Access Blockbusters: June 2018

Friday, June 29, 2018

Indiana Jones 5 Delayed

When Disney acquired the Indiana Jones property, it seemed only a matter of time before a sequel would be green-lit. A few years back, Indiana Jones 5 was confirmed, with legendary director Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford to return as director and lead. However, recent reports as suggesting that the film has been delayed from its original release date. Sources confirm that it will move from its July 10th, 2020 release date to an unspecified time. This isn't the first time Indiana Jones has moved release dates, as it was actually originally intended to hit theaters on July 19th, 2019, before being pushed to 2020. Additionally, the film has hired screenwriter Jonathan Kasden, son of legend Laurence Kasden, to rewrite the script in some capacity. Whether or not this is a bad omen remains to be seen.

Fox Shareholder Meeting Delayed Until Late July

In the latest installment of the bidding war between Disney and Comcast, 20th Century Fox has delayed their shareholder meeting yet again. According to Fox, their original date for their shareholder meeting was to be in early July. This meeting was to be held for the shareholders of Fox to decide and vote upon whether they agree with the offer of 70+ billion dollars that Disney was offering. However, with Comcast still looming large and analysts predicting they will make another counter, Fox has pushed this meeting even farther, stipulating that should an irregularity (a counter offer) event take place, there may be precedent to delay the meeting once more. The meeting will now take place on July 27th, 2018.

First Teaser Poster for Glass Revealed

As seen above, the first teaser poster for the new M. Night Shyamalan film, Glass, has officially been released. Glass is a sequel to both Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as Split, starring James McAvoy. All three actors can be seen above in the reflection o fhte glass.

Glass will hit theaters on January 18th, 2019.

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Hit Big Milestones

The summer blockbuster season is here, and two of the biggest hits at the box office already are Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and The Incredibles 2. Both films have recently just hit major milestones in the worldwide box office. The Incredibles 2, critically acclaimed with a 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, has just passed $500 million worldwide. Meanwhile, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, not as highly praised, it about to hit $750 million dollars worldwide. It looks like both these films are well on their way to reaching the billion dollar club, joining the two previous MCU films, Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther.

It: Chapter 2 Officially Begins Production as Cast Share Photos

With the massive unexpected hit of the first It, the sequel was well underway almost as soon as the first one left theaters. With all the big casting announcements in recent weeks, we've finally begun production as members of the cast shared photos of themselves.

It: Chapter 2 HIts theater on September 8th, 2019.

Avengers 4 and Captain Marvel Concept Art Revealed

Ant Man and the Wasp is hitting theaters in just over a week, but looking ahead to the final two installments in MCU's Phase 3, new concept art has been released from both Captain Marvel and Avengers 4. While Marvel themselves have announced if these are official, many reputable sources are claiming that these are official pieces of promo art, which does make sense as Infinity War concept art did begin to hit at about this time. Check them about below.

Captain Marvel

Avengers 4

Johnny English is Officially Back with New Poster

Rowan Atkinson, once notable for his work as Mr. Bean and Johnny English is back in action with the next installment in the Johnny English franchise. Johnny English Strikes Again has its first poster, which will release in October.

Jared Leto to Play Morbius in Sony's Spider-Man Universe

With the rise of superhero films in the past decade or so, as well as the meteoric rise of shared cinematic universes, Sony decided to push forward with their own, with a shared Spider-Man universe minus Spider-Man himself. The first film in the franchise will kick off the universe this October with Venom. Now, Jared Leto has taken to instagram to announce that he will be playing Morbius in an upcoming Morbius film. Morbius is a vampire from Spider-Man's rogues gallery. It remains to be seen when the film will be announced, as Silver and Black was also taken off Sony's release schedule.

Monday, June 25, 2018

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Review

Release date (US): June 22nd, 2018

Directed By: J.A. Bayona

Rating: PG-13

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeff Goldblum, Daniella Pineda, Justice Smith, B.D. Wong, James Cromwell, Rafe Spell, Toby Jones

Expectations/Background: To be completely honest, I wasn't all that into the first Jurassic World. While I enjoyed the film for the most part and thought that it was a "fun time" at the theater, I didn't understand why this film made over a billion and a half dollars at the international box office - I just didn't understand the widespread appeal that that film appeared to have. That being said, it made monstrous amounts of money and a sequel was very rapidly announced. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom enlisted director J.A. Bayona, who has directed some hidden gems such as A Monster Calls. The main players, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard returned and overall, I was mildly anticipating the movie. However, after seeing the trailers, I grew less and less excited and more and more apathetic towards the film. By the time the film hit theaters to lukewarm reviews, I was not anticipating the film all that much and my expectations were rather low.

The Movie: While Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom isn't the next Citizen Kane, I had a good time watching the movie, and it certainly blew my low expectations out of the water. The film delivered some great moments as well as some terrible ones which overall, resulted in an enjoyable film.

