Martin Scorcese directing 'Hugo Cabret' in 3D

Martin Scorcese has done a variety of different projects in the past, but his next film may be a long stretch from what he's done most recently. The Oscar nominated director has announced that his next film will be an adaptation of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a science fiction childrens novel. I've always thought of Scorcese as a diverse film maker, but I never thought he'd actually come to this genre sanely. Perhaps Shutter Island wacked him off the looney bin.

Making this venture an even more surreal experience, Scorcese has opted to film the movie in 3D. I never thought that Scorcese of all people would take the 3D route. Then again I never thought he'd actually make a childrens movie, but I was wrong. I think it will without a doubt be an interesting and unique film, despite the fact that I don't really care about the plot presently. When the first trailer comes out I will care about the plot. This may actually turn out to be better than Scorcese's latest film.

Joss Whedon putting together 'The Avengers'

At first I was sad that Jon Favreau (Iron Man 2) wasn't going to direct The Avengers, but now I think they've found the greatest man they could to direct the project. After short lived talks of Louis Letterier (Clash of the Titans) directing the film, Joss Whedon has come out of nowhere as the triumphant director of the anticipated film that's been coming for years. So far we have only half of the group needed for the film (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk) and the other two are on their way next year (Thor, Captain America).

I'm really glad Whedon was chosen for the job because he has shown great prowess at directing all sorts of genres, and will be greatly adept at blending the comedy, sci-fi, and fantasy aspects of the characters to create a singular vision. I'm looking forward to seeing Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton, and Chris Hemsworth coming together for this epic collaboration. Oh and...
yeah.

Trailer Tuesday: Sex and the City 2, Paper Man, The Other Guys

It was an interesting week in movie trailers, the least of which is the Sex and the City 2 trailer. I'll probably still see it because it unfortunately looks much better than most of the films coming out. Included in this trailer is (in order) cute, but annoying rhymes, annoying monologue, babies, more monologue, a brief look at Penelope Cruz, some random guy in white, the desert (the title lied to us), evil paraphrasing of The Wizard of Oz, about 40 seconds bad jokes, some guy shows up, something happen(!), female bonding, and finally cocktails. If there's something important that I'm missing or not understanding, I don't really care. Here's the confusing trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKNkVKKrDq8

Next is a sweet little film called Paper Man, starring Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal), Emma Stone (Superbad, Zombieland), and Lisa Kudrow. It's the story of a struggling novelist who isn't played by John Cusack, which automatically makes it different from every other film about a struggling novelist. Another cute twist is that his only friend is an imaginary superhero (Ryan Reynolds), and he starts a platonic relationship with a young girl (Emma Stone). It's a really strange story and if handled as jauntily and energetically as this trailer could go either great or mixed. The link for the trailer is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5LPfNfSBmo

Finally, from the writer/director of Step Brothers comes The Other Guys, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as cops who... alright. I'm not that sure about what exactly the plot for this film is, but from the look of the trailer it's pretty funny. The synopsis for the film paints the characters completely different from what the trailer shows us, but that doesn't really matter. I can't complain too much about this trailer, because it's a teaser, and it has Samuel L. Jackson in it. At the very least it will be 10-times better than Cop Out. Here's the link for the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1wy_E7h2Wg

Now how long do they expect us to wait for another Inception trailer?

'Percy Jackson' Star may be the new Spiderman

Sony seems to find content in continually pissing me off by completely ruining the Spiderman series. I personally can find no reason for them to do a reboot of such a lucrative and successful franchise. The only comfort I've had in this project is Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer) being announced as the director. I still believe no good will come from this film, and I am vindicated in my beliefs by the news of who they think they'll cast as the new Peter Parker: Logan Lerman.

As per usual I would not know, or care about who this guy is if he hadn't played the title role of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Soon I can call him out as the second actor to destroy his career by playing Spiderman, and this time in a film that won't even be any good. I can't find a reason to go see this movie, because it really seems like the same movie as the first, except again.

Fringe: Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver. Review

After last weeks monumentally good episode, it was nice to see the writers keeping the momentum going with this episode. I wouldn't want to start watching Fringe with last nights episode though, because it relies very heavily on the mythology of the series. There are names like Intrepis Pharmaceutical, Nick Lane, and Nancy Lewis that only somebody with vast knowledge of the season 1 episodes would be able to fully comprehend. The pacing is rather slow for most of the episode, and the Clue reference in the title only takes up a short 3 minute scene.

It feels like they tried too hard to keep people excited after last week's major episode, and forgot to make the episode exciting. Still this is a quality episode with a solid, if familiar plot. The bad guy in this episode is an old cortexiphan test subject, who has the ability to infect people with his cancer. I wouldn't have been as hooked on the episode if the first person he killed wasn't Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds)! The path of the villain for this episode is much like Nick Lane's in Bad Dreams. He has this great and terrible power that he doesn't have much control over, and he wishes death upon himself rather than killing more people.

