Movie News- Joseph Gordon-Levitt for Edward Snowden?

Oliver Stone is set to direct a biopic about Edward Snowden. He bought the rights to the book “The Snowden Files, The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man” and he will adapt that onto the big screen. Now we may know who’ll star in the film. 

Movie Review- Fight Club

Trailer Time- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

I really liked “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and I have rather high hopes for the sequel titled “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”. Despite having a painfully long title, the upcoming sequel stars Andy Serkis(!), Gary Oldman and more. After a whole lot of teasers for teasers we finally have TWO full length trailers! Check them out below:

Movie Review- Rush

“Rush” is about the real life fierce rivalry between Chris Hemsworth’s character, James Hunt and Daniel Bruhl’s Niki Lauda. Hunt and Bruhl were both formula 1 drivers during the 70’s and the movie tells us what happened during the years they both raced against each other. 

Chris Hemsworth may never get the Thor- stamp off him (and that isn’t that bad since those movies make tonnes of money) but he is genuinly great in this film and the best part is that he isn’t Thor. Chris Hemsworth portrayes James Hunt brilliantly. Hunt is a reckless playboy who is willing to risk his life in a car. Not only does Chris look the part, he also acts just like you would imagine Hunt acting. Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda is the polar opposite of Chris as Hunt. He is the rich, good boy who goes to bed early and who doesn’t party all night. However Lauda and Hunt are not only nice guys and playboys respectably. They are much more than that: Lauda is kinda douchy and not actually the nice guy you would have in a typical movie. Hunt is also troubled and you can, much thanks to Chris’s performance, see the scared side of the character. I can only say that the characters and the actors are the best part of the movie. 

Ron Howard is a very underrated director. He is a two time Academy Award winning director and yet he’s never really mentioned in the top. He is however directing this film incredibly well. The editing is also fantastic, Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill are really sharp, working with quick cuts, my favorite technique. There was a certain sequence in the movie where the race wasn’t shown but the result were presented through text on the screen. That directing and editing trick caught me of guard and I admire the wat it was handled. 

“Rush” isn’t really about racing. It focuses on the characters more than the cars and that’s how I want my sport movies. Similar to “Warrior” (a review for wich can be found on this very site) I don’t care for the sport in it, I care about the overall story. That being said, the sound of the motors and the way the characters (I seem to constantly come back to the characters) behave towards the sport are great and they kinda made me an ounce interested.

I contend that John Williams is the greatest composer ever but I also believe that the best soundtrack for a movie is the one for “Inception”, “Inceptions” score is composed by Hans Zimmer. He also composed “Rush”. Zimmer crafts a score with might similar to a motor and  with the emotion and passion of the driver. It’s a beautiful soundtrack. 

A surprisingly good thing about the film is the product placement. It gave a form of credibility to the 70’s racing.

The only real complaint I have about the film is how the relationship between Niki Lauda and James Hunt progresses. While the development is great I didn’t really buy into the way they went from non-respect to respect. I saw how they tried to introduce the growing friednship but it didn’t translate that well ont the screen.

Overall, “Rush” is an intense, thrilling ride (pun intended) with the right focus and no real big flaws. It’s good to see more from Chris Hemsworth and even better that his range as an actor increases. The movie is far from predictable (but if you know about the real life events you obviously know how it’ll end), something that is hard to pull of in a sports movie. Even if you don’t like racing, I think you’ll love “Rush”.

4/5

Movie Review- Warrior

“Warrior” tells the story about two brothers who both fight in MMA, mixed martial arts. Tommy is an alcoholic while Brendan is a physics teacher with a wife and kids. The both brothers turns to an MMA tournament in the need for money. This tournament will make their paths cross after a long time separated.

Warriors main cast is very strong with Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as Tommy and Brendan respectably. Playing their father is Nick Nolte who got oscar nominated for this role.

Tom Hardys performance is fantastic. He is able to capture the grittiness and the anger of Tommy in an extremely believable way.
Joel Edgerton portrays Brendan who fights for his family’s sake. His character interaction really shows his  roles desperation and motivation.
The acting is great all around.

