June Movie Reviews and Round up

In June, I watched a meagre 11 films and there are two reasons for this. 1 was Arrested Development series 4 and the other was Breaking Bad series 4 (and the first half of series 5). Those wonderful folk at Netflix gave me a second free trial this month and I used it to full advantage. The last time they gave me a free trial I watched the first three series of Breaking Bad and this time I've used it to get right up to date.

Although I haven't written much about Breaking Bad, it has pretty much become my favourite show on TV. Series 4 exceeded my wildest expectations. It was perfection and to be honest, I thought perhaps it would have been best for everyone involved to leave it with the bombshell that was dropped at the end. Where the hell could series 5 possibly go to better what had already come before?

Series 5 did then seem to lull a bit but on the plus side is also fulfilling the promise of everything the show and particularly Walt has been leading towards all this time and the first half concluded with another beautiful bombshell. I cannot wait to see how this show ends!

On the other hand Arrested Development was a bit convoluted and too clever-clever for its own good. There was still some of the old charm but nowhere near enough of Gob and Tobias for my liking. I hope if they continue, it picks up again.

The movies I watched in June are as follows. Click the links to check out my reviews:

The Master
This is the End
Come As You Are (Hasta La Vista)
Summer in February
Man of Steel
To the Wonder
Star Trek Into Darkness
Desert Runners
Monsters University
The Internship
Magic Mike

I also re-watched Les Miserables at the Open Air Cinema at Hedsor House which was a really cool experience.

The always entertaining David Jackson came back to I Love That Film to write a couple of excellent pieces: Fight Club and the Doors of Perception and Second-Hand Stories, Second-Hand Opinions

Other highlights of the month were getting the Starburst Magazine Cover Story: The Wolverine Preview. I actually wrote two pieces for this issue of Starburst so that was really cool to see them in print.

My first year at Filmoria passed and I wrote a piece to celebrate. I also got my first clip joint article published on The Guardian website on the Best Battle Speeches in the Movies.

Here at I Love That Film, the huge milestone of 200,000 page views was reached (finally after over two years)!

I also had some more articles for Yahoo Movies published and a very kind Message from the Side By Side Producer about my review of the documentary at Filmoria.

None of the films I watched this month could compete with the majesty of Breaking Bad but I liked This is the End and Star Trek into Darkness quite a lot. However if I could recommend only one, it would be the documentary Desert Runners. Please check out my review to find out why.

I also didn't really get into The Master I'm afraid. What were your best and worst of the month?

Man of Steel Review: The Clark Knight Rises

As producer, Christopher Nolan has left his mark on the new Superman but there was never much chance of him bringing the man who could fly back to earth in the same way as he did with Batman. Zack Snyder has a tougher job to make alien Kal-El and his antagonist General Zod anywhere near as convincing as what Nolan did with another caped crusader in his Dark Knight trilogy. But Snyder does try and he is occasionally successful.

In Man of Steel, Superman's roots as the last son of Krypton are explored and his early years on Earth also get frequent flashbacks that are frequently some of the best scenes in the film. The Krypton set spectacle at the start does not convey the emotion of what is intended and the CG effects are more over whelming than incredible. Snyder over does the style and loses some of the heart despite Russell Crowe as Jor-El acting his socks off like its theatre and Michael Shannon bringing the menace with ease.

What works better are the flashbacks to Clark's childhood down on Planet Earth. Here Snyder matches style with substance; the young Clark struggling to accept his difference from the other children and over whelmed by the extent of his powers. It makes you wish for more from the young Clark; a real Superman Begins that delves deeper into the Smallville years.

For all Man of Steel's epic clashes including a barn storming (and smashing) Smallville set piece, the action can never maintain its hold on the heart or the head where so much special effects are thrown on screen. It's not that there is any problem with the special effects themselves but when the action ramps up and two (or three or more) super beings start going at it, it all loses any sense of believability that has been built up before.

