With Disney in full synergy mode, ‘ABC Nightline’ put together a nice news package covering ‘Captain America: Civil War.’
The clip contained two very interesting nuggets of information and a ton of new footage.
The first nugget, Scarlett Johansson makes a quick mention that neither Black Widow or Hawkeye have a solo adventure in the works. With the backlash from the ‘Ghost in the Shell’, you can bet Johansson would rather be filming a Black Widow feature film.
The second nugget, and probably the biggest news to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a while, Robert Downey Jr. told ‘Nightline’ he has one more solo Iron Man film in him.
“I feel like I could do one more,” said Downey Jr.
You can’t see Marvel Studios not making this film. The Iron Man franchise has earned $2.4 billion.
What villain do you want to see Tony Stark fight in ‘Iron Man 4’?
UPDATE: On the Facebook comment threads, fans overwhelmingly want to see the Mandarin done properly on the big screen.
Captain America: Civil War is directed by Anthony & Joe Russo from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, Captain America: Civil War picks up where Avengers: Age of Ultron left off, as Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain.
The film stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Emily VanCamp, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Tom Holland, and Martin Freeman.
Captain America: Civil War is set for release on May 6.
Billy Dee Williams is once again the spokesperson for the iconic malt liquor Colt 45.
“I’ve enjoyed my long association with Colt 45, and it’s my pleasure to, once again, support this iconic beer. I’ve always found Colt 45 to be a high quality and deeply satisfying beverage,” said Williams.
Part of the new marketing campaign for the beverage, Pabst Brewing Company is holding a contest where one lucky winner and a guest will be flown to Billy Dee’s exclusive lounge party to be held in Hollywood later this year. You need to call Billy Dee to enter the contest, 1-844-COLT-45.
“Billy Dee Williams played a major role in the success of Colt 45. He is the definition of class, style, and charm. Everyone wants to drink a Colt 45 with Billy Dee,” said Dan McHugh, Chief Marketing Officer for Pabst Brewing Company.
July 14th, 1789 – the date when protesters released seven prisoners from The Bastille, though the French prefer to think about it as the day the people rose up against an oppressive government. Bastille Day also serves as a setting for a silly action-thriller starring Idris Elba.
Michael Mason (Richard Madden) is an American pickpocket living in Paris who ends up becoming the top suspect after stealing a bomb which kills four people. Sean Briar (Idris Elba) is a maverick CIA agent who is transferred to Paris after a mission went wrong in Iraq. Briar is assigned the task to bring Mason in for questioning before the French can, but have to team up when Briar is forced to go rogue as the forces responsible for the attack orchestrate protests and riots across the French capital.
Bastille Day is led by two actors who are touted as potential Bonds – Elba is a leading candidate and Madden could be a good outside bet. Elba has no problem with the action scenes; he is a big imposing figure who has no problem beating people up and Briar’s CIA bosses describe him as reckless and irresponsible, just like a certain MI6 agent. Briar also acts like Jack Bauer, an agent who has to act in a short space of time in a major city and is willing to use threats and violence to extract information while being backed up by people on computers. The scene when Briar questions Mason lets Elba do his best Samuel L. Jackson impression. Despite Briar’s gruff exterior he does have a sardonic wit which helped to lighten the mood.
Richard Madden is fine in his role as a thief with a conscious who gets embroiled in a much bigger event. He has a roguish claim during his early scenes, and he has a trait of smoking a cigarette after a successful job and is shown to be a very resourceful young man. But he is outshone and outmanned when he is on screen with Elba, the Hackney actor having a dominating screen presence and a more fun role then Madden – who had whined about Briar’s method. Madden’s American accent needs a bit of work for future roles.
