In June, the beautiful journey continues...

This is that time of the year when a movie lover can seamlessly lose himself in one movie after the other, jumping from one world to another in the span of a week, living a life of ecstasy and joy where there is no room for misery and disappointment. The grand Summer season! We have moved from the pure sci-fi thrill of Oblivion to the superhero saga in Iron Man 3, back to sci-fi with an emotional connect in Star Trek Into Darkness and then raced with pace in Fast & Furious 6. In many geographies, the last weekend of May could well end with more wonders from a killer planet in After Earth and the magic behind a heist in Now You See Me. With June, this wonderful journey is set to continue. Ride it along with these five movies that you should not afford to miss!

5) The Internship: Some comic relief is a must in an otherwise Hollywood era which is being filled with apocalyptic themes and superhero sagas. The Internship is vying to do just that with the successful duo of The Wedding Crashers, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, reuniting. And even if they were to miss a step or two in their comic acts, there is always the lure of getting a look inside Google and the treats it holds for its employees (even if we get to see an exaggerated version of it)!   

4) Monsters University: A Pixar film would usually be one of the most awaited films of the year. This prequel to the highly successful Monsters Inc. sadly does not seem to be. The trailers have seemed to lack the Pixar awe and I get a sense that a disappointment similar to Cars 2 lurks in the corner. Eh, how I wish to be proven wrong! It’s a Pixar film nonetheless, and so a visit to the theatres should be on the cards.

3) White House Down: Gerard Butler has already played the guy who saved the President earlier in the year. Now it’s the ladies' man, Channing Tatum, to do so! If the trailers are indicative of what the final product would be, expect lots of stuff blowing up in Roland Emmerich style, lots of cool action and lots of humour. White House Down is all set to be a perfect summer flick, where things do not make much sense and yet you enjoy rooting for the good guys. To be watched with buckets of popcorn and loads of pepsi!

2) World War Z: A zombie pandemic is set to destroy the human race and someone has to step up to save the world. No, this is not one of the Resident Evil movies. While the premise of World War Z may not be uncommon, it is the presence of Brad Pitt that puts the movie on another shelf altogether. To add to that, the trailer has showcased quite a staggering zombie pyramid; seems the people behind the movie have not held anything back in terms of visual effects, with the production budget close to $200 million! 

1) Man of Steel: June 14, 2013. That is the date to mark on your calendars. The day the famous Kryptonian arrives on Earth to protect mankind. He's done it before, so what's turning this movie into something that many across the globe are eagerly waiting for? The two men at the helm of things - Christopher Nolan as the Producer and Zack Snyder as the Director. It's a glorious partnership of two amazing creative men who have the task of building a story around one of the greatest superheroes of all time. If this itself was not exciting enough, the trailers and the TV spots have added more to the building frenzy. With this movie also being rumoured to set the stage for a Justice League film sometime in the future, Man of Steel does indeed have a lot riding on its shoulders. Will it live up to the expectations? Heck yeah, he's Superman after all! 

The trailer for Man of Steel below for another viewing before the D-Day arrives.

Trailer #2 for Percy Jackson #2

Having seen the buckets, tractors and trucks of gold that the movies produced on the back of the Harry Potter books generated for Warner Bros, one should not really blame anyone else for trying the same formula. That is human nature after all. And 20th Century Fox got good source material too. The Percy Jackson series, that has a set of five books in the original series and then a sequel series where three books have been published so far. A lovable, enjoyable book series, which while not in the league of Harry Potter, is refreshing in its richness of Greek tradition showcased in the backdrop of the current world. The book series has a large young fan base, the key factor needed to create another grand movie franchise. 

But alas, 20th Century Fox goofed up with the first one, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Many may not even be aware of its 2010 release. One can write elaborately on what went wrong with the movie, and why it did not really impact the box-office, but one needs to be in the mood to lament and crib and cry on things so terribly wrong with the world. I am not in that mood, so I shall let it pass. But if a movie maker was looking at how to get a franchise right, here is an older post outlining some basic suggestions, very basic indeed, but so often overlooked.  

The studio is giving it another try, for it still made some money on the previous movie, though nothing in the league of a Harry Potter movie. Maybe they will correct things in the sequel, the trailer of which is promising somewhat. But with the continuity factor prevalent in such movies, I wonder now if the Percy Jackson series will ever be able to reach its true potential on the big screen. Eh, that is someone else's problem, right? The second and latest trailer for the sequel, titled Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters is right below.