Perhaps it is unfair to expect the same level of grounded realism that made the Dark Knight such a convincing part of the modern world but Man of Steel does try. Metropolis has many recognisable elements and the destruction of the climactic scenes all has that familiar 9/11 feeling with dust covered survivors, buildings falling and a city turned to ash. Unfortunately there is very little sense of the extraordinary amount of death Zod's plan has caused and Superman saves far too few people in his city to warrant the happy ending that is undoubtedly on the cards. Again, the CG effects over whelm rather than immerse.

So the Nolan influence is present as even in the midst of all the spaceships and super beings pounding seven shades out of each other, there is some sense that Superman is a believable creation and the world of characters (most notably the military) reacts accordingly. However occasionally there are just too many CG filled shots with one Superman vs giant space machine fight being particularly far out and therefore hard to engage with. It is all very well to believe a man can fly but when you have a hero fighting giant CG tentacles, it quickly loses interest... unless of course that is exactly what you came to a Superman movie for.

Better but still occasionally over loaded are the scenes of combat between Superman and Zod. While Shannon gets lumped with numerous clichés for threatening lines, the clashes are occasionally spectacular and drawn out only a little too long. At least their faces are not computer generated and their acting convinces.

It is a shame that Shannon gets so many heard-it-all-before lines as there is a good strong character in Zod and it is easy to quickly put Terence Stamp's version out of mind. The script is filled with solid characters, making this the most convincingly constructed Superman movie ever. The Kents are concerned, noble foster parents to Kal-El with Kevin Costner giving a fairly brief but powerful performance, there is an overly obvious but welcome attempt to make Lois Lane a strong and smart journalist (but who still needs frequent rescue) and Clark himself is a man with a secret and a real desire to keep it.

As Kent/Kal-El Henry Cavill has more than just the incredible physique and the handsome face. While he might make the ladies swoon, he also completely convinces as both the other worldly outcast and in a brilliant final scene the Clark Kent we are all so familiar with. Cavill is excellent, as is Hans Zimmer's wonderful score even if there is nothing quite matching the original Superman theme.

While Snyder frequently gets carried away with the spectacle and special effects, the story and particularly Kal-El's characterization is strong enough to make Man of Steel take off. Though it may not convince as much as Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, Superman is a tougher caped crusader to sell in the real world. Man of Steel does however make Clark Kent fascinating and ends the film with the potential for a sequel that will take him onto much more familiar ground. With hints that Lex Luthor might be the next villain in Man of Steel 2, let’s hope Snyder tones down the CGI in favour of more practical and believable effects and makes a Man of Steel 2 that really flies.

Recent reviews at I Love That Film:

This is the End Review 

Fast and Furious 6 Review

Ruby Sparks Review

The Look of Love Review 

21 & Over Review

Iron Man 3 Review

Olympus Has Fallen Review

Spring Breakers Review

Recent Articles for Yahoo Movies

I've been writing lots of articles for Yahoo Movies recently on the likes of Man of Steel, the possibility of a Justice League movie, the Fast and Furious franchise and The Hobbit. Yahoo want people to write about the major film franchises so that's the reason for picking these films to write about. It's not that I'm a huge Superman or Fast and Furious fan, I just like being on Yahoo Movies and am happy to write about any movies really. Some of these articles have had over 20,000 page views already which is far more than anything on this blog so it's nice to know my words are being read by lots of people. I hope that you might be tempted to join in and click some of the links below to check out my articles at Yahoo Movies.

Here are some recent examples:

Man of Steel teases Justice League and more
What comes next for the Man of Steel and Henry Cavill?  
Justice League merchandise hits shop 
Damon Lindelof talks Justice League movie problems 
Will Guillermo del Toro make DC's Justice League Dark movie after Pacific Rim? 
Give Zack Snyder the job of directing Justice League movie 

The unexpected stars of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug trailer

Fast and Furious 7 will begin new trilogy in continuing franchise 
Best scenes of Fast and Furious 6 goes to Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris and Gina Carano 
Will Fast and Furious 6 be biggest of the series? 
Rihanna could join Fast and Furious 7  
The star cars of Fast and Furious 6 
Fast and Furious 7 news and rumours  
Get ready for Fast and Furious 6 flip car 
Will Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty survive Fast and Furious 6? 
Why James Wan is an excellent choice for Fast and Furious 7 director

Big trailers: Man of Steel and The Desolation of Smaug

The final Man of Steel trailer was released this week and seems to prove that this latest version of Superman is bound to be a smash hit. It looks absolutely stunning and while there might be a little too much footage in this latest trailer, I applaud the way this film has been marketed. It may not have gripped me from the start with the first teasers looking a little too serious for my liking but they have grown on me and the action stuff in the most recent trailers looks incredible.

