'Lone Survivor' Rollout

Based on the book "Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10" by Marcus Luttrell.

Trailer doesn't quite click. The pieces don't snap together and a couple are missing. However, ' Lone Survivor' looks excellent. Universal likes it. Slated for a December 27th release.

Christmas this year is looking great. December sees 'Labor Day', 'Jack Ryan', 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty', 'Grudge Match', 'Anchorman 2', 'Inside Llewyn Davis', the next 'Hobbit', 'American Hustle', 'Monuments Men', among others.





















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Not Too Serious, Not Too Stupid, Just Right

I like '2 Guns'. And, I usually dislike pure action flicks. They're almost always so cheeky that it undermines the action -- makes goings-on so dumb that you can't take anything seriously -- or they work so hard to be taken seriously that it comes off dense, brackish, and (let's go all-in) odious.

Director Baltasar Kormákur did a nice job. '2 Guns' plays light and snappy when it needs to, solid down the middle when that's the way to go.

Love it. Should score.





















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Tight. Nicely Done

Usually, this kind of movie is so superficial it hurts. '2 Guns' may not be very deep but it doesn't seem superficial. There's a kind of subtext in these clips that gives proceedings weight you wouldn't expect, while the energy pops, keeps the fun level going, like you would expect.

Director Baltasar Kormákur has an easy way with the camera and handles the script well. Like, when actors talk over each other. There's a nice rhythm you don't get in product like this too often.

Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg take things seriously. It's so common to see performances phoned in with storylines like this. Not so much, here.

Had my doubts but '2 Guns' is looking like a cool popcorn flick. I'll buy this one on Blu-ray.






























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Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson Talk 'Pain & Gain'

Not the usual fluff. Worth a couple minutes.

Movie could be surprising.























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Totally Hell Yeah Pop-o-corn '2 Guns' Trailer Rock And Roll

Yeah, it doesn't take a genius to figure whether this is for you. I can't wait.



























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No Way. I Actually Like 'Pain & Gain'

So. I see Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson with the weights, big muscles, and an American flag behind them, and I see (in very small letters) it's a Michael Bay production, so I'm not pumped (sorry) to watch the flick or the trailer. But, what the hell, I'll give it a spin.

Starts situational, typical. Looking like a by-the-numbers sit-com-y comedy. Boring. Then, we get deeper into these characters and they actually seem real. Iron pumping cheeseheads, yeah, but like real cheeseheads out there -- believable. Now the movie is interesting.

Then, Ed Harris? He's in this? What's he doing in a movie like this? Who cares. I'm in, I'll watch this, I'm sold.

Then, we learn it's a true story and that's when the pieces start to fit. It had that 'too stupid to be made up' quality that makes you go 'wha?'. No screenwriter would pound this shit out. So, I look it up. This movie is based on the Sun Gym Gang killings in Miami in the 90s. Here's a clip from the Miami New Times:

• For weeks, he said, he'd been chained to a wall and tortured in unspeakable ways. He'd been forced to sign away his house, his investments, his bank accounts, his life insurance. In the end the kidnappers tried to kill him, and they nearly succeeded. Although blindfolded during the ordeal, he recognized one of his captors: a former business partner, a protégé. Help me, he begged Du Bois. He wanted his house back; he needed his money. But most important, he had to make sure they wouldn't find him and finish the job.

And all the sudden, just like that, 'Pain & Gain' has become must-see. Love it, can't wait, looks great.






















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Head-Slamming Trailer for 'Broken City'

Hard not to like this movie. It just puts its cards on the table. Refreshing.






















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I Own You

This plays like one of those movies that barely keeps its head above water at the box office but everybody wants to see as a rental or on TV/cable.

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I Knew It

I knew Hollywood would remake 'À Bout Portant', directed by Fred Cavayé. Variety says:

• Working Title is teaming with Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson's Leverage banner to remake Fred Cavaye's hit French action thriller "Point Blank."

