New trailers: Godzilla Vs Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Two new trailers hit this week with Gareth Edwards' Godzilla and Robert Rodriguez's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. I know damn well which one I'm most looking forward to already.

Godzilla has an awesome soundtrack, brilliant Bryan Cranston voiceover and just enough of the big scary monster to keep everybody satisfied. I saw this trailer in 3D before a screening of 300: Rise of an Empire and it looked absolutely breath taking. It looks like it should be action packed, emotional and undoubtedly spectacular. Anyone (or everyone) disappointed by the Roland Emmerich version will be pleased to see no Matthew Broderick or 'size does matter' jokes so far. Get ready to be trampled back to the Stone Age.



Total Film also shared this neat version where someone has taken the audio and replaced the visuals with the old original Godzilla movie.



Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is the long awaited (but not by me) sequel from Rodriguez and Frank Miller and has an even bigger cast than the original with Powers Boothe, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Josh Brolin and Ray Liotta joining the cast. It looks gorgeous but I found little to interest me in the characters last time around so I'm not getting my hopes up for this one. All the girls look like they'll spend most of the movie in bras and all the men will be the usual hard boiled cliches from film noir past.



Either of these take your fancy?

Don Jon Review

Joseph Gordon Levitt's directorial debut throbs with energy, intent and depravity. Don Jon is the story of Levitt's Jon, known as Don to his friends due to his extraordinary and enviable  talent with the ladies. Despite his affection for, and his attention from, the ladies though, Jon likes nothing more than to bash the bishop to seedy internet porn. His succession of one night stands mean he can avoid a meaningful relationship and skip easily between the women he takes home from the clubs and the impossibly endowed women that light up his laptop by night.

Jon might be played with plenty of cocksure confidence by Levitt but he is a also just a jerk who is obsessed with jerking off. He thinks little of women except about where they fit on his appearance scale with 10 being a perfect 'dime'. Enter Scarlett Johansson. The women in Jon's life range from his phone wielding near silent sister and his stereotypical shrieking mother to the gorgeous Scarlett Johansson and finally to Julianne Moore, past her prime but still irresistible in her own unique way. Johansson takes seductive to a new level while Moore offers something different to the eye popping proportions of the other women that Jon so vigorously 'admires'.

Jon's life is presented as cyclical and repetitive with scenes taking on a recurring rhythm; wanking, clubbing, church confessions, family dinner, working out, road rage and repeat. The introduction of Johansson's buxom blonde throws a bit of a spanner in the works but the formula remains the same. Jon does less slapping of the salami and more evening classes to appease his gorgeous new girl while his family dinners suddenly become a little more livelier now that his aggressively stereotyped mother and father find his love life more interesting. Tony Danza's Dad is particularly entertaining, all ogling eyes and inappropriate responses to his potential future daughter in law.

Overall, Don Jon is equal parts hilarious and depressing. It has something to say about relationships and questions the sexualisation of women in modern culture. In amidst the thrusts of gratuitous nudity and carefully cut images of hard core porn, there is a message and more than a hint of a romantic heart at the centre of what looks like a phwoar-some sex comedy at first. Like Fight Club with its view of modern men shaped by a society that is forcing them back into their primal man caves, many will find only misogyny here. There is plenty on offer from Jon and his boys and arguably the representation of women but deep beneath it emerges something more complex (if also more formulaic and less funny).

Don Jon is an incredibly confident directorial debut, as well as giving Levitt a role that demands he is in almost every frame, buffed up, preening and at his most revealing. It is a brave film and a brave performance. The laying bare of modern masculinity in the writing, the frequent bursts of stylistic flair and the nakedness of Levitt's performance all ensure that Don Jon will stick in the memory, not a discarded tissue for a long time to... um... come.

More reviews from I Love That Film:

Machete Kills, The Conspiracy, Snitch and more

Ender's Game

Sunshine on Leith Review

How I Live Now

Filth

The Call

Rush

The Lone Ranger

You're Next

We're the Millers

Looper Film Club Review

Thanks again to this post from Scott at Front Room Cinema, I got to take part in the From The Red Carpet film club again last weekend.  Everyone that took part got two free tickets to see Looper and then we all met up on Facebook on the Sunday evening to discuss the film.

From the Red Carpet have published their review of the film and there are lots of quotes from all us film clubbers in it so please have a look at the review and leave them a comment telling them to make sure they keep inviting me back.  The From the Red Carpet review is here.

