Tuesday, June 9, 2015

2015 Summer Movie Previews - June

June 3rd

Entourage: Movie star Vincent Chase, together with his friends Eric, Turtle, and Johnny, are back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold on a risky project that will serve as Vince's directorial debut.
Trailer here.

June 5th

Insidious: Chapter 3: A prequel that reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.
Trailer here.

Love & Mercy: In the 1960s, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson (John Cusack, Paul Dano) struggles with emerging psychosis as he attempts to craft his avant-garde pop masterpiece. In the 1980s, he is a broken, confused man under the 24-hour watch of shady therapist Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti). *Limited release
Trailer here.

Spy: A desk-bound CIA analyst (Melissa McCarthy) volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer (Rose Byrne), and prevent diabolical global disaster.
Trailer here.

Monday, June 8, 2015

2015 Summer Movie Reviews - May

The following are reviews of the movies released in May 2015. Enjoy!
*Previews of these movies and all the ones I haven't had a chance to see yet can be found here.

May 1st

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Opening Weekend: $191.3 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 74%

Review: The first Avengers film was an epochal moment in cinematic history, assembling characters from independent films together in a way never done before and setting incredible box office records. It was also a ton of fun, but the well-known tendency for sequels to fall far below expectations set by their predecessors seemed inevitable for a second Avengers, even if both were directed by genre-master Joss Whedon (Firefly). Some critics and fanboys alike have proclaimed this to have come true yet again; I disagree. While not more entertaining than the first movie, Avengers: AoU is not also not less so, providing audiences with more visually-fantastic superhero brawls, an interesting villain, and engaging character development that pushes the Marvel franchise forward. Yes, that push is a not always graceful inclusion and can feel more like a forced shove than a natural propulsion, but the construction of an inter-connected universe is what I find most fun about Marvel productions; if you're less interested in that, I can understand greater a greater frustration with the ever-growing cast of characters (though I would never understand if anyone didn't like the new character, Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen). Ultimately, Avengers AoU may be a bit overstuffed, but I'm not one to complain too much about an abundance of satisfying comic-book riches and I'm more excited than ever to see this franchise  continue to evolve.
The Final Word: 3.5/4 - Go buy a ticket.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

2015 Summer Movie Previews - May

May 1st

Avengers: Age of Ultron: When the Avengers (so, so, so many actors) try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it's up to Earth's Mightiest Heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.
Trailer here.

Far From the Madding Crowd: In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), a prosperous and mature bachelor. *Limited release.
Trailer here.