2012 Box Office Preview

Starting off with films like “The Hunger Games” and ending with the long-anticipated “Lord of the Rings” prequel, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” 2012 looks like it will be packed with a variety of interesting movies. There’s some movies that almost are guaranteed to be blockbusters — such as the next James Bond installment and the superhero film to end all superhero films, “The Avengers” — and some movies with fun concepts I really hope will do well at the box office, such as Tim Burton’s reboot of the quirky cult TV show “Dark Shadows.”

This would be a really long blog entry if I listed all the movies I’m wanting to see in 2012, so I’ll just include a few of the ones I’m most anticipating. 🙂

1. “The Avengers” — release date May 4. Probably one of the most-hyped movies scheduled for release in 2012, “The Avengers” has a lot of pressure riding on it. It features a round-up of famous superheroes, many of whom have been profiled in successful solo films (“Iron Man,” “Captain America,” “Thor,” etc.). The challenge for the film makers will be finding a way to balance the large cast of characters (not to mention all those super-sized egos) without making the plot too chaotic. But with Joss Whedon, creator of the beloved cult TV shows “Firefly” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” at the helm, this film has a solid shot at being the most epic movie of the summer. Click here for a trailer.

2. “Prometheus” — release date June 8. Ridley Scott has been very tight-lipped about this film, which may or may not be a tie-in to his sci-fi classic “Alien.” The recently released trailer only hints at the film’s plot, but the fact it raises more questions than it answers only increased my interest. With a strong cast that includes Michael Fassbender (“X-Men: First Class”) and Noomi Rapace (Swedish version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), this movie has my curiosity piqued. Click here for a trailer.

3. “Brave” — release date June 22. I’ve loved pretty much every film Pixar has made, but I’m particularly excited about this one, which takes place in medieval Scotland. Ever since I took a trip to Scotland last summer, I’ve fallen in love with the country’s history and culture, and I’m excited to see how Pixar will work Celtic legends and motifs into the film. Click here for a trailer.

4. “James Bond: Skyfall” — release date Nov. 9. “Casino Royale,” Daniel Craig’s first appearance as the famous British secret agent, is my all-time favorite spy movie, and though critics didn’t respond as well to its sequel, “Quantum of Solace,” I still enjoyed it and have been waiting eagerly for the next Bond film. I think James Bond is the role Craig was born to play, and I’m excited he’ll be back in 2012. Not many plot details about the film have been released, but with a supporting cast that includes Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes, in addition to Craig, this film is going to have to work really hard not to be awesome. A trailer for this film hasn’t been released yet.

5. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” — release date Dec. 14. It’s a project that’s been a long time in the making, but I think it definitely will be worth the wait. I’ve been a fan of Martin Freeman’s since seeing him in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” and I think he’s a great choice to play Bilbo Baggins. From watching the trailer, it looks like this film will be a definite fan-pleaser, with a tone and set design that will tie in very well with the highly-successful “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Click here for a trailer.

What films are you most looking forward to in 2012?

2011: Year in Review

Metal-manipulating mutants; a ragtag band of cowboys and Indians fighting outerspace alien invaders; impossibly buff guys defeating giant frost monsters; and super-powered Nazis trying to take over the world.

2011 was quite a year in Hollywood, with some great successes (“X-Men: First Class” and “Super 8” being some of my favorites) and some misses (“The Green Lantern” and “Abduction” come to mind). And I’m not even going to go into the phenomenon that is the “Twilight” saga (trust me, I’m not a fan). 😉

The biggest box office hit was, unsurprisingly, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2,” which took in $381 million and helped the Harry Potter saga to become the most profitable film franchise of all time (it has earned an impressive $2.4 billion domestically). 2011 also was a good year for superhero flicks, with “Captain America,” “X-Men: First Class” and “Thor” pulling in about $504 million combined (all three also made Entertainment Weekly’s list of the 15 top-grossing movies of the year).

Other major entertainment news headlines included Charlie Sheen’s dismissal from the hit show “Two and a Half Men” and his very public crash and burn (though he’s probably still convinced he’s “winning”); the tragic loss of singer Amy Winehouse and film icon Elizabeth Taylor; and the rise of one of the best new pop musical acts in years, Adele.

It’s difficult to pick my favorite films, TV shows and songs from 2011, because there was a lot of good material to choose from, so what follows is just a quick list of a few things that stood out to me this year (in no particular order).

1. Adele. It seems like everyone is talking about Adele these days, and for good reason. Her very distinctive vocal tone instantly grabs your attention, and her style is both modern and classic. Yet I think what really draws people to Adele is the power and honesty she brings to every performance. She doesn’t just sing the lyrics — she feels them. You can tell her heart is breaking as she sings her hit “Someone Like You,” and that breaks her audience’s hearts, as well.

