Amph Preview of Coming Attractions: 21 Jump Street

Heder, huh? Well, that's fun, but not enough to get me to watch this.

Of the ones you've mentioned since I was here last, Lord of War is the only one that looks even remotely interesting, in fact.

 

This movie looks terrible. Ruffalo can't carry a lead, and Witherspoon's character looks bland in the extreme. Oh no, a cranky ghost!

And what's with all the movies/TV with people who are talking to spirits/dead people?

 

This movie will be huge. Can never pass up a Reese Witherspoon movie and Jon Heder is still riding fame off Napoleon. It looks like a great date movie and should do well at the BO. Story wise I don't have big expectations, but still should be popular.

 

Next: "Keane"

Release date: 9 September, 2005

Starring: Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Amy Ryan, Tina Holmes, Stephen Henderson

Directed by: Lodge Kerrigan

Produced by: Stephen Soderburgh

Plot: Cameras follows crazy man around the New York bus station, looking for his abducted daughter

Trailer: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/keane/trailers.php

Reviews: Mixed. Choppy and dull vs. gut-wrenching.

Pros: Damian Lewis; the director appears to have potential

Cons: Cinema verite makes me dizzy;

Verdict: I'm undecided about this one.

 

I liked this movie better when it was called Nick of Time and starred Johnny Depp.

 

Next:

"Venom"

Release date: 16 September, 2005

Starring: Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson, Bijou Philips, Rick Cramer (Translation: a bunch of kids who'll work cheap)

Director: Jim Gillespie (Translation: an older guy who'll work cheap)

Plot: "From the creator of Scream and the director of I Know What You Did Last Summer comes Venom, a voodoo horror tale set deep in the swamps of Louisiana centered around a group of teenagers trying to uncover the truth behind a friend's mysterious death. What they discover is an evil force worse than they could have possibly imagined and now they are the ones running for their lives." (Translation: Teens v. zombies)

Reviews: "the exuberance of damp lint" was my favorite. (Translation: it really sucks)

Pros: ___________________________ (Translation: there are none)

Cons: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Translation: where to start?)

Verdict: (Translation: Only see if you enjoy making rude comments at the screen in movie theatres)

 

I didn't like these kinds of films even when I was a teenager.

 

Where are Joel and the bots when you need them?

 

I've had to sit through a few commercials for this "Venom" and every time my reaction is the same. It starts with slight confusion (as though I've managed to wipe it from my mind), then goes to doubt, then slight disgust, then total revulsion, then a morbid curiousity as to how bad it could be, in addition to the revulsion.

I've really spent more words on it than I probably should have.

 

The commerical always makes me think that somebody has stolen Fullmetal Alchemists basic ideas on bringing back the dead, then forgotten the parts that made that not just zombies.

-P!-

 

Venom is just another generic brand X horror film. Are we sure Uwe Boll is under an pseudonym?

 

Next: "Flightplan"

Release date: 23 September 2005

Starring: Jodie Foster, Sean Bean, Peter Skarsgaard, Erika Christensen

Director: Robert Schwentke (well-thought-of German director now stepping up to Hollywood trivia)

Plot: 1. What the film's publicist says: "Flying at 40,000 feet in a cavernous, state-of-the-art 474 aircraft, Kyle Pratt (FOSTER) faces every mother's worst nightmare when her six year-old daughter, Julia, vanishes without a trace mid-flight from Berlin to New York. Already emotionally devastated by the unexpected death of her husband, Kyle desperately struggles to prove her sanity to the disbelieving flight crew and passengers while facing the very real possibility that she may be losing her mind. While neither Captain Rich (SEAN BEAN), nor Air Marshal Gene Carson (PETER SARSGAARD) want to doubt the bereaved widow, all evidence indicates that her daughter was never on board resulting in paranoia and doubt among the passengers and crew of the plane. Finding herself desperately alone, Kyle can only rely on her own wits to solve the mystery and save her daughter."

2. What I say: It sounds like a very well made version of ye olde chestnut, the World's Fair plot. Which goes like this: mother and daughter (usually aged 18, but not always) check into a hotel at a World's Fair. Next day mother discovers daughter has disappeared, and nobody believes her that her daughter was even there. The hotel staff denies having seen the daughter, and try to convince mom that she's losing it. Reality: Daughter has come down with an infectuous disease that will ruin the hotel's and World Fair's business if it's known. Hotel doctor and staff conspire to hide daughter until she's better (or dies) and to protect their livelihoods. The problem with this plot, and I've seen it numerous times in both the movies and on TV, is that the denouement is dull compared to the build-up.

