Just For Fun: Royal Celebration

The pomp and pageantry of the wedding of the century might be over, but if you're still in a festive spirit for a related entertainment, check out the article on Yahoo, which lists the best movies to celebrate the royal wedding: ("Pride and Prejudice" is one) 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110428/en_ac/8382709_three_great_movies_that_celebrate_the_royal_wedding_spirit

For those of you opting for a chuckle (in good fun, of course), there are a few illustrations and manipulation of images as compared to Disney movie "Cinderella" and "The Mask."

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8933135-the-royal-wedding-compared-to-disney-movies

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Just For Fun: Movies & Popcorn

Ah, the joys of butter, salt and crunch... When you pop your bag of popcorn before a movie starts, know that you’re not only satisfying a craving, but partaking in a little American tradition.

Ever wonder how movies-and-popcorn go hand in hand like salt-and-pepper? Read the article on Yahoo:
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/the-history-of-popcorn-and-the-movies-2457554

And speaking of which, grab your popcorn... the summer blockbuster season begins next week! (or the end of this week if you count "Fast Five")

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Upcoming Movies: May 2011

May 6
"Thor" (http://thor.marvel.com/) - The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.

"Something Borrowed"  (http://somethingborrowedmovie.warnerbros.com/) - Friendships are tested and secrets come to the surface when a terminally single woman falls for her best friend's fiancé.

May 13
"Priest" (http://priest-movie.net/) - A priest disobeys church law to track down the vampires who kidnapped his niece.

May 20
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger of Tides" (http://disney.go.com/pirates/) - After crossing paths with a woman from his past, Captain Jack Sparrow is swept aboard the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard, on an unexpected mission to find the elusive fountain of youth.

May 26-27
"The Hangover 2" (http://hangoverpart2.warnerbros.com/index.html) - Right after the bachelor party in Las Vegas, the gang jets to Thailand for a wedding. The plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch, however, goes seriously awry.

"Kung Fu Panda 2" (http://www.kungfupanda.com/) - Po and the Furious Five venture to China to battle a villain and uncover the secrets of Po's mysterious origins.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Food For Thought: 'Netflixed' Movie Theaters

You go to a website that gets you a list of every movie theater. You get to pick two theaters. Then you put in your credit card and agree to pay $10 per month ($120 per year) and receive a movie pass to these two theaters. This movie pass would allow you to go to any movie at any time at each of these theaters. The movie theater has a relationship with each moviegoer. It knows each movie you attend and can recommend other movies you might like to see. Sound familiar? 

Should movie theaters function like the consumer-friendly and cost-affordable Netflix?

Check out the article on the Future of Film column at TribecaFilm:
http://www.tribecafilm.com/tribecaonline/future-of-film/Movie-Theaters-Should-Think-Like-Netflix.html

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"Rio"

I.heart.bird... err... "Rio." Super colorful and cute. Exuberant with multicolored, chirpy characters set against gorgeously rendered, bountiful bird's eye scenery of Rio de Janeiro (wish I were there!) and vivid close-up of the carnival, "Rio" is a bright spot among the drab releases this week. 

DVD: http://tinyurl.com/3otq2ux

DVD (blu-ray): http://tinyurl.com/3g8l46o

See the full gallery on Posterous

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"Hanna"

Ethereal and lethal. I couldn't imagine anyone else being "Hanna" than Saoirse Ronan ("The Lovely Bones").  

Hanna is not your average 16-year old girl. She's lived in isolation since birth, raised in the wilderness of Northern Finland solely by her former CIA-operative father, Erik Heller (Eric Bana). She's trained to stalk, hunt, target, fight and survive in harsh conditions. 

Don't mistake her pale skin, blue eyes and long blond locks as an angel. Behind those innocent eyes is an assassin unlike any other.  Although Hanna isn't an "assassin" in a true sense; she's an extreme survivalist taught to defend herself by any means.  

