Well Vin Diesel has been having himself quite the year so far. First, his Fast & Furious 6 film did amazingly well at the box office and was one of my favorite films of the year so far. In fact, the last we heard from Diesel was when he announced that they’ll be coming back for a seventh film in that franchise.
Well now Vin Diesel, via his Facebook page, dropped what could be some major developments between him and Marvel Studios. Here’s his little update for us:
P.s. Marvel has requested a meeting… no idea what for… haha, you probably know better than me…
So what the heck does that mean? Marvel has been doing a lot lately with the announcements of all their future projects. And we know that The Avengers project will have at least three phases which will leave room for plenty of characters to be introduced at some point. I don’t know about you but I see Diesel playing some sort of bad guy in that Universe. Phase Two is well into production right now so most likely we’ll see Diesel somewhere in Phase Three of this crazy awesome mess. Again, we’re assuming that this meeting goes well and something comes out of it.
A lot of people don’t care for Diesel as an actor but I particularly like him and if he’s given the right role he could be great for this environment. I mean, we did see him fly already…
So, if you got a chance to see This is the End, then you’ll know that a sequel doesn’t quite make a whole lot of sense. Without giving spoilers away, the way it ended was great and pretty funny if you ask me. That being said, it’s being reported that Evan Goldberg is saying that there is a very meta-concept in the works for a sequel where the movie will take place at the premiere of the movie This is the End. Here are the words from Goldberg himself:
If you ask me, I’d say there’s a good chance of sequel. If you ask Seth [Rogen], he’d say no. So, we’ll see. The guys are up for it but we lucked out that they were all available. I honestly don’t know if we could get the guys together. We actually talked about doing a sequel where it starts at the premiere of This is the End. Seth’s a cokehead in this version, Michael Cera is a calm dude with a boyfriend, Rihanna and The Backstreet Boys are back. We have a lot of ideas: a heaven and hell, for example, and a garden of Eden version where Danny [McBride] is Adam.
I’m not the biggest fan of meta but when it’s done right it could be really good and in this environment of making fun of themselves it actually makes sense. I like the idea of these guys playing exxagerrated versions of themselves and it did okay at the box office so I’m guessing other people did too. The film has doubled it’s budget so far and hasn’t hit most of the international markets yet so this will end up being a pretty big success for them. Assuming they can work out their schedules, this will most likely end up happening. And honestly, I’d like to see more of McBride is this kind of role. He was amazing and was one of the better parts of This is the End so seeing him as Adam in the Garden of Eden would be interesting to say the least.
We got a new trailer for Stuart Blumberg’s new film, Thanks for Sharing, which stars Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim Robbins, Joely Richardson, Josh Gad and Patraick Fugit.
The film deals with sex addiction and how society revolves around selling sex making it very hard for some people who deal with it on a constant basis. It’s an interesting topic with a great cast and it looks pretty good.
Check out the trailer and let us know your thoughts.
With Before Midnight coming out May 24th, we decided to look into and review the Before Trilogy, which is one of the best trilogies out there. In this series, we’ll review Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and top it off with the new film, Before Midnight.
Before Sunrise, 1995
Grades
Nate: A
JD: A+
Review
Before Sunrise is a great story of romantic pursuit in the most natural and real environment that you’ll see in film. Click here to read the full review.
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Before Sunset, 2004
Grades
Nate: A-
JD: A
Review Before Sunset is an incredible sequel that brings back everything from Before Sunrise that made it great. Click here to read the full review.
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Before Midnight, 2013
Grades
Nate: B+
JD: A
Review
While Before Midnight is a little bit different than the first two, it still has the same aesthetic we’re used to with the amazing dialogue we want as well. Click here to read the full review.
Over the weekend on our InSession Film Podcast, we discussed Independence Day 2 and why director Roland Emmerich said that Will Smith is “too expensive” for this project. I’m not sure about you, but that sounds a little ridiculous to me. I know Sony is still reaping its losses from After Earth, but it’s Will Smith. While Emmerich says he will not be back, I think over time we may see that change.
Well it’s now been announced that Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum will be back for ID 2. Emmerich has confirmed that both actors are coming back with Pullman reprising his role as now ex-President Whitmore and Goldblum as the computer genius David Levinson.
