and wears that for every show.
- "Say Hey (I Love You)" by Michael Franti and Spearhead -
- "White Lines" by Duran Duran
- "Wonderful Night" by Fatboy Slim -
- "Istanbul" by They Might Be Giants
- "Oops!...I Did It Again" by Britney Spears
- "MMMBop" by Hanson
- "In the Navy" by Village People
- "Fireball" by Don Spencer
- "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz
- "The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music
- "She Taught Me How To Yodel" by Frank Ifield -
- "Fire" by The Prodigy
- "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" --by B.J. Thomas (that's who originally did the song. Don't know who is doing this.)
Selected Non-Musical Puppet Intros
- Bob the Dragon--now with terrible ventriloquism?
- Shark--"Shark Week"
- Giraffe--who knew they liked Jagermeister?
- Pig--Craig ran a puppet popularity contest this past summer, but the leader in the polls had to drop out due to an affair with an Argentine woman. Sound familiar?
- Craig Ferguson--(this one's just a wee bit creepy.)
Wavy with Friends of the Show
- Lauren Graham
- Kristen Bell--from the 1,000th show.
Other Interesting Stuff (or "On a Very Special Episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson):
- Craig on voting--He became an American citizen in 2008 and voted in his first election that year. If my mom had a computer, I would send this to her (to my knowledge, she's never voted, and it's always driven me nuts). This episode originally aired September 10, 2008.
- Craig provides a history of apartheid in South Africa and then spend the balance of the March 4, 2009 show with Archbishop Desmond Tutu (three parts: A, B and C)
- Giving a eulogy for his dad. This show was later nominated for an Emmy (January 30, 2006 show) in two parts: A and B
- Craig on why he won't make Britney Spears jokes (this originally aired on February 19, 2007, around the time of her meltdown)
- Craig's Sept. 11 monologue from 2009.
- The theme song (this has always been the theme. It's just since the show went to HD that it got this production number)
Monday, January 11, 2010
Movies I'm Looking Forward to: N-Z
Here is the part three of the list.
Again, I've provided a brief description of the film, a list of it's stars and a release date, if one has been provided. That said, just remember that release dates are subject to change.
Paul
Cast: Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig
Director: Greg Mottola
Summary: Two British sci-fi fanatics on an American road trip find their conspiracy dreams coming true when they encounter an escaped alien near Area 51. As they try to reunite him with his mother ship, they find 'Paul' has many more opinions than your typical ET. This is the latest movie from the team that brought you Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
Piranha 3D (April 16)
Cast: Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Ving Rhames, Richard Dreyfuss, Jerry O'Connell
Director: Alexandre Aja
Summary: After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for Lake Victoria's new razor-toothed residents. But with only one chance to save her family from totally being devoured, our heroine must risk everything to destroy them.
Predators (July 7)
Cast: Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo
Director: Nimrod Antal
Summary: A follow-up to 1987's acclaimed Arnold Schwarzenegger-led sci-fi action classic. The story follows a group of elite warrior-types who are being hunted by members of a race of merciless alien trackers called Predators.
Red (November 19)
Cast: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, John C. Reilly
Director: Robert Schwentke
Summary: Frank Moses, a former black-ops CIA agent, is now living a quiet life until the day a hi-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him. With his secret identity compromised, Frank must reassemble his old team to figure out who is out to get them.
Red Dawn (November 26)
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Director: Dan Bradley
Summary: A group of students find their small American hometown suddenly becoming the foothold for a foreign invasion. Now under enemy occupation, they seek refuge in the surrounding woods and reorganise themselves into a guerilla group of fighters
Robin Hood (May 14)
Cast: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Matthew Macfadyen, William Hurt
Director: Ridley Scott
Summary: In 13th century England, a former archer in the late King Richard's army assembles a band of marauders to confront corruption in the local town of Nottingham and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power.
The Rum Diary
Cast: Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi
Director: Bruce Robinson
Summary: The increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp who left late 1950's New York City to start a more relaxed lifestyle working for a downtrodden newspaper in San Juan and becomes obsessed with the fiancee of a shady property dealer.
Salt (July 23)
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Director: Phillip Noyce
Summary: When a CIA agent is accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy, she goes on the run to clear her name. Using her years of experience as a covert operative, she must elude capture or the world's most powerful forces will erase her entire existence.
Secretariat (Oct. 8)
Cast: Diane Lane, James Cromwell, Scott Glenn, Dylan Walsh
Director: Randall Wallace
Summary: The story centers around Penny Chenery who took over the financially troubled Meadow Stable from her ailing father and guided the thoroughbred race horse Secretariat through his Triple Crown winning season in 1973.
Shutter Island (Feb. 19)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams
Director: Martin Scorsese
Summary: In 1954, two U.S. marshals are summoned to a remote island off Massachusetts to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane. Once inside, one begins to doubt everything - even his own sanity. This movie was moved from November, then December 2009.
