Movie Preview - The Fault In Our Stars

     Hello everyone! I'm excited to write this post about an incredible movie that will be coming out this summer. Everyone who follows my blog remembers that I identified this film as one of my top 10 films of this year. After watching the preview, I fully believe it.

   
     In this romantic drama, Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgrot) are two teenagers who share a dislike of the conventional while both battle cancer. Meeting at a cancer support group, these two teenagers take a journey together, living in the moment and falling in love. But as their love grows, the hanging shadow of their cancer never leaves them with Hazel's oxygen tank and Gus' prosthetic leg in tow.

     This film is based on the New York Times Bestselling Novel by John Green. I had the privilege of reading this novel during the summer and absolutely fell in love with it. I loved getting swept up into the heartbreaking romance of Hazel and Augustus, thanks to the superb writing of Green. I'm hoping that the crippling reality of death, seizing and living in the moment, and the hope that love brings to someone's life is translated into the film.

     The Fault In Our Stars comes to theaters June 6th.

My Top 10 Films of 2014

     Hello everyone! With a new year comes a new slate of movies for audiences to enjoy. They will thrill us, make us cheer with excitement, and possibly make us shed a few tears.

     Whether you are looking for a sequel that continues the adventures of established heroes or that rare original film that we have been waiting for Hollywood to release, this year has something for everyone.

10) Divergent - March 21

Unless you have been living under a rock or haven't been by a bookstore lately, this young adult book adaptation has the potential to reach the heights set by The Hunger Games film series. Based on the first book of this bestselling series, this sci-fi film, people are divided into five distinct factions based on their personalities in a futuristic Chicago. Beatrice "Tris" Prior (Shailene Woodley) discovers that she is Divergent, meaning that she does not fit into any faction, which is dangerous as she soon discovers a sinister plot brewing in her "perfect" society. With a strong following, Hollywood might have found another potential successful young adult franchise.

9) Transformers: Age of Extinction - June 27

Before you start to wonder, no; this is not a reboot. Now that I've gotten that out the way, this sequel is the fourth installment in the Transformers film series. Taking place four years after the invasion of Chicago, this film stars an entire new cast with Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, a single father and struggling inventor and newcomer Nicola Peltz as his daughter. It will be nice to see the return of Transformers Optimus Prime and Bumblebee to the silver screen but little is known about this film. With Michael Bay directing, you could be sure there will be a lot of action and explosions. A lot of explosions.

8) The Fault in Our Stars - June 6

I had the pleasure of reading this young adult novel this past summer and was thoroughly impressed by John Green's heartbreaking novel. This romantic adaptation tells the story of sixteen-year-old cancer patient, Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley), who meets and falls in love with Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), an ex-basketball player and amputee, at a cancer support group. If you don't go see this movie, you should definitely read the novel but I hope everyone will get to do both.

7) Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - August 22

After the success of the 2005 neo-noir classic Sin City, it feels like we have waited an eternity for this sequel to finally come to fruition. This film is based on the second book in the Sin City graphic novel series, titled "A Dame to Kill For." Featuring an all-star cast with the likes of returning original stars Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, and Bruce Willis teaming up with new comers Josh Brolin, Eva Green, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, fans of the original graphic novels, the first film, and myself hope that this long delayed film is worth the wait.

7) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - July 18

This sequel of the surprisingly successful reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes is one of the most anticipated films of this year. Taking place eight years after the events of the first film, a growing nation of apes led by Caesar (Andy Serkis) is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus that was released during the first film. They have reached a fragile peace, but it is short lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of war to determine Earth's dominant species. Co-starring Gary Oldman and Keri Russell, this film could break the records set by its predecessor.

6) The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - May 2

This superhero sequel features the return of the world's favorite wall-crawler. In this adventure set two years after the events of The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) continues to struggle with balancing his life as a high school student and his responsibilities as Spider-Man. As Peter begins to investigate into his parents' past and their accident, thanks to the help of his friend Harry Osborn  (Dane DeHaan), he discovers that his new threats Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Rhino (Paul Giamatti) all have one thing in common: OsCorp. Co-starring Emma Stone as the beautiful Gwen Stacy, Sally Field as Aunt May, and Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn, this film is set to break records and expand the Spider-Man universe.