Henry Cavill looks like a buff and brilliant Superman but I'm more excited to see what Amy Adams makes of Lois Lane and I think the casting of Kevin Costner and Russel Crowe as Kal-El's two fathers is supreme. I'm hoping that Man of Steel will find the fun of director Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, the style of his Watchmen and the believability or producer Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.

Anyway if you haven't seen the newest trailer, here it is:



I recently heard the film is already pretty much profitable thanks to something like $170 million worth of licensing deals and therefore it should be no surprise that a sequel has already been green lit. I'm seeing it tomorrow night hopefully and my review will be up on Tastic Film on Friday.

Justice League merchandise hits shop 

Damon Lindelof talks Justice League movie problems 

Will Guillermo del Toro make DC's Justice League Dark movie after Pacific Rim? 

Give Zack Snyder the job of directing Justice League movie

The other big trailer of the week is obviously for The Hobbit part 2 aka The Desolation of Smaug. What concerns me about this is that Legolas and some character Peter Jackson made up feature so prominently in the trailer. While Legolas might have been alive when The Hobbit takes place, he isn't in the original story and this Tauriel that 'Freckles' from Lost is playing is completely from the imagination of Jackson, Boyens, Walsh (and maybe even del Toro). The dwarves, Gandalf and Bilbo barely get a word in despite the fact that half of this film will be total and udder money grabbing padding.

Smaug is finally revealed, or at least his head is but the way it is teased at the end is clearly meant to make me wee with excitement but unfortunately does not fill me with the requisite awe. There is sadly no sign of Beorn yet either. Still, the barrels look fun, it looks darker than the last part of the trilogy and the spiders of Mirkwood are bound to be horrible so there are still plenty of reasons to get excited.

Here is the trailer:



More trailers at I Love That Film:

The Wolverine

Pacific Rim

Are you liking the look of these trailers?

Top 5 Films to Look Forward to in June 2013

Each month, I will pick 5 films that I am most looking forward to, starting with June 2013. This month we have Brad Pitt in an action horror blockbuster, the return of Richard Linklater (for the second time this year), James Franco and Seth Rogen playing themselves and plenty of Michael Shannon. In fact we have two films about the end of the world, two featuring Shannon and two featuring Franco. After Earth is also out this month but though I love the idea that Earth has evolved to get rid of the human race, it also looks a bit like a vanity project for Will Smith and his son (and let's face it that household needs NO more income).

Behind the Candelabra starring Matt Damon and Michael Douglas also narrowly missed this list. I wasn't at all interested in seeing it as I barely even know who Liberace is but at a Slackers Club free screening, I was blown away by the two central performances so I would highly recommend it.

Anyway enough about the other films not presented here. Instead here are the top 5 films I'm looking forward to in June:

The Iceman (7th June) Starring Michael Shannon as a real life hit man who led a double life, killing people for a living but hiding it from his ordinary family. It's the first of two Shannon appearances on this list but will likely be the best performance of the two. The supporting cast includes Chris Evans, Ray Liotta and James Franco and it sounds too weird to be true. Unfortunately it is both brutal and frighteningly true.

Man of Steel (14th June) The next Michael Shannon film on the list sees him taking the old Terence Stamp role of General Zod against new Superman Henry Cavill. I started off thinking this was going to be a dull attempt to Nolan-ise a character that would not fit into the dark, down to earth, realistic style of The Dark Knight but actually the copious trailers and TV spots have been growing on me and I'm more than willing to give this latest incarnation of Superman a go. Also it has Amy Adams so... yeah.

