First Trailer for MOWGLI from Director Andy Serkis

While it always seemed odd Warner Bros. would craft their own take on Rudyard Kipling's 1894 collection of stories that spurned a 1967 animated Disney film that was recently re-made by Jon Favreau it is becoming all the more clear that Warner Bros. take on the material couldn't be more different than the light, largely comedic tone Favreau and team took with their realistic-looking 2016 feature. In his second directorial effort, following what was the rather standard, but kind of terrible Breathe last awards season, Serkis has gone fully over to the blockbuster realm of filmmaking of which he has had plenty of experience. When putting it in perspective, the guy has worked with a for directors ranging from Peter Jackson to Steven Spielberg to J.J. Abrams and of course, most recently, Ryan Coogler, and so it is natural for Serkis to have segued into crafting his own visual wonders while exercising his storytelling skills as well. And to be honest, Mowgli looks more impressive than I was anticipating with what is clearly some work left to be done on the CGI, but with as killer a cast as Warner Bros. has assembled to bring this to life and the tendency to lean more into the source material it will be interesting to see how this similarly inspired, but what is so clearly a vastly different finished product varies from the other iterations of Kipling's work. Watch the first trailer below along with a behind-the-scenes featurette. The film stars Serkis as Baloo, with Rohan Chand in the titular role as well as Christian Bale as the cunning panther, Bagheera; Cate Blanchett as the sinister snake, Kaa; Benedict Cumberbatch as the fearsome tiger, Shere Khan; Naomie Harris as Nisha, the female wolf, who adopts the baby Mowgli as one of her cubs; Peter Mullan as the leader of the wolf pack, Akela; Jack Reynor as Mowgli’s Brother Wolf; Eddie Marsan as Nisha’s mate, Vihaan; and Tom Hollander as the scavenging hyena, Tabaqui, and Freida Pinto. Mowgli opens October 19th, 2018.

RAMPAGE Review

Rampage is the happy meal version of a movie. It's cheap and easy and you walk away mostly satisfied even if there was no nutritional value whatsoever. It's a strange world where Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson can still be seen in theaters in his last big-budget action adventure that involves a jungle and then the first time we see the chrome-domed former wrestler in Rampage he just so happens to once again be making his way through a similar environment; it’s as if the star is guiding us out of one movie and into the next. As we are welcomed into this new world of Rampage by The Rock himself we are introduced to his Davis Okoye, a primatologist AKA someone who studies nonhuman primates, who works at the San Diego Zoo and has essentially fostered one of the last remaining albino gorillas to be his own. George, as played through motion capture not by Andy Serkis, but by Jason Liles, is a seven foot tall, five hundred plus-pound primate who can communicate with Johnson's Davis with as much ease as a deaf child might be able to communicate with their hearing enabled parent and who also has a good sense of humor about himself and his circumstances. The one thing Rampage does better than it has any right to do is develop this relationship between the two biggest stars on screen meaning Johnson is really just that good at making audiences believe he is the coolest guy around. Not everyone could make befriending a monkey cool and inspiring as opposed to the weird and off-putting looks most would get, but the guy does it; acting as if it's the most normal thing in the world and oh yeah, he was also part of an anti-poaching military force once upon a time too, so stick that in your pipe and smoke it. And sure, the fact it’s The Rock that is both this intelligent and extremely fit guy who clearly has a streak of compassion with an especially soft spot for animals is part of the appeal in Rampage as it is the ability The Rock brings along with his presence that makes a movie as ridiculous as this work as well as it does…even if it probably shouldn't. That said, and having never played the video game on which this is based, I expected the latest from director Brad Peyton (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, San Andreas) to be a little more fun than this ends up being. Yes, there are moments of pure outrageous bliss, but they are too few and far between to make Rampage feel like the large-sized combo it was advertised to be. Rather, Rampage is drenched in that Happy Meal feeling from its quick and easy delivery to its processed if not convenient conclusion.