5) Captain America: The Winter Soldier - April 4

The ninth installment into the Marvel Cinematic Universe features the All-American Avenger in his second solo film. Set two years after the events of The Avengers, Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is living in Washington, D.C. and working with S.H.I.E.L.D. while trying to adjust to contemporary society. After a S.H.I.E.L.D. comrade is assaulted, Captain America teams with Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johannson) to uncover the mystery hidden in the nation's capital while fending off hit men and the very dangerous Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Co-starring returning franchise stars Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter and newcomers Robert Redford, Emily VanCamp, and Anthony Mackie playing The Falcon. This film is a perfect way to continue the success of the MCU and setting up the return of the Avengers in next year's Age of Ultron.

4) X-Men: Days of Future Past - May 23

Bryan Singer's return to the X-Men film franchise brings together his original cast of heroes with the young team that was established in 2011's First Class. The X-men are fighting a war for survival across two time periods when Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan) send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back to the past to team up with their younger selves (James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender) to stop the events of the past to save the future. Featuring an all-star cast of past and present X-Men film stars like Halle Berry, Ellen Page, Jennifer Lawrence, Shawn Ashmore, and newcomers like Peter Dinklage, this film is set to be the biggest film of the franchise to date.

And now, The Top 3...

3) Interstellar - November 7

Christopher Nolan returns to the director's chair to helm this original science fiction film. When a wormhole is newly discovered, a team of explorers and scientists voyage through the anomaly to transcend the limitations of human space travel.  Starring a great cast with Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Jennifer Chastain, and Matt Damon, this top-secret movie might just add to Nolan's greatness as a director, bringing another landmark and original film to audiences. 

2) The Hobbit: There and Back Again - December 17

Peter Jackson took a huge gamble by splitting Tolkien's wonderful fantasy novel into three films but it has paid off him in epic fashion. Considering how well the other films have done, it is almost a guarantee that the final film in this trilogy will be nothing short of amazing. 

1) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 - November 21

And here is my number one anticipated film of this year. Considering the success that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire had as the highest grossing movie of 2013, the stage is certainly set for this sequel to surpass its predecessor and shatter records. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) reluctantly leads the districts of Panem in a rebellion against the corrupt Capitol. As the war escalates and the future of the districts of Panem are put in danger, Katniss must decide for herself who she can trust and what needs to be done, while all that she holds dear in her heart hangs in the balance. With returning stars Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, and Woody Harrelson and newcomers Julianne Moore and Stef Dawson joining Lawrence, I believe The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Parts I and II could reach success not seen since the Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows graced theaters. How fans respond to a short book such as Mockingjay being split into two films will be another story. 

Honorable mentions:

It's safe to say there there is no shortage of good movies this year. I hope everyone goes and enjoys these films! Take care!

American Hustle - A contemporary dream team powers this dark horse into the Oscars race.

     Hello, everyone! I'm sorry to leave everyone waiting for my next post but I'm back and I've picked the right time with Oscar Season here. I'm planning on completing a few more posts this upcoming week but, for now, let's get to my most recent review.

     American Hustle, directed by David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter), tells the story of con man, Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), along with his beautiful and seductive British partner, Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), being forced to work for an eccentric FBI agent, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes the con artists into the corrupt world of New Jersey politics, headed by Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). The wild card, Rosalyn Rosenfeld (Jennifer Lawrence), is the one person who could bring the entire house of cards crashing down on them all. 

     This film had a lot of support from critics before it officially released and, in one of those few rare times, I completely agreed with them. While it's not a typical comedy movie, it does a great job balancing between the dark comedy of the film and the drama surrounding the characters. This movie is not perfect but that is easily made up for by the stellar, all-star team of actors that led this film. Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, and Bradley Cooper have all appeared in David O. Russell's previous two films, The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook and it was great that he was able to bring these four tremendous actors together for one film Adding rising star Jeremy Renner (The Avengers) to the stable and you have a dream team. 

     David O. Russell does a great job in providing this film with its own heartbeat and rhythm, showing how much fun he had directing and guiding his characters on an entertaining journey. His characters shined individually and when they were together. Christian Bale's Irving Rosenfeld, a slippery businessman, was transformed from con man to an unexpected romantic with a heart of gold; Bradley Cooper brought a controlled frenzy of energy to his ambitious and quirky agent DiMaso; Jeremy Renner found an innocence in playing the unaware and oblivious mayor, trying to make New Jersey better. 

     Jennifer Lawrence provided another star-studded performance, making the role of Rosalyn Rosenfeld her own. Playing the entrancing and seductive wife and mother, Lawrence brings a zany and creative type of energy to carry Rosalyn through the shading dealings of her husband while looking for her own place in his world. The best performance had to be from Amy Adams. Her Sydney Prosse, partnered with Irving, finds herself shocked by what she lets herself get into while the movie progresses. Most of the time, she is neither shocked or unpleased by her actions. Amy does a great job, taking the audience every step of the way with her character. 

     Filled with double- and triple-crosses, entrapment, with a sprinkling of love and partying, Russell takes his audience on another character-driven ride as his players go out to accomplish their American Hustle. Hopefully, this hustle will take Russell to the prize that has eluded him the last two years: the Academy Award for Best Picture.

     

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - A stronger sequel brings a better Middle-Earth

     The holidays seem to always get in the way so everyone doesn't have any free time. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Year's holidays with your families. But now, I'm back with some new reviews from this winter season. Providing another example of a sequel surpassing the first movie of a trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug is a more confident and exciting entry into this prequel trilogy.

     The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second in a trilogy of films of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classic, picks up where we left our heroes in the first film. The title character, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) journeys with the wizard, Gandalf (Ian Mckellan) and thirteen Dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) as they make their way to the Lonely Mountain and the lost Dwarf kingdom of Erebor. Unknowingly, their quest does not go unnoticed as they come against Elves, Orcs, large spiders, and, ultimately, the dragon, Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) who is nestled in the gold inside the mountain kingdom. 

     This film is definitely much better than its predecessor. While it does get bogged down by narrative problems that usually happen during the second film in a trilogy, the early history of Middle-Earth is definitely expanded for the audience to delve into. The Wood Elves and Legolas' (Orlando Bloom) early history are revealed when our company runs into them, giving the elves a bigger presence in the film. Rather than providing vital but filler information for our heroes, the elves get more involved as their history with the dwarves take stage. Our adventurers are taken into uncharted territory as they travel to the Lonely Mountain, delivering splendid action non-stop. 

     Being a Tolkien fan, I was especially interested in how the infamous dragon, Smaug, would be done by Peter Jackson. Having Benedict Cumberbatch involved in the project is a win for Jackson as Cumberbatch's Hollywood fame grows after his performance in Star Trek Into Darkness this past summer. I will say that Smaug was well done, a crafty, frightening, and intelligent beast voiced by an up and coming actor that is getting mainstream exposure in Hollywood films. Martin Freeman puts on a wonderful performance as a more confident Bilbo Baggins, gaining his courage during the quest but also realizing the influence of the golden ring he carries with him. Richard Armitage does a wonderful job playing the unstoppable force of Thorin as he finally reaches the Lonely Mountain and does battle with Smaug to gain back his kingdom and take his rightful place as King Under The Mountain. 

     While this movie is still too long, it comes with the territory of Peter Jackson's films. I still don't agree that The Hobbit should have been made into three films instead of two but after seeing this film, I understand the decision. The ending is not how it is in the book when it comes to Smaug but since there is another film, I believe that it can be overlooked. I hope you all enjoy a trip to Middle Earth this holiday season!