Every once in a while, the urge to see a movie “just because I have nothing else to do” will rush over me. That is what was happening when I decided to catch an evening show of The Croods. This couldn’t have been a more pleasant surprise.
Heck, from the very first poster for The Croods, I assumed it would be the next addition to Dreamworks’ forgotten pile of “Let’s Try To Make A Pixar Movie” attempts. My assumption would have The Croods lying there next to Shark Tale and Bee Movie. I’ve never been more wrong.
The Croods are your average, run-of-the-mill, scared of everything family of cavemen (and women) who spend their days hiding in a cave. The only time The Croods leave the cave is to get food, this is at the order of the father figure; his name is Grug, yes. Grug. (Nicolas Cage) The family consists of six members: Eep, (Emma Stone) Ugga, (Catherine Keener) Gran, (Cloris Leachman) Thunk (Clark Duke) and the baby of the group, Sandy. (Randy Thom) No, I didn’t make any of those names up. I promise.
Eep is sick of being contained in the cave and her sense of adventure leads her to Guy. (Ryan Reynolds) Guy and his furry friend Belt are full of ideas to keep them safe. Guy introduces Eep to fire and from that point on, a journey full of incredible scenery, memorable critters, intense moments and loads of laughter follow.
I haven’t had a Toothless Complex in years, but this one brought me way back to the days of How To Train Your Dragon. Every animal The Croods come across gave me the same sense of “I want it!” that I got from the second we laid our eyes on Hiccup’s dragon in the 2010 film.
Despite a few groaners and some strange Nicolas Cage-isms, this flick is nonstop from the first minute. With an incredible sense of direction, a unique color palette and a script by John Cleese: How can you go wrong?
In case some of you don’t remember, last year around this time I decided to share my most anticipated movies of 2012 with you. (Link for the lazy)
Rough, wasn’t it? I mean I picked The Lorax.Ouch. Hopefully this year goes a little better.
Let’s get down to brass tacks, Outcasts.
Monsters University is probably my most anticipated movie of the decade. Being a Pixar junkie, I absolutely can’t wait to see another sequel (Lightning McQueen and Mater aside) that breathes new life into some of the most beloved characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing a theater with. I have a feeling Pixar will be taking the same route it took with Toy Story 4 this time around. The ladies and gents at Pixar are well aware that we’ve grown up with Mike and Sulley, therefore they did their math, most of us went to college. How could they not fiddle with our strong emotions of those 4-5 years we all have in common? Words cannot express how excited I am for this one.
I’d post a trailer here, but instead I’m going to share the Monsters University Recruitment video. These guys are marketing geniuses, aren’t they?
Oh, and if Roz doesn’t show up as some sort of disgruntled R.A I’ll be thoroughly disappointed.
I was going to put another animated film in spot #2, but I should probably spread out my childlike wonder of such flicks.
Not only is Evil Dead one of my most anticipated movies of 2013, it’s also the most scared I’ve been to see a movie in ages. If the fact that this one is relying heavily on makeup and special effects isn’t groovy enough for you, try to remember that the producers have promised no CGI. That’s incredible. Especially after that trailer!
What was that tree doing to her?! Totally kidding, we all know what that tree’s up to.
Enjoy hearing “We’re going to get you. We’re going to get you. Not another peep. Time to go to sleep” every time you try to go to sleep now.
When I first heard that there would be a children’s film based on my favorite children’s book of all time, I thought “Cool! Hopefully they do it justice!”
Then I saw Flint Lockwood. I was furious. My anger was unparalleled. I couldn’t believe that Hollywood would tree-rape my childhood imagination like that. It was then and there that I put my foot down and said “I’ll never watch Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. EVER.”
Fast Forward to Mike’s Junior Year of College
By my junior year of college, the stress of Senior Seminar was settling in at an uncomfortable pace. After a night of working nonstop on whatever project was tightening it’s grip, I liked to settle down with a movie. Not just any movie, however, the movie that saved my sanity in 2010. That’s right, guys; I was obsessed. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs was (and is) one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen in my life.
If you haven’t seen it, you’re judging me right now. That’s okay, I would have to.
Oh! And a trailer just released too!
I’ve never really been the kind of person to be ahead of the game with comic to screen adaptations. I changed that with Kick-Ass 2 and after reading the comic I can safely say we’re in for a treat this year (if you like Chloë Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, that is)
The first Kick-Ass was incredible across the board, I saw it three times in theaters and watch it regularly on Bluray. I love it. This time around it’s probably going to be even darker, which is probably a good thing. With the introduction of Jim Carrey and Donald Faison, we might be in for a treat too! I mean, just look at Jim Carrey:
Alright, you’ve suffered through my awful grammar and sub-par writing long enough! Here’s the last one:
Some of you understand the picture I chose to illustrate for this one. Some of you don’t. I’d fill you in myself, but I think Wikipedia can do it better. READ:
The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (also known as the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy) is a series of films directed by Edgar Wright, written by Simon Pegg and Wright, produced by Nira Park, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost.