Both of these actors were amazing in the first film which makes this news exciting and a good choice on Emmerich’s part. I think for this sequel, which will not be 20 years later, Will Smith will need to be a part for people to get completely on board with it. We still have a long way to go on this and there are plenty of youthful actors that could step in but Smith has the star power and the character that people will want to see.
Independence Day 2 is slated for release on July 3, 2015.
If you’re not on the Philip Seymour Hoffman bandwagon by now you need to. His work and resume has been incredible and he’s one of the best actors in Hollywood. He’s one of those actors that will stand out in a movie even if he doesn’t a big role in the film. Despite some personal addictions and rehab, he’s been able to keep pulling of some amazing performances. If you didn’t see his incredible performance in The Master last year as Lancaster Dodd, you’re missing out as it was one of his better performances. Well admist the rehab, his career seems to still be on the upward and it looks like he’s been cast in Daniel Espinosa’s upcoming film, Child 44.
The film also stars Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Gary Oldman, Paddy Considine and Joel Kinnaman which is a great cast to be a part of. The story will focus on Hardy’s character as a Russian cop who is investigating a child-killer in the 1950’s Soviet Union. In the middle of all that, Stalin’s regime is insisting that the crimes don’t exist. So far this no word as to who Hoffman will be playing but he does pull of a “bad guy” well should he be cast as the murderer.
I’m not 100% sold on Espinosa yet but the story is a little intriguing and the cast will make me want to see this film. Hardy and Oldman are two of my favorite actors in Hollywood and you add in a name like Hoffman who’s an amazing performer and I’m going to need to see how this plays out.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comment section below!
Today we got the teaser trailer for Ridley Scott’s latest film, which features a star-studded cast. And it looks very, very good. The thriller was written by No Country for Old Men‘s Cormac McCarthy and stars Michael Fassbender – playing a lawyer who gets himself into a pickle when he gets involved with a drug trade – Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Javier Bardem.
With that kind of talent involved, The Counselor is definitely one to watch out for later this year – and come awards season next year.
Michael Bay via his website has revealed to us yet another vehicle for his Transformers 4 arsenal. Meet Pagani Huayra, an amazingly fast and awesome sports car. Pagani Huayra is “named after an ancient Andean God of Wind.” And I’m sure this car is the closest you get to flying in the wind without leaving the ground. I’m going to do my best to get Nate to buy me one for my birthday this year.
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Liam Neeson has a “very particular set of skills” and he’s going to keep using them.
According to Deadline, the action star will return for Taken 3 and reprise his role as retired CIA agent Bryan Mills, who uses his “skills” after his daughter is kidnapped. Neeson, who was reluctant to return for last year’s sequel before getting paid $15 million, is reportedly close to signing a $20 million deal.
No director has been attached but a script by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, who together wrote the first two films, is already in the works. Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen, who played Neeson’s daughter and ex-wife, respectively, in the first two films, which grossed a combined $600 million worldwide at the box office.
2008’s Taken was an incredible film, showcasing just how badass an 50-year-old Neeson can be. The sequel, while unnecessary, was entertaining but didn’t live up to the standards of the first film. Not sure where they’re going to go with the third film but hopefully it falls more in line with the original.
One of the all-time great sci-fi authors, Richard Matheson, has died at the age of 87. His daughter, Ali Marie Matheson, announced the icon’s passing via a protected Facebook post.
Matheson’s many pieces of works have been adapted for the big screen, most notably I Am Legend, which has been adapted three times, including 2007’s Will Smith version. Matheson also wrote novels/shorts that led to 2011’s Real Steel, 2009’s The Box, 1999’s Stir of Echoes, 1998’s What Dreams May Come and 1971’s Duel, which was Steven Spielberg’s first feature-length film. Matheson also wrote some of the best episodes of the Twilight Zone, which ran from 1959-1964.
For all the great stories Matheson has written – most of which have been adapted for either the big or small screen – it’s kind of funny that most people probably don’t even know who he is. What he is (was) is a great author who’s influenced so many people and will continue to do so even after his death.
As a fan of the book and the film – which was initially proposed a possible trilogy before it ran into production issues – I’m really excited for this news. I think there are endless possibilities of where to take the story, even if it doesn’t involve Pitt’s character.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we review World War Z, discuss out Top 3 Animated Movie Characters since we also saw Monsters University (See our Podcast – Extra Film segment this week for that review), and we finish our Before Series with our review of Before Midnight.
