The only arachnid I will ever go near is returning to the big screen with "Disney" and Marvel's" "Spiderman: Homecoming" coming to theaters July 7th this summer. The second official trailer dropped this week and is doing a good job of getting comic fans hyped. But will this "Spiderman" be the one to stick with the "Marvel" cinematic universe or will we want to swat him away like a fly?
From what we can see in the trailer and the synopsis this is Peter Parker post-"Civil War" and is being somewhat mentored by Tony Stark and is trying to establish himself as a hero. But Stark seems to want the teen vigilante to stick to more local crime. Peter is clearly going to have to prove himself as he faces off against Michael Keating as "The Vulture".
This trailer manages to successfully show us enough of the story for us to get interested and a few lines that could make us laugh without (hopefully) giving away all the funny lines in the film, as too many trailers lately seem to do.
But the thing that interests me most is what I love about most of the movies in the "Marvel" cinematic universe, they all seem to be telling one long story. We see continuing character growth for both Peter and Tony Stark coming off of "Civil War" with Peter wanting to be an official Avenger and Stark wanting to have Peter be a better hero than himself.
This trailer has done its job to get me excited and I hope it's done the some for you.
It’s the
tale as old as time, it’s the movie that gave every bookworm the dream that one
day they would find their beast and help him become the handsome prince he was
meant to be. The original animated movie released by Disney in 1991 took the
world by storm, being the only animated movie at the time to be nominated for
the academy award for best picture. So, with success with the live action
“Cinderella” back in 2015, it only made sense to follow it up with one of the
studio’s most successful movies of all time. But does this new remake hold its
own with the other Disney giants or does will its last petal fall leaving it to
be cursed into obscurity forever. The answer…is complicated.
Now, to be
fair, I went into this movie expecting to hate it or at least greatly dislike
it. I went in knowing a few of the changes they had made to the story and I was
starting to dread it. But after watching the movie this Friday night I really
enjoyed it. That’s not to say there aren’t flaws and there were still some
changes that I really didn’t like, but I had a good time and, in my opinion,
the movie was overall a good film.
The two
M.V.P.s of the film had to be Dan Stevens as the Beast and Luke Evans as
Gaston. The two actors were fantastic in their roles and their singing was
pretty on par. These two characters also express the theme that I discovered while watching this updated version of the original animated classic. This theme being change. While Stevens does an excellent job portraying the Beast starting out the movie as a selfish prince, Evans manages to express how Gaston is the hero of the village. Throughout the whole movie Evans and Stevens show the natural progression of both characters one to the true kindhearted prince he is and the other the selfish, boorish, and brainless monster that he truly is. During the mob song, there is a line added that Le Fuo, played by Josh Gad, sings that states this perfectly,
"There's a Beast running wild there's no question,
but I fear the wrong monster's released."
There are some changes that I did not like, that I felt added more narrative flaws than actually fixing any, but overall this movie was enjoyable. You could tell that everyone working on this movie put a lot of passion and effort into this film. The visuals were astounding and the score actually made me tear up and some points (fans of the Broadway show will especially enjoy Alan Menken's work on this movie).
I could spend hours comparing the original animated film to this one, but just like the theme portrayed by the Beast and Gaston, this retelling of a Disney classic portrays how the audience has changed and how the story has changed with us over time. This tale maybe old as time but the way we view it changes as we grow with it. I would recommend this movie to anyone looking to have a good time at the theater. The only thing I wouldn't recomend is watching this without popcorn and a couple of tissues. The struggle is REEL.
Getting Reel with "Riverdale"
Warning: Semi-spoilers
Well, here's the dark and edgy murder mystery based off the classic "Archie" comic strip that nobody asked for. Clearly trying to cash in on the whole retelling of nostalgic stories, "Riverdale" takes all the classic characters from the comedic stories and decides to thrust into a modern day high school setting. And what else could make this t.v. series more edgy and dark like all the other C.W. shows? How about Archie having an inappropriate relationship with a teacher, a scene of Veronica and Betty kissing in the trailer, and a murder of one of the high school's football players? Hope you like drama because that's pretty much all you are going to get with this show. I wish I could say that their was more to the story, but it's pretty much "Degrassi" with Archie and friends. To be honest, I didn't think I would find anything good about this show. But then, the latest episode aired entitled "Chapter 7: In a Lonely Place." It started off like the other episodes but when I made it to the last half of the episode, and Jughead and his father share this scene.
Jughead (played by Cole Sprouse from the "Suite Life" Series) and his father (played by Luke Perry from 90210) share an incredibly touching scene in which Jughead's father, who is a drunk and has a self-destructive behavior, tries to promise his son that he will turn his life around for his son and family. Both Luke Perry and Cole Sprouse give a fantastic performance that almost feels too real. With only a few lines Cole shows a wide range of emotions that truly have you convinced that Jughead wants to believe that his father will get better, but at the same time, knows that his father will probably won't change. It truly is heartbreaking and both Perry and Sprouse bring life to these characters that I hope that the show will continue to portray.
The show may not be the most brilliant series on television and the story structure could use some work. However, if you like CW dramas and if the show continues to have performances like Sprouse and Perry's then I would give it a chance.
While How to Fix the Good Dinosaur has been put on a temporary hold due to some...interesting circumstances (that I will delve into ) the show must go on so here is Tuesday's Trailer of the week.
Speaking of Pixar, while we all wait with hesitance due to the announcement of Cars 3 and The Incredibles 3, Disney and Pixar have dropped a trailer of a new movie called "Coco".