Blue is the Warmest Color

There ain't really any new story doing the rounds that's worth talking of much. Or at least I could not locate any. Fast & Furious 6 is clearly the hot topic with more than $300 million earned in worldwide revenues so far. But one has to move on quickly as the summer season does not really give the time to dwindle on a movie for too long. After Earth and Now You See Me lurk in the shadows. The real other big story is the conclusion of the Cannes film festival. And one is always eager to know the winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or, awarded by a jury which is currently headed by Steven Spielberg. So it is but appropriate to mention the name of La vie d'Adèle, or call it Blue is the Warmest Color, a French lesbian love story, that has been handed this coveted award. The rather sensitive topic of the movie has come under the background of protests in Paris against a same-sex marriage law in the country. And some are seeing a political angle in awarding the top honour to this movie at Cannes. 

“Politics was not in the room with us,” Spielberg said. “We just all felt (this) was a profound love story. We didn't think about how it was going to play, we just were really happy that someone had the courage to tell this story the way he did." That's it! A movie most of the times is nothing more than that, it is just a movie. Someone's imagination and creativity brought to life. It holds a soul of its own, invites you to share a journey but eventually you both have to go your own separate ways. Movies like these, would undoubtedly be pulled in a mire of controversy and politics, for rattling certain sections of society. But questioning the decisions of an elite panel in one of the film festivals to promote a political propaganda, is absurd. Despite being one who spends time in the world of movies beyond what may be deemed healthy, I too understand that a movie does not bring about radical changes in the structure of society. It provides a route for people to express themselves, it may inspire the ones who watch it, but it is eventually people like you and me who need to be the real difference, not the movies of the weekend. So give movies the space in your lives that it may well deserve, but not more. Nothing more. 

A clip from Blue is the Warmest Color. The complete movie though has a run-time of slightly more than three hours (if not edited for cinematic release). So in the near future, if you plan to sit through the whole thing, do not forget a tubful of popcorn and lotsa pepsi!

F&F 6 posts second best opening weekend of the year

If anybody ever doubted how fast the Fast & Furious franchise could go, think again. Fast & Furious 6 grabbed $98.5 million from its first weekend in North America, best of the franchise, about $13 million more than the opening weekend earnings of Fast Five. The sixth movie of a franchise does not usually set the bar, but this movie has simply upped the tempo in style; this is the second highest opening for a sixth movie in a franchise after of course the earnings of the sixth in the Star Wars saga. While Fast & Furious is running on full throttle, The Hangover has seen its demise with the third movie grossing the weakest opening weekend earnings of the franchise. It was nice to see Star Trek Into Darkness report a dip of only 48% in its second weekend earnings (anything less than 50% is what I consider pretty good!) posting $38 million in North America. New release, Epic, finished fourth with a pretty solid but not overtly impressive $34.2 million in its first weekend (about $10 million less than The Croods). 

So how good really is the opening of Fast & Furious 6? It's the second best of the year so far, and while there are a few movies lined up which would be aiming to topple this opening, notably Man of Steel, it's really going to take a Superman to do better than this. This is how the weekend earnings of Fast & Furious 6 compares with the opening figures of other big movies released in the year so far. 

No wonder, Universal Pictures is all eager to get the seventh movie zooming to theatres next year itself. How bigger can the franchise get? Or have we seen it peak? Movie business is such where you think you know answers to these questions, but you never really do. So till Vin Diesel and his crew return for the next movie in 2014, here's the video that was played in the opening credits with the lovely rap song We Own It in the background. Enjoy!

Singer-Whedon tussle for Quicksilver

This is gonna be fun. Disputes and altercations are not uncommon in the movie business. But when one springs out in the open, it is gobbled upon eagerly. This dispute surrounds the character from the Marvel comics, Quicksilver. Another one of Stan Lee's creations, Quicksilver is a mutant, a really really fast mutant, all thanks to the superhuman speed he possesses. He goes by the name Pietro, is the son of none other than the powerful Magneto, and twin brother of Wanda aka Scarlet Witch. And, what else? Oh, yeah, he is also part of the Avengers lineup, having been recruited by Tony Stark. 

And this is where the fun begins. Joss Whedon had announced previously his intention to include Quicksilver and his sister in the team for Avengers 2, which is of course a Marvel production. And then comes this tweet from Bryan Singer: "Before he was an Avenger, he was just a REALLY fast kid. Thrilled to say Evan Peters is joining X-Men: Days Of Future Past as Quicksilver.” Woah! Whedon would have been like 'What just happened here!?' 

