GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXYL. 3 Review

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the most confounded I’ve been by a movie in some time. I don’t know how to process it completely. As a fan of writer/director James Gunn, his first film, and a massive fan of GotG Vol. 2 (as in it’s absolutely the best non-Avengers film in the MCU) I had high hopes for the gang’s swan song. Unfortunately, this final time out with this configuration of the Guardians - at least upon initial viewing - is an incoherent, repetitive, sensory overload so grating that any attempt at emotional resonance is rendered moot. 

From the minute Will Poulter’s underdeveloped and underutilized Adam Warlock arrives to decimate the titular team it seems clear Gunn took his screenplay out of the oven a few drafts early. The character of Warlock (who was heralded as a Christ-like figure in the second film) is presented as a clown mere minutes after almost annihilating the Guardians with little to no effort. The contrast could work, sure, but it's not developed in any recognizable fashion as Gunn was clearly more interested in the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a mad scientist of a man whose abusive yet paternal tendencies certainly fit the writer/director’s running themes in these movies, yet the High Evolutionary's arc feels as stock as the template Gunn uses to close out his trilogy. Iwuji also likes to yell. A lot. 

When I say template, I'm of course referring to the one where a main character becomes incapacitated, and the movie then spends the rest of its runtime sending his friends who desire to save them on countless missions to locate countless McGuffins required to in fact save him. I realize many a genre flick rely on these kinds of plot devices as a way of propping up their bigger thematic ideas through easily accessible checkpoints, but Gunn feels above this and that he chose to go out leaning on such a structure would only seem to suggest that the script and, as a result, everything afterward was not necessarily ill-conceived, but more feeble in the way James Gunn movies are typically bold and affecting. 

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Review

With the first Guardians of the Galaxy I went (or at least wanted to go) into the film with little to no expectations. Of course, with Vol. 2 it would be next to impossible to do the same unless one had skipped the first which, of course, would then only mean it would be next to impossible to fully understand or better yet, appreciate, what this second film has to offer. And so, despite having some expectation for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 there wasn't much beyond suspecting that writer/director James Gunn might hand pick a new list of late seventies/early eighties hits to set something of a remixed version of the original's events to while pushing whatever story points the Marvel overlords needed pushed forward. If this sequel teaches us anything though (and it does try to teach if not at least say something significant) it's that sometimes expectations aren't detrimental to the overall effect a piece of art can have. That's right-I'm calling a Marvel movie, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 specifically, a piece of art as well as stating that it surpasses all expectations. I'm saying this loud and clear because I feel like it would be easy to think otherwise about the rather unconventional super hero movie that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 actually is. It seems it might be easy to be disappointed in the sequel because it doesn't exactly fit into the conventions we've become conditioned to expect. How does Guardians numero dos buck this trend that Marvel has so perfectly perfected as of late? Well, the first thing it changes is that of setting up a convenient villain in the form of another Thanos crony looking for world domination (Gunn literally thought bigger this time, going for galactic domination) while also giving our heroes a real and emotional investment in the plight of the antagonist. Sure, the film opens with the guardians on a for hire mission that sees them doing battle with a large CGI monster for the purposes of getting paid handsomely by a race of snobby and rather pretentious Goldfinger/Goldmember lookalikes, but this is essentially only a framing device and reason to usher Michael Rooker's Yondu back into the fray. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is instead mostly about the relationships between the members of the titular team and developing those dynamics in exchange for progressing the overall Marvel arc. Where Vol. 2 really exceeds though, is in balancing the exploration of these relationships with that of still telling an effective story, the guardians story, and there's just something special about a ginormous, big-budget, special-effects extravaganza that feels this personal. Also, Baby Groot.

THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS Review

What direction The Fast and the Furious franchise might go in the aftermath of the untimely death of Paul Walker and the heartfelt sendoff that was Furious 7 was always going to prove to be an interesting answer. And now, we have that answer in the form of The Fate of the Furious-the eighth installment in this accidentally successful saga that only continues to up the action ante while somehow managing to also drive the plot forward and successfully push the story in new directions. It must be said up front that if you're a fan of the series and what it's become then this latest entry will more or less satisfy you, but whereas up until this point it's been exciting and interesting to see where the next film would take the series the question of how long this can go on is certainly more prevalent as Fate comes to a close. It's not that Fate necessarily loses any of the steam from the previous films, but more that it's beginning to spin its wheels; ultimately leaving little new room for the series to expand. Sure, there are questions left unanswered that will undoubtedly be resolved in future installments, but now that we've built to the events of Tokyo Drift and are in fact two movies past the moment of real momentum where Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the real big bad of the franchise, showed up and did his thing the question is now if there is anything left for the series to do to re-entice audiences. It is not without admirable effort that The Fate of the Furious attempts to re-ignite the investment in these characters and their on-going adventures as this latest chapter takes the route of fracturing the one thing that has always been the constant of The Fast and the Furious-its family unit. If you've seen the trailers or even any of the clips that have been released for Fate it is likely that you're aware of the arc that Vin Diesel's patriarch Dom Toretto takes this time around. While this turn of dynamics among the cast is a welcome change in narrative direction it only works as well when it is able to balance itself with the overall tone of the franchise, but too often it takes itself a tinge too seriously and goes a shade too dark for this to both feel fresh while in the same vein as the outlandish, but supremely entertaining Fast & Furious movies we know and love.  

New Trailer for THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS

There is a new Fate of the Furious trailer out and it is just as bonkers, campy, and outlandish as I could have ever hoped. It's hard not to wonder if this franchise would feel more stagnant were it not for the tragic and untimely death of Paul Walker in the middle of production on the seventh film, but with the eighth film in the franchise it seems Dominic Toretto and his gang are moving on to different terrain and by that I mean both literally as well as in terms of story. I somewhat artlessly assumed that the beginning of the "final" trilogy in this ever-expanding brand would more or less follow the beats of those that had come before it meaning Dom and his gang would get roped into an elaborate mission that requires their particular set of skills to stop a new villain of the week, this time played by Charlize Theron. Obviously, I assumed wrong as the first trailer for the film painted a very different dynamic between this "family" we've all come to know and love. For one reason or another, Toretto has betrayed all those he once cared about and considered family by going to work for Theron's antagonist who reveals herself in this trailer to have had a hand in the last few films (meaning 6 & 7) despite the fact the apparent culprits of those films, the Shaw brothers, being either deceased or recruited to help the original team defeat Dom and Theron's Cipher. Like the remaining members of the crew in Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Tej (Ludacris), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Roman (Tyrese) and of course Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) I don't know how I feel about this, but this is certainly an interesting way to kick off this new (final?) phase in the Fast & Furious franchise and I look forward to seeing what twist series screenwriter Chris Morgan has come up with to justify Dom's sudden turn as well as what new franchise director F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) has come up with to leave his mark. The Fate of the Furious also stars Jason Statham, Kurt Russel, Scott Eastwood, Elsa Pataky, Helen Mirren, and opens on April 14th, 2017.

New Trailer for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

I'm as excited as the next guy for Director James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but did we really need another trailer? That full-length trailer we got back in December that has been playing in theaters for months now kills every time and after the new clips released during the Super Bowl it seemed there would be no need for anything else major from the Guardians of the Galaxy promotional team, at least not until a couple of weeks before release when momentum really needs to buid. Alas, here we are still with three months to go until the official release date of the film and we have yet another full-length trailer set to the tune of yet another seventies soft rock track (this time it's Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain," from 1977) that infuses the clip with a nice amount of momentum and surprising freshness. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 kicking off the summer of 2017 in that first weekend of May slot that Marvel has now dominated and considering that recent news story that touted the film receiving a rare 100 score in test screenings one can understand why Marvel and is intent on riding the hype train through the next three months as well as giving audiences venturing out to see Logan this weekend something new to chew on until then. Given the trailer Gunn and his team have put together one can bet it will do just that. Surprisingly, we get to see a lot of new footage here with the trailer mainly focusing on the rag tag group that make up the titular guardians while highlighting the humorous banter between them as it intends to sell the humor of the piece just as much as it does the special effects and action. Luckily, we still don't have a real keen sense of what story the film will be telling though we do get our first glimpses of Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) and Ego (Kurt Russell) in motion for the first time. In the end, this trailer is as promising as one could hope while still seeming to maintain much of what the film truly has to offer. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 also stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Zaldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillian, Michael Rooker, Glenn Close, and opens on May 5th, 2017.

xXx: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE Review

It is with great pleasure that I report xXx: Return of Xander Cage is as dumb and ridiculous as it should be. First and foremost I guess it is important to state that there was no need for this third outing in the xXx series, but as with so many franchises these days we get a lot of what we didn't think we needed, but that they're going to give to us anyways. It makes sense given the whole "brand recognition" line of thinking within the studio system at the moment, but while many of the fruits of this line of thinking yield final products as pointless and joyless as expected given their inherently unwarranted status it is nice that every once in a while such thinking yields something as fun and self-aware as xXx: Return of Xander Cage. It has been fifteen years since Vin Diesel took on the mantle of a James Bond figure via the X-Games in what was no doubt intended to be a spiritual successor of sorts to the original The Fast and the Furious as Diesel re-teamed with director Rob Cohen for xXx the year after The Fast and the Furious became a surprise smash. Like he did initially with the Fast franchise, Diesel opted not to return for the xXx sequel in 2005, State of the Union, which picked up Ice Cube as Darius Stone to fill Diesel's Xander Cage's spot in the xXx program with it being reported Cage died in Bora Bora a few years after the events of the original film. And now, as he did with Fast in 2009, Diesel has returned to a franchise he started and then abandoned after efforts outside such franchises haven't worked out as well as the actor/producer/social media champion likely hoped they would. It's hard to blame the guy as he approaches the age of fifty this summer and undoubtedly understands he won't be able to make such movies (or such money) for much longer. The persona Diesel pulled off as Cage at thirty-five already feels somewhat strained here-especially in scenes engineered to make Diesel look like the baddest dude on the planet-but director D.J. Caruso (Disturbia, Eagle Eye) and his editors keep things moving along at such a quick pace and with so much energy it's difficult to get caught up on any one detail. It also doesn't hurt that F. Scott Frazier's (The Numbers Station) screenplay layers in multiple team members to take some of the pressure off Diesel carrying this entire thing on his aging shoulders while simultaneously becoming another casualty of the Avengers effect where it's now more lucrative and enticing to have a team of xXx-er's rather than a sole ambassador of bad ass.     

First Trailer for THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS

I've talked at length about how strange it is that a franchise born out of pure confusion and desperate measures has come to be one of the biggest if not the most long-running series that performs as consistently as these Fast & Furious films do. One can't help but to wonder if the franchise would feel more in a state of fatigue were it not for the tragic and rather shocking death of Paul Walker in the middle of production on the seventh film, but with the eighth film in the franchise it seems Dominic Toretto and his gang are moving on to different terrain and by that I mean both in terms of physically as well as in story. I guess I somewhat artlessly assumed that the beginning of the "final" trilogy in this ever-expanding brand would more or less follow the beats of those that had come before it meaning Dom and his gang would get roped into an elaborate mission that requires their particular set of skills to stop a new villain of the week, this time played by Charlize Theron. I assumed wrong as from the opening moments of this over three-minute trailer it's clear Vin Diesel's Toretto is no longer the man that holds family above all else. In fact, he goes full rogue here not only betraying those he once called family, but actively dismantling them forcing the remaining members of his crew in Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Tej (Ludacris), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Roman (Tyrese) to team-up with The Rock's Hobbs and former enemy Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) in order to take him down. This is an interesting way to kick off this new phase in the Fast & Furious story and I look forward to seeing what twist series screenwriter Chris Morgan has come up with to justify Dom's sudden turn. All of that said it should also be noted that new to the franchise director F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) has seemed to certainly add his own flavor to the mix as not only are the stunts on par with the stakes the team seems to be facing, but there is an undeniable rhythm to it all that hopefully plays through the entire runtime of the final film. The weirdly titled The Fate of the Furious also stars Kurt Russel, Scott Eastwood, Elsa Pataky, Helen Mirren, and opens on April 14th, 2017.

First Trailer for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

Director James Gunn released a "sneak peek" trailer for his follow-up to the breakout Marvel success of 2014 in Guardians of the Galaxy just over a month ago although I hesitate to call what we saw only a sneak peek as it ran over two minutes and gave us a look at each of our favorite characters and what they're seemingly up to these days. That said, it was clear this wasn't the last we'd see/hear from the Guardians prior to the end of the year with Disney rolling out Rogue One in less than two weeks. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 kicking off the summer of 2017 in that first weekend of May slot that Marvel has now dominated for the past six years save for 2014 when Winter Soldier opened the first weekend in April (due to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 claiming the opening weekend that year) you can bet Marvel and Kevin Feige are intent on getting the hype started as soon as possible. Given the trailer Gunn and his team have put together one can bet it will do just that. While some of what we see here in the full-length trailer is more or less the same as what we saw in that aforementioned "sneak peek" we get the added reassurance that if nothing else, this sequel will be really funny and feature some great banter between the core members of the team. There is no revealing of any previously unknown story elements and we don't see any footage of new additions Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) or Ego (Kurt Russell) though we do get our first look at Mantis, a former member of the Avengers in the comics, played here by Pom Klementieff. Still, this trailer is as promising as one could have hoped if you enjoyed the tone and humor of the first. Proving more of the same isn't always a bad thing here's to the hope that train of thought is only to ease us into the sequel with the actual movie offering something slightly different from our first experience with the team. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 also stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Zaldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillian, Michael Rooker, Glenn Close, and opens on May 5th, 2017. 

BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK Review

Not actively terrible, but nowhere near the introspective character study it seemed destined to be Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is an amalgamation of interesting ideas and endearing ambition that went wrong somewhere in the process of its creation. Helmed by auteur Ang Lee (Life of Pi, Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) the director has, for one reason or another, decided to make his latest endeavor the first film to ever be shot in 120 frames per second and in 4K 3D which is well over the standard 24 fps most movies are shot in. Add to this the fact Lee easily surpasses the last, failed effort of the higher frame rate variety in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and it's a curious decision given the truth of the matter is most audiences who choose to experience Billy Lynn will do so in traditional theater presentations given the set-up for such an advanced display requires much more than most theaters are willing to budget for at the moment. And so, while it is admirable for Lee to want to push the boundaries of cinema and, at the very least, experiment so that later generations may build upon such experiments-watching Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk in a traditional format because there are no resources to take advantage of how it is meant to be seen across the majority of the country only makes these choices made for the sake of the format that much more glaring. Lee is a master filmmaker and one of the most diverse auteurs in the game at the moment and for that it's impossible not to respect his effort. Over the course of just his last three features the director has taken us from Woodstock in the summer of 1969 to being stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to us now joining him and the surviving members of Bravo Squad at the halftime show of a Dallas football game. This track record combined with the inherently deep and somewhat controversial subject matter made me more than eager to see what conclusions and ideas Lee came to with his film, but rather than any ideas, conclusions, or even narrative cohesion Lee seems to have paid more attention to how best his story could enhance his new format rather than the other way around.

Teaser Trailer for xXx: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE Starring Vin Diesel

Confession time: I've never seen 2005's xXx: State of the Union. Do I need to? Because I really don't care to and yet, part of me is excited to see Vin Diesel return to the role he originated in 2002 in the wake of the original The Fast and the Furious' success. Diesel was all kinds of set to be the next big action star after he completely dominated that 2001 street racing Rob Cohen movie and no doubt secured the paycheck for Chronicles of Riddick soon after, but was also the guy who would churn out another Rob Cohen picture before deciding not to return for 2 Fast 2 Furious in '03. While we may have been upset with Mr. Diesel at the time for letting his new found BFF Brian go off to Miami alone and reunite with Tyrese it would all work out in the end. Deciding to make xXx rather than a second Fast & Furious film is certainly proving helpful now as the actor is having his cake and eating it too. Not only is he secured by at least three more F&F films, but he is now bringing back those one-off's that he also didn't commit to sequels to (see the aforementioned State of the Union) in order to fill in the paycheck gaps between F&F films. I don't want to sound too negative as the actor is part of the insanely solid cast of the much anticipated Ang Lee film, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, that will surely be an Oscar contender this fall, but was there really any need for another entry into what will be a fifteen year old property by the time this new movie arrives in theaters? No, but like I said-I'm not as opposed as I might have been once upon a time. The original xXx was a fine enough action flick that capitalized on the cheesy guilty pleasures of the genre at that point in time and while I don't remember much of the movie something in me hopes this new film will play in that same tone of not being overly self-aware or serious, but rather just a good time in the moment that we won't remember a few hours later. xXx: Return of Xander Cage also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ruby Rose, Nina Dobrev, Toni Collette, Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, Deepika Padukone, Rory McCann, and opens on January 20th, 2017.

First Trailer for BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK from Director Ang Lee

Ang Lee's latest endeavor, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, easily made the top three of my most anticipated films of the year list based solely on the credentials the film was sporting so to finally see some footage and feel reassured in that choice is beyond satisfying. Lee is a master filmmaker and one of the most diverse auteurs in the game at the moment. Over the course of his last three features alone the director has taken us from Woodstock in the summer of 1969 to being stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and now we join him at the halftime show of a Dallas Cowboys game. Based on the novel by Ben Fountain that was published in 2012, the story follows Lynn (newcomer Joe Alwyn) who is part of the Bravo Squad unit that's been fighting in Iraq. After a brief but intense fight anointed as "the Battle of Al-Ansakar Canal", Lynn and seven other surviving members return to the U.S. and are hailed as war heroes. These war heroes are sent on a "Victory Tour" by the government and as part of this tour, Bravo Squad are invited as guests to the annual Thanksgiving game featuring the Cowboys. The disenchantment with the notions those of us in the safe haven of America have of war against what actually goes on in battle seems to be the juxtaposing theme Lee is shooting for here as we get only a few glimpses of the flashbacks that cause Alwyn's Lynn to more or less break down in the middle of this celebration. In short, given the inherently deep and somewhat controversial subject matter I'm eager to see what conclusions and ideas Lee has drawn with his film. The movie will also be notable for having been shot at 120 frames per second in 4K native 3D and the clarity of such images produced in this format is certainly visible in this first look. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk also stars Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, Chris Tucker, Tim Blake Nelson, and opens on November 11th, 2016.

Movies I Wanna See Most: 2016

As always, there is a lot to look forward to this year at the cinema. In attempting to look through all of the major releases for the upcoming year that are already on the calendar I've come across more than enough movies to keep a variety of audiences entertained, but what follows is not just a list of films I'm most excited to see (though that is surely the bulk of it), but also commentary on just how difficult it's become to both look forward to and be excited about the onslaught of super hero films I know we will inevitably receive. I'm a fan of comic book movies and am looking forward to seeing all seven of the major ones that will be released over the course of 2016, but to allow them to take over seven individual spots on my list seems ridiculous and something of a waste. Everyone who's been to the movies in the last two months (and if you've seen the Star Wars numbers coming in you'll know that's a lot of people) know there is a new Batman V. Superman movie coming out and another Marvel movie where Captain America and Iron Man face-off. They may even know that Ryan Reynolds is playing some kind of version of Ryan Reynolds in a red suit, but while I'm as hopeful as the biggest fanboy that Deadpool turns out to be as great as the wonderful marketing campaign has led us to believe-it's an obvious choice, an obvious movie to anticipate. Does that mean every film on my list is a smaller film that you probably haven't heard about yet? No, not at all. There are of course films like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Star Trek Beyond, and Star Wars: Rogue One sprinkled throughout because, guess what? I like Harry Potter, Justin Lin, and Star Wars so I'm genuinely excited to see how those movies turn out. By stating the obvious at the beginning though, by saying that, "Look, there are going to be this many super hero movies this year and yes I'm pumped for all of them, but here are a bunch of other movies that might interest you that I'm excited about," this list might provide insight to a film you didn't know was coming down the pipeline prior.

THE LAST WITCH HUNTER Review

The Last Witch Hunter is one of those movies that, were Vin Diesel not coming off a more prominent period in his career, would star Nicolas Cage in the titular role. What that says about the actual state of Diesel's career outside of the Fast & Furious franchise is up for debate, but what is undeniable is the guy at least has some modicum of charisma even if it only extends so far. With that charisma he has chosen to portray an eight hundred year old witch hunter that operates within a film that feels all too familiar and all too like it should be released in the doldrums of January when the weather outside matches the dark, wet and dreary aesthetic of the film. Instead, Summit has decided to release the film around Halloween is seeming hopes that the it may connect on a festive level, but folks who flock to Diesel's follow-up to the biggest entry in his Fast franchise won't find the actor giving us the knowingly cheesy tone of that over-the-top action spectacle or even any solid action as everything about The Last Witch Hunter is messy and incoherent. This isn't to say the film has no redeeming qualities as some of the character design (mainly that of the Witch Queen) is pretty interesting and the costume design is sleek even if the palette director Breck Eisner (The Crazies, Sahara) is painting on is a grainy one. This is more or less to say that Diesel shows little range in his performance, but his jackets are nice. It doesn't help that half an hour in one can fairly easily tell where things are going story-wise and while what is hinted at more or less turns out to be true it's as if screenwriters Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (yes, it took three writers to compose this slop) knew their script was too predictable and so they began throwing in random obstacles and twists that only end up making the film all the more confusing and all the more stupid. I hate to go into a movie doubting that it will provide anything of value, but if The Last Witch Hunter exceeded anything it was the expectation of just how generic and forgettable it would be.

Full Trailer for THE LAST WITCH HUNTER Starring Vin Diesel

Is Vin Diesel a movie star outside of the Fast & Furious franchise? I would argue no. He's tried to keep his brand alive outside of Dominic Toretto with the Riddick series, but the 2013l entry only earned $98 million worldwide, which isn't bad considering the $38m budget, but certainly doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in folks being interested. Diesel can also now claim being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but we all know his contributions are minor and so it is understandable Diesel wants to spread his wings. The guy at least seems to understand the type of movies his style and image are best suited for, but that doesn't mean The Last Witch Hunter looks like anything more than a generic piece of crap. Concerning itself with Kaulder (Diesel) who was once a member of an army of witch hunters before slaying the Queen Witch and being cursed with her immortality, this flick looks like something that should have been dropped in theaters in January or February. I won't jump to any conclusions as I rather enjoyed director Breck Eisner's last feature film, 2010's re-make of The Crazies, but I can't help but feel this will be of the generic action film variety. The inclusion of witches and priests and the yellow/black/silver color palette doesn't do much to inspire otherwise, but more signifies it wants to stick to a very obvious, predefined genre-a genre that doesn't tend to produce solid fantasy films. Who knows, Eisner could take a tip from Diesel's main franchise and embrace the ridiculous and turn this into something rather fun, but I don't have high hopes and I'm not even sure I care to see it. What do you guys think? The Last Witch Hunter also stars Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood, Michael Caine, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Julie Engelbrecht and opens October 23rd.

Ranking the First Ten Marvel Cinematic Universe Films

If I were to go back to May of 2008 when I was a freshly-minted twenty-one year old deep in the heart of film school and brimming with the idea I garnered more knowledge than I actually did my rankings of the following films that have come out over the past seven years and created the most colossal machine in movie-making would look very different than the retrospective I'm about to outline for you. I certainly wouldn't expect to start where I do given the third film in the MCU is basically where things really got going while the first two entries are more or less setting the tone for what Marvel might do given these first efforts paid off in the right way. We all know now that at least that first effort paid off in a big way thanks in no small part to Robert Downey Jr. (who still owns this brand with something of a sadistic glee) which meant taking the MCU's only break in 2009 before spitting out a rushed sequel in 2010 that would put the end goal of The Avengers in motion. While I admired those early films in the MCU for at least having an ambition unmatched by any other franchise they have now become something of a TV series on the big screen that comes with its own challenges of having to individually stand on their own while owing much to the larger moving parts. This aspect has made the films both unique in the way we consume them while somewhat devaluing the individual stories as there is always the "what's next" question lingering as soon as the credits roll. And so, seeing as the MCU has now produced ten feature films with their eleventh, Avengers: Age of Ultron, opening tonight domestically it seems as good a time as any to recap where each of them stand in my humble opinion. Ranked mostly by their rewatchability factor with other facets considered for good measure here are the ten MCU films so far ranked from worst to best.

FAST & FURIOUS: A Retrospective

In anticipation of seeing Furious 7 the other night I decided to re-watch some of the earlier Fast & Furious films I hadn't seen in a while in order to simply refresh my memory. Given Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6 have been released within the last few years and that I actually have reviews for them posted on this site I didn't bother going back and giving them another look (don't worry though, they've been seen multiple times over the last few years), but instead watched the original The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious. Within each of these is something to marvel at; no matter it be how far the franchise has come from its humble beginnings, how much of the current films can actually be seen in the DNA of the 2001 original or even how things that happened in the past could possibly come back around to inform what other films may come after Furious 7. Where the franchise will go from here is one of the most interesting questions given Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner will no longer be a part of the series and prior to this has only been absent from the prequel/alternate storyline Tokyo Drift. While there are certainly plans for an eighth film (and probably a ninth and tenth if things go Universal's way) I can only hope that Diesel and screenwriter Chris Morgan continue to both bring back series stars like Lucas Black, Bow Wow, Eva Mendes and Cole Hauser and expand their international cast to include the likes of an already pining Helen Mirren. Before we look too far into the future though, I'd like to take a trip back through the first four Fast films I haven't previously written about on this site, so without further adieu...

FURIOUS 7 Review

At this point, if you're into what the Fast & Furious films are doing then you're completely into it. There is no way out if you've come this far and I can't imagine anyone having a problem with that if you indeed have. At this point, it also seems the films feel the same way. Up to a certain point, one could have taken in the individual films as such, but the mythology has grown, the cast continues to expand and if you're not caught up with the going-ons between Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his gang in correlation with the Shaw brothers (Luke Evans and Jason Statham) as well as with Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and how it all ties in with Tokyo Drift then you may as well start from the beginning. For, as much as it is the insane action sequences and over the top fight scenes that keep the masses hungry for more it is the history of this now fifteen year-old franchise that keeps the heart pumping as healthily as it is. People will come for the action, but stay for the characters. It's really as simple as that and there essentially isn't much more to say, but the seventh entry in what was originally a street racing franchise has way too much going on to relegate it to little more than a footnote in a bigger universe. More than another chapter in an ongoing saga, Furious 7 will always be significant for the real world circumstances surrounding Paul Walker's untimely death and how that plays into this film. It was also always going to be rather significant, if not a turning point for the franchise at large, because it was the first time we'd be moving past Tokyo Drift chronologically. When Han (Sung Kang) showed up in Fast & Furious to hint that these events, five years after the original film, came even before the events of the third film (which technically, would actually be the sixth film) there has been a building towards a certain point and by the end of Fast & Furious 6 that point had been reached. What happens next? Furious 7 is the answer to that and while this latest film is certainly more poignant for reasons beyond its control it never forgets its main mission and continues to thrive on its self-awareness of just how outlandish it has become.

Movies I Wanna See Most: 2015

I can't help but feel I don't know enough to be making such a list as this anymore. Every year I go through the upcoming years slate of planned movie releases and come up, pretty easily, with ten or so films I'm genuinely excited to see and again, this year, that has been no problem. My issue with a list such as this is there is no way to go through each possible release or even know about every release in the way that a movie might come to light during the course of the year and becomes something you wish you might have highlighted way back when, that you knew about and held expectations for simply because it's nice to be "in the know". That sounds a little crazy and a little ridiculous, I realize, but it is easy to go through and say what blockbusters you are most excited to see in any given year, but you only wish you knew that there might be a Birdman or a Whiplash sneak up on you and blow you away. Then again, I'll just convince myself I actually enjoy the element of surprise and wait to see what gems 2015 currently has tucked away. To both points, I've attempted to go through and double check with some of my favorite directors and actors to see what, if anything, they might have on their slate for this year so as to hopefully surprise a few people with this list and not just satisfy/underwhelm folks who see another list where The Avengers and Star Wars take the cake. From my most anticipated list of 2014 three films made my year-end top ten. From my most anticipated list of 2013 one film made it, so I guess that could be taken as a good sign if there is any correlation to be found at all. Furthermore, 2014 seemed like a really solid year when looking back despite it feeling easier than ever to craft a top ten. There were a few exceptional films, but there seemed an abundance of more than solid features that are just as worthy for someone else's favorite films of the year. If 2015 is anything like it, we'll be in for a great crop of flicks (the best of which I likely don't even know about yet).

First Trailer for FURIOUS 7

It has been a tumultuous year for the cast and crew of the seventh film in the Fast & Furious series. I wasn't overly interested in the series until Justin Lin came along and decided there was something worth investing in. While Tokyo Drift felt like something of an audition for the director it has come to serve as a catalyst of sorts for the series. Going back in time to before the events of the third film, Lin brought us up to date with last years Fast & Furious 6 and from there on out we faced the unexpected. The unexpected came in tragic form last November though with Paul Walker's untimely death which sent the James Wan directed sequel into re-writes, delays, and an unquestionable future. Through all of this it feels like the series has become more of a cultural mainstay and closer to peoples hearts which will no doubt up the interest in the seventh film, but more than anything it will be nice to have one last opportunity to see Walker portray the character he will be most remembered for. I was and am beyond excited to see Jason Statham joining the cast this time around as the brother to Luke Evans Owen Shaw whom Statham is now out to avenge and it will be interesting to see how this plot plays out, but more than anything the future of the entire franchise rests on this installments shoulders as we wonder and wait to see where the crew will take us. Furious 7 also stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Ronda Rousey, Tony Jaa, Nathalie Emmanuel, Lucas Black, John Brotherton, Djimon Hounsou, Kurt Russell and opens on April 3, 2015.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Review

In the late summer of 2006 a friend and I went unsuspecting into our local dollar theater to see a few movies we'd missed earlier that year. One we had no idea of what we were getting into, but were interested in due to the fact it featured Elizabeth Banks in a starring role was Slither. It was one of those experiences you walk away from as a nineteen year-old kid and wonder what the hell you just watched. At that age everything needs to fit squarely into a category, it has to have some semblance of order for you to think it is acceptable in the adult world and this was an R-rated horror film so that was what we expected, or at least that is what had been advertised. What Slither actually turned out to be was a literal gross-out comedy that played on the several homages it contained to horror films of days past and was more in the vein of Evil Dead than anything else. I say all of this not only to reference my introduction to the work of director James Gunn, but more to put into context the kind of non-expectations I'd set for Guardians of the Galaxy. I didn't want to know what to expect, I didn't want to understand the universe and I certainly didn't want to have any preconceptions about who these characters were given their ridiculous appearance. I'd walked into Gunn's strikingly strange Slither with zero expectation and walked out fully appreciating it for its wackiness and ability to transcend genres while clearly doing whatever it wanted. I hoped for the same thing from Guardians despite the fact Gunn had submitted himself to the powers that be at Marvel. I don't look at Marvel as this monster who assumes creative control and only hires directors willing to do their bidding because it is clear they have a plan for where they want all of this to go and they are looking for those willing to work with them on that ultimate goal, which anyone should be able to appreciate. What I do worry about with each Marvel film is the lack of any original voice coming through in conveying these necessary stories. The stories can be cohesive without the tone or style being the same and while the earth-bound Avengers began to feel more serialized in phase two, Guardians is able to break that mold not only by taking place in the cosmos but by brimming with creativity in every scene of its execution.