Tim Burton's Second Effort This Year Is Much Better Than His First: Andrew's Review of "Frankenweenie" (2012)

Directed By: Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands) 

Starring: Charlie Tahan, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short

Rating: PG for thematic elements, scary images and action

Run Time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

Synopsis: Victor Frankenstein (Tahan) is a smart but solitary kid who's best friend is his dog, Sparky. When Sparky dies in an accident, Victor is heart-broken until a demonstration by his science teacher inspires him to bring his dog back to life using electricity. What Victor didn't expect was for his classmates to copy him and bring their dead pets to life, too, with disastrous results.

REVIEW

Sarah: Last night, Andrew went and saw Tim Burton's latest stop-action animated movie Frankenweenie. I was out on a girl's night, so I didn't go to this one with him. GASP! But it's okay, he went with a friend who got to experience going to the movies with a Keck for the first time! Always a fun experience!

So, Andrew, I know you are a fan of Tim Burton. How did his latest animated movie stack up to his other movies?

Andrew: Frankenweenie is actually a great representation of Tim Burton's filmography. It has his fingerprints everywhere, from the use of black and white to Danny Elfman's score that was reminiscent of his Batman, Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands scores.

In fact, a movie I kept thinking about during this was Edward Scissorhands because of the neighborhood that Victor and his family lived in. It's a little suburban town called New Holland and it looked exactly like the neighborhood in the movie that shot Johnny Depp to stardom.

S: Now, this is the second stop-action monster movie of the late summer/fall and we both really like the last one! How did it measure up to ParaNorman?

The First Teaser Trailer for Disney's The Lone Ranger Is Here!

Andrew: Hello readers! We have a new review coming out later today but before that's finished, we figured we'd post the first teaser trailer for a movie we're both pretty excited to see next year - Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger, starring Armie Hammer (The Social Network) in the title role and my favorite actor, Johnny Depp, as Tonto!

The Lone Ranger has been an interesting topic in Hollywood for a few years now because of production delays due to a huge budget that Disney didn't want to pay, then it finally started production with a smaller budget that quickly ballooned up to what the original one was supposed to be, early pictures of Hammer and Depp in character where Tonto is wearing a bird on his head causing some concern, and of course the rumors that there will be some sort of magical werewolves involved in the plot. Yikes.

So check out the trailer below and let us know how you think it looks!



All of that said, it's being made and and I have be to honest - this trailer has soothed a few of my fears. It looks far less campy than the last few Pirates of the Caribbean films. All I'm asking for is a fun, action-driven Western, and word of mouth out of L.A. is that The Lone Ranger actually has Disney execs excited over what it could do for the Western genre.

The Lone Ranger stars Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Tom Wilkinson (who has a pretty sweet voice-over in this trailer). It's slated for release on July 3rd, 2013.

Listen to a Preview of Adele's Theme Song for "Skyfall"!

UPDATE: The 90 second snippet of the song that hit the internet yesterday has been taken down. Our apologies! As soon as it's back up somewhere we'll update the post again!

Andrew: Hello readers! Just a quick little post here about something that hit the web today that got me excited. It was revealed not too long ago that Adele, probably the world's most popular singer right now, would be singing the theme song for this November's new James Bond film Skyfall.

Well evidently she's already hit the recording studio because a preview of said song, aptly titled "Skyfall," has hit the web and you can listen to it right here, right now! My favorite part is towards the end when the classic slow Bond theme comes in.

We can't wait to hear the whole thing! Check it out!




Skyfall hits IMAX theatres on Wednesday, November 8th and then goes wide on Friday, November 9th. Daniel Craig returns for his third go-round as 007, Judi Dench returns in her 7th turn as M, and we get some new faces in Ben Wishaw as Q, Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe as the Bond girls, Javier Bardem as the villain and Ralph Fiennes in a not-quite clear role yet.

Thank Goodness For This Highly Original, Thoughtful and Excellent Sci-Fi Film: Our Review of "Looper" (2012)

Directed By: Rian Johnson 

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels

Rating: R for strong violence, language, some sexuality/nudity, and drug content

Run Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes

Synopsis: In the future, time travel exists but is illegal. Only the mob uses it to send marks back in time to be killed by specialized assassins called Loopers. When they want to end their contracts with their assassins, they send their older versions back to be killed by their younger versions, a practice called “closing the loop.” One looper named Joe (Gordon-Levitt) fails to do so when he recognizes his older self (Willis), accidentally letting himself escape, causing a man-hunt and possible catastrophic changes to the future.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last night Sarah and I caught an evening showing of this weekend’s highly-anticipated science-fiction movie Looper, directed by Rian Johnson and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises), Bruce Willis (Moonrise Kingdom) and Emily Blunt (The Five-Year Engagement).