I think the thing that jumped out at me right away was the cinematography. After reading many reviews for the film in preparation for writing my own, I noticed that not many people had mentioned the cinematography - but to me, the visuals of the film were stunning. I thought that if the set pieces were green screen, I couldn't tell and if they were, they were done beautifully. The backdrops for the film were absolutely beautiful. (Minor spoiler alert - the following information is in the trailers) The parts on the island while the volcano was exploding, as well as some other scenes out in the wild were shot in such a way that were grounded, yet showed the grandeur of the dinosaurs at the same time. There are some absolutely gorgeous shots in the film that you could screenshot and frame on your wall.

Another great thing about this film is the direction. J.A. Bayona brings something that Colin Trevorrow didn't in the first, and that's his own unique stamp. There are some scenes that invoke elements of horror films and those were the scenes that worked the best for me. The tension and suspense that Bayona drew out of scenes that really had no right in being that suspenseful was amazing. I found that even though I wasn't quite as invested in the story and characters as I would have liked, I was still on the edge of my seat for a couple scenes throughout the film, and I think that's all due to Bayona and his impressive direction.

That being said, that is the general summation of my positives for the film. While I enjoyed this film enough to overlook some flaws, there are some very apparent missteps that this film took. And it starts with the characters.

One of the main problems I had from Jurassic World (the first film) was the lack of depth from the characters, and this is an issue that carries right over to the sequel. We've now spent two films with Owen Grady and Claire and for the life of me, I still do not care about their characters. The only reason I remotely care about what happens to them is the performances given by Pratt and Howard, which elevate their meaningless characters. This film also does the same thing that the last one did which is introduce side characters that have absolute no significance in any way shape or form.

Jumping directly off of that, there are so many scenes in the film where characters do things that are quite frankly stupid. Now, in certain cases, characters will do stupid things in movies; but we can accept that because its in line with their character and it's what the story calls for (Infinity War with the same Chris Pratt). HOWEVER, when characters who receive absolutely no development do things that are so ridiculously dumb and ludicrous for absolutely no reason only to push the plot forward. There are so many scenes that made me lean back in my seat and just mutter, "What??".

Also - it is worth mentioning that (minor spoiler) this film is almost entirely the same as the first one. There are so many moments and plot lines (major ones too) that take directly from the first Jurassic World as well as Jurassic Park. Just thought it was worth mentioning.

But perhaps the most egregious wrong that this film commits in the last ten minutes. This is a spoiler-free review, so I will not give away what happens, but up until that point, even though the characters were shallow and rather dumb, the plot held up somewhat and I was enjoying myself. But when the ending is revealed and the film comes to an end, I audibly gasped because of how ridiculous the ending was. There are bold endings that push the envelope and are shocking, which is good. But then there are endings that go too far - and that was this. This ending was blatantly ending up a sequel, a third film that I have absolutely no interest in seeing at this point (though I probably will end up seeing it) and nearly ruined the entire experience for me.

That being said, this film has its moments. It really does - it looks beautiful and the performances do carry most of the movie, so while there are major issues, I actually did enjoy the film for what it was.

The Villains: Same old "corporate" villains that we love to hate from the Jurassic films. I still don't understand why the filmmakers have to keep going back to that archetype, but they do it again. I won't reveal who or what the villain is, but when you see the film, it will be so blatantly obvious, and for the record, they weren't that good.

The Music/Score: I was shocked when the credits rolled and it said that the music was done by the great Michael Giacchino, because throughout the entire film, I was telling myself that the music was vastly disappointing. I wish that Giacchino called back to the original Jurassic Park theme more often, and there were even moments that I wish he used the original theme.

In Conclusion: Yes, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has issues, and major ones at that. BUT, despite all of them, there was never a moment in the movie (aside from the last ten minutes) that I wasn't enjoying myself. To me, this is the perfect example of a movie that you watch once and don't think about that much, and for what it's worth, I think that this was two hours well spent.

**DISCLAIMER**: This is a subjective, opinionated article that has, nor should have any affect on your opinion on the given material. As such, my opinion is entitled to change over time and whatever is written here at this given point in time may not and should not be held to me in the future.

The Incredibles 2 - Review

Release date (US): June 15th, 2018

Directed By: Brad Bird

Rating: PG

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Brad Bird, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener, Sophia Bush, Jonathan Banks

Expectations/Background: Growing up in an era where Pixar was at its best, I saw The Incredibles many times growing up. It was one of the best movies that I had seen as a young child as it showed what superheroes could do in a medium (animation) that lent itself to cartoonish violence. But along with that, it showed the dynamics of a true family, which is what really drew me in. As I grew older and my knowledge of film grew with me, the question that pervaded my mind (as well as the minds of many) was: Where's the sequel? The film lends itself so nicely to another installment, and it was only a matter of time. Still, as time went on, I grew less and less hopeful, until a few years ago, the sequel was announced to begin production. My excitement level was through the roof as one could imagine; this was one of the pieces of nostalgia coming back in a big way. And yet, seeing the trailers gave me pause; though I liked the individual scenes in the trailers, I thought that the trailers were mediocre at best; they were a collection of disparate scenes set to the wonderful music (Giacchino, you genius). But hearing the overwhelmingly positive word of mouth coming out of the early press screenings, I had hope - and I went in hopeful that this would be the sequel that we all wanted/deserved.

