This Is the End (2013)

[comedians in midst of apocalypse]

This Is the End (2013)

IMDB- 7.2

RottenTomatoes- 84%

RJG Rating- 80

6 movie stars lock themselves in James Franco's house as the apocalypse begins.

Starring- James Franco,Jonah Hill,Seth Rogen,Jay Baruchel,Danny McBride,Craig Robinson

Directors-  Evan Goldberg , Seth Rogen 

The movie stars the current generation of top comedians ,and they dont disappoint one bit.

The actors manage to bring in their real life chemistry into the movie thus giving This Is the End its major selling point.Jay,Seth,James,Jonah,Danny,Craig all give excellent performance and they are at complete ease playing an over the top version of their real lives.

The actors performance does a great job in hiding the not so strong story.Without the combination of the main stars the story would have definitely fell apart.The story has its twists and turns but is mainly a collection of skits on what comedians would do in an apocalypse.The story does a good job blending in the actors role and gives everyone importance.

Direction by Seth and Evan was very good.Realizing the story wasnt too strong they utilize the comic talents of the actors to the max.Helping the cause are the numerous cameos which keep the audience interest at a high point.The pacing of the movie was good but it wasnt very even.Some jokes ran for a bit too long.The comedy was great but would have been better had the story given it more potential.While the jokes were funny it depends on how well you know the actors.

Surprisingly the movie takes a turn into the thriller genre in the second half ,a good decision by the directors once again.

The visual effects werent of any high standards, but for a movie of this kind it was enough.

Overall,This is the End is a hilarious movie, if you are a fan of the stars earlier  works.

Acting- 4/5

Story- 3/5

Direction- 4/5

Comedy- 4/5

Suspense- 4/5

After Earth (2013)

[a totally worthless movie]

After Earth (2013)

IMDB- 4.8

RottenTomatoes- 11%

RJG Ratings- 10

A father and son crash land into a deserted Earth along with a man hunting alien.

Starring- Will Smith ,Jaden Smith

Director- M. Night Shyamalan

Within 5min of watching this movie i found it to be quite unbearable.Jaden Smith's slurred narration made the movie feel even more dull than it was.But this was just the start of a torturous 100min.Real life father-son duo, Will and Jaden Smith are the central characters of After Earth.They last appeared together in the brilliant   The Pursuit of Happyness.Their reunion on the big screen ,made expectations soar, but every hope crashed within the opening scenes of After Earth.

Jaden Smith proves to be a horrible actor with his performance.Along with the poorly written character he has to portray ,his acting skills are almost non existent.At times its hard to figure out what hes even mumbling about.

Next comes, Will Smith.The actor usually never disappoints ,but this is not such a movie.His performance can be compared to that of a wooden doll.He portrays a person without fear ,which he thinks also means is a person devoid of any other emotion.For atleast 80% of his role his main objective is to stare directly at the camera while giving his orders to his son.

Over acting is a major flaw which both the Smiths show in this movie.There is a lack of chemistry between them and they fail to lift the movie at any point.

The story for After Earth looks good as a 3-line story.But as a full fledged movie?Nope.The movie quickly rushes past a large chunk of the prologue.Logic is given the backseat throughout the duration of the movie.Characters are one sided and have no relatable or likeable qualities.The entire story is dull and just fails in every single department.

Manoj Night Shyamalan was one of my favorite directors ,with movies such as Sixth Sense ,Unbreakable and Signs.But today i wonder why hes even allowed to direct any movie.His direction is pure crass.The pacing is dull and never picks up ,even during the action scenes.Theres plenty of long and over drawn scenes which drags the movie needlessly.

The only ,and i mean the only thing thats good in this movie are the scenery and some visual effects.

Overall ,After Earth is one of the worst movies ive seen this year.Skip this crap.

Acting- 0/5

Story- 0.25/5

Direction- 0.5/5

Action- 1/5

Drama- 0.25/5

Thriller- 1/5

Visual Effects- 1.5/5

World War Z (2013)

[a so-so zombie movie]

World War Z (2013)

IMDB- 7.1

RottenTomatoes- 67%

RJG Ratings- 55

A deadly new virus comes close to wiping out the human population.

