Monthly Archives: November 2016

“Why Him?” Trailers and Movie Clip

comedy, holiday movies, ,

Directed by John Hamburg, Why Him? happens over the holidays. The story follows Ned, played by Bryan Cranston, an overprotective but loving dad, and his family visit his daughter at Stanford.

He comes to terms with his biggest nightmare. He meets his daughter’s well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird, played by James Franco. A rivalry develops, and Ned’s panic level goes through the roof when he finds himself lost in this glamorous high-tech world and learns that Laird is about to pop the question.

Here is the official trailer.

Here is the red trailer.

James Franco is really having a lot of fun with this role.

Amazing Truth About “The Rules Don’t Apply”

comedy, drama, legend, movies opening, , , , ,

Written and directed by Warren Beatty, The Rules Don’t Apply about an aspiring young actress, played by Lily Collins, and her ambitious young driver, played by Alden Ehrenreich. They both struggle hopefully with the absurd eccentricities of the wildly unpredictable billionaire Howard Hughes, played by Beatty, for whom they work.

It’s Hollywood, 1958. Small town beauty queen, songwriter, and devout Baptist virgin Marla Mabrey, under contract to the infamous Howard Hughes, arrives in Los Angeles. At the airport, she meets her driver Frank Forbes, engaged to his 7th-grade sweetheart and is a deeply religious Methodist.

Their instant attraction not only puts their religious convictions to the test but also defies Hughes’ #1 rule: they allow no employee to have any relationship with a contract actress. Hughes’ behavior intersects with Marla and Frank in very separate and unexpected ways. As they are drawn deeper into his bizarre world, they challenge their values, which changes their lives.

I am just so happy and delighted that Beatty has a new movie that I can watch. He’s one of my favorite filmmakers.

Here is the official trailer.

Here is the final trailer.

Here is the theme song trailer.

“Ghost in the Shell” Trailers and Featurette

animation, fantasy, science fiction, , , , , ,

Directed by Rupert Sanders, Ghost in the Shell stars Scarlett Johansson, Takeshi Kitano, and here is the first look at the trailer as it launched at an epic event in Tokyo.

Based on the international science fiction property with the same name, the story follows Major, a special op, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 faces an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology.

“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” Trailers and Clips

adventure, animation, drama, fantasy, science fiction, , , , , , , ,

When the movie first arrived, the teaser trailer didn’t say much about the movie, but as it says in the trailer: if you know the gothic novel, you know what the movie is about.

Based on the classic graphic novel series Valerian and Laureline and directed by Luc Besson, Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets is a contemporary, unique, and epic science fiction saga.

The imagery looks imaginative and breathtaking. The movie stars Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, John Goodman, Herbie Hancock, and Kris Wu.

This is a fantastic featurette. You gotta watch it.

I find the original master recording by The Beatles fitting for the movie trailer.  The without instrument or accompaniment version adds beauty to the visual effects, though it doesn’t explain the movie’s story very well.

https://youtu.be/vwHFNLkN8a0

Surging and Unsurpassed “Underworld: Blood Wars” Trailer

fantasy, sequels, thriller, , , , ,

Directed by Anna Foerster, we have the next installment of Underworld: Blood Wars. The story follows Vampire death dealer, Selene, played by Kate Beckinsale, and fends off brutal attacks from both the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction that betrayed her.

With her only allies, David, played by Theo James, and his father Thomas, played by Charles Dance, she must stop the eternal war between Lycans and Vampires, even if it means she has to make the ultimate sacrifice.

The cast also includes Lara Pulver, Tobias Menzies, Bradley James, and James Faulkner.

“Beyond the Gates” Trailer

horror, , , ,

Directed by Jackson Stewart, Beyond the Gates is a retro-movie from the Day-Glo 1980s past. This is a good trailer, too, for a low-budget horror movie. Nostalgia grabs viewers back to a time when VHS ruled, video stores were meccas for horror fans, and shocks came with a healthy dose of claptrap.

The story is not bad. It starts in the wake of their father’s mysterious disappearance and meeting two estranged brothers. The responsible Gordon, played by Graham Skipper, and reckless John, played by Chase Williamson. They reunite to sift through the contents of their father’s stubbornly outdated VHS rental store.

Among the inventory, they discover an interactive VCR board game, which their father viewed just before he vanished. Intrigued, the boys pop in the tape, press play, and soon discover that, far from an ordinary game, the video is a portal to a nightmarish alternate reality overseen by a sinister hostess, cult horror icon Barbara Crampton, and that to save their father’s soul, they must play by her rules.

I should note that Crampton starred in Days of Our Lives and made her film debut in 1984’s Body Double.

“The Batman Lego” Movie

animation, comedy, super heroes, worth renting, , , , ,

Directed by Chris McKay, the release of The Batman Lego Movie is proving that Legos are still in the saucy spirit of fun and a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensemble – Lego Batman – stars in his own big-screen adventure.

But big changes are brewing in Gotham, and if he wants to save the city from the Joker’s hostile takeover, Batman may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others, and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up. Batman, lighten up? It’s hard to imagine.

The voices starring in this movie are Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes.

Here are some clips, enjoy!

“Renegades” Trailer

war, , ,

Directed by Steven Quale, Renegades is about a team of Navy SEALs on an assignment in war-torn Europe. They discover a treasure of gold at the bottom of a lake. The treasure is rumored to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

To help the locals, they go rogue and engineer a heist to retrieve the gold and return it to its rightful owners. But in a deadly turn of events, the enemy detects them and left with only 10 hours to carry out their mission.

The film stars J. K. Simmons and Sullivan Stapleton and is an original story written by Richard Wenk & Luc Besson.

“Office Christmas Party” Trailer

comedy, holiday movies, , , , , , , , , , ,

Directed by comedy directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck, Office Christmas Party is super silly without a strong plotline to follow, but who cares. It’s funny and ridiculous when the CEO, played by Jennifer Aniston, tries to close her hard-partying brother’s branch, her brother, played by T. J. Miller, and his Chief Technical Officer, played by Jason Bateman, must bring the co-workers together and host an epic office Christmas party to impress a potential client and close a sale that will save their jobs.

The comedy also stars Kate McKinnon, Olivia Munn, Jillian Bell, Rob Corddry, Vanessa Bayer, Randall Park, Sam Richardson, Jamie Chung, and Courtney B. Vance. The movie seems funny, and it looks like they earned their SAG cards with one-liners from fresh faces.

“Sing” Fantastic Musical Clips

animation, family movies, holiday movies, movies opening, worth renting, , , , , , ,

Directed by Garth Jennings, Sing arrives with animated voices coming from Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton, and Tori Kelly.  The movie is a musical comedy about finding the shining star that lives inside all of us.

Set in a world similar to humans but utterly inhabited by animals, Sing follows Buster Moon, played by  McConaughey, a dapper Koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal optimist, with a touch of irony. But he loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now facing the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one ultimate chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition.

Featuring over 85 hit songs, the story focuses on five lead contestants emerge, including a mouse, played by MacFarlane, a timid teenage elephant, played by Tori Kelly, an overtaxed mother, played by Witherspoon, a young gangster gorilla, played by Egerton, and a punk-rock porcupine, played by Johansson.  Each animal arrives under Buster’s marquee, believing that this is their shot at changing the course of their life.

Here is a special message from Sing.  This movie keeps getting cuter.