The direction in this movie is great. The fight scenes are breathtaking and you are constantly on the edge of your seat thanks to the way everything is so in your face. The best thing is that the camera is always still enough to always see what is happening. One of the greatest decisions directing wise is the way the obligatory sport montages are used. In “Warrior” the montages are used sparingly and only when the story needs them to to be used.

The score in “Warrior” is awesome. It mixes orchestral with real songs in a very fluid way. Best part: the orchestral remix of Beethovens “Ode to Joy”.

Although I have no interest in MMA the fights are the best parts of the entire movie. Not only serving as action scenes, they are the real dramatic sequences as well. I have not been as far out on the edge of my seat since “Saving Private Ryan”. One of the most moving scenes in the entire movie is in fact a fight scene.

“Warrior” is not just a great sport movie but a great movie overall. The great fierce rivalry and chemistry between the actors is incredible and the gut wrenching fights are moving beyond compare. I have searched for a movie that could fill my final slot on my top 10 best movies list, and here is a great contender.

5/5

Cheers, Bokis

Movie News- M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis Reunite for Labor of Love

M. Night Shyamalan is more than a difficult name, M. Night Shyamalan is a real hit and miss director. “The Sixth Sense” was a great movie and “Unbreakable” was too. I’ve heard mixed things about “Signs”, “After Earth” is supposed to be rubbish and don’t get me started on “The Last Airbender”! Anyway, his greatest hits are, like I said “The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakble”. Both of these movies starred Bruce Willis and it is now said that him and Shyamalan will reunite for “Labor of Love”. 

The first M. Night movie I saw was “The Last Airbender” wich stinks but after I saw “The Sixth Sense” I got my hopes up because I saw that there was talent there. This new project, “Labor of Love”, is based on a script M. Night wrote before “The Sixth Sense” and this has me hoping that maybe it will turn out. The fact that Willis returns tells me that this might be great.

The movie will center on Willis character, a book store owner who realises that he never told his dead wife that he loved her. In an act of love he begins walking across the country, an old promise he made to her.

What do you think of this? Is M. Night going to be back in his former glory or is he doomed to keep doing twisting and turning mystery movies? Sound off in the comments!

Source: Deadline

Cheers, Bokis 

Movie Review- The Help

What is a movie? According to Oxfords dictionary the definition of a “movie” is:

a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a theater or on television; a motion picture.

What the purpose of a movie is is a more difficult topic. What do you expect, what do you want to get out of your movie experience? I would say that the most important task for a movie is to raise emotions. If it is a geeky, bubbling joy from “The Avengers” or a gripping despair from “The Pursuit of Happyness”, a movie should make us feel.

With a very capable cast of talented actresses like Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer “The Help” manages to portray the circumstances colored maids had to sustain during the 1960:s in a both moving and fun way. The characters are developed and relatable. You hate some and love some but all of them makes you feel. Disgust, love, joy; everything is there, and this is what “The Help” does to elevate itself.

“The Help” succeeds on almost every level and it really takes you back to the 60:s. And with a story packing an important message that every generation should be taught about, this film is an emotional joy for everyone.

8/10

4/5

I hope y’all liked this slightly different review. Tell me in the comments if you did or if you didn’t, I appreciate every criticism.

Cheers, Bokis

Movie Review- Melancholia

“Melancholia” is a Movie by the danish drector Lars Von Trier. I’ve heard before I watched the movie that he was/is a talented director and he is indeed. Besides a good director, the film has a terrific cast! Kirsten Dunst, Skarsgård x2 (Stellan and Alexander Skarsgård) and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Star spangled cast and a good director tends to indicates that a movie will be good. Is the movie any good though? Yes it is! Before I start my rant about its good parts and its flaws, I’ll talk about the story for a while.

The story is really simple. The World is coming to an end when the planet called “Melancholia” is threatening to crash into earth. That is the main theme, if you will, but the story is more about the two sisters, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gaisnborg, definitely not the right spelling) whos relationship, already flawed, is developing. The movie is that for 2 hours and 10 minutes so it is obviously very slow paced.

Before I go more into the the pros and cons of the film, I’ll make another jump to the acting.

