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If you have been following the blog, you can see that I have a lot of Twilight posts, and there are many who feel that if you are a friend of Twilight, you can’t be a fan of Harry Potter. BUT I truly appreciate both of the series. Do not get me wrong, as much as I love the Twilight’s love story, it really does not hold a candle to this amazing world that J.K. Rowling allows the readers to explore in Harry Potter.

Are you excited for the 7th film?

Synopsis: A re-imagining of “Death at a Funeral,” the 2007 MGM comedy directed by Frank Oz. The plan is to make an ensemble comedy about a funeral ceremony that leads to the digging up of shocking family secrets, as well as misplaced cadavers and indecent exposure. While the original was set in Britain, the new film will take place in an urban American setting

Crazy on the Outside

Synopsis: An ex-con (Tim Allen) realizes that prison life is a lot less tough than the outside world in this comedy that finds the Home Improvement star in his feature-film-directing debut. Expected release is January 2010.

The Last Station

 Synopsis: Set in the last tumultuous years of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s life, centers on the battle for his soul waged by his wife Sofya Andreyevna and his leading disciple Vladimir Cherkov. Torn between his professed doctrine of poverty and chastity and the reality of his enormous wealth, his thirteen children and a life of hedonism, Tolstoy makes a dramatic flight from his home. Too ill to continue beyond the tiny rail station at Astapovo, he believes that he is dying alone, while over one hundred newspapermen camp outside awaiting hourly reports on his condition. Review from LA times here. It is currently playing in LA and NY for one week but will not have a wide release until 2010.

2012

Movie Still of Apocolyptic Las Vegas Strip in 2012

Plot: The world is coming to an end and one father (John Cusack) tries to do right by his ex-wife (Amanda Peet), their two children and her new boyfriend. The group sets out to beat the deteriorating world around them in search for a “ship” that will protect the new civilization for the new world. 

In reality, there are various reports that the people are preparing themselves for the end–using the Mayan calendars and other scientific resources to plot the destruction of the world as we know it. So how does Hollywood respond to this panic? Make a movie that while you are in it! It made me wish it already was December 21, 2012, just so that the movie would finally end. Below is a scene from the film when everything starts to go awry and the earth destroys itself.

 See what I mean? The film was just bad. However, there were some redeeming qualities. I always have a soft spot in my heart for Woody Harrelson. He was the most entertaining part of the movie, and sadly he was in very little of it. His character is Charlie Frost, is portrayed as a conspiracy theorist living as a hermit and hosting a radio show from Yellowstone Park and claims he has knowledge of a secret “space ship” project and possesses a map of the ships’ location that the up-and-ups of government are going to take when the world comes to an end. Here is a clip of one of the more informative and entertaining parts of the movie.

The movie would not have been this bad if they had just trimmed it down and maybe not have used so much CGI. There was definitely some great special effects that they used but in the end, it was just way too long and not realistic enough for people to really take seriously what they were saying in the film. If anything, it eased my mind about any doubt that that would happen in just two years.

Ninja Assassin

Plot: From the time he was a child the Ozunu Clan, a secret societ of assassins, trained Raizo (Rain) to become one of the deadliest assassins in the world. After one of the members of the clan killed his childhood love, he slowly started to rebel. Once he was finished with training, he tried to destroy the clan but the numbers were against him. Now, as an adult he waits for the opportunity to fight them again and finally avenge her life. In Berlin, an agent, Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an undergrand network of untraceable assassins–because no one can know about the clans, the investigation makes her a target and the Ozunu Clan sends a group to kill her. Raizo vows to protect her and is able to fight against “his brothers” until only one is left standing.

Below is a clip of a fight scene that happens toward the end of the movie.

What you just saw, is pretty much how the entire movie goes. It is a lot of fighting, A LOT of blood–that is really badly sprayed EVERYWHERE and a protaganist that has nine lives. As part of the clan Raizo has learned the art of healing his wounds just by putting his hands in a weird position and closing his eyes–the marks that you see in this last fight scene are nothing compared to some of the wounds he receives throughout the film. All in all, this movie was purely for entertainment, but I do not have a a Y chromosome and therefore could not enjoy it.