This episode also deals with the consequences of the last. Olivia's stance on the whole Peter debacle is very interesting and complex. She's knows that Peter deserves to know the truth, but at the same time she doesn't want to ruin the "awkward family unit" that she, Peter, and Walter have going so well. By the end of the episode she is able to come to terms with the fact that "some Pandora's Boxes are better left unopened", only to find that Walter has decided that it is time to tell Peter the truth. I don't think we'll be getting to that immediately next episode, but we're getting close, and the less prepared we are for when it comes the better. My Grade for Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver. is 8.2 out of 10.

Weekend Update: 2nd Week of April

High On Celluloid is taking a short hiatus over the weekend, so I thought I'd leave you with my thoughts on this weekends releases, or rather release. The only major new film out this weekend is Steve Carell and Tina Fey's comedy Date Night. The trailers for it have been anything but irresistable, and I can't say it'll be the surprise hit of the season. I still think that it should surprise some people over the weekend. Critics aren't lining up to see it, but they don't hate it nearly as much as some of the other films released recently (Clash of the Titans, The Last Song).

Tina Fey exudes a great amount of charisma with the worst of dialogue at times, and Steve Carell can come across as a complete jerk and still be lovable. Expect their combined effort to haul in an apropriate $30 million over the weekend. Otherwise my only suggestion for this weekend is seeing How to Train Your Dragon before it leaves most of its 3-D theatres. Don't go in expecting a Pixar level masterpiece, but look forward to a better time than you're probably expecting.

'Cowboys and Aliens' adds Harrison Ford!

I'm really tired of the preproduction phase of this film, which has been lasting an unusually long time. This film is already one of the most highly anticipated films of whatever year it comes out in. Directed by Jon Favreau (Elf, Iron Man), and written by Damon Lindelof (Lost), Alex Kurtzman, and Robert Orci (Star Trek, Transformers), Cowboys and Aliens has had a rough casting process. After Robert Downey Jr. was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, he was replaced by Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace) to star along side Olivia Wilde. Now the latest casting news places Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Indiana Jones) in this epic Sci-fi Western. It's nice to know that work is getting done on this film. Just put it into production already!

Trailer Tuesday: A-Team, Salt, The Expendables, Step Up 3D

There are quite a few trailers this week so lets get right to it with the new trailer for The A-Team. I find myself somewhat divided on this film. At one time I really want to enjoy it because of its amazingly talent cast (Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson, Sharlto Copley), but then again these trailers suck. It feels kind of like a worse version of The Losers, which itself doesn't look too good but at least they gave us some semblance of a plot. With A-Team, it seems to be action and comedy simply for the sake of action and comedy which they've already tried to, and failed at doing (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra). As an added note, can whoever is playing B.A. stop trying to sound like Mr. T? Here's the trailer if you want to see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYvhqct2FMQ

Then there's Salt, which has somehow pulled off what I've long thought impossible: Making a film in which Angelina Jolie is not in the slightest way attractive (or at least as attractive as she usually is). Maybe it's because she is playing a role originally meant for Tom Cruise. All I know is that based on this trailer Salt is shaping up to be exactly the same as every other action movie the actress has ever done. The trailer does leave us unsure of if she is a russian spy or not. It also leaves not caring, and that's pretty much the vibe I'm getting from the trailer, which can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHUPQaK0XUc

Next is the trailer for The Expendables, the long awaited action film from Sylvester Stallone. With Stallone there is never a guarantee of quality, and quite often there isn't much. The only guarantee is masculine action, and there is plenty of it here. The film focuses on a group of hired guns hired to kill an evil dictator of a South American country, and they are obviously doublecrossed. If this film only exists to get the most bad-ass actors still alive (Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, and Arnold Schwartzenegger) into one solid movie, I'm okay with that. This film doesn't claim to be anything that it isn't, and for that I'll probably see it. But I'll let you be the judge of this trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6RU5y2fU6s

Finally, Step Up 3D. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this film won't be good. The first two films failed to give us anything motivating, or interesting, and neither will this one. The thing that makes prospects for this film so bad is that when the other two films were released they didn't have competition with Dancing with the Stars, or So You Think You Can Dance. The only selling point of this film is 3D, and at the rate ticket prices are excellerating I don't think people will be willing to spend that much money on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89TLbK6o-og

Please leave comments on what you think of these trailers. I could definitely use a fresh set of eyes on these films.

'Saw 7' to End the 'Saw' Franchise!

