what to be excited for for june 18.

actually, there are lots. Which is nice considering that almost everything released recently (this summer) has been pretty awful and uninteresting. BUT! In looking at the line up, a couple of things strike my attention.

Of course the big one would have to be Toy Story 3, but who wouldn’t have guessed that? Pixar has been putting out so many good films within in the past few years that they can’t possibly fail now. And with a new film to the family classic that wowed people 15 years ago, this weekend will prove to be a lot of fun.

Toy Story 3 isn’t the only blockbuster hitting screens this weekend that sounds like a blast. If you haven’t heard of Jonah Hex, then check out IMDB for a look at this thrill ride of a western. Now, it sure looks ridiculous and almost pointless to be made into a film, but I think that’s what makes it so enticing. It’s the story of a bounty hunter with a scarred jaw who is hired by the US government to hunt down a national threat (also the man who scarred him and killed his family). However, he also does so with intense weaponry and a prostitute side kick. It does sound dumb now, but watch the trailer. So, this movie might prove to be really bad, but with a cast including Josh Brolin in the lead and John Malkovich as the villain, this western-graphic-novel adaptation might prove to be a fun action film.

And now we go to the movies that are releasing this weekend that are supposed to be fantastic films. I am Love and Cyrus are also coming out in theaters … but only in limited release (which means big cities and places unlike where most come from). I am Love starring Academy Award Winning Actress Tilda Swinton is about a family that falls apart after the central member (Swinton) goes into an affair with her brother-in-law’s friend. It looks to be an emotionally fuelled film with lovely cinematography and fabulous talent. However, it looks like I’ll have to wait for a DVD copy. Cyrus, which might be a surprise that it is limited release (Considering it stars John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill). The movie has gotten some great critical reception, especially at the sundance film festival. A man falls in love with a woman and then gets trouble when her 20-someodd year-old son, who still lives with her and is overly protective, comes into the picture.

Find the movie trailers here!

Can We Handle This?

So, check this:

Everybody knows that Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club made for one of the best movies that turned into a cult phenomena. Also, turning the author himself into somewhat of a huge thing. And let me not sound hypocritical. The guy is one of my favorite writers, I think there is something about the way he writes that is just brilliant, however trite his storyline scheme has become. I take a lot of inspiration from him. And because Tyler Durden was a bigger hit than anyone could have imagined, Palahniuk is a good target for adaptations. Sounds pretty okay, right? Maybe. Clark Gregg sure learned his lesson with his box office failure Choke – a film version of the CP story. Even with a cast including Sam Rockwell and Angelica Huston, it still shattered its own self. But did it ever have potential? Sure, his novels are great to pick up and read and extremely appealing. Yet, they’re nowhere near the reality of anything. Nothing that happens in Palahniuk’s universe could occur in the real world. David Fincher knew that. Clark Gregg … not so much. He tried to make it something it wasn’t, a true story when most of CP’s stuff is fantasy. It is a parallel universe that takes the real world and makes it more absurd, so that Chuck can sit back and bash society and the consumer culture (which he does with such eloquence :)).

Of course, I didn’t come on here to bash Choke “The most disappointing movie I’ve seen in a while”. No, I am writing this because after years and years of trying to adapt certain CP novels (Survivor, Invisible Monsters) that will probably never happen, someone is finally going to step up and be bold. Koen Mortier (Ex-Drummer – which has some cult following of its own) is making Haunted, probably the most intense and horrifying of his novels – it also includes the most disgusting story I’ve ever read (“Guts” AKA The pool Scene). Now, if Mortier can get past Gregg’s mistake and take a word of advice from Fincher, this could be chilling. And not only could it be chilling, but it could make whole audiences leave due to some of the content in the story – that’s if Mortier is true and Saw hasn’t fried everybody’s brains already. Can we handle this, though? What kind of liberties might need to be made in order to make this whole thing suitable for worldwide viewing? Because the way I look at it, you’re going to have to dull it down a lot. Hopefully this will work, because there’s no one more excited than me to see yet another Palahniuk movie. So, let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope this Mortier guy makes us feel uncomfortable, just like Chuck is able to do.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607831/

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/movies/haunted

Funeral for A Man Who Has Not Died

Robert Duvall gets a nice shave in Get Low

Get Low is a new, quirky looking little film starring Bill Murray and Robert Duvall. Duvall is Felix Bush, an old hermit who (after years of solitude) has created a mysterious atmosphere about himself. He is somewhat of an old wives tale, yet he has yet to cease living. In curiosity of just what these old stories say about him, he decides to have a living funeral and enlists Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), the funeral director to help him out. Bill Murray and Robert Duvall look like a tag-team of well respected aging actors who have never ceased to please or impress. If cinematographer-turned-director Aaron Schneider can pull together a good script and a finely tuned film, than this movie should be a riot.

Trailer: Get Low