Starring- Brad Pitt

Director- Marc Forster

World War Z is Brad Pitt's first all out action movie in years.And he does sort of shine in it.The problem is that sometimes he goes over and beyond for this sort of movie.The supporting cast stays for just a short period of time ,giving Brad the entire stage to shine.He utilities this and does give a good performance, but i felt he may have overdone some drama scenes.Mireille Enos plays Brad's wife ,and shes pretty irritating at times along with the 2kids with her.None of the supporting actors make a good impact.All are one sided and are more than happy to die for Brad Pitt.

The story for World War Z is adapted from the novel with the same name.While the start is interesting ,it slowly starts to get monotonous after a while.Brad Pitt jumping from country to country in search of a cure ,start to resemble video game levels after a while.What started of as a movie that set out to show a different look into a zombie apocalypse , falls into the same predictable routine as other movies.Poor characters were another demerit for this movie.The so called 'solution' was not too clever either.

Direction by Marc was good.The making of the movie had a lot of controversy and delays but the end result shows no sign of such issues.The visual effects were great and did give the zombies a more lethal shade of danger.The world he has showed is pretty realistic and grounds this movie much more.But the pacing is an issue ,as the movie goes into a loop of similarity and drags in a few section.

The action scenes were good but they werent enough to pull this movie out from its faults.

Overall ,fans of Brad Pitt will like this movie ,but if you are expecting some fast paced thriller it might disappoint.

Acting- 3/5

Story- 2.5/5

Direction- 3.5/5

Drama- 2.5/5

Thriller- 3/5

Fast & the Furious 7 Cast gets Bigger

The 7th part of the successful Fast & the Furious franchise is expanding as each day goes by.The latest addition is Lucas Black.

Who is he? Well he was the main hero of Tokyo Drift! With the end of Fast Furious 6 ,we were promised to be finally connected to the 3rd movie of the franchise Tokyo Drift.

Although Tokyo Drift was the 3rd entry ,the 4th,5th and 6th parts were about events that happened before it.Tokyo Drift had Han killed ,and the final scene was how Sean (Shane Black) decides to race against Dom (Vin Diesel).

Fast 6 revealed the addition of Jason Statham in the next movie ,as the person who killed Han.Jason who is well known for his action movies such as Transporter,Death Race,Crank will play Ian Shaw ,brother of the villain of Fast 6.

Djimon Hounsou who is famous for his role in Blood Diamond also joined the cast.

Another famous addition ,is Kurt Russel ,who last appeared in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof.

Next up ,is Tony Jaa.This martial art superstar is most famous for his Ong-Bak series.

And just like Gina Carano joined for Fast 6 ,another UFC fighter will join Fast 7.And thats Ronda Rousey.

The original cast will return (except the dead characters) ,no news on whether Eva Mendes will be back (who is the only cast member of the earlier films, yet to return).

Fast 7 will be directed by James Wan (Conjuring,Insidious1,2,Saw) and will be released on July 11 ,2014.

Insidious2 makes a victorious start

Insidious2 makes a victorious start

[Sept13-15]

#1- It was yet another solid victory for director James Wan ,as his second movie of the year opened to $41million.This is the 3rd highest debut for a horror movie ,the others being James's own Conjuring & Paranormal Activity 3.This is also just the 2nd time in movie history that a director has released 2 movies in a year, that have both debuted to over $40million (the first being the Wachowski for Matrix 2&3).

Insidious 2 had the advantage of being released on Friday the 13th ,and carried the goodwill of Insidious 1 and The Conjuring.The movie was made for just $5million ,and you can imagine what kind of profit its already reaped!

But unfortunately it wasnt a clean sweep for James Wan.Insidious 2 has got below average reviews ,and is currently rated 38%. Critics complained the movie while having strong performances ,was low on scares and the story was poor.

#2- Luc Besson's action-comedy ,The Family (aka Malavita) ,opened with $14.5million.This is within expectations of the studios considering its a slow period for movies during September.The movie starred Robert DeNiro as a mafia head who goes into witness protection after he betrays his crime partners.Unfortunately the movie hasnt got much of critical attention.Scoring just 33% ,critics said it was just another bland and predictable movie.On top of that audience too weren't too happy with the movie either.

#3- Riddick had an expected steep fall ,as it made just $7million.The movie is struggling to recover its budget and has so far just scored $53million from worldwide collections.

