It Chapter Two Ends The Pennywise Saga On An Underwhelming Note

It's been thirty years since the events of the first It movie. All the members of the Loser's Club have grown up and gone their separate ways outside of their hometown of Derry, Maine. Well, all of them except for Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa), who stayed behind to do research on how to definitively kill Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgard). When it becomes clear that Pennywise has risen from his slumber and devour people once again, it's time for Mike to turn on the Loser's-Signal and call the other members of the Loser's Club home. Soon, Beverly (Jessica Chastain), Bill (James McAvoy), Ben (Jay Ryan), Richie (Bill Hader) and Eddie (James Ransone) have all reunited with Mike in Derry to figure out how to defeat Pennywise., though this clown isn't going down without a fight.

The X-Men Movies Comes To A Close With The Grim Snooze Dark Phoenix

"Make way for the X-Men, an outdated metaphor for racism from the 1960s!" - Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) in Deadpool 2

The X-Men movies have had an erratic track record in their nineteen years of existence but their highest points showed an admirable level of ambition that fit these audacious comic-book characters. Creatively gusto spin-off's like Logan or Deadpool took the American superhero movie into unique terrain while X-Men: First Class used a period era setting and a zippy tone to breathe vibrant life into a tired franchise. In that context, the already disspiriting low-quality of Dark Phoenix becomes extra sad to see, it's such an all-around lackluster production that's as groggy and lifeless as a hungover college student. All of the ambition that marked the best entries in this series is gone, replaced with all the enthusiasm of a new kid forced to publically introduced themselves to all the students in the class.

Bet On The Actors Excelling And The Camerawork Underwhelming In Molly's Game

Aaron Sorkin has been writing movies and TV shows for 26 years now and somehow, in that entire period of time, he's never directed anything before his 2017 feature film Molly's Game. This is especially regarding his TV work, the guy was the creator of four different TV shows, one of which (The West Wing) ran for over 150 episodes, and he never once directed an episode of any of these programs despite frequently writing the scripts for individual episodes. Taking all of that into consideration, it's utterly shocking he's taken this long to get behind the camera but he's done just that with the motion picture Molly's Game.

Mama Just Killed A Man....Put A Gun Against His Head...Pulled My Trigger Now He's Dead....

Now that It looks to be well on its way to becoming a box office phenomenon like we've never seen for the horror genre before (it already made $51 million yesterday and will probably make as much as $105 million by the time the weekend is done), it looks like director Andy Muschietti is well on his way to becoming a big modern day horror movie filmmaker with only his second feature film. What was his first movie prior to It? Why it was none other than the 2013 feature Mama, a horror movie executive produced by Guillermo Del Toro (who is additionally credited as "presenting" the movie) that debuted back in January 2013.

A Strong Jessica Chastain Performance, A Quiet Atmosphere And Some Cute Animals Are All Notable Elements Of The Zookeeper's Wife

The opening scene of The Zookeeper's Wife is so awesome and something I would have been more than happy to watch for six or seven hours or even longer. For a few minutes, we get to just see Jessica Chastain romp around the zoo she runs with her husband and it's so cool to see her interact with or feed a large number of wild animals. Seeing a gigantic hippo tranquilly eat some apples or watching a tiny camel run alongside Chastain's character riding on a bicycle is quite the entertaining sight. Bonus points for having a scene not long afterward centered on a super adorable baby elephant, even if it does involve the baby elephant in grave peril!

Miss Sloane Is All About Immoral Means For Moral Ends

The world of politics is a slimy place, as this most recent presidential election has most certainly shown. It's a realm that earns scorn and disgust from many and it's a place where Miss Sloane decides to tell its story to quite entertaining results. This John Madden film does not sugar-coat ts depiction of the turncoat nature of this aspect of American society, instead plopping viewers right into the middle of morally dubious politicians and even have our protagonist be a human being whose got no qualms with doing things that redefine unethical in order to score another victory. That human being in question is the titular Miss Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain).

Take Shelter Review (Classic Write-Up)

Why hasn't Take Shelter gotten more recognition in the half-a-decade since its release? This 2011 Jeff Nichols movie got super positive reviews upon its initial release, so it's hard to call it "underrated" per se, but it does feel like the film doesn't come up enough in cinema-related conversations, especially when it comes to movies depicting mental illnesses. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be shocked Take Shelter is an underrated motion picture considering it stars two of the most talented yet undervalued actors in Hollywood and is written and directed by a man by the name of Jeff Nichols.

The Huntsman: Winter's War Review

Despite what the television advertisements and trailers have told you (to the point that the majority of the marketing materials have a voice-over declaring that this is "The story before Snow White"), The Huntsman: Winter's War is not entirely a prequel to the profitable but mostly forgotten 2012 feature Snow White & The Huntsman. Now, it's first act is indeed set prior to that original movie, but that's mostly an extended prologue to the film proper. The part of the story that is indeed "the story before Snow White" mostly concerns itself with establishing that The Evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) from the first movie had a sister, Freya (Emily Blunt), who was a normal individual until her infant child was murdered by the offspring's father.

Jessica Chastain Continues To Be Awesome, Launches Production Company With An Emphasis on Female Filmmakers

They said it couldn't be done.
They said it was impossible.

Could an actor who has managed to ace it in roles ranging from playing a French leopard, an astronaut and the person behind the killing of Osama Bin Laden possibly get any more awesome?

Today, the answer to such an eon old inquiry has been answered, as two-time Academy Award nominated actor Jessica Chastain has announced she'll be starting up a production company called Freckle Films, which will have a first look deal with Maven Pictures, which has produced Girl Most Likely, Black Nativity and the upcoming Andrea Arnold motion picture American Honey.

Chill Out (I'm So Sorry For That Pun) With The First Trailer For The Huntsman: Winter's War

I didn't really care all that much for Snow White And The Huntsman, a forgettable feature that I freely admit wasn't a torturous experience, but was certainly a cookie-cutter experience that wasted the talents of its two lead actors (Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth), with only Charlize Theron getting to go hog-wild as a scenery chewing bad guy. Normally, a sequel wouldn't be anywhere near my radar, but this follow-up, entitled The Huntsman: Winter's War, has made a number of smart decisions to get my interest.

Crimson Peak Review

God bless Guillermo Del Toro. He's such a fascinating filmmaker, so obviously in love with the worlds he creates, it's endlessly charming. Also fun to see is how much variety there is in his filmography in terms of what genres he'll explore. Fantasy for Pan's Labyrinth, sci-fi for Pacific Rim, and now dramatic supernatural romantic period piece horror in Crimson Peak. That description may make the project sound like a hodgepodge of a creation, but don't fret, it's instead a delightful mixture that utilizes each of its distinct individual elements to their fullest potential.

The Martian Review

Just before Mark Watney (Matt Damon) attempts to grow some food on the surface of Mars (the planet where he's been inadvertently stranded), he makes a video log where he declares that the planet "...will soon fear [his] botany skills". Some rock music follows that line immediately as he walks to a crate carrying human excrement that he'll use as soil for his crops. It's a moment that sounds preposterous when I describe it, but given how well the film, even this early on in the running time, has developed Mark as a protagonist more than worth rooting for, this potentially ludicrous occurrence instead becomes exceedingly exciting.

Snow White & The Huntsman Prequel Adds Emily Blunt & Jessica Chastain, Toys With My Emotions

I've always found the 2016 feature The Huntsman, a prequel to 2012's Snow White & The Huntsman, to be a peculiar project. I didn't hate the aforementioned fantasy film from three years back, and it did make almost $400 million worldwide, but I didn't feel like it had that much of a fanbase to warrant a continuation. Apparently, it has, with the project being developed for several years now and finally being released next year, specifically on April 22, 2016.

Guillermo Del Toro+Gothic Imagery+Awesome Cast=Crimson Peak Trailer

The works of Guillermo Del Toro thrive on captivating imagery, and it looks like his next film, Crimson Peak, will follow suit. There's some top-notch talent in here (Jessica Chastain and Tom Hiddleston? Be still my beating heart!) and it looks like he's pulled out some extraordinary visuals here. Not too surprising on the latter, but it's still awesome to watch. Check out the teaser below!

A Most Violent Year Review

Year And Loathing In New York City

You can be easily forgiven for not knowing the name of movie studio A24 right off the bat. Disney, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox...who doesn't know the names, logo or theme music for those studios? But A24, despite the smaller box office it's films generate, has generated quite a reputation. They distribute very unorthodox cinematic fare (like Under The Skin or Spring Breakers) usually to glowing reviews. A Most Violent Year is the newest distribution effort from A24, a film that counts as the third directional effort of JC Chandor, who previously helmed All Is Lost and Margin Call.

 

My Current Best Supporting Acting Nominee Predictions!! (January 1, 2015 Edition)

Well, here's the final (for now!) set of my Oscar predictions. This time around, I'm covering the Supporting Acting categories, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress specifically. Shall we get this started then?

Aaron Sorkin Written Steve Jobs Movie Loses Home At Sony, But All Hope Is Not Lost

It's been a rough road for the Steve Jobs biopic written by Aaron Sorkin. David Fincher was supposed to direct it, make it a nice Social Network reunion, but he passed. Then, Danny Boyle came on as director, only for lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio to pass. Christian Bale, who had been floated around as a lead for the project when Fincher was directing, reattached himself to the project, and then left it. Michael Fassbender was in talks to play the lead of Steve Jobs, while Seth Rogen, Jessica Chastain and Scarlett Johnansson were in discussions for roles in the feature.

Interstellar Review

Flawed In Space

Space is a glorious vessel for cinematic storytelling, whether it's Luke Skywalker's many voyages into the cosmos or Stanley Kubrick using space as a backdrop for a look at humanity. So many stories, of widely varying degrees of quality, have been told within those far off stars, so it was inevitable for Christopher Nolan to send his own sci-fi tale into orbit.

A Tetris Movie Is Actually Happening And I Have An Idea For The Films Plot

Video games haven't exactly had the bets success being translated into film, but over the next few years, a resurgence of video game features will try to get more high-quality features in that particular genre created. The likes of Assassins Creed, Angry Birds and World of Warcraft will be brought to the big screen, and now Tetris can be added to the slate of upcoming films based on video games.

Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac Are In Trouble In Trailer For A Most Violent Year

Jessica Chastain is one of my favorite actors working right now, with her work in the likes of Zero Dark Thirty being simply astounding. And Isaac was already pretty great in his role in Drive, but as the lead in Inside Llewyn Davis, he was phenomenal. Now, the two have been paired toegtehr for the forthcoming drama A Most Violent Year. A24 is releasing this film at the very end of 2014, on New Year's Eve to be precise, and now they've unveiled a trailer you can catch below.