Right Cinema

“The Dark Knight” was released Friday, July 18, and people were lined up for blocks to get in to see it. And the money came pouring in. It’s as if the Joker was forshadowing his own success when he stacked up millions of dollars in pyramid form. The midnight shows alone brought in $18.5 million. When added to the rest of the day’s totals, Batman made $66.4 million on opening day. This amount broke the previous record of $59.8 million held by “Spider-Man 3″.

Batman is “The Dark Knight”

And yes, it was worth every penny. I saw the new Batman movie last night, and loved it. Sure there was a lot of hype going in, particularly owing to the Heath Ledger back story. But it lived up to it.

I would recommend watching “Batman Begins” again before going to the theater, though. I spent a good 15 minutes saying to myself, “how did the last one end, again?” But I got over it, and fell right into the new story.

As I’m sure you’ve heard before, Heath Ledger truly is the best part of the movie. He’s 100% believable as the Joker, and funny! Although he’s crazy as hell, you kind of get what he’s saying, and he’s totally light-hearted about it and yet simultaneously dark. A hard character to pull off, Ledger does it well.

As for the rest of the cast, Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart hold up their end of the bargain. They’re righteousness isn’t even annoying - people really are good deep down! But as much as I love Maggie Gyllenhaal, her Rachel Dawes was just okay - I think she watched “Batman Begins” too many times and became a mimic of Katie Holmes. I know the character is the same, but make it your own, Maggie.

Over all, a great movie. I completely forgot about standing in line for 45 minutes while the movie started 40 minutes late. (New movie theater - apparently they’re still trying to figure things out. Unfortunately, there was no comment card.)

See more photos from “The Dark Knight” and the trailer below.

Photos and Video

The Dark Knight is two weeks from release in Australia and there is talk of an Oscar for the late Heath Ledger. You can see the much watched video below.

Heath Ledger

One of the critics behind Ledger is Peter Travers from Rolling Stone.

“It’s typical of Ledger’s total commitment to films as diverse as Brokeback Mountain and I’m Not There that he does nothing out of vanity or the need to be liked,” he wrote. “I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker. If there’s a movement to get him the first posthumous [acting] Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976’s Network, sign me up.”

You can see the first five minutes and four trailers for the movie here. If nominated, Ledger would be the seventh actor in Oscar history to receive the honor after death, and as stated above, only the second since Peter Finch to win. What do you think, is Heath Ledger Oscar worthy? See the video below.

Video

The latest in the James Bond franchise, “Quantum of Solace”, isn’t set to be released until November 7, 2008, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get excited about it. The first trailer for the film was released yesterday, and there’s not doubt after watching it that James Bond number 137 will be full of action.

Daniel Craig in “Quantum of Solace”

The movie picks up right where “Casino Royale” left off. But this time around, James Bond is out for revenge. After the death of his love, Mr. 007 sets out to get back at the killer, and stop an environmentalist from taking control of a country’s water supply.

And it’s non-stop action in the process - between a boat chase and rumors of a full frontal Daniel Craig nude scene, you won’t be sorry you spent your cash on a ticket for this film. So how long until November 7?

See the “Quantum of Solace” trailer and the poster below.

Photos and Video

The DVDs releasing this week include “Vantage Point”, “Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns”, and “Drillbit Taylor”. It looks like a little bit of action, a little bit of love, and a little bit of laughs.

“Vantage Point” Releases on DVD July 1

Vantage Point

When the President of the United States is shot while giving a speech at an international location, it’s up to the people in the crowd and a couple secret service agents to put the pieces together and figure out what exactly went wrong. The movie stars Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, and Sigourney Weaver, but even with a strong cast like that, the critics say they can’t carry a weak script. Even the good reviews have comments like, “To fall for Vantage Point you have to throw away any connection to reality” and “watchably silly”.

Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns

When Angela Bassett’s character loses her job in inner city Chicago, she’s almost at wit’s end with how to make ends meet. But then she receives word that a father she has never met has passed away, and the single mother of three decides to take her kids to Georgia for the funeral and see what kind of help she can find. In the process of getting her feet back on the ground, she finds friends, family and even love. Critics give this one a C.

Drillbit Taylor

Another film in a long line of Judd Apatow scripts, “Drillbit Taylor” stars Owen Wilson as a pre-teen bodyguard. When three boys start high school as freshman, they’re small size makes them perfect targets for the school bullies. So they take matters into their own hands and hire a bodyguard, who teaches them how to stick up for themselves. But again the movie is not all it’s cracked up to be. Wilson is said to be phoning it in this time around and the bullies are just a little too dark for how lighthearted the film is supposed to be.

See the trailers for the movies below.

Videos

It’s time for summer blockbusters, and the movies releasing Friday fit the bill. It’s time for some family fun with the long-awaited Pixar film, “WALL-E”, and some hot action with Angelina Jolie’s latest, “Wanted”.

“Wanted” Releases June 27

Wanted

Curving bullets. Assassins. And the return of Morgan Freeman. Oh, and one fine-looking Angelina Jolie. The folks in “Wanted” are a fraternity of assassins who recruit James McAvoy. Though the plot and the focus of the movie appear somewhat lacking, the action looks bad ass. The only question is, will it be enough to carry the script?

The plot: After Wes’ father is murdered, the Fraternity recruit him to avenge his death and become a trained assassin. Kill one, save thousands. But there might be more to this group of assassins than meets the eye.

WALL-E

In the most anticipated animated movie of the year, we find Short Circuit look-alike Wall-E alone on planet Earth, left to clean it up. But love blossoms when a spaceship, carrying Eve, lands at Wall-E’s landfill. And while reviewers say that there’s really only 45 good minutes in the one and a half hour movie, they also say that’s a damn good 45-minute stretch. As Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle writes,

Philosophically and emotionally, this is probably the most profound animated film ever made or attempted. … For as long as it stays on Earth, “WALL-E” is a great film, and on its way to being one of the masterpieces of the decade. But then it leaves Earth, and, once it does, it goes into pedestrian territory.

See the trailers for the movies below.

Videos

We are getting closer and closer to summer blockbuster season, and the movies releasing this week are sure sign of that. The titles are getting bigger and the celebrities more famous. In theaters this Friday are “The Incredible Hulk” and “The Happening”.

“The Incredible Hulk” Releases Friday

The Incredible Hulk

The last Hulk movie was a pretty big disappointment - even an actor as attractive and talented as Eric Bana couldn’t fix that script. But this time around the film is more promising. Starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth, the latest in big green men comic book movies starts with the Gamma Bomb and traces the adventures of the Incredible Hulk as he learns to deal with his new powers. And so far the critics are loving it, saying things like “Hulk Smash!”, “one of the most spectacular and exciting things I’ve ever seen on screen”, and “a summer popcorn movie that favors thrilling action”. It looks like this is the pick of the weekend, so get your tickets early.

The Happening

“The Happening” begins with a wave of strange and mysterious deaths across the US, and Mark Wahlberg, as a high school science teacher, sets off to discover a way to escape the freaky phenomenon. But even far-off farmland isn’t far away enough, and Mark and his wife must face the invisible killer head-on.

The movie is the latest psychological thriller from M. Night Shyamalan, and it looks to be better than some of his more recent films. “The Happening” is being called “a tantalising, sometimes frustrating parable about the menaces that human beings might face from unexpected quarters.” Though Shyamalan usually sticks with a plot-upending twist in his stories, not this time - we’ll leave it up to you whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

See the movie trailers below.

Videos

This Tuesday is a slow day for DVDs releasing this week, unless the only DVDs you watch are Blu-Ray, in which case there are several discs being released on the high definition disks that were already previously released on DVD. This week, the only two semi-big titles we’ve got are “The Eye” and “Flawless”.

