Movie Trailer: THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES

THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ian McKellen, Lee Pace, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett

Fans have been a bit hesitant when it comes to The Hobbit movies. I can understand the frustration as Peter Jackson and his writing team of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens took one book and turned it into three movies by adding characters and taking details from the appendices. So far, they are nowhere near as good as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I feel like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was heading in the right direction.

It's Comic-Con time which means we get the first glimpse at the new "teaser" trailer for the final installment, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. I have a strong inclination that this will be the best of this trilogy. Jackson may redeem himself from how the series started. I haven't read the book yet which I am embarrassed to admit, but I think that makes it a bit easier to judge the movies without any preconceived notions of what Tolkien's story originally had in store.

For all the LOTR and Hobbit fans out there, what are your thoughts? Does this third one have promise?

RELEASE DATE: December 17, 2014

Here's the trailer

Movie Trailer: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Director: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Lee Pace, Benicio Del Toro, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close

Marvel has no plans of slowing down as they continue to crank out big screen adaptations of their comic book characters. Guardians of the Galaxy is their third entry in 2014 following Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Days of Future Past. This story follows Peter Quill (Pratt), an American pilot who is the subject of a manhunt led by the evil Ronan the Accuser (Pace) after he steals an orb Ronan has been eying. Quill learns the true powers of the orb and teams up with Rocky Raccoon (Cooper), Gamora (Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Bautista), and Groot (Diesel) to go up against Ronan who is threatening the universe.

I must say that I am pretty unfamiliar with the characters and world of Guardians of the Galaxy. I have been on board with Marvel so far after so many films, so I have full confidence this will be another hit for them. Feel free to sound off below in the comments with your thoughts on the trailer or anything else Marvel related.

RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2014

Here's the trailer:

Movie Review: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Richard Armitage, Lee Pace, Cate
Blanchett, Luke Evans, Ken Scott, Aidan Turner, Stephen Hunter

It was around this time last year that we were introduced to Peter Jackson's version of "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.  The first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was hit with some hesitation and disapproval. The second part in this new trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, should hopefully bring some uptight fans back for more. Our fearless gang led by Gandalf the Wizard (McKellen), head dwarf Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage), twelve more dwarves, and their "burglar" hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) are still on their adventure to the Lonely Mountain to obtain the white gem known as the Arkenstone and for Thorin to reclaim his position as the king of Erebor.

What stands in their way at the Lonely Mountain is the fire breathing dragon Smaug (voiced by Cumberbatch) who destroyed Erebor from the dwarves that called it home. It is their time to reclaim their kingdom. Their journey takes them through Milkwood and Esgaroth as they come face to face with the Orcs as well as being captured by the Elvenking Thranduil (Pace), who the dwarves have had a long feud with when he merely stood by and watched the destruction of their kingdom without offering help. Let us not forget that Bilbo is still in possession of the magical One Ring that he stole from the creature Gollum.

Let me just say first and foremost that this second part is a vast improvement from the first in The Hobbit trilogy. I should also state that I am a avid lover of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. They rank as #6 in My Top 20 list. I think my passion for those films made me appreciate the new trilogy more so than your average moviegoer or someone that is not as invested in Tolkien's story. I can agree with some of the negative feedback and grumblings that the first one received. Jackson and fellow screenwriters Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro have expanded one story and made three movies out of it while The Lord of the Rings trilogy consisted of three movies from three separate books. I must admit that I have not read the book of "The Hobbit", so I go in not necessarily knowing where the film diverges from the story unless I have read rumblings from other fans. The character of the female elf Tauriel (Lilly) is completely made up for the movies.  While Legolas is a Tolkien character, he does not appear in this book. Even without having read the book, it is apparent that this aspect of the story is more fleshed out by Jackson and his writing team. I place no blame on Bloom or Lilly as they are quite good, but many of their segments make the film drag on at times. Lee Pace is fantastic as Elvenking Thranduil, but I am not quite sure we needed Legolas and Tauriel as well.

Despite some of the more meandering moments in the story, the writing team succeeds at raising the stakes a bit and letting the audience in on who some of these characters are. While the gang of dwarves seemed to blend in together in the first movie, their individualistic qualities come out to play here especially for Bombur (Hunter), Balin (Scott), and Kili (Turner) and we get to know what their roles are as part of the gang. Some may scoff at the romantic flirting that occurs between Kili and Tauriel. The film boasts some heightened actions sequences which is another plus as it brings the pace back up for the almost three hour movie. I am warning you now if you have a fear of spiders, but that sequence is one of the best in the movie.