So this year we have the battle of taking over the White House because..well why not? Olympus Has Fallen didn’t really take me over sort of speak but it was a little fun. Based off the trailer, White House Down looks slightly better but we’ll wait and see. We want to know your thoughts too. Do you think White House Down will be better than Olympus Has Fallen?
After grossing $125 million last weekend to become June’s biggest opening, Man of Steel dropped to third with $41 million. It has made over $210 million in just 10 days, which is already more than 2006’s Superman Returns made.
In fourth was This is the End, which racked up another $13 million to bring its 12-day total to $57.7 million. The comedy/thriller cost just $32 million to make.
Now You See Me rounded out the top five with $7.8 million to push is surprising total to $100 million.
New films opening this weekend include Roland Emmerich’s White House Down and the Sandra Bullock-Melissa McCarthy buddy-cop film, The Heat.
It’s official: William Fichtner will be playing Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
In an interview with The Huffington Post Canada, Fichtner confirmed he will be going up against the Turtles as their arch-nemisis in the Michael Bay-produced reboot.
I play Shredder. It is cool. It’s one of those things that came along where I thought, “Really? Let me think about this for a minute.” [Laughs] Then I was like, “Yeah, OK, this sounds like a journey. I’m very glad that it worked out, I’m really glad that I’m doing it.”
This isn’t surprising news considering we predicted this over a month ago when Fichtner joined the cast. And it’s great news since Fichtner is one of the best character actors working today. Even if the film is complete garbage, you can expect a pretty amazing Shredder.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits theaters on June 6, 2014. But before then, you can check out Fichtner in The Lone Ranger (July 3) and Elysium (August 9).
Director: Marc Foster Writers: Matthew Michael Carnahan (screenplay), Drew Goddard (screenplay) Stars: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz
Synopsis:Â United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.
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DIRECTION
This is one of Marc Foster’s best work that brings together good storytelling, action, intensity and good performances. His pace is pretty quick as we find ourselves within the havoc after the first scene. However, it’s the way Foster edits his scenes and pieces it together that works really well. The camera movements deliver many angles of the wreckage while bringing lots of intense moments within them. He uses slow motion to capture memorable moments that are needed to explore the story and piece it together. His zombies are fast and not very bloody which can take away from the movie if that’s what you’re looking for. Foster uses camera tricks to relieve us from the blood and gore but give you the right sense needed to know what’s going on. He uses Marco Beltrami’s score perfectly to make the actions scenes fun and the intense scenes thrilling. He gets great performances out of his actors and uses Brad Pitt magnificently. Foster’s biggest win though is the way he pieces together a really great script. The family dynamics, Pitt going back to find clues and all the action sequences used to tell the story are put together well that’s very engaging. The only knock on Foster is the CGI of the zombies and how they maneuver. The fast-paced zombies drive up the energy of the film, but leaves room for the CGI to seem like…well CGI. Outside of the bad CGI looking zombies, the aesthetic comes across well and is very appropriate for the film. The use of news footage and sound bytes creates a serious feel which helps the story come along really well and creates the World War Z environment you can have fun with.
Grade:A-
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SCRIPT
The writers came up with really great script that’s a little different for a zombie movie. Fans of the book will have to lay down their expectations and preferences as this is very different than the novel this movie is based off of. The story follows Pitt’s character, who is a former U.N. investigator, and his family is called upon when all chaos is unleashed. The government is wants to use Pitt to get some intelligence to find out how to calm the storm. In the middle of that, you get to know Pitt’s character well, how he thinks and what motivates him. The dialogue is interesting and realistic in a situation that is serious in tone. The use of Pitt’s character is interesting as he’s leading a team trying to find a solution to a crazy problem. As things unfold, foreshadowing becomes important and it’s used appropriately to bring you into the mind of Pitt and what he’s seeing. There’s an airplane sequence about 3/4 through the film that could of been left out and is the only part of the film that is over the top in this environment and brought the film down a little bit. The best part of this script is the third act of the film and how the resolution is pieced together. It’s different and a fresh perspective on a genre that probably needed it. Well done, well done.