To quickly set it up, JGL plays Joe, a specialized assassin called a “looper” living in Kansas circa 2044. As Joe says in the movie, time travel hasn’t been invented yet but by 2074 it will have been and will be illegal so the only people who use it are the mafia. They send back their marks to 2044 where Joe and his fellow loopers wait for them and kill them immediately upon arrival.

One day, though, Joe hesitates to kill his mark because he recognizes him as his future self, who then escapes and the film sort of becomes a hunt between the two, though Older Joe ends up having an alternate agenda as well. We don’t want to say too much because the beauty of this movie was that…

Sarah: The marketing didn’t give, really, ANY of the story away. They lead you to believe the film is one way when it’s actually quite different, in my opinion at least.

A: Yeah, so props to people on the blogosphere and the film’s marketing department for not spoil anything. (More after the jump)

One of the best and most pivotal scenes in Looper between Old Joe (Willis) and Young Joe (Gordon-Levitt) takes place in this diner, prominently featured in the film's marketing.

It's a Kind of Magic, And We're Glad We Saw It: Our Review of "Queen - Hungarian Rhapsody: Live in Budapest '86" (2012)

Andrew: Hello readers! Sarah and I went to a smaller movie theatre in West Hartford last night to catch a limited engagement showing of a documentary/concert film about my favorite band of all-time, the British rock band Queen, called Queen – Hungarian Rhapsody: Live in Budapest ’86. Sarah, we didn’t even see a trailer for this, it was more of a promo that showed before the showing of Cosmopolis we saw. It caught my eye for obvious reasons and so I looked it up and discovered it’s only showing in limited theatres around the globe (you can find all the listings on Queen’s official site here: www.queenonline.com) but sadly, thankfully we caught the last day of showing in the United States. I knew I wanted to see this, I thought we had missed it because the promo we saw said they were only doing two showings last week and we missed them both, but thankfully I checked their official site and saw there was one more.

Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, electrified the Hungarian crowd during their 1986 concert in Bulgaria, which was filmed for this documentary/concert film.

The structure of the film was pretty simple – the first twenty minutes or so is a straight-up mini-documentary using behind-the-scenes and interview footage with the band as they talk about writing songs for the movie Highlander… (more after the jump)

Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (for Friday, September 28th)

Andrew: Hello readers! We're back with another weekly preview (sorry for them being sporadic lately) and boy is this one a doozy. We have a few wide release films coming out such as the new Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis film Won't Back Down; the Anna Kendrick led a cappella film Pitch Perfect; a new animated kids film in time for Halloween, Hotel Transylvania; and most importantly, one of the most highly-anticipated science-fiction films to come along in quite a while - the Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Bruce Willis time travel film Looper.

Sarah, I want to kick things off with the one we're most excited about, and that's Looper. It's directed by Rian Johnson, who isn't very well-known to the general public but he started to make a name for himself with 2005's high school noir film Brick (also starring JGL), 2008's The Brothers Bloom, and a couple of well-received episodes of AMC's Breaking Bad. The exciting thing about Johnson, to me, is that he wrote the film as well and it has a killer set-up. (More after the jump)

Official Trailer for Looper

Gritty, Funny and Genuine, One of the Best Buddy Cop Movies We've Ever Seen: Our Review of "End of Watch" (2012)

Directed By: David Ayers (Street Kings)

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick

Rating: R for strong violence, some disturbing images, pervasive language including sexual references, and some drug use

Run Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes

Synopsis: Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Peña) are partners on a South Central squad of the LAPD. After pulling over a person of interest, they discover a Mexican gang might be into running drugs and more for a Mexican cartel. When they can't let their personal investigation go, they wind up getting on the cartel's bad side.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Sarah and I hit up our local theatre for the second night in a row, this time to catch this past weekend’s new R-rated cop drama End of Watch. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as partners on the South Central beat for the LAPD and is written and directed by David Ayers who wrote Training Day and S.W.A.T., so we know Ayers is familiar with this genre.

This is a film that I personally was looking forward to because of Ayers’ pedigree, because of the lead actors and because the trailers made it look like it was going to be a damn good cop drama. I’m not sure what your thoughts were going in because we weren’t able to do a weekly preview, so what were your thoughts going in to End of Watch?

Sarah: I didn’t have high hopes for this one going in. I don’t think Jake Gyllenhaal is a great actor, I think he does well in the roles that he’s picked for, but he does seem to fit well in the military or police officer role pretty well. So I’ll give him that.