When Hanna feels ready to move on to the next step in her life, she and her father part ways, with the promise of meeting up again in Berlin. Immediately she's tracked down and held in a CIA facility by a ruthless agent, 'Marissa' (Cate Blanchett). Hanna breaks out, meets and strikes a quirky friendship with another teen, 'Sophie' (Jessica Barden) and her RV-traveling family.  

"Hanna" is a visually and audibly powerful. The transition scenes from a wintry forest to a sterile cell to an arid desert are artistically striking. When Hanna first gets out in the real world and experiences the sights and sounds of modern conveniences, I could feel her sensory overload. Flickering light. Barking TV. Shrieking kettle. Humming fan. Ringing telephone.  

Hanna's escapes are inventively shot. From the initial holding cell where she tricks her interrogator, faces off with an army of men, runs, leaps and crawls through a maze of tunnels, to the narrow alleys at the junkyard where she outfights and outruns her pursuers, to a whimsical funhouse where she stealthily flees from the clutch of the "wicked witch" of an agent.  

Somehow there's nary a shred of incredulity with "Hanna." With her lean strength, dexterity and velocity, Ronan is effortlessly believable - with a gun, knife or arrow. There's a ferocity behind her chilly exterior, especially when she learns the truth about herself during her confrontation with Erik.  

"Hanna" is a character-centered, coming-of-age tale. There's not much to be said about the supporting characters. Erik does have a cool combat scene in a clear, continuous shot, but there's no consequential closure with him. You're not going to understand about Marissa's motivation or mercilessness to kill.

Director Joe Wright's ("Atonement," "Pride & Prejudice") work on the action genre is eerily enthralling. There's an art-house quality to it. The Chemical Brothers' spectacular score is a techno beat that raises the scenes to an incredible level. "Hanna" is a pulse-pounding, lethal fairy-tale actioner. 

http://www.sdentertainer.com/arts/reviews-arts/movie-review-hanna/

DVD: http://tinyurl.com/3sqfp2v

DVD (blu-ray): http://tinyurl.com/439phgo

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Missing Review: "The Lovely Bones"

Cold. I watched "The Lovely Bones" a while ago and remember the feeling clearly. It's an emotionally tedious story for various reasons. Peter Jackson misfired - the special effects simply become repetitive and lose its power. But the scene when Robin Williams' predator character salivates and talks to his trapped victim (Saoirse Ronan) underground, a naive 10 year-old girl, is hands down one of the most chilling-to-the-bone scenes. That scene alone is so well-acted and worth watching the entire film.

DVD: http://tinyurl.com/3jl9h67

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Note: "Hanna"

"Hanna" review is now up on http://www.sdentertainer.com/arts/reviews-arts/movie-review-hanna/ It will be posted on the blog at a later time.
__________________________________________
If you live in Southern Calif. and are interested in Ultrastar Theaters movie tickets at $8.25/ea., including FREE promo popcorn vouchers, please e-mail indotransserv@gmail.com. Valid for NEW releases (except 3-D).

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Just For Fun: Ready... Set... Martial Arts

[Note: "Hanna" review is up next]

It was fun when the trend began nearly a dozen years ago - stylized martial arts turning action scenes into dance. But whatever happened to treating action sequences like real actions? A fight that might involve a gun, a makeshift weapon, or a hit that actually hurts.

If "Hanna," premiering this week, were to catch the latest action flick, she'd be stunned: Everybody fights like her, a trained teenage assassin, in movies nowadays.

Are martial arts ruining action movies? Check out the article on NY Magazine:
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/04/are_martial_arts_ruining_action.html

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"Source Code"

 

Eight minutes. That's how long Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal, "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time") has to find the bomb and the bomber of a commuter train.

The catch is that Colter can go back for the last eight minutes over and over until he completes this assignment. But time is of the essence. This explosion is believed to be the first in a series of planned attacks. The longer Colter takes in solving the mystery bomber, the more lives will be at stake.

Directed by Duncan Jones ("Moon"), "Source Code" is a mashup of "Groundhog Day," "Deja Vu," "Inception," "Speed" and "Unstoppable."