“The Eye” Releases on DVD

The Eye

Jessica Alba stars in this horror film about a blind girl who is given the chance to see after a corneal transplant. Unfortunately for the girl, along with the sights of everyday life, Alba’s character is also able to see death capturing people and taking them away. She must find out whose eyes she has inherited and why they hold these secret visions. Critics have almost universally panned the flick, which received a C- overall. Alex Markerson of E! Online writes,

“So, there’s nothing in The Eye that’s scary enough to warrant closing your eyes. Sadly, there’s nothing exciting enough to keep them open, either.”

But Jessica Alba on screen for 90 minutes might keep your eyes open. See, there is an up side.

Flawless

Demi Moore and Michael Caine star in this diamond heist thriller set in 1960s London. Demi is diamond company executive frustrated by the glass ceiling holding her down. Michael is a night janitor with a personal vendetta against the company. Together they come up with a plan to take down the man and steal all of his diamonds.

Unfortunately, it appears that the movie never quite gets going. After the robbery, the film starts to get a little more unpredictable, but not necessarily in a good way. As a New York Times reviewer writes,

None of it makes much sense. In an extra, unnecessary layer, “Flawless” is told as a flashback in which the aged Laura brings her story to a magazine editor.

Also on DVD this week is the Third Season of “Weeds”.

See the trailers for the movies below.

Videos

Sienna Miller stars in the upcoming “GI Joe” movie as The Baroness. For the film, she has to dress in head to toe leather and be covered in blood. The film has been getting a lot of press, and while it’s not because Sienna Miller is a part of the movie, the fact that she’s walking around in skin tight leather won’t hurt.

Sienna Miller in “GI Joe”

Sienna’s role as The Baroness is a far cry from other roles she’s portrayed. In the movie based on the kids action heros, Sienna’s character is an evil, sexy woman who is always a thorn in the GI Joe’s side. Sources say she had a lot of fun filming the role. See more photos of Sienna Miller as The Baroness here.

Also appearing in the “GI Joe” movie are Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, and Brendan Faser. Depsite these names, Sienna was the first actor to sign on for the movie. The film is slated for release on August 7, 2009.

See a video of Joseph Gordon-Levitt discussing the GI Joe movie role of Cobra Commander below.

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Not many new DVDs releasing this week, but enough to write about. For both the big screen and small screen, we’re in the dead zone as far as exciting new releases go. But there’s a couple, so here we go.

“Rambo” Releases This Week on DVD

Rambo

Sylvester Stallone is back. In “Rambo”, both written and directed by Stallone, we find the always kickass fighter living a quiet life in the jungles of Thailand. That is, until he is hired by a group of mercenaries to travel to Burma to save a group of Christian aid workers. Fans have been waiting for more Rambo since 1988, but it looks like they might be a little disappointed. The New York Times writes,

“Rambo” is, for most of its fairly brief running time, a blood bath punctuated by occasional bouts of clumsy dialogue. There are beheadings, mutilations, disembowelings — enough gore to rival “Apocalypto.”

But if you’re looking for violent excitement, this might be just the movie for you this week.

Grace Is Gone

John Cusack made two movies about the war this year, “Grace is Gone” and “War, Inc.” “War, Inc.” is a satirical look at the capitalist side of conflict. But “Grace is Gone” is a much more emotional story. Cusack plays a husband whose wife has been killed in the line of duty in Iraq. With two daughters to raise, Cusack isn’t sure how to break the news, so he waits. Throughout the movie we watch him struggle with how and when to tell his 8 and 12-year-olds that their mother isn’t coming home. I’m guessing Kleenex are a requirement with this one - I needed one just for the trailer.

Cassandra’s Dream

“Cassandra’s Dream” is written and directed by Woody Allen. But with a plot that sounds a lot like “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei), it looks like Allen has backed away from comedy this time. “Cassandra’s Dream” follows two brothers down on their financial luck who turn to crime as a way to make some cash. When their Uncle Howard offers to help, by paying them to kill an old business associate, the brothers must come face-to-face with their decision. In the film we follow Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell as they deal with the criminal decisions they make.