Bastille Day is the first action movie for British director James Watkins – his previous writing and directing have been in the horror genre. Watkins does a decent enough job – there is a fun chase on the rooftops early on in the movie, and he is able to show Briar and Mason’s observational skills – when Briar is investigating and when Mason he has to come up with quick plans. The fist fights do suffer the cure of a lot of modern action cinema – shaky cam and quick cuts – but it is far from being the worst offender. Bastille Day was edited by Jon Harris, who worked on movies like Kick-Ass and Kingsman: The Secret Service, which made sure the action was fairly comprehensible. The movie being a spy-action thriller set in Paris with Americans characters made Bastille Day seem like a Luc Besson produced EuropaCorp movie, but the Frenchman filmmaker was not involved.
Where Bastille Day falls flat is on the writing. What possibly happened was that the writer was influenced by 24, Die Hard With Vengeance and Goldeneye and then bludgeoned in the head before writing. The plot is exceedingly stupid. What happens in the movie is that a group of rogue police officers planted the bomb so they could turn Paris into a powder-keg of chaos. When it is revealed as to why they are doing this, it just leads to a groan of despair. It is similar to what happened in the British actioner Welcome to the Punch, where it leads to questions about what the masterminds are actually able to gain considering their positions? It is the type of movie where any logic problems have to be ignored.
There was some controversy surrounding the release of the movie because of recent terrorist attacks in Paris. It’s not the film’s fault; it’s just unfortunate timing. The movie tries not to be political – the far-left and far-right are both used by the actual terrorists to riot and protest, and Muslims are made out to be victims of stereotyping. But the movies tries to have its cake and eat it, by being more sympathetic to left-wing activities: they wanted to avoid killing anyone, while showing the right-wing nationalist party used immigrant labor as cleaners. They also want the audience to cheer both the left-wing activities and Briar as he beats and tortures people to get information. The left wing activities are shown to be wearing yellow smiley masks – most likely because the studio could not get the rights to use the V for Vendetta masks.
The way the French authorities are portrayed is similar to 2008’s Taken where they were corrupt or incompetent. French audiences will laugh and go ‘silly Americans’, or be very offended that their police are so hopeless while the Americans are at worst sticklers for the rules. The French tend to be quiet a proud bunch and do not like it when their nation is insulted.
The most egregious aspect is its opening shot of a naked woman walking around in a public place. It was put in the movie for shock value.
Bastille Day is a very standard actioner that has a good cast, but suffers from the stupidity of its own story and screenplay as it tries to emulate Die Hard, 24 and the Bourne series.
The first official trailer for Oliver Stone’s biopic thriller Snowden is here. Aside from Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s strange-sounding voice, the film looks tense from start to finish.
SNOWDEN, THE POLITICALLY-CHARGED, PULSE-POUNDING THRILLER STARRING JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT AND SHAILENE WOODLEY, REVEALS THE INCREDIBLE UNTOLD PERSONAL STORY OF EDWARD SNOWDEN, THE POLARIZING FIGURE WHO EXPOSED SHOCKING ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES BY THE NSA AND BECAME ONE OF THE MOST WANTED MEN IN THE WORLD. HE IS CONSIDERED A HERO BY SOME, AND A TRAITOR BY OTHERS. NO MATTER WHICH YOU BELIEVE, THE EPIC STORY OF WHY HE DID IT, WHO HE LEFT BEHIND, AND HOW HE PULLED IT OFF MAKES FOR ONE OF THE MOST COMPELLING FILMS OF THE YEAR.
Oliver Stone has been hit or miss for a long time, with the misses beginning to overwhelm his catalogue. He’s seem to have lost his edge in recent years, with W. and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps lacking the punch of his earlier work. This looks like it could be a return to paranoia-fueled glory for the politically-charged auteur.
Warner Bros. released the first trailer for ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ the animated film, voiced by Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Tara Strong (Batgirl) and Ray Wise (Commissioner Gordon).
“All it takes is one bad day,” according to The Joker.
The R-Rated movie will premiere at San Diego Comic-Con International this summer with a Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD release to follow.
Key & Peele Shine But Keanu The Cat Shines Brighter
You know exactly what kind of movie you are getting walking into Key & Peele’s first big-screen venture. ‘Keanu‘ is basically one of the best sketch ideas for their show expanded to a feature length movie. The result is a hilarious & relevant comedy that showcases what the two men do best.
