What You Missed: Jan. 9, 2015

A NOTE TO OUR READERS

Written by O’Boyd

Another new feature in Cinema Corner 2.0 is our wrap-up file of all the movie-related events from the day. Think the Drudge Report meets Hollywood.

Why should you have to search all over the Internet for movie news when you can get it all right here. We’ll list here some of the stuff we’ve posted from earlier in the day along with other items we think you should check out. Each day, we hope to provide you with a roundup of sorts of the things we believe you’ll enjoy and want to read about.

As always, enjoy.

Warner Bros. Pictures gives us a four-minute clip of the work that went into making “The LEGO Movie.”

OUR HEADLINES

What You Missed: Jan. 8, 2015 (NEW)

At least I can say I enjoyed ‘Unbroken’ (NEW)

DVD review: ‘Identical’ wholesome but not that good (NEW)

Cinema Corner page: Jan. 8, 2015 (NEW)

Here it is: ’Ant-Man’ trailer, poster, magazine cover

James Wan’s ‘Demonic’ releases first trailer

‘Big Game’ trailer puts President Samuel L. Jackson in a fight for survival

‘The Equalizer’ blazes path to No. 1 on DVD rental chart

Featurette out for upcoming ‘Blackhat’ film

‘Good Kill’ international trailer now out

Second ‘Peanuts’ trailer much like last one … and still neat

Producers Guild of America releases nominees for top awards

‘Five Armies’ marches to third straight weekend victory

 GET TICKETS, WHAT TO WATCH

Coming to DVD, Blu-Ray and Netflix: Jan. 5

Coming to Theaters: Jan. 2 and Jan. 9

You can always click here to get more movie news and to order tickets online for the latest films in theaters.

Fandango.com          AMC Theatres        MovieTickets.com

Be sure to check out RottenTomatoes.com, which collects and posts reviews for all the films coming out this week.

THE REST OF THE NEWS

Some of the cast of “The Hunger Games” can do a better Woody Harrelson than Woody himself.

• Sony CEO Michael Lynton tells The Associated Press the company’s network will be down at least another couple of weeks.

• Andrew Adamson (“Shrek” and “Chronicles of Narnia”) will helm “Inherit the Earth,” a movie based on the popular “Zombies vs. Robots” comic book.

• Evan Peters (Quicksilver in “X-Men: Days of Future Past”) will be a part of “Elvis and Nixon.”

• Frank Marshall says there are no plans to cross over the Matt Damon and Jeremy Renner Bourne franchises. He also tells Collider.com “Goonies 2” doesn’t have a script yet.

• Veteran actor and stuntman Bill Hart dies at 80.

• “American Sniper” is about to get supersized with viewings in IMAX.”

https://twitter.com/elmayimbe/status/553051706783956994

So this may happen? Read more here.

• Angelina Jolie met the pope and screened “Unbroken” for him.

• Michael Keaton could join J.K. Simmons and Tom Hiddleston in “Skull Island,” Legendary’s big-budget film about King Kong. It’s slated for a March 10, 2017 release.

• Reese Witherspoon is reuniting with director Alexander Payne, who did 1999’s Election, for the film “Downsizing.”

• Heritage Auctions will sell numerous puppets, models, props and arts to LAIKA-related films such as “Coraline” and “ParaNorman.” Click here to read more.

• The Discovery Channel will show Benedict Cumberbatch’s 2004 BBC TV movie “Hawking” on Saturday in honor of Stephen Hawking’s birthday.

• You asked for it … Nike confirms it is working on making the shoes worn by Marty McFly in “Back to the Future 2” to customers in 2015. Maybe they’ll have them ready by Oct. 21.

• Ansel Elgort (“The Fault in Our Stars”) will team with Chloë Grace Moritz (“If I Stay”) for the film “November Criminals.” It will center around two teenagers who investigate the murder of their friend in Washington D.C.

• The U.S. is trying to put pressure on Poland to extradite filmmaker Roman Polanski, who was charged in the 1977 for having sex with a minor.

• Elle Fanning will join “The Neon Demon” with Nicolas Winding Refn (“Drive) directing.

