Friday Releases 7/9/2010

Here are this week's theater releases:

[REC]2 (R): The highly anticipated sequel to one of the scariest films of all time, "[Rec] 2" picks up 15 minutes from where we left off, taking us back into the quarantined apartment building where a terrifying virus has run rampant, turning the occupants into mindlessly violent, raging beasts. 

Despicable Me (PG): In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru, planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. 

The Kids Are All Right (R): Lesbian couple Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) have been together for almost 20 years, and have two teenage offspring named Joni and Laser, who were conceived via artificial insemination. Unbeknownst to their mothers, Joni and Laser seek out their biological father, an entrepreneur named Paul (Mark Ruffalo) . Complications arise when the teens bond with Paul and invite him into their lives.

Predators (NR): Maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez tackles producing duties for a revamp of the Predator film series with this 20th Century Fox/Troublemaker Studios production focusing on a human survival adventure set on the Predator's home planet.

Weekly Trailer Updates 7/7/2010

Check out the latest new trailers:

Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore

In theaters July 30th, 2010

Twelve

In theaters July 30th, 2010

Spoken Word

In theaters July 16th, 2010

Piranha 3D

In theaters August 20th, 2010

DVD Releases 7/6/2010

Check out the new DVD releases for this week:

Brooklyn's Finest (R)

A Single Man (R)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (R)

Pretty good mix for ya this week!

This Just In!! 'Takers' at 2010 Essence Music Fest!!

Rainforest Films presents...

If you are or will be at Essence Music Festival enter for a chance to get 2 Tickets to a Private Advanced Screening of the anticipated summer hit Takers!!!

Visit the official website: http://www.whoarethetakers.com/

Judd Apatow + Pee-wee Herman = What Do You Think?

This just in Pee-Wee Herman is coming back to the big screen. Judd Apatow's publicist, Matt Labov, says the writer-director-producer is developing a movie with Pee-Wee's creator, Paul Reubens. Reubens, who is co-writing the film, described it as an on-the-road movie built around a big adventure.

"Let's face it, the world needs more Pee-Wee Herman," Apatow told Daily Variety. "I am so excited to be working with Paul Reubens -- who is an extraordinary and ground-breaking actor and writer. It's so great to watch him return with such relevance."

Pee-Wee's first film, 1985's Pee-wee's Big Adventure, spawned a cult TV show featuring the kooky, overgrown boy.

Reubens revived his character on stage this year, and that show is set for a 48-performance run on Broadway starting Oct. 26.

Breaking News!! New Spiderman has been casted...

Well it looks like we got a new "web" guy...

According to Access Hollywood, Andrew Garfield, 26, has been cast as the new Peter Parker for the next installment in the "Spider-Man" movie franchise, Columbia Pictures announced on Thursday (7/1/2010).

Andrew will make his official screen debut as the legendary superhero on July 3, 2012, when the film hits theaters in 3-D. Production on the film will begin in early December.

Garfield has appeared in a few films, including The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the project Heath Ledger  was working on at the time of his death in 2008 and 2007's Lions for Lambs with Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, and Robert Redford. The young actor is also a part of the cast of the upcoming Facebook movie, "The Social Network," due for release later this year.

Marc Webb, who helmed (500) Days of Summer, the indie hit which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, will direct the picture.

Tobey Maguire previously played Spider-Man in three installments of the franchise.

Wonder if this revamp will hurt or help the Spider-Man franchise.

Another Disappointment in film...The Last Airbender :-(

After patiently waiting and extremely eagerly for this movie to hit the big screen, I sat in the theater angry and feeling like my dreams had just been dashed!! I was like a kid in the candy store, but instead of enjoying my candy, somebody stole it right from my hands!!

Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Four nations tied by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements.

Let me first start out by saying I am no expert in the 'Last Airbender' series, however I did get a chance to do some background research before going to see the film. And thank goodness I did because otherwise I would have been totally lost. But then again even if you didn't have any prior knowledge of it, the movie would still suck!

Now that we have picked apart the acting I would be remissed to discuss the casting of the movie. This was probably the biggest flaw of them all considering its basically the opposite of the original series. The fact that the casting consisted of Caucasian actors playing all the good guys in the Asian-influenced Avatar universe triggered numerous negative reactions especially from fans. It actually does a disservice to the film because it changes the authenticity of what it really represents. That was one thing I could not let go while watching the film.

As it pertains to the acting, I was literally cringing in my seat, the acting was horrible. With each line voiced you can't help but wonder where some of these folks got their acting skills. Now I understand that M.Night.Shyamalan was probably trying to introduce some new blood, but this proved not to be a successful change-up. The only actor who seemed to have the best flow was that of Dev Patel (Prince Zuko) he played one great confused "bad guy". To a small degree you actually empathize with his character. He actually emotes true believable feelings. Now he wasn't the most accurate portrayal of "Iroh" visually but at least captured the character's wisdom much better than many of the other actors on board for the movie. However, the worst of them all was the main character Aang (played by newcomer Noah Ringer), lord knows this had to be his first gig.

To be honest, when you boil it down this is really not the type of film that would be Shyamalan's forte' so to speak. He needs to stick to the thought-provoking mystery films that are more up his alley. And leave the mysticism and fantasy alone. And another thing, leave the 3D alone too!! Its not for you!!

My question is "how do you take something that seemed like such a great idea and make it so terrible?" It makes you wonder what could result of the films to follow (FYI...this is not the end). Such a shame that  Shyamalan got completely caught up in the mythology of the world and missed the fact that the CHARACTERS are what make up the cartoon, thus the movie should follow suit. It's so disappointing because this could have really been a great film...SMH!

Rating: 1 star out of 4