Teaser Trailer for FIFTY SHADES FREED

I didn't see Fifty Shades of Grey or Fifty Shades Darker. I don't have much of a desire to. My wife didn't read the books and I didn't read the books. My wife had no interest in seeing the movies and I certainly wasn't going into this one by myself and so whatever it is about this series that seems to capture supposedly off-limits sexual subjects and entice so many females will likely forever remain a mystery to me. All of this is to say this trilogy capper that completes the franchise that began in 2015 received a teaser trailer today as the promotional campaign has officially kicked off with a glimpse at the poster available as well after the jump. Fifty Shades Freed chronicles the continuing and presumed developing relationship between Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) and Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) as Anastasia must adjust not only to married life but to her new husband's wealthy lifestyle and controlling nature after accepting Christian's proposal in Fifty Shades Darker. While I admittedly don't know much about the story contained in the pages of E.L. James's best-selling series this first look at the sequel certainly seems to keep in step tonally with James Foley's follow-up to Sam-Taylor Johnson's first film. Foley is the sixty-three year old filmmaker who made Glengarry Glen Ross and At Close Range, but whose last feature film prior to this year's Darker was the out and out 2007 bomb Perfect Stranger that starred Bruce Willis and Halle Berry. Add to this the fact writer Niall Leonard, who had done strictly serialized television work prior to working on this series, took over for the more inexperienced Kelly Marcel and has adapted both the second and third novels for film and there might be some interesting layers to look for as the series progresses. Still, it is somewhat uninspiring as Fifty Shades Darker seemed to more or less get the same negative to downright terrible reviews that the first film received and so I don't really see the pace changing for this final installment even if that would seemingly suggest there is a lot more action to be had as the conclusion of all this comes to pass. Fifty Shades Freed also stars Victor Rasuk, Tyler Hoechlin, Arielle Kebbel, Eric Johnson, Max Martini, Dylan Neal, Rita Ora, Luke Grimes, Fay Masterson, Brant Daugherty, and opens on February 9th, 2018.

First Trailer for FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

I have no idea and no real desire to find out what the big hoopla around Fifty Shades of Grey is all about and the first full length trailer for the film does little to change that line of thought. I understand they were originally some kind of offshoot of Twilight fan fiction that drew fire for its sexual content and forced author E.L. James to publish the stories in an episodic nature on her own site. I understand how this can be seen as a win for viral marketing and do-it-yourself publishing, but the content has always been at the question of its validity for me. I know little of the story except for the fact it contains some seriously sexual content and has been made into a film by a female director that might at least bring the masses of mommy's over thirty who devoured the books the adaptation they've been craving. It seems husbands will be oblivious to what their wives are watching while the trailer makes it explicitly clear that the presumably R-rated film will contain all of the carnal pleasures and erotic nature of the source material. The one thing that does intrigue me about the trailer is the look of the film. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy) applies a sleek, very modern aesthetic to the worlds of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey that will likely look dated and categorize the film squarely into this decade in the future, but also hints at an oddly pure and direct tone that seems in line with the narrative and its central character. Fifty Shades of Grey stars Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, Jennifer Ehle, Luke Grimes, Marcia Gay Harden, Max Martini, Eloise Mumford, Dylan Neal, Rita Ora, Victor Rasuk, Callum Keith Rennie and opens on Valentine's Day 2015.

GODZILLA Review

Admittedly, I have never been a fan or seen much of the supposed entertainment value in what a giant lizard fighting other monsters brings to the table other than spectacle, but for some reason Hollywood feels a need to keep going back to this well to the point it seems they have something they really want to unearth, but can't put their finger on. I was only eleven years old when Roland Emmerich's version of the King of the Monsters hit the screen and for the most part I enjoyed that one with my easy to mesmerize mentality. It has been a long while since I've re-visited that take and was never able to get into the string of films featuring the creature produced by the Toho Co. What has always evaded me is where audiences find substance in this idea that watching a mythological monster, sometimes played up as the lesser of two threats, has anything more to say other than it looks pretty awesome when he fights these creatures, but only if we know the city's they are destroying in the wake of their battles to determine who resides at the top of the food chain are completely abandoned. Otherwise, we just feel bad for the countless lives being lost in one seemingly small motion of this monster rather than being able to enjoy the majesty of what is taking place before us. Coming around to director Gareth Edwards take on the monster though, Godzilla, the marketing did something unexpected and actually had me fairly excited to see what this new film might bring to the table and if the studios may finally have been able to press that button or unearth that value they so desperately are searching for with this property. I guess, if I were to say anything in this introduction without giving specifics away it would be that Edwards has given over to the more serious undertones that were the point of origin for the character in the first place and with that he has crafted a film as much about the story and the impact of the fact Godzilla exists rather than simply producing a film that goes exactly where your instincts want to take you. That the film subverts the obvious ideas and goes in a completely different direction assured me that audiences don't really know what they want when it comes to a Godzilla movie, but would no doubt be satisfied with monster-fighting on an epic scale and while Edwards Godzilla is not the exceptional piece of popcorn entertainment I was hoping for, he still delivers on many levels.