Did you enjoy Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in The Hunger Games? Let’s see how well she survives a local murder house (without her bow and only half a shirt).
From IMDB: “A mother (Elisabeth Shue) and daughter (Jennifer Lawrence) move to a new town and find themselves living next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents. When the daughter befriends the surviving son, she learns the story is far from over.”
Thanks to MovieVine for the severed head’s up.
As a modern retelling of the “John Carter of Mars” story, the only failure here is Disney’s ability to successfully market a good thing.
A veteran of the American Civil War, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is done with fighting for other people’s causes (and for good reason). When a chance encounter with a strange being in a secret cave mysteriously transports him to a new land, John finds himself the prisoner of alien creatures living in desert wasteland. It isn’t long before our hero learns that he has stumbled into yet another war not his own and possessing sought-after skills that could turn the tide in the favor of his choosing. Fortunately, Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) is hellbent bent on saving her world and her way of life, and in return for helping to save her world, John Carter may again find the home and family he lost long ago.
Mars. The story primarily takes place on MARS, dammit! Also, John Carter was a Confederate soldier; didn’t you see that in the trailers? These are just a few of the important details that make John Carter what it is: a story that science fiction has been borrowing heavily from for a number of years. Originally published as serial fiction in 1912, the same guy best known for inventing “Tarzan,” Edgar Rice Burroughs, was writing the blueprint for what would become both Star Warsand Avatar (at least the advertising got that right), but the marketing (reportedly costing upwards of $100 million) not only left out the word “Mars” but also anything explaining what was the hell was going on. Sure, the production design was striking (what else would you call ships that sail on sunlight?) but not enough to sell it to new audiences. Fortunately, the rest of the world seems to have figured out what Americans were never told or didn’t know, but more on that in a bit.
While the ending is a bit of a mess, the rest isn’t terrible (and nobody sparkles in the sunlight).
Future North America is a place called Panem, a capital city-state surrounded by twelve districts. To keep the peace as a reminder of the horrors of war, each district is required to annually offer a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to fight one another in the Hunger Games, and it’s a fight to the death. When a young woman named Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) does the unthinkable and volunteers for the games to spare her selected sister, it’s the first of many signs that point to her as a possible champion in the making. While the games offer a spark of hope for the both contestants and viewers alike, the people who manipulate the games behind the scenes aren’t about to let a poor girl from a backwoods district inspire anything but a glorious and entertaining death.
Never having read the book but still familiar with the story (you’d have to wear blinders online not to be), The Hunger Games borrows much from earlier dystopian science fiction and reworks it into young adult fare. With a cast of seasoned actors to carry some of the weight (including Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Toby Jones, and Donald Sutherland), the teens and ‘tweens mostly appear and die in as many ways as a PG-13 rating will allow (although following the book to the letter might have incurred a hard R rating). Where the story goes off the rails is the battle royal itself as Katniss lucks out or is helped out of every dangerous situation; when someone who refuses to kill others wins a fight to the death by default, there’s no other word for it other than manipulation.
There’s no secret how much love I have for producer Tim Burton, but if you’re not already familiar with the work of director Timur Bekmambetov, you’re about to be (and it looks like he just keeps getting better). Much love for the axe!
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter explores the secret life of one of the greatest US presidents, and the untold story that shaped a nation. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted) bring a fresh and visceral voice to the bloodthirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history’s greatest hunter of the undead.
Starring Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Screenplay is by Seth Grahame-Smith, based on his novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Produced by Tim Burton and directed by Timur Bekmambetov.
The original “Dark Shadows” was a campy, black and white supernatural soap opera remade years later as an over-serious drama. Tim Burton’s gothic-theatrical take seems intent on celebrating the absurd while playing the obvious ridiculousness straight-laced. It worked for Alice in Wonderland, so here’s hoping.
Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows movie, starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins. All content copyright Warner Bros.
It may not be up long. See it quick!
The 1984 short Tim Burton film (that was reviled by Disney bosses at the time and hidden away before it’s eeeeevil creator made a name for himself) gets the stop-motion treatment.
Frankenweenie is an upcoming 3D black-and-white stop motion-animated film, directed by Tim Burton, and it is a remake of the Burton’s 1984 short film of the same name. Like the 1984 version, it is a parody of and a homage to the 1931 film Frankenstein based on Mary Shelley’s book of the same name. In the film, a boy named Victor loses his dog and uses the power of science to bring it back to life. The film is scheduled for release on October 5, 2012, and it will be the first stop-motion film to be released in IMAX 3D.
Plot:
After the death of his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring him back to life. Victor tries to hide his creation, but Sparky gets out and causes havoc in the town.Official Websites: http://www.facebook.com/FrankenweenieMovie
Please let the whole movie rock this hard, Joss.
When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.
Marvel Avengers Assemble continues the epic big-screen adventures started in “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger”. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel Avengers Assemble” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since.
Gotta love this cast: Tony Todd, James Duval, Noah Hathaway, Andy Mackenzie, Mark Hamill, and Cortney Palm. And can anyone tell me when Mark Hamill turned into Philip Seymore Hoffman? Holy morphing actors, Batman!
Synopsis:
Fish has spent six years in jail. Six years alone. Six years keeping his mouth shut about the robbery, about the other men involved. The night he is released, the four men he protected with silence celebrate his freedom with a congratulatory dinner. The meal is a lavish array of sushi, served off the naked body of a beautiful young woman. The sushi girl seems catatonic, trained to ignore everything in the room, even if things become dangerous. Sure enough, the four unwieldy thieves can’t help but open old wounds in an attempt to find their missing loot.