The real star of the show is the 7 tabby cats that play the titular Keanu. The adorable kittens made even the most cynical critic say “aww” quite a few times. Wait till you see the brilliant collection of movie-themed photos that Jordan Peele’sRell takes of Keanu; they are priceless and I need the calendar of them as soon as possible.
Something I really enjoyed about the movie is they avoid falling into major cliches. Half-way through the film, I expected Keegan-Michael Key’sClarence & Peele’s Rell to have a major fight and the story would halt to reunite them. That never happened! While they did buttheads at times, they never went down that tired route many comedic films take. This allowed the story to keep going. Once the action picks up, it never stops. Also, the ending doesn’t end on this overly happy note. While most comedies wrap everything up with a happy bow, ‘Keanu‘ remains funny but keeps it real.
The fact the directorPeter Atencio can sustain the premise for more than a 5-minute sketch is another point of praise. Atencio is usually found directing segments for the ‘Key & Peele‘ sketch show so he seems comfortable working with the guys and the obscurity. The director handles the material written by Alex Rubens and Jordan Peele very well. The gangster violence is never sacrificed for a laugh; both comedy & action are well balanced.
Also, what was up with ‘Keanu‘ being a low-key love-letter to the music of George Michael? As teased in the some of the trailers, the former frontman of WHAM! fills up most of the soundtrack. Other than some random rap songs, Michael’s best hits like “Father Figure” & “Freedom ’90!” are heavily played. This random homage does lead to genuinely hilarious moments; the biggest being Key re-creating the famous music video for “Faith“. It was worth the viewing alone.
‘Keanu‘ has far more highs than it does lows. The action-comedy movie starring Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele leaves me looking forward to the two actors doing more big-screen movies.
Will you be seeing Warner Bros. ‘Keanu‘ when it comes out this Friday?
The Micronauts have a large following thanks to the comic series which helped to add back story to the toy line. This is new series is the attempt to introduce a new generation of fans to the franchise. Will it be able to capture a new audience?
The story by Cullen Bunn doesn’t beat around the bush and goes straight in by explaining how a force is decimating planets. Then moves into introducing the main characters, sending them on a mission, and giving nods to Baron Karza, who is scheming to take over the universe. If it sounds like there is a lot going on in the comic it should. A lot of elements are introduced in this issue and it’s often hard to keep up. Still, the moments when Acroyear and his team are fighting are entertaining.
The art looks very detailed. Compared to the previous incarnations of the characters, this is definitely the more appealing of any adaptation of the Micronauts ever made. It should be considering how many people worked to make the final product. The book had four finishers (Fico Ossio, Max Dunbar, Jack Lawrence, and David Baldeon), four colorists (David Gracia Cruz, Joana LaFuente, Thomas Deer, and John-Paul Bove), and David Baldeon doing the breakdowns. A lot of artists in the kitchen but the results speak for themselves and the book looks great.
The issue makes you wants to read more but it does feel like they are trying to compress a lot into the first issue. Especially with the description from the website of the actual story. Despite everything mentioned, their really isn’t any actual time travel happening yet. This means, the story is going to go very far and deep in a short amount of time. Fans will want to pick this one up so they don’t get lost.
Smart phones turn people into zombies in Cell, the new Stephen King adaptation starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. Here is the trailer, which doesn’t really sell us anything new. There’s always room for surprises though:
When a mysterious cell phone signal causes apocalyptic chaos, an artist is determined to reunite with his young son in New England.
Not much detail, but it has potential if for no other reason John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson are an interesting pairing. And it’s a Stephen King adaptation which, nobody’s ever made a poor one of those, right? It just kinda seems like this is the sort of King story that works better on the pages, but I’m willing to be wrong.
Isabelle Fuhrman and Stacy Keach also star in Cell, directed by Tod Williams, and will hit theaters later this year.