Colter, an army helicopter pilot, find himself waking up in the body of another man, sitting in a train heading for Chicago. To his bewilderment, a friendly passenger sitting across him, 'Christina,' (Michelle Monaghan), keeps addressing him as 'Sean.'

Colter discovers that he's participating in an experimental government program called "Source Code." Invented by a single-minded scientist, Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright), a soldier with a specific condition can transmogrify into another person and experience the last eight minutes of another's life. In this case, Colter inhabits the body of a doomed teacher, Sean Fentress.

Transported back into reality and situated within a capsule, Colter has been communicating with a military commander, Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga), who monitors his progress. To his frustration, Colleen is tight-lipped about everything else other than the mission, although she turns more sympathetic to Colter's plight as time passes.

With every eight minutes passed and back, Colter's investigation deepens. He expects the routine incidents before they happen, notices the small details about the behaviors of his fellow passengers, and become more aware about his surroundings. Colter also realizes that he falls a little harder and harder for Christina each time. As Sean, he asks her if she could get on the Internet and find out about his soldier 'friend,' Colter Stevens. What he learns shocks him.

There is no way of getting around the repetitive scenes, but every time there's more to discern. Halfway through it appears that the story is heading into one direction, but it shifts gear in a way that makes sense if you pay attention to a certain clue involving a couple of passengers.

Gyllenhaal portrays Colter's confusion, disorientation, determination and resignation honorably. What he attempts to do in the last eight minutes of his final return, whilst he has another choice to do something else, shows his decency. With Monaghan's Christina, they're very likeable and will make anyone wish they beat their fate. In reality, passenger Christina Warren is reported to have perished in the exploding train.

The philosophical questions are more intriguing than the pseudo-science behind the eight-minute window. The Source Code program is designed not to alter the past, but affect the future. But is it all there is to it? Do you believe in a parallel universe? Does an alternate reality exist with you on a different path in life?

The penultimate scene on the train showing the facial expression of every passenger is comforting. Everything wraps up as wholly as it could be. "Source Code" is a streamlined, suspenseful sci-fi thriller served with a heart.

http://www.sdentertainer.com/arts/reviews-arts/movie-review-source-code/

DVD: http://tinyurl.com/43v6rm5
DVD (blu-ray): http://tinyurl.com/3gpaxtf

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Note: "Source Code"

"Source Code" review is now up on http://www.sdentertainer.com/arts/reviews-arts/movie-review-source-code/ It will be posted on the blog at a later time.
__________________________________________
If you live in Southern Calif. and are interested in Ultrastar Theaters movie tickets at $8.25/ea., including FREE promo popcorn vouchers, please e-mail indotransserv@gmail.com. Valid for NEW releases (except 3-D).

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Just For Fun: Sci-Fi Overload

[Note: "Source Code" review is up next.  See footnote for giveaway tickets for another film]

"The Adjustment Bureau."  "I am Number Four."  "Battle: LA."  "Paul."  "Limitless." "Sucker Punch."  It's only been three months into the year and we've seen - more than ever - sci-fi films flooding the theaters.  Perhaps it's because of the popularity of behemoth "Avatar" and "Star Trek," critical acclaims amassed by "Inception."  

Ready or not, expect more...  a lot more.

"Source Code" opens this week.  2011 is shaping up to be a bumper year for sci-fi.  A bunch are already in the pipeline for 2012 and 2013, and more have been greenlighted. Not to mention the existing glut of superhero movies - six of them this year. 

Is Hollywood going overboard with sci-fi?  Check out the article on io9:

http://io9.com/#!5783132/is-hollywood-going-overboard-with-science-fiction-movies

The blockbuster season starts early next month with "Thor."

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If you're in the San Diego area and would like to receive two (2) FREE tickets of "Nora's Will" (courtesy of Menemsha Films), awarded Mexico's Best Picture award and one of L.A. Times' "Top Ten Films of the Year," please e-mail indotransserv@gmail.com.  First come, first served.  

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