Trailers here: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flightplan/trailers.php

Pro: the cast, director and production values all look good

Con: like just about everything else in movies these days, it's a contrived plot

Verdict: DVD

 

This one looks really, really bad. I doubt I'll be seeing it.

 

It looks pretty lame, and pretty unbelievable. I would bet that the Corpse Bride is going to roll right over this one.

Doesn't this also sound a lot like the Forgotten?

 

I'm moderately excited about this one. I'm a huge fan of Foster, loved Panic Room (another "maternal thriller," if that's a genre) and this looks good.

And anything that gives Sean Bean screen time is thumbs up by me, you get what I'm saying? I love that guy! Love him!

As you say, it's a classic trope, and it's been done about a million times. But I'll catch it on DVD for sure.

Interestingly, airplane movies used to be a big deal. Then they became such a big deal that we made fun of them. Now, after September 11, apparently airplanes are scary places again: Red Eye and this one coming out within weeks of each other. Interesting . . .

 

I thought that to.

Personally, I don't want to see it.

 

Jodie Foster looks like Michael Jackson in the trailor.

 

Anything with Sean Bean and Peter Sarsgaard is worth watching, IMO.

 

Sean Bean is indeed a very good and charismatic actor, who should be a GBS (that's Great Big Star). But he's been sidetracked into a line of handsome heavies and weaklings. Too bad.


Next: (by Special Request): "Serenity"

Release date: (wide) 30 September, 2005

Starring: Nathan Fillion; Gina Torres; Alan Tyduk; Summer Glau; Ron Glass; Adam Baldwin; Jewell Strait; Morena Baccarin; Sean Maher.

If you're a Browncoat: OMIGOD! They've got the entire original cast!
If you are not a Browncoat: Who are these people?

Directed by: Josh Whedon.

If you're a Browncoat: aka Mr. Wonderful
If you are not a Browncoat: Who?

Plot: In a post-war universe, the losers (the Browncoats) are dispersed on the edges of civilization. TPTB are pursuing a young doctor, who has broken his sister out of an experimental mind control unit and escaped with her. They are travelling with a group of smugglers in the ship of title. Everyone swears in Chinese. Guess who won the war. Then there are the Reivers. Don't ask.

If you're a Browncoat: the Rosetta Stone
If you are not a Browncoat: Anime rip-off

Trailers here: http://www.serenitymovie.com/trailer.html

Reviews:

If you're a Browncoat: Manna from heaven
If you are not a Browncoat: Diverting but derivative

Pros:

If you're a Browncoat: the cast, the director, the fact it got made after dying the death on televison

Cons:

If you are not a Browncoat: the cast, the director, the fact it got made after dying the death on televison

Verdict: I'm a Browncoat.

 

I'm rapidly becoming more and more the Browncoat, so this movie is going to get my money. It was actually the trailers that got me interested in Firefly in the first place, so I've been looking forward to this for a while, but a lot more since it started airing on the Sci-fi Channel.

 

Nice write up Zaz I'd say it sums it up well.

Can't wait. Then again I've been a Whedon fan since time was measured with sand.

I have to say though I'm not going in without reservations. It worried me when it got pushed back. Some of the extened stuff that I've seen on Sci-Fi and the like hasn't exactly wowed me either.

In the end though you summed it up perfectly:

If you're a Browncoat: the cast, the director, the fact it got made after dying the death on televison

Can't wait to see this 'verse again and seeing it on the big screen will be even better.

 

This was a very underrated show during its short-lived run on Fox in 2002. But DVD sales and the outcries of many browncoats (who elevated grassroots advertising to an art form) convinced Universal to greenlight Joss Whedon's proposed movie follow-up.

Let everyone know about this movie. The voice of the fans has been this show's strongest suit, and we can use that to our advantage to make this movie a success! Tell your friends, your loved ones, everyone you know:

Serenity is Coming! 9/30/05

 

Now, which trailer are we talking about? Because all of them have been outstanding.

"If I'm wrong, you best shoot me now." [beat, River holds up a gun] "Or we can talk about it."

This movie is going to do well. The fans are extremely devoted, and I'm pretty sure that a number of us will be seeing it multiple times opening weekend, if not the first night. I hope.

 

Praying for a midnight screening in my area....

 

Quick question.

Do I have to see Firefly to see Serenity? I've never seen the show, but the trailer looked cool.