What did you guys think of the films? Let me know in the comments!

Everybody’s Fine

Robert DeNiro is planning to visit his children (Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell) during the holidays because they cannot come see him. In a star-studded cast, the film is unlikely to disappoit.

Synopsis: Frank Goode (De Niro) has spent his adult life working in a local wire factory earning every dollar he can to support his family. Recently retired, he realizes that over the years, he has spent too littlet ime with his four children and that it’s time to reconnect. Frank’s late wife was alawys his main point of contact with his kids but he decides that it’s now his responsibility to keep on eye on them. He is inspired to invite the whole extended family for a barbeque weekend. They ended up all having a good reason to cancel. Despite a strict warning from his doctor, Frank takes matters into his own hands and packs a bag setting out a jounrey across the US with the intention of surprising each of his children and wallowing in their success and happiness. After visiting each, it is quite clear that everyone is not as happy as his wife had always reported.

Brothers

This movie is not alone in its star status–Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhall and Tobie Mcguie all take part.

Synopsis (moviefone): Jim Sheridan‘s film, adapted from Susanne Bier‘s 2004 movie, concerns Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) a Marine who receives orders to ship out for yet another tour of duty in Afghanistan. But before he leaves his supportive wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and his two elementary-school-age daughters, Sam picks up his black sheep brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has finished a prison stretch for robbing a bank. While overseas, Sam’s aircraft gets shot down and he’s thought dead. Back home, irresponsible Tommy gets his act together in order to be an anchor for Grace and the girls, and the two grow emotionally — though not physically — close. As the family finally begins to make peace with their grief, soldiers rescue POW Sam and he returns home. Sam’s experiences overseas have caused him such emotional turmoil, he has a difficult time adjusting to civilian life, and soon his fear and paranoia manifests itself in the form of jealousy for his brother’s relationship with his wife. Sam Shepard and Mare Winningham co-star as the brothers’ father and step-mother

Armoured

Feel like watching a heist gone wrong? than Armoured may be for you!

Synopsis: A crew of officers at an armored transport security firm risk their lives when they embark on the ultimate heist….against their own company. Armed with a seemingly fool-proof plan, the men plan on making off with a fortune with harm to none. But when an unexpected witness interferes, the plan quickly unravels and all bets are off.

The Last Song poster

 Her mother (Kelly Preston) decides to send Ronnie and her brother to spend the summer with their estranged father (Greg Kinnear) so they can reconnect. Although it seems to be a rocky start, Ronnie ends up falling in love with Will Blakelee (Liam Hemsworth) and reconnects with her father through their shared passion–music.

Although Miley Cyrus is in yet another movie that displays her vocal skills, she is ready to break away from her Hannah Montana persona. “I changed a lot when I was in Tybee Island [Georgia, filming 'Last Song'],” Miley explained to MTV News recently about the flick. “I feel like art really does imitate life. So just showing this movie, I feel like I’m really showing a part of my growth as a person as well. So I’m really excited for people to see it, just because of what it means to me, personally.”

 Directed by Julie Anne Robinson, the film is scheduled to hit U.S. theaters on April 2, 2010. Will you be watching?

Robert Pattinson and Emilie De Ravin in Remember Me

The plot follows Robert Pattinson’s character Tyler, who has a brother that has committed suicide and as a result is estranged from his family and sort of walks through life (sounding familiar? at least he isn’t a vampire). He finds love with Ally Craig (Emile De Ravin) who seizes life to it’s fullest after seeing her mother get killed right before her lives. With their families both a mess, they seem like a perfect match. Here is the trailer:

Kristen Stewart has worked on numerous projects since in her hiatus between the three films that have made her a box office success. She has seemed to go back to her roots a bit with more independent films. She has worked on The Runaways, a Joan Jett bio-pic in which she plays Joan with New Moon co-star Dakota Fanning. She is also a part of Welcome to the Rileys where she plays a prostitute. But the movie that is going to be hitting theaters in February 2010 is The Yellow Handkerchief.

Kristen Stewart in the Yellow Handkerchief

The independent film follows a band of outsiders who take to the highways. Brett (William Hurt) is eager to turn his life around after six years in jail. Brett is looking for a ride home to Louisiana, and happens upon a pair of teenagers up for a road trip — Martine (Kristen Stewart), a fifteen-year-old girl whose attempts to catch the eye of a boy she loves have ended in failure, and Gordy (Eddie Redmayne), a geeky outcast wishing he could find somewhere to fit in. Brett persuades Martine and Gordy to give him a ride home, and together the three misfits bond over their shared need for acceptance. Driving towards a New Orleans that’s been leveled by Hurricane Katrina, Brett can’t help but ponder the biggest question in his life — if his wife May (Maria Bello) will take him back now that he’s a free man. The trailer is below:

Anna Kendrick will also be starring along side George Clooney in Up in the Air–a movie that is already getting critical acclaim.

Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air

According to its offical site the movie follows Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveler who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection. Although he has always been content with his life up to this point, he has nothing real in his life. When he falls for a fellow traveler (Vera Farmiga), Ryan’s boss (Jason Bateman), inspired by a young upstart efficiency expert (Anna Kendrick), threatens to permanently call him in from the road. Faced with the prospect of being grounded, Ryan beigs to contemplate what it might actually mean to have a home. The film will be in theaters Christmas Day.

New Moon has been a great success after its debut November 20. I made the mistake of going to the midnight showing and having to switch theaters because there was no seats (mind you I got there an hour early). People had been waiting in those seats since 7 p.m. just waiting for their favorite characters to take on the screen again.

As a fan of the book, I was worried when the movie began. Although I had been hearing great things about the film, I was worried that we were going to have another Twilight on our hands, although the movie was okay–it was really only popular because of the drive behind the fan base. As I talk about in my podcast–the drive for the film was really the fans of the books, supporting their characters finally coming to life–not because it was a great cinematic experience.

The plot: After the trauma Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson)  had the year before, they are finally getting into a groove in their relationship. However, Bella is adament that Edward turn her into a vampire because she wants to spend the rest of her existence with him. Edward, however, has his reservations–he feel that if he turns Bella that she will lose her soul and he could not do that to her. During Bella’s birthday party, Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) attacks her after she gets a paper cut while unwrapping her gifts.

Bella at her Birthday Party

Edward feels like he is putting Bella’s life in unnecessary peril just by being around her–so he leaves. Months go by where Bella is just a zombie. When she becomes friends with Jacob (Taylor Lautner) she finally gets out of her slump and starts be herself again. The happiness does not last though. Jacob turns out to be a werewolf and mortal enemies with her love Edward. After a string of events, Alice (Ashley Greene), Edward’s sister and a vampire who can see the future, sees Bella commit suicide. When she sees that it is not true, they must race to Volterra to save Edward from trying to get himself killed by the Volturi–the closest thing to royalty in vampire community.

Volturi

After bringing him home to safety, Edward and Bella are happy and together again–but now Edward’s family agrees with Bella and decides they will fulfill her wish and make her a vampire when she graduates high school. Although Bella is happy that she gets what she wants, Edward has one condition–that she marry him.

All in all, I thought the film was great. It was a bit slow–and the acting could have been a tad better. BUT it was a huge step up from the previous film. It followed along the book nicely, especially the parts that I was most afraid of–the trauma after the break up scene. Chris Weitz, the director, did a great job with not only this transformation but the entire feel of the movie was beyond my expectations.

There were some differences in the book, however, one being that the movie always highlights the secondary characters that sometimes get lost in the background. For example, Anna Kendrick, who plays Jessica, does a great job in the film as the flippant popular girl that only really wants to talk to you about what is going on with her–not you. Billy Burke, who plays Bella’s father Charlie, is notorious for stealing scenes. He always brings a laugh–intentional or not–when he is in any scene with any character.

Billy Burke plays Bella's father

The movie did a good job of keeping the door open for the next installment: Eclipse. Here is a video of the cast talking about the third movie which comes out in June 2010. 

I am really excited for this film, it will definitely bring a new element to the entire series. As of now, Summit Entertainment, the company that brings these movies to life, has not given the official go for the final book in the series to become a movie or maybe two.

What can we see our favorite characters in for the mean time? Go to part two of this post here.

