Theatrical Release: The Expendables 2

August 17, 2012 / 3 Comments

THE EXPENDABLES 2 || August 17th, 2012

	THE AWAKENING \|\| Rebecca Hall looks wonderful in this spooky ghost story about a woman who disproves the existence of ghosts as her job. What looks to be along the style of “The Woman In Black”, which I was a fan of, I am definitely looking forward to seeing this film.	THEATER
	COMPLIANCE \|\| People diligently walking out of a film only makes me want to see it that much more. Based on true events, “Compliance” attempts to display what going too far to obey authority looks like. With a performance from Ann Dowd that has Oscar connotations and the sexy Dreama Walker portraying the victim of the events, this is a must-see film.	THEATER
	THE EXPENDABLES 2 \|\| I rented the first film and it was good for what it was, but I would never pay to see this film in the theaters. They have accomplished getting some names worth seeing, like Bruce Willis and Chuck Norris, but none of this changes the fact that the film is what it is, a mindless action film with explosions, almost becoming a serious parody of itself.	RENT
	THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN \|\| I am determined to re-cut the trailer for this film as a horror film, just because it looks so utterly terrible that it should be a scary film rather than a heart-warming, family film. I dislike Jennifer Garner, the boy looks far too clean-cut, and this all kind of feels like an alien invasion where everyone is just acting far too nice.	PASS
	PARANORMAN \|\| “ParaNorman” strikes me as far too similar to “Monster House”, minus the house that eats children and replaced by zombies and clay-mation. I respect clay-mation, but I have no desire to run out and see these films. Made by the creators of “Coraline”, which I only saw because it was nominated for an Oscar, even Tim Burton’s films (directed or produced) strike no cord in me to see, yet I’ve heard “ParaNorman” is good and will probably see it when it hits DVD.	RENT
	SPARKLE \|\| Despite her passing, Whitney Houston does very little for me, especially when it comes to film. What looks quite similar to “Dreamgirls”, which I also have not seen, I have no desire to see this genre of film.	PASS

	BELOVED \|\| I find that this foreign language film looks quite interesting, portraying the story of a woman in love with shoes, who falls into the life of a prostitute because of how much a man offers her for sex. Fast-forwarding into her story as a grown woman with a grown-up daughter, the film “Beloved” intrigues me. Throw in an odd appearance from Paul Schneider, who I assume is not speaking the language, and I am hooked.	STREAM
	COSMOPOLIS \|\| David Cronenberg is a fantastic director, with continued brilliance in film for decades. With what promises to be a unique film, there’s no way I can miss this film. Based completely off a novel, I often see films starring Robert Pattinson, just to see if he is actually any good away from his “Twilight” staple.	THEATER
	DEATH BY CHINA \|\| Synopsis: Based on the book “Death by China” by Navarro and Greg Autry and narrated by Martin Sheen, the documentary includes interviews with Carolyn Bartholomew (Commissioner for US- China and Security Review Commission), Gordon Chang (Forbes columnist), Dana Rohrabacher (Congressman R-CA), Tim Ryan (Congressman D-OH), Richard L. Trumka (President AFL-CIO), and Harry Wu (Executive Director, Laogai Research Foundation).	PASS
	DIRTY HEARTS \|\| This looks absolutely so fucking horrible, that I couldn’t even finish the trailer. Having continued this process of watching every trailer for every film released each week, running into films like this are what make this so difficult to continue. The pacing of the trailer is bad, the voice-over is ridiculous, and the story is painstakingly blunt. No, no, no.	PASS
	PAINTED SKIN: THE RESURRECTION \|\| This looks trippy and bad, but mostly bad. Watch the trailer and you will be as lost as I was. There’s no underlying plot, just Japanese symbols and something other-worldly that occurs after each one, none of which really make any sense.	PASS
	ROBOT & FRANK \|\| Indie films like this are normally favorite films of mine. The cast appears just right, the story is original, and done correctly, this could be a worthwhile film about an old man/jewel thief that befriends a household robot given to him by his family, in hopes of getting it to help him steal more jewelry.	RENT
	SAINTS AND SOLDIERS: AIRBORNE CREED \|\| Nothing new here. This either comes off like a very high-end Lifetime original movie, or the teaser for an upcoming war video game. Either way, neither make this film look appealing for what it is. The trailer hits the same marks as thousands of other trailers before it and the film will suffer because of it.	PASS
	SIDE BY SIDE \|\| Keanu Reeves takes viewers on an interview tour with directors about the coming of the digital age. Containing interviews with some of the biggest name directors of our time, like Martin Scorsese and James Cameron, anyone who is remotely interested in the film industry will be catching this film at some point.	RENT
	THE WEDDING VIDEO \|\| Shot in much the same style as “The Office”, this British comedy looks to be some parts original, with its cooky and off-the-wall banter, mixed with same parts “been-there/done-that”, as it borrows concepts from wedding films before it. The cast looks enjoyable enough and the humor is definitely there, but whether it’s my type of humor, I am unsure.	STREAM
	WHY STOP NOW \|\| Even with their Academy Award nominations and wins, Jesse Eisenberg and Melissa Leo find themselves in an independent comedy with Tracey Morgan. Needless to say, “Why Stop Now” actually looks rather enjoyable, with Eisenberg getting back to the roles we know and love from him and Morgan showing a softer, more serious side apart from his persona-turned-lifestyle of his “30 Rock” character.	RENT
	YOU’VE BEEN TRUMPED \|\| Basically a hate-film towards Donald Trump, it is hard to trust a documentary film so slanted towards one argument. I get that Trump is probably arrogant and probably even in the wrong, but to display reason after reason of why we should dislike him for this one situation is not a well-balanced film.	PASS