Walking With Dinosaurs, Clips Star Trek Into Darkness, F & F 6, Red In Fear Hatchet III, Pacific Rim, Clip The Great Gatsby

My next post is on Pain and Gain, then tomorrow afternoon, I will be makeing a quick post on details we should be looking for while watching Iron Man 3 (it's nearly done but they keep releasing so many clips I wanted to make sure I have it all!). Since I am seeing it Friday afternoon, I will be tweeting my initial response to the film and then working like mad to get the full review up asap, but--if the film is any good at all--it might be Saturday morning before I get it up; you know how things go with me,...

I have my ticket to see Iron Man 3 in 3D tomorrow afternoon; I saw Pain and Gain last night and, let me tell you, director Michael Bay knows how to make a political statement! Bay utilizes a number of editing techniquest to enhance his communication with the audience and extend his invitation to us to do the same to the film, so I am deeply impressed! And it was outrageous! At one point, the film stops and a note comes on the screen that says, "This is still a true story!" because it's so unbelievable, however, it's set during the Clinton administration, so the prolific self-entitlement introduced to this country during that time frame is the "black hole" which began the problems overwhelming us today.
And happy birthday to Dwayne Johnson today!

I saw The Croods. Sometimes I am wrong about films, and I really try to confess when I am wrong about something, it does not bother me in the least to admit that I was wrong; then again, sometimes I am right, and when it comes to somethings, like pre-judging The Croods, I wish I had been wrong: the film was so over-whelmingly pro-socialist and anti-American that I wanted to leave the theater I was so angry about the mockery of the US Constitution and captialists. That review is coming. I also saw Butter, with Jennifer Gardner, and that was so insulting about patriotism in America and the middle-class, I couldn't even watch more than 15 minutes, which is highly unusual for me.

The second trailer for White House Down was supposed to be released this week, but as of this morning, it still hasn't. That seems like a dumb idea to release it during the frenzy record-breaking week of Iron Man 3 being released, but I will post it asap; if you see it before I get it posted, remember, what we are looking for is them showing us who their villain is. We know it's the highly talented Jason Clarke who plays Stenz, the leader of a paramilitary group; the problem is, WHD seems to be targeting the very population they want the to pay to see the film: white Americans. Nothing has been released about the motivation of the paramilitary group blowing up all Washington, but we will stay up on it because this debut will reveal volumes about the real attitude of Americans today.

On to the trailers,...
I hadn't heard anything about this film coming out until today when the first official trailer was released: Walking With Dinosaurs, due out December 20, is about two brothers wanting to follow in their father's footsteps which leads to a showdown with other dinosaurs in a migration to the Arctic North: 

We've seen this before in both The Croods and Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. The world is ending (a prevalent theme in films nowadays) and we have to go to a "new place" in order to survive; like Riddick coming out later this year (Vin Diesl), the little dinosaur we see is having to fight for his survival  and, apparently, becoming stronger for it. It's too early to tell exactly how the film will go, however, as we saw in Beasts Of the Southern Wild, it appears that a positive aspect of suffering--in relationship to personal growth and strength--is being highlighted in the difficulties of the journey being undertaken so I hope this is a film we can look forward to. But the film I am looking forward to, perhaps more than any other this whole year, is Star Trek Into Darkness. I don't think actors generally do a effective job of communicating about their characters in interviews, yet Zoe Saldana relates a few important tidbits in this tidbit:

So, the earth is facing complete annihilation, and it's this young generation (like critiques we have seen in Expendables 2 and Red Dawn) where the spoiled, luxury class brats--like myself--have to stand up to the threat and take responsibility; I am really liking this. This clip of Kirk confronting John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) is pretty intense and, I agree with a few others making the same observation, it's like this little conversation changes everything; watch Kirk's face the whole time and see if you notice something:

JJ Abrams is a fine director, and a scene like this proves it.
Kirk doesn't blink the entire time, his eyes are wide open and yet, he has still missed something. He is being led to look for the truth some place other than where he has been and we have seen this in both Total Recall and Oblivion, the truth is not in plain sight. We have all ready discussed the trend in films to place villains in clear cells (The Silence Of the Lambs, The Avengers, Skyfall) because it gives a sense of security to the captors that the captive isn't up to something; but just as in these other names films, the criminal is there because he wants to be there ("I surrendered to you," Harrison tells Kirk). To heighten the intensity of this scene, Abrams has us behind the glass, with Harrison, while Kirk talks, so--like Harrison--we feel the full intensity of Kirk's anger and frustration directed at us; this was the effective choice, instead of, for example, a close-up of Kirk during the scene. Then, we are flipped over to Kirk's side of the cell when Harrison speaks in this numeric code, and even though we see him, we suddenly realize how much we are not seeing. 

It's in Fast and Furious from 2009 that Leticia (Michelle Rodriguez) dies, so that is the one to watch, along with Fast Five (which I have seen and was good), where Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is introduced. Fast and Furious 7 all ready has a release date for next year, so it''s worth the investment of time to see these because it's going to keep going.

This is the second and final trailer before Fast and Furious 6 is released at the end of the month; we have all ready seen most of this material, however, please watch the very last seconds:

The purpose of art is to make the intangible, tangible. Thoughts, ideas, emotions, psychology, can all become an image we can see and interact with that--if not for art--we couldn't identify with. Dom jumping off and Lettie falling off might be an illustration of how far Lettie has fallen in Dom's eyes and the leap of faith he is willing to take to save her.  But we will have to see.
So, the second trailer for Red #2 has been released and we will discuss it at greater length later, but you remember our little discussion regarding the relationship between the US and Great Britain and Russia? It appears this topic is what the entire film will be about:

Just some quickies: In Fear appears to completely take place in a car during a trip:

And Hatchet III, about the man who just won't die:

I am actually anticipating this film; what I have seen so far appears to take the best principles of capitalism and put them into gear:

And the latest clip from The Great Gatsby being released next Friday:

If that doesn't say class warfare, I don't know what does.
In tidbits, a sequel to Daniel Radcliffe's The Woman In Black has been approved and will have Tom Harper (who has done mostly TV work) directing The Woman In Black: The Angel Of Death. The film earned $130 million worldwide, nearly eight times what its budget was and is currently set for (at least a UK) release of 2014. Jeremy Irvine and Phoebe Fox have been signed to star at this point.

A bit of concept art for The Angel Of Death.

The official synopsis runs: Seized by the government and converted into a military mental hospital during World War II, the sudden arrival of disturbed soldiers to Eel Marsh House has awakened its darkest inhabitant. Eve, a beautiful young nurse, is sent to the house to care for the patients but soon realizes she must save them from more than their own demons. Despite Eve’s efforts to stop her, one by one they fall victim to the Woman in Black (but children who have been evacuated from London and heavily bombed areas are also going to be at the house, at least, at this point in the film's narrative).
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