#4- Butler continued to hang in the Top5 ,making $5.5million in its 5th weekend.With this the movie has made $100million just from its domestic markets ,a grand success indeed.

#5- Another grand success was the comedy We're the Millers,which made $5.5million.Making a worldwide total of $201million ,the movie is certainly one of the biggest surprise hits of the year.

2013 Top 10

#10-Pacific Rim-$406million

#9-Star Trek 2- $465million

#8-Oz -$493million

#7-World War Z-$563million

#6-Croods- $585million

#5-Man Of Steel -$661million

#4-Monsters University -$730million

#3-Fast & Furious 6- $788million

#2-Despicable Me 2-$840million

#1-Iron Man 3 -$1.214 billion (#5 on all time grossing list)

This week we primarily have one new movie ,Prisoners.Theres another dance movie called Battle of the Year ,which i havnt heard about until just now.Thats going to flop anyways.

As for Prisoners ,its my PICK OF THE WEEK

Prisoners is directed by Denis Villeneuve who earlier made the critically acclaimed Incendies.Prisoners has been getting excellent reviews and most critics are saying its an amazing thriller.It has a powerful cast in the form of Huge Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The story is about 2 children who go missing ,causing a frantic search by their parents.

Remember to check out my 2013 Movie Guide

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=597324636961131

Grant Gustin to play The FLASH !

It has been confirmed that Grant would play the superfast superhero ,in the TV show ARROW (which is about another superhero ,Green Arrow).

DC and Warner had earlier announced their plans to debut Flash in the TV show before he gets his own movie in 2016 ,which would later result in the Justice League movie in 2017.
Grant is most famous for his role in Glee ,in which he played as Sebastian Smythe ,a rival of the Glee Club.He did a great job in that ,and he definitely is talented.
But it has to be seen whether he can hook the audience attention with his Flash role.

The Conjuring (2013)

[one of the best horror movies]

The Conjuring (2013)

IMDB- 7.7

RottenTomatoes- 87%

RJG Ratings- 90

A family call upon famous paranormal investigators ,The Warrens ,after they notice strange occurrences in their new home.

Starring- Patrick Wilson ,Vera Farmiga ,Lili Taylor

Director- James Wan

The cast is pretty solid.Led by Patrick Wilson ,Vera Farminga and Lili Taylor ,they are able to shoulder the movie effectively equally amongst them.They give excellent performances and really help deliver this movie.Supporting the lead are the talented youngsters who play the 5 daughters.All manage to shine in their respective scenes.

The movie is based on the true story of the Perrons & the Warrens.The characters are well developed and its easy for the audience to connect or relate with the various characters.The story does its best to divert itself from the usual cliches and thus presents a horror movie that is fresh from the usual stale pile of movies we are treated to.

James Wan's direction is mainly based upon extracting the best from his cast.Especially in the very first stages ,when he uses absolutely no horror techniques ,he uses his cast to effectively scare you with their performances.A best example being the child who sees someone standing behind the door.Its pitch black but we do end up believing theres someone behind the door.James' has utilized his cast to their best!

The horror methods used is excellent and keeps the audience soaked in the the thrilling atmosphere.

The camera work is perfect and theres plenty of perfect scenes captured by the cinematographer,John R. Leonetti.The music by Joseph Bishara ,is a perfect choice and delivers the chills effectively.

Overall ,Conjuring is easily one of the best horror movies of all time ,and deserves multiple viewings.

Acting- 4.5/5

Story- 4.5/5

Direction- 5/5

Horror- 4.5/5

Drama- 4/5

Pirates ,Dinosaurs ,and superheroes

1- The 4th movie of the Jurassic Park series will be called JURASSIC WORLD.Set to release on June 12 ,2015 ,the movie will be directed Colin Trevorrow.As of now theres no news on who has been cast.

The plot that is rumored for the movie is as follows:

In present day Isla Nublar, where Jurassic Park is now an actual theme park , as originally intended by John Hammond. It garners 10 million visitors per year and is completely safe ....or so we thought.

2-Edgar Wright's Antman which starts the Marvel Phase 3 series (after Avengers 2) has been bumped to July 31 ,2015 ,which is 3 months ahead of the earlier planned November release.

3-But it was not a happy day for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales ,aka POTC5.The 5th part of the series has been postponed from its summer 2015 date ,and is now eyeing for a release sometime in 2016.The reason are said to be delay in production and the tight competition in summer 2015.

