THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER Review

Neil Burger (Limitless, The Illusionist, Divergent) is a reliable set of hands to place your stock adaptation of a popular airport thriller in and if nothing else, The Marsh King’s Daughter demonstrates just how dependable Burger is at executing on if not elevating what could easily be dismissed as a Lifetime movie. Ironically, this is the kind of psychological drama audiences would flock to theaters to see in decades past when such material was placed in the hands of filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Alan Pakula. Though it's highly doubtful this adaptation of Karen Dionne's 2017 bestseller will shape any future box office trends it is nice to see something like The Marsh King’s Daughter - a movie with good bones, a strong premise, and something of a movie star in Daisy Ridley's roundabout franchise way - getting a wide release as any option for a sequel or opportunity to franchise are seemingly completely off the table. 

As refreshing as all this might feel in our current cinematic landscape, there is unfortunately still something rather rote about the experience of The Marsh King’s Daughter for, while those bones are solid, Burger's film doesn't really stand to support much depth or a stand-out performance that takes it beyond the genre stratosphere. There is potential for such, whether that be in exploring the current state of Ridley's Helena Pelletier who is in a constant state of trying to convince herself that the life she's leading is the right one after finding out the one person she believed in the most was really a monster; the movie naturally taking place when this person, this father figure, comes back into her life after twenty years. Or, one of these actors might have taken the opportunity to really infuse the material with some electricity (ahem, Mendelsohn), but instead things are played fairly safe and straightforward leaving the movie feeling predictable and uninspired.

CHAOS WALKING Review

A fascinating miscalculation if nothing else, Chaos Walking is a string of ideas in search of meaning. Having never heard of The Knife of Letting Go by Patrick Ness, the first in a trilogy of books that is known overall as Chaos Walking the most notable first reaction to this adaptation was that despite having a reliable captain in Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Edge of Tomorrow) the film itself largely lacks a sense of direction. Of course, this might have something to do with the troubled production given the film was originally shot in 2017, but after what were reported to be poor test screenings of the initial cut, Lionsgate brought in a different director, Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe), for extensive and costly reshoots in 2019 before the pandemic delayed the release further. Though the film doesn't inspire enough curiosity for me to rally film twitter to initiate the #ReleaseTheLimanCut movement it does stand as a curious case of what might have been given Ness' material (he authored the series as well as co-wrote the screenplay with Christopher Ford) offers a number of possible interpretations, opportunities, and ideas that no one can blame neither Lionsgate (who acquired the rights to the book in 2011) nor Liman for wanting to pursue. That said, for a visual medium such as film to realize a concept that includes what is referred to as "the Noise" where every character on screen can hear every male character's thoughts there needs to be a certain level of credibility and innovation to its execution, but unfortunately this balance is never struck...or maybe it was never found in the first place. It's difficult to imagine what it must have been like to work in the sound department on a project such as this where there seems no good option in matching what is essentially Tom Holland doing Dustin Hoffman a la Rain Man in an attempt to verbalize streams of consciousness to different colored clouds of smoke that pulse like heartbeats around the men's heads. Manifesting this concept was undoubtedly a challenge, but it doesn't help that this concept is largely the key to making the film work as a whole and when it doesn't land - when we're not convinced of said manifestation in the first five minutes - then it's a problem. It also doesn't help that this key element was to be largely finalized in post-production allowing for little wiggle room in the experimentation of bringing the concept to life. Stream of consciousness thinking is confusing, often contradictory, and always messy, so how was anyone expected to organize this into something coherent much less consistently compelling in such a fashion that it could support an entire narrative based around a dystopian world where the women are gone and the men are literally left with only their thoughts? I have no idea either, but if anyone does, they should contact Chaos Walking.

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX - THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Review

If one was to go back and watch the prequels ("...but why?!?" you cringe!) with as objective a perspective as possible, with the allowance of framing them in a new light given the events of the Star Wars universe that have unfolded since their release it's not hard to see that Emperor Palpatine has always played the role of puppet master, at first hedging both sides against one another before fully giving in to his true Sith tendencies and converting a young Anakin Skywalker to follow him on that path. And while J.J. Abrams initial film in this sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens, seemingly had no interest in resurrecting the long, thought-to-be dead Emperor there is sound reason (believe it or not!) in bringing this antagonist back to round out all three trilogies in a way that makes for a resounding stanza...just as George Lucas always intended. It's about rhyme; a recurring metrical unit where the past predicts the future and the future dictates the fate of our favorite characters. There is a great sense of scope and history in these films and while Disney has admittedly fumbled a massive opportunity with these sequels, Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, seeks to try and rectify the lack of cohesion in this latest trilogy and bring everything together through that aforementioned scope and history in a fashion that is both meaningful to our new heroes while imparting the identity of those original heroes to inspire this new generation to continue to work towards the betterment of the galaxy. Yes, The Rise of Skywalker more or less crams two movies into one and yes, it is genuinely disappointing that this series wasn't better constructed from the beginning given how much this world means to so many people, but taken what we're given Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio (Argo) are able to connect the dots in a satisfying enough way where the right questions are answered, some mysteries remain yet feel destined to be unraveled on Disney+ while other inquiries are made that no one seemed to be asking, but are quickly brought up and resolved just as swiftly that it's as if Abrams was taking out double coverage just in case. It's impossible to please everyone and as much as I hate to admit it as a long-time, but not die-hard fan of the franchise, the discourse around these films is often toxic and demeaning. It's okay to simply enjoy whatever brings a smile to your face and more often than not, as I sat experiencing The Rise of Skywalker for the first time, I had a smile on my face.

Final Trailer for STAR WARS: EPISODE IX - THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

It's hard to believe the monumental finale of the Skywalker saga is officially upon us, but maybe more surprising is the fact that-as a devoted Star Wars fan-I'm only cautiously optimistic about how good the film might turn out to be and only mildly intrigued by where the story will take us  after 2017's disappointing (for me) The Last Jedi. Needless to say, both excitement and expectations have been tempered for this last installment. If it's not obvious already, I was not a fan of Rian Johnson's middle chapter in what is seemingly the third and final trilogy in the main series of Star Wars films as it almost irreverently disregarded everything writer/director J.J. Abrams set-up in 2015's The Force Awakens. And while Abrams is back to complete this trilogy he began four years ago one cannot help but feel much of the air has already left the room despite the fact what we have seen so far seems to deliver what longtime fans of the franchise want and what I can only imagine is equally intriguing to those who enjoyed Johnson's take on the universe as I have to believe they are as equally intrigued as to where the story could go after where Johnson left it. While story, character, and plot details have been incredibly mum we do know the story does not pick up immediately after the events of TLJ and concerns the core group of new characters going on an adventure together. Here's to hoping lowered expectations lead to a greater reward. Abrams and Lucasfilm director Kathleen Kennedy have continued to discuss the importance of practical versus visual effects in this trilogy as a whole and while there is certainly no lack of special effects in this trailer one of the best things one can say about the aesthetic of this trailer is how grounded it actually feels. Legacy players like Anthony Daniels, Lando Calrissian himself Billy Dee Williams, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher will return for this final chapter as do new generation cast members including Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong'o, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd while this film will also feature newcomers Naomi Ackie who we know plays a character named Jannah along with Keri Russell and Richard E. Grant. The film will also introduce us to BB-8's new friend, Dio. Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker opens on December 20th, 2019. Get your tickets now!

MOVIES I WANNA SEE MOST: FALL 2019

Per usual, there are a lot of things to be excited for this fall at the movies. I'd like to state up front that when I say "fall" in terms of movie-going seasons that "fall" will be defined as beginning next week, the first weekend of September, through to the end of the year. This actually makes it more difficult to narrow down my most anticipated releases into a short ten as there are releases the first three weeks of September that I've been looking forward to the majority of the year, but I’ll hold off on those until I actually get to the list. Furthermore, I want to provide some context for this list by stating that the ten movies I’ve picked are the ten movies I would want to see most if I could only see ten more movies for the remainder of the year; if I were only allowed to enter a theater ten more times in 2019 these are the ten I would pick to see on those visits. Sure, there are things like Terminator: Dark Fate, Zombieland: Double Tap, the new Jumanji film and Frozen II that I’m excited for and interested to see for one reason or another, but if I don’t know that any of those would necessarily make the cut if it were an absolute scenario such as the one I'm putting myself in for the sake of widdling down the release schedule to the ten titles I'm actually most anticipating. What I do want to do first though, is go through some of the movies that aren’t going to make my list, but that I think deserve to be highlighted as they have a lot of promise and one can only hope they turn out to be as fantastic as they look.

