Monday, June 8, 2015

6-8-15 Movie News

        Hello ladies and gentlemen, here is some movie news with some of my thoughts and opinions (which will be in BOLD print). So without further ado...


(NOTE: All of these stories come from comingsoon.net)


        Following the first look video and character sheet, 20th Century Fox has released the trailer for director Ridley Scott’s science fiction action adventure The Martian. You can watch the trailer in the below. During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return. Based on a best-selling novel, The Martian features a star-studded cast that also includes Jessica Chastain (Interstellar, Zero Dark Thirty), Kristen Wiig (Welcome to Me, The Skeleton Twins), Kate Mara (“House of Cards,” Fantastic Four), Michael Pena (Fury, End of Watch), Jeff Daniels (“The Newsroom,” Dumb and Dumber To), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Children of Men) and Donald Glover (“Community,” Mystery Team). The Martian is produced by Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, Michael Schaefer, Mark Huffam and Aditya Sood. Look for it to hit theaters November 25.


        This was an awesome trailer. I got so many different emotions from the trailer ranging from scared to being anxious. Ridley Scott has been on a cold streak as of late and he really needs this film to succeed for him to be considered relevant again as a director. Everything about this movie has got me excited from the setting to cast to the writer and I'm ,looking forward to the film. Like I said my one concern is Ridley Scott, but I think that the other three will triumph over him.



        The Weinstein Company has released a new trailer for the upcoming boxing redemption drama Southpaw, from director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) and starring Academy Award-nominated Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Brokeback Mountain) and you can check it out below. Southpaw tells the riveting story of Billy “The Great” Hope, reigning Junior Middleweight Boxing Champion of the World (Gyllenhaal). Billy Hope seemingly has it all with an impressive career, a beautiful and loving wife (Rachel McAdams), an adorable daughter (Oona Laurence) and a lavish lifestyle. When tragedy strikes and his lifelong manager and friend (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson) leaves him behind, Hope hits rock bottom and turns to an unlikely savior at a run-down local gym: Tick Willis (Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker), a retired fighter and trainer to the city’s toughest amateur boxers. With his future riding on Tick’s guidance and tenacity, Billy enters the hardest battle of his life as he struggles with redemption and to win back the trust of those he loves. Southpaw was written by Kurt Sutter (“Sons of Anarchy”) and Richard Wenk (The Equalizer). The movie will be released by The Weinstein Company on July 24.


        I really enjoyed this trailer. The first trailer showed the entire film basically and I know what is going to happen in the film. If this trailer had been the first one then I wouldn't know the entire film. But this trailer increased my excitement so much that I'm going to have to move it up on my list for most anticipated film of the second half of 2015. I'm a big sports fan some of the best sports movies are boxing films and this looks amazing in every aspect and I cannot wait to see it. 



        Though it was announced back in December of 2013, updates on the latest attempt to adapt the comic series “Sandman” for the big screen have been few and far between. MTV caught up with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and asked about the process, an interview wherein he revealed why their pace is a little slow. “It’s really good, man. It’s slow but steady. It’s a really complicated adaptation because those comics, they’re brilliant. But they’re not written as a whole. It’s not like ‘Watchmen,’ which is a graphic novel that has a beginning, middle, and end. ‘Sandman’ was written over the course of whatever — I forget exactly, six or seven years. One at a time. One little 20-page issue at a time. And to try to take that and make it into something that’s a feature film — a movie that has a beginning, middle, and end — is complicated. I’m feeling really good about it, but it is a process, so please be patient. “Big spectacular action movies are generally about crime fighters fighting crime and blowing sh-t up. This has nothing to do with that and it was actually one of the things that Neil Gaiman said to me, he said ‘Don’t have him punch anybody.’ Because he never does. If you read the comics, Morpheus doesn’t punch anybody. That’s not what he does. It’s going to be like a grand spectacular action film, but that relies on none of those same old ordinary cliches. So, that’s why it’s taking a lot time to write, but it’s going to be really good.” Sandman, which launched DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint, ran for 75 issues beginning in 1989. Gaiman’s worlds-within-worlds weaved an episodic anthology, focusing on the allegorical character of Dream and his brothers and sisters, known as the Endless (Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and Destiny). Gordon-Levitt is set to direct the film from a script by Jack Thorne (This is England). Though no word on casting has been discussed just yet, series creator Neil Gaiman has previously shown support for either Benedict Cumberbatch or Tom Hiddleston in the role.

        I really like these comments. I agree with JGL in the sense that it is pretty hard to adapt something that is spread out over so many issues compared to a graphic novel. There are a lot of comic book movies getting made and some just have to be put on the back-burner until the studio gets a chance to make the film. As for the casting I think Tom Hiddleston is a perfect choice for the film (plus Cumberbatch is tied up with Doctor Strange). I personally have never read any Sandman comics, but I have complete faith that JGL will direct a great movie. 