In my original vision of life 20 years from now, I felt that Saw films would be made until the end of time itself. Thankfully, I was wrong. According to series writer Patrick Melton, after the sixth film in the series tanked in the box office, they decided to scrap the eighth film and fuse plot lines from it into the seventh film. So perhaps the film will offer final heart-stopping revelations along with 3D effects, and "stylized gore". I rather doubt it, but it is comforting to know that we won't be troubled by this long, trivial, and boring franchise much longer. Once Saw 7 is over, to use the term used in every one of the films: Game over.

(Mid-)Weekend Update: 1st Week of April

Halfway through the weekend, it's already clear who the winner is at the box office. Clash of the Titans has finally hit and is faring considerably better than director Louis Letterier's last film, The Incredible Hulk. Despite bad reviews criticizing the film's poor plotting and false attempts at 3D conversion, audiences are still turning out for the action blockbuster, bringing in nearly $26 million in it's first day. Even the relatively smaller releases are raking in an honest living. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? brought in $12 million, in spite of its confusing trailers. Not to say that I'd ever consider recommending this film. Tyler Perry only ever was involved with one good film (Star Trek), so don't expect that changing any time soon.

And then there's The Last Song. I have long been saying that films like Nights in Rodante and Dear John are only attempts to capitalize on Nicholas Sparks' success with The Notebook, but The Last Song is absolute proof of it. The book only exists because Miley Cyrus wanted to star in a film like A Walk to Remember. She has that much sway in the natural course of events in the world, and it can only lead to hardship and misery. Sure the film brought in $7 million yesterday, but that doesn't mean you should continue seeing it. However if you really want to see an emotionally charged, tragic story just follow this link: http://www.hulu.com/watch/136811/fringe-peter

If you seriously want a definitely great film to see in theatres this weekend just go out and see How to Train Your Dragon in 3D, which I assume most of my readers haven't seen yet.

Fringe: Peter Review

Fringe has finally returned after its two month hiatus (Now we just need Glee to return and life will be fully restored once more), and from everything I saw last night the next seven episodes are sure to be amazing. Just not as amazing as this episode. The episode for the most part takes place in 1985 looking back upon Walter Bishop's quest to save his dying son. It's needless to say that Walter fails, and Peter dies. But that is just the beginning, and what happens afterwards will no doubt affect the outcome of the rest of the season.

For so long the show runners have been talking about their priority on the emotion behind the secrets of Fringe instead of the secrets behind the secrets, and until now I haven't quite been convinced of this. There's not just one, but several moments during this episode that are far more powerful than any of the forced tragic mishaps of any Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, Dear John, The Last Song) novel, and it's all due to the amazing central performance delivered by John Noble. I definitely see an Emmy nomination for him coming from this.

More than that this was just a beautifully heartbreaking episode, and I hope all of the secrets of the series have the same pay-off as this. The episode also sets up the inevitable reveal to Peter of the truth of his origins. And yes this episode does offer us more mysteries, such as how Walter tuned Peter in to our own reality, and whatever deal he made with the observer. It's also quite obvious to anybody that there will be consequences of what Walter did that may or may not have something to do with what's been going on this season.

No matter how unfamiliar with the series you are this episode is a must see. I'd speak about some of the problems with the episode, but I fail to find any except that after seeing this episode you may be motivated to look back at the previous episodes of the series to find something more. Michael Giacchino's score excells as it always has, and the cinematography in particular is quite stunning. The greatest talking points of Peter is its script and the actors who bring it to life. At the close of the episode Anna Torv does her best with almost no dialogue and brings across exactly what Olivia is feeling. This is the once in a lifetime episode that requires little knowledge of the existing mythology to get it's point across, and I'm convinced that anybody who sees will be moved in some way. My grade for this episode is a rare 10 out of 10 and you can see it at this link: http://www.hulu.com/watch/136811/fringe-peter

Paul Greengrass Taking a 'Fantastic Voyage'?

I've had little to no faith in James Cameron's decisions lately, but he may be on the brink of doing something that could partially redeem him. Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) is currently in talks to direct the remake of the scifi classic Fantastic Voyage. With Cameron on board we already know that the visual effects will be mindblowing, which may be the only thing Cameron is actually good at. Greengrass could definitely bring something more to the project. He knows how to direct extraordinary action, and can add a touch of realism to the admittedly corny story.

Whether Greengrass will except the job is questionable. Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, 2012) turned the film down because he didn't like the script written by Cameron. When Roland Emmerich doesn't like your script you know it's time for a rewrite. Optimistically that's just what will happen and we'll get another amazing action adventure from Paul Greengrass. So in other news Fringe returns tonight and offers plenty of revelations on the mysteries of Peter's origins so expect my review tomorrow morning.