The hype surrounding the film involves the creation and execution of Smaug. We get glimpses of him from the first film, but I sat eagerly anticipating his arrival throughout this movie. I am not really ruining anything by stating that Bilbo makes it to the Lonely Mountain and faces the diabolical dragon. Leave it to in demand actor Benedict Cumberbatch to breathe some life into him with the perfect maniacal tone. Peter Jackson had huge success with bringing Gollum to life, and he has done it again here with Smaug. The special effects and CGI animation for the character is stunning like so many other aspects of Jackson's attempt at bringing Tolkien's tale to the bring screen. The grandiose scale of Smaug and menancing fear he adds to the story brought me right back to that feeling I had when the T-Rex shows up in Jurassic Park. If you feel at all like the middle drags, you will perk right up with the arrival of Smaug as it kicks the story into high gear.

Jackson proves again what a visually stunning director he can be. The whole design of Mirkwood and the Lonely Mountain in particular is stunning and a feast for anyone that loves the Tolkien universe. I appreciate that it seems he has built massive sets and sound stages for filming without feeling the need to over-CGI the movie to death, like certain Sam Raimi and Baz Luhrman films from earlier this year. Jackson has once again shot the film using the High Frame Rate of 48 frames per second. Not every theater can show it in this format, but you can definitely notice a difference in the picture quality. I do not know if I am more accustomed to it after viewing the first film in HFR, but it did not seem nearly as distracting this time around. Maybe Jackson and his crew knew how to work with it better on their second attempt with it. I will say that the 3D is quite gimmicky at times with arrows, bees, fire balls, and other objects that are constantly popping out of the screen. I am far too old for that cheap thrill. I would rather have the 3D enhance the world and picture by giving it dimension, not by cheap thrills. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hopefully will bring naysayers from the first film right back into the series. We are getting back to some of that feeling of what made The Lord of the Rings trilogy so special.

RATING: **** (4 out of 5 stars)

Movie Trailer: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Evangeline Lilly, Hugo Weaving, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom



As we saw at the end of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the dragon Smaug (Cumberbatch) has awoken in the Lonely Mountain. The second part in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy continues on with Biblo (Freeman) and his adventure with Gandalf (McKellen) , Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage), and the rest of the dwarves to take on the Smaug (Cumberbatch) and reclaim The Lonely Moutain.

This film will also see the return of Orlando Bloom as the Elven Prince Legolas. Evangeline Lilly joins the cast as Tauriel, a female elf, who has been created by Peter Jackson and Philipha Boyens as the character does not appear in the original Tolkien story.

Like The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the second part will also be shown in the followings formats: Read D 3D, HFR 3D, and IMAX 3D.


RELEASE DATE: December 13, 2013

Here's the trailer:

Movie Review: LINCOLN

LINCOLN
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jared Harris, David Strathairn, James Spader, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson

If you go into Lincoln expecting to see Steven Spielberg's take on his assassination, you are going into the wrong movie. You will also not see a movie focused on his whole presidency making you feel like you are back in history class seeing a badly narrated movie. Even though the assassination is included, Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner focus their film on Lincoln's (Day-Lewis) battle to pass the 13th amendment to abolish slavery.

Lincoln was opposed to slavery and needed to get enough votes in the house to have the amendment pass. At the time, there was a sharp divide between the people regarding the equality of the races. Lincoln must also deal with the timing and outcome of the Civil War as the results of each have a drastic impact on the other one. On the side of the president we have his Secretary of State William Seward (Strathairn) and staunch abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens (Jones) among others. Opposing them and opposing the amendment are Democratic Congressman Fernando Wood (Pace) and Ohio representative George H. Pendleton (Peter McRobbie) to name a few.

Lincoln did not have it easy dealing with his family life back inside the walls of the White House. His wife Mary Todd Lincoln (Field) is having a hard time dealing with the death of their middle son William. She was a strong supporter of her husband's politics and was always a presence at the house hearings. Their oldest son Robert (Gordon-Levitt) has left school and returned home to fight in the war against his parents’ wishes. They are far too fearful of him perishing in combat. He joins the Union Army and is an attendant under Ulysses S. Grant (Harris).

The brilliant Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner and Spielberg previously collaborated together on Munich back in 2005. He has based his screenplay on a small portion of the epic book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Many political movies tend to feel stuffy and slow. Sometimes those movies are so full of themselves that they expect you to be a history major in order to understand what is going on. His screenplay is smart, intelligent, and funny without feeling too high brow or too smart for your standard movie going audience. He knows how to make his characters three dimensional and real without them feeling like the stiff caricatures we may have in our heads of who these people might be. Kushner has never been known to write a simple and short script. I applaud him for finding a way the keep the courtroom scenes quick and snappy. I found myself on the edge of my seat as if I did not already know how it was going to end.