The Movie: I don't usually describe many films like this, but I feel that this film deserves this descriptor: The Incredibles 2 is superbly well-crafted from the ground up. I say many movies are good, some even great, but rarely do I say that from the very foundations is a movie "well-crafted"; yet this film is so wholly deserving of this praise.

I'm going to start off this review starting off with some things that I didn't particularly enjoy because that was the experience I had in the theater - the first hour or so I thought was "fine", but nothing more than that. I thought some of the voice acting and the dialogue was EXTREMELY clunky (and I still stand by that for some parts of the film), and by the time we reached the middle of the film, I was beginning to worry. The movie was feeling more like a kid's movie than the same "vein" as the first movie.

HOWEVER, once the film really kicked into gear in the second hour (the film is about two hours long) I suddenly realized exactly what I was watching and I was so incredibly (no pun intended) impressed. Here's what I thought the problem was with the first hour; the first hour is a lot of individual, disparate storylines and character that seem to have very little relation to each other, and while enjoyable to an extent on their own, I was confused as to what the overall narrative was (much like the trailer) - but suddenly every single plot thread that they had set up (and I mean every single one - if it was in the movie, it was for a purpose) came together to weave into a beautifully intricate puzzle AKA the third act, which blew me out of the water. The last hour, and more specifically the last forty minutes was so absolutely thrilling and satisfying that I completely understood what the first hour was trying to do.

One of the highlights of the film, just like as with the first film, is the interactions between the Parr family. Violet in particular gets a big B-storyline that I enjoyed a lot; she's at the center at a lot of the best moments, and I was surprised to find that her interactions with her father, Mr. Incredible, were some of the best in the film.

But let's not kid ourselves; Jack-Jack completely stole the film. There's a certain part in the middle of the movie that had me nearly in tears laughing, and it revolved entirely around Jack-Jack. The expansion of his powers in this film is so fun to watch. And yes, if you've seen any other reviews you know that Edna and Jack-Jack's interactions are priceless; they are worth the price of admission alone.

Elastigirl, as shown in the trailers, is given a much bigger role as compared to the first movie, which was also great to see. Her character is expanded a lot more and she becomes a central figure throughout the movie. While her personality/character didn't really grow/mature much, it was still great to see her put in different situations that we hadn't seen her before.

Closing out the Parr family, I think Dash got the short end of the stick. I think that while Bird had a great idea as to what to do with the other four members of the Parr family, I think that Dash was relegated to the "punchline", and not even that at certain points. He was just kind of "there", and that was a shame. There was no real scene like in the first film where he was running across the water.

One of the biggest concerns I had with the film going in was that the trailers had revealed almost everything - and I was so wrong. The trailer revealed next to nothing about the story - like I said early, the trailer was a series of disparate scenes strung together to make a mediocre trailer, but it effectively hid a lot of the film's plot from the audience which I was extremely thankful for.

Really, there isn't much in the film that I didn't like. I will touch upon a few "nit-picky" things that I didn't quite enjoy as much as I thought. Like I said, the first hour dragged a little bit for me - I was having a good time but I thought that if the rest of the film was like that then I would be extremely bored (maybe on a second viewing it will be better). As stated earlier as well, some of the dialogue (in particular, one character) is very over-the-top, clunky, and quite frankly cringeworthy. Those were the moments that I was reminded that I was watching a "kid's film", even though it really isn't.

But overall, I walked out of the movie with a huge smile on my face - I thought that they couldn't make a film comparable to the first, but somehow, against all odds, they did it, and I was so glad that I got to see it.

The Villains: I will say one of the weaker parts of the film is the villain(s?). I think that while the villain served their purpose, they weren't particularly strong, and once I understood who they were as well as what their motivation was, it was a very bland, generic villain as compared to Syndrome from the first movie. No spoilers.

The Music/Score: Giacchino is back - but I can't quite say better than ever. While his original themes from the film ring throughout the sequel, there isn't much else that stands out. To me, I would've loved to hear the original theme a lot louder and a lot more - that would've made the film feel a little more in tune with the original. But there are times where the score reminds me enough of the original's score that satisfied me enough.

In Conclusion: The Incredibles 2 is everything I wanted it to be and more. It has action, heart, and wonderful characters that are developed even further. Because of the wonderful set up the Brad Bird did in the first film, he was able to play in his world even more in the sequel, and although it shouldn't have taken 14 years to make the film, it was well worth the wait.

**DISCLAIMER**: This is a subjective, opinionated article that has, nor should have any affect on your opinion on the given material. As such, my opinion is entitled to change over time and whatever is written here at this given point in time may not and should not be held to me in the future.

Weekend Box Office Report (June 22nd - June 24th)

Disclaimer: Every Monday, I will post the top five movies that grossed the most money DOMESTICALLY (in the United States), with some brief thoughts about each film.

1. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($150.00 Million): The latest installment in the Jurassic Park franchise hit theaters with a thunderous roar. Albeit, not as much as its predecessor, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom still made a very impressive amount opening weekend; we'll have to wait and see what its legs are like considering the lukewarm (at best) critical reception.

2. Incredibles 2 ($80.93 Million): One of the highest grossing animated films to date (and it's only on its second weekend), Incredibles 2 will have huge legs as it looks to hit the billion mark at the box office.

3. Ocean's 8 ($11.65 Million): The latest film in the Oceans franchise is also making some good money as it hits its third weekend. While it didn't make a ton of money on its opening weekend, it blew away all projections and looks to make a huge profit.

4. Tag ($8.20 Million): The small film that no one saw coming starring Jeremy Renner and Jon Hamm, Tag is hanging around as well. Critics praised the film as a fun time at the theaters, and clearly audiences are responding.

5. Deadpool 2 ($5.25 Million): Surprisingly, even though it faced competition like Avengers: Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story, Deadpool 2 has stuck around at the box office and is in the number five spot. While nothing much is coming next weekend, by the time Ant-Man and the Wasp comes to town, Deadpool 2 will be knocked out of hte top 5 for sure.

Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 Title Revealed

Marvel Studios has been playing coy with their titles for the upcoming films on their slate as of late. However, Tom Holland has "accidentally" let slip what the title for the Spider-Man sequel will be. Hopping on Instagram, Holland talked to his followers from Ace Comic Con, accidentally holding up a screen with the title for the sequel: Spider-Man: Far From Home. While this undoubtedly was planned and was a play on Holland's proclivity to reveal spoilers, it was a great way to reveal the title for the highly anticipated sequel. Kevin Feige later came out and confirmed that this was going to be the real title for the film, teasing that this title has several different meanings and interpretations.

Spider-Man: Far From Home will hit theaters on July 5th, 2019.

Editorial #8: Why I Will No Longer Employ a Rating System

If you were to look at anything that offers an opinion on nearly anything, whether it be food, books, or in this case, movies, one of the first things that you would see is a number/letter grade attached to the subject in question. And I myself, for the longest time, have believed that one of the most effective ways to convey how I feel about a film is to give both a letter grade as well as a number score. But, after giving it some considerate thought, I will no longer use a quantifiable score in my reviews; here's why.

One of the biggest reasons has to simply do with time. We, as people, grow fickle and change our opinions, our tastes, and our way of viewing the world over time. As such, if we see a movie five years ago versus yesterday, more or less likely you would see and rate the movie in a different way. Slapping a number score on a film that I saw six years ago will more or less likely not hold anymore; in reality, it may move up or down if I were to see the same film again. But because of the nature of this blog, the number score is attached to that particular post/review for the end of time, meaning that either I update it in a separate post or leave it as my opinion. And I don't want; I think that the most important thing about my opinions on the film are usually conveyed in the first review, regardless of my number score. If my opinion changes super drastically on a repeat viewing, then perhaps I would do a rewind review, but since the gist of my opinion usually remains the same, I think the number/letter score (changing as it is) is redundant and pointless.

But the second reason is also equally as important. As people, we have a tendency to want to get to the point without actually reading the content of a review or editorial. And if we present a number score/letter grade, the first thing that we would gravitate towards would be said number/letter rather than reading the contents of the actual review. I want people to judge how I feel about a film based not on a number but on what I actually write.

So, henceforth there will no longer be an official rating; and this really shouldn't change anything. The reviews themselves should remain largely the same, and if you read through one of them, it won't be hard to discern what I think about a given film.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Avengers: Infinity War Officially Hits 2 Billion Dollars

Disney/Marvel seem that they can do no wrong with their films, both critically or financially. And now, Marvel has hit their latest milestone as their mega-film, Avengers: Infinity War, has officially hit 2 billion dollars. This film is only the fourth film in history to hit this mark, trailing behind Avatar, Titanic, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It is the second film for Disney in the last 3 years, which continues the unprecedented run of success for the Mouse-House.

Avengers: Infinity War is still in theaters now.

Monday, June 11, 2018

Weekend Box Office Report (June 8th - June 10th)

Disclaimer: Every Monday, I will post the top five movies that grossed the most money DOMESTICALLY (in the United States), with some brief thoughts about each film.

1. Ocean's Eight ($41.61 Million): Say what you will about the necessity of this film (or many others this summer for that matter), but Ocean's Eight has come out and made well over the expected mark at 41 million dollars. This puts it as the highest opening weekend mark for any Oceans film, and opens the door for more capers with the characters introduced in this film.