2. “Super 8.” This movie reminded me once again why Steven Spielberg is one of my favorite film makers. The film is about a group of young friends who witness a horrific, fiery train crash while they are filming a zombie movie, and they discover a government cover-up of an extraterrestrial visitor. The film pays homage to Spielberg classics such as “E.T.” and communicates a sense of childlike wonder about the world, creating a film that was both exciting and emotionally moving. The effect was downright magical — one of my favorite movies of the year.

3. “Downton Abbey.” I love period dramas, particularly British period dramas, and this miniseries has become one of my all-time favorites. The show follows the scandals and struggles of an upper-class British family in the early 1900s, yet what makes the show truly interesting is how it also follows the lives of the servants in that family’s household. With well-drawn characters, excellent costumes and set design, and a strong story, it’s easy to see why this show won an Emmy for “Outstanding Miniseries or Movie.”

4. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” I was big fan of Guy Ritchie’s 2009 “Sherlock Holmes” film, and he didn’t disappoint me with the sequel. I could talk about the great cinematography (love Ritchie’s use of slow motion), the witty dialogue (“It’s so overt it’s covert!”) and the excellent score (one of Hans Zimmer’s best), but what I liked best about this film was watching Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, a surprising but ultimately brilliant casting choice.

5. “X-Men: First Class.” Although there’s still a few movies coming out this year that I’d like to see, I’m going to go ahead and call it now, and list “X-Men: First Class” as my favorite movie of the year. I could probably write a whole blog about how much I loved this movie, but I’ll try to keep it brief. 😉 I’d like to thank whoever decided to cast James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Professor X and Magneto, because they couldn’t have chosen better (Fassbender recently made Entertainment Weekly magazine’s list of “2011 breakout stars,” and for good reason). McAvoy and Fassbender were perfect for their individual roles, and they play well off each other, and their characters’ friendship is what makes the film so powerful.

Movie Review: ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’

The key to making a successful sequel to a popular film is maintaining the same features that made the first film great, while at the same time bringing something fresh and new to the story. And that’s exactly what “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” does.

The film is a follow-up to director Guy Ritchie’s surprise 2009 hit, “Sherlock Holmes,” which brought a touch of steampunk to the classic literary tale and portrayed the famous detective as an edgier, more rough and tumble character than Hollywood has typically portrayed him in the past (although some could argue Ritchie’s vision isn’t entirely out of line with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories).

The sequel, “A Game of Shadows,” picks up pretty much where its predecessor left off, with Holmes (played by Robert Downey Jr.) scrambling to learn more about the man who will become his most infamous and most dangerous foe: Professor James Moriarty. Holmes and his assistant and best friend Dr. John Watson (played by Jude Law) must figure out how to stop Moriarty, who is both fanning the flames of rising political conflict and looking to profit when war finally erupts. While the first film was set primarily in Victorian England, this time Holmes and Watson’s travels take them across Europe, including stops in France and Germany, and a final confrontation with Moriarty in Switzerland.

I won’t go into a lot of detail about the plot, because part of the fun of the film is working along with Holmes and Watson as they piece together the clues and try to unravel Moriarty’s plan. But I very much enjoyed the film, and if you enjoyed the first Sherlock Holmes film, you’ll probably like this one as well.

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law prove once again they were perfect choices for their roles. Before watching the original film, if you’d asked me who I thought should play Holmes and Watson, Downey and Law probably wouldn’t have crossed my mind. But after seeing the film, I can’t imagine anyone else playing those roles. Downey’s Holmes is brilliant, eccentric, and highly egotistical, but he truly cares about his friend Watson and would do anything to save him. Law’s Watson is more mild-mannered, but no less brilliant, than his friend Sherlock Holmes, and though Holmes’ unusual habits frequently exasperate him, he looks out for his friend. Hollywood tends to portray Watson as more of a bumbling, often clueless character, so it’s very refreshing to see him presented as more of Holmes’ equal in Ritchie’s version of the story.

Downey and Law also are joined in this film by Jared Harris, who plays Professor Moriarty. Harris resists the temptation to make Moriarty into a maudlin, over-dramatic villain, and his quietly sinister portrayal makes the character all the more menacing. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is he and Holmes’ chess match at the very end of the film — a scene that perfectly showcases the dynamic between the two characters.

The cinematography in the film is great, with possibly the best use of slow motion I’ve ever seen in a movie. Ritchie brings back a technique I really loved in the first movie, where he stops the clock and shows Holmes analyzing in slow motion how he is going to react to a situation (for example, he analyzes step by step how to bring down an attacker). Then, Ritchie speeds up the camera to normal speed, and we get to see Holmes act out in real-time what he’d just analyzed in his mind.

Also worth mentioning is another great score from film composer Hans Zimmer. His soundtrack to the first “Sherlock Holmes” movie was creative, quirky and very original (I loved the clanky, slightly out of tune piano playing on the film’s main theme), and Zimmer doesn’t disappoint on the sequel.

I really enjoyed this film, and I’m looking forward to watching it again so I can pick out all the details I missed the first time. To view a trailer for the film or production photos, visit http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515091.

BBC’s ‘Sherlock’ a smart, witty update

Fans of Guy Ritchie’s 2009 “Sherlock Holmes” movie, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, still have a week to wait until the much-anticipated sequel “A Game of Shadows” hits theaters. But if you’re looking for something to tide you over, I’d highly recommend the BBC’s imaginative, modern update on the Sherlock Holmes story called “Sherlock” (2010).

The three-part miniseries re-envisions the famous literary detective Sherlock Holmes as a modern-day private investigator living in London. Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) become unlikely friends and work together to solve several cases.

I’ll admit, I was initially skeptical about the concept. I’m always a little nervous whenever someone announces they want to make a modern update of a literary classic. Often a book’s historical setting is part of its magic, and it’s as much a part of the story as the characters. It’s for this reason I’ve never watched “Clueless,” a modern update of Jane Austen’s “Emma.” The historical English setting of Austen’s novels — and the social customs and contexts that come with it — defines the stories she tells.

But when I was on vacation in London last summer, “Sherlock” happened to be playing on one of the channels, and I caught the end of the first episode. And it wasn’t long before I was hooked.

“Sherlock” succeeds because while it updates the setting from Victorian England to modern times, it gets the portrayals of the characters right. Cumberbatch’s Holmes and Freeman’s Watson behave just as you’d expect Holmes and Watson to behave if they were transported to London in 2010. Holmes’ tools of investigation may be more modern — laptops, cell phones, etc. — but he’s still the same brilliant and eccentric crime-solving mastermind that readers have come to love through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective tales.

The show is clever and witty, and while it perhaps takes a few cues from Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” film, it portrays its own version of the Holmes stories. The cases themselves are interesting — a series of apparent serial suicides that may not be suicides after all; a mysterious Chinese crime ring known as the “Black Lotus”; and, of course, an encounter with Holmes’ most famous opponent, “Moriarty” — but the real draw of the show is the characters. Holmes may be one of the most famous narcissists in literature, but his friendship with Dr. Watson (who in this version of the story is an army doctor recently returned from Afghanistan) is genuine. Cumberbatch and Freeman were perfect choices for their roles, and they interact well together.

The show has a great cliffhanger ending, and I’ve anxiously been awaiting the second season. It’s premiering in Britain in January 2012, and also will air on PBS in May.

Dream on: The legacy of Steven Spielberg

If I were to make a list of my all-time favorite films, many of them would have one thing in common: a man behind the camera who is perhaps the greatest creative visionary and most imaginative film maker of our time — Steven Spielberg.

This week Entertainment Weekly published a lengthy (and well-deserved) cover piece about Spielberg, and reading the article brought back memories of what Spielberg’s work has meant to me.

I can’t think of another director who has as many universally well-loved films as Spielberg: “E.T.”; “Jaws”; “Jurassic Park”; “Indiana Jones”; “Schindler’s List”; “Saving Private Ryan” — and the list goes on. The Internet Movie Database called him “one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film” and “perhaps Hollywood’s best known director.”

I can remember watching many of Spielberg’s films for the first time, often as a kid, and the emotional response they elicited: my heart breaking for E.T., the poor little alien who just wanted to go home, and tears welling in my eyes when he finally did; sitting on the edge of my seat during “Jurassic Park,” terrified of when those really scary raptors were going to appear again; and thinking as a kid, after watching “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” that Indiana Jones was pretty much the coolest action hero ever.

Spielberg has the ability to produce films with spectacular special effects and heart, something other film makers in Hollywood aren’t always able to pull off. I’ve seen too many blockbusters that barrage you with impressive special effects, but in the end, the films don’t have much emotional weight. Spielberg seems to understand the importance of grounding a film with a strong story and strong characters, and special effects just become the icing on the cake. This is probably also why his films have aged so well. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is now about 30 years old, but it’s still one of my favorite action films. And Indiana Jones is just one of Spielberg’s iconic characters that have stood the test of time.

Yet perhaps what makes Spielberg’s films so magical is the childlike sense of wonder he brings to all his projects. In a world that seems to be growing increasingly more jaded, Spielberg hasn’t lost his sense of imagination or willingness to dream big. Read or watch an interview with Spielberg, and you quickly pick up on the enthusiasm and passion he has for his projects (I imagine seeing Spielberg on the set of a film would be a lot like watching a kid in a candy store). If anyone had a right to have a big ego in Hollywood, it would be him, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. He always seems more eager to talk about the process of film making than promoting himself or his accomplishments.

Of course, like any film maker, there are a few “duds” on his resume, but those seem to be few and far between. He’s willing to learn from his mistakes, and many of his movies have topped “biggest blockbusters of all time” lists. He’s coming out with two new films this month — “War Horse” and “The Adventures of Tintin ” — both of which I’m planning on seeing.

After more than 40 years of work in Hollywood, he already has a great legacy, and it’s one I’m hoping he continues to add to for many years to come.

To read an Entertainment Weekly interview with Spielberg, visit http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/12/05/spielbergs-origin-story-ew-interview/#1_undefined,0_.