When you have a rich story to tell full of historical personalities, you need a top-notch ensemble of actors. Spielberg has gathered another fine company of actors. You can scroll down the cast list and notice the plethora of heavy hitters that are known for being fantastic character actors. It seems as if anyone was willing to be a part of this movie no matter how big or small the role happened to be. You most likely will not even notice that Kevin Kline plays "Wounded Soldier". Kushner has given them all such brilliant material that each character has their moments to shine. Tim Blake Nelson, John Hawkes, and James Spader are hysterical as the three negotiators that Lincoln hires to go out and get the vote from some of the strongest house members who oppose the amendment. Gloria Reuben is quite moving and touching as Elizabeth Keckley who is always at the side of Mary during the hearings. Tommy Lee Jones is one of those actors that always seems perfect for his part. You know he is still Tommy Lee Jones and his gruff voice and attitude is there, but it always seems to work for each of his characters. There is plenty of humor with his character as well. His subtle facial expressions speak volumes. Sally Field could easily walk away with her third Oscar for his performance as Mary Todd Lincoln. The movie does not focus necessarily on how disturbed many people thought Mary was, nor does it just paint her as a grieving mother. Field knows when and where to play each emotional side of her character whether she is yelling at Abraham or putting her foot down toward Thaddeus Stevens.

The core of this ensemble belongs to Daniel Day-Lewis. The Academy should just print his name on the envelope at this point. I do not believe any other actor will be stiff competition for him. His approach to playing our sixteenth president is a master-class in acting. Never once did I think I was watching Daniel Day-Lewis. I never thought about Daniel Plainview, Bill the Butcher, Christy Brown, or any of his other characters. I was watching Lincoln fight for his beliefs, struggle to keep Robert out of the war, and deal with the death of his middle son. Like many of his followers, I was enthralled by his speeches and metaphors. Day-Lewis found the perfect voice for Lincoln that will make you forget about any notion of him being a deep-voiced man. He knew how to carry a room and the actor knows how to command the screen.

Many people think Spielberg has been hit or miss lately, but even his toughest critics will come way applauding this movie. Sure, it still has some flaws and you may agree or disagree with how he and Kushner end the movie. Lincoln is his best film since Saving Private Ryan. It is one of the most important films to see in theaters right now not only to see how one of the greatest presidents shaped history, but to see how it resonates with the politics we face in today’s society. Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field could easily walk away with their third Oscars. Tommy Lee Jones should expect a nomination and possibly a win. The whole ensemble of actors do strong work making their characters stand out no matter who small or minor they are to the story. I hope the movie encourages people to care about history. Hopefully, you may find yourself picking up “Team of Rivals” or stopping on the History Channel the next time there is a story about the Lincolns.

RATING: ***** (5 out of 5 stars)

AMC Theatre's Q&A with Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis

Lincoln hits theaters November 16th and this Spielberg fan will be there opening night. I started reading "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin and am hoping to finish by the film’s release date. For anyone new to Lincoln, screenwriter Tony Kushner based her screenplay on portions of Goodwin’s book.

AMC Theatres hosted a live Q&A with director Steven Spielberg and star Daniel Day-Lewis after a screening of the film. They give an insightful look into the preparations of making this huge movie. Don’t worry, there are no spoilers discussed.

Here’s the video:

Movie Trailer: LINCOLN

LINCOLN
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring:
Daniel Day-Lewis
Sally Field
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Tommy Lee Jones
Jared Harris
Lee Pace
Jackie Earl Haley
David Strathairn

I know I say this a lot, but I have actually been waiting and looking forward to this movie for YEARS. It was announced years ago that Spielberg would be at the helm with a script by Pulitzer Prize/Tony Winner Tony Kushner. Liam Neeson was first attached to star as the sixteenth president, but Daniel Day-Lewis eventually took over in the part. He wrote the screenplay based on parts of the book "Team of Rivals" by fellow Pultizer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin. Back in 2009, Kushner was at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis as part of a festival celebrating his works. He had a book signing after the "In Conversation" night and was very gracious and lovely to fans. Naturally, I geeked out and asked him about Lincoln. I am pretty sure this was far before the screenplay was even finished.

I know I have received flack for saying it, but Steven Spielberg is my favorite director as well. He has proved time and time again that he is a master at creating the perfect blockbuster like Jaws or Raiders of the Lost Ark, he can create fascinating sci-fi like Close Encounters of the Third Kind or E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. He has left a legacy with his dramas like Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan. With an all-star cast and intelligent writing, Lincoln could be listed on many Best of 2012 lists.

In theaters November 16, 2012

Here's the trailer that was just released as well as a discussion with Steven Spielberg and Joseph Gordon-Levitt about the film: