Even though it’s based on a popular game (yes, it’s not just a rumor), director Peter Berg attempts to take the concept further, by having ships battle at sea against an alien invasion in the blockbuster, Battleship. Sound interesting? Well, don’t get your hopes up, because even though it’s got incredible action and phenomenal special effects, the story is completely unsatisfying.
With way too much backstory about the main character, Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch, you know, from that John Carter movie that no one saw), the movie starts off very slow including a short few scenes of him and his brother, Stone (Alexander Skarsgård, HBO’s True Blood) that could have been cut entirely. Let me quickly point out that the brother’s name is Stone Hopper. Stone. Hopper. Seriously. Anyway, there’s a pretty blonde girl (SHOCKER) that’s the Admiral’s daughter (really?) and guess what? Yah, Alex is in love with her. The pretty blonde girl is Brooklyn Decker (Just Go With It) and Liam Neeson pops his head in now and then as the Admiral.
The Dictator follows Cohen’s next creation, General Admiral Haffaz Aladeen, a showboating and semi-retarded dictator who loves his power and would do anything to make sure democracy never comes to his state of Wadiya, an oil rich nation located in North Africa. When the United Nations begins taking a closer look at Wadiyan affairs and sees that it may be building atomic weapons, taking the advice of his Head of Secret Police and Chief of Secruity, Uncle Tamir (Sir Ben Kingsley), the Supreme Leader decides to take a trip to NY to address the UN. It is in NY where, under the orders of his uncle, he is kidnapped and his body double takes his place in order to open Wadiya to the world. With the help of an exiled Wadiyan scientist named Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas) and a feminist and owner of the Free Earth Collective, Zoey (Anna Faris), General Aladeen will do what he must in order to prevent democracy from reaching his country.
Believe it or not, nineteenth-century England is the perfect setting for Hysteria, a story surrounding the invention of the vibrator. Rooted in factual history, this fictionalization of the inventor is light-hearted and immensely entertaining. Director Tanya Wexler treads the delicate topic with ease and with delightful comedic timing.
Hugh Dancy (My Idiot Brother) plays Mortimer Granville, a young forward-thinking doctor in 1880′s London. After his dismissal from a local hospital, Mortimer finds work assisting the very busy Dr Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce, Pirates of the Caribbean series) in his practice which specializes in the new treatment for hysteria in women. Dr Dalrymple has two daughters, Emily (Felecity Jones, Like Crazy), who helps with the practice and Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart), who disapproves of her father and runs a settlement house for the poor. In the middle of all this is Rupert Everett as Edmund St. John-Smythe, a wealthy, eccentric aristocrat and Mortimer’s best friend.
It has been way too long since we gave something away and so we decided it was time to change that. Thanks to Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, we have one copy of McG’s action rom-com, This Means War, on DVD to give away to one lucky Movie Buzzers reader.
The film stars Academy Award® winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), and will be available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download May 22.
For your chance to win a copy of This Means War on DVD, simply send an email to contests@moviebuzzers.com with the subject line “THIS MEANS WAR!” In the body be sure to include your full name, phone number, mailing address and the answer to the following question:
Based on the 1960s gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows follows a man named Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), the son of Joshua and Naomi Collins, two Englanders who built a fishing empire in a coastal Maine town which was then aptly named Collinsport. As a powerful playboy, Barnabas made the mistake of falling in love with a woman named Josette (Bella Heathcote—who also plays Victoria in the film) even though Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) was in love with him. As a result of her broken heart and the fact that she is also a watch, she cursed Barnabas by killing his one true love, turning him into a vampire and buried him underground in a locked coffin.
Who would have thought that after police academy Bobcat Goldthwait would go on to direct some of the oddest black comedies of our generation. The guy with the funny voice has managed to revitalize his dying acting career by moving to the director’s chair and utilizing the power of the pen. Goldthwait’s latest foray into the dark comedy realm is with a ridiculously entertaining satire titled God Bless America.
Starring Joel Murray and Tara Lynne Barr, God Bless America is about an honest and frustrated middle aged man named Frank. Frank, a good man at heart, has become fed up with his life and all the bullshit that encompass the world in which he lives. He is divorced and his entitled daughter doesn’t like to see him because there is nothing to do at his house. Additionally, he gets fired from his job because he sent flowers to a sick co-worker and, to top it all off, he is told he only has a few months to live due to a brain tumor.
There are very few blockbusters that manage to truly captivate an entire audience; to lift every member out of their seats for a truly magical and exciting experience that will leave a lasting impression which then drives you back to the theater for round two. The Avengersis one of those films and for a variety of reasons.
When Loki (Tom Hiddleston) comes to earth and steals the tesseract aka cosmic cube from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s headquarters and threatens the earth with an extraterrestrial army, Nick fury calls upon Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Hawk Eye (Jeremy Renner), the only heroes who can help him prevent the world from being conquered.
Kicking off the blockbuster season is The Avengers, which brings together Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and the only one without a major movie role to date, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Writer/director Joss Whedon is known mostly for his creation of TV shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Angel, and the cult sci-fi film, Serenity, which he also directed, and his gift for character development is put to the test with The Avengers, as it has to appeal to newcomers as well as fans of all the previous films. The result is a really fun film that’s is jam-packed with action and a story that is believable enough to get by.
Check out Alex and Melissa’s review of The Five-Year Engagement starring Emily Blunt and Jason Segal. Both agree it’s hilarious and should be seen this weekend.
In the latest attempt to turn historical persons into action figures, director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin) show us just how right you were when you first thought, “That sounds like a bad idea.” Leading the cast (in the role of Edgar Allen Poe) is the legendary John Cusack who is well known for his other action thrillers like Being John Malcovich and High Fidelity. Other cast members include Luke Evans (The Immortals), Alice Eve (She’s Out of My League), and Brendan Gleeson (28 Days Later)
Check out Brett and Alex’s reviews of Sound of My Voice.
Kicking off the blockbuster season is The Avengers, which brings together Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and the only one without a major movie role to date, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Writer/director Joss Whedon is known...
Narrated by actor and former Lake Stevens wrestler Chris Pratt (The Five-Year Engagement; Moneyball), On the Mat chronicles the Lake Stevens High wrestling team as they battle their way through the regular and post season facing a variety of trials and triumphs. The team has one of the best...
Directed by Stephen Maing, High Tech, Low Life follows two anti-censorship bloggers, the young and tech-savvy Zhou Shuguang AKA Zola and the older biking nomad with a camcorder, Zhang Shihe AKA Tiger Temple. As China continues to strengthen its Great Firewall to control the type of information that its...
Although not shot in black and white, but converted in post, While We Were Here captures wonderful shades that are reminiscent of film noir. Rather than shy away from the beauty of the landscape of Italy, writer/director Kat Coiro uses it to emphasize the characters. Leonard (Iddo Goldberg) brings...
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding is a film that’s fully aware of all the cliches associated with wedding movies and movies about falling in love and utilizes them, yet it still works. It would have been easy to sap up this movie, based on the novella about an upper...
Commissioned by BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) itself, BAM 150, directed by Michael Sládek, is not just a documentary about the Academy, but also the history of performing arts in New York. Using archival footage as well as passionate interviews with artists and leaders, this film inspires as well...
Scene: Brendan Fraser’s mansion. Fraser is watching George of the Jungle on Blu-ray. Enter Alan, his agent. Alan: Hey Brendan, remember Airheads? Fraser: That movie where I take a radio station hostage and then have a hilarious standoff with police? Of course I do!...
Tragedy struck the Hughes family and as they attempt to reconnect with each other at their remote family cottage, another family mysteriously appears and invites themselves to dinner. From first-time director Jeremy Power Regimbal comes Replicas, a terrifyingly gripping story written by Regimbal, Justin Close and Josh Close. Being...
Ian Fitzgibbon directs Death of a Superhero, based on the book of the same name, by Anthony McCarten. Donald (Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Love Actually) is a talented young artist who is facing his own mortality. As he goes through psychiatrist after psychiatrist, his parents finally introduce him to Dr Adrian...