Other than that I didn’t have high expectations. I haven’t really liked Michael Peña that much since Crash, which I think was an amazing role, but I have to say that I was very impressed with End of Watch.

I loved the way that it was filmed. It was filmed partially in point-of-view camera and sometimes it’s not but it’s still meant to feel that way…

Masterful Lead Performances, But Not Enough to Be a Modern Classic: Our Review of "The Master" (2012)

Directed By: Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams

Rating: R for sexual content, graphic nudity and language

Run Time: 2 hours, 17 minutes

Synopsis: After coming home from WWII in the Pacific, Freddie Quell (Phoenix) becomes a drifter, never quite holding on to a job and constantly staying drunk. One night he stumbles across an intellectual named Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman) who has created a faith-based organization called The Cause alongside his wife (Adams). Dodd makes Quell his right-hand man, but as The Cause grows, so does the tension between the two men.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last night Sarah and I hit the local multiplex to see one of this year’s most anticipated dramas – The Master, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, this is his first film since 2007’s critically acclaimed There Will Be Blood, for which Daniel Day-Lewis won the Best Actor Oscar.

This movie is getting a lot of Oscar buzz for the three leads. Phoenix plays Freddie Quell, a WWII vet who comes home from the Pacific and has no direction in life in addition to probably being crazy. Hoffman plays Lancaster Dodd, the leader of a group (Religion? Cult?) called The Cause, who comes across Freddie and takes him under his wing. And Adams plays Dodd’s doting wife who is much more than she appears at first.

Sarah, this is a film I’ve been looking forward to because the three leads. I was not a big fan of There Will Be Blood (I liked No Country For Old Men way better that year) and Boogie Nights is about the only P.T. Anderson film I would consider buying. I don’t know how you felt towards seeing this, but that we have, what are your thoughts on The Master?

This Fall's TV Shows We're Looking Forward To Most!

Andrew: Hello readers! We know we've been a little slow on posting new reviews, trailers or movie news, and this week will be the return of us doing those things on a regular basis. But we couldn’t go see a movie last night to review because it was a magical day - the return of our favorite television sitcom, How I Met Your Mother! So instead of doing a review, we're going to do something a little different and do a TV Preview and talk about what shows we're looking forward to the most this year, whether it's a returning show or a new one.

Sarah, there are a ton of shows I'm looking forward to this season, some of which I know you have no interest in, and there's definitely some shows you're looking forward to that I have no interest in. Let’s go through them one at a time starting with…

How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

Sarah: Since this could be the second to last season of our most beloved five friends, this season is very important. We are seeing more people fall in love and could possibly meet "the mother" by the end of this season! Tonight will be like a small holiday for us. I will be interested in seeing who all they bring back as far as love interests for Ted and Barney. But let's be honest, it is all going to rock so hard!!!

A: I'm definitely interested to see where they go with Ted's decision to run away with his former love interest, Victoria. I'm hopeful he realizes the errors of his ways recently, but let's be honest - Josh Radnor's Ted has always been the least likable of the main characters. Neil Patrick Harris' Barney is the one we care about the most and we were very happy with the revelation of who he's going to marry, so I'm most curious about how he gets to THAT point more than I care about Ted meeting the titular mother.

S: It will be interesting, especially since I think we will see Nora again before we get Barney down the aisle. Ahhh it's all so exciting!

Eastwood's Latest Swings and Misses: Our Review of "Trouble With The Curve" (2012)

Directed By: Robert Lorenz

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman

Rating: PG-13 for language, sexual references, some thematic material and smoking

Run Time: 1 hour, 51 minutes

Synopsis: Gus Lobel (Eastwood) is a long-time scout for the Atlanta Braves whose eyesight is starting to fail, is on the verge of losing his job, and is sent to North Carolina to scout a highly-touted prospect just days before the draft. Gus's daughter, Mickey (Adams), joins her father on his scouting trip to possibly help save his job while risking hers, maybe get closer to her gruff father, and meet another scout (Timberlake) who takes a liking to her.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! We have Sarah’s mother visiting us this weekend and so to entertain her we hit up the local AMC to catch a showing of this weekend’s new baseball drama Trouble With The Curve. This is a film that we’ve seen the preview for a number of times and have been somewhat looking forward to it, mainly because it looks like it has a good cast in Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino), Amy Adams (The Fighter) and Justin Timberlake (The Social Network).

Trouble With The Curve is directorial debut of Robert Lorenz, who is Eastwood’s longtime assistant director, which makes this the first movie Eastwood has acted in that he didn’t also direct since 1993’s In The Line of Fire. So it’s been a while.

All that said, now that we’ve seen Trouble With The Curve, what did you think of it Sarah?