See the trailers for the movies below.

Videos

The Indiana Jones review from Cannes is in and it starts with a 3 1/2 standing ovation from the audience. The film’s world premiere was Sunday night at the film festival and it looks like Harrison Ford will be enjoying another successful run at the box office.

Indiana Jones Review

Reporters and fans have made this movie the event of the festival so far. There was an overwhelming reaction to Ford, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas by both the crowd and photographers when they took the red carpet.

Before the film had ended, the festival sent out an alert that it would be reviewing tapes of the hordes of photographers on the red carpet, and revoking the closing-night credentials of those responsible for “inacceptable incidents.”

The film has been the target of many internet critics, but it looks like Indiana Jones fans aren’t listening. After all, according to Spielberg, they are the ones who got the film made.

“I never thought it was a gamble. Although, to be fair, every movie I’ve ever made is a gamble…but this was something I and the cast members were always asked, ‘When’s Indiana Jones coming back’?”

From the beginning, it was thought the movie would always be a commercial success. After the premiere at Cannes, it looks like it could be a critical success also. You can see more photos from the movie and the premiere below.

Photos

One of the Summer’s big-budget films is Wanted with Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman, which opens on Friday, June 27.

Wanted is the story of a twenty-something slacker, played by McAvoy, who is recruited into the “Fraternity,” a secret society of vigilante justice enforcers with lightning-quick reflexes and superhuman moves.

If you have not seen a trailer for Wanted, a huge portion of the trailer is dedicated to “curving bullets.” The whole curving bullets thing seems so gimmicky that it bothers me to no end. It just seems like some producers were sitting in a room and were like:

Dumb Movie Producer #1 “I just had a flash of brilliance. What if a hero could curve bullets?”

Dumb Movie Producer #2 “Curve bullets? Damn, that is mind blowing. That could be the whole focus of the movie and its promotions.”

Dumb Movie Producer #1 “I know, dumb viewers would eat that up without even worrying about a story or plot.”

Dumb Movie Producer #2 “Seriously, all we need is a $200 millionish budget, a smoking hot female hero, a young up and comer, and maybe we can get Morgan Freeman to sell out. I mean he did do Deep Impact.”

Dumb Movie Producer #1 “I like the way you think sir. I’ll blow the dust off one of our action scripts on the shelf, and get a writer to rework it in about 8 weeks. You call Morgan Freeman, and I’ll see if I can get Angelina Jolie’s agent to talk her into doing another violent, gun-toting, blow-crap-up movie between one of her UN missions of peace.”

Seriously, does anyone else find it just a little ironic that UN ambassador, peace loving, soon to be mother of 5, Angelina Jolie stars in all of these not so peaceful movies? Nevertheless, if you are amazed at the idea of someone being able to curve bullets, oooooooh, then enjoy Wanted. But don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.

Click below to see peace-loving Angelina Jolie in some of her not-so-peaceful movies.

Videos

The weekend movie releases are getting better every Friday - you can tell we’re getting close to the summer blockbuster season. As the movies get bigger, the previews get more prevalent and constant. That’s how you know that the movies releasing tomorrow are “Speed Racer” and “What Happens In Vegas”.

Speed Racer Releases Tomorrow

Speed Racer

For as many big names are in this family-friendly action movie, including Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Christina Ricci, and Emile Hirsch, I just don’t see “Speed Racer” being the big box office hit the commercials are making it out to be. Then I saw a preview promoting the movie as the perfect Mother’s Day movie. No way! This is a kid’s birthday movie, romantic comedies (or anything but “Speed Racer”) are Mother’s Day movies.

I’m sure there’s a plot in there somewhere - young race car driver uncovers an evil plot and saves the day to save the family racing business. It’s really about the visual stimulation with this one. Have you seen those neon lights - you might need sunglasses.