Riddick tops on a silent weekend

Riddick tops on a silent weekend

[Sept 6-8]

#1-Riddick was the only new release and it had no problem debuting at the top spot with $18.6million.The third part of the Riddick series (preceded by Pitch Black (2000) and The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)),Riddick follows the tale of an humanoid alien who gets hunted down by bounty hunters.The reviews were mixed but critics said the movie was better than the second movie and would be interesting to the fans of the series.Riddick has a rating of 60% ,which is currently the highest of the 3 movies.

#2-The Butler continued its foothold as it made $9million on its 4th week ,bringing its domestic total to $91million.

#3-The Spanish comedy ,Instructions Not Included ,continued to surprise as it raked in another $8.1million ,bringing the total domestic collection to $20million.The movie had one of the highest debuts for a foreign movie ,and is expected to reap much more in the coming weeks.

Critically the movie has been getting average reviews and is currently rated at 60%.

#4-The surprise comedy hit ,We're the Millers made another $7.9million.The movie has so far made $179million worldwide and has blown away all expectations.

#5-Planes continued to linger on in the Top 5 ,with $4.2million coming in this week.The movie has already made $121million worldwide and is making full use of the lack of any competition.

Last weeks #1 One Direction ,crashed down by 74%.This is the steepest fall for a movie in 2013!Luckily 1D being a small budget movie ($10million) ,it has already recovered its cost.

This is The End made a re-release collecting $2million ,edging closer to the domestic $100million mark.Its currently made a solid $98million and $17million overseas.

2013 Top 10

#10-Pacific Rim-$404million

#9-Star Trek 2- $462million

#8-Oz -$493million

#7-World War Z-$563million

#6-Croods- $585million

#5-Man Of Steel -$657million

#4-Monsters University -$724million

#3-Fast & Furious 6- $788million

#2-Despicable Me 2-$832million

#1-Iron Man 3 -$1.214 billion (#5 on all time grossing list)

This week we have 2 new movies ,both of which look great.

The Family (aka Malavita)

Directed by Luc Besson (Taken) ,this action comedy is about a mafia family who lives under witness protection in a quiet neighbourhood.Starring acting heavyweight ,Robert DeNiro ,the trailers looked very interesting.But theres a slight chance it could just be a timepass watch.

My anticipated movie of the week is

Insidious Chapter 2- SEPT13

story- This movie continues from the events of Insidious.

+ Part 1 was great and the director is returning for this one too.James Wan tasted success with Conjuring ,and he seems to be in great form.

- sequels are always a dangerous territory,theres a huge chance that the story is subdued.

Remember to check out my 2013 Movie Guide

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=597324636961131

Posters & Trailers

First let me clarify beforehand itself that this IS NOT the trailer for Jurassic World.Its a rough draft that was "said to be used" to sell the idea of Jurassic World.Check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZL_5xh4pjc
Looks pretty good,and a nice idea of how the Pterosaurs "feeds" in the modern day ,hehe.

WOW! A stylish and intense new trailer for the remake of RoboCop!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuVphAuRo7Q
Starring Joel Kinnaman,Gary Oldman ,Micheal Keaton ,Samuel Jackson ,Robocop will release on February 7 ,2014.
Can it surprise everyone like Dredd did last year?

Another beautiful Trailer for Gravity
Gravity has been getting some fantastic reviews ,with some comparing it to Kuberick's classic 2001:Space Odyssey.This is one movie that has become a certain must watch for this year!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiTiKOy59o4
This trailer shows quite a bit of new footage ,which might drain some of the excitement.So skip this one for now ,and watch it later.
Check out these trailers instead:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=654798851213709
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=696000143760246

It took almost 9 years for this moment! Ted and his wife ,from How I Met Your Mother!
Season 9 premiers on September 23 ,2013.

4 New posters for Thor:The Dark World !

The Eye of Smaug! New promo pic from Hobbit 2 ,shows Bilbo's reflection on the dragon's eye.
Reminded me of Frodo & Sauron from Lord of the Rings

First Trailer for Neighbors ,starring Seth Rogen & Zac Efron!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a96ELbUeHA
The movie is about a family who gets a new neighbor in the form of a fraternity house.
The trailer looks great with a whole bunch of comic cast led by Seth Rogen.But its directed by Nicholas Stoller ,who according to me has not made a great movie since Forgetting Sarah Marshall.Get Him To Greek ,Muppets and 5year Engagement were all below par.Lets hope Neighbors turns out to be good.
The movie releases on May 9th, 2014

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Transformers 4 gets an official title & Teaser Poster!!

