After teasing us over the past few days 20th Century Fox has released the first official trailer for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus which stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall-Green, Patrick Wilson, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce and Rafe Spall.

You can watch the trailer below. It definitely has an Alien-vibe to it, and meets the hype that’s been building. Hopefully the actual movie does too.

Visionary filmmaker Ridley Scott returns to the genre he helped define, creating an original science fiction epic set in the most dangerous corners of the universe. The film takes a team of scientists and explorers on a thrilling journey that will test their physical and mental limits and strand them on a distant world, where they will discover the answers to our most profound questions and to life’s ultimate mystery.

20th Century Fox will release Prometheus on June 8th 2012.

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Young Adult is basically an R-rated quasi-dramatic train wreck version of Just Friends which starred Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart. While Just Friends was playful romantic-comedy, this 94 minute feature sees a depressed hot mess (Charlize Theron) setting her distorted sights on more than satisfied target (Patrick Wilson). Let the awkwardness begin.

At the helm is 4-time Oscar Nominee, Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air). His signature use of blending plausible real-life scenarios with subtle moments of comedy is usually pitch-perfect. This time around, he struggles to bring the script by Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body) together.

Mavis Gray (Charlize Theron) was the small-town beauty queen who made it out and found success in the big city; in this case, Minneapolis. She is currently feeling some pressure from her career as a fiction writer for a fledging young adult series (high school setting), and it doesn’t help that she just got divorced. To remedy this depression she finds herself in, she retreats to her hometown unannounced and secludes herself at a Hampton Inn with her socialite-looking dog, Dolce (makes sense when all she does is watch reality shows like The Kardashians).

As she pounds whiskey (straight-up), she decides the best way to get her life back on track is to seek out her first love, Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson). Buddy is happily married to Beth (Elizabeth Reaser), and the couple who never ventured away from the quaint Minnesota town, just welcomed their first child. None of this deters Mavis, as she bides her time – drinking while writing what she observes at random fast-food joints – waiting to win back her lost flame.

While this could sound like a typical rom-com, the introduction to the Mavis character thwarts all those stereotypes and/or expectations right away. The broken character is instantly thrown at you and there is nothing funny about this initially. That is until Patton Oswalt – playing the high school loser no one remembers – weaves his way in and brings with him the comical, and surprisingly substantial, moments of this script. Charlize Theron does have the talent to carry a movie on her own, yet there are doubts that without Oswalt’s presence, one would be tuning out about halfway through.

Though a key part of the story; Patrick Wilson is essentially driving in just above cameo mode here. In his limited screen time though, his actions and persona properly showcase just how far-off the Mavis character is; which adds to the entertaining awkwardness that pops up during all their scenes. Even just the wardrobe choices say so much about how off our lead is when mingling in her hometown. The duo does not engage in the most shocking banter, and it is predictable in some respects, yet it does the job in keeping with the projected atmosphere. Moments such as this give credence that the screenplay is solid, but Reitman’s handling and piecing together of sequences isn’t as smooth as his past works.

It’s almost as if the “glue segments” were cut out due to time constraints or budget reasons. In other words, cinematically, this is not the most concise piece of storytelling through the lens, as it appears to be a mash-up or series of first draft thoughts, sans the polish rewrite. The transitioning to a new mood if you will, had lackluster execution; leading to a rough projection of what Reitman wanted to get out of the audience. Still, the brutal conversations are fairly entertaining and the performances sell it just enough to keep your attention all the way through.

Overall, Young Adult is a catchy independent film that could have used some commercial shine. While its storytelling methods and tone are all over the place, there are enough hooks (witty dialogue & fine acting) to encourage one to take-in this realistic entertaining debacle.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

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The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly contains our first good look at Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, which stars Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, Patrick Wilson, Guy Pearce and Logan Marshall-Green.

In the image below we see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s Noomi Rapace as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, a researcher and archaeologist. In an interview last month Rapace said Shaw was the “most complete person” she’s ever played, and she “turns into a fighter” halfway through the film after “a lot of things happen”.

Also in the image is Logan Marshall-Green (Devil) who plays a crewman onboard the space ship and the love interest of Elizabeth Shaw. A blonde Michael Fassbender plays an android named David.

Other images show us the characters of Charlize Theron and Idris Elba.

Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

With 20th Century Fox’s marketing campaign seemingly under-way we can probably expect the teaser trailer to hit sometime soon. Ridley Scott’s return to sci-fi hits June 8, 2012.