2. Solo: A Star Wars Story ($15.75 Million): While, yes, Solo: A Star Wars Story did manage to stay in the top 2 spots, it took another dip. Reports are saying that Solo may not even hit 200 million dollars domestically, which is lower than Avengers: Infinity War's opening weekend, domestically. Needless to say, unless this film has a massive run (which it will not), Solo is officially a bomb.

3. Deadpool 2 ($14.15 Million): Yet again nearly catching the latest Star Wars film, Deadpool 2 continues to chug along. While it has heavy competition, much more than it had for the first film which was released in February, Deadpool 2 is making good money for Fox, and will open the door to the X-Force film that they've been talking about.

4. Hereditary ($13.56 Million): The newest film by A24 has been met with critical acclaim. As such, it is rewarded by making a cool 13.5 million at the box office, nearly catching both Deadpool and Han Solo for the 2 and 3 spots, which is impressive. This could be a case of long legs, or perhaps it may not be, we'll just have to wait and see, but regardless, this is a win for A24.

5. Avengers: Infinity War ($7.24 Million): The behemoth that refuses to leave, Avengers: Infinity War may yet be here next week, depending on how much Solo drops. But chances are that the Incredibles 2 will knock Infinity War out of the top spot. That, however, doesn't overshadow the fact that this film is just barely under 2 billion and will, without a doubt, hit the 2 billion mark this week.

Director of Solo Responds to Box Office Bomb

It's no secret that Solo: A Star Wars Story is an unmitigated disaster at the box office, and now, director Ron Howard has come forward to share his thoughts on his film's lack of success. Taking to Twitter, Howard said this:

"I'm proud of #SoloAStarWarsStory and the cast and crew worked hard to give fans a fun new addition. As a director I feel badly when people who I believe (and exit polls show) will very likely enjoy a movie... don't see it on a big screen w/great sound."

Howard's comments do reflect the general consensus behind the film, which is that while not critically acclaimed, the film was enjoyed by most of the audience with a Rotten Tomatoes score in the 70s, but the box office not an accurate reflection of how many people actually liked the film.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is in theaters now.

Feige Gives Quiet Update on X-Men to Marvel

While it has been awhile since Disney and Fox seemed to close the deal to merge, the deal seems to have been stalled due to the nature of the deal itself as well as another competitor in Comcast. Some implications of the deal would be that the X-Men characters would head back to Marvel and the MCU under the guidance of head Kevin Feige. However, Feige has given a quick update on the status of the deal. Speaking to Fandomwire, Feige had this to say:

"I'm just sitting, waiting for a phone call to say yay or nay, but obviously, it would be nice to have access to that entire library."

As we presumed, Disney and Fox have not finalized anything, and because of this, there have been no discussions as of yet about X-Men.

It: Chapter 2 Adds Final Piece

As It: Chapter 2 nears the beginning of production, the cast seems to have assembled as the final piece of the puzzle has fallen into place. According to Chosen Jacobs, who played young Mike Hanson, Mustafa is confirmed to be playing the adult version in the upcoming film. Mustafa, known for his role in the Old Spice commercials, will be joining A-listers such as James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, and Bill Hader.

It: Chapter 2 will hit theaters on September 6th, 2019.

John Lasseter to Leave Disney by 2019

After almost 20 years of serving as one of Disney and Pixar's highest creative executives, John Lasseter is leaving the animation studios by the end of the year. According to Disney, John Lasseter, who was on leave of absence for the past 6 months due to allegations of abuse and harassment, will leave his positions in Disney Animation as well as Pixar on December 31st, 2018. In the meantime, he will serve only as an advisory consultant. The news was not much of a surprise, seeing as the director of such films as Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Toy Story 2, publicly acknowledged mistakes that he made throughout his career that may ultimately end it.

Thursday, June 7, 2018

MCU Rewind #15-18 - Guardians 2 - Black Panther

Since there are reviews for all of these films already up on the site, and my thoughts have not drastically changed for any of them, I decided to recap my quick thoughts on my rewatch here in one article.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2 - As per usual with comedies, this film didn't quite hold up. It was a good film, and I like it more than most people do, actually, but I found that the majority of the jokes didn't hold up quite as well as I would have hoped. The character development of Star-Lord was great, especially considering what happened to him in Infinity War, but I felt that Gunn didn't know what to do with some of the characters, especially Gamora.

Previous Rating; 8.9/10

New Rating: 8.4/10

Spider-Man: Homecoming - My stance on this movie stands - I love this film. I've seen this a few times and it's brilliant. It takes all the elements of Peter Parker and Spider-Man that we loved from the previous iterations, gently includes some great scenes with Iron Man, and has a FANTASTIC villain, one of the best, with Vulture in Homecoming. I love this movie and can't wait for the sequel. Tom Holland IS Peter Parker and Tom Holland IS Spider-MAn.

