Quick Reviews: "Tomorrowland", "San Andreas"

If you have noticed i have not been active with my blog for the past month or so. I have been quite busy at my day job and have not had much time to even update this blog for some of the more important events that transpired during the past month. Cannes came and went and save for a report i did on the film selections, I did not have much chance to report here on what movie generated the most buzz and what movies and actors took home the prizes. 

And i missed going to the movies. Except for occasional Netflix movies, I haven't gone to the movies in over two months - gosh, I miss the darkness of the cinema, the quiet murmurs of the bored and excited audiences and the big screen that transports my hapless self to the world envisioned by the filmmakers... but that's over now because yesterday, I went to the movies and saw two films that are making quite a buzz now.

Tomorrowland

I finally got to see "Tomorrowland" --- I waited many months for this movie and now i know why it disappointed at the box office: It's a big yawner! The movie is too didactic and too preachy that it brought me to sleep more than a couple of times. I love the idea about it but the storytelling is so uneven that when the setting finally shifted to Tomorrowland, I was already too bored to even care. If they could re-edit the movie and trim it by like 20 minutes, it would be a better film. (Note: There was a little boy who came with his mom to the cinema and midway through the movie, he was already asking his mom how many more hours until the movie ends... that about sums up the movie.)

Rating:  – 2 ½ Stars.

San Andreas

I also saw "San Andreas" and this one was a little bit better, just a little bit. The dialogues are so cheesy that you'll find yourself laughing at supposedly crucial dramatic scenes. But the special effects here is amazing though. I expected a Roland Emmerich-type of devastation but then it's not really his film so that is just fine -- the San Francisco earthquake and tsunami scenes were awesome but one will have to sit through those agonizingly long stretches of dialogues between characters who manage to deliver those corny exchanges and break into lip-locks amidst the devastation - and threats of more - around them. i guess it's what the genre calls for but...

Rating:  – 2 ½ Stars.

XXX

Raymond Lo

News: Watch the Japanese trailer of "Tomorrowland"!

Many film buffs are predicting that Brad Bird's return to directing will most likely have its world premiere outside of the United States -- at the Cannes Film Festival. The buzz for "Tomorrowland" has been building up steadily leading to its May 2015 bow in theaters. That it will become a blockbuster is not exactly the question but just how big it is going to be! Will it be the biggest Disney movie release of the year??? Perhaps!

Meanwhile, many fans are buzzing about the Japanese version of the film's trailer. Many are hailing this version for the George Clooney-starrer as the one definitive trailer for the sci-fi epic.

Watch it here so you can judge for yourself.

 

In Pictures: The Avengers assembled this weekend in Los Angeles!

Iron Man aka Robert Downey, Jr. spent the past weekend with his fellow Marvel superheroes in Los Angeles for the sequel's press day held at the sprawling Disney Studios in Burbank. The actor kept busy snapping pictures that he subsequently shared to his many Twitter followers.

"Avengers: The Age of Ultron" storms into theaters on April 23. You better be ready!

Below are some of the wacky photos RDJ shared in his Twitter account.

That's Mark Ruffalo and RDJ... 

Two pic with Thor, Captain America and Iron Man -- you know other names, right?

RDJ, Cobie Smulders and Jeremy Renner

The Avengers!

RDJ welcoming new cast members Aaron Taylor and Elizabeth Olsen

My favorite group pic!

Iron Man and Ultron conferring... 

That's Captain America and Iron Man admonishing you to watch Avengers 2!

XXX

See you at the movies!

Film Review: "McFarland USA"

"McFarland USA" was the Closing Night film of the 30th Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I was going to watch but I decided I'd watch another movie because I would be able to watch it two nights later --- in hindsight, I should have watched it earlier and watched it again Monday night and I would have had seen it twice now. It is so good! No, it's a great film anchored by a truly uplifting and inspiring true story of a group of kids, their coach and their humble community to overcome their adversity and triumph in one field where the stakes are higher and the challenges tougher but where economic status in life do not matter at all.

Set in 1987, the film is inspired by a remarkable true story when a recently fired football coach, Jim White (Kevin Costner), was forced by necessity to accept a job in a small Central Valley California high school in the town of McFarland where the predominant population is composed of poor Latino families whose primary livelihood is picking produce. At his new school, he discovers a group of kids who are exceptional runners and he decides to form a cross-country team despite initial objections from the school and the kids' parents who would rather have their kids pick fruits and vegetables rather than waste time training for a sport that they think will not provide them any means of future livelihood anyway.

The story chronicles the forming of the team that would eventually set an unprecedented 24-year streak of making it to the State Championships. It also introduces us to each of the seven runners who pioneered the team and the coach whose initial goal was to leave McFarland as soon as an opportunity arises. The movie gives a balanced narrative combining the thrilling ascent of the team to the top of the sport in remarkably brief time and the heart-rending day-to-day challenges the boys had to face --- they get up very early each day to help pick produce before they head for school and they go back to the fields after school to resume picking produce. It melts your heart to see these young boys be so responsible for their age. Their smiles betray the backbreaking labor they have to do everyday and it makes you feel guilty for the small pleasures that we take for granted everyday. There's a very poignant scene in the movie, right after a meet, when the boys were brought to the beach by their coach to celebrate. It was their first time to see the beach and the joy in their faces is truly wonderful to behold.