Before Midnight (21st June) The concluding(?) part of a beautiful trilogy about flirtation, falling in love, letting go, re-connecting and finally marriage with kids will see the welcome return of Jesse and Celine who met 18 years ago one night in Vienna. Or on a train headed for Vienna anyway. Now the couple are perhaps older, wiser and on holiday on a Greek island, I can't wait to see where Linklater and the cast take this ever developing relationship. It's starting to feel a bit like the book One Day if we keep meeting these characters so infrequently. I hope this one gets a bit tragic with the couple facing the realities of life together and maybe the possibilities of love and happiness together being not so sweet and simple.

World War Z (21st June) Not sure if this is worth getting excited about because they've clearly made a huge mess of the book but on the other hand it's not every year we get a huge Hollywood blockbuster featuring the zombie apocalypse. So many things worry me about this adaptation (the messing with the book's narrative, the over use of CGI, the reshoots etc) but I can't help but be intrigued to see how it turns out. No doubt it will be more action than horror to keep it kiddie-friendly but never mind.

This is the End (28th June) I get to see this on Tuesday thanks to the Total Film screening club. It should be a self-indulgent silly mess with all these stars playing themselves (James Franco, Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, Danny McBride etc) but the trailer looked pretty funny so here's hoping this is a film lover's comedy dream with plenty of cameos and references and an apocalyptic plot to keep things lively.



So that's my June sorted. I'll be happy if I see even half of these in the cinema! What are you looking forward to in June?

David Goyer rumoured to write and direct Justice League movie

Forget Zack Snyder, it might be the Man of Steel writer David Goyer who will take on the super hero super team.

AMC Movie Talk host John Campea tweeted that ‘a little bird’ told him that ‘Warner Bros is moving on Justice League with Goyer possibly directing. All those waiting to see the DC super team that would feature both Batman and the Man of Steel in the same film will have to pause for breath before accepting this as gospel.

A little bird is never a rock solid source but Campea then quickly followed that tweet with another. "Re Justice League two industry guys emailed in last 5 mins. One heard same from same source, one says Goyer is on but writing only” he tweeted.

Previous reports

Previous reports had Will Beall attached to write the screenplay and even George Miller to direct way back in 2007 before he moved on to his Mad Max reboot. Warner Bros are likely holding back until after Man of Steel opens and will guage the viability of a superhero ensemble on the back of the success of that film. Superman has the weight of DC’s future on his shoulders it would appear.

Following Man of Steel

The producer of Man of Steel has teased in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the film will be ‘setting the tone for what the movies are going to be like going forward’. He also promised that ‘what Zack [Snyder] and Chris [Nolan] have done with it is allow you to really introduce other characters into the same world’.

This definitely sounds like the promise of a potential team up and all Warner Bros will have to do now is find a fitting replacement for Christian Bale to don the Bat suit, somehow make disappointed fans forget the Green Lantern movie and then find suitable candidates to take on the roles of Wonder Woman and The Flash among others.

David Goyer

David Goyer’s only directing dip in the world of comics came with Blade: Trinity but his credits as a writer include the Dark Knight trilogy and Man of Steel. If he is to take on both duties, it will be a bold move for Warner Bros and Goyer will likely have to relinquish much of his control over television series Da Vinci’s Demons.

Nevertheless if Goyer does take on even just scripting duties on the Justice League movie, the future of DC’s characters will be in very safe hands.

Or will they just go with Zack Snyder if Man of Steel is a big enough success? Have you got any preference on who should direct a Justice League movie? 

Stark Trek Into Darkness vs Man of Steel

I like to taunt movie fans occasionally with a painful question. If you could only see one summer blockbuster at the cinema out of Star Trek Into Darkness and Man of Steel, which one would it be?

Last Summer, I posed the same question about Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises and then I followed it up with a JGL vs JGL post with Looper taking on Premium Rush. Looper trashed Premium Rush but Prometheus and the Dark Knight came out pretty even.

I'm always fascinated to see what is making people tick and what is likely to draw the biggest crowds in my spectacularly unscientific polls. I'm particularly curious with films like these that have such a massive in-built fan base that they never really stand a chance of failing. Despite the negativity about Superman Returns, it still made a tidy profit and the Star Trek series plodded along nicely for ages!