First Trailer for RAMPAGE Starring Dwayne Johnson

The trailer releases continue in front this week's Justice League with the latest being that of Dwayne Johnson's next action adventure that this tie around is based on an actual video game and not just inspired by a movie based around a game. I'm of course talking about Juman...I mean Rampage, a movie based on the 1980s video game stars Johnson as a primatologist who shares a close bond with George, a remarkably intelligent silverback gorilla, until a rogue genetic experiment transforms the ape into a gigantic, raging monster. This isn't the end of the line though, as Johnson's character comes to discover George isn't the only giant raging monster who has been genetically altered as of late, but that in fact there are more of these predators on the loose including a giant wolf and crocodile. And so, this definitely looks like a movie. That's about as much as I can feel at the moment. Reuniting with director Brad Peyton (Journey 2, San Andreas) it sees as if Johnson is intent on keeping his most vocal demographics happy over the course of the next five months as not only will the sequel to Jumanji stand to put Johnson in good standing with the pre-teen to teenager crowds, but I imagine placing Rampage in a similar time slot to this year's Kong: Skull Island was no coincidence as Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema no doubt hope to once again capitalize on the non-traditional release dates outside the summer movie season for movies that look like traditional blockbusters. Of course, most know video game adaptation don't necessarily tend to do well, but this property is so dated at this point one has to wonder if the brand recognition element will even factor in. To be frank, I hadn't heard and certainly had never played the game that inspired this prior to seeing the trailer and I can kind of understand why as this looks more like an amalgamation of a whole bunch of movies I've seen before if not having done it better. I guess we'll see come next spring, but as for now let's just sit back and enjoy the fact Johnson has seemingly decided to stick with what feel like the safest bets a movie start can make in today's Hollywood while the fact this all feels very 2007 without admitting Johnson sees to be taking steps back in his career rather than moving forward. Only time will tell as this could be a ton of fun, but we shall see. Rampage also stars Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, P.J. Byrne, Marley Shelton, Breanne Hill, Jack Quaid, Matt Gerald, and opens on April 20th, 2018.

COLLATERAL BEAUTY Review

Will Smith is the people's actor. He is a presence that radiates the kind of everyman persona that the actual everyman would like to envision themselves as. It's nearly impossible not to find the presence of Smith in any film he chooses to participate anything other than a force of genuine charisma, but not here. In director David Frankel's (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me) Collateral Beauty Smith is relegated to looking as depressed as possible for the limited amount of time he actually appears on screen despite being touted as the lead of this ensemble piece. It's true-the films wackadaisical plot hinges on the actions of Smith's Howard Inlet, but it doesn't ultimately pay that much attention to him. Still, given it is Smith we care about this human being who is clearly and rightfully dealing with a tragedy on his own terms. Reeling from this great tragedy of losing a child we come to sympathize with Howard mostly thanks to the pain Smith conveys in his eyes that are constantly attempting to fight back both pain and tears. Still, we never become as invested in the character as it seems Frankel or screenwriter Allan Loeb (The Switch, Here Comes the Boom) imagined we might. Moreover, we are too shocked by what actually plays out in Loeb's screenplay as opposed to what type of movie the trailers sold this one to be. Going into Collateral Beauty there was a line of thinking that, being it was the holiday season, Loeb and the studio had intentionally written the story to take place at Christmas and released it around Christmas due to the similarities it seemingly shared with Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. While Smith's Howard is certainly no Scrooge it seemed Loeb had more or less reverse engineered the situation and played things out as if Bob Cratchit were the boss of his own ad agency and whom he moves forward enough that Tiny Tim does in fact pass away only to have the three ghosts that are this time incarnated as Love, Death, and Time rather than Past, Present, and Future come visit our protagonist revealing the secrets to happiness long thought to be lost. Loeb certainly could have played with a few different ideas and themes coming at the story from this new perspective, but ultimately Collateral Beauty was never brave enough to try and update and/or re-engineer that Christmas classic, but would rather be as deceptive about what it actually is the same way many of its characters are.