I'm damn sad to tell you that I did not find the film as satisfying as my ridiculously high expectations had told me it would be.  Nevertheless it's still a pretty great film with loads to like but its not in the same league as some of my favourite time travel movies or my favourite Bruce Willis movies.  I leave you with some sample quotes from the film clubbers:

EVERTON ‘Pure class. A Top 3 time travel film, easily – I love the way they used it intelligently. The torture scene was an instant classic.’

PETER ‘Great, intelligent science fiction but not as good as the time travel films I grew up with despite a fantastic performance from JGL!

 CHRIS ‘Looper is a slick, stylish and very smart sci-fi movie! The whole concept and premise is executed perfectly and JGL is sublime in the leading role.’

MEGAN ‘JGL was great although I did think the prosthetics were a bit distracting. His performance was awesome though.’

What did you think of Looper?  Instant classic or disappointing?

Premium Rush Film Club Review

Thanks to this post from Scott at Front Room Cinema, I got to take part in the From The Red Carpet film club a couple of weekends ago.  Everyone that took part got two free tickets to see Premium Rush and then we all met up on Facebook on the Sunday evening to discuss the film.

It was an awesome experience for me as I'm no good at talking out loud and getting my opinions across to people when I'm having a normal conversation so getting to have a chat with others about the film through social networking was perfect.  I hope to get the opportunity to take part again some day.

From the Red Carpet have published their review of the film and there are lots of quotes from all us film clubbers in it so please have a look at the review and leave them a comment telling them to make sure they keep inviting me back.  The From the Red Carpet review is here.

I leave you with some sample quotes from the film clubbers:

‘I love Koepp’s scripts, where he takes a simple set up and milks it for all that it’s worth. Panic Room is the perfect example!’

‘Well, my first thought after watching the film was – ‘what on earth was Joseph Gordon-Levitt thinking?!’ He’s pretty much A-list these days – but this film screamed B MOVIE.’

‘I quite enjoyed this; it surprised me with its slightly skewed take on the chase movie. Shannon and Levitt were eminently watchable and although it’s not going to win any awards it was a fun way to spend an afternoon.’

And all the Oscars go to....

Battle of the Joseph Gordon-Levitt's

If any of you voted in my previous blockbuster duel that pitted Prometheus VS The Dark Knight Rises, you might remember how this works.  If not, here's the exceptionally simple rules.  If you could only see one of these two films in the cinema, which would it be?

This time it's a battle of the upcoming Joseph Gordon-Levitt starring action-thrillers.

In the red corner: 

Premium Rush: UK Release 14th October

It's written and directed by David Koepp.  He hasn't directed a huge amount but Stor of Echoes was a great film.  However his strength lies more in his writing and though his credits are a bit of a mixed bag, there are some absolutely cracking thrillers; Toy Soldiers, Jurassic Park and Panic Room being most notable in my eyes.  It's also got Michael Shannon on villain duties which is a huge plus.




It's going to make riding bikes extremely exciting!

And in the blue corner:

Looper: UK Release 28th September


This one is written and directed by Rian Johnson and re-teams the star and director of excellent indie high-school neo-noir Brick.  It's also got Bruce Willis and time travel.  Need I say more?

Here's hoping for some smart, fun science fiction!






So there are your choices.  If you could only see Premium Rush or Looper in the cinema, which would it be?  Before I saw the trailer for Premium Rush and found out Michael Shannon was in it, I'd have gone for Looper no competition.  Now I'm quite torn.  I suspect this one might be a bit one sided with a lot of votes for Looper but I'm looking forward to hearing your responses.

The Dark Knight Keeps Rising: 10 thoughts on the new trailer

Here's a quick breakdown as I watch the new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises.  I hope no one considers these spoilers but if you aren't going to watch the new trailer then probably best to give this post a miss!



 1. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is good at staring into the distance.  That's a mighty fine stare he has.

2. Why the hell didn't I make sure I saw that Bane and plane prologue in an IMAX cinema?

3.  What's going to happen to those schoolkids?  Are they on or near one of those exploding bridges?  Is this going to get all like that two ferry situation with The Joker?

4. Are we going to witness a Gotham revolution?  Are the ordinary people of Gotham going to rise up and overthrow the bankers of Wall Street?  Will Batman realise that we should be pissed off at the greedy bastards and join Bane?  That would be nice and subversive.

5. What exactly is Batman angry about?

6. I'm guessing they won't kill Batman but seriously, wouldn't that be the BEST ending EVER!?

7. These riot scenes are looking like London last Summer.  But there were less guns here and the police wear brighter clothes.