The 4th part to the Transformers series ,will be called......Transformers: Age of Extinction!
This is also a clear indication that Micheal Bay is planning to bring in the Dinobots.The dinobots are Autobots who transform into ...well,into a dinosaur.The story is said to be taking place 4 years after where Transformers3 abruptly ended,and will feature a new set of characters.

Anyone looking forward to this?The movie releases next year on June 27th, 2014 ,and stars Mark Wahlberg.

1D Scores on yet another dull week

1D Scores on yet another dull week

[Aug30-Sept1]

#1-The concert movie of the British boy band ,One Direction ,scored the top place ,with $17million.This is a good debut and is above expectations ,considering many such concert movies have flopped recently (Katy Perry ,Glee). Directed by Morgan Spurlock (famous documentary director of Super Size Me) ,critics have given the movie 68% ,commenting that the movie is just for fans and wont be interesting to the others.

#2-The Butler finally stepped down from the top spot earning $14.7million in its 3 weekend.The Butler has become a big hit for the Weinstein Company ,and has so far made $74million from the domestic market alone.

#3-Another movie that has benefited from the dull movie period ,is We're the Millers ,which continued to reap success.With $12.6million in its 4th weekend ,the movie crossed the $100million domestic milestone.Currently the movie has made $149million worldwide and with not much competition in the comedy genre in the coming weeks ,it can still run smoothly.

#4-Disney's Planes proved to be a mild success as it made another $7.5million on its 4th weekend.So far the movie has made $102million worldwide ,which is not bad for a movie that was supposed to be a straight to DVD movie.

#5-Instructions Not Included made a fantastic debut with $7.5million.The reason its great is because it made that much from just 347 screens ,at an average of $21613 per screen (on comparison 1D made $17million from 2735 screens ,average $6215).On top of that ,its a Spanish movie!The movie is a comedy about a father and daughter relationship.

Meanwhile ,the other new release of the week ,Getaway bombed at the boxoffice.Making just $4.5million and getting panned by critics worldwide.The movie got just 2% ,and will find it very hard to recover its small budget of $18million.

2013 Top 5

#5-Man Of Steel -$657million

#4-Monsters University -$714million

#3-Fast & Furious 6- $787million

#2-Despicable Me 2-$822million

#1-Iron Man 3 -$1.214 billion (#5 on all time grossing list)

On the top 5, Monsters crossed the $700million milestone ,the movie is currently the 4th highest grossing Pixar movie.

This week we have just one main new release, and thats Riddick.

Riddick -SEPT6

story-the 3rd film from the Riddick series,follows Riddick as he is abandoned on a planet on which lethal predators hunt him down.

+seems to be satisfying for fans of the previous 2

-the Riddick series isnt too great.The first was average,the second was worse.And i dont have much hope for this one.The cheap visuals didnt seem to attracting judging by the teaser trailer.

3 BIGGIES OF September

3 BIGGIES OF September

August couldnt shine ,with just Worlds End managing to impress critics.September and October will be dull months with just a couple interesting movies.Here are the 3 anticipated movies of September!

Riddick -SEPT6

story-the 3rd film from the Riddick series,follows Riddick as he is abandoned on a planet on which lethal predators hunt him down.

+seems to be satisfying for fans of the previous 2

-the Riddick series isnt too great.The first was average,the second was worse.And i dont have much hope for this one.The cheap visuals didnt seem to attracting judging by the teaser trailer.

Insidious Chapter 2- SEPT13

story- This movie continues from the events of Insidious.

+ Part 1 was great and the director is returning for this one too.James Wan tasted success with Conjuring ,and he seems to be in great form.

- sequels are always a dangerous territory,theres a huge chance that the story is subdued.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2- SEPT27 (lack of details)

story- Flint discovers that his machine is still working and is now making food-animals. (animation)

+

-Marketing for Cloudy is really low ,and theres zero buzz about it.

If i had to pick one ,i would say im most excited for Insidious 2