This is what is going on. Marvel do not hold the movie rights for quite a few of their comic characters, most notably X-Men, which is currently held by Fox Studios. Now Quicksilver falls in the rather weird category of comic characters whose rights are held by two movie studios simultaneously! Marvel Studios owns the parts of the character’s history where he’s part of  Avengers, while Fox owns the parts where he’s a mutant and not included in the Avengers lineup, and neither studio can use or mention aspects of the character owned by the other. So Bryan Singer and Fox are within their rights to bring Quicksilver to the big screen in X-Men: Days of Future Past. What is going to annoy Marvel more is the fact that Singer's movie is slated for a 2014 release, while Whedon's sequel would be releasing only in 2015. So the bragging rights of introducing Quicksilver to the movie audience would be held by Bryan Singer. Hey, he's gone ahead and signed up Evan Peters too, the chap on the right in the shot below which is from Kick-Ass.

So call it what you want. Fox v/s Marvel. X-Men v/s Avengers. Singer v/s Whedon. Quicksilver v/s Quicksilver. It just made things interesting. Whether Singer has introduced this character just to have a bit off fun at Whedon's expense, who knows? Will Avengers 2 hold any continuation of the Quicksilver story that might be introduced in X-Men: Days Of Future Past? Highly unlikely. But would it really bother the movie watchers? Seriously doubt it. This would make up for some cool movie trivia though. In whatever fashion this shapes up, for there are articles that say things are being talked behind doors between the two studios, just make the character enjoyable, one buzzing with youth and energy, as he is in the comics. And that is how everyone will be happy in the end! Or whatever close to happiness we can come to...

Fast & Furious 6: Thank you, God, for fast cars!

Movie franchises, not based on a long and established book series like Harry Potter, generally fade with time, generate lower returns with the sequels, switch to direct-to-DVD releases and if it's worth it, may be rebooted at some point of time. Or else they end after a trilogy has been shot, for the pay-scale of actors, directors and practically everyone shoots up, once the three movies mentioned in their contracts are done with and been successful. But the Fast & Furious franchise has acted in its own strange little way. After Vin Diesel had opted out of the sequel to the original, and Paul Walker went missing from the third, the franchise was all set to end. It should have in fact, it seemed like the obvious thing to happen. But a cameo from Vin Diesel at the end of the third movie got the studio thinking, and boom... just like that, they got the old crew back, added new big characters, and have successfully transitioned the series from street-racing action to heist dramas, giving us three more delightful action-filled movies, with a seventh already underway! Wicked!

Fast & Furious 6 continues from where Fast Five left off. Dominic Toretto's (Vin Diesel) crew is still on the Wanted list but the members have safely relocated to various places around the globe, upgrading their lifestyles after the big haul from Rio. Enter Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and his crew, which includes a certain Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who are knocking off military convoys with a bigger plan in mind. Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) knows only one crew who can stop them (of course!). Time to call them out of their retirement. And what's in it for Toretto and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and the crew? Chance to take Letty home, and complete amnesty for their past crimes. Fair enough! What follows next is packed with slick action, action and more action, in the Fast & Furious style. Vrooommm!

Much of the credit for the transformation/resurrection of the series has to go to the director Justin Lin and the writer Chris Morgan who have been at the helm of things from the third movie onwards. They have scaled up the activities of Toretto's crew quite well, creating bigger personas and a sense of awe around them. Fast & Furious 6 works further in the same direction, establishing a reason to bring these wanted criminals back into normal society. The movie again excels in creating some of the most exciting car chase scenes seen in Hollywood, starting off with two cars accelerating across a narrow roadway in a mountainous terrain, a full throttle chase in the busy streets of London, fun filled street car race, and a massive finale in Spain that simply blows you away. If you thought the final chase in Brazil in Fast Five topped in terms of mindless but pulsating action and speed, you ain't seen nothing yet till you watch what unfolds in the last thirty odd minutes of Fast & Furious 6.

Justin Lin in his final movie as director for this franchise, makes this movie tick in the way he made the others do too. By shooting the riveting action scenes with some really cool camera placements, slick editing, and perfect sound mixers, keeping a simplistic plot around it, which even if you care not much about would not ruin your day. If for some reason you did wonder about the basic plot premise, you would find big enough holes in it that an alligator can nestle in. So better stop asking, 'how is this possible?', or 'why did he do this?' and enjoy the main reason one walks into a Fast & Furious movie, the action. 