Teaser Trailer for STAR WARS: EPISODE IX - THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

It's hard to believe the monumental finale of the Skywalker saga only ranks in the middle of my ten most anticipated features this year, but after 2017's The Last Jedi both excitement and expectations have been severely tempered for this last installment. If it's not obvious already, I was not a fan of Rian Johnson's middle chapter in what is seemingly the third and final trilogy in the main series of Star Wars films as it almost irreverently disregarded everything writer/director J.J. Abrams set-up in 2015's The Force Awakens. And while Abrams is back to complete this trilogy he began four years ago one cannot help but feel much of the air has already left the room despite the fact we haven't seen a single shot or piece of footage from the upcoming film...until today. While story, character, and plot details have been incredibly mum what we did learn in today's Star Wars celebration panel is that the story does not pick up immediately after the events of TLJ and concerns the core group of new characters going on an adventure together.  Here's to hoping lowered expectations lead to greater reward. Director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm director Kathleen Kennedy also touched on topics such as the use of practical versus visual effects not just in this last film, but in this trilogy as a whole as well as touching on the fact that the final day of filming was emotional without going further into detail so as to seemingly avoid spoilers. Several cast members including Anthony Daniels, Lando Calrissian himself Billy Dee Williams, new generation cast members including Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and newcomer Naomi Ackie who we now know plays a character named Jannah. The live and streaming crowds were also introduced to BB-8's new friend, Dio, a smaller droid that is distinctively cool. Adam Driver, Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher, Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Hamill, Keri Russell, and Richard E. Grant also star. Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker opens on December 20th, 2019.

MOVIES I WANNA SEE MOST: 2019

With a new year we are brought many a new prospects for our entertainment purposes and in looking forward to 2019 one thing is more than clear and that is the fact audiences will have an abundance of interesting material to choose from. In setting out to make a most anticipated list I actually began with some fifty-something films I found interesting or knew I'd care to see based solely on surface factors such as director, cast members, or synopsis. It pains me that movies like John Crowley's follow-up to Brooklyn, Goldfinch, won't get acknowledged here nor will James Mangold's Ford v. Ferrari, Danny Boyle's Beatles project, or Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window, but that is the way these things work. That is without mentioning the long list of blockbusters that won't appear here-including Glass, Shazam!, Captain Marvel, John Wick: Chapter 3, The Lion King, and the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sequel-as I'm certainly excited to see what each of those deliver, but am not anticipating any with the fervor my top ten bring.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII - THE LAST JEDI Review

It doesn't end with a space battle. It does begin with one though. And it does still come down to stopping a big laser from destroying what is positioned as the final stronghold of the resistance. This is The Last Jedi simplified, of course, but the point is, patterns. Stanzas. Everything in Star Wars, since the days of George Lucas, has worked in this recurring metrical unit where the past predicts the future and the future dictates the fate of our favorite characters. There is a great sense of scope and history in these films and with Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom, and Looper) has utilized this rich history in a way that kind of upends those patterns. Those verses that were seemingly an inherent part of the Star Wars DNA. Typically, this would be something unexpected, but applauded as it would lead one to believe there are bold choices being made and new directions being taken and while this is true to a certain extent, what happens when you don't always like or agree with the choices being made or the direction being taken? With The Force Awakens J.J. Abrams created a revival for a new generation balancing the tasks of paying respects to the previous trilogy, setting-up new parts of the universe to be explored, and establishing a new generation of characters that fans could fall in love with. Key to this was Abrams backdrop of this great mythos and grandeur that only hinted at the darkness that had befallen the characters of the original trilogy since we'd last seen them. The Last Jedi would then seemingly follow through on the promise of this mythical status that had befallen Luke Skywalker and so there was much to be excited for going forward in the series. In fact, The Force Awakens put in place so much to build this aura of mystery and gravity that it was probably impossible for Johnson to deliver on all of them, but with the re-introduction of Mark Hamill's Skywalker here it is clear this is in fact, "not going to go the way we (or at least I) thought," as Johnson immediately dispels this sense of mysticism in favor of a joke. A moment of deadpan humor that put me in a hesitant state of mind from which I don't know that I ever recovered. I've now seen the movie twice and I felt the same way both times. To be clear, I'm more than up for a movie that is self-aware to the point of not taking itself too seriously, but this almost broad comical direction and unwillingness to divulge that rich history or take advantage of it in the way The Force Awakens so gracefully set it up is nothing short of disappointing and may in fact be the most depressing aspect of what The Last Jedi seemingly promised and failed to deliver.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Review

