Category Archives: fantasy

“Cats” Featurettes, Poster, TV Spot & Trailers

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Directed by Tom Hopper, Cats is a musical film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical theatre sensation and the poems from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. 

Idris Elba plays Macavity with a stellar cast.

The film stars James Corden, as Bustopher Jones, Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy, Jason Derulo as Rum Tum Tugger, Idris Elba as Macavity, Jennifer Hudson as Grizabella, Ian McKellen as Gus, Taylor Swift as Bombalurina, Rebel Wilson as Jennyanydots, and Francesca Hayward, principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, as Victoria.

Tom Hooper, who directed The King’s Speech, Les Misérables, and The Danish Girl, brings a new technology to transform his cast members in vivid cats, unlike the ones we see on stage. Costumes will not be in the movie, but CGI images of the cats created as they captured the actors performing for the camera. Hooper and Lee Hall, who wrote Billy Eliot, scripted the screenplay.

One of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, the London stage production of Cats received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981—where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances.  Based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the show won the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical.  In 1983 the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran for an unbelieve 18 years.

The next featurette shows excellent dancing. It appears that the movie has tons of dancing.

Seeing Taylor Swift creating with Andrew Lloyd Webber and the director is an inspiration to working in film. “Beautiful Ghosts” sounds like a lovely song, and I hope it inspires the movie to do well.

I was skeptical about this movie, but now, after seeing the new trailer, if the story moves along as it does in the second trailer and at a good pace, we have ourselves a box office hit.

Cats TV spot plays with Taylor Swift singing her song recorded especially for this musical movie. 

“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” Poster, Clips, Featurettes & Trailers

based on a book, children movies, family movies, fantasy, kid movies, sequels, , ,

Directed by Joachim Rønning, story by Linda Woolverton, and the screenplay by Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, and Noah Harpster, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil follows Maleficent. Played by Angelina Jolie and her goddaughter Aurora, played by Elle Fanny, begin to question the complex family ties that bind them. Being pulled in different directions, they face the impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play.

A fantasy story begins several years after Maleficent. The story continues to discover the different relationships between the horned fairy and the soon to be Queen.  They develop more alliances while facing new enemies in their agony and hardship to protect the moors and the magical creatures that live within the forest.

The movie is available on Amazon. and I recommend you get it because it is a strong story and entertaining.

Screenwriters Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster worked together on the episodic show Transparency and A Beautiful Place in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers.

The movie also stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Ed Skrein.

The featurette is short and sweet and to the point. Jolie is fantastic as Maleficent.

The next featurette tells us more about the movie and why there is a sequel. It looks like so much fun.

The next three clips show the choices each character has to make to handle the changes that are occurring in the story.

“Jumanji: The Next Level” Trailers and Posters

action, adventure, fantasy, sequels, , , , , , , , , ,
Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black
Photo credit: Hiram Garcia
The whole gang is back for more.

Co-written and directed by Jake Kasdan, Jumanji: The Next Level brings the gang back together, but this time the game shifts.

The players return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own. They discover that nothing is as they expect. The players will face brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game.

Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg co-wrote the screenplay with Kasdan. All three worked on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle with Kasdan directing.

The cast includes Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Awkwafina, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Alex Wolff, Danny Glover, and Danny DeVito.

Amazing and Uplifting “Trolls World Tour”

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Directed by Walt Dohrn, Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake return in a massive cast of talented stars to the sequel Trolls World Tour. The movie is an adventure. We follow Poppy, played by Kendrick, and Branch, played by Timberlake, to a place where they discover they are but one of six different Troll tribes. Each scattered over six different lands and devoted to six different kinds of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop, and Rock. Their world is about to get a lot bigger and a whole lot louder.

The movie is now available on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD.

A member of hard-rock royalty, Queen Barb, played by Rachel Bloom, aided by her father King Thrash, played by Ozzy Osbourne, wants to destroy all other kinds of music to let rock reign supreme.

Because the fate of the world at stake, Poppy and Branch, along with their friends — Biggie, played by James Corden, Chenille, played by Caroline Hjelt, Satin, played by Aino Jawo, Cooper, played by Ron Funches, and Guy Diamond, played by Kunal Nayyar — set out to visit all the other lands. They visit the different territories to unify the Trolls in harmony against Barb, who’s looking to upstage them all.

Cast as members of the different musical tribes is one the largest and most acclaimed groups of artistic talent ever assembled for an animated film. The cast list continues with the land of Funk are Mary J. Blige, George Clinton, and Anderson. Paak. Representing Country is Kelly Clarkson as Delta Dawn, with Sam Rockwell as Hickory and Flula Borg as Dickory. J Balvin brings Reggaeton, while Ester Dean adds to the Pop tribe. Anthony Ramos brings the beat in Techno, and Jamie Dornan covers smooth jazz. World-renowned conductor and violinist Gustavo Dudamel appears as Trollzart and Charlyne Yi as Pennywhistle from the land of Classical. And Kenan Thompson raps as a hip-hop new Troll named Tiny Diamond.