Some of the latest that I have been hearing have been regarding this generations’ classics including: Scream, Jurassic Park, and The Terminator.

Each of these movies have been made into the classic trilogy, but is that enough for the fans? Or do the best things still come in threes? The film that is currently in the pre-production phase, Scream 4, will be our focus for this post.

This film, directed by Wes Craven, followed Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a high school teen who was still experiencing the backlash of the anniversary of her mother’s tragic murder. As the anniversary comes nearer, Sidney and those around her start getting creepy phone calls by the killer who decides whether to spare your life based on your knowledge of past horror films. In the end, this murderer was none other than her boyfriend and his best friend. This may not work in theory, but it made for a great movie. Other cast members included Courtney Cox and David Arquette (who met for the first time when they started this movie and eventually got married). In Scream 2, the film follows Sidney to college and her high school experience has actually been made into a movie. When the movie comes into theaters, her life is put in the lime light again and people she loves starts to die…again. In what we thought was the final movie–Scream 3–Sidney learns about her late mother’s tumultuous past and is tracked down by her long lost brother who tries to kill her because of the life he never had.

In reading this, it begs the question–why continue to monopolize a franchise that really should have only stuck with the original?

Kevin Williamson, the writer/creator of the Scream movies, has been trying to get Scream 4 off the ground since the summer, working with the original cast members to come on board. There was even a time when Neve Campbell refused to sign back on to the series, but that has definitely changed. Currently, Campbell along with original co-stars Courtney Cox Arquette and David Arquette are signed on to the project and will see it through.

Williamson also has plans for a fifth film in the series. In an interview with MTV, he said: “It’ll take place right now, 10 years later, and it’s going to take place in [Sidney Prescott's hometown of] Woodsboro. We’ll have our three main characters, and we’ll be introducing several more.”

Because the movie is still in the early stages, there are many rumors still floating. Wes Craven, the original director, has been in talks to reprise the directing position and there has been talks of the film bolstering 3-D technologies.

I was a really big fan of the original and have seen it multiple times, but I just don’t know if this series could really stand two more movies to add to the collection.

What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments!

• Black Swan

Mila Kunis

Natalie Portman

Darren Aronofsky, director of “The Wrestler”, has been working on this project with Universal since 2007. The project is said to be a supernatural thriller that centers around Nina (Natalie Portman), a talented New York ballet dancer who enters into a rivalry with Lily (Mila Kunis) as they prepare for a major performance. But the twist: Kunis’s character may or may not be a figment of Portman’s imagination. Recently Winona Ryder has joined the cast as Beth, a dancer who is coming to the end of her career. Vincent Cassel (playing ballet director Yevna) and Barbara Hershey (Portman’s mother) are also going to be a part of the film.

Currently there has been news reports that the movie will feature a lesbian sex scene between Kunis and Portman as reported by a blog that reviews the latest scripts, Script Shadow:

“Can I just tell you why none of my review matters? Can I just tell you why my review is absolutely pointless?
Because in this movie, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis have sex.
Yeah. You read that right. And not just nice sweet innocent sex either. We’re talking ecstasy-induced hungry aggressive angry sex. Yeah so…this movie is already on the must-see list of 2010.”

Production is supposed to start in New York in a couple of weeks and is currently set to come to theaters

• Source Code

Jake Gyllenhaal

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jake Gyllenhaal is in negotiations to star in the sci-fi thriller “Source Code.” The movie centers on a soldier who wakes up in the body of a commuter and must solve the mystery of a train explosion. They have already made distribution deals with Summit Entertainment and production will start in the first quarter of next year.

• The Danish Girl

Nicole Kidman

With the controversy of Gay Marriage being solidified across many states in the US, Hollywood is making a movie with two A-list actresses who are going to play a married couple. The Danish Girl, a novel by David Ebershoff about the first post-operative transsexual, has been adapted for the big screen. The film follows two Danish artists, Einar Wegener, played by Nicole Kidman, and his wife Greta Wegener (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Gwyneth Paltrow

They found success after Einar stood in for a female model that Greta was set to paint. As the success grows, Einar wants to make the change permanent and wants to undergo surgery to become a woman. The film revolves around the implications of that choice for their marriage.

Which one are you most excited about?