You know those times when you think something is unnecessary, let's say for the sake of this format it's a movie, and yet despite those initial hesitations and questions of purpose you come to realize that it's not a complete waste of time, but rather that you actually like certain aspects of this fresh perspective it once seemed was uncalled for. I have never before read the 1934 Agatha Christie novel, Murder on the Orient Express, nor had I seen what is probably the most famous adaptation of this work in Sidney Lumet's 1974 film that starred Albert Finney as one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, Detective Hercule Poirot. That was, until earlier this week when I decided to catch-up with what was no doubt much of the reason 20th Century Fox decided it was indeed necessary to bring Christie's work back to the big screen with no lack of prestige in either its talent or production. In doing so, it became clear how much that '74 film serves as a perfect blueprint for the murder mystery venture and while I certainly doubt it was the first film of its kind it certainly is a fine example of how to make this type of movie in an effective, fun, and engaging manner. So, what does Sir Kenneth Branagh do when he gets his hands on such rich material and the opportunity to play as famous a character as Poirot? Well, not much really. Branagh keeps to the guidelines of the genre for the most part while the changes in characters and character arcs in this latest adaptation feel more like attempts to differentiate this version from Lumet's more than they do organic changes that came out of adapting Christie's story for a more modern audience. Sure, there are changes made to certain character's ethnicities and the color of certain character's skin, but beyond these factors serving to be acknowledged as they might have been in the context of 1934 there is no reason to have changed anything about the character other than for the sake of variety and equality, which is never a bad thing, of course, but the hope was that whatever changes Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049) made for this latest adaptation they might have been done to either improve upon the story or offer some facet previously unexplored. And yet, this version of Murder on the Orient Express is a safe if not efficient take in the mystery genre that relies on star power for character development and handsomely mounted production values to fill in for substance leaving the experience of Branagh's latest to be perfectly serviceable if not exactly fulfilling.

New Trailer for STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII - THE LAST JEDI

In the two years since The Force Awakens debuted in theaters it has become one of those easy to watch movies you can put on at anytime and always count on getting hooked. Sure, the issues it had with aping A New Hope have become all the more glaring, but at the same time so has the incredibly strong work with all of the new characters that were introduced and by virtue of that-our desire to see those character's journeys continue has only increased. All of that to say we now finally have a new, extended look at director Rian Johnson's (Brick, The Brother's Bloom, Looper) follow-up to J.J. Abram's safe, but respectable introduction to this latter trilogy. Every other movie in town has pretty much cleared out sans DreamWorks Animation's Ferdinand which should make for fine counter-programming while a plethora of other major releases follow in the weeks afterward including the Jumaji sequel, the third Pitch Perfect movie, the Hugh Jackman/Zac Efron musical The Greatest Showman as well as a handful of other adult-centric films that I'm eager to see how everything shakes out at the holiday box office. That's not what we're here to talk about though, that would be The Last Jedi and what this new trailer tells us about what we can expect for Episode VIII. While Johnson warned fans per his Twitter that if they want to go into the movie as unknowing as possible to avoid the trailer, but even for someone who generally avoids later trailers and clips altogether it was next to impossible to not watch this new Star Wars trailer as we've seen no new footage or hint at story since the teaser dropped in April. The tease that Rey's hero might not be all she'd built him up to be seems to continue to take shape in this new trailer as Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill's Rey and Luke don't exactly share the master/padawan relationship I think most expected them to develop after the tease at the end of The Force Awakens. There will of course be much dissecting and speculating, but for now let us just bask in the glory of seeing new images of a new Star Wars movie that will hopefully answer some of those burning questions left by The Force Awakens as well as the full-on return of Hamill to the role of Luke Skywalker. The film also stars John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Laura Dern, Adam Driver, Carrie Fisher, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Kelly Marie Tran, Gwendoline Christie, Warwick Davis, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Benicio Del Toro. Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens December 15th, 2017.

