‘Anyone who tells you they know what PREDESTINATION is about is lying.’ – Ethan Hawke
Predestination is a tough movie to talk about without spoiling major plot points or sounding completely confused. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Fans of science fiction and time travel are especially treated to the mind-bending paradoxes that are thrown out at every turn.
Check out Michael’s review here! Read More →
Claire and Frank Underwood are back for another round at the end of February! Kevin Spacey, congrats on the Golden Globe! Read More →
From the look of this line-up, there’s quite an eclectic year ahead of us. What looks good to you?
Dates are subject to change
* In theaters and IMAX
** In 3D and 2D in select theaters
*** In 3D and 2D in select theaters and IMAX
Disney and Marvel has put together an impressive slate of movies for 2015. I’m really looking forward to most of them, but if I had to pick one (besides Star Wars) to be most excited about, I would choose Tomorrowland because of Judy Greer and Kathryn Hahn. They are awesome.
Which one are you looking forward to?
Having never been to Barcelona, I have missed seeing the great bulk of world renowned architect Antoni Gaudí’s work. Ubiquitous as it is in books and photos, it can’t be the same as ever being right in front of it. This clearly extends to La Sagrada Familia, Gaudí’s unfinished cathedral masterpiece, its three façades the telling of the story of Jesus Christ – one depicts the birth, the next the passion, the last the story of his ascendance. Started 132 years, La Sagrada Familia is still undergoing construction and Stefan Haupt gives us not only a historical tour of La Sagrada Familia but a metaphysical one as well.
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Last Saturday, December 13, American anime fans had their first chance to see Gen Urobuchi’s highly anticipated Expelled from Paradise.
Urobuchi, famous for the twisting plots of Fate/Zero and Puella Magi Madoka Magica, appeared at Japan-Expo 2014 in San Jose to excite his fan base who have high expectations for his writing. The production pulled in other big names, including Director Seiji Mizushima, best known for Full Metal Alchemist and Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Rie Kugimiya (Kagura in Gintama, Happy in Fairy Tail, Alphonse in Full Metal Alchemist) plays the heroin, Angela Balzac, while her costar Shinichiro Miki (Roy Mustang in Full Metal Alchemist, Takumi in Initial D) voices her guide to post-apocalyptic earth, Dingo. They’re joined by Hiroshi Kamiya (Natsumi in Natsume’s Book of Friends, Levi in Attack on Titan), Megumi Hayashibara (Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop, Rei in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Lina Inverse in The Slayers), Minami Takayama (Conan in Detective Conan), and Kotono Mitsuishi (Sailor Moon in Sailor Moon), for an all-star cast.
Aniplex USA promoted the film, named Rakuen Tsuihou in Japanese, through a series of screenings in 15 cities across the US. 26 showings played on December 13, 15, and 20 with attendees promised an exclusive movie poster.
To build up the promotion, Aniplex USA brought Producer Koichi Noguchi to the sold-out Los Angeles show on December 13. Though not known for any particular production other than the showcasing film, Noguchi kicked off the event with a short speech and a group picture.
A short pre-recorded clip played before the film featuring Director Mizushima. Mizushima enthusiastically asked fans to enjoy the film, especially its state-of-the-art 3DCG animation technique.
Then the film began with a brief glimpse into the virtual world of DEVA, a futuristic paradise where humans live unrestrained by physical bodies. The 3DCG animation created a unique quality that seemed to emphasize the surreal virtual setting… but as the story cascaded into the real, post-apocalyptic world, the animation was the same, losing its potential for the Wizard of Oz black-and-white to color contrast.
Once in the real world, unexpected twists build up the relationship between Angela and Dingo. But the depicted earth was far from original, a desert wasteland filled with stereotypical characters. The last twenty minutes of story was entirely predictable, and Hayashibara, Takayama, and Mitsuishi collectively had less than a minute of scenes and lines. While well crafted fight scenes kept the audience entertained and occasionally drew some cheers, the predictable aftermath left viewers with a specific type of feeling: Fun to watch, but no desire to re-watch.
Would I recommend it? If you’re an anime fan, especially an Urobuchi fan – while not his best work, you will feel entertained. But for the general movie goer, if you’re interested in anime, skip this one and watch Paprika, Red Line, and Summer Wars instead.
Grief is a very personal experience. Some of us cry, some lash out at loved ones, some shut down. A few even look at a loss as an excuse to reassess their lives. Either way, it is a loss. Five years ago yesterday, I lost someone very special to me. I had experienced the loss of family members before, but this, this was something altogether different. Tyler was a beloved friend. I guess I never actually knew how close we were until after he was ripped from my life without real explanation. The hole gets smaller each day but just barely. There are moments, songs, pictures, that still take the wind out of me. It’s the most horrible feeling. Grief owns me at times. It’s still a process. In Blake Robbins new film, The SUBLIME and BEAUTIFUL, all those feelings rush back into my brain and heart. Read More →
I was lucky enough to attend the press junket for Tim Burton‘s new film, BIG EYES (review coming soon!). Afterwards, I had the opportunity to sit down with the incredibly talented and successful writing partners Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander. Read More →
We Are The Giant. As in, the government is David and the people are Goliath. What I loved most about this documentary was that it never pushed any political agenda, that was just a backdrop to a story about people who are fighting for the right to protest the government. As an American, this is so troubling to me. However, the people are completely inspiring. Showing in New York at Cinema Village. Read More →
I’ve been wanting to re-watch The Wire, but any time I put it on, I’m put off by the non-HD quality. Well, HBO has re-mastered the series in HD and making it available to watch December 26th! Woo hoo! Details below.