Previous Rating: 9.6/10

New Rating: 9.6/10

Thor: Ragnarok - Again, as with most comedies, this film goes down a little, but not NEARLY as much as Guardians 2. And what I found great about this film was that it's incredibly rewatchable. You can watch some scenes in this film over, and over, and over simply because it's so entertaining to see certain interactions between certain characters. Jumping from scene to scene, there is not a moment where you are bored, watching Dr. Strange, Loki, Thor, Grandmaster, Valkyrie, and Hela (although, upon further viewing, I did not like her as much as I used to). Overall, a truly entertaining film.

Previous Rating: 9.1/10

New Rating: 9.0/10

Black Panther - There was a lot of hype surrounding this film, and I found myself caught up in it slightly. While it's not the most rewatchable film in the world, it is still a great one. It has a very potent message about discrimination, and has one of the BEST MCU villains to date (and then came Thanos). The unique footprint that it leaves on the MCU may never be replicated (we'll see about Captain Marvel, but I doubt it) and I believe that it will always be remembered. I quite enjoy the film, have a couple issues (read the review), but it's definitely worth a watch.

Previous Rating: 9.2/10

New Rating: 8.9/10

Editorial #7 - My Thoughts on Marketing Misdirects

**WARNING** MAJOR SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR AND DEADPOOL 2 AHEAD. READER DISCRETION ADVISED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

As more and more big budget tentpole films emerge, as do their marketing campaigns, we find ourselves in a conundrum; with more and more studios deciding to use their marketing to trick fans and avoid spoilers, should they do this? And more importantly, what consequences do they have on their films?

It all started last October, October of 2017, when Avengers: Infinity War released their first trailer. The only thing is, none of us had any idea because we all saw the trailer, we lost our minds when we saw the final shot (above) with the Avengers charging through the woods of Wakanda.

Unbeknownst to ANY OF US, this shot was a complete misdirect, and was NOWHERE in the film. Nowhere.

Perhaps it was edited out? Not likely. Here's why.

Remember how throughout the entire film, Hulk did not want to come out? There were scenes all throughout the film that had Bruce Banner fighting with his alter ego to bring him out. This wasn't a last minute change. If this was a last minute change, then you would be forgiven in thinking that if this was a last minute change, this shot in the trailer was one that was shot early, but cut. But it wasn't.

Kevin Feige, along with Mark Ruffalo, have explicitly stated that Bruce Banner/Hulk has a definite three-movie-arc starting with Thor: Ragnarok and ending with Avengers 4. This second-installment, Avengers: Infinity War, had Hulk struggling with himself, and I'm sure that Avengers 4 will have these issues resolved somehow and Hulk will come back. But going back to the original point, Hulk was not meant to be in the film at all.

So that trailer, above, was fake all along, and Marvel knew it from the start, the Russos knew it from the start, and Kevin Feige knew it from the start. Additionally, there were other shots throughout the trailers that only showed Thanos with 2 infinity stones, when in reality, he had 4 or 5.

So this begs the question; is this okay? Should movie studios be doing this?

The answer, in my humble opinion, is no, but not a definite, concrete no.

The whole idea of a trailer is to get you excited for a particular movie. The trailer is supposed to use whatever footage is available to promote the upcoming feature film. The trailer can use whatever tone that they want, as evidenced with a film such as Suicide Squad. If you want to see a film with two trailers that are so drastically different from each other, watch the first and second trailer for Suicide Squad. The first trailer promised a dark, gritty, real-world kind of film, while the second brought forth a campy, edgy, light-hearted tone with Bohemian Rhapsody.

So technically, Marvel was not wrong in putting this scene in the trailer, because yes, technically, it was promoting the film using some footage that existed. HOWEVER, I believe that they shouldn't have simply because it was selling a movie that we did not get. And this is only a minor example; think about it - when you see a trailer like this, you expect Hulk, simply because you see Hulk. So when the Battle of Wakanda comes around, and you begin to realize that Hulk isn't coming, you see that this trailer shot is a fake. And then you begin to realize that the trailers lied about a great deal many things.

Look at Deadpool 2. They used their trailer to market this idea of X-Force, only to kill them all off in the middle of the film. And that's OKAY, simply because it wasn't selling the film to be X-Force centric - it was setting up a joke. This is a different scenario because the Avengers trailer was DELIBERATELY tricking audience members with fake shots. The Deadpool trailer was using existing shots to manipulate the audience into thinking one thing.

I believe that there is a concrete difference with manipulating the tone of a trailer versus inserting shots into the trailer that aren't in the final film. The problem with the first option is not that you sell a false movie, but perhaps you sell a better movie than the one that was actually delivered. For example, in the case of Iron Man 3, I loved the tones of the trailers far more than I liked the tone of the actual movie, but that was in no way the fault of the filmmakers; that was just the trailer editors (who are often separate from the filmmakers) making the film (using existing footage) look like something that it's not, and coincidentally, we got a better trailer (in my opinion) for Iron Man 3 than the actual film.

