FAST & THE FURIOUS RETROSPECTIVE - Part 1: POINT BREAK

 

Ah, my famous franchise retrospecting has returned!  And now, debuting on my own my own site is THE FAST & THE FURIOUS retrospective!  Join me looking back as we edge closer to FAST & FURIOUS 6 opening May 24th.

Point Break

1991

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring:  Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Lori Petty, John C. McGinley, Gary Busey, James LeGros

Rated R

You gotta go down.  You crossed the line and people trusted you and they died.

                        ~Johnny Utah

So…you’re doing a Fast & The Furious retrospective and you’re starting with Point Break?  Of course I am.  The genesis of the first film in the Fast & The Furious franchise begins here.  The outline and overall narrative of Point Break is almost beat for beat repeated in The Fast & The Furious.  You’re basically trading in surf boards for street racing cars.  Watching them back to back, its even more apparent.

Things Nobody Wants: SCREAM To Get An MTV Series

According to the Hollywood Reporter yesterday, it appears MTV will be sending a television version of the film franchise SCREAM into production.  If we want to be a bit inside baseball, this isn't the first SCREAM television program.  THE FOLLOWING, airing on FOX, is supposedly a reworked version of what Kevin Williamson had in mind for a 5th SCREAM film before the Weinstein's meddled and he quit SCREAM 4.  If you were ever wondering his why he quit or what his original intentions were for SCREAM 4 and you've seen THE FOLLOWING, you can kind of guess how the 4th installment was supposed to play out.

TRAILER- Thor: The Dark World #1

This is our first look into Thor's post-Avengers adventure and man, does this look big. While the first film featured hints that big things could happen in this universe, it was mainly a simple fish out of water story. This movie appears embracing the big scale possibilities of Thor's world. I rather liked the first film, but on first look this looks as if its going to kick its ass. Scott Mendelson recently touted this as one of the 2 most important films of 2013 (HERE), and I hope this one pans out. I rather dig the characters in this series and hope they're not afraid to continue to make big stories for Thor. The first one I was rather surprised I liked as I had low expectations going in. It also produced one of the funniest moments of 2011 ("I need a horse!") Now, after this trailer, I have pretty good expectations. I'm also scared for Natalie Portman's Jane Foster.

THOR: THE DARK WORLD opens November 8

 

REVIEW: To The Wonder

Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Olga Kurylenko, Rachel MacAdams, Javier Bardem, Ben Affleck
Rated: R
112 minutes

Tree of Life was a hard act to follow.  Personally, I found that film to be a modern masterpiece.  To The Wonder was sure to fall short of that, but it fell quite short in general.  The film takes a dull, somber tone throughout and really goes nowhere for its length. 

TRAILER: MAN OF STEEL #3

And on our 3rd look at the upcoming Superman opus, MAN OF STEEL, there's a lot to like and a lot to keep us wondering.  Zack Snyder and co have opened the door just a little.  I love that they seem to be holding back "the goods".  This is how you market a movie, damnit.  I'm guessing most of what we're seeing comes from the first hour of the film  Maybe a snippet here and there.  We get to see Michael Shannon confirming that he's going to be fantastic as General Zod.  We also get to hear Superman speak and also interact with Lois Lane

This is one I'm very excited for and I'm assuming many are also excited for.  If this film is a big success (i think it will be), this will drop the floodgates for WB/DC and maybe they'll actually take chances with their other characters and...actually make films about them!

MAN OF STEEL opens June 14

On a side note: Yes, I will be doing more than just making snarky remarks about trailers and posters.  I had to whip this place up pretty fast and am working on some more original content.  In May, my retrospective series will be returning aimed at the Fast & Furious franchise, followed by a Superman retrospective.

TRAILER: Hunger Games: Catching Fire

This is the first of, I'm sure, many trailers, tv spots, video clips and such marching to November for the 2nd Hunger Games film.  I'm expecting this thing to be whored out and spoiled all over the place by the time the film comes out, but who knows...maybe not.

New Star Trek Poster Radiates Originality

 

So, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS got a new poster...and I'm absolutely floored by it.  I've never seen anything like that, at least in a dozen years or so...