This movie has had a very rocky start. Back in 2013 Disney and Pixar had a movie in the works called, "Dia de los Muerots" after the traditional Mexican holiday that celebrates the spirits of those who have passed on. But, as many of you are aware another movie that had to do with the Mexican traditions and beliefs concerning the spirits of the dead. After a long struggle Disney and Pixar are now releasing the trailer for November's "Coco". And how does it hold up?..eh....
It has a very Ratatouille feeling to it as we start off with our protagonist watching a tape of his deceased movie/ music idol and attempting to play the guitar just like his hero. After touching the man's actual guitar in a museum he...and his dog I think... are sent to the spirit world. While I am extremely grateful that Disney and Pixar are introducing a (hopefully) unique story, there isn't anything in the trailer in regards to the story that has grabbed me and made me all that excited to see it yet. The visuals are a different story.
The colors and the visuals really seem to emphasize the creativity and passion that you would see in traditional Mexican festivals. Living in Texas, I've seen several "Dia de los Muertos" decorations and traditions and I think Disney and Pixar animations has managed to capture the culture as they have with many others.
Will this be a stand alone hit or will the previous "Day of the Dead" animated movie keep it from taking off. Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure the struggle is reel.
With an entertainment market seemingly over saturated with superhero movies and shows you might think that yet another comic book type series wouldn't work or at very least, seem unoriginal. Your assumption would be wrong if you're talking about NBC's newest comedy "Powerless".
This D.C. satire provides a fresh look on the world of superheroes from the average civilians who live there. Following our protagonist the optimistic Emily Locke (played by Vanessa Hudgens) as she works for Wayne Security (Yes, Wayne as in Bruce Wayne) the company inventing everyday products for the people who live day to day with super-villains blowing up the coffee shop on their daily commute. Along with a wacky cast of side characters, we see the big boss of Wayne Security, Van Wayne (Bruce's lesser known cousin) who adopted the millennial before it was mainstream, played by the hilarious Alan Tyduk.
The odd thing about this comedy is that by staring the people who have no powers in a world where there are super powered heroes running around it should be boring, especially when several of the characters have unfortunately familiar and unlikable personalities. But by making superheroes literally be an everyday sighting the show gets to poke fun at all the cliches that comic book stories have. My favorite episode so far is literally called "Emily Dates a Henchmen" in which Emily dates one of the Riddler's henchmen. And when she finds out and tells her coworkers about it, they shrug it off and one of the girls says, "We've all done been there sweetie."
This new super but not super comedy is making it's mark in the superhero media, once again making us wonder how D.C. T.V. shows can be so entertaining, while it's movies are so depressing. Check it out for yourself Thursday nights on NBC.
Most moviegoers remember when the first "Despicable Me" movie hit theaters. It was a refreshing animation that while targeted at a younger audience had a unique story, dynamic cast members, and clever humor that everyone could enjoy. Then the sequel came and "Illumination" managed to keep our interest with energetic and eccentric new characters and keeping up that quick wit. But then,...sigh... "Minions" arrived. The yellow cast of side gags had an entire movie dedicated to their nonsense language and crude humor. Exiting the theater after "Minions" left most kids laughing somewhat, and adults wishing they hadn't just wasted an a hour and half of their lives. The minions were clearly funny in small doses but can not entertain enough by themselves for an entire movie. So when the "Despicable Me 3" teaser dropped I watched, warily, but was pleasantly surprised. The introduction of a new and zany 80's themed villain combined with the promise of a new Gru and Lucy (or Grucy) working dynamic offered a light hearted comedy getting back to the original spirit of the franchise. So optimistically hopeful, I watched the most recent trailer...and was thoroughly disappointed. When "Illumination" realized that they had too many minions, what was there solution? Just add more Gru...or rather add more Steve Carell.
Yep, that awkward trope of having a long lost twin brother just won't seem to die, or at least have the decency to go into a Sleeping Beauty-esque coma. This forced story plot combined with Steve Carell doing his stick twice as many times has me definitely disappointed. Between the villain introduced earlier and this sudden twin brother, I fear that the Despicable franchise is following an unfortunate recent and common movie error of having too many plot threads that don't mesh well together. It's as if they had two scripts, weren't sure which one to go or which would be popular, so they mashed them together, padding with minion humor where they felt necessary.
Maybe "Illumination" and the Despicable crew have a few surprises in store. Maybe they're actually saving the good parts of the movie for the movie itself (something more trailers should be doing). But based off of what I have seen so far, I'm pretty sure this "Despicable Me" will be a "Despicable Dud". Here's hoping I'm wrong.
So everything must have a beginning. There are about a thousand ways to start a story including the traditional "Once upon a Time", music montage, and the more recent meta subtext joke.
A wise person once said that there are no new ideas under the sun which means that just about any way to start this would already be tired and cliched, so let's just dive right in. What is this blog about? Most of us love movies and I mean LOVE, or LUV if your a meme/txt person. We have created an entire culture under the entertainment business. But not every movie is a huge sucess, for example this:
or this:
or even:
*shudders*
But bad movies present a unique opportunity for all those who hope to be a part of this magical process. I, like many others, believe in learning from mistakes and making ourselves better from them. So this blog is tackling these movies one at a time. Each week we will take a look at where I think these movies went wrong, and how they could have been fixed. This Friday I will start with my first challenge:
gulp...
and hopefully we can have a little fun while learning from this movie's mistakes to better future film. #The Cinema Struggle is Real.