Dohrn served as co-director on Trolls and is co-directed by David P. Smith and co-produced by Kelly Cooney Cilella, both of whom worked on the first Trolls. Trolls World Tour will also feature original music by Justin Timberlake, who earned an Oscar nomination for his song for 2016’s Trolls, “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”

The second trailer is fun to watch, and I guarantee you will laugh because it is so silly.

The String by String featurette shows some behind the scenes clips with Justin Timberlake. Kids will enjoy the story and watch it over and over again.

Enjoy the featurettes below!

Last Chance at Magic “Onward” Poster, Trailers, Clips, Featurettes

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Directed by Dan Scanlon, Onward is a Disney and Pixar movie with the substance leaning heavily toward Pixar. The story takes place in a suburban fantasy world where two teenage elf brothers, played by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, drive off in their van on a journey to discover if there is still magic out there.

Scanlon works for Pixar as a miscellaneous crew, writer, and director. His credits include Monster University as a writer and director, and Brave and Inside Out as miscellaneous crew.

The other cast members currently listed are Octavia Spencer and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The second trailer is almost a minute longer than the first trailer and tells us the story about the two boys using magic to bring back their father. It’s a road movie like Finding Nemo, an adventure where they run into all sorts of magical creatures. Watch the trailer until the very end because it is hilarious. Onward is going to be one of the best Pixar movies yet.

The third trailer tells us the story and the premise of the movie.

The featurette will get under your skin and drive you to see this movie.

The next three featurettes are kind of fun to watch and share a little information about the Pixar movie.

And, now, a publicity clip and another movie clip you might not be able to see because it could be blocked.

“Abominable” Posters, Clips, Featurette & Trailer

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Written and co-directed by Jill Culton, Abominable is a DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio’s co-production. The story follows Yi, voiced by Chloe Bennet, as she encounters a young Yeti on her apartment building’s rooftop in Shanghai. Her impish friends Jin, voiced by Tenzing Norgay, and Peng, voiced by Albert Tsai, named the Yeti “Everest.”

The cute little movie is available for Blu-ray, DVD, or streaming.

They embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth. The journey takes audiences on an epic 2,000-mile adventure from the streets of Shanghai to the breathtaking Himalayan snowscapes.

But the trio has to stay one step ahead of Burnish, voiced by Eddie Izzard. Eddie is a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti along with zoologist Dr. Zara, voiced by Sarah Paulson. If Yi and her friends can’t evade these two evildoers, they might not help Everest get home.

Culton’s directing credits include Open Season, Monsters, Inc., and Toy Story 2, and the movie is co-directed by Todd Wilderman, who directed Trolls and Crood.

The movie clip looks like a fun movie to see with the kids. It’s magical and spontaneous.

The movie clip explains more about the silliness and craziness that goes on with their newfound friend.

The featurette shows how the voice cast values the story, and it relates to their heritage.

“Rocketman” Poster, Elton and Taron Duet, Clips, Trailers & Featurettes

biography, drama, fantasy, music, , , ,
Notice the poster says “based on a true fantasy.”

Riding on the heels of Queen’s bio-pic, Bohemian Rhapsody, Dexter Fletcher takes on another British icon, Elton John, played by Taron Egerton. Rocketman is promoted as an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John’s breakthrough years.

Following the fantastical journey of morphing from the icon from a shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John. The studio is calling it an inspirational story with plenty of Elton John’s most beloved songs and performed by Egerton. You might recall Egerton dazzling us with his great archery skills in the recent Robin Hood.

The movie brings us to the familiar story of how a small-town boy became one of the most iconic figures in pop culture. The movie includes stars Jamie Bell as Elton’s longtime lyricist and writing partner Bernie Taupin, Richard Madden as Elton’s first manager, John Reid, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s mother Sheila Farebrother.

Take a look at the movie trailers and see if it suits your fancy. The first one is brief, and the second one offers more details about movie. The featurette talks about Egerton’s singing. He sounds like Elton John for real.

First trailer released .
Second trailer has more of the fantasy aspect of the story.
It’s amazing how much Egerton sounds like Elton John.

The next featurette is about the costumes. Costumes are all about Elton John.

The following clips tell us more about the movie and the life of Elton John. He definitely had his highs and his lows. Bryce Dallas Howard as his mother is smooth and flamboyant as his mother would be. She looks like she is having fun playing this role.

A poignant moment in music history is when Elton and Taron sing together in front of a huge audience at an Elton John’s concert. A magical moment for all of us, this clip compels me to see the movie.

