Trailer Review: Oblivion (2013) - Joseph Kosinski

I'm kind of lost for words, this trailer looks like this will be a great Sci-Fi movie. Just from the trailer you can see that this it not the kind of world you want to live in, and that our main character (Tom Cruise) hasn't been told everything that happened. I'll put the trailer below please check it out and let me know what you think.

Here's a link to the trailer in case you can't see the video below Oblivion Trailer 2

Trailer Review: The Host (2013) - Andrew Niccol

          If you knew nothing about the story of this film, except what you see in the trailer, that it’s an alien invasion Sci-Fi movie with a love story mixed in and plenty of action scenes thrown in the mix too, you’d be excited too right? But when you know the story’s from the writer of the Twilight books, it kind of ruins it right?

          I’m going to say I’m excited for this film, the trailer sets it up beautifully and I’m hoping the writer took the core of the story from the book and built a great Sci-Fi movie around it. But I’m also concerned that I’ve been duped by the trailer and it’s going to be a straight up love story and the trailer is like the first 5 minutes of the movie. So I’m going to say wait till you hear what reviewers say about this film before you go see it, fingers crossed its good though.

Check out the video below or at the link here The Host Trailer 3

Review: The Adjustment Bureau (2011) - George Nolfi

"I can go through this door alone. You'll never see me or the people chasing us again, or you can come with me, and I don't know what's on the other side, but you'd be next to me and that's all I've wanted since the minute I met you."

          Another film I really wanted to see but never got around toseeing at the time. I only knew the basic plot outline, that Matt Damon’scharacter (David Norris) and Emily Blunt’s character (Elise Sellas) were on therun from some sort of group (the Adjustment Bureau) and that was all I knewgoing into this film. My biggest regret with this film is that I haven’t see itsooner, as I thought it was amazing, it was only once I had finished watchingit and researching it for this review that I found it was based on a Philip K.Dick short story, which makes sense once you watch the film, but also explains alot of the themes present in the film.

          The story starts with David and Elise meeting and kissingand then falling in love, but David doesn’t get her name, but she inspires himto give a very honest and frank speech following his unsuccessful run for USSenate. The film flashes forward to the next month where Harry Mitchell(Anthony Mackie) is given an assignment by his boss Richardson (John Slattery)to ensure Daivd spills coffee on his shirt making him late to a meeting. Harryfalls asleep and David get doesn’t spill his coffee and makes it on to his bus,where he meets Elise again and this time gets her number, however  when David arrives at work he find his friendCharlie frozen in time and being examined by unfamiliar men in suits, he triedto run away but is caught by them and is taken to a warehouse. At the warehouseRichardson explains to him that the men are from The Adjustment Bureau and thatthe alter peoples paths and in the case of David’s friends their decisionmaking process to make sure that their life follow “The Plan” a documents setout by “the Chairman”. The Bureau then take Elise’s number from David and tellhim that he was not meant to ever meet Elise again; they also warn him that ifhe ever reveals the Bureau to anyone else he will be "reset"(basicallyhave his mind wiped), he agrees to keep the Bureau and their activities secretand is allowed to leave.

          For the next three years David rides the same bus in thehopes of meeting Elise and he finally does when he sees her walking beside thebus, she is initially dismissive of him and had assumed that he was alreadyseeing someone when he asked for her number, he tells he that his wallet wasstolen and that he lost her number and that why he couldn’t call her, he learnsthat she dances for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and plans on says he’llattend her performance later that evening. The Bureau tries to stop him frombuilding their relationship by causing their schedules to separate them. Davidraces across town, fighting the Bureau's abilities to "control hischoices" to ensure he will meet Elise. During the chase the Bureau usesordinary doorways to travel instantly to locations many blocks away. Seniorofficial Thompson takes over David's adjustment and takes him to the warehouse,where David argues he has the right to choose his own path, here Thompsonexplains how humanity has previously had free will, but each time it has gonewrong and reveals how the Bureau were behind mankind’s greatest achievements. Thompsonimplies that without Elise's influence David might become President of theUnited States and benefit the world, and warns that if he stays with her, hewill ruin both of their futures. Thompson causes Elise to sprain her ankle at aperformance to demonstrate his power, and David abandons her at the hospital tosave them from the fate Thompson described.