The acting is top notch. Not a single bad performance at all. Dunst is great at portraying the depressed Justine. Though the character is really annoying, to me at least, Dunst is fantastic. She really captures the essence of the character though. I would say that this is the role of her life.

Then we have the gal with the complicated name, Charlotte somethingsomething. She is great. The movie doesn’t really dive in to the character as deep as it dwells into Dunsts (that sounds wierdly sexual in a very inappropriate way… Sorry ’bout that).

Those are the two main actors. Everyone Else is also really good.

The score for this movie is nice. It’s a soundtrack that I would probably recognize if I were more into the classic music genre.

It appears as if I’ve covered everything except the directing. Von Trier is fantastic. His style is very unique and personal. The camera is never still and this creates an emotional, fluid atmosphere. Triers style is also very
apparent in the first four or so minutes. The first couple of minutes are spectacular and some of the best minutes of film making ever! The last minutes are also very good. The best way to describe them are emotional, no, beautiful. The whole movie could be described with: Beautiful.

I said that the first and last couple of minutes are fantastic. That doesn’t mean that the middle is bad. The part inbetween is, quite frankly, really good. It is howeververy slow paced. I know I may sound like a spoiled kid that wants everything delivered to him insantly, but I kinda like some slow paced movies. Like “The Avengers”. Not slow enough? Ok, let me think. “Transformers”? No? “Superman Returns” then? I liked that movie and it was slow! Haha! I succeed again.

My first problem was the pacing. The other is the best thing as well, The directing. It is just a minor problem since i just praised the camera work and the tone but Trier seems to have a pretty perverted mind. Twice Kirsten Dunst is seen naked (I have a blog, I watch “Glee” and I don’t like Kirsten Dunsts boobs, I’m worried!) . It isn’t her body that’s the problem (wow, this review is going out of hand now…) but it is the way it’s handled. Out of nowhere Dunst is exposed for no reason. It feels unnecessary and just shoehorned in. You can feel what Trier thought when he wrote the scene (yes, he wrote and directed the film). He didn’t think like: “Oh, yeah, I think we have to see Kirstens breasts while she’s lying naked on the ground because it will look artistic and give a nice contrast and stuff!”. I think he was like: “Hmm… I need to figure out a way to see Kirstens boobies!”.

All in all, “Melancholia” is a great film about two sisters and their different views of life, how relationships are and the end of the world. The movie will leave you think and there is a lot to reflect about. In the hands of another director, like Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich, this movie would be a mess, but in the hands of Trier, this movie turns out to be, not a masterpiece but darn close, a great movie and a great experience!

8/10

4/5

Cheers, Bokis

Movie Review- 50/50

I am a sucker for “crymovies”. You know those kind of films that make a grown man cry. My eyes flood like the Nile when I watch these kinds of movies. Yep, my eyes even watered in “The Dark Knight Rises”…. Ok, I cried like a baby…. Anyway, when done right, they show what’s so great about movies; they can move you. I had heard about this film for a while and it seemed great. Gordon Levitt and Rogen star in this film. Levitt is my favorite actor and Seth Rogen is good in everything he’s in (haven’t seen “Green Hornet” so I can say that). I had high expectations for this movie to put it short.

“50/50” is about Adam Lerner (Joseph Gordon Levitt) an ordinary guy with a healthy way of living. Despite his wholesome lifestyle, he is struck by cancer. The movie then follows him and his friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) as they stuggles against the disease together.

The acting in this movie is top notch. There is not a single bad performance in this movie what so ever. Levitt captures the distress, humor and sadness of the character. Seth Rogen is really good in this movie. Despite the fact that the movie is a drama, he makes it fun (and funny). Rogen has the ability to be funny in every movie he is in, it doesn’t matter what kind of genre the movie is (haven’t seen “Green Hornet” lalalalalala!). Anna Kendrick is in the movie as well and I must say that I love her. She is great in her role, Adams awkward psychiatrist.

The movie is full of emotion and subtle humor. I loved every second of this film. The acting is great, the cinematography is fantastic and the director of this movie has a awesome style.

Expect a few tears to be shed to this good, good movie.