MOONLIGHT Review

Moonlight is one of those films that anytime your mind tends to float back to it inevitable feelings of great sympathy and understanding come with it. It is a film that both simply and oh so complexly transcends all barriers of politics and beliefs and presents a bare bones human story that just so happens to deal with being black and being gay. It's always been clear, especially from the outside looking in, that the culture that forms young black men is one of the most high-pressure environments for one to be tough, hard, or essentially show little to no feeling at all. "Toxic masculinity" as it has been labeled in recent writings. There has long existed the stigma that to be hard or worthy of being a man one must be largely indifferent to those things that naturally give us weaknesses in the world. By tackling this idea and how it affects the growth and development of one underprivileged youth is at one time to present exactly what it promises while at another-painting a much broader picture of this toxicity that has been constructed by society for which many young men are led to believe there are certain actions that have to be taken or certain attitudes that must be adopted in order to make them worthy of being a man. This doesn't have to necessarily deal with sexuality, but more this condition is about those stereotypes of men-emotionless, dominant, violent-that society has relayed to determine certain levels of masculinity. That Moonlight addresses such expectations and the baggage, the torture, and the living hell such expectations can carry when not met in the judgmental environments of the projects or of high school or even of one's mother who knows the essence of her son, but isn't strong enough herself to stand up to such stigma's thus leaving that child for the wolves of the world is powerful enough. That Moonlight is able to explore these largely ignored aspects of manhood in such poetic and provocative ways as through the lens of a young man growing up black, poor, and gay only makes these points that much more enlightening and subsequently-that much more powerful. Moonlight is a film that, anytime you think about, are reminded of, or even consider the ground it covers and the essence of what it embodies not only in its ideas and themes, but in its nearly flawless execution inevitable feelings of great sympathy and understanding come as well. More than anything, writer/director Barry Jenkins understands the human element at the core of these issues and by parlaying as much through the single perspective of Chiron at three different stages of his life we are delivered a fleshed out portrait of the true internal tendencies versus the ideals we're taught we should become.  

First Trailer for COLLATERAL BEAUTY Starring Will Smith

Like I said in my article Saturday counting down my most anticipated films of this fall/winter a trailer could drop any time for the Will Smith-starrer Collateral Beauty, but for some reason I felt the film, directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me), would be delayed given it was supposed to arrive this Christmas and we'd yet to even see a production still from the picture. My train of thought went in this direction because it is what happened to Frankel's 2011 film, The Big Year, that carried the weight of names like Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and Steve Martin in the same movie together. That movie came and went without so much as a peep. I was hopeful Frankel's latest venture wouldn't be of the same variety given, aside from Smith, it has a cast to die for despite coming from prolific if not exceptional screenwriter Alan Loeb (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Just Go With It). That all changed today as the teaser for Collateral Beauty has arrived and the film looks to pull at the heart strings as it it tells the story of a man (Smith) who experiences a tragic event that sends him into a downwards spiral-causing him to examine life and the things that connect each of us-our longing for love, our constant wish for more time, and our fear of death. The debut trailer tells us Smith's Howard Inlet begins writing letters to these things-to the universe-as a therapeutic way of dealing with this tragedy. What he doesn't expect is a response and yet he gets some in the form of Helen Mirren, Jacob Latimore, and Keira Knightley. Though the music hits you a bit over the head this certainly looks as if it will hit the strong emotional beats that Frankel was able to do in his "Why People Love Dogs" story that had every theater it was shown in in tears. I don't know that we'll necessarily see the film in contention come awards season, but this looks like a genuinely great movie to see with the family during the holidays and hopefully Frankel and his A-list cast can convey all the ideas and emotions this trailer sets up in interesting and powerful fashions in the final product. Collateral Beauty also stars Edward Norton, Michael Pena, Naomie Harris, Kate Winslet and opens on December 16, 2016.

SPECTRE Review

I saw my first James Bond film at fifteen. What I saw, some say, is the worst Bond picture of all time. 2002's Die Another Day featuring the last go-around for Pierce Brosnan as the famous British super spy was goofy fun at the time, especially for someone keenly unaware of any of the traditional elements and archetypes included in a Bond film, but four years later and one year after the revolutionary origin story that was Batman Begins made it okay to make something campy into something more grounded and serious we received a new kind of Bond, a more grounded in reality Bond with a seriously serious streak about him. That isn't to say that producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli overcompensated as Casino Royale still sits as my favorite of the Daniel Craig Bond films. For what it's worth, I don't necessarily have a great affinity for the Bond movies. They have never done much to excite me, but I look forward to them because I more or less know what I'm getting, but on a grand scale. And I like epic. Moreover, Craig is the Bond of my generation and if I were to have any type of fondness for any of these films it would be his rough and rugged incarnation of the typically suave MI6 agent. All of this is to say that while I appreciate what the producers and director Sam Mendes (Skyfall) have done for the series in being bold and essentially wiping the slate clean and starting from scratch it can't help but feel as if they ran out of tricks with the latest installment, Spectre. While there is much to like in this new film-the set pieces are consistent, the familiar elements more present than ever since Craig took over as well as the gorgeous cinematography from Hoyte Van Hoytema (her, Interstellar) capturing it all-and yet there is something missing from the story. There is a lack of substance while still holding an unbelievable amount of aspiration. Spectre feels like a film that wants and has the intention to do so many things and fulfill so much fan service that it actually ends up doing very little. To say Spectre is a waste of time or even a bad movie is too harsh as there is clear craft that has been put into the final product, but what the film is and what it wanted to be are clearly two very different entities.