• Paul Rudd (“Ant-Man”) will be a busy guy now that he’s been cast as the lead in “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving.” He’ll play Benjamin, a man who befriends a young adult with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Two really cool websites to check out: The Projection List has when every movie and television show will be released, right down to the trailers. Break.com has a movie-hosting site paired with ScreenJunkies.com that’s free to watch. Screen Junkies even gives us six movies we should check out right away.

• Leigh Whannell, who worked with James Wan on the first two “Insidious” films, will helm “Insidious: Chapter 3,” which is set for a June 5 release.

• Barry Bostwick is one of three actors set to join “Tales of Halloween.”

• Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller are among BAFTA’s EE Rising Star Award nominees.

• Ana Lily Amirpour has been named director for “The Bad Batch,” which will be financed by Annapurna Pictures and Vice.

• Jessica Chasten shoots down Russell Crowe’s ageism remarks while Meryl Streep defends them.

VIDEO CLIPS AND MORE

Superheroes need “partners,” too. So there’s Duo, from Nerdist. Click here to see the video.

• Adrian Conion of GeekTyrant.com shows us 2014 was a pretty special year for Marvel in this mashup video.

• Entertainment Tonight’s flashback video on why Meryl Streep is and always has been the queen of the Golden Globes.

• Vulture tackles the plight of Oscar films and their historical accuracy.

• Domhnall Gleeson dishes about “The Force Awakens” and how it was the “most secrecy I’ve had to work with.”

• Could (would) we have a Qui-Gon Jinn movie? Liam Neeson explains (and watch the clip after reading the story).

• Find out how Paul Rudd felt when Edgar Wright bailed on “Ant-Man.”

• Jessica Chastain says her early life wasn’t all that fabulous.

• How fast can Daisy Ridley’s speeder go in “The Force Awakens” trailer?

• Cosmicbooknews.com has new concept art for Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” It’s already been confirmed Bebop and Rocksteady will be in the sequel, slated for a June 3, 2016 release.

• How many “X-Men” films is too many “X-Men” films?

• Ethan Hawke talks about talks about time, acting and more with USA Today. Be sure to click on the video link within the story for more.

• Director David Cronenberg is not a fan of Rotten Tomatoes.

• See photos from USA Today of the National Board of Review awards show.

• W Magazine has a shirtless Bradley Cooper, a slick Benedict Cumberbatch and more in its Amazing Awards Shoot.

• The city of Harbin, located in northeast China, has made its own version of the Kingdom of Arendelle from “Frozen.”

LISTS, BESTS, WORSTS

Six things you may have missed in the “Ant-Man” trailer.

• HitFix: Picking the Golden Globe winners.

• The Wrap: 11 shots of Elvis Presley at his best in movies in recognition of what would have been his 80th birthday.

• Fandango: 25 movies you should see in 2015.

• The Wrap: 21 Burning film questions for 2015.

• Rotten Tomatoes: Joaquin Phoenix’s 10 best movies.

• Cinema Blend: 10 great movies that opened in January.

• GeekTyrant: 13 fun facts about “Beetlejuice.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Rachel Nichols, Gaby Hoffmann, David Bowie

I’m always fascinated with celebrity birthdays (especially finding out who has a birthday when I have mine). IMDB.com has a neat daily list of all the Hollywood people who have birthdays. Here’s the Jan. 8 list.

At least I can say I enjoyed ‘Unbroken’

NOTE: Roger Thomas is currently recovering from an automobile accident on Dec. 30. You can read more about it here. During his absence, we will have guest writers reviewing films.

Jack O’Connell plays Louis Zamperini in the true story. (Photo courtesy of Legendary Pictures)

Written by Jason O. Boyd (O’Boyd)

Since I see so many movies, I end up equally reading a lot of websites that report on films and do reviews.

I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for “Unbroken,” the Angelia Jolie-directed World War II film that’s the true story of Louis Zamperini. He was a soldier who survived a near-fatal plane crash and spent 47 days with crewmembers in the Pacific Ocean before being captured by the Japanese and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

The main problems critics, and even some friends of mine, have with “Unbroken” is the inconsistencies in the film. People with way more time on their hands see dialogue that doesn’t work and holes in the story that – as one friend put it – you could fly a plane through.

 GET TICKETS

You can always click here to get more movie news and to order tickets online for the latest films in theaters.

Fandango.com          AMC Theatres        MovieTickets.com

Be sure to check out RottenTomatoes.com, which collects and posts reviews for all the films coming out this week.