Ernest Hemingway was a fascinating true life character. The life he led makes for a better story than most of what Hollywood’s been able to come up with lately, which is probably why he’s been portrayed over 40 times in film and TV. Papa: Hemingway in Cuba, directed by Bob Yari, is the latest portrayal, and tells a tale from the point of view of one of the author’s closest friends.
Papa is the true story of Denne Bart Petitclerc (called Ed Myers in the film), a Miami newspaper writer who was invited to spend time with his idol in Cuba after writing him a heartfelt letter. The two develop a tight relationship, and Hemingway becomes the father figure that Ed never had growing up (it’s fitting that Ernest’s actual nickname was “Papa”). All of this happens in the midst of Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution, and Myers gets swept up in the hurricane that was Papa’s life.
Ironically, the writing is what brings this picture down, coupled with Yari’s poor direction (it was only his second turn in the chair, and his first since 1989). The central plot is never clear, and the story moves much too fast. One minute it’s centered on Hemingway’s involvement in the Revolution, then it jumps to his depression and how it affected his marriage, and then it jumps yet again to Eddie’s own relationship with someone back in Miami. What’s actually driving the story? Where are we as viewers supposed to invest our emotions? Yari doesn’t spend enough time on anyone (including Papa himself) to make us care about what’s happening to them. Why should the audience feel anything towards Eddie’s love interest when her character isn’t developed at all, and she disappears for huge chunks of the movie?
Castro’s Revolution is the most engaging and intriguing part of the story by far, but sadly even that’s done a disservice. This is set up to be the crux of the film: Hemingway’s home is at war and the FBI is after him for various shady reasons. It’s intense, but it gets lost in the mess of assorted plot lines. Had Yari committed to making the Revolution the central focus of his work, it would have been wholly better. Instead, we get the tease of an engrossing storyline only to have it ripped away without a sense of closure.
The dialogue doesn’t do much to help the movie. It’s clunky, clichéd, and extremely expository to the point that it doesn’t sound natural. The characters just sound like they’re reading lines, and it’s actually quite comical at times. That’s not a slight against the actors either; everyone in this picture genuinely looks to be trying their best with the material they were given. Considering this script was written by the actual Denne Petitclerc before his death, it’s hard to see what Hemingway saw in him all those years ago.
Ultimately, there isn’t much else worth saying about Papa. It’s an interesting excerpt from the life a brilliant and tragic figure, but all of that gets lost thanks to messy storytelling from an inexperienced director. Your time would be better spent reading Hemingway’s biography or watching an actual documentary.
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Papa: Hemingway in Cuba opens in theaters this Friday, April 29th.
The description is as blunt and to the point as the comic itself. Picking up right where the previous issue left off, new arrivals are helping to fight back the Decepticon Justice Division. It’s good to see the lost members of the crew coming back to help when the team has its back against the wall. We also see something which comes around once in a blue moon: Rodimus having to gravel and admit he was wrong. Considering how often he is, you’d think he’d be used to it by now.
The main bulk of the issue though is the showdown between Megatron and Tarn. What happens when a man who has walked away from his past meets back up with the student who regarded him as a prophet? Simple, Tarn (the student) is angry and he will hear nothing of this new life path Megatron has chosen. Just as it looks like Megatron is going down for the count another face from his past shows up who also wants a piece of him. The issue is full of such high tension, intense dialogue, and brutal violence you can’t help but read it through several times.
Milne’s art is as on point as it ever was. Some of the best panels include Tarn and Megatron’s talk amongst the field of spark flowers representing all the lives Megatron has taken over the years. Thanks to Joana LaFuente’s color work, the book is awash with colors which help to accentuate the actions taking place.
The team has built up the action to a new height. Now all they need to do is bring it home and let the real battle between the Lost Light Crew and the Decepticon Justice Division begin. Luckily, the action and art is so spot on the team won’t have to worry about losing any readers anytime soon. Unless of course the next issue is a bloodbath, but even then what a memorial issue it would be.