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Ever heard this one before…“For a horror movie, it was pretty good.”

This is the labeling the 102 minute Insidious will receive from audiences and my fellow critics.  As for this guy’s initial reaction, this flick is packaged as a cinematic version of a Paranormal Activity. Which is logical, since producer Oren Peli is attached to this product as well. The difference being, this one brings more to the table – in a visual sense – despite the predictable nature of the story as a whole.

Upon moving into a new house (predictable already), Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) starts to hear and see things. Books are knocked off the shelves and weird noises are coming through the baby monitor.  Things begin to escalate after her 8 year-old son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) falls into a strange coma. Doctors have no answer, and the little guy remains in this dormant state for months.  During this time, Renai is seeing ghostly figures around the house.  When she expresses concerns to her husband Josh (Patrick Wilson), he has trouble coming to grips with her accounts of these haunting entities.  Yet, he bites, and moves the family to a new home.

As Renai and Josh go through the moving in process again, Dalton is still hooked up machines in his bedroom. Within a matter of days of getting settled into the new digs, Renai’s supernatural friends are back rummaging through the house. Eventually, Josh starts to experience these terrors as well.  His mother (Barbara Hershey) intervenes and suggests a long-time friend to help the couple in Lin Shaye (Elise Rainer).  What she reveals to the couple, after inspecting the home with her wannabe Ghostbusters, Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), is that it’s not the house, it’s Dalton.

Now although that last sentence may be a spoiler, one should pick up on this before the first act ends. As mentioned, the story follows the pattern of many spook-shows found in the genre.  The first half of the flick you’ll be feeling Paranormal Activity served with an obvious dose of Amityville Horror.  Second half ushers in a more polished Poltergeist angle, complete with a “follow my voice” sequence. And there is the occasional Drag Me to Hell vibe, sans the goofiness, spread throughout.  Factoring in all that, and then seeing the PG-13 rating, as a horror fan, you should be worried that this could end up doing absolutely zilch.

But that’s not the case my friends. Insidious will bring out the chills and encompass enough tense moments – mainly when characters explore the house – to make this a worthy haunted tale. By actually showing the non-CGI ghosts and using the whole smoke-n-mirror tactics (loud noises, doors creeping open, crescendo of sound effects,  etc), the feature will more than likely please fans of both the hand-held camera ghost products and the ones who take pleasure in a produced technical piece.

Even though this feature has a budget, the way the smooth camera follows the characters puts the viewer in their shoes. This may be obvious, but when they experience a “scary” moment, so do you.  They did a solid job of not telegraphing when the ghoul will appear, enabling the audience to feel as if they’re cautiously going through a live haunted house. In fact, this is one of the best haunted house tales in years.  Sure the story is lacking in the creativity department, but the timing and pacing of how it was delivered kept this working and therefore, the audience remains interested and tense.

I tend to avoid commenting on acting in a horror flick. It’s pretty much an oxymoron. But the cast here did alright and took their roles seriously. They do become victims of the script at times, which led them to wander into the typical horror movie clichés. For the most part though, these said moments are negligible.

Overall, Insidious is an exceptional haunting journey. By introducing a few innovative ways in executing a scare, the flick will actually have the audience thinking, “Please don’t go in there” as the characters move about. Which is a quality all horror products should strive for.

RATING: 4 out of 5

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Joe Carnahan is a hit-or-miss director for me. His debut film, 1998′s Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane, was enjoyable and his movie The Ticker from the BMW series “The Hire” (starring Clive Owen, Don Cheadle, Ray Liotta, and Dennis Haysbert) was one of the better efforts in that excellent collection of short films. Smokin’ Aces was a bit of a wash for me, and I never saw Narc, but when I heard The A-Team was being adapted into a feature, I knew Carnahan’s action-heavy style would be a good fit for the material. The final movie very much knows what it wants to be and has a damn good time being it. The A-Team is easily one of the most fun movies of the year.

Many may debate this point, but I think Carnahan is one of the most competent directors working today. He knows his audience, knows his strengths, and plays perfectly to both of them in this movie. The formation of the team in the early minutes of the film brilliantly captures the tone: light-hearted, brash, sarcastic, and funny. Part of this comes from his handle on the material – he co-wrote the script – and part of it is from his very obvious passion for the characters. More than any other “team-based” movie this year (with the exception of Inception), The A-Team gives each character his due and provides a real sense of history and camaraderie between the leads. Most movies with characters that “specialize in the ridiculous” are at least going to register on my interest level, and this one resonates especially well because of the combination of how well the characters are treated and how well the action works in the context of the movie.

