Saturday 27 August 2016

War Dogs Movie Review


Director: Todd Philips
Cast: Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Bradley Cooper and Ane de Armas

What's it all about?

Based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz (Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (Hill), who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America’s allies in Afghanistan.

What are my thoughts?

“War Dogs” is a movie that has been on my horizon for sometime. I saw the trailer and liked it but didn't love it. Furthermore I like Teller and Hill but equally they are not in my top tier of actors in Hollywood. I really enjoyed Teller in "Whiplash" though, but I thought he was miscast for “Fantastic Four”, he's not a comic book actor, he is more suited I feel to serious roles. As for Hill, I have enjoyed him in many roles such as the Jump Street movies, “Moneyball” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” but I've never “really” loved him.

However I decided to take the plunge and see “War Dogs”. I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would based on the trailer and the lead actors. The movie is told from the standpoint of Teller’s character Packouz. He narrates the movie Wolf of Wall Street style, albeit with freeze frame narrations. I had heard that this story telling element became tiresome in this movie, but I was fine with it.

The two lead actors have very good chemistry and work well off each other. Between the two I definitely preferred Teller’s character who plays the straight man trying to keep a young family together to Hill’s douchbag two faced loner.

“War Dogs” is a biographical crime drama with comedic elements, the trailer slightly miss sells the movie making you think that it's a comedy. It's not. The humour though when used, worked well.

It's a little slow to start in the first act, as the movie spends a while getting the pieces of the puzzle together. However, as the film wore on it became more and more engrossing as these two guys got themselves deeper and deeper into trouble. It was at the latter stages of the movie that I found myself enjoying it a lot more.

Teller and Hill aside, the only other notable players were Bradley Cooper as Henry Girard a shady arms dealer (His role is very small), Sydney Pollack as an investor of Teller and Hill’s company and the devastatingly beautiful Ana de Armas as Iz, Teller’s wife.

As the summer winds down and we get ready for the more “serious” season of Autumn and beyond, you could do a lot worse than “War Dogs”.

War Dogs is out now!

Review by Carleton Rutter

Thursday 25 August 2016

Southside with You - Official UK Trailer - in cinemas 30 September

Inspired by accounts of the first couple’s first date, Richard Tanne’s romantic and intimate directorial debut Southside With You follows the story of the charming first-year law associate Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers), as he takes reluctant attorney Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) on a daylong trip in and around Chicago’s South Side in 1989.

Michelle, a career-oriented, Ivy League-educated attorney and the only black woman at her firm, has her guard up against even a whiff of perceived impropriety. The last thing she wants is for her superiors to judge the firm’s two African-American colleagues for unprofessional behaviour. Barack agrees in theory, but his profound attraction to Michelle trumps caution. And he’s self-confident enough to believe he can remain professional and capture her heart at the same time.

Although the pair have no inkling they will someday make history together, their date marks the first spark of romance between the future first couple, making this sweet and inspiring love story all the more poignant.

Tuesday 16 August 2016

Exclusive image of Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa in Power Rangers

Photo Credit: Tim Palen 

The cast of Power Rangers includes Bryan Cranston as the mighty Zordon and Elizabeth Banks as super-powered villain Rita Repulsa. The rangers themselves are made up from singer Becky G as Yellow Ranger Trini, Ludi Lin as Black Ranger Zack, Dacre Montgomery as Red Ranger Jason, Naomi Scott as Pink Ranger Kimberly, and RJ Cyler as Blue Ranger Billy.

Arrival - New Poster and Trailer


ARRIVAL is released in cinemas on 11 November.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker

When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team – led by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) – is brought together to  investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers – and to find them, she will take  a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.

Friday 12 August 2016

War Dogs - Hustling For The American Dream featurette


War Dogs - in UK cinemas August 26 - directed by Todd Phillips and starring Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas and Bradley Cooper.

Based on a true story, “War Dogs” follows two friends in their early 20s (Hill and Teller) living in Miami during the first Iraq War who exploit a little-known government initiative that allows small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts. Starting small, they begin raking in big money and are living the high life. But the pair gets in over their heads when they land a 300 million dollar deal to arm the Afghan Military—a deal that puts them in business with some very shady people, not the least of which turns out to be the U.S. Government.

Tuesday 9 August 2016

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter - New Trailer


Picking up immediately after the events in Resident Evil: Retribution, Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity’s final stand against the undead. Now, she must return to where the nightmare began – The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.

Written and Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson

Cast:
Milla Jovovich
Ali Larter
Shawn Roberts

ARRIVAL - New Teaser Trailer


Synopsis:
When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team – led by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) – is brought together to  investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers – and to find them, she will take  a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.
ARRIVAL is released in cinemas on 11 November.

Amy Adams as Dr. Louise Banks
Jeremy Renner as Ian Donnelly
Forest Whitaker as Colonel Weber
Michael Stuhlbarg as Agent Halpern
Tzi Ma as General Shang
Mark O'Brien as Captain Marks

Monday 1 August 2016

Watchmen - Adapting The Unadaptable


A look at the "unfilmable" work of Alan Moore that deconstructed the entire comic book medium.