I will admit to being one of the more nostalgic people that I know. Perhaps it is a flaw, but I think it serves a great purpose. While I’m happy to live in the moment, the things that I’m nostalgic for, and reflection upon them, help keep that past as close as possible, which can’t be all bad, right? Especially when we are talking about people like The Iron Sheik, the former WWF bad guy who helped usher in the era of Hulkamania and the golden age of wrestling as entertainment. While many people today only know The Sheik from his exceedingly humorous Twitter feed, his backstory, which Hecht draws out in this film, has remained largely uncovered. The Sheik gives us the whole gamut of the wrestler’s life, up to and including his foray into becoming a social media star. Read More →
Step into the life of Michael White, a fearless, charming producer of stage and screen, lived the celebrity lifestyle in the 70s and 80s. He’s that guy who knows everyone at the party, stays out until the wee hours of the morning, and loves every minute of it. He has an amazing list of successful productions and features. He’s The Last Impresario. Read More →
I injured my neck a few years ago. This year, it flared up and I found out I have the spine of an 80 year old. In case you are wondering. In case you are wondering, I am a very long way off from 80. I had to cancel about two weeks worth of meetings, appointments, and life in general because I could not move. It was not fun. Other than my husband, who is essentially legally obligated to care for me (I have a license that we both signed that says so) no one was around to help me do the simplest of tasks. In fact, the only person that offered to bring me dinner was my very own managing co-editor, Melissa. Shout out is official now. In the new film, TAKE CARE, a woman is stranded in the same way I was. Post car accident, she is forced to rely on a person from her past. Read More →
I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a weird gal. It’s fine. It’s sort of my thing. I like what I like and I’m proud of it. That being said, if someone killed my best friend, I’d hunt them down like the scoundrels they are. (Prime example, I use words like scoundrel in regular conversation). In the new film MURDER OF A CAT, Clinton (Fran Kranz) also, a bit of a weirdo, finds his beloved cat-friend brutally murdered. It is his moral duty to find out who, what, when, where, and why.
Marriage is difficult. I got married 5 days before my husband started business school at Yale. He was on the Investment Banking track. What that meant in my world was that I wouldn’t see my husband for the next 4 months as he prepared for innumerable interviews, events, and attended the accelerated course load that comes with an ivy league school. Even after 6 years together, I had to become a whole new woman. In the new film RED KNOT, a young, newly married couple take this idea to the extreme as they honeymoon on a research vessel near Antarctica.
Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. In Magnolia Pictures new release, PIONEER, we find a story based on true events that is both disturbing and heart-pounding. The film is based upon the scientific and political race to get a group of deep sea divers to 500 meters; a feet never even attempted prior. An American Team and a Norwegian team train side by side and the best men win, or so they think. Petter (Aksel Hennie) and his brother are part of the Norwegian team chosen to pursue the dive which would ultimately allow Norway to build an oil pipeline. After a tragedy during their first real attempt to dive, Petter is thrust into a conspiracy so deep, it is astounding to think that any of this actually happened. Though, if you know anything about international politics, you might think twice.
I’m going to put this bluntly – this film pissed me off, made me incredibly angry. I don’t know how it couldn’t. This isn’t a reaction to the technical merits of the film, which are quite well presented, nor is it the narrative focus itself. This is a story that needed to be told. The fact that what happened in this movie happened at all is what angers me. The abuse of power that is so prevalent in the world today – taking advantage of others so that a select group of already well-off people can get more – turns my stomach. Robert May‘s Kids for Cash details one of these scenarios and it is heartbreaking. Read More →
I have always found Antarctica to be a profoundly interesting place. From the fact that it (or the Atacama Desert in Perru, depending on the source) has the driest place on earth (the Dry Valleys), that it’s the home of five breeding species of penguins or that it has just two season, winter and summer in which winter has 24 hours of dark for 6 straight months and summer has 24 hours of daylight for the other six months. Couple that with the harshest landscape and weather on earth, one might ask why in the hell does anyone ever go there. That’s precisely what Anthony Powell does in his fantastic documentary Antarctica: A Year on Ice. Read More →
I started watching The Thin Blue Line a few days ago but only got through the first 15 minutes before having to turn it off. There was no particular reason, I just wanted to finally watch it, as I’ve heard of it for years. I knew it was an Errol Morris documentary. That’s it. This morning I went back to continue and decided to just start from the beginning. As I watched the men describe the events, a date flashed on the screen in which the tragedy took place: November 29, 1976. Thirty-eight years ago to the day. Read More →
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