For A Few Movies More

This Is 40

Finally! It feels like This Is 40, the spiritual successor to Knocked Up, was announced an eternity ago. And while there’s no question that there is going to be an army of Apatow fans left with smiles plastered to their faces with the arrival of this debut trailer, I’m going to stick my neck out and mark myself for ridicule by confessing that the footage featured below really doesn’t do anything for me.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s most definitely a pleasantly sweet vibe about the trailer, but I guess I expected something, I don’t know, funnier maybe? I mean forget that you ever saw Knocked up for a moment and put yourself in the shoes of an absolute newcomer, would you watch This Is 40 based solely off the sneak peek revealed here? Probably not.

With such minor quibbles out of the way, This Is 40 looks like classic Apatow. There’s an obvious balance of laughs and drama, allowing for another layered dose of comedy, while Rudd and Mann’s characters appear to be as endearing as they were the first time around. Despite my earlier complaints I’m still eagerly awaiting This Is 40, but I can’t help but to feel like this trailer is severely underselling the film.

Directed By Judd Apatow

Starring Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann and Jason Segel

You know that expression less is more? Well that’s a rule that most definitely doesn’t apply to the shameless horror comedy Braindead (also known as Dead Alive to North American audiences). A bloody affair that revels in its own silliness, Braindead is a film that has become infamous for two distinct reasons. Firstly, this is a splatter flick that is often referred to as one of, if not the goriest film of all time. Intestines are spilt, flesh is graphically ripped and limbs are torn off amongst other horrific acts, but we’ll spend more time discussing such gruesome delights later. The second reason Braindead has transcended its humble roots and become something of a must see affair for all self-respecting horror fans is because of one Peter Jackson taking care of the directorial duties. And just so there’s no confusion, we’re talking Lord Of The Rings, Academy Award winning Peter Jackson here. Not some sneaky Spanish imposter making gore films in his mother’s basement (El Padro Jacksone?).

At its core, Braindead tells a sweet and tender love story between a sheltered young man, Lionel (Timothy Balme), and a sweet if not socially awkward girl, Paquita (Diana Penalver). Throw into the mix Lionel’s overbearing mother Vera (Elizabeth Moody) who refuses to let go of her fully-grown son and you have classic romantic comedy material on your hands. However since the title of the film is Braindead and the poster for which features an image of a woman tearing open her mouth to reveal some sort of undead entity residing inside, this is clearly not your traditional rom-com.

Greetings all, and welcome to a new edition of Fun Stuff Friday. For my first contribution to everyone’s favourite serial post, I thought I might break with tradition and not feature any horror or zombie-related stuff whatsoever. It’s high time Dean gave up his bloodied and gory stronghold on this column and realise that girls read our website too.

So instead of your usual fan-made posters of Tarantino films or Hammer Horror Action Figures, I’m going to make this a female-friendly post, so us members of the fairer sex can have a reprieve from all that blood (I mean, once a month is enough). Be prepared to be delighted as you peruse Twilight fan art, rom-com quote Tees, Lego recreations of scenes from films based on the work of Nicholas Sparks, and a Channing Tatum tribute clip. As a girl I’m putting my foot down and saying “No more!” to Star Wars-related paraphernalia! George Lucas has been riding that wave for long enough! Let Stephenie Meyer have a turn!

Girls — enjoy.

As it has so oft been said before in movie trailers, “This is it!”. “The time has come…” “The wait is finally over…” … say it however you like. Marvel has been promising it for years now. They have teased and tantalized us with clues about it in the tails of “Iron Man” , “The Incredible Hulk”, and “Thor”. They have been biding their time, just waiting to bring out the big guns. And we have all been looking forward to it. Go on. Admit it. You were at least a little excited when those of us who stuck around until the end of the credits of “Iron Man” back in 2008 were first introduced to Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. That brief scene at the end of “Iron Man”’s credits simply crackled with the static electricity of a much bigger adventure to come. It seemed so far away then, didn’t it? 2012?! That’s ages away! And anyway, aren’t we all supposed to be wiped out by the end of the world by then, or something? We’ll never get to see it!

