First Trailer for ENDER'S GAME

There are still nearly six months that separate us from the release of one of the more highly anticipated sci-fi films of the year, but today we get our first real glimpse at the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card's 1985 science fiction novel Ender's Game. Usually it might not be worth stating that a film is one of the "more highly anticipated sci-fi films" of a particular year, but there are a fair amount of big budget sci-fi flicks opening in 2013, several of which have a good amount of positive buzz around them. Granted, most of these will be opening during the summer movie season while if the trailer is any indication you'd think Ender's Game  was starting its awards season bids already. Opening in early November and putting on full display its prestigious cast which sees Asa Butterfield (Hugo) as the lead protagonist and hero alongside the likes of Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Abigail Breslin, and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit). I have yet to read the source novel from which this film will be based (which I'm ashamed of as I consider myself a pretty big fan of science fiction) but I have already picked up a copy and plan on reading it as soon as I finish World War Z which is currently on the nightstand. This debut teaser trailer looks promising while only giving away enough of the story to be intriguing while relying heavily on name recognition and grand visuals to also draw viewers in. The only real concern I have here is that director Gavin Hood is at the helm of the project as well as doing the work of adapting the novel into a screenplay. I've only seen two of Hood's previous films (neither of which he wrote) but one of them was the widely panned X-Men Origins: Wolverine film. I wasn't a big fan of the film and the reasons why might not have all been Hood's fault, but the fact he couldn't seem to handle a large scale potential blockbuster doesn't bode well for the initial optimism around this one. Still, I like the genre and have heard nothing but great things about the source material, so we shall wait and see. Hit the jump to check out the trailer and let me know what you think. Ender’s Game opens on November 1st.

ON DVD & Blu-Ray: May 7, 2013

IRON MAN 3 Review

When Iron Man 3 opens and Eiffel 65's hit "Blue" from 1999 begins to play as we see the Marvel and Paramount logos flash up on the screen it was clear we were in for a little something different this time around. I haven't read many comic books and out of the ones I have, none of them have ever been an Iron Man comic, but at the end of the day it feels like that if there were a film that was able to get as close to the spirit of its source material (or even the artistic medium originally used for that matter) that it might be this one. Granted, I have nothing to base that on, but it is simply a gut instinct in that the tone of this film is very light in its banter, very quick in its wit, and also more personal at the same time than I ever expected it to be, especially considering the obvious point that it's a massive summer blockbuster. While Iron Man 3 doesn't exactly live up to the expectations I was holding for it, it instead reroutes them and delivers a story that was more on the opposite side of the standard super hero flick spectrum while still containing enough explosions and fight scenes to appease those that go to these kinds of movies expecting nothing more than that. Director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) takes over for Jon Favreau (who still shows up to play Happy Hogan) and took on writing duties as well and has delivered a very Shane Black-esque script with plenty of self-referential dialogue and a large scale action set piece every twenty minutes or so. I enjoyed the film immensely and found Robert Downey Jr. as good as ever as Tony Stark, but despite all the flash and bang it still felt like there was something missing, or maybe that's just because Captain America, Thor, and The Hulk didn't bother to show up.

THE ICEMAN Review

Michael Shannon has consistently proven himself to be a rather intense presence in films. No matter what type of genre those films might fit into it has always been clear that the guy has a certain set of abilities and he knows how to channel them into his characters with just the right amount of calculated terror, of social awkwardness, and just a hint of the scarce realizations of his own characteristics. He is a captivating actor to watch whether it has been in leading roles in smaller films such as Take Shelter or as a supporting character in major Hollywood productions such as his scene-stealing performance alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road. What he has done in his latest role is to meld those two types of mindsets together and bring to the screen the truly demented and troubled life of Richard Kuklinski, one of the most infamous contract killers for the mafia who is suspected to have killed at least one hundred people between 1948 and 1986. Shannon is an ideal actor for this type of role and he brings the layers of a man who is mentally able to go out and murder people in cold blood, sometimes allowing them extra time to pray to God to see if he will intervene, and then come home to his family and act like a typical family man who works a nine to five desk job. There is a consistent unnerving sense to Shannon's performance that elevates what is otherwise a rather typical genre film in The Iceman. Sure, there is a twist of particular intrigue surrounding this man and there are a few redeeming qualities about the film that help coast you through the hour and a half run time, but it is never enough to make this story as interesting as it should have been.

Summer 2013: The Ones You Might Miss

In the final installment of this series it seemed fitting to conclude with a few films that you may or may not have heard of and put an emphasis on them and reason enough why you should still check them out despite the fact they will be overshadowed by the films that took over the first few entries of this series. Fortunately, I have seen a trailer for four out of the five and have been either genuinely surprised by how much I was enticed by it or have recognized potential simply from the credentials it has going for it whether that be in front of or behind the camera. As the Summer movie season is usually pretty sparse when it comes to delivering the horror flicks this year sees no disruption in that trend as I've only seen ads for two major studio horror flicks and one, despite the fact it stars Ethan Hawke who made one of the best horror films in recent memory with last years Sinister, doesn't interest me at all. Needless to say, that other horror film has made this list and I'm genuinely excited to be scared by it. The other films include a star studded studio flick that almost seems out of place in its release date while the others are smaller, indie pictures that promise quality not only with their scale but with the fact they seem to be stories worth telling and that may be the biggest reason they landed on the list you where they might become easy to overlook, but likely deserve your attention.