Belated Media is back with their follow-up to last year’s reworking of Star Wars: Episode I with What If Star Wars: Episode II Were Good? The new ideas, plot points and characters that they changed in the much, much better version of Episode I will carry over to this video which actually manages to take the mess in Episode II and bring cohesiveness to the story as well as bring back Darth Maul in a meaningful way and showcase the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin.
Here is hoping we don’t have to wait a year before they can go back and finish their trilogy and fix Episode III (even though that is the one prequel movie I don’t have a lot of massive problems with).
Check out the video below and if you are not up to speed and want to watch the “what if?” on Episode I, keep scrolling.
We’re the Millers is about transformation. The characters transform both in appearance and attitude and as the film moves forward they begin to adopt the characteristics of their false personalities. Now you would think that from those first two sentences this is a deeper movie than you would expect. It really isn’t. It is a film full of dirty language, ginormous spider-bitten balls and Jennifer Aniston as a stripper. It is also one of the funniest movie of the year so far.
Jason Sudeikis plays David Clark, a drug dealer that is living the perfect lazy life until a group of thugs rob all of his stock and cash. His boss (Ed Helms) is none too pleased with this and makes a deal with David that he will travel to Mexico and pick up some pot and transport it back across the border. After a run-in with a group of New York tourists, David realizes that the easiest way to make it across the border and back is to look like the prototypical all-American family.
He recruits his stripper neighbor (Aniston), who is on her last leg and being evicted from her apartment to play his wife, a homeless gutter-punk (Emma Roberts) to be his daughter and Kenny (Will Poulter), a naive kid in his complex to play his son. Once they make their way to Mexico they find that the “smidge” of pot is, in actuality, 2 tons and has been neatly stacked in every crevice of their RV. The little hitch in the giddy-up is that David’s boss sent him to actually steal drugs out from under a Mexican drug lord and now they are being chased by the kingpin and his rather menacing 7-foot tall henchman. Along the way they meet up with another RV family, the Fitzgeralds. Don (Nick Offerman), Edie (Kathryn Hahn) and their daughter interweave themselves throughout the movie and provide some of the funniest banter along the way. They are a godsend during middle of the film when normally you would expect a lull in pacing or jokes because the back and forth between the families keep things moving until the plot picks back up.
Photo courtesy blackfilm.com
We’re the Millers does fall into a lot of the normal comedy trappings. The shy kid finds a girl he likes and before he can make a move she catches him making out with with his “mom” and “sister”. OK, maybe not the “normal” comedy trappings, but there are more than a few moments in the movie that we have seen in a hundred comedies before. The main characters fall for each other, the punk girl realizes that having a family is what she actually wants, etc. Luckily this does not trip up the movie. When the jokes are perfectly placed and the delivery is spot on it can overcome the normality of the plot.
When it comes down to it, We’re the Millers is funny. It is actually damn funny. It may not change your life like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but you will laugh heartily a lot. Where else will you get to see Eustace from The Chronicles of Narnia show off his giant spider venom filled ball sack, Ron Swanson finger bang someone’s ear and Jennifer Aniston strip to her undies and get wet like the scene in Flashdance?
Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium opened up at number one on a very busy late summer weekend. There were four new releases fighting for your hard earned money and when it came down to it Matt Damon and Jodie Foster edged out Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis…barely.
Elysium, Blomkamp’s follow-up to his Oscar nominated [amazon_link id=”B002SJIO5E” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]District 9[/amazon_link], brought in $30.5 million which is short on expectations for the sci-fi flick. We’re the Millers may have come in second, but it looks like the real winner of the weekend. The R-rated comedy was neck and neck with Elysium all weekend finishing with $26.5 million and since its release last Wednesday has grossed $38 million effectively making its budget back in the first weekend.
The other two releases, Disney’s Planes and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters finished third and fourth respectively. For Planes it is not bad news because this was originally supposed to be a direct-to-DVD Cars spinoff and Disney decided for a quick theatrical release and managed $22 million in the opening weekend.
Two candidates have emerged among the wreckage that is known as internet rumors to be frontrunners for the role of Lex Luthor in Batman vs. Superman (or whatever they title it) in 2015. Let’s also remind everyone that the villain is not even known to be in the movie at all at this point, but if we didn’t talk about stuff like this what would we do with our days? Work?
First up is Bryan Cranston, who, for the life of me, always seems to be up for key villain roles and is regarded as one of the finest actors working today. I mean, he was good and all on Malcolm in the Middle, but really guys.
The meth king’s name has been thrown out there by Latino Review’s El Mayimbe, who is pretty steady with his insider information. I have no doubt that Cranston would go over well with fans as well as get fans of Breaking Bad interested in the 2015 superhero team-up film. Hell, I even liked him in the Total Recall reboot and they barely used him.
Photo courtesy mstarz.com
Second among the big, bald wonders is Mark Strong who gave a very cryptic answer when asked if he was in the running for Lex Luthor. He simply said:
“All I can say is… watch this space.”