9/10

4.5/5

List- Star Wars movie origin stories

As I wrote previously on this site, there will be a type of origin stories inbetween the major Star Wars films. Who these films will focus on is up to everyone to guess. Some of you might wonder who I think the should focus on and some of you might want me to keep my mouth shut and my fingers taped together so that I won’t be able to tell ya. Anyhow, here is my top 5 list of who could, and should, get a stand alone spin-off movie in the Star Wars movie series.

You know how Disney has the rights to Star Wars, right? Disney also has a lot of other properties as well. I’m thinking about a crossover here. Number 5 on my list is:

5. Mickey Mouse goes to space

Envision Mickey Mouse going to space to find Pluto and he gets sucked into a black hole and learns that he’s a Jedi. Mickey then teams up with Donald Duck and Goofy to defeat Darth Black Pete. This would be a lighthearted family friendly Sci-fi epic that would generate a bunch of big dollars!

The fourth spot on my list is taken by one of the most rememorable character in the entire Star Wars universe. I’m if course talking about…

4. Stormtrooper #20098

Everyone remembers this individual. The stormtrooper that nearly hit Luke in Episode IV. He tragically died in the line of duty so the origin story should have a very dark tone. I’m sure there have been a lot of fan fiction written about this really interesting soldier but my story would be about him and his family. The story would begin with him being cloned and finding his place in the world. Tragic events from his early life turned him into a grim, drunk, wifebeater. The tone should be gritty and grounded with a dark dramatic story.

Now we enter the top three of my list. Occupying this spot is…

3. Darth Vader

Have you ever wondered how Darth Vader bacame, Darth Vader? What if we had a movie about it! Or maybe, hold on to your hats, THREE! Yes! Three movies focusing on him from his early years to his adult life. He could be trained by Obi-Wan and it would be all kinds of awesome. You could even focus on a counsil and trading and politics! Awesome! The best part is however the casting I have in mind. I’m thinking Hayden Christensen as Annakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader)!
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…HAHAHAHA! I got you! That must be the worst joke of all time!!1! Lolzz! What if that actually happened!!! That would have been awful! Wow, think about how bad that would turn out… Oh, I need a break.

Ok, ok, moving on from that joke now. It is time to get serious again. The second place on this list is won by…

2. When Hanny met Chewie

The story about how Han Solo met Chewbacca told like a romantic comedy… In space! This could be amazing. I’m thinking that it would begin with our two heroes born in a galaxy far far away. They would be buddies from birth but in the second act they would, as adults, have an argument about something, probably a space falcon or something… Then in the third act they would get together again and Han would say something like: “You had me at ‘mmmrwwaghgh'” and they would hold hands and fly into the space sunset… Happy days!

Now we come to the top spot on the list! I will give you a clue to make it easier for you to guess who has grabbed the first place. It’s a character that everyone loves. He is cool, dangerous and an extremely flat out awesome space man…
Have you been able to guess? I’m ofcourse talking about everyones favorite…..Boba…….

1. Jar Jar Rises

Yes! Jar Jar Binks. He was the best part of ALL Star Wars movies, books, games and what not. I’m thinking that this movie should be an action comedy with some romance as well. Mr. Binks sets of on a mission when his wife is killed. He teams up with Will Smith and John C. Reilly to take down Jabba the Hutt. I can imagine the trailer right now. It would begin with some awesome views of the landscape. Then we hear Jar Jars voice and he tells us that he is out for revenge: “What they did to me was wrong! I will find them and I will kill them!”. Then we see Jabbas palace and his guards. It cuts again and we see Smith and Reilly fly in with space jetpacks. Jar Jar walks up to them and they fight. It is awesome on every level of epic (is that correct english? Probably not…) but Jar Jar defeats them both. Then they all walk in to Jabbas palace as a team. John and Will fight the guards. Jar Jar jumps around like a boss and slices everything with his lightsaber. Then we see a guard running in to Jabbas hall. The guard falls and we see a lightsaber sticking out of his body. Jar Jar walks in and takes the weapon out of the guards body and the screen cuts to black. We see the logo: “Jar Jar Rising: They Pissed of the wrong Gungan”

That sums up my list. Did you agree or disagree? If you feel like you potentially, might consider to maybe think about commenting, do so! Take care!

Cheers, Bokis