Niki Caro, the acclaimed director who previously gave us "The Whale Rider" and "North Country", ably navigates the conventions of the genre and gives us occasional glimpse of artistry in several choice shots and clever exposition. This was a modestly-budgeted production but the result is quite superb. The performances by the cast are uniformly good with Costner delivering one of his most inspired performances to date aided by Maria Bello's quiet but strong supporting performance.

Rating: 5 Stars

"McFarland USA" opens in theaters February 20!

Watch the trailer below...

Film Review: "Into the Woods"

Saw Disney’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” and it was an experience that left me wanting for more. I never watched the Broadway musical nor was I aware of what the story was about except for what Disney was teasing in their promos and trailers for the movie. I know there’s a witch, a wolf, a girl with a red hood, a young lady calling herself Cinderella, a baker and his wife.

The movie opens with a rousing musical suite introducing some familiar fairy tale characters who are oddly not so similar to the characters we have grown to know and love. Cinderella, for example, does not have a fairy godmother but a dead mother who grants her wishes. Little Red Riding Hood loves her cookies so much to the point of stealing them from the hapless baker. Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk tale is charmingly dimwitted. And there’s a subplot involving Rapunzel (who I am tempted to call a slut because she hooks up with the first prince she meets!), the evil witch and the childless baker.

“Into the Woods” is an enthralling invitation for fairy tale fans to venture into another world where the fairy tale characters act differently and almost irreverently – and the latter is where I had issues with it most. Being unfamiliar with the world that Sondheim created, I went into the cinema expecting a grand Disney spectacle that takes its subject matter seriously and offers its audience some escape into the magical world inside the woods, filled with witches, princesses and princes and fairies – but I was so wrong!

When I go into a Disney movie, I always expect the child in me to be satisfied. I want wonder, I want magic. "Into the Woods" feels too adult at times that I worry that the kids may not find the film to their liking.

And I would put the responsibility about the movie squarely on director Rob Marshall’s shoulder. Had he embraced the farcical tone of the musical and made all the characters cheeky from the start, my expectation about the film would have been set right instead of myself wondering why nearly everyone in the theater were laughing hysterically to Chris Pine’s characterization of Prince Charming that I had to whisper to my friend and ask what it was that I am missing. She told me why and that’s when it dawned on me that the story was not supposed to be taken seriously. But it was already too late. My disappointment lingered and that prevented me from totally enjoying some of the grandest movie production designs this year and Meryl Streep’s bravura turn as the evil witch.

The cast are uniformly good but the uneven narrative and inconsistent storytelling style makes you wish yourself for a better adaptation.

Rating: 2 Stars

Sneak Peek: Brand New "Inside Out" trailer is here!

The brand-new trailer for Disney's 2015 offering "Inside Out" is here. Watch the trailer below.

Inside Out is a female buddy adventure fantasy-comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is based on an original idea by Pete Docter, who is directing the film along with co-director Ronnie del Carmen, and producer Jonas Rivera.

The impeccable voice cast includes Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan and John Ratzenberger.

Opens on June 19, 2015!

First Look: Disney Pixar's "Inside Out"

Just when I declared the race for Best Animated Oscar in 2015 was virtually over with the release of the trailer for "The Little Prince", Pixar responded by releasing the trailer for one of their biggest offerings and definitely original offerings next year!

"Inside Out" is another edgy Pixar original that explores what goes into the heads of a typical American family during ordinary interactions.

The films tells the story of a teen-aged girl in a Midwestern US state who found her life suddenly changed when the family had to relocate to another state. The trailer shows us how over dinner our casual conversations have been abruptly influenced and substituted by the daily dose of pop culture we ingest everyday through various representations of the core human emotions we all possess.

The star-studded voice cast includes Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader. "Inside Out" opens in the Summer next year.

Watch the trailer below:

News: "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" teaser trailer is here!

UPDATED Nov. 28, 2014
Trailer is here! Happy Black Friday!

The countdown to the highly anticipated new installment to the "Star Wars" saga will reach its first significant milestone when Disney releases the first teaser trailer for "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" on Friday morning.

The 88-second teaser will be shown in few select theaters during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and will go live on the web shortly thereafter.

But, if you want to be first, get to a movie house that's screening Disney's "Big Hero 6" because apparently it will be the first film that will screen the trailer.

This J.J. Abram's directed film will hit the cinemas on Dec. 18, 2015 and features numerous returning characters from the original Star Wars trilogy including Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). New cast members Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Max Von Sydow, Andy Serkis and Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o.

Watch the trailer here... Soon!

XXX
Raymond Lo

News: "Toy Story 4" to be released in 2017!

Disney shared a great news to fans of Woody and Buzz this afternoon. There's going to be a "Toy Story 4"!!!

The picture above shows director John Lasseter with his crew. Below is the actual text of the announcement made on Disney's Google+ account:

"Rootin', tootin' news from the playset: Woody, Buzz, and friends are back for Toy Story 4 on June 16, 2017 with director John Lasseter."

Now, are you excited as i am?

XXX
Raymond Lo