Grade:A
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PERFORMANCES
Brad Pitt is pretty good here and reminds me of his performance in Spy Game but is in a much different situation. He’s likable and brings a family dynamic that was enjoyable to watch on screen. He brings charisma and intelligence to a character that needs it and it’s easy to follow his logic all the way through. While not as prominent, Mireille Enos, who plays Pitt’s wife, is fabulous and plays off her role extremely well. There’s a lot of supporting cast and several characters come a go as the story moves along and they’re all great. Several of the characters were really fun and engaging which could of lasted longer but in the context of the story it’s what was needed. Overall, great stuff here.
Grade:A-
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SCORE
Marco Beltrami’s score is excellent for the genre and the environment he’s given to work with. It adds to the intense aesthetic and thrilling moments that this film calls for. It especially great in the third act of the film where the thrills escalate the most and the film peaks in intensity. We even get a fun song by Muse at the end of the film that’s great too.
So, this last week has been one of the most interesting weeks we’ve had since we started InSession Film. The reactions to Man of Steel have been some of the strongest and mixed for a film I’ve seen in quite some time. I felt like no matter what side of the fence you sat on, people had some strong opinions about it. I also think that’s what makes film so interesting and why we love doing InSession Film.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, Nate and I went into a lengthy discussion on Man of Steel and while I liked it, I didn’t love it which led to a fun conversation where Nate was probably 3 seconds away from throwing me through a wall. If you listen to the podcast, you’ll hear Nate talking about how he thinks it’s the best superhero film ever made. And for a lot of people that is the case. If you want lots of action and you’re a fan of Superman, you’re going to love this film. The visuals are great and who wouldn’t want to fly around like superman?
But on the other hand, a lot of people didn’t like it as much, and for some not at all, which left this film with lots of opinions. I think the strong reactions come from the amazing marketing that this film had, which elevated the expectations for everyone. And when you’re disappointed, especially for a film like this, you tend to get some strong reactions. And I didn’t hate the movie, I actually liked it, but I did have some major issues that Nate and I discussed about. And I saw a second time and liked it better on the re-watch. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never been a big Superman fan but I couldn’t quite get on board with all the “lovers” of this film. The lack of character development and the dark tone wasn’t fun for me. As we discussed, the main themes were great and I loved those which elevated the film and to miss those means you’re missing out on what Man of Steel really has to offer.
This is why I love film though. Some movies will create interesting and fun conversation, ideas and thoughts which is what I love about it. Even if I disagree with you, that doesn’t mean I don’t like you or that I don’t respect you. Heck, Nate and I argue and disagree all the time. Anyway, all that being said, check out Episode 17 as we had a good debate on Man of Steel.
Nate and I also discussed This is the End, which Nate and I both loved a lot and could possibly be the best comedy of the year. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg do an amazing job all around with the comedy, the performances, the music, and even the CGI in this film.
We also discussed our Top 3 Movie Reboots going of the Man of Steel reboot theme. It was one of the easier Top 3 Lists we’ve done but it was fun going back to see how well these reboots have done.
Listen to Episode 17 here:
Also, check out our bonus content where Nate and I go into discuss some more Man of Steel (Spoilers Here):
Let me know you’re thoughts in the comments below!
It’s been reported that the lovely Anna Kendrick will play Cinderella in Rob Marshall’s adaptation of the broadway play, Into the Woods. The fairytale trend is almost as popular as comic book movies now-a-days, so this isn’t a huge surprise and Kendrick absolutely has Cinderella written all over her, especially for this play.
The play is a comic musical that premiered on Broadway in 1987 and takes pieces from different fairytales including Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel. The story centers around a baker with his wife who are trying to start a family despite a witch that placed a curse on them. The play has been amazingly successful.
Rob Marshall will be directing, which I think is a pretty great choice. In case you don’t know, he directed Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha , Nine, and Pirates of the Caribbean 4. The film already stars Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal so Kendrick will fit in just well, especially as the character of Cinderella in this universe.
Kendrick has really been on the rise over the last several years as she starred in last year’s big hit, Pitch Perfect, as well as her roles in Up in the Air and The Twilght Saga. She also had a good role in the incredibly, and I mean incredibly, underrated buddy cop film, End of Watch and you can see her in the new movie coming out in July, Drinking Buddies.
I think this role will be perfect for Kendrick and the surrounding cast will only make it better.
What are your thought? Let us know in the comment section below!
