Wednesday 30 May 2012

Moonrise Kingdom

Cast
Jared Gilman
Kara Hayward
Bruce Willis
Tilda Swinton
Bill Murray
Edward Norton
Frances McDormand
Harvey Keitel
Bob Balaban
Screenwriters
Wes Anderson
Roman Coppola
Director
Wes Anderson
Running Time
94 minutes

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, the film follows a young boy and girl falling in love. When they are moved to run away together, various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down – which might not be such a bad thing. (Focus Features)

Many elements were delightful but as a whole it felt too stylised to draw me into the story fully.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

The Raid

Cast
Iko Uwais
Ananda George
Ray Sahetapy
Yayan Ruhian
Doni Alamsyah
Screenwriter
Gareth Evans
Director
Gareth Evans
Running Time
100 minutes

A Swat team arrives at a rundown apartment block with a mission to remove its owner, a notorious drug lord named Tama. The building has never been raided before, never been touched by police. Seen as a no go zone it has since become a sanctuary to killers, gangs, rapists and thieves seeking accommodation in the one place they know they cannot be touched. Making their move in the break of dawn the swat team work their way up the building under cover of silence. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and with news of their assault traveling to Tama in his penthouse suite the building is locked down with all lights out and all exits blocked. Stranded on the 6th floor the swat team must fight their way through every floor and every room not just to complete their mission but to survive. (Merantau Films)

The fight choreography and its clear presentation was great but I wish more time had been given to fleshing out the characters so I cared more about them.

Tuesday 22 May 2012

August Comics

CBR has the new DC, Dark Horse, Marvel and Image  solicitations for August.

This is the stuff I'm thinking about in addition to my regular pull list.



BEASTS OF BURDEN: NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
Evan Dorkin (W) and Jill Thompson (A/Cover)
On sale Aug 1
FC, 32 pages
$3.50
One-shot
Adventure, mystery, horror, and humor thrive on every page of the Eisner Award–winning Beasts of Burden. The four-legged occult-investigating team—a heroic gang of dogs and one cat—are doing their best to protect their home, Burden Hill, from a chicken-stealing goblin, a frightful basilisk, and a strange lost herd of sheep!
• This special one-shot reprints three stories from Dark Horse Presents!
• Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson return to the characters that won them the 2005 Eisner Award for Best Short Story!

I vaguely remember getting this before and liking it.



THE CREEP #0
John Arcudi (W), Jonathan Case (A), and Frank Miller (Cover)
On sale Aug 8
FC, 32 pages
$2.99
Miniseries
A young boy puts a gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger. The police don’t care. Not about his death or the death of his best friend two months earlier. The dead boy’s mom seeks help from an old flame that’s employed as a detective. What she doesn’t know is that he suffers from acromegaly—a physical deformity resulting in brutish facial features at mid-life. Will his freakish appearance get in the way of solving the case?
• Cover by Frank Miller!
• From the artist of The Green River Killer and the writer of B.P.R.D.!
“A beautiful book and, for my money, no one in comics writes better stories about human beings than John Arcudi.”—Mike Mignola
A double suicide, an old flame, and a haunted man.

Looks interesting.



PHANTOM LADY #1
Written by JUSTIN GRAY and JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Art by CAT STAGGS and RICH PERROTTA
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
On sale AUGUST 29 • 32 pg, FC, 1 of 4, $2.99 US • RATED T
• The female FREEDOM FIGHTER debuts in her own miniseries!
• Featuring her partner-in-crimefighting, the diminutive dynamo known as DOLL MAN!

The recent Freedom Fighters series was good and she was cool whether this will be I'm not sure.



NATIONAL COMICS: LOOKER #1
Written by IAN EDGINTON
Art by MIKE S. MILLER
Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
On sale AUGUST 29 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
• New digital-first adventures!
• Emily Briggs was a top supermodel until she was turned into a vampire!
• Briggs uses her supernatural powers to protect the innocent as they navigate the corrupt world of high fashion and modeling!
• A fresh, sexy take on a classic DC character!

Depends on the second issue being $2.99.




HAWKEYE #1
MATT FRACTION (w) • DAVID AJA (a&C)
Variant cover by Adi Granov
• The breakout star of this summer’s blockbuster AVENGERS film and self-made hero Hawkeye fights for justice!
• With ex-Young Avenger Kate Bishop by his side, he’s out to prove himself as one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!
• Matt Fraction & David Aja (IMMORTAL IRON FIST) reunite to tell the on-going tales of the Arrow-Avenger!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99


Immortal Iron Fist was so fantastic got to give this a try.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Safe

Cast
Jason Statham
Catherine Chan
Chris Sarandon
Robert John Burke
Reggie Lee
Screenwriter
Boaz Yakin
Director
Boaz Yakin
Running Time
94 minutes

A second-rate cage fighter on the mixed martial arts circuit, Luke Wright lives a numbing life of routine beatings and chump change... until the day he blows a rigged fight. Wanting to make an example of him, the Russian Mafia murders his family and banishes him from his life forever, leaving Luke to wander the streets of New York destitute, haunted by guilt, and tormented by the knowledge that he will always be watched, and anyone he develops a relationship with will also be killed. But when he witnesses a frightened twelve-year-old Chinese girl, Mei, being pursued by the same gangsters who killed his wife, Luke impulsively jumps to action... and straight into the heart of a deadly high-stakes war. (Lionsgate)

Overcomplicated with three sets of villains, two safes, secret codes and last minute nemesis.

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D

Cast
Robert Downey Jr.
Chris Evans
Chris Hemsworth
Tom Hiddleston
Scarlett Johansson
Mark Ruffalo
Jeremy Renner
Samuel L. Jackson
Clark Gregg
Gwyneth Paltrow
Cobie Smulders
Stellan Skarsgard
Screenwriter
Joss Whedon
Director
Joss Whedon
Running Time
142 minutes

Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel's The Avengers is the superhero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

I saw it in 3D only because I thought that was my only choice according to the cinemas website on Friday, although as it turns out I could have seen it as filmed in 2D at an earlier showing. Reading subtitles in a 3D film is disorientating. Anyway I thought it was really good.