So in the end, yes it's up to the film makers to do whatever they want and make whatever movie they want, but, like Infinity War and the Russos, it's important to realize that we expect a certain level of certainty when we see a trailer. We expect a certain level of finality - so when they give us false information deliberately, it causes us to wonder: what can we trust?

The Incredibles II - First Reactions

As The Incredibles 2 approaches, here are some social media reactions from around the Internet from the fortunate press who were able to see the film early.

Chris E. Hayner: Just walked out of #Incredibles2. It improves on practically everything from the original. Its visual style is stunning to look at, the characters are fantastic, and the adventure is a blast. There's a little bit of predictability in the story, but I was so down for this ride.

Simon Thompson: #Incredibles2 is a giddy, slick bundle of fun. The action set pieces are tasty, impressive, never over-egged. Plenty for kids and adults to get their teeth into and a few belly laughs too. The design, audio and visual, really make it op. A worthy sequel to a tough act to follow.

Eric Eisenberg: Wow!! #Incredibles2 is a blast. It does a great job building on the characters and the world, and it's super funny and action packed throughout. I had my doubts, but was thoroughly impressed. Will go down as one of the best titles of the summer.

Perri Nemiroff: #Incredibles2 is such a friggin delight! Family dynamic is brilliant yet again but WOW is Jack Jack a scene stealer. And that score! More A+ work from Michael Giacchino that I'm gonna need to own.

Peter Sciretta: #Incredibles2 is a serviceable sequel, a fun adventure but not on the same level of the original. Jack Jack and Edna steal the show, (please tell me the are making a short film with Edna babysitting Jack Jack). Fantastic production design, another great score by @m_giacchino.

Steven Weintraub: So happy to report @BradBirdA113 delivered a fantastic sequel to 'The Incredibles'. Absolutely loved #Incredibles2. And @m_giacchino score is, as always, awesome. Can't wait to see it again.

Kristian Harloff: Man #Incredibles2 was fantastic! It was fast paced, full of laughsm action, emotion...I really liked the first one, I LOVED this one.

The Incredibles 2 hits theaters on June 15th, 2018.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - Official Trailer Review

The first trailer for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has arrived. Does it deliver?

Thoughts: I loved the first two How to Train Your Dragon films. They blew me away, and were, by far, the best quality Dreamworks films that I had ever seen. They were the only two animated films, in my opinion, that comes close, and even surpasses, some to some Pixar films.

And I'm going to be completely honest; I didn't like this trailer.

Let me preface this by saying that this is not a trailer made for my demographic. This is a trailer made for kids, and in that respect, it totally works. It shows a bunch of gags that kids will enjoy immensely and will sell well when played in theaters. But in my opinion, watching the trailer, this reminded me of all the films that Dreamworks has done more in the vein of "kiddy" kinds of movies.

THAT BEING SAID, I felt the exact same way watching the trailers for the first two films in the franchise. Those trailer hid all of the "deep", "darker" moments. So am I worried about the final product? Absolutely not. I will still be there when this film hits theaters.

Did it Raise Excitement? Oddly enough, even though I didn't quite like the trailer, I am excited by this, simply because of the fact that this trailer reminds me of the trailers for the first two films, and I loved the first two films.

Trailer Rating: 6/10

MCU Rewind #14 - Doctor Strange

MCU Rewind #14 - Doctor Strange - Review

Release date (US): October 20th, 2016

Directed By: Scott Derrickson

Rating: PG-13

Starring: Benedict Cumberbath, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen, Benedict Wong

MCU REWIND REVIEW EXPLANATION: In these reviews, I will be going back to all the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films that have been released to date, reviewing each one in a retrospective manner. Expectations and background will detail how I felt about the film before the repeat viewing. This review will contain spoilers for these movies. You have been warned.

Previous Rating: 8.7/10

Expectations/Background: I had fond memories of this particular film. I remember this being one of the first MCU films that truly "wowed" me. Captain America: Civli War was the other film earlier in the year, and that also stunned me, but in a different way, in a more fulfilling way. This film took all my expectations, and completely upended them, truly showing what visual effects could do. Granted, I had not seen Inception, and many people had said, viewing the trailers, that the visuals "ripped off" Inception. However, keeping that in mind, I thought that the kinds of visual stunts that they pulled off were incredible. That being said, I didn't remember much from the last time I saw the movie. I remember mildly liking the film, but I was curious whether or not this would turn into an Ant-Man situation or an Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The Movie: Definitely the latter - after seeing this film, I found myself wondering why I hadn't seen this film more, as well as why I didn't like this movie more than I told myself I did. Certainly, this film isn't the most complex, the most in-depth, or most "mind-blowing" film of all time, but what really stunned me was the heart.

Positives: Getting to the performances right away, Benedict Cumberbatch portrays the arrogant, jerky, but brilliant narcissist (a la Tony Stark) in such a way that it captured the essence of the stereotype, yet differentiated itself from the likes of Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne. He also adds an extra dimension, and his performance especially shines after he was injured, as you feel his desperation and hurt going through all the different kinds of procedures that he puts himself through.

The supporting cast are all brilliant as well. There's no one specific person to highlight simply because all of them brought their A-game. Rachel McAdams was great as always, and I actually bought her relationship with Doctor Strange more than I remembered. Chiwetel Ejiofor brings a gravitas and a Shakespearean element to the film which was fun to see. And Tilda Swinton was wonderful as well. I only remembered her as the evil white Witch form the Narnia films, but in this film, I was thoroughly impressed to see a genuine, kind, yet fierce performance from her (all while being bald).

And as mentioned in the expectations, the visual effects are mind-blowing. The scenes especially where the entire New York is being flipped and inverted was something that I had never seen before (yes, granted I had not seen Inception). The scenes at the end where time is being reversed blew my mind, and to this day, I have no idea how they were able to do those.

But as aforementioned, the heart of the film was what truly made me appreciate it. It's not quite something that I could pinpoint, and I still quite can't, but I do feel that there is a beating heart through and through. There is genuine thought and care made to develop the character of Stephen Strange. From the start, you see how he goes from this arrogant prick for lack of better words, and then comes to realize that there is more to life than just his work, and by the end of the film, you really do buy his transformation into Master of the Mystic Arts.

Negatives: One small complaint I do have with the film is the humor. While it is funny on first and potentially second viewing, by the third or fourth rewatch, the humor really lands flat. This film suffers from the usual "Marvel-humor syndrome", something that Age of Ultron stumbles with as well.

Another small nitpick I have is the pacing, but not in the traditional sense. Many people have wondered how long Dr. Strange was in Kamartaj, and while the film makers have said a year or so, it didn't feel like it at all, which didn't bother me during the film, but afterwards, it was something that I thought about. Another point in the film that the filmmakers clarified was during the time-loop with Dormammu. The filmmakers said that Dr. Strange was in there for many cycles, but I didn't feel that at all.

And as great as Rachel McAdams was, I felt that her character, as well as Mordo (although they do hint that he will be back) were wasted. They played their respective characters very well, but their characters had very little to do. There was one scene in particular where Mordo was just spewing exposition, and I found myself taken out of the film for a little bit.

And finally the villain. Kaecillius was not the worst MCU villain, but out of all the MCU Phase 3 villains we've had (and almost all of them have been great), he was one of the worst. He had very little motivation, he looked like a maniac, and I didn't feel for him at all, unlike Thanos or Killmonger.

The Verdict: I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. It has action, humor, spectacular visuals, and a beating heart that pulls you in. It shows you that you can take whatever concept, whatever character, and as long as you put him in the right story with the right supporting cast, you find yourself with a great movie. Letter Grade: B+. Number Score: 9.1/10

Should I Skip?: Definitely not, especially with as integral of a role he plays in Infinity War and potentially moving forward.

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.

A- to A+: Amazing

B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed

C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed

D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws

F: A Failure of a Film

9-10: Nearly Perfect

8-9: Very Good

7-8: Good

6-7: Okay

5-6: Average/Mediocre

4-5: Apparently Flawed

3-4: Heavily Flawed

2-3: A complete and utter mess

0-2: A Failure of a Film

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Early Review Roundup

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will hit theaters in a couple weeks, but the review embargo has lifted. What are critics saying about the upcoming sequel in the beloved franchise?

Another Summer Movie

No matter what critics are saying about the film, the general consensus seems to be that this is another "summer movie". There is action, jokes, a strong lead, scares, laughs, and the like that we have come to expect (and love?) about summer films.

Better than the First?

And while many aren't hailing this as the savior to the Jurassic Park/World franchise, many people are saying that this is better than the original. They praise JA Bayona's direction over Coiln Trevorrow, and say that this is definitely a step up (for the most part) over the first film.

Genuine Scares

One thing that stands out for many people are the scares. While the first Jurassic World had a couple of little jump scares, this new entry in the Jurassic World film has genuinely scary scenes that has a level of tension that was lacking in the first film. It hearkens back to the scariness of the dinosaurs of the original Jurassic World.

Lots of Dinosaurs

There are lots, and lots, and lots, of dinosaurs as we sew in the trailers, and yes, critics are confirming, there are lots of dinosaur action and fun to be had with the film.

Boring or Fast Paced?

A couple of reviewers have expressed differing opinions about the film's pacing. A couple of reviewers have said that this is one of the most boring films of both the Jurassic Park franchise as well as of the summer. However, a couple other critics praise the film's fast-paced, exciting, tense storyline. The jury is still out.

Overall?

Overall, the main consensus seems to be that the film is a fun action-ride that you can sit with your friends and eat popcorn with, enjoying a few scares, a few laughs, same old Chris Pratt, and a lot of dinosaurs. Overall? Not bad, we hope.

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