The Tempest
Cast: Helen Mirren, Russell Brand, Djimon Hounsou, Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper
Director: Julie Taymor
Summary: An adaptation of Shakespeare's play. Having been exiled to an island for over a decade, the witch Prospera manages to shipwreck those behind her betrayal and a tangled web of romance, forgiveness and magic play out.
The Town (September 10)
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper
Director: Ben Affleck
Summary: After briefly being taken hostage, a female bank manager lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man... not realizing he is the same man who led the gang of thieves that terrorised her days earlier. Thank GOD Ben realizes he's actually a pretty good director. Thank you Gone Baby Gone!
Tron: Legacy (December 17)
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, James Frain
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Summary: The son of Kevin Flynn looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs his father has been living in for 25 years. The pair embark on a perilous journey across a cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Cast: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowen, Jesse Moss, Christie Lang
Director: Eli Craig
Summary: Two good-natured hillbillies find themselves mistakenly accused of being psycho killers by a group of college kids camping at the same lake where the hillbillies have just acquired a dilapidated cabin as their "summer home."
Again, I've provided a brief description of the film, a list of it's stars and a release date, if one has been provided. That said, just remember that release dates are subject to change.
Paul
Cast: Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig
Director: Greg Mottola
Summary: Two British sci-fi fanatics on an American road trip find their conspiracy dreams coming true when they encounter an escaped alien near Area 51. As they try to reunite him with his mother ship, they find 'Paul' has many more opinions than your typical ET. This is the latest movie from the team that brought you Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
Piranha 3D (April 16)
Cast: Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Ving Rhames, Richard Dreyfuss, Jerry O'Connell
Director: Alexandre Aja
Summary: After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for Lake Victoria's new razor-toothed residents. But with only one chance to save her family from totally being devoured, our heroine must risk everything to destroy them.
Predators (July 7)
Cast: Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo
Director: Nimrod Antal
Summary: A follow-up to 1987's acclaimed Arnold Schwarzenegger-led sci-fi action classic. The story follows a group of elite warrior-types who are being hunted by members of a race of merciless alien trackers called Predators.
Red (November 19)
Cast: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, John C. Reilly
Director: Robert Schwentke
Summary: Frank Moses, a former black-ops CIA agent, is now living a quiet life until the day a hi-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him. With his secret identity compromised, Frank must reassemble his old team to figure out who is out to get them.
Red Dawn (November 26)
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Director: Dan Bradley
Summary: A group of students find their small American hometown suddenly becoming the foothold for a foreign invasion. Now under enemy occupation, they seek refuge in the surrounding woods and reorganise themselves into a guerilla group of fighters
Robin Hood (May 14)
Cast: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Matthew Macfadyen, William Hurt
Director: Ridley Scott
Summary: In 13th century England, a former archer in the late King Richard's army assembles a band of marauders to confront corruption in the local town of Nottingham and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power.
The Rum Diary
Cast: Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi
Director: Bruce Robinson
Summary: The increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp who left late 1950's New York City to start a more relaxed lifestyle working for a downtrodden newspaper in San Juan and becomes obsessed with the fiancee of a shady property dealer.
Salt (July 23)
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Director: Phillip Noyce
Summary: When a CIA agent is accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy, she goes on the run to clear her name. Using her years of experience as a covert operative, she must elude capture or the world's most powerful forces will erase her entire existence.
Secretariat (Oct. 8)
Cast: Diane Lane, James Cromwell, Scott Glenn, Dylan Walsh
Director: Randall Wallace
Summary: The story centers around Penny Chenery who took over the financially troubled Meadow Stable from her ailing father and guided the thoroughbred race horse Secretariat through his Triple Crown winning season in 1973.
Shutter Island (Feb. 19)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams
Director: Martin Scorsese
Summary: In 1954, two U.S. marshals are summoned to a remote island off Massachusetts to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane. Once inside, one begins to doubt everything - even his own sanity. This movie was moved from November, then December 2009.
The Tempest
Cast: Helen Mirren, Russell Brand, Djimon Hounsou, Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper
Director: Julie Taymor
Summary: An adaptation of Shakespeare's play. Having been exiled to an island for over a decade, the witch Prospera manages to shipwreck those behind her betrayal and a tangled web of romance, forgiveness and magic play out.
The Town (September 10)
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper
Director: Ben Affleck
Summary: After briefly being taken hostage, a female bank manager lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man... not realizing he is the same man who led the gang of thieves that terrorised her days earlier. Thank GOD Ben realizes he's actually a pretty good director. Thank you Gone Baby Gone!
Tron: Legacy (December 17)
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, James Frain
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Summary: The son of Kevin Flynn looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs his father has been living in for 25 years. The pair embark on a perilous journey across a cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Cast: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowen, Jesse Moss, Christie Lang
Director: Eli Craig
Summary: Two good-natured hillbillies find themselves mistakenly accused of being psycho killers by a group of college kids camping at the same lake where the hillbillies have just acquired a dilapidated cabin as their "summer home."
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