Good. Great. Hope they get the right director. Jeez, the wrong guy would trash this. Here's the trailer for the original.





















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The Poster Was Broken But The Trailer Hums

Okay, yesterday I trashed the poster but I love this trailer. Story with some depth, characters with hidden agendas, twists and turns -- what's not to like.

Most of this takes place at night and the imagery benefits. Nice visuals/camera. Should be easy to watch.

A chewy flick that should make for a good rental/TV night.

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Conceptual Poster for 'Ted'

Previous versions with the Teddy bear sitting on the couch drinking beer with Mark Wahlberg were an odd mix of tone. This one is purely conceptual and it works. Conveys a sense of mystery, makes you wonder who the bear is and how/why he's alive. Also, you want to know what he's looking at on the screen and what he thinks of it. Gets you into the character's mind then embarrasses you because the character is a stuffed bear -- clever.

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New (Green Band) Trailer for 'Ted' Featuring a Real Living Mark Wahlberg

I don't get it. I can't comprehend this. Will this play? The Teddy bear is real? People will want to see a movie with a Teddy bear that is a real living being? And Mark Wahlberg can walk and talk, too? I just don't get it.



Probably won't play well at theaters but will do great on TV/rental.
















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Charlie Rose

A look at the film 'The Fighter' with director David O. Russell and actors Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, and, 'Blue Valentine' with director Derek Cianfrance and actors Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams

'The Fighter'

As different from the first trailer as can be. Total awards pitch. Looks like a good one -- character-driven with strong plot.

I thought this would not do well and the first trailer reinforced that notion. Second trailer makes me think 'The Fighter' will score.

Wahlberg On The Fighter

Here's a nice tidbit on 'The Fighter' with Mark Wahlberg and Brad Pitt. MTV story

We Own The Night

Yahoo has a first look at 'We Own The Night'.

Hitting The Target

There’s a certain kind of movie I really like. It clicks along with lots of energy, turns on a dime, and has visual panache. Director Antoine Fuqua produces this kind of work. In ‘Training Day’, starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, every scene is shot with an easy confidence that is direct as well interesting and fresh. Fuqua’s camera is never quite where you expect it to be, and this yields a visual pop and drive missing in many films of the genre. The story isn’t fluff either -- each scene in 'Training Day' builds dramatic tension through Act II, and character arc rolls out well with a strong resolution in Act III.

The projects Mark Wahlberg chooses have solid story and clean lines. ‘The Italian Job’, starring Wahlberg and directed by F. Gary Gray, spins out with clean energy and visual snap, and has car chases that are of reference quality. The sequel, ‘The Brazilian Job’, due in 2008, is getting good buzz and will be a must-own DVD. Wahlberg has, somewhat against the odds, become a go-to action headliner, playing the everyman who (somewhat against the odds) wins out in tough situations in ways audiences can connect with.

Lorenzo Di Bonaventura has similar tastes in movies. He shepherds projects that have a straight-ahead energy like ‘The Matrix’, ‘The Perfect Storm’, and ‘The Departed’. Each one of these stories is a good example of ‘painting your protag into a corner’ and forcing them to find a way out. These plots propel their characters headlong toward an unambiguous fate, and leaves audiences satisfied.

Di Bonaventura, Wahlberg, and Fuqua are the team behind the new thriller, ‘Shooter’, which opened this week. Wahlberg plays a Marine sniper who is enlisted to advise how an assassination of the president might be attempted from a range of over a mile. However, he finds himself on the run after the president is killed and he is framed for the shooting. The trailers I've seen have that live camera you expect from Fuqua and the story seems solid. This should do fairly well at the box office, and have excellent DVD sales.

Having a main character who is so talented with a rifle he can hit a target a mile away seems apt for these three filmmakers. Their talent for storytelling has the same kind of precision.

Shooter

Variety has snippets of interviews with Mark Wahlberg and Danny Glover and a sneak peek at "Shooter".