The story is a typical “framed for a crime they didn’t commit” deal, complete with the easy-to-hate Black Forest task force and smarmy CIA specialist played by Patrick Wilson. There’s also the “hot on their trail” agent, embodied here by Jessica Biel (in one of her most tolerable performances of the last five years). Liam Neeson commands attention as Hannibal Smith, the leader of our foursome of heroes. Bradley Cooper oozes charisma as “Faceman” Peck, Rampage Jackson is a perfect update of Mr. T’s iconic B.A. Baracus, and District 9 alum Sharlto Copley does some fine work as the crazy man-child Murdock. The script is kind of goofy, with action sequences that absolutely defy physics and common sense (especially the bullet-ridden final 20 minutes), but the bond between these characters and their relationships are so honestly portrayed by all of these actors that it’s easy to excuse most of the film’s issues because we’re having so much fun watching this all unfold.

Within the main four, there are some interesting dynamics taking place. B.A. and Murdock’s constant trickery (and Murdock’s breakfast bribes) give some much-needed humanity to these guys. Face and Hannibal have a Mark Wahlberg/Donald Sutherland vibe from The Italian Job, the student-teacher-partner thing that works well with two especially likeable actors like Neeson and Cooper in the roles.

Aside from the ludicrous parachuting tank stunt, a much less buzzed about stunt occurs during a break out from a moving vehicle about halfway through the movie. I won’t give away what happens, but the reason I like it so much is because the movie operates on a level where insanely complex stunts like this are regular shenanigans to the A-Team; the level of difficulty of this stunt is never commented on by any member of the team – they’re just THAT good.

The Blu-ray is solid, including a great behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the film which really gives some insight into the approach of Carnahan and company. And while a gorgeous picture quality is something that should be assumed from Blu-rays these days – it’s almost 2011, studios, get your act together – unfortunately it’s not a given quite yet. This disc, however, definitely meets the visual standard, and allows us to see Carnahan’s action through a crisp filter. There’s also an extended edition of the movie (along with the theatrical version, of course), a montage mash-up set to the A-Team theme song, character chronicles, and more standard fare like a gag reel and deleted scenes. But perhaps the most interesting bonus feature is an interactive commentary called “The Devil’s in the Details,” which sees Carnahan commenting on the movie as it’s happening (telling stories like the time Rampage accidentally knocked out a stunt man) and occasionally offering graphics with various information about the movie: weapons used, what stage of “the plan” the characters are currently experiencing, and more.

Like I said, this is one of the most enjoyable action movies of the year. It’s not the smartest thing you’ll see, but it’s a blast, and we definitely need these types of movies in our summer movie schedules. I hope this movie does well enough on DVD to earn a sequel, because the continuing adventures of this crew is definitely something I want to see more of. If the main cast returns – including Jessica Biel and the actor who appeared in a small cameo at the very end of the film – and Joe Carnahan is directing, a sequel to The A-Team would be pretty damn awesome. Until next time…

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I wasn’t too impressed with the first trailer for The A-Team that was released in January. It looked fun, but it didn’t look like anything special. This new trailer however, is an improvement. There’s a bunch of new action scenes that look quite cool, and a few funny parts such as Sharlto Copley getting electrocuted and B.A. Baracus not wanting to get in the aircraft (just like in the TV show). The final scene in the trailer suggests that we may get quite a few comedic moments between Sharlto Copley and Quinton Jackson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aeSqD1W91E

In the film Liam Neeson plays Hannibal Smith, Bradley Cooper is Face, Sharlto Copley plays Capt. Murdock and Quinton Jackson is Sgt. B.A. Baracus. Jessica Biel and Patrick Wilson are in it too.

The A-Team will be released on June 11th in the US and July 30th in the UK.

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Samuel L Jackson is doing what he does best…playing one angry muthaf*cker! This time he is angry that Kerry Washington and Patrick Wilson are an interracial couple and have just moved in next door. It sucks for them because he just so happens to be a cop and has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. So whenever something happens to them who turns up to ‘help’? Mr. Jackson does!

Poster from Cinematical

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