          Eleven months later, Charlie tells David of Elise's upcoming wedding as he campaigns again. Harry contacts David via secret meetings in therain and near water, which prevents the Bureau from tracking them. Harryreveals that Thompson exaggerated the negative consequences of David andElise's relationship, and teaches David how to use doors to teleport, and evadethe Bureau's adjustments. David reached Elise just before her wedding and revealsthe Bureau's existence to her, and shows her how he travels through doors. TheBureau pursues them across New York City. David decides to find the Chairman toend the chase; Elise isn’t sure, but agrees to go with David. They enter theBureau's offices and eventually find themselves trapped and surrounded on theobservation deck of the GE Building. They declare their love for each other andkiss before David can be reset. When they let go of each other, the Bureaumembers have gone. Thompson appears but is interrupted by Harry, who shows hima revised plan from the Chairman that allows David and Elise to stay together.After commending them for showing such devotion to each other, Harry tells thecouple they are free to leave. The film concludes with David and Elise walkingthrough the streets, as Harry speculates that the Chairman's plan may be toprepare humanity so it can write its own plans.

          The first thing that stuck me about this film was that itwas a love story, I really wasn't expecting that from the trailers or movieposters, also its impossible not to mention the religious symbolism in this film.The Bureau play the part of angels and the Chairman is God, these behind thelooking glass style movies where it’s revealed that mankind is being guided bysomeone else’s plan is in some ways is a nice thought, as in everything reallydoes happen for a reason, but it’s just as equally disconcerting that thechoices you make are an illusion and could have been made for you already by someoneelse. The love story is actually really believable and the chemistry betweenDamon and Blunt is very believable and doesn't ever feel forced.

I loved this movie, it really gripped me and had methinking. As a Philip K. Dick inspired story it can join a great collection ofmovies such as Minority Report, Total Recall and Blade Runner. I encourage youstrongly to check out this film if you haven’t seen it already, I’m going togive this film a 9/10 it’s nearly perfect to me.

Review: Source Code (2011) - Duncan Jones

"Source Code is not time travel. Rather, Source Code is time re-assignment. It gives us access to a parallel reality."

          This was a film I’d heard a lot about when it came out in the cinema, and really wanted to check it out unfortunately I never got around to it, so I thought I’d rectify that. The premise of this movie is really interesting and is full of the kind of twists that M. Night Shyamalan is best known for having in his films, but that’s getting a bit ahead of myself. So the basic plot of the movie is, a US soldier (Captain Colter Stevens played by Jake Gyllenhaal) using an experimental device called the “Source Code” is able to relive the last eight minutes of someone’s life, in this case the man in question is Sean Fentress, a school teacher who died on a train bombing that took place before the films story starts. The majority of the film takes place during those eight minutes before the train explodes, with Stevens  trying to find out who and what caused the explosion as the man responsible claims that the train bombing was a precursor to a larger dirty bomb that he will detonated in downtown Chicago.

          It was really interesting to see Stevens try a variety of different methods to identify the bomber and locate the bomb to identify characteristics which may help identify the bomber; it’s also funny to see him avoid pitfalls he previously encountered and solve problems from experience. The whole movie on the train feels like a puzzle and you feel invested in the solving the problems and feel invested when it’s solved. However not all of the film takes place on the train. Stevens is supported by a team of scientists and army personal; it’s in these scenes we feel unease and that there might be something more going on that they’re not telling both us the audience and Stevens, as they are very unwilling to answer his questions each time he returns to his cockpit after each eight minute segment. Eventually Captain Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) explains to Stevens that his body is on life support and that his mind is connected to the Source Code machine and that the cockpit he’s been returning to after each mission is just a figment of his imagination, this angers Stevens and he demands that he be allowed to die. They deny his request and send him back into the Source Code, where eventually Stevens’s identity’s the bomber as Derek Frost (Michael Arden), who the army track down and arrest.