Man of Steel looks to be on much more solid ground with Christopher Nolan involved and Zack Snyder directing. Warners will be hoping to hell this one works so they can get on with a Justice League movie and setting that up in a series of Marvel competing stand-alones. Superman has his legions of fans but a re-invention is always vaguely risky. However all signs look good for this to take a slightly more grounded approach to the franchise with Henry Cavill not wearing underpants on the outside and Michael Shannon on villain duties as General Zod. Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner as dual Daddies won't hurt either.

Star Trek on the other hand has the dedicated Trekkies plus a whole new generation of fans (myself included) who were sucked in by the gripping tractor beam of J.J. Abram's exceptional reboot. The trailers have been spectacular but the handling of the characters with the excellent new cast plus the addition of Benedict (everybody loves) Cumberbatch promise that this will be brilliant. Early reviews are looking extremely promising!

So my question to you is: if you could only see Star Trek Into Darkness or Man of Steel in the cinema this summer, which one would it be?

Man of Steel brand new TV spot



And full trailer



And Star Trek Into Darkness trailer



Watch the trailers again. Think carefully. This is a big decision. Which one will it be? Star Trek or Mr Superman? Klingon or Kal-El?  The choice is yours!

The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 1

The first of three (maybe four parts) that will cover all the different methods of movie marketing. This is mainly for my film students who are looking at the relationship between film producers and audiences. First we looked at how producers get information from audiences and now we move on to how producers give information to audiences.

The Hollywood studios are renowned for ploughing huge amounts of money into film production. Increasingly however, they are spending up to half their budgets on marketing the films in order to increase the chance of having a successful opening weekend. Independent, British and world cinema films are often also picked up by Hollywood distributors if there is ‘crossover’ potential. These distributors then spend large amounts of money marketing the films in the hope that they will play to mainstream audiences. However some films do not have the marketing budget to spend on selling the film and have to rely on other techniques to make themselves known to the audience.

The most commonly used forms of advertising in the movie world are posters and trailers. These reach a huge audience as the producers of the films pay to have their print advertising featuring large still images in prominent places such as bus stops and tube stations. This targets commuters with disposable income who live in major cities and elsewhere. Posters can be teasers, theatrical or character based. A teaser poster is released far in advance of the release of the film and is likely to include some kind of iconic image that will be recognisable to fans and will get them excited up to a year before the release of the film. The Iron Man 3 poster for example does not even feature the title of the film and only the release is stated at the bottom. It is deliberately telling very little about the film and just making fans aware that the film is on the way. 

Theatrical posters often have a number of characters on them and some hint at genre conventions for example the poster for Prometheus had characters running from an exploding spaceship signalling who the stars are, and that the film will contain action, special effects and science fiction elements. Some films, particularly sequels where the characters are already well known have individual posters for each character. The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels did this with many different character posters, each featuring one of the stars of the film and introducing new villains.

Trailers are perhaps the most effective method of movie marketing as these can give the target audience a really clear sense of what the film will be like with moving image clips, music, special effects, stars, dialogue, music all in a 1-3 minute package. Teaser trailers have the same purpose as teaser posters, to get the fans excited early. Theatrical trailers have more about the story and characters and often in many people’s opinions give far too much away about the story or reveal too many of the best jokes in the case of comedies; the 21 Jump Street trailer for example. 

An increasing phenomenon recently is the preview to the trailer. Some of the biggest blockbusters such as Prometheus and Total Recall have a short clip released that announces that the trailer will be released in a few days’ time. This is for hard core fans to get them to spread the word that a trailer is on the way and to get them talking on the internet about it. The Prometheus trailer preview featured director Ridley Scott talking about the film. 

Teaser trailers are about a minute long and reveal little about the plot. The Star Trek Into Darkness teaser trailer introduces the villain and dazzles with special effects whereas the Man of Steel teaser sets out the more realistic tone and different direction that the new Superman will be taking. Trailers used to be only seen in cinemas before a film but now can be watched in a huge variety of ways.

Part 2 on media advertising, internet marketing and promotional tie ins coming soon!