The first two films in the series are Shaun of the Dead (2004), “a romantic comedy with zombies”, and Hot Fuzz (2007), a buddy cop action/comedy film. A third film, The World’s End, began shooting in September 2012 for a 2013 release.
Each film in the trilogy is connected to a Cornetto ice cream flavour – both of the films released to date feature scenes in which one of the main characters purchases a Cornetto of the appropriate flavour. Shaun of the Dead features a red strawberry flavoured Cornetto, which signifies the film’s bloody and gory elements, Hot Fuzz includes the blue original Cornetto, to signify the police element to the film, and The World’s End will feature the green mint choc-chip flavour. The use of the three flavours/colours of Cornetto is a reference to Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours film trilogy.
This will be a good movie. I promise. That’s all that needs to be said.
In case it isn’t though, just look at that cast!
Thanks for reading, Outcasts! Let me know what you’re looking forward to this year!
Hey Outcasts. Bill here. I just wanted to do a quick post in regards to the Desolation Films flick, Hero Of Today.
I recently purchased the digital copy of Hero Of Today and, without shame, I can tell you that I’ve have watched it four times since. Matter of fact, I’m probably going to watch it again once I’m done with this post, actually. Yeah, I dig it that much.
It’s not just another zombie flick. At all. It’s a story of a guy who goes from underdog to bad ass, just the way I (and probably you) would hope things would go for me if something like this actually happened. Sure, it’s got some (minimal) rough edges, just like pretty much anything else I’ve ever watched, but damn, does it pay off! There’s some good scares, a bit of gore (I may be understating that) quotable lines, and a good amount of laughs. It hits all the sweet spots near and dear to my heart: zombies, horror, humor, and well, there’s this line that made me actually shout, “YES!! BAD ASS!” when I heard it. If you’re a geek like me, you’ll have the same reaction.
Being a fan of Desolations Films’ work since I was exposed to it a few years ago, I was happy to get the opportunity to actually watch the flick again recently. Let me tell you, it really held up! I was so happy to watch again, and I really hope that you folks give it a shot.
Currently, if you head to the Desolation Films website, you can purchase your digital copy right now for $1.99. Worth every single cent, and then some.
You can listen to our interview with Desolation Films’ James Mattern and Chad Renn right here.
p.s. Chester needs a prequel. You’ll see what I mean.
Outcasts! Welcome and Happy Thursday! We’re one week away from the first entry of my web comic, so I figured I’d get in the habit of posting on a Thursday.
January 1st not only brought the beginning of 2012, but it also brought the beginning of a new movie season! This year is packed with countless sure-to-be beloved hits. I figured, why not share some of the flicks I’m looking forward to. Here’s four of the many talkies that I’d like to catch this year in no particular order. (Don’t worry folks, more to come eventually.)
Sound good? Okay, let’s go!
(Oh yeah, I’m not super educated on copyright’s and all that jazz, so I quickly drew you some pictures instead of stealing them from the movie companies. Hope that’s alright.)
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MIB3
Men in Black, ah, what a nostalgia trip for someone my age. The first film had us enthralled back in the day. The effects were spectacular, the laughs were maniacal, the action was unparalleled. It was truly a classic to our 90’s child brains. Then something happened. Men in Black 2. What the hell happened there? This train wreck of a movie was a scab on cinema’s back. How could they do this to us? How did this happen? Either way, my hopes are high that they treat MIB3 as an apology for the series’ first sequel. I have faith.
“At the far end of town, where the Grickle-grass grows
and the wind smells, slow-and-sour when it blows.”
The first time I read those words, I knew I was in for a trip. I haven’t had that feeling in a long time…then I saw the trailer for The Lorax. I’m not sure if it was the whimsical Polyphonic Spree, the seemingly endless color palette or the spot on voice acting. Something about that trailer did it for me. Despicable Me was a blast, and Horton Hears a Who was done right. How could this go wrong?
I can’t wait to see the look on people’s faces when they go into THE DARK KNIGHT RISES to find their new Halloween costume. Failure will be had. The best part about this trilogy caboose is that I can stop hearing about the Joker (All respects to Mr. Ledger, may he rest in peace.)
This is the comic nerd’s Batman film, and we’re about to get a heavy dose of that this summer.
My heart goes out to those of you who enter the theater unprepared.