        When it was announced that Dwayne Johnson would step into the shoes of his Furious 7 co-star Kurt Russell’s iconic Jack Burton for a Big Trouble in Little China remake, fans were shaking the pillars of heaven in anger. If you were one of the non-plussed, rest assured that The Rock heard you, and he told Entertainment Weekly that he plans to bring on someone who understands the property implicitly: Original director John Carpenter. “I loved reading the reactions from the fans, that they were so polarized – I’m the same way,” Johnson said. “My response is: know that I come to the project with nothing but love and respect for the original, which is why we want to bring on John Carpenter.” Unlike some previous remakes of John Carpenter films (Halloween, The Fog), he did not write the screenplay for Big Trouble in Little China (Gary Goldman, David Z. Weinstein and W.D. Richter did), so 20th Century Fox is not beholden to Carpenter for anything. However, Johnson is one of the most media-savvy stars in the biz and knows that paying proper respect to the original filmmaker will go a long way towards getting fans to accept him behind the wheel of the ol’ Pork-Chop Express. Whether that means Carpenter will have legitimate creative input or merely a couple of publicity photos and a token executive producer credit is another story. One person this might be news to is Carpenter himself, who responded a week ago to an outraged fan on Facebook (via Bleeding Cool), writing, “I only know what I read in the papers. I’m not involved with it… I didn’t write the original one–no harm, no foul.” Hopefully since then he’s at least gotten a courtesy call from Johnson saying, “Yessir, the check is in the mail.”

        A remake of Carpenter’s Escape From New York has been mooted for some time, but it’s proved a tough nut to crack so far. As beloved as it is, Big Trouble in Little China might be even harder to remake for today’s nervous studio climate given its off-beat (r.e. hard-to-market) blend of martial arts, fantasy and comedy… not to mention the fact that Jack Burton is more buffoon than action hero (Dennis Dun’s Wang was the actual hero). Johnson seems to understand that this will be a delicate balance to pull off, and has the attitude that if it doesn’t work out that’s the way the fortune cookie crumbles. “I loved the original when I was younger and I loved the main character – all the characters,” added Johnson. “It felt like if we surrounded ourselves with the right group of people, the right writers who loved the movie too and wanted to honor it, bring on John Carpenter in some capacity … If we did that, then we have a shot at hopefully making something good. Let’s see what feels good, what we can come up with and then go from there. As we write it, if the whole thing starts to stink up, then we thank everybody for their efforts and accept this just couldn’t make it.” The 1986 Big Trouble in Little China followed Jack Burton, an American trucker who, after paying a visit to his friend in San Francisco’s Chinatown, finds himself drawn into a supernatural showdown with the forces of evil.  Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, best known for writing X-Men: First Class, will develop the script for the new film, which will be produced by Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia and Johnson himself.

        I love the enthusiasm from The Rock, but it ain't happening. Look I'm a fan of everything John Carpenter, but I don't think he needs to come back for the remake. I think if a film needs to be remade or is getting remade that somebody new needs to be brought on to bring a fresh take to the story and they can add elements from the original film to the new film. I'm fine with him coming back and having a little creative input, but not enough for it be a major part of the film.



        Sony’s TriStar Pictures has revealed a new international trailer for the upcoming comedy-drama Ricki and the Flash, which you can check out below. Directed by the Academy Award winning Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia) and scripted by fellow Oscar winner Diablo Cody (Young Adult, Juno), Ricki and the Flash sees three time Oscar winner Meryl Streep taking on a whole new gig as a hard-rocking singer/guitarist. The original film, loaded with live musical performances, stars Streep as Ricki Rendazzo, a guitar heroine who made a world of mistakes as she followed her dreams of rock-and-roll stardom. Returning home, Ricki gets a shot at redemption and a chance to make things right as she faces the music with her family. Streep stars opposite her real-life daughter, Mamie Gummer, as well as Rick Springfield, who portrays a Flash member in love with Ricki, Kevin Kline, who stars as Ricki’s ex-husband, and Audra McDonald, who plays Kline’s new wife. Ricki and the Flash is produced by Cody, Marc Platt, Mason Novick and Gary Goetzman and executive produced by Ron Bozman, Adam Siegel, Lorene Scafaria and Ben Waisbren, and opens everywhere August 7.


        This was a fun trailer. I've liked both trailer for the film so far and I'm really looking forward to the movie. This is a very different role for Meryl Streep and it'll be fun to see her in something different. This film has and 2 Academy Award winning actors in Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline and an Academy Award winning director and writer. This film has all of the keys to be an Oscar contender and hopefully it becomes just that. 

        So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, which of these stories peaked your interest or was there another story that interested you? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.

                                                                                                                                        Jonah Sparks

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