Today's News: trailers for everybody!

Been a busy week, here's some trailers that kept me posting:

Nieuwe trailer Minions

Everybody seems to really love the Minions. Even though they don't have much material going for them just yet. I guess the chief ingredients for success are all present in these little servants of evil: they're small, they're numerous (but just diverse enough to set them apart), they're colour coded in a simple fashion, and they're excessively cute. It worked for the Smurfs, eh? But unlike the Smurfs, they're supposedly evil, and I have yet to see any hard evidence of that. Of course, you can't sell evil to kids. So whatever villainous scheme they're involved in usually ends in failure, at least in Gru's case. It's obvious the evilness is just a pretense to get some silly story going, often interspersed with random gags (e.g. the teddy bear for example), while the main goal is to sell the Minions' cuteness to the audience so people will want to buy Minion dolls and stuff. I doubt things are gonna be any different in this semi-origin story. There's just a new baddie, who'll soon find hiring the Minions was a bad idea (that's what explains the badness of the Minions I suppose). No matter to us, as long as the Minions trollop around the screen looking utterly cute in all their zany, goofy shenanigans

Teaser Magic Mike XXL

Female audiences are gonna end up pretty satisfied in the erotic department this year. At this moment, everybody is moaning and groaning (either out of sheer lust or sheer loathing) over Fifty Shades of Grey, and in the not too distant future, that scenario will repeat itself with this second Magic Mike movie. I will not deny looking at the sweaty, undressed male torsos produces a sense of sexually insecurity for me, and I know that goes for most male audiences. The majority of those are of course dragged to theatres by the various women in their lifes (except for the homosexual portion of the populace, no doubt). Being a single man, I cannot help but wonder what tension Magic Mike hath wrought in the bedroom after a visit to the cinema. Do women press their men into trying to physically appear more like him, or do they accept that such an impressive bodily look is the exception rather than the rule? If we ignore the story line in effect for the film (which is not hard to do, since it's so overtly basic), what's left is largely nude men doing sexy dances to arouse women, which is basically softcore porn. I'm not judging, just stating the obvious. I hope the target audience realises full well that that's just all it is. But then, do men watching regular porn take the time to consider it's all just fantasies, too? Movies like Magic Mike XXL do a good job of reminding us just how small the difference between men and women actually is.

Eerste trailer Marvels Daredevil

This is more my cup of tea. Sure, there's a few good looking men (and women) in this production, too, but there's a lot more story to it. I enjoy ogling the well trained bodies of the opposite sex as much as anyone, but I prefer a good story. Too bad it's not a new story for the most part, but the previous audiovisual incarnation of Daredevil left plenty of room for improvement. It seems this new Netflix series delivers just that. This teaser also makes no mistake this is definitely going to be Marvel Studios' darkest production so far, and thus a certain amount of blood and violence is not spared. Good thing too, if they want to set the upcoming Defenders miniseries apart from the merrier, more colourful Avengers counterpart on the big screen. Sure, the following series are likely to be a bit lighter in tone, but since they all deal with fighting street crime and mob practices in New York's less pleasant neighbourhoods, some level of violence feels mandatory. Far be it from Netflix to shy away from that. For those who don't enjoy such grim superheroes, rest assured things will only brighten up after this. And if it's still not what they're hoping for, they'll always have the actually cinematic part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No sinister sex crimes and gruesome drug wars there, only evil robots hellbent on annihilating humanity or intergalactic bad guys threatening the existence of the universe.

Nieuwe trailer Furious 7

And if you like action but not superheroes, you might consider checking this out. The typical 'get-rich-or-die-tryin'' atmosphere of fast cars and hot people (male and female) engaged in gunfights and general fisticuffs. A successful formula, so much so we've reached the whopping seventh entry in the F&F franchise. The actual death of a major player couldn't stop this production, yet there's a sense of finality to this trailer. All of Toretto's racing rivals have been added to his inner circle, his family. And now their bond will be put to the final test when the bad guy threatens to kill that family. Of course, it will prove a stupid idea and the villain will no doubt soon discover his folly. Since the merry gang of highway brigands is already rich since the fifth film, it's not about racing for money anymore, but racing for the ties that bind. And fondly remembering those ties in case of the fallen actor. For the studio however, money definitely still is the objective. So it's not inconceivable we'll be seeing more of this family in the future after all, even though it feels we're hitting an emotional climax here.