Ah! But we do! And now it has landed. It is here. The culmination of Marvel’s last four years of movie making, with the exception of “Spiderman” whose solo career is set to take off in a big way later this season. (Please, Marc Webb! Don’t let us down!) A lot of stock has been invested in this one, both by the producers, and by the fans. And does the film deliver the goods? Read on to find out…

Tsubura (Wagatsuma Miwako) is a high school teenager who harbours a mostly innocent, though still unhealthy, infatuation towards her wimpy Biology teacher, Madoka-sensei (Saitô Yôichirô). Tsubura’s best friend En (Satsukawa Aimi) tolerates the inappropriate pining while dealing with a suitor of her own — classmate and next-door neighbour Maru (Sometani Shôta). One day after school, Tsubura finds she cannot hold her feelings in any longer, and forces herself on Madoka-sensei. To the surprise of both of them, they end up with each other’s genitals — just like a drawing Tsubura had done in her Biology notebook. Confronted with this impossibility, Tsubura and Madoka retreat to the teacher’s childhood home in the countryside to try and figure things out. But En, and then Maru, figure out something is up, and before long all four are crammed together in the small house, waiting for the pent-up feelings of a love-circle to explode.

This week we bring to you the latest movie poster art for Area 407, Chernobyl Diaries, Cowboys n’ Angels, On The Road, Stash House, Jack And Diane, Girl In Progress, House At The End Of The Street, The Pact and Neighbourhood Watch.

Click on each individual thumbnail to enlarge the image or continue on after the jump to see a larger version of the entire gallery.

The Five Year Engagement Red Band Trailer

When I first head of The Five Year Engagement, every fibre of my being wanted to hate it. Everything about it just looked so uninspired and bland. However as more snippets of footage of it have been revealed with each subsequent trailer released, my expectations for the film have grown substantially. This actually looks like it could be a sweet, tender comedy that, shock, horror, might actually appeal to both sexes. Expect this to be a huge hit with couples.

Directed By Nicholas Stoller

Starring Jason Segel, Emily Blunt and Chris Pratt

It’s that time again. It’s time for the week to come to an end, for all us hard-working schlubs to escape work momentarily and enjoy the weekend, but more importantly, it’s time for Fun Stuff Friday! What is Fun Stuff Friday you ask new reader, only the most entertaining anything you’ve ever seen. But that might be underselling it slightly. Fun Stuff Friday is an exploration of the human condition, a journey to the soul of humanity, and it also contains pictures of baby Chewbacca looking all cute and stuff. So in conclusion, it’s awesome.

So what have we found in the darkest corners of the Internet this week? Well first up how does a sweet looking poster for a schlocky horror movie based on the Rancor monster from Return Of The Jedi sound? Not your kind of thing? Well we also have a clever edit of Back To The Future 3 that sees the film re-envisioned as an old-fashioned silent film. Still not your thing? Wow you’re really fussy. Well how about a video that sees Mario going postal on the Mushroom Kingdom. Sounds great you say. Good, now we can be friends again. So anyways, I hope you enjoy this edition of Fun Stuff Friday and I’ll see you again next week with some more crazy stuff from around the Net. So until we meet again faithful reader, stay safe and watch some movies!

Ah Battleship, a formidable foe you are. Earlier this year I proudly branded you my least anticipated film of 2012, an act that may have been a little rash in hindsight. Initially I could see no possible way that this adaptation of a popular board game could amount to anything more than a laughably woeful experience. The trailers promoting the film did no favors for its cause either, the small glances we were granted of what it held in store made promises of an uninspired Transformers clone. Now having seen the film, I can confirm that in many ways the film certainly is both the woeful experience and uninspired Transformers clone we all expected, however with such obvious critical observations of out the way, it’s hard not to also say that Battleship is a ridiculously entertaining bought of mindless thrills that’s equally parts hilariously cheesy and just plain fun.

The plot for Battleship is simple; Aliens have begun the early stages of a hostile invasion and it’s up to an American and Japanese naval fleet to stop them. Oh and in case you though you were going crazy, no, alien invaders weren’t a part of the original Hasbro board game. So while such an out there addition may seem silly, these intergalactic visitors make for a far more entertaining film than if they had been replaced by the original enemy naval fleet. This simple straight to the point plot is indeed effective enough for a production of this sort that’s more focused on explosions than storytelling, however there’s no hiding the inane, pointless subplots that have clearly been added just to give all the characters something to do. But while the flow of the plot may stutter, drag and hit dead ends frequently, the story’s many beats are still built-up effectively and are capitalised on in a commendable fashion.

Looper Teaser Trailer

Time travel movies are kind of my thing and I’ve got to say, this looks border line amazing. We’re only given the briefest of looks at what this timeline jumping head-spin holds, but this sneak peak shows more than enough to let me to know that I want to see a whole lot more of it. Seriously, just watch the trailer and see for yourself.

Directed By Rian Johnson

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt