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Black Panther Trailer

Wakanda is one of Africa's biggest nations, it's still a third world country but it's also holder of many secrets. It's former ruler was King T'Chaka, the nation loved their King but he was killed by a bomb explosion, since then his son T'Challa is his rightful heir and leader of the Black Panther tribe.

After returning to his country, T'Challa finds his country of Wakanda fragmented and in disarray; though his people are still loyal to the crown and his lineage, many people have seized the opportunity to take a piece of Wakanda for themselves - one of which T'Challa is all too familiar with.

Klaw is T'Challa's nemesis and is an incredibly intelligent yet despicably evil man who will go to any lengths to take what he thinks is his for the taking. Klaw wishes to take the Wakandan land for his own and is willing to destroy all its citizens if needs be.

Continue: Black Panther Trailer

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Review

Extraordinary

With the tagline "A Star Wars Story", this first spin-off from the saga isn't actually a stand-alone movie. It requires some understanding of the context as it chronicles events that lead directly into 1977's Episode IV: A New Hope. It's also a seriously rousing action film with a riveting cast of characters and a surprising willingness to embrace even the darkest elements of storytelling. In other words, it might be the first Star Wars movie made specifically for grown-ups.

It opens as the Empire is systematically crushing the rebellion, leaving them wondering if there's any point to continuing the fight. Rumours are swirling that the Empire is building a massive Death Star, and rebel Jyn (Felicity Jones) discovers that it was designed by her long-lost father Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), who sends her a message saying that he left a flaw in the system specifically for the rebels to exploit. So she joins a team to contact him, led by Cassian (Diego Luna), who doubts that Galen is on their side. They're accompanied by pilot Bodhi (Riz Ahmed) and the sarcastic robot K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), plus the blind wannabe Jedi Chirrut (Donnie Yen) and his battling sidekick Baze (Jiang Wen). And as their mission goes rogue, they come up against the slimy Imperial Director Orson (Ben Mendelson) and the vicious Darth Vader (again voiced by James Earl Jones).

Director Gareth Edwards (Monster) packs the movie with visual references to A New Hope, cleverly matching the design work by avoiding fakey digital effects in lieu of more practical, battle-scared models and lively settings on a series of new planets and a familiar one. This gives the film an electric atmosphere that's edgy and unpredictable even though we all know exactly how this mission has to end. At the beginning, the plot feels a bit splintered, but the strands come together with power, building a gnawing sense of momentum and some real gravitas along the way.

Continue reading: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Review

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Final Trailer & Clips

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a standalone Star Wars film which acts as an important subplot to the original 1977 movie 'A New Hope'. In the man film, Luke and his uncle take ownership of a droid sold to them and as Luke cleans the droid up he hears a section of a message left for someone called Obi-Wan Kenobi pleading for his help. Luke decides to find the only man he knows by the name of Kenobi and his mission turns into the story we all know.

The data on R2-D2 memory is the story of Rouge One. The Rebel Alliance are aware that the Galactic Empire are building a humongous super machine capable of destroy vast areas of space and one of their rebel fighters might just hold the key to more information than she knows.

Jin Erso is a loyal member of the Alliance though she often acts as a lone rebel and takes risks greater than her superiors would like. When a fraction of the Alliance learns that Erso's father played a crucial role in building the device she knows that she must track him down.

Continue: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Final Trailer & Clips

Arrival Review

Extraordinary

This sci-fi drama has an enjoyably brain-bending plot that leaves the audience almost stunned with the weight of its themes. It may be fiction, but the film's exploration of the power of language raises fascinating ideas about the human mind. It's also produced to an extremely high standard, with striking effects and sumptuous cinematography and editing. And as played by Amy Adams, the movie also carries a surprising emotional kick.

Adams plays linguistics expert Louise, who is asked by the American government to help decode the language of aliens who occupy gigantic monolithic ships that appear suddenly, floating over various locations around the globe. So she heads to the American site in Montana and begins working with scientist Ian (Jeremy Renner) under the watchful eye of Colonel Weber (Forrest Whitaker). And of course she's taken aback by these seven-legged creatures who communicate with odd tones and swirling symbols. When coordinated efforts with other teams around the world begin to descend into mistrust, everyone stops sharing their data, and the military leaders decide to take matters into their own hands and destroy the ships. But Louise begins to believe she is onto something important, and she tenaciously pursues a course of action that terrifies everyone, including her.

Expertly directed by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario), the film never lapses into sensationalistic action, and it's even more gripping as a result. Several scenes generate goosebumps for their inventive visual flourishes, including the surprising gravitational twists and the face-to-face interaction with two freaky but oddly endearing aliens Louise and Ian name Abbott and Costello. Special effects are seamless, grounding everything that happens as something eerily believable. But the emphasis is on the emotional drama surging within Louise, and the huge implications it has for the entire world.

Continue reading: Arrival Review

Lee Daniels' 'The Butler' Is The Quiet Success Story Of The Year

By Michael West in Movies / TV / Theatre on 23 August 2013

Forest Whitaker

Lee Daniels' The Butler could rule the box office again this weekend.

Remember when we first heard about The Butler? Lee Daniels' big-budget drama - starring Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, an African-American who served 34 years at the White House - was tipped for Oscars before a single scene was shot.

Forest Whitaker As 'The Butler'

And then the reviews started coming in. They weren't great. They weren't particularly scathing, but we weren't looking at 90% scores on Rotten Tomatoes, ala Argo.

Continue reading: Lee Daniels' 'The Butler' Is The Quiet Success Story Of The Year

Unexpected Triumph For 'The Butler' Over 'Kick-Ass 2' At The Box Office

By Jack de Aguilar in Movies / TV / Theatre on 19 August 2013

Forest Whitaker Chloe Moretz Oprah Winfrey

The civil rights drama beat out Jeff Wadlow's ultra-violent comic-book movie.

Kick-Ass 2 – the follow up to 2010’s smash hit Kick-Ass – was expected to build up on its predecessor’s success by dominating the box office. But a slew of negative reviews have led to a fourth place finish, lagging behind Lee Daniel’s The Butler - starring Forest Whitaker.

Forest Whitaker Whitaker is The Butler - Cecil Gaines - in Lee Daniel's The Butler

The Civil Rights drama grabbed an impressive $25m on its opening weekend, possibly due to an all-star cast featuring Oprah Winfrey and Cuba Gooding Jr. and possibly due to a strong set of reviews. Either way, Lee Daniels will be delighted with the early response to his film.

Continue reading: Unexpected Triumph For 'The Butler' Over 'Kick-Ass 2' At The Box Office

Plot Twist: "Lee Daniels' The Butler" Beats Out "Kick-Ass 2" For Weekend Box Office

By Victoria Pavlova in Movies / TV / Theatre on 18 August 2013

Forest Whitaker Lee Daniels Aaron Johnson Chloe Moretz

The box office brings one surprise and several disappointments.

In a surprising turn of events, it was Lee Daniels’ The Butler and not Kick-Ass 2 that took the Friday box office. The historicald drama, which tracks the life of White House butler Cecil gaines through eight presidents’ terms, is also poised to take this weekend’s box office. Reports of the movie’s Friday earnings vary slightly, with The Hollywood Reporter placing them at $8.3 million, while according to the L.A. Times the movie took in around $9 million on the first night of the weekend.

The Butler took over as a surprise hit. Watch the film trailer below.

Continue reading: Plot Twist: "Lee Daniels' The Butler" Beats Out "Kick-Ass 2" For Weekend Box Office

Kick-Ass 2 Looks Like The Biggest Box Office Earner Heading Into The Weekend

By Victoria Pavlova in Movies / TV / Theatre on 16 August 2013

Lee Daniels Forest Whitaker Aaron Johnson Chloe Moretz

This weekend sees a whole host of new releases.

We won’t know the final figures of the weekend box office until, quite obviously, the end of the weekend, but right now, the fight between Kick-Ass 2 and Lee Daniels’ The Butler is looking pretty tight.

Forest Whitaker, The Butler Still
Will The Butler come out as a surprise weekend hit?

The Butler, a based-on-a-true-story historical drama has been promoted to and fro over the past couple of weeks. While the critics have deemed the direction somewhat patchy and undecided, everyone has been impressed with the performances of Forest Whitaker and co., even earning this film some early Oscar buzz.

Continue reading: Kick-Ass 2 Looks Like The Biggest Box Office Earner Heading Into The Weekend

Lee Daniels On ‘Well Known’ Actors In The Butler – Specifically, Oprah Winfrey

By Jack de Aguilar in Movies / TV / Theatre on 16 August 2013

Oprah Winfrey Lee Daniels Forest Whitaker

Daniels went down the 'known' route, and it seems to have paid off.

The Butler – officially known as Lee Daniel’s The Butler – has been well-received by the critics of late. Particularly lauded has been the all-star cast, but the decision to cast such a famous bunch wasn’t an easy one for Daniels.

Terrence Howard and Oprah Winfrey in The Butler.

“I had a choice of going with unknown or known actors. I decided to roll the dice and go with knowns. Partially because I liked the idea of the audience getting to unknow the actors, people think they know, but we could change those perceptions of who they are,” Daniels told Fastcocreate.com.

Continue reading: Lee Daniels On ‘Well Known’ Actors In The Butler – Specifically, Oprah Winfrey

'The Butler': A Sentimental, If Sometimes Unfocused Early Oscar Contender

By Joe Wilde in Movies / TV / Theatre on 14 August 2013

Forest Whitaker

The first batch of reviews for 'Lee Daniel's The Butler' are in, and the overall verdict is that the film is an emotional roller-coaster; a factor that sometimes leads to it's failings

Lee Daniel's The Butler is the semi-fact-based tale of Eugene Allen; the long-standing manservant of the White House who, for over thirty years, from 1952 to 1986, served under eight different presidents.

Forest Whitaker as 'The Butler'

Forest Whitaker stars as Cecil Gaines - the character based on Allen - in the ensemble film, which already has critics singing its praises. Based on The Washington Post article 'A Butler Well Served by This Election' and adapted for the screen by Danny Strong, the film features no end of big names, with Oprah Winfrey starring as Cecil's wife, Gloria, and with appearances from Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Redgrave and a number of famous faces brought in to portray some of the historical figures present in the film, The Butler could already be one of the top contenders for Oscar glory next year.

Continue reading: 'The Butler': A Sentimental, If Sometimes Unfocused Early Oscar Contender

The Butler Movie Looks Ready To Be The First Major Oscar Contender Of The Year

By Joe Wilde in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 10 August 2013

Forest Whitaker Lee Daniels Oprah Winfrey Cuba Gooding Junior John Cusack Alan Rickman Robin Williams

The part fact-based story of the live-in manservant of the White House will be released next week and already it has critics singing it's praise

The Butler movie could very well be the first real contender for next year's Academy Awards when it is released next Friday (16 August) as critics have already singled the film out as a wonderfully acted, well told story worthy of award recognition. Covering the course of thirty years and eight presidents, some of the most important moments in the history of the 20th century are retold from the unique point of view from within the presidential chambers.

Forest Whitaker stars as the fictional butler Cecil Gains in the film

Starring Forest Whitaker, The Butler covers the extensive career of Cecil Gains, a devoted butler for the White House who was born on a southern cotton farm and rose from humble origins as a kitchen worker to eventually become the top butler to eight different presidents over the course of more than 30 years; including John F Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower. Despite serving a series of conflicting presidents, Cecil never forgot his duties and always presents himself as the upmost professional, no matter what is happening in the world.

Continue reading: The Butler Movie Looks Ready To Be The First Major Oscar Contender Of The Year

Video - Forest Whitaker And Jane Fonda Make Star Entrances At 'The Butler' NY Premiere - Part 5

The main stars from the New York premiere of 'The Butler' arrive on the red carpet including title star Forest Whitaker with his wife Keisha Nash, Jane Fonda who plays former First Lady Nancy Reagan, Terrence Howard who plays Howard and James Marsden who stars as a very young President John F. Kennedy.

Continue: Video - Forest Whitaker And Jane Fonda Make Star Entrances At 'The Butler' NY Premiere - Part 5

Lee Daniel's 'The Butler' Is A Clear Oscar Contender [Stills + Clips]

By Jack de Aguilar in Movies / TV / Theatre on 06 August 2013

Forest Whitaker Oprah Winfrey Lee Daniels Mariah Carey Jane Fonda John Cusack Alan Rickman Robin Williams

Check out our extended clips and pictures below

Hollywood and the film industry seem more confident in taking on the issue of slavery in a cinematic context. Last year saw Django Unchained and Lincoln prove popular, and this year will see more films of that ilk, including Lee Daniels' The Butler, which enjoyed its premiere last night (Monday, Aug 5) in New York.

Forest Whitaker Whitaker is The Butler

The film follows Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) – an African-American White House butler who, due to his close proximity, was privy to many of the political events that helped shaped contemporary America. The film is based on the real-life account of Eugene Allen.

Continue reading: Lee Daniel's 'The Butler' Is A Clear Oscar Contender [Stills + Clips]

Oprah And Forest Hit 'The Butler' NY Premiere, While Mariah Carey Makes A Fashion Statement Out Of An Arm Injury [Photos]

By Holly Williams in Movies / TV / Theatre on 06 August 2013

Forest Whitaker Oprah Winfrey Mariah Carey Liev Schreiber James Marsden Minka Kelly Jane Fonda Lenny Kravitz Nelsan Ellis Lee Daniels

Mariah Carey appeared alongside Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker on the red carpet sporting an adorned arm injury.

'The Butler' looks set to be one of the most memorable movies of the year with an all-star cast that glittered on the red carpet at the New York premiere last night (August 5th 2013).

Sparkling the brightest was Oprah Winfrey in a pretty pink sequined gown with her hair in full afro form, alongside her onscreen husband Forest Whitaker who plays the title role, and her real partner Stedman Graham. Nursing a dislocated shoulder in a funky studded sling was Mariah Carey, who has not been letting her injury get in the way of anything she does at the moment as this wasn't the first time she has stepped out in a quirky bling sling. Some of the presidents from the movie also showed up, including Liev Schreiber who played Lyndon B. Johnson and James Marsden who was John F. Kennedy, as well as First Ladies Minka Kelly as Jackie Kennedy and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan.

Forest Whitaker plays the title character in 'The Butler'

Continue reading: Oprah And Forest Hit 'The Butler' NY Premiere, While Mariah Carey Makes A Fashion Statement Out Of An Arm Injury [Photos]

The Butler - Clips

Cecil Gaines is a modest and dedicated butler at the White House who manages to make for himself a respectable career despite his underprivileged upbringing and cotton farm roots. Starting out as a regular kitchen worker, Cecil soon proves himself to be extremely proficient and works his way up to be the head butler for eight different US presidents. Some of them prove to be discriminatory, treating Cecil with little respect and holding massively differing views to him, but he always remains polite and does everything within his power to care for his employers while keeping any top secret information that he might hear firmly to himself. Meanwhile, he struggles at home with his son; a Black Panther with aggressive views on racial equality who is less than grateful to have a father working for the people that he believes are causing racial oppression.

This story of loyalty and unconditional dedication is based on the true story of Eugene Allen; a butler who similarly lived through years of racial inequality before finally seeing, in his retirement, the election of the first black President, Barack Obama. His story was documented in the article 'A Butler Well Served by This Election' written by Wil Haygood. 'The Butler' has been directed by Lee Daniels ('The Paperboy', 'Precious', 'Shadowboxer') and co-written by Danny Strong ('Game Change', 'Recount') and will be released in the US on August 16th 2013.

Click here to read The Butler Movie Review

Out Of The Furnace Trailer

Russell Baze lives in a rundown, underprivileged neighbourhood where he works full-time at a steelworks while also trying to support his wife and take care of his dying father. His spirits lift, however, at the arrival of his brother Rodney, a soldier, who has finally come home after serving in Iraq. Unfortunately, he brings will him a burden - he's in need of money and has approached a ruthless crime boss in order to get it. They arrange for him to take part in a bare-knuckle boxing match, but when he fails to comply with the winning/losing arrangements he made with his new boss, he suddenly disappears without a trace. Russell goes to the police who are less than helpful and have been unable to find his brother and so he decides to go after the gang himself, determined to seek justice.

This gripping crime thriller has an all-star cast and has been directed by Scott Cooper ('Crazy Heart') who also wrote the screenplay alongside Brad Ingelsby ('The Dynamiter'). It's a story of desperation, justice and loyalty and just how far people would go to save their loved ones. 'Out Of The Furnace' is set to appear on UK cinema screens on November 29th 2013.

Click Here To Read - Out of the Furnace Movie Review

Black Nativity Trailer

Langston Hughes is a street-smart teenager whose life gets complicated when his beloved mother, with whom he lives alone, gets handed an eviction notice from their Baltimore home as the Christmas holidays approach. In a bid to get her life sorted and spare her son as much pain as possible, his mother sends Langston to live with her strait-laced parents, Reverend Cornell and Aretha Cobbs who he has never before had the chance to meet, in Harlem, New York. Things don't get any easier with his grandfather's rules restricting his life and he winds up getting into even more trouble and becomes desperate to return to his mother. However, with a few devoted new friends and help from a guardian angel, this might just turn out to be the best Christmas ever.

Continue: Black Nativity Trailer

Forest Whitaker As 'The Butler' Could Be A Recipe For Success [Trailer]

By Michael West in Movies / TV / Theatre on 23 May 2013

Forest Whitaker Lee Daniels Robin Williams John Cusack James Marsden Liev Schreiber Alan Rickman Cuba Gooding Junior David Oyelowo Oprah Winfrey

'The Butler' boasts a superb supporting cast including Robin Williams, John Cusack, Alan Rickman and Cuba Gooding Jr.

The first trailer for 'Precious' director Lee Daniels' new movie The Butler starring Forest Whitaker has rolled out online. It has always been assumed that Harvey Weinstein believes the film is one of his better chances of tasting Oscars success this season and the trailer certainly appears to confirm that. It stars Whitaker as Eugene Allen, the man who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler. It's over-the-top, patriotic and, well, Oscar bait.

In the mould as The King's Speech and The Iron Lady, the historical biopic is set for release on October 18th - just in time to be wafted under the nose of the Academy. As well as Whitaker returning to a leading role, 'The Butler' boasts one of the more spectacular casts of the year, including Robin Williams (Dwight Eisenhower), John Cusack (Richard Nixon), James Marsden (JFK), Liev Schreiber (Lydon B. Johnson), Alan Rickman (Reagan), Cuba Gooding Jr (Carter Wilson). David Oyelowo (Loius Gaines) and Oprah Winfrey (Gloria Gaines) are among the supporting cast though this one appears to be set up for Whitaker.

Watch 'The Butler' Trailer!

Speaking to Indiewire last year, Daniels hinted that his movie might be a little too focused on awards, "I'm trying to keep it [The Butler] PG13 which is not easy for me. It's very un-Precious and un-Paperboy... I can't go into my bag of tricks on this one [...] I felt like I directed the film in handcuffs and a muzzle," he said.

Continue reading: Forest Whitaker As 'The Butler' Could Be A Recipe For Success [Trailer]

The Butler Trailer

Cecil Gains is a devoted White House butler who grew up on a simple cotton farm where he and other black workers were not treated with any respect by their white counterparts. From a simple kitchen worker, he rises to be top butler to eight different presidents over the course of more than 30 years. Sworn to secrecy over the goings on at the White House, he serves the likes of Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Lyndon B. Johnson with all the care that he has in spite of their differing policies and the suppression of his race across the country. He rejects his freedom fighter son's distaste at Cecil's job and never once wavers in his respect for his government. He merely stands back, silver platter in hand and watches the progression of racial equality until the day the country's first black president is finally inaugurated.

This is a story about loyalty and commitment based on the article by Wil Haygood, 'A Butler Well Served by This Election', about Eugene Allen; a real butler who showed his devotion to his job over the course of three decades while he and his fellow black civilians went from being the underdogs to top dog as he lives to see the election of President Barack Obama. It has been directed by Lee Daniels ('The Paperboy', 'Precious', 'Shadowboxer') and co-written by Danny Strong ('Game Change', 'Recount'), and has an incredible all-star ensemble cast. 'The Butler' is set to his theatres in the US on August 16th 2013.

Click here to read The Butler Movie Review

Fruitvale Station Stuns Sundance And Cannes, Next Stop The Oscars? [Trailer]

By Michael West in Movies / TV / Theatre on 21 May 2013

Michael B. Jordan Harvey Weinstein Forest Whitaker Octavia Spencer

The future looks bright for Ryan Coogler's debut feature Fruitvale Station, snapped up by Harvey Weinstein at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Few had even heard of Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station before it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It was snapped up by Harvey Weinstein, who has a well-documented knack of taking little known movies from the film festival and turning them into Oscars gold. Will he do the same with this gritty drama? The signs look good.

Watch the Fruitvale Station trailer!

Based on a true story, it stars The Wire's Michael B. Jordan as Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old living in the San Francisco Bay area. As the New Year approaches, he become determines to turn around his life and provide for his girlfriend and 4-year-old daughter. After boarding a particularly crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train, Oscar manages to get involved in a fight with some old adversaries and when the BART police are called, he is detained along with other passengers at Fruitvale Station. Through a cruel twist of fate, he is accidentally fatally shot in the early hours by a police officer who withdrew his gun rather than his intended taser. Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (The Help) plays Grant's mother, while Best Actor Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) is one of the film's producers. This thing has pedigree.

It is due for US release on July 26th 2013, though reaction at this week's Cannes Film Festival - where it is competing in the Un Certain Regard competition - has been unanimously positive. Xan Brooks of The Guardian wrote, "Fruitvale Station made a noise at Sundance, was snapped up by the Weinsteins and played out to roaring approval here in the Un Certain Regard section."

Continue reading: Fruitvale Station Stuns Sundance And Cannes, Next Stop The Oscars? [Trailer]

Forest Whitaker's 'The Butler' Clearly Has Oscar Glory In Its Sights [Trailer]

By Michael West in Movies / TV / Theatre on 08 May 2013

Forest Whitaker John Cusack Robin Williams Oprah Winfrey Alan Rickman James Marsden Liev Schreiber David Oyelowo Harvey Weinstein Lee Daniels

Lee Daniels is clearly vying for Oscars glory with 'The Butler.'

The first trailer for 'Precious' director Lee Daniels' new movie The Butler starring Forest Whitaker has rolled out online and Harvey Weinstein's ambitions of taking this film all the way to the Oscars couldn't be more apparent. Whitaker stars as Eugene Allen, the man who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler.

The movie is clearly Oscar bait. Firstly, it's a typical Weinstein movie in the same mould as The King's Speech and The Iron Lady and secondly it's set for release on October 18th - just in time to be wafted under the nose of the Academy. Oh, and there's a pretty strong cast with plenty of Oscar winners and several up-and-coming stars. Robin Williams (Dwight Eisenhower), John Cusack (Richard Nixon), James Marsden (JFK), Liev Schreiber (Lydon B. Johnson), Alan Rickman (Reagan), Cuba Gooding Jr (Carter Wilson), David Oyelowo (Loius Gaines) and Oprah Winfrey (Gloria Gaines) are among the supporting cast though this one appears to be set up for Whitaker.

Continue reading: Forest Whitaker's 'The Butler' Clearly Has Oscar Glory In Its Sights [Trailer]

The Last Stand Review

By Rich Cline

Korean filmmaker Kim played with the Western genre before in his wacky 2008 pastiche The Good the Bad the Weird, and this film is just as chaotically uneven, mixing cartoon-style silliness with grisly violence. But the high-energy approach holds our interest, as does Schwarzenegger's immense screen presence in his first starring role since his political career. The film is far too jumbled to hold together, but its sardonic sense of humour makes it a decent guilty pleasure.

Arnie plays Sheriff Owens, who has a quiet routine in his sleepy Arizona-Mexico border town. So when a stranger (Stormare) appears, he sends his deputies (Alexander and Gilford) to investigate. Things get violent quickly, so he deputises a drunken veteran (Santoro) and a moronic gun-nut (Knoxville) to work alongside another deputy (Guzman). What he doesn't yet know is that the baddies are part of an elaborate plan to help a drug kingpin (Noriega) escape from a Law Vegas FBI Agent (Whitaker) and cross the border to freedom in Mexico.

The whizzy plot actually has promise as a straightforward action movie, but Kim throws so much nuttiness at the screen that we can't take anything seriously. The story zings from set-piece to set-piece without much concern for credibility or coherence. It's all very cool, especially the baddie's glimmering, super-fast prototype Corvette, which travels "faster than a chopper" on isolated country roads that are improbably smooth. And his climactic plan to get over the border is astonishingly silly, but played dead straight.

Continue reading: The Last Stand Review

Why ‘Skyfall’ Could Land James Bond An Oscar Nomination

By Michael West on 04 October 2012

Daniel Craig Sam Mendes Javier Bardem Judi Dench Coen Brothers Forest Whitaker Leonardo Dicaprio Ryan Gosling Steven Spielberg Ben Affleck

'Skyfall', the new James Bond movie directed by Sam Mendes, hits cinemas on November 9 and already attention is turning to whether or not the picture could snag a surprise Oscar nomination.

'Oscar bait' is a term often used to describe a movie awash with all the key themes that the Academy so readily rewards. For example, they're suckers for epic dramas (Titanic, Gladiator), romance (Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient) and movies packed full of previous Oscar winners (Traffic, The Kings Speech). Oscar bait movies usually hit cinemas at the same time each year- in November or December, wafting themselves under the noses of the Academy just weeks before nominations are announced.

This year, Sony seems to have thrown 'Skyfall' into the fray as Oscar bait, so does the film have a realistic chance of a nomination? Well, as HitFix.com rightly points out, the movie has attached an Oscar winning director in Mendes, an Oscar winning and three time nominated actor in Javier Bardem and an Oscar winning actress and six-time nominee in Judi Dench. Its screenwriter is a three-time nominee while cinematographer Roger Deakins is a nine-time nominee who is almost certain to scoop the prize come February if industry insiders are to be believed. Deakins - best known for his work on just about every Coen Brothers movie - is revered in the movie business and often considered the finest cinematographer of all time. On top of all this, Skyfall's production designer, art director and second unit director have all been handed nominations in the past: i.e - the movie has all the bases covered.

Continue reading: Why ‘Skyfall’ Could Land James Bond An Oscar Nomination

The Last Stand Trailer

Ray Owens is a police sheriff whose major crime fighting days are all but over when he swaps his job in the LAPD combating drug crimes for the much less strenuous post in the quite town of Sommerton Junction on the Mexican border, after a botched drugs operation left him feeling defeated when his friend and colleague ended up crippled. His comfort in his new post is challenged all too soon when the most formidable drug tycoon in the western world, Gabriel Cortez, slips from the clutches of the FBI. Cortez and his ruthless army head towards the Mexican border in Sommerton Junction at 250 miles per hour in a deadly modified Corvette ZR1 with a hostage, mercilessly shooting at the police officers attempting to arrest them and easily sweeping police cars out of their way. They are pursued by the entire law enforcement of America led by Agent John Bannister, though Owens is unwilling to bring his team into the fight at first, feeling not the officer he used to be. His reluctance becomes irrelevant anyway when he is told to take a backseat due to the lack of experience of his team; however Owens soon changes his mind and bands his modest taskforce together to forcibly take on the fierce drug gang themselves.

Continue: The Last Stand Trailer

A Man's Story Review

By Rich Cline

Good

By following British designer Ozwald Boateng over 12 years, filmmaker Bonicos vividly captures his subject's personality on screen while recounting his rather astounding life story. But the film remains oddly dry and superficial.

Inspired by Armani, Boateng emerged from his childhood in riot-torn 1981 Brixton to become the first black tailor on Saville Row. As the creative director of Givenchy, his influence spread out through the fashion world, even as he juggled his work with his own label and two strained marriages. By 2005, he was at the centre of the Oscar red carpet, teaching American men to stop dressing like boys and reinventing the suit with shape and colour. He was awarded an OBE from the Queen in 2006.

Continue reading: A Man's Story Review

Powder Blue Review

By Jason McKiernan

Terrible

Powder Blue is one of the most depressingly bad movies ever made. Every decision -- from the screenplay to the acting to the visual palette -- is a cynical calculation based on an uncomfortable amalgam of several other much better movies. The characters are manipulated ciphers, their stories are emotional copycats, and the film is an ugly, wretched bit of sanctimony. Of course the film purports to be about finding hope in the unlikeliest places, but I found absolutely none, except when the credits started rolling.

The film is a sloppy pastiche of four portraits of depressed souls in dire circumstances. Jessica Biel plays a stripper who leaves sweet phone messages on her comatose young son's hospital room phone. Ick. She is essentially one of those indie-chic characters who talks fast, snorts coke, and talks nonsensical platitudes to herself in a mirror. Ray Liotta is a guy who walks around town in a dirty suit and rides the bus a lot. From what must be intended as a clumsy flashback (hard to tell, since the movie is so stylistically bankrupt), we know that he is dying, so that gives him license to be as morose as possible for the entire movie. Eddie Redmayne is a mortician who can't get a girlfriend so he bonds with dead people. He looks like he's 12 but is intended to be about 30 from the way the film has him act. Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker fills in the final quadrant, playing a character with absolutely no relation to the others, except for that he is depressed and wants to kill himself. Rather, he wants to give someone else $50,000 to shoot him in the heart. Why? Because it's quirky.

Continue reading: Powder Blue Review

Street Kings Review

By Bill Gibron

Good

Cops countermanding the law, using the close-knit nature of their badge to secretly settle scores on the street, have long since become a cinematic cliché. The police have gone from donut-munching jokes to felons in blue and black finery. From the decent beat officer taking bribes to buffer his paycheck, to the undercover operative in so deep he no longer remembers what side of society he's on, "to protect and serve" has been modified -- at least in the movies -- to "pervert and steal." Street Kings, the latest motion picture inspired by a story from James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential), dabbles freely in this kind of corrupt no man's land, and for the most part, it's a thrilling journey.

Alcoholic police detective Todd Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) has just finished wrapping up a notorious kidnapping case when Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whittaker) gives him the bad news. His ex-partner Terrence Washington (Terry Crews) is talking to Internal Affairs, and bureau head Captain James Biggs (Hugh Laurie) is looking to take Ludlow down. Before he can intimidate his former friend into not snitching, a pair of gang bangers kill him. Desperate to clear his own name in the death, Ludlow begins to investigate. Soon, he's linking the crime to a couple of local drug dealers who seem incapable of committing the hit. With Wander on his side and Biggs on his back, it will take all the street savvy he has to solve the case -- that is, if someone doesn't try and permanently stop him too.

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Green Dragon Review

By Max Messier

Good

The Vietnam War is a time and place most people have chosen either to forget or to ignore as a culturally significant event in American history. Following the days and weeks after the fall of Saigon in 1975, America took upon itself the role of big brother in welcoming the mass exodus of refugees streaming from that chaotic country into its arms. Green Dragon recounts the tale of those Vietnamese refugees' arrival in America and tackles their internal struggles in leaving behind both their beloved country and family members and facing the unknown future in an alien land.

Helming the project are brothers Timothy Lihn Bui (director/screenwriter) and Tony Bui (story/producer), previously responsible for the Harvey Keitel film Three Seasons. For Green Dragon, the film uses a refugee camp as purgatory for the Vietnamese people and constructs a vivid backdrop for examining the attitudes and actions of a displaced people forging new lives.

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Light It Up Review

By Rob Blackwelder

Weak

There is not a single original thought in "Light It Up," a ghetto-transplanted, hostage-situation "Breakfast Club" in which a mathematically diverse group of teenagers are trapped in their high school, keeping a lone authority figure under siege in the name of getting a little respect.

Written and directed by "Black Rain"-scripter Craig Bolotin, it pilfers its urban angst high school air from "Lean On Me," "187" and other good kids-bad school movies. Its paint-by-numbers plot points are lifted from hostage flicks like "Dog Day Afternoon" and "The Negotiator."

The plot: After a scuffle that ends with the on-campus cop (Forest Whitaker) getting shot in the leg, six students take over the school, holding the cop hostage and demanding improvements to their learning environment like books for every student and window repairs.

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Battlefield Earth Review

By Rob Blackwelder

Zero

If 1950s sci-fi schlockmeister Ed Wood could have gotten his hands on $60 million and CGI special effects, he might have made a movie as hilariously gawdawful as "Battlefield Earth."

Seriously on par with Wood's infamous "Plan 9 from Outer Space" as one of the worst motion picture in science fiction history, this bloated, brain-dead, narcissistic, almost completely nonsensical cinematic disaster is likely to make anyone with any kind of summer movie standards long for the return of movie-mocking Comedy Central series "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

A man-vs.-monster parable about an enslaved human race rebelling against their alien masters a millennium after being nuked back to the Stone Age, almost every scene features such bad writing, bad acting and absurdly implausible circumstances that it just begs to be viciously ripped apart.

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