SOUTHPAW Review

We are what we choose to be or so goes the saying someone said once upon a time and has been repeated countless different ways a billion times since. In the case of Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) though, one seriously begins to wonder what kinds of choices dictate a meteoric rise and then a literal loss of everything precious in his life. Is it simply defending his wife? Getting angry over a fellow boxer challenging his strength and insulting his woman in the process? Would we have done something different than Billy or was he destined for this path of loss and eventual redemption? That seems the simple answer, yes. You strip away the key stone and the rest of the rocks come tumbling down. Why does such an insignificant seeming choice dictate the remainder of your life? It is an impossible question to answer and one that would make anyone want to end their own life were they to contemplate it for too long. Yes, life is about choices-some that we are proud of, others that we will regret and then there are the ones that will haunt us forever. When we meet Billy Hope he is on the top of the world. He is the undefeated lightweight champion of the world at 43-0, he loves his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) more than anything and they have a young daughter, Leila (Oona Laurence), who Billy adores. He seems to make more money in one fight than most pro athletes do in a season as he, Maureen and Leila reside in a mansion outside of New York City while his boys (who came up with him through an orphanage in Hell's Kitchen as did Maureen) hang out and collect benefits. His manager, Jordan (50 Cent), seems more than a little sleazy, but his only real point of stress in the opening moments come from fellow boxer Miguel Escobar (Miguel Gomez). After the opening fight in which Billy takes a beating before finding the fuel to light his fire to deliver a knock-out punch, Escobar shows up to taunt the still undefeated champ into fighting him next. Proclaiming Billy's afraid to go against a real fighter, Escobar knows just how to get to Hope. It is in the split second decision to react to Escobar's taunts rather than think it through that Billy makes the choice that will alter his life and his career in unbelievably depressing ways, setting Southpaw up as little more than a familiar story that is carried by great performances.

New Trailer for Latest James Bond Film, SPECTRE

Prior to Daniel Craig taking on the 007 role, I have little to noe knowledge of the series. while I intend to rectify this issue I'm completely fine with Craig being the Bond I first grew accustomed to and his series of films being the ones that define my appreciation for the series. It is just what happens when series continue for as long as Bond's has and you inevitably have multiple generations coming to the table. While I obviously wouldn't count myself among the Bond faithful and am not what you would exactly peg as excited for the next installment, each of these films inherently feel like a big deal on their own so there is something to get interested in at the very least. As for this new, full trailer from the second Sam Mendes-helmed Bond picture things are getting pretty interesting as it is clear they are keen on connecting each of the Craig films to create a bigger world for the legendary character. While world-building has become something of a default in the wake of Marvel's success producers and general Bond overlords Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have seemed to want to keep a connective strand between these films since doing so for the first time in Bond's history with Quantum of Solace. Growing off the teaser released back in March this trailer further hints at the repercussions of Skyfall and how a piece of Bond's past will put him on the trail of the titular organization. Joining Daniel Craig for this go-around is Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, David Bautista, Léa Seydoux and Stephanie Sigman. Spectre opens on November 6th. Check out the new trailer as well as new stills of the latest Bond girls after the jump.

First Trailer for SOUTHPAW

One of my most anticipated films of the year is director Antoine Fuqua's Southpaw. Not necessarily for Fuqua's involvement (though I do generally enjoy his work and truly appreciate his passion), but for the involvement of one Jake Gyllenhaal. As of late, Gylenhaal has been on something of a hot streak re-defining his place in the public eye and universe of film as one of the most reliable actors working. Whether it be in small-scale pictures such as Source Code and Enemy or in sweeping dramas such as End of Watch and Prisoners, not to mention last years career-defining performance in Nightcrawler, the guy has consistently been hitting it out of the park for almost half a decade now. I can only imagine that way of thinking concerning his career will continue into the projects he's chosen next which are highlighted by Fuqua's latest as well as the Baltasar Kormákur-directed Everest due out in September. While Southpaw doesn't look to necessarily be an Oscar-contender with its late summer release date I still have nothing but high hopes for the project and the first look at the film via the trailer only amps up the anticipation. While I do hate that much of the broad strokes of the story are given away to the point any casual movie-goer can likely tell where things are headed I'm also hoping whoever cut this trailer as well as Fuqua himself (who I assume had some say over the final cut) know better than what they've seemingly done here and are giving us the main points to hook us while hiding much of what is in store for the actual experience. Regardless, I'm putting the trust in Gyllenhaal and Fuqua to hopefully deliver one of my favorite films of the year. Southpaw also stars Forest Whitaker, 50 Cent, Rachel McAdams and opens July 31st.