8. Am I the only one who isn't a fan of the flying Bat thing (and is it still called the Batwing)?  To be honest, I know the vehicles in this trilogy are supposed to be more realistic or military-like but does anyone else miss Keaton and West's Batmobiles?

9. How come there was only about four shots of Catwoman in this whole trailer?

10. Would it make me a bad husband to go and see this on opening night which is also the night before my wedding?  Otherwise I've got to wait until I get back from honeymoon!  Please help!

What do you all think?  Seen enough?  Can't wait! Overhyped?  Spill the beans below....

Fascinating Faces: Looper, Lawless and Gangster Squad

I've seen some fascinating faces in trailers over the last few weeks.  Three stars many of us know and love, still recognizable but undeniably transformed.  I am stunned by these faces and already itching to see more of the performances.  But how much of my excitement is just down to the make up and how much is due to the men behind the masks?

I offer you exhibits A, B and C as evidence.

Exhibit A: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Looper

The Holly wood Reporter um... reported that 'Thanks to three hours in the makeup chair each morning, the actor transformed into a younger version of Bruce Willis for the role – in which the duo plays the same character at different ages.'

If you're not convinced about the transformation or just sad to see the handsome JGL mutilated, check out this little video I found on YouTube for a close comparison of the two actors.



Exhibit B: Guy Pearce in Lawless

Now I'm not sure what they've done to Pearce's face here but watching the trailer suggests this is going to be another fantastic performance to look out for.  In fact I don't even think this is down to make up.  Instead I think it's a combination of Pearce's slicked back hair, accent and tone of voice and most of all the faces he pulls in the trailer below.  Some might say this is bordering on OTT but I can't wait to see this performance.



Exhibit C: Sean Penn in The Gangster Squad

MTV says: 'A centerpiece of the trailer, it's hard to miss Sean Penn even under all of that makeup... The trailer gives lots of screen time to Penn, and when you also consider the prosthetics on his face, it's not hard to imagine that Warner Bros. would make a Best Supporting Actor push for him come Oscar season'.

He looks almost like something grotesque out of Dick Tracy.  But it's not just the make up and prosthetics, Penn seems totally transformed here.  It's another performance that looks incredible and will no doubt be a lot of fun to watch.



So are we in for a treat with these three or what?  And how much of these performances will come down to the physically transformed faces of the actors and how much is down to their acting skills.  It's a question that has bugged me ever since seeing one of my favourite performances ever on screen.  No doubt aided by magnificent make-up, but also a testament to the incredible talent of Charlize Theron, if you haven't seen Monster, I highly recommend it.  Never has a star been so unrecognizable and so brilliantly lost within a real-life character.

Looper Joins Marketing Overload Trend

Firstly who is getting annoyed with trailers for trailers?  Weirdly I'm not.  When it comes to movies I really can't get enough of the marketing.  So as long as they don't show all the best jokes, tell the whole story or ruin the ending, they can advertise as much as they damn well like.

Which is exactly what Prometheus, Total Recall and now Looper are doing.  Trailer previews or trailers for trailers are becoming the next big thing.  Just another way to get us movie fans slobbering.  I particularly enjoyed the way the Total Recall one puts up epic titles saying... 'Get Ready'.... more flashes of images.... 'For the Premiere'... more epic imagery.... 'of the trailer' (sounds of audience groaning).  Oh is that it?

So anyway whether you like them or not, here's the trailer preview for Rian Johnson's Looper which I'm intensely excited about.  It was one of my most anticipated for 2012 and just one of the many new films featuring the talents of the mighty Bruce Willis and the incredibly likeable Joseph Gordon-Levitt. 



Here's some more images from the film if you haven't seen them.  It seems they're trying to 'Brucify' Gordon-Levitt somehow.  I can't quite put my finger on it (maybe they've done something to his mouth?) but seeing as they seem to be playing the same character in this time travel science fiction actioner, it makes the film look even more interesting.  I read somewhere JGL has even been studying Willis's voice in Sin City so I'm very keen to see one of my favourite up-and-comers tackling an impersonation of the legend that was/is John McClane.  And every picture has guns in it.  And guns in movies are cool.

1 Gun

Finger gun

2 Guns

Willis don't need a gun

JGL does

 It's got time travel, Bruce Willis and JGL and it's directed by the guy that gave us Brick.  I'm hoping it lives up to that last statement.  What do you think?  More or less excited about this now?