Jovovich speelt hoofdrol in Martins In the Lost Lands

And then there was this bit of non-trailer news. Of course, anything that has George R.R. Martins signature on it would be considered gold by studios hoping to cash in on the success of Game of Thrones. Doesn't mean everything Martin ever wrote is nearly as good as his most successful work. You wouldn't think the same genius was behind the majority of episodes of the second season of the Eighties' Twilight Zone show, considering their poor quality. At least In the Lost Lands is likely to appeal to the same (vast) fanbase since it's written in the same genre of epic fantasy. I had never heard of these stories before, but reading the synopsis doesn't convince me yet on whether adapting them to the big screen is a good idea. I may be entirely wrong, as I'm not familiar with the outcome, but the stories seem to lack coherency, while their protagonists seem to be subject to random elements, especially in the case of the story with the witch and the spacecraft (or maybe combining such seemingly incombinable elements is just proof of narrative brilliance beyond my comprehension). I probably should either read those stories or shout up about the topic and have faith in Martin. That said, I cannot help but wonder whether it would not be more prudent to adapt these shorts for television rather than the big screen. If they are indeed separate stories of an episodic nature, television seems suited for them. Anthology story telling isn't something you often encounter in theaters, maybe for a reason. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time Martin broke with conventions. Since GoT proved he excels at that, maybe I should simply reserve final judgment until In the Lost Lands hits cinemas.

Today's News: women soon expendable too

Old news by now, but still new enough for posting, as it is mine and this is my blog so I post whatever pleases me anyway:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/151194/diaz_streep_en_jovovich_als_expendabelles

Expendabelles... I actually like that cheeky play on words. Of course it confirms this is basically just a rehash of the Expendables, except with an all-girl team, but I think most audiences would have picked up on that anyway, so why not exploit it to the fullest from the get-go? After all, the Expendables has become quite a brand name, so there's no harm in riding along its wake of success from a commercial viewpoint, especially if the rights belong to the same studio. A film like this was bound to happen, really; with all of the recent action films that feel like Eighties-throwbacks,  spouting their testosteron all over the place, a cry for girl power was to be expected sooner rather than later. I'm only surprised it took so long to get a project like this into gear. Coming from someone who got beat up by his sister regularly as a kid, I know there's plenty of strong women who take crap from no man, though not enough films have made use of this fact. Sure, there's the occasional female action star, but an all-girl team of commandos kicking butt? I can't think of a title that covers that angle. Charlie's Angels comes closest, so I'm not surprised at all Cameron Diaz' name has been revealed to be attached to this film. Same goes for Milla Jovovich, who alone has starred in just about as many action flicks - six Resident Evil films for instance - as all other female action stars combined. Meryl Streep however is an intriguing choice. Surely one of those olden goldies (which is not meant to come off as condescending to actors/actresses who were already active and successful in the Eighties, and still are today) that commands respect, though not particularly in a physical sense (and she better not sing!). In terms of acting it's certainly gratifying to see a woman of her caliber in a starring role. The names of Gina Carano and Katee Sackhoff also sound right up this film's alley, even though they may not be as familiar to general audiences as the previous trio. Still, I think there's room for more here. Linda Hamilton? Sigourney Weaver? Angelina Jolie? Rhona Mitra? Michelle Rodriguez? Seems like there's enough potential actresses to pick from for this film and two sequels at least.

Then there is this question, which just had to be asked at some point (though I haven't heard anybody else on the topic yet, surprisingly): if Expendables and Expendabelles are from the same studio, does that mean they share a universe from a narrative angle, which may lead to a crossover between the male and female departments, resulting in one super-ultimate, big-ass action flick-to-end-all-action-flicks? Or would people prefer to see gents and dames stick to their own corners instead of going at each other, which could only lead to the girls' defeat? I for one really can't see any female action stars surpassing the likes of Stallone and Schwarzenegger in terms of physical stamina, expertise with weaponry or sheer muscles. In terms of intelligence though...

Today's Double News: survive these Nymphomaniac posters

Not one but two whole pieces of MovieScene news today, thanks to neglicence on my part in the last two days:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/150732/milla_jovovich_en_pierce_brosnan_gecast_voor_survivor

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/150765/nieuwe_posters_van_lars_von_triers_nymphomaniac

An action thriller starring Milla Jovovich... what's next, a romcom starring Jennifer Aniston? Jovovich is basically one of the obvious go-to gals if you want a tough girl shooting people up in your film. In this regard Survivor is sure to deliver what the term 'action' usually promises, since Jovovich's catchy enthusiasm in all her roles of this type (and there have been few memorable movies in her resumé that don't fit that bill) carries those films, if nothing else does. Brosnan, once quite an action star himself but in the last few years choosing the route of diversification to show his capabilities as an actor instead of a moviestar, is not an unlikely choice for a film like this, though of course his exact role has yet to be revealed. My guess would be the mentor of the heroine, since he's not exactly villain material (though I wouldn't mind if he was for a change). James McTeigue is an interesting pick as director for this project, indicating this will either be a totally over-the-top action flick (like his Ninja Assassin), or a more serious and intelligent drama similar in approach to The Raven and the excellent V for Vendetta, both also by his hand. At this point, Survivor can go in any direction so there's little point to idle speculation.

Speculation however, is exactly what drives us when talking about Nymphomaniac. The carefully developed marketing strategy certainly keeps fueling our expectations and imagination as to just how this film, controversial from the get-go, will pan out. It's about sex and it contains explicit sexual material that deliberately borders - or indeed simply crosses that border altogether - on the pornographic, despite starring established actors. This is what we've been hearing for over a year now, but we have yet to see any fleshy substance. So far we've been treated to a single clip from each of the eight chapters the movie will be composed of every month (four in total at this point), and none of them revealed the steamy sex scenes we have come to anticipate are in store for us (which of course is the point, since we're expected to pay for them by going to the cinema). However, we have been provoked by excessively teasy promotional material, including the infamous original poster. And now the film's marketing campaign unleashes fourteen new character posters on us, all of them telling us the same single thing: male or female, this is gonna be a sexually charged film for every spectator. Wheter it will actually be a good film on its own merits remains to be seen, but it undoubtedly will be fascinating to behold what a rebel like Lars von Trier has to say about the nature of human sexuality and its role in contemporary society. And I can imagine these particular promotional materials becoming cult commodities in future years, since you don't find many theatrical posters this thought provoking, daring and suggestive. Hopefully the movie will be able to live up to the hype its advertising campaign is creating, instead of ending up hurt by it as our expectations have grown too outrageous to be satiated by the actual final content.

Today's News: Resident Evil 6

Here's some news for you:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/145418/anderson_en_jovovich_terug_voor_resident_evil_6

My opinion? They should have quit a long time ago. Few people I know are even the slightest bit interested in the first few movies, let alone going beyond that. Theatrical attendance for Retribution was less than stellar last year (and it was running in IMAX for God's sake!). This is not something the majority of mankind is waiting for apparently. But hey, Jovovich (hot as ever!) and Paul W.S. Anderson (not that Paul Anderson, the other guy with less talent) are clearly still having fun, and that's most important. I'd rather see a director and his wife/leading lady have a ball with shooting a movie than not having their hearts in it. This franchise is kind of this pair's offspring: a maniacal  mutant zombie of a child, but still their baby. If they wanna make these films, that's their choice. If we don't want to see them, we won't. So everybody is happy.

And Jurassic Park IV has a director! So once again we have solid information the project is finally underway! Huzzah! The guy's name is Colin Trevorrow, and I don't know his work. Blame me for not having seen Safety Not Guaranteed... I wanted to see it though, I liked the trailer. Blame Dutch distributors for not releasing the sucker!

And once again, Happy Birthday, Mum!