New Trailer for HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U

With a budget of under $5 million and a domestic gross of $122+ million it was inevitable that Blumhouse and Universal would be jumping on this train and quickly pumping out a sequel to the surprise Halloween smash that was Happy Death Day-which will have only debuted sixteen months prior by the time its sequel hits on Valentine’s Day this year. While the premise of Happy Death Day was tried and true it had never really been attempted in the vein of a horror movie-or more specifically-a slasher movie before, but it made sense: in slasher movies a mysterious killer goes around killing this core group of teens we come to know in an order we can easily guess based on a combination of race, gender, and screentime, but instead of being a predictable, run of the mill slasher what if it was the same kill every time with our hero trying to figure out how they both got stuck in said loop and how they might escape it; it’s defeating the killer on a whole other level and while this premise doesn’t typically lend itself well to sequels, it can’t help but seem Happy Death Day 2U (one of the greatest sequel titles of all time, I might add) is taking things to a whole other level with where this next film may in fact go next. Given the sequel’s plot picks up from Happy Death Day's conclusion it almost feels like Christopher Landon’s film will reach for Back to the Future 2 aspirations where not only does the second film become a satisfying continuation in executing the logical next step, but also goes about lending the events of the original more meaning at the same time. Landon, who directed the first film from a screenplay by Scott Lobdell, has penned the sequel screenplay on his own (though he's no rookie having written Disturbia and several of the Paranormal Activity sequels) and seems to have infused more of his comedic tendencies (see Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse if you haven't already) into the fabric of the film as star Jessica Rothe definitely seems to have more opportunities here to show her full comedic range as was hinted at in the first film while the film itself feels more like a horror/comedy than a straight-up scary movie. Happy Death Day 2U also stars Israel Broussard, Suraj Sharma, and Sarah Yarkin and opens in theaters on February 14, 2019.

HAPPY DEATH DAY Review

The test for a movie that shows us the same thing over and over again is whether or not it makes us want to return to it over and over again. Does it use this technique in a way that it twists the conventions of whatever genre it is being applied to in a unique enough fashion that it brings something fresh to what we've seen before? In short, does it make something familiar feel born again-the same way our protagonist feels every time they wake up with another opportunity to live their best life. That is ultimately what these kinds of movies are about, right? The hypothetical shot at being able to live your life over and over again to the point you appreciate and/or realize what one has been taking for granted and how much there is to truly be thankful for. This doesn't change with writer's Scott Lobdell's (X-Men: Days of Future Past) interpretation of the material in Happy Death Day as he adapts it for the horror/teen slasher genre, but the basic idea of applying it to this kind of movie with the added caveat of our main character having to put together the pieces of who's trying to kill her in a single day is pretty ingenious with director Christopher B. Landon (Paranormal Activity II, III, IV and V as well as the supremely underrated Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse) mining the material and the setting for all its worth in his execution. Landon, son of the late Michael Landon, has a knack for mixing scares and humor and eliciting the fun that can come from being scared. In other words, he understands that being afraid should entail a whole range of emotions and not just the single one that causes you to jump from your seat. Due to this, it would be easy to mistake his latest for more of a comedy than a horror/thriller, but that it layers in elements of each of these with effective measure is what makes the movie such a fun ride to go along with. Sure, we've seen this kind of situation play out before, most notably in Groundhog's Day and since in other genres through the likes of Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow, Before I Fall, and the countless iterations of William Dean Howells' 1892 short story "Christmas Every Day" that you've no doubt seen at least one version of around the holidays, but in taking this concept and applying it to a cheeky genre exercise like Scream both Lobdell and Landon have created a knowing horror flick that revels in the main trope and has fun with the archetypes. So yeah, I'd watch Happy Death Day again. And probably again.

LA LA LAND Review

What is worth more? Where does ambition measure when compared to reflection? Or...how does one know when to quit? When that ambition outweighs or cannot be met by the pure skill or natural talent possessed? La La Land is a movie about Hollywood and the Hollywood system and how it all flows in and out of making and breaking stars, but La La Land is also a movie about dreams and the ugly side of those dreams no one likes to talk about when they tell you to chase them-compromise. Compromise is what must be obtained if one is hoping to have their cake and eat it too. There is compromise in life no matter what professional or personal route one may choose to take, but when dreams are big enough to take you around the world and on extended stays in places away from home that require long or odd hours such as, say, when someone is a musician or film actor-compromises are unavoidable and typically made by the half of the relationship not actively participating in such a career. With La La Land director Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) follows up his Academy Award-nominated feature debut with an out and out musical in the vein of those golden age Hollywood musicals from the forties and early fifties that personified stardom, celebrity, and a certain type of lifestyle most could only hope to obtain. This goes well with the plight of the story as we follow two young aspiring artists-the girl an actress and the guy a jazz pianist-as they navigate modern Los Angeles in hopes of achieving their dreams even if the odds seem stacked against them and despite their closest friends and family not exactly holding out hope for success to find them. The standard structure of boy meets girl combined with that of a few song and dance numbers that pay homage to those aforementioned golden days of Hollywood aren't enough for Chazelle though. The writer/director isn't simply looking to recreate images and feelings afforded him during his youth as he watched Gene Kelly dance across the screen, but more he is interested in exploring the consequences of having such aspirations; the dark side of fame that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with addiction or other harmful habit forming activities, but more with the decisions such individuals have to make without knowing the answer as to what they'll regret more twenty years down the road. Can I be the person I want with the person I want? Is it worth more to make a life as I so desire or with the one I desire? La La Land doesn't prescribe to know the answers to these heavy questions, but its musings on the subject are infectious and reaffirming in that they capture the struggle one in a handful experiencing the film will have come face to face with at some point in their past.

Teaser Trailer for LA LA LAND Starring Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone

It's a little ironic that we've received the first trailer for director Damien Chazelle's follow-up to Whiplash on the week it was originally scheduled to open. La La Land was and still is my most anticipated film of the year so it only hurt when distributor Summit Entertainment pushed it from the middle of summer to a more awards friendly December release date, but at least they finally gave us something. For me, Chazelle directed what might be one of the best movies of the past fifteen years with his 2014 feature debut and whatever it was the thirty-one year old director chose to do next there was sure to be a great amount of anticipation around it. Working again from an original screenplay that he penned La La Land tells the simple story of a jazz pianist who falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles-the catch is that Chazelle and stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone will be conveying this love story via musical. Taken from a screenplay Chazelle wrote before writing and directing Whiplash, this first trailer for his sophomore effort very much elicits the magic and music of old Hollywood that feels both inherent to the story and supremely executed. While it was originally planned for Miles Teller to reunite with his Whiplash director, that the lead male role eventually went to Gosling seems more of a perfect fit as Gosling is already a singer and musician on his own terms and that Chazelle and Summit have chosen to set the first footage audiences will see to a song sung by the actor can only suggest they made the change for the better. It doesn't hurt that Gosling and Stone have magnetic chemistry together as has been displayed in their two previous films together (Crazy Stupid Love, Gangster Squad). I was in from the get-go and after seeing how lush the visuals are and how keenly Chazelle has seemed to capture what I can only imagine he was going for I'm only all the more excited for Oscar season to arrive. La La Land also stars J.K. Simmons, Finn Wittrock, Rosemarie DeWitt, John Legend, Jason Fuchs, Callie Hernandez, Sonoya Mizuno, Jessica Rothe, Tom Everett Scott, Josh Pence, and will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 31st before opening in NY and LA on December 2nd, in limited release on December 9th, and wide on December 16th.