Teaser Trailer for SPECTRE

I've only just recently become something of a 007 fan with Daniel Craig taking over the role. I've of course seen most of the Pierce Brosnan films, but before that my knowledge is zilch and while I intend to rectify that at some point I'm kind of okay with Craig being the Bond I first grew accustomed to and his series of films being the ones that define my appreciation for the series. It is just what happens when series continue for as long as Bonds has and you have multiple generations coming to the table. While I still wouldn't count myself among the Bond faithful and am not what you would exactly peg as excited for the next installment, each of these films inherently feel like a big deal on their own so there is something to get interested in at the very least. As for the first teaser from the second Sam Mendes-helmed Bond picture things are getting pretty interesting as it is clear they are keen on connecting each of the Craig films to create a bigger world for the legendary character. While world-building has become something of a default in the wake of Marvel's success producers and general Bond overlords Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have seemed to want to keep a connective strand between these films since doing so for the first time in Bond's history with Quantum of Solace. There is much to speculate about with this teaser hinting at the repercussions of Skyfall and how a piece of Bond's past will put him on the trail of the titular organization, but beyond that most of this is mystery and I hope they keep it that way. Joining Daniel Craig for this go-around is Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, David Bautista, Léa Seydoux and Stephanie Sigman. Spectre opens on November 6th.

MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM Review

Prior to seeing this film I knew little about Nelson Mandela past the major facts that he spent twenty-seven years in prison only to become the President of South Africa. He was a revolutionary, a philanthropist and a beacon of hope to people that, in my distant learnings, would never be associated with the word politician. Turns out there was much more to his story than I could have imagined as this wasn't simply a man who went through the ups and downs of immaturity to be re-born in prison and make a difference once he was set free, but this was a man dedicated from birth to leaving an impression, to doing something that would make the ones he loved, proud. This was not a leader bent on gaining power for personal gain or to feed his ego, but a man determined to make a difference in the lives of his people and to allow his family and friends to walk free in their own land. Naturally, there has no doubt been some type of flattery given to the man as this is playing up the acts he initiated and was willing to die for, but none of it comes off as such in the film and despite the fact I would need to do immeasurable research to fact check every event the film chronicles never do the actions our titular subject takes part in feel lacking in genuine reason or motivation. They are simply part of what makes this man who he was and while much of that is conveyed successfully through the obstacles encountered and overcome by Mandela there is also no lack of that raw human element that the character would feel forced and inaccurate without. Idris Elba, in a career defining performance, delivers on every level a man who is, despite his consistent talks of peace, not afraid to walk the walk and that is what makes him so appealing to his people, so trustworthy to his peers and so impressionable to those with power. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a solid two hours and twenty minutes of biography that is unable to follow the typical story structure of these films due simply to the unique consequences of Mandela's story, but despite a few hang ups here and there in only skimming over certain details and opening subplots without any further exploration or eventual resolution this is still every bit the engaging experience you might expect it to be and a film that implies a sweeping and powerful scope such a life should be represented by.

SKYFALL Review

Having never been a huge Bond fan for most of my life, my interest in the franchise was peaked when director Martin Campbell delivered a hard boiled, gritty action film with the suave, iconic agent at the head of the film. Embodied by the newly minted Daniel Craig, for the first time I felt as if I was watching a man who could actually take part in a secret government agency and come out on the other side alive rather than seeing Pierce Brosnan as a version of some high class socialite who wondered into a gunfight, some off kilter version of the character Mike Myers so easily lampooned. Granted, I haven't seen many of the films in the franchise (though I certainly plan on doing so at some point) I've seen plenty of footage and clips from the older films when I prepped to see Casino Royale as a newbie to the franchise. I have caught a few of the Brosnan era Bonds on TV as well as seeing Die Another Day as my first in a theater which as you can imagine, wasn't the greatest introduction. A year after experiencing Chris Nolan's dark, realistic take on the Batman story it was interesting to have seen Bond go the same way within his own world. With the twenty-third film of the franchise, Skyfall, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have recruited Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) to helm this latest installment that acts as a continuation of Craig's time in MI6 but also reestablishes much of the series history and lays the ground work for much to be excited about in what is coming in Mr. Bond's near future.