As one would say that a car is not complete without its driver, the same holds good here. While none of these actors are walking away with the Academy Award, their dead-pan expressions and gruff voices are the perfect fit for these movies. The crew here has worked together for quite sometime now and the camaraderie is there to be seen. The broad theme of this movie is not surprisingly, 'family is everything'. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker fit well together, Dwayne Johnson flexes his muscles at every given chance, and return of Michelle Rodriguez kinda completes things again. The love between Sung Kang's Han and Gal Gadot's Gisele grows in its own way, while Chris Bridges as Tej and Tyrese Gibson as Roman shine in most of the hilarious moments of the movie. Jordana Brewster as Mia has a limited role in this one, but heck, there are so many actors to contend with now! Luke Evans, the antagonist of the movie, establishes a strong screen presence and his deep Welsh voice had me engrossed before with his performance in The Raven. Evans could be an actor worth keeping an eye out for; he would be seen next in the two upcoming movies of The Hobbit series. 

Two moments in this movie, apart from the car chases, which are worth pointing out. First, the fight scenes between Gina Carano, playing an agent assisting Hobbs, and Michelle Rodriguez. They have given the word 'cat fight' a different dimension altogether. Carano is a professional MMA fighter, Rodriguez is one of those few ass-kicking female actors, and put them together, they had a well-shot grueling combat scene, which made the other fights look tame! Second, the end-credit scene, of course. Boy, oh boy! Apart from the post-credit scenes of the movies in the Avengers lineup, I cannot think of any other where the audience went 'woooahhh!' at such a decibel level. And it deserved it, it was perfect, it was terrific! The tone has already been set for the seventh movie (releasing next year), with this end-credit scene and now Torreto, you gonna meet someone such as whom you have never met before! Get, set, go......

PS: Don't miss the opening credits as well. There is a montage created from scenes of the previous movies, many with Diesel and Walker in it. It sets the mood as the song We Own It by Wiz Khalifa ft 2 Chainz plays in the background!

Another planned reboot... it's Timecop this time

Aaah, another reboot. Another attempt to create a franchise. Another one of those ‘let us revisit the old, tie them up with a fancy ribbon and present it as something fresh to a new audience’. This time, they aren’t even going that far back. Oh well, maybe two decades is considered a time long gone by some. So as Hollywood Reporter reports, the movie that is supposed to get a makeover this time is the 1994 sci-fi Timecop. A movie I haven’t seen yet, but now intrigued, for Timecop is considered quite a commercial and critical success, something you usually don’t say on a Jean Claude-Van Damme movie. Imdb is surprisingly not that lenient with its votes; a mere 5.7 is what Timecop has received. The plot of Timecop seems to carry the same time-twisting enigma that movies of this genre have, with Van Damme playing a cop who regulates time travel and has to take on a rogue politician who wants to misuse it. The success of Timecop also led to a TV series and then a low-budget sequel.

A plot that seems could pull off some lovely sci-fi moments, which it apparently did. Back in 1994. So I’ll watch that one. I don’t even have to go back in time to do so. Why mess around with it? Beats me. Reboots / remakes, just like re-runs, are something I’m not particularly a fan of. A reboot of a 50-year old movie makes sense. While keeping the memories of the old one alive, the new director gets to spin off another tale for the modern times. Aka Django. Reboot of a franchise when it loses steam brings in its own charm. Aka Star Trek. Rebooting an old movie that itself failed to impress and make it better, is bold. Aka Judge Dredd. And a reboot could be the only option left when the original team packs up their bags, and you are clueless how to take it forward (not a big fan of this, though). Aka Spider-Man.

But the laziest thing to do is pick up a successful movie, not even that old, cast a new team, not even make the effort to shake up the storyline much, and then say, voila, here is a new movie! Aka Total Recall. One of the weakest movies of 2012, Total Recall did nothing more than ruin the name of the original of 1990. Hope that is not where Timecop is headed to! And to answer the original question, as to why do this, it still beats me. There is no dearth of good fresh scripts in Hollywood, no dearth of quality writers, no dearth of good directors. But what maybe is amiss are bold studios, who believe in creating classics for future generations to exclaim about, something that 50 years later would call for a remake. Studios encouraging something new, something different, showcasing to the audience a new theme, a new story to ponder upon. All that recreating the previous hit movies would do, alas, is lead to comparisons with the original. Will it be for the better or worse for Timecop, only time will tell…