What Happens In Vegas

Now, this movie looks great - funny and cute, the way a romantic comedy is supposed to be. Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher star in this film about two crazy kids who go to Vegas, get hammered, get married, win millions from a slot machine, and then fight over the money. The trick is that whoever bails on the marriage loses the money, so there’s a lot of antics. And yes, hilarity ensues. But, just as you’d expect, it appears that the plot is predictable and characters one-noted.

See the trailers for “Speed Racer” and “What Happens In Vegas” below.

Videos

Remember the good old days of the 1980s, where Richard Dean Anderson could save the world with a Q-Tip and a Bic pen? The “MacGyver” television series ended in 1992, and since then we’ve been waiting for a down-to-earth hero who doesn’t need super powers to save the day, but rather just a brain and a couple everyday items. Well the time has come - the “MacGyver” movie is coming!

“MacGyver” Movie

The creator of the television show, Lee David Zlotoff, also has the rights to the movie, and he recently announced that he is in the planning stages for a big budget film revolving around the MacGyver character. So the big question is, in today’s world of gadgets and technology, will MacGyver stay true to form, or will he evolve with the rest of us? One can only hope that they at least bring back the mullet.

See more photos of the original MacGyver and a video clip of the television show below, to remind you why you loved it so much in the first place.

Photos and Video

The new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer is out for your viewing pleasure. If you were one of the many who saw “Iron Man” this weekend, you also saw the new trailer. If not, check it out below.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The fourth installment of Indiana Jones brings back Harrison Ford as Dr. Henry and this time he’s joined by Shia LeBeouf and Cate Blanchett. Jones is in a race with Soviet agents to find the “crystal skull.” There is a total of 13 skulls made of crystal quartz hidden around the world and the movie looks packed with action while the Jones crew is on the hunt. This latest film is sure to add to the $1.5 billion the movies have grossed worldwide so far.

As legend has it, at 5-years-old I jumped in the aisle and started clapping during “Raiders of the Lost Ark” so needless to say I can’t wait to see this one. Can’t believe that was 27 years ago. Steven Spielberg’s summer blockbuster opens May 22.

You can see photos from the movie and the new trailer below.

Photos and Video

Just two movies coming out this weekend, but they’re both getting a lot of airtime as far as previews go. If you didn’t know that “Iron Man” and “Made of Honor” were the movies releasing tomorrow, I’m not sure what you were doing for the past few weeks. It’s like no matter where I look, there’s Robert Downey, Jr. and Patrick Dempsey, shilling their films.

“Iron Man” Releases Tomorrow

Iron Man

The latest in comic-book movies finds Robert Downey, Jr. creating a one-man army whose uniform gets better and better as the film goes on. By the third or fourth version he’s flying through the sky. The suit begins as a way to escape captivity, but evolves into a crime-fighting machine.

In “Iron Man”, Downey plays businessman Tony Stark who makes his money selling ideas to the military industry. Of creating the character, Stan Lee said, “I’m gonna make him the kind of guy that normally young people hate.” The comic book was set in the 1963, when America was at war with Vietnam and Communism, and Stark was the proud capitalist businessman who moonlighted as Iron Man. For a great political commentary of the whole idea of capitalist as hero, check out this Slate article. I never read the comic books, so it makes me want to see how bad Tony Stark really is.

Made of Honor

Romantic comedies follow one of three plotlines: (1) crazy love triangle, (2) boy and girl fall madly in love, but must be separated for one reason or another before finding each other again, and (3) friends become lovers. Typically, in the third variety, one friend realizes he loves the other just one minute too late, and the other friend has already moved on, giving up on her life-long dreams of romance with the first friend in the minute just before. And that’s what we seem to have here with “Made of Honor”. While I like the cast (Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan), the plot seems like a poor twist on the old friends become lovers story. And the critics agree. With a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems that movie was almost universally panned. But I’m sure Dempsey still makes for good eye candy for an hour and a half.

See the trailers for “Iron Man” and “Made of Honor” below.

Videos