Now I do not know if he was pointing to his crotch at this point during the interview so I am just going to put it in the “weird Hollywood answer” section. I am going to refuse the need/want to say he would be a “strong” choice to play Superman’s main nemesis. He was one of the few bright spots in Green Lantern and his performance in AMC’s upcoming Low Winter Sun looks like it will be amazing.
At least these are more believable than the Bradley Cooper rumors when Man of Steel was filming.
New rumors around the wonderful world of the interwebs are saying that Jeffrey Dean Morgan has actually had a meeting with Zack Snyder about possibly donning the cape and cowl opposite Henry Cavill’s Superman. Nerds will recognize Morgan as John Winchester from Supernatural and the ladies will remember him as the ghost that banged Katherine Heigl on Grey’s Anatomy and my girlfriend knows him as my “man crush” that is known, but never talked about.
The rumor is not that far-fetched with Morgan already playing The Comedian (rather expertly) in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen in 2009.
What are you all thinking about this possibility? Have any of you already set your mind on who you want to see take over the role?
Marvel has just released the new trailer for Thor: The Dark World and if you were wanting a whole lot of new footage then today is your day. The trailer features a lot more Loki which is never a bad thing. Director Alan Taylor from Game of Thrones is certainly bringing over some of the show’s distinct style to the big screen. It has a decidedly more fantasy feel to it and that is compared to the first film which was the first of the Marvel films to rely on it.
What do you think about the trailer? Does it get you excited to return to Asgard? And where was Kat Dennings? I would like more of her please.
I love The Expendables franchise. It knows exactly what its audience wants and gives it to them. I want to see Arnold drive around in a Mini while spouting off cheesy 80’s catchphrases as he mows down guys with an assault rifle. As long as Stallone keeps making them, I will keep seeing them.
Sly just sent out this tweet which indicates that Indiana Jones himself has joined the party for The Expendables 3.
WILLIS OUT… HARRISON FORD IN !!!! GREAT NEWS !!!!! Been waiting years for this!!!!
So now we can add Deckard to the growing cast which already boasts the series regulars, a returning Mickey Rourke, Wesley Snipes, Ronda Rousey, Jackie Chan and Mel Gibson.
Now you noticed in that tweet that Stallone announced Bruce Willis would not be returning for a third trip down action movie memory lane. Stallone’s next tweet would indicate that it was not exactly a simple deal of being too busy to come back.
GREEDY AND LAZY …… A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE
Here is the new trailer for Ender’s Game based on the classic sci-fi work by Orson Scott Card. It fits into the mindset of every trailer this day and age of “the world is going to end and only one person can save it”. Yes, that is what Ender’s Game is about, but John A. Moviegoer is just going to see the trailer and say it looks like every other action movie in space.
The effects are nice and I am excited to see Hailee Steinfeld in her first movie since the amazing Coen Bros. adaptation of True Grit. I hope they can at least capture the essence of the book. If you are going in expecting an exact book translation you apparently have never watched any Hollywood movie based on a book…ever.
With Batman/Superman only two years away and David S. Goyer and Zack Snyder hard at work on the script, Warner Bros. is in full on search mode for the next Batman. With the news last week that they were looking for an actor in their 40’s to play the Dark Knight guesses have been coming in fast and furious. Now it appears there is a short list flying around of the possible actors Warner is looking to take on Henry Cavill’s Superman.
Here what’s we got so far according to rumors: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, True Blood’s Joe Manganiello, The Hobbit’s Richard Armitage, Watchmen’s Matthew Goode and Pacific Rim’s Max Martini.
OK, first off my #1 pick is not on this list and that is Karl Urban, but this doesn’t surprise me since Urban is filming his new TV show Almost Human. Oh well…one can dream.
Josh Brolin is certainly a good choice. He has the look and acting chops down to pull off the role, but at 46 he is on the upper end of the age range and this Batman is going to have to carry over into the Justice League movie. Joe Manganiello is built to be an exact comic book replica of Batman and Richard Armitage probably has my vote out of this entire list of actors.
From this rumored list here are my order of choices:
1. Richard Armitage
2. Josh Brolin
3. Joe Manganiello
4. Matthew Goode
5. Max Martini
I left Ryan Gosling off the list because here are my thoughts on the possible casting of him as Batman:
If you are not familiar with all the actors listed I will save you the trouble of hitting your Google tab and give you some handy pictures.
One can never say that Denzel Washington does not have staying power. His new movie, 2 Guns, with Mark Wahlberg took it to The Smurfs 2 bringing in $27.3 million. It is a good start for a film that had a modest budget of just over $60 million. Even though The Smurfs return was not that big stateside, it certainly was around the world. The little blue creatures have already grossed $80 million since their worldwide release last Wednesday.
The Wolverine finished in second with $21.7 million which is a decent drop off. There will almost certainly be a sequel to Logan’s story. In two weeks The Wolverine has taken in almost $250 million worldwide against its $120 million budget.
The Conjuring scared its was past the $100 million mark which shows that good reviews and word of mouth are going a long way.