Movies I Wanna See Most: Fall 2017

This fall has come to be something of a strange time in terms of movie-going as I was supposed to be attending the Toronto International Film Festival this week, but due to some unfortunate circumstances I wasn't able to make the trip. And so, in lieu of seeing and reviewing some of the big prestige pictures set to arrive this fall I decided to highlight some of the films I was most excited to see for the remainder of 2017. It's been a fairly dry year thus far with only a handful or so of exceptional films some of which include a rather stand-out year for super-hero films with Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Wonder Woman all doing stellar jobs of sticking with me while Spider-Man: Homecoming was a ton of fun if not necessarily great. Still, I know plenty of people who would disagree with me on that point so I can only hope this spells good things for Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League come November. That said, given I was anticipating going to TIFF this year much of what makes up my most anticipated for the remainder of the year are those that I would have been seeing this week with others that I might have had the chance to see falling by the wayside in the wake of mapping out the final three months of the year, but that I'm still very much excited to see. For example, while titles such as Hostiles, Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water, and Downsizing are all films I look forward to for one reason or another they didn't make my final cut (though, if the word out of this year's collection of film festivals is to be believed I'll grimly regret leaving Call Me By Your Name out of this list).  Not to be left out, there are certainly other blockbusters that I wasn't able to include on the list either that I'm anxious to lay my eyes upon including Pitch Perfect 3, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, as well as the latest works from the likes of Steven Spielberg (The Post) and Ridley Scott (All the Money in the World). All of that said, let's get into the movies that I am excited to see and see which did and didn't make the cut.

First Trailer for MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

I must admit, I’ve never seen Sidney Lumet’s 1974 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel starring Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, and Jacqueline Bisset, but I am rather interested in correcting that-especially now that we have seen a glimpse of what Kenneth Branagh’s re-make or re-imagining is going to look like. The cast is certainly just as impressive and make no mistake, this first trailer for the film is very much a teaser despite its two minute runtime. Much of the teaser’s time is dedicated to showing the cadre of big names that do indeed star in the film while the remainder is black screens and neon blue text that looks awfully similar to Bates Motel. Maybe Branagh, or rather 20th Century Fox’s marketing department, thought it wise to hue closely to a similar murder/mystery tone of a rather popular and more recent TV show, but all the mystery and implied deviousness is quickly undone as soon as Branagh introduces himself in the role of Hercule Poirot with what I can only assume is an Imagine Dragons song blasting the background. It is shockingly jarring in how much is shifts what it seemed the intended tone was to something of a comic nature. While it’s always nice to have a balanced sense of humor I don’t think Branagh and the gang were going for the kind of mood this trailer leaves us with. It’s an odd choice, but hopefully (and likely) has no bearing on the actual final product we’ll see this winter. Strange music choice aside, this is still a hell of a cast and though we only get a line of dialogue or so from each of them here I can’t wait to see how they play off of one another and if Branagh can pull of something that is both new and inventive while respecting previous incarnations that are obviously well-regarded. Branagh stars in and directs while Murder on the Orient Express also features Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penélope Cruz, Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Tom Bateman, Leslie Odom Jr., Lucy Boynton, Olivia Colman, Derek Jacobi, and opens November 10th, 2017.

First Trailer for STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII - THE LAST JEDI