I sometimes can look past this, at least for this film. My main emphasis when seeing “Unbroken” was to be enterained and educated on Zamperini and his incredible story.

When I went to see “Unbroken,” I had a lot of those reviews and friends’ comments on my mind. But as I watched the film, those flaws people pointed out tended to float away.

Sure, “Unbroken” isn’t the greatest film ever made. Trying to lump it with epic WWII movies such as “Saving Private Ryan” or “Schindler’s List” is just unfair. And, if I sit down and think about it long enough, I could find things about the film that bothered me.

Instead, I’d rather focus on the dramatic moments of the film. Jack O’Connell does an excellent job playing the role of Zamperini. We get to see flashbacks of Zamperini’s youth and how he became a successful long-distance runner who went to the Berlin Olympics, the ones run by Adolph Hitler.

Some of the best moments are of O’Connell surviving on the raft in the middle of the ocean. He even lost weight and passed out a couple of times during the plank scene that’s on the movie poster. His dedication to telling the story really came through in the film.

So while “Unbroken” might not win an Academy Award for Best Picture, it’s story will undoubtly leave you inspired and appreciative of the risks soldiers like Zamperini undertook to help win WWII and keep our country free.

That’s good enough for me.

Cinema Corner page: Jan. 8, 2015

NOTE: Roger Thomas is currently recovering from an automobile accident on Dec. 30. You can read more about it here. During his absence, we will have guest writers reviewing films.

Click on the image below to see a bigger picture of the page.

DVD review: ‘Identical’ wholesome but not that good

NOTE: Roger Thomas is currently recovering from an automobile accident on Dec. 30. You can read more about it here. This is a review he did several weeks ago in anticipation of the DVD release of “The Identical,” which comes out on Jan. 13. 

Blake Rayne in “The Identical” (IMDB.com)

Written by Roger Thomas

Most of us have heard that Elvis had a twin brother who died as an infant.

What if the child had lived? Would the brother have affected the destiny of “The King?” How could he not? What would have been the impact of this second talent?

“The Identical” creates a fictional story of twin brothers, separated at birth. One becomes a superstar and the other, who has an identical talent, struggles to succeed in a music career and in life. The lead character is not the twin brother of Elvis, the film mentions Elvis once along with the Beatles, stating that no one else can duplicate what they do. In the film, the one brother who is only shown briefly becomes a superstar named Drexel Hemsley. The adopting parents of the other brother, the main character of the film, name their son Ryan Wade.

The whole adoption situation at the beginning of the film is one of the first weaknesses of this screenplay. How and why the two brothers are separated soon after their births is very contrived and unbearably unbelievable. The gimmick for how the boys would end up separated is a lasting distraction throughout the film.

Another struggle with the film is that it seems to try too hard to move the audience emotionally. There is one scene in a hospital, when Ryan meets his real mother, though at the time he does not know it. This scene is the best in the film. The emotion is raw and real, at least compared to most of the rest of the film. Much of it seems manipulative, with the bedside hospital scene being the most prominent exception.

The film eventually reaches an expected climax. There are a few twists and turns, but the screenplay never really surprises, and ultimately all the leading characters are sweet, but not really endearing.

Not all films need a villain, but “The Identical” might have been better if there was someone to add a little conflict other than a harsh manager who has little screen time. As it is, the most adversarial role is the adoptive father of Ryan. Ultimately, this man is only striving to help Ryan find his way in a confusing world.

As I was exiting the theatre after viewing “The Identical,” a woman recognized me as being in the same film as she had just seen. She struck up a conversation with me about the movie. She highly endorsed it. She kept going back to the fact that it was a very wholesome film.

And I agree with her. Overall, there is very little in the film that might offend anyone. For me, however, it is not the absence of objectionable material that I noticed most, it was the lack of taking any risk.

The story was not only wholesome, but it was also bland. I can list many films that I have enjoyed which would offend no one. All of those films pleased me not because of the absence of something but the presence of something special.

In the end, “The Identical” is the kind of film easily dismissed or forgotten. For someone like me, I prefer to exit the theatre knowing that the film I just saw will linger in my mind for a long time. I wish I had said this as I stood talking with the nice lady who enjoyed it so much.

Then again, for her, “The Identical” may be with her forever, or at least until she sees another film as sweet and wholesome.