The featurette is about the song Elton John’s lyrists Bernie Taupin wrote for the movie called “Love Me Again.” Egerton does vocals with John and John comments of Egerton’s vocal skills.

Amazing and Remarkable Magic “Frozen II” Trailers and Posters

adventure, animation, children movies, family movies, fantasy, kid movies, sequels, , ,

Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, Frozen II’s first movie trailer is an epic animated feature. Keep scrolling down until you have seen all the trailers. The “Let It Go” theme plays in undertones throughout the trailer. It promotes hardship, adversary, and uniting as a powerful threesome against the enemy.

Disney tells us about Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf’s journey far in the forest to discover the known truth about an ancient mystery of their kingdom. The movie is now streaming, and the Blu-ray and DVD are available.

The former cast is returning, with Evan Rachel Wood and Sterling K. Brown added to the cast list.

The second trailer is not all that different from the first. It’s incredible to watch Elsa handle the ocean with her frozen powers. That technique reminds me of Frozone in the Incredibles movies. Since both films were produced by Disney Studios, an educated guess is that the same animated team that made Frozone’s ice made Elsa’s.

The trailer shows the two sisters going on a journey to discover the truth by going to the past. The Stonehenge tells us it is a mystical journey—perhaps they go back in time like the popular book and TV series Outlander. We see Elsa’s powers are too strong.

The third trailer tells us the story. It is intriguing with all the mystical aspects of Elsa’s powers. It’s a serious story with humor by the quirky characters from the first movie that we found endearing.

“Hellboy” Trailers, Featurettes, Clip, Interviews & Posters

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Directed by Neil Marshall and based on the graphic novels by Mike Mignola, Hellboy follows the iconic character as he gets caught between the worlds of the supernatural and human. Played by Stranger Things David Harbour, he battles an ancient sorceress bent on revenge.

Marshall’s directing credits include episodic shows like Lost in Space and Westworld. He’s also directed features, including Dog Soldiers and Doomsday.

Harbour is fantastic and so believable as Hellboy. Delivering his lines straightforwardly with a touch of irony makes each scene in the trailer fun to watch. The song in the trailer brings us a whole new level of entertainment.

The rest of the cast includes Milla Jovovich and Sasha Lane. Jovovich is familiar with this genre and adds credibility to the storyline. Jovovich is known for her dynamic work in the Resident Evil franchise.

I am not planning on seeing this movie because it is not my genre. The trailers look fantastic, and Harbour is impressive. He is so right for Hellboy. I am excited for him.

The movie clip shows how tongue-in-cheek the story moves along through archetype villains. Hellboy is not serious, but it’s all for fun. 

The featurette shows how the movie follows one of Hellboy’s comic book stories, comparing some movie images with the comic book drawings.

The movie clip shows some impressive CGI effects. Then we see the more we know, and the movie follows the comic book.

I picked three interviews that offer insight into what the newest version of Hellboy will bring us in the movie theaters and the box office. First, we have Daniel Dae Kim as “Major Ben Daimio,” listening to Kim talk about his character is surreal. He is so in tune with Daimio that it goes to another dimension.

The second interview is with Milla Jovovich, known as “Nimue and The Blood Queen.” She explains the story in the movie. She has Hellboy dialed. Her Beastie Boys t-shirt adds a lot to the interview, as well. This lady is a stick of dynamite, continually blowing up with excellent and refreshing energy.

https://youtu.be/XIjuT2LfxmA

Finally, David Harbour, as the “Hellboy” interview, is terrific. Ian Shane, who plays his adopted father, says in an interview he’s seen Harbour on Broadway. I can’t believe this guy’s been on Broadway. I thought  Stranger Things was his only avenue other than Hellboy. No wonder he is so talented. I admired his remarkable work in the first season of the Netflix series Stranger Things. 

“Avengers: Endgame” Poster, Featurette & Trailers

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Co-directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, not much is released about the next Avenger movie called Avengers: Endgame.  People are watching the trailer and speculating based on what they see. 

The Blu-ray/DVD and streaming is available, so now is the time to see the movie again. If you are one of the few people who haven’t see the movie yet, now you can in the comfort of your home.

I am guessing that half of the Avengers who are thought to be destroyers are not, and there is a rescue attempt.  

Christopher Markus and Stephan Feeley are the screenwriters. Both are familiar writing about Marvel heroes, and both were part of the screenwriting team of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 

Some of the cast is seen in the trailer, and some are listed on IMDB. Those listed include 
Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper,  and Brie Larson.

Our superheroes are angst and looking to kick some super-intergalactic booty. They are bent on revenge for the deaths of their superhero buddies.

The featurette does say much about the movie but clicks on the press conference video at the end of the featurette. It will lead you to three more parts to the press conference. It’s great to hear what the actors have to say about being in this Marvel franchise.

It looks like Captain Marvel is going to save the day.