February Films Part 2: The top 9

 After yesterday's list of the other nine films I watched this month, it's time for the top nine!  Bookended by two great foreign films and featuring two unique and funny takes on the superhero genre, it has been an incredible month for my film watching.  I love every one of these films.  Don't be surprised if quite a few of them turn up on my 'Best of 2011' list when I finally get round to making it.  And there's at least one that might end up on my 'Best of 2012' list.  Please enjoy and don't be afraid to criticise, agree or generally sound off in the comments section below.  Thanks as always for taking the time to read, skim or get involved!

9. Cell 211 (Daniel Monzon, 2011)

Riddled with ridiculous plot elements but very tense and well-acted, this prison and politics thriller is great entertainment as long as you can switch off your plot-hole detecting area of the brain.  When the new guard gets stuck behind bars in a prison riot on his first day on the job, he must pretend to be a prisoner or face the wrath of the vicious, angry mob that are protesting their treatment at the hands of the corrupt, brutal guards.  Sounds silly?  It is but it handles the tension and action superbly with a great idea that isn’t afraid to make the odd political point.

8. Hesher (Spencer Susser, 2011)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes the reins from Rainn Wilson and becomes the unhinged nutter after Wilson’s ‘Super’ anti-hero.  This time Wilson is the depressed Dad of a boy who is in need of his father back after the death of the wife/mother.  Hesher (JGL) comes into their life with long hair, Metallica on the stereo, clothes that need washing and plonks himself on their sofa in his underpants.  It’s as weird as it sounds but thoroughly enjoyable and unique.

7. Chronicle (Josh Trank, 2012)

It’s a superhero spin on the tired ‘found footage’ formula.  When three high school dudes discover ‘something’ underground, they suddenly develop powers of telekinesis.  One of the teens is weird kid Andrew who likes to film everything and has a few anger issues.  Climaxing with a creatively shot smack down that flies, explodes and rips through a city on a meager budget, Chronicle is a very impressive directorial debut.

6. Super (James Gunn, 2011)

Shut up crime!  Mentally unstable Rainn Wilson puts on a costume and starts battering baddies when his girl (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a smarmy drug dealing prick (Kevin Bacon).  It’s hilariously OTT with a couple of lovably psychotic performances from Wilson and sidekick Ellen Page.  Dark, violent and bloody funny!

5. Crazy, Stupid, Love (Glenn Ficara, John Requa, 2011)

Surprisingly sweet and funny rom-com with a stand-out turn from Ryan Gosling and great performances from all the leads (Steve Carrell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone).  When Moore decides to divorce Carrell, he hooks up with serial shagger Gosling for a series of man-dates to learn the art of seduction.  It all leads to a hilarious confrontation of characters in love with other characters, secrets being disclosed and surprising relationships revealed.  Clever, funny and sweet, it’s the best rom-com I’ve seen since (500) Days of Summer.

 4. Everything Must Go (Dan Rush, 2011)

Will Ferrell excels in a serious role.  After losing his wife, job and house, Ferrell takes to sitting in the front yard amongst the belongings his wife has left him with.  Sinking back into alcoholism, he encounters a number of sweet but troubled characters that in their own ways need his help as much as he needs theirs.  Not much happens but it’s beyond charming and Ferrell show’s another side to his lovable persona.

3. Carnage (Roman Polanski, 2012)

Middle class couples at war over brawling boys.  Hilarity ensues once the alcohol flows.  Very stagey but gifted with perfect performances from a brilliant cast.  Put Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster in any movie together and I'd pay to see the fireworks.  Add in John C. Reilly and Christph Waltz and keep the entire cast virtually in one room for the entirety and you have a recipe for success.

2. Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, 2011)

Paddy Considine impresses with a directorial debut of staggering power.  An alcoholic meets a sweet charity shop worker who is grappling with her own demons.  Harsh, realistic and unforgettable.  Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan are outstanding with power house performances gifted by an excellent script.  Eddie Marsan delivers another astonishing bastard.

1. In a Better World (Susanne Bier, 2011)

Best film of the month.  Oscar winning Danish film directed by Suzanne Bier that follows two bullied boys as they stand up to anyone they feel oppressed by.  Meanwhile one of the boys’ fathers is a doctor in Africa dealing with the repercussions of a brutal, psychotic warlord who mutilates the locals.  Dealing with violence, revenge, death and despair, it’s brilliantly acted with a couple of perfect central performances from the two young boys.  The adults are just as convincing and the story builds towards unbearably tense confrontations and an explosive climax.  Brilliant.

So now you know what I think.  But who really cares about that?  What do YOU think of these films and my ranking?  What's the best the film you saw this month?