If all would have gone according to the original plan we would actually be seeing The Last Jedi open in theaters next month, but that of course wasn't to be and so here we are-two years removed from the, "Chewie, we're home," moment when the world got their first real glimpse at what this new Star Wars trilogy might offer and luckily everything went down well with The Force Awakens. All of that to say we now finally have our first look at director Rian Johnson's (Brick, The Brother's Bloom, Looper) follow-up to J.J. Abram's safe, but respectable introduction to this latter trilogy. Every other movie in town has pretty much cleared out and with the Star Wars celebration kicking off in Orlando this week we have already been blessed with a plethora of news around that galaxy far, far away, but this is undoubtedly what everyone was looking forward to the most. While watching the live The Last Jedi panel this morning featuring Johnson as well as President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy they teased a few new details about the eighth installment including a hint that Rey's hero might not be all she'd built him up to be. The likes of Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill talked as minimally about the story as possible, but we'll take what we can get. Besides some vague plot details there wasn't much to take away despite a few new stills from the film adding to the excitement. Other guest appearances included BB-8, John Boyega, and Kelly Marie Tran who plays a new character named Rose who is a maintenance worker in the resistance, but this was all for show more than it was tell as none of the panelists divulged much about the new film-until that first teaser/trailer was released. There will be much dissecting and speculating I imagine, but for now let us just bask in the glory of seeing the first images of a new Star Wars movie that will hopefully answer some of those burning questions left by The Force Awakens as well as the full-on return of Hamill to the role of Luke Skywalker giving long-time fans chills for days. The film also stars Adam Driver, Carrie Fisher, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Gwendoline Christie, Warwick Davis , Kenny Baker, and Benicio Del Toro. Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens December 15th, 2017.

TOP 10 OF 2015

For the second year in a row I've found it simpler to craft a top ten list than I have since starting this site. In the beginning I felt the pressure to somewhat succumb to the decision to compile my favorite films of the year from those that the majority of critics were choosing-I was making a consensus list if nothing else, but over the last few years the ability to feel confident in my own choices has only grown and thus made making my yearly top tens a much simpler task. There are always a lot of good films throughout the year and many more that I'd still like to see that came to us this year (Sleeping with Other People, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Chi-Raq, and Goodnight Mommy to name a few). I'm also keen to see as many of the foreign language contenders as I can before the Academy Awards in February as I have Son of Saul on deck and will likely have watched both it and Phoenix (now streaming on Netflix) before this article is posted. Still, I feel good about my choices this year and find it to be a solid list of ten films (plus five honorable mentions) that I would never mind going back to watch again and again (a major factor in my decision). While the re-watchability factor counts for a lot I certainly put a fair amount of weight into my initial reaction as well as I go back and look through the barrage of films I've seen and reviewed this year.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS Review

It's difficult to delineate the difference in nostalgia-fueled adoration and a subjective acknowledgement of quality when it comes to judging a film such as The Force Awakens. There was never going to be any true way that a film such as this could separate itself from all that has come before it (and it doesn't want to), but the same is true for those of a certain age who will be seeing the film or are excited for the film in the first place. For most, unless you're under the age of ten or so and even then the majority are at least familiar with and likely enjoy Star Wars to some degree, the idea of Episode VII is something of a redemption story-a new hope if you will, that what was once so magical about Star Wars will return and enable you to forget the overly glossy sheen of the prequel trilogy that revealed George Lucas' green screen obsession and his true lack of skill in directing actors. Episode VII would mark the hope that we might, once again, venture to a galaxy far, far away and find both what we loved about the original films while being introduced to new and exciting characters and going on new and exciting adventures with the accompaniment of John Williams fantastic score (seriously, "Rey's Theme" is great). It is here that director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8) is able to demonstrate his finely tuned skill for walking that line to great effect. In all of his feature directing work Abrams has been able to elicit the spirit of a past property or genre and most of the time bring a new energy to it even if the freshness of the story isn't always as ripe as it could be. The same can be said of The Force Awakens as it hues very close to the narrative beats of A New Hope, but has enough of a unique take on them and deviates enough from the narrative with the new character arcs, new revelations, and flat-out solid performances from the incredible cast that this is most clearly the best Star Wars film we've had since The Empire Strikes Back in 1980.

Final Trailer for STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

Yesterday marked two months until the arrival of the first new Star Wars film in over a decade. Disney marked the occasion by not only releasing the official poster for the film, but several teasers for the full trailer that has debuted tonight during Monday Night Football (you know, what most Star Wars fans tend to watch on Mondays). Every other movie in town has pretty much cleared out sans the fourth Alvin and the Chipmunks film (yes, fourth!) which just decided to go head to head with the mammoth J.J. Abrams sequel that will see the continuing adventures of Luke, Han and Leia and what are presumably plenty of new characters given the expansive cast. It's been six months since the last trailer dropped for the film in the midst of the Star Wars celebration that took place in Anaheim, California, but now we have what I assume to be the final trailer before the actual release of the film and the reality of there being a new Star Wars movie just over the horizon is finally becoming a reality. While I was going to try and resist paying attention to what this trailer might hold the anticipation is unbelievable and I couldn't help but to divulge every bit of this glorious clip several times already. Things of note are the surplus footage of antagonist Kylo Ren and our first glimpse at Princess Leia, but still no sign of Luke. The film stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendolyn Christie, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, Warwick Davis, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels and Max Von Sydow. Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens December 18th.