          Stevens then asks if he can be returned to the Source Code one last time to try and save the people on the train and then have his life support switched off, which Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright), the boss of Source Code initially agrees to, but reveals he was only lying to Stevens and orders Goodwin to wipe his memory and prepare him for the next mission. Goodwin instead decided to honour Stevens wishes and sends him back into the Source Code where he successfully catches the bomber and emails Goodwin thanking her for what she did for him, he then disarms the bomb and even has the whole train carriage he was on laughing as he kisses Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) the pretty girl who was sitting opposite him on the train as the timer runs out on the eight minutes. Goodwin then pulls Stevens life support and we see him die.

          The movie then flashes to the earlier that morning where Goodwin receives an email from Stevens thanking her for what she has done and telling her that the Source Code works better that they could ever have expected, the date is then revealed to be that of the day of the train bombing, which now never took place. The next scene is of Stevens now permanently in Sean Fentress body going on a date with Christina Warren.

          I really had no idea what to expect from this film when I watch it, other that knowing the basic plot. I was blown away by how engaging the story was and how little the eight minute train segments over lapped and in no way were boring or repetitive. I would highly recommend this film and I’d give it a 8/10. Well worth checking out if you haven’t seen it already.

Trailer Review: Double Feature: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters & Hansel & Gretel Get Baked

So the story of this film is basically what happened to Hansel and Gretel after they escaped the Witch and the Gingerbread house from the classic fairytale. They become witch hunters and action movie heroes. This actually looks really good and is a great re-imagining of the characters and looks like its going to be a great action movie, I just hope it’s better than Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter was. I for one will definitely check it out when it comes out in cinemas. Check it out here Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters - Totally Witchin' Trailer

Another Hansel & Gretel movie worth mentioning is Hansel & Gretel Get Baked, which unlike this films more action/steampunk style setting is more of a comedy horror where Hansel & Gretel are two twenty something stoners, it looks pretty funny and looks like it will be a good movie, hopefully it gets the horror and comedy elements balanced. Check it out here  Hansel & Gretel Get Baked Official Trailer #1

Trailer Review: Evil Dead (Remake) Trailer #2 (2013) - Fede Alvarez

"We're going to get you. We're going to get you. Not another peep. Time to go to sleep."

          No one ever likes seeing their favourite film getting a sequel/prequel, but what they like even less is seeing it remade. So as a fan of the Evil Dead film franchise I understand where the negative feelings are coming from, but I’m going to give this film a chance and if you’re a horror fan or fan of the franchise it deserves to be at least checked out. For those of you not in the know Sam Rami, director of the Spider-man trilogy (the Toby Maguire one, in case you’re reading this after The Amazing Spiderman No. 3) was originally best known for his horror film trilogy The Evil Dead , which while made on a shoestring budget and not getting a wide spread release, went on to become one of the Horror genres most popular film franchise and a cult film series in its own right. Basically The Evil Dead films are held up on a pedestal by its fans and its untouchable, so when Sam Rami announced he planned on making a Evil Dead 4, after dropping out of Spider-man 4, fan interest was high, would we see a continuation of Ash’s fight against the Deadites, but the project never went ahead and was mentioned very little after the initial announcement. Then in early 2011 Bruce Campbell announced that a remake of The Evil Dead was underway with himself and Sam Rami serving as executative producers, opinions were strongly mixed.

          So with the film coming out shortly, have they done a good job at mixing the old and the new? In my opinion yes they have, they’ve kept the more serious horror feel of the first Evil Dead film and built on that. This film look genuinely terrifying, which I hope it is, it’s a bit of a pity to see the humour of the two Evil Dead sequels is missing, but I for one will be going to see this movie and I hope you do too.

Check out the trailer below or at the link here: EVIL DEAD - Full Redband Trailer

Trailer Review: Spring Breakers Trailer #1 (2013) - Harmony Korine

Who needs plot?

"Spring Break forever bitches!"

          Alright I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out, thisis supposed to be a great film, even if it does seem like it’s just relying outthe four main actors; Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and RachelKorine running around the place in their bikini’s. The basic plot is these fourgirls rob a restaurant to finance their trip to Spring Break and pretty muchjust dance around the place and get drunk in the sun in their bikini’s, hmm theplots really not helping me justify talking about this film, anyway once they’reat Spring Break they get arrested for taking drugs and get bailed out by JamesFranco’s character, who has them do his dirty work. Anyway check out thetrailer here or below:Spring Breakers Trailer