Movies I Wanna See Most: Fall 2015

So far, 2015 has been a rather solid year for film. Of course there were the early month droughts that featured the likes of Blackhat and The Boy Next Door, but by February we received Kingsman and even McFarland, USA which (if you haven't seen it) is a really solid Disney sports drama. I'm not saying things have been exceptional, there have probably been just as many if not more bad movies than there have been good movies, but I had a really good time at the movies this summer and I'm pretty sad to see it come to an end. That said, I am genuinely looking forward to the fall release schedule especially considering I will be making my first trek to the Toronto International Film Festival this year and hopefully seeing as many of the movies on this list as soon as I can. Transitioning to the fall we approach films in different kinds of ways. While the summer is typically looked at for and judged more on pure entertainment value the fall is almost explicitly Awards season and looked to for more stimulating material. Given this kind of precedent there seems to always be one or two films that seem pre-destined for Oscar glory and while Eddie Redmayne seems to make it clear that The Danish Girl is this years film to beat (timely, his follow-up to winning Best Actor last year and Tom Hooper's follow-up to Les Mis) I still don't see a clear contender this year (though last years Best Director winner, Alejandro González Iñárritu, is certainly putting his hat in the ring). That said, this list is not about what I think will win the most awards (as you'll notice with much of this fall's franchise films getting some love) come February, but more what I'm most excited to experience at the cinema this fall. So, without further adieu, let's dig in...

New Teaser Trailer & Stills For STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

Next month will mark a decade since we've seen a new Star Wars film in theaters, but all of that is about to change come December. Every other movie in town has pretty much cleared out and with the Star Wars celebration kicking off in Anaheim, California this morning we have already been blessed with a second teaser. While watching the live Force Awakens panel this morning featuring director and co-writer JJ Abrams as well as head of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy they teased a few new details about the seventh installment including a formal introduction to droid BB8 while bringing out new leads John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac to talk as minimally about their characters. Besides some vague backgrounds on each of their characters and how they may or may not be connected with one another there wasn't much to take away despite the new stills of each of them adding to the excitement. Veterans of the series including Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew all made guest appearances as well, but told us nothing about the new film-until that new teaser was released. There will be much dissecting and speculating I imagine, but for now let us just bask in the glory of seeing Harrison Ford return to the role of Han Solo and give any long-time fan chills for days. The film also stars Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Anders, Warwick Davis , Kenny Baker, and Max von Sydow. Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens December 18th.

Teaser Trailer for STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

By the time J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters over a year from now it will have been over a decade since the last Star Wars film was in theaters. This may conjure up bad memories for most seeing as George Lucas' prequel trilogy wasn't received well, but if there is any consensus on the prequels it's that Episode III is the best of the bunch. It was just before I graduated high school that I waited in line for the midnight showing of Revenge of the Sith and if Star Wars brings up anything more than the iconography of its characters it's nostalgia. These are event films in a manner no other films can strive to be. All of that said, this is just a teaser for a film that is still over a year away from release and so there is no need to pick apart anything we see here, but all the more reason to anticipate the film as this 88-second trailer offers more than I thought we'd ever receive. Opening with the familiar landscapes of what we assume are Tatooine we get a first glimpse at John Boyega (Attack the Block) in full storm trooper garb, Daisy Ridley riding across the desert and Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) as a starfighter before it cuts to a mysterious figure that breaks out a new model lightsaber all while listening to ominous voiceover from a character I suspect we don't yet know the identity of. Of course, the excitement is at such a fever pitch by this point the only thing that could make it better is that shot of nostalgia and Abrams delivers with incredible aerial footage of the Millennium Falcon. I love how simply cinematic the film looks already and while I'm more than excited to see the final product I wonder if this is the last piece of promotional material I should watch so that my excitement remains intact and untainted. We'll see. The film also stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Max Von Sydow, and many more. Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on December 18, 2015.