Movie Trailer - SKYFALL - Official Teaser

This is a pretty great teaser. It shows just enough to get the heart racing and the anticipation skyrocketing!

RAWR(for more)

Blu-ray Review: Away We Go

Away We Go
Written by: Dave Eggers & Vendela Vida
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Starring: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney, Chris Messina, Paul Schnieder, and Jim Gaffigan

Bonus Features: The Making of Away We Go, Green Filmmaking, Commentary with Sam Mendes, Dave Eggers, and Vendela Vida, BD Live

From the box: John Krasinksi (The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) star in the heartfelt film that explores the comedic twists and turns in one couple's journey across contemporary America. Anticipating the birth of their first child, longtime couple Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) embark on an ambitious itinerary to visit friends and family in order to find their perfect home. Featuring a remarkable soundtrack and an incredible ensemble cast - including Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Catherine O'Hara and Jim Gaffigan. It's the hilarious , witty film that critics are hailing as "absolutely extraordinary!" (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone)

Following the disastrous Revolutionary Road, I was apprehensive of even seeing this movie. Honestly, my faith in Mendes was that shaken after I saw that movie.

Were my fears realized? Was this just as bad as Revolutionary Road?

Click the Rawr! to find out.

In a word? No. In a few? Away We Go is delightful. It's on an entirely different level from Road and has taken its place as my favorite Sam Mendes movie.

The story follows a couple expecting their first child who travel the country visiting family and friends searching for the perfect place to settle down and begin their family. These friends and family are made up by some crazy characters and absolutely hilarious situations (especially those involving Maggie Gyllenhaal and Allison Janney).

These visits are not only funny but deeply touching and human. Some of the best aspects of the film are the reactions, often times purely expressed with a facial expression, of our two heroes as they're faced with the situations before them.

Even as odd as these characters can get, it never seems over the top. The performances from everyone are natural and completely believable. This is especially true of Maya Rudolph who is stunning in her restraint and delivers her best performance yet. What we have here is one of the best ensemble casts this year.

Of course the cast would be nowhere if it weren't for the brilliant script from Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. There isn't a flaw to be found. Their dialogue is witty and their story is one that is so real that it could happen to anyone. Beautiful work.

The film is made even better by it's fantastic soundtrack featuring artists like Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and more. The music compliments the film perfectly.

Away We Go has a sure fire shot at numerous Oscar nods, including Best Picture and it is well deserving of any and all of them.

I'll go on record and say that Sam Mendes has completely 100% redeemed himself with his work here. It's flawless.

As for the Blu-ray, well, that's where the disappointment comes in. It's not in the picture, it looks perfect. Of course it's nothing groundbreaking in terms of clarity and color, but is it supposed to be?

The real problem is with the extras. There's really nothing here. No deleted scenes, no bloopers, nothing but a couple of featurettes and a commentary. Major disappointment for a movie that is certain to be so rich with supplements.

Aside from that, Away We Go is a must see and a welcome addition to any film lover. It's one of the best films of the year and one I am extrenmely glad to have finally seen (despite my reservations).

Away We Go is in stores now.

RAWR(for more)

Blu-ray Review: Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road
Written by: Justin Haythe based on the novel by Richard Yates
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Michael Shannon, Kathryn Hahn, David Harbor, and Kathy Bates

Blu-ray Specs:
1080 p High Definition
English 5.1 TrueHD
French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
English/English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese Subtitles

Bonus Features: Commentary with Director Sam Mendes and Screenwriter Justin Haythe, Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary, Lives of Quiet Desperation: The Making of Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates: The Wages of Truth, Theatrical Trailer

Revolutionary Road was one of my most anticipated films of 2008. The combined power of Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Sam Mendes was just too much to resist and I was extremely excited to see the amazing film that would be born from such a trinity of brilliance.

Unfortunately, it's not brilliant. In fact, it's not particularly good at all.

Click the Rawr! for the full review.

Last year seemed to have a lot of big "award" movies that looked in credible but turned out to be lackluster. In fact, with the exception of Doubt and Slumdog Millionaire, it seemed that the majority of these films turned out to be duds.

Which is why it kinda pains me to write this review. I had such high hopes for Revolutionary Road and it is kinda sad to have them all quashed by the final product.

The film is a relentless downer in which we have no opportunity to give one damn about any of the characters. These are awful awful people. Beyond the first five minutes it seems like every time the two leads are together they launch into an argument. It's 2 hours of them screaming at each other and when they aren't screaming they're doing other horrible things.

The performances are decent with the exception of Leonardo DiCaprio who truly is captivating in the role. He makes the movie partially watchable because he brings a quiet intensity to the role.

The plot of the film is basically a couple who live in the suburbs whose lives are falling apart because they are unsatisfied with how things have turned out. They grow to despise each other and we see every agonizing moment of it.

I am not against a depressing film. I like sad movies. I like dark movies. The problem here is that there is nothing to anchor the viewer. There is no one to care about because both of these people do things that make us hate them. I did not care one bit if they stayed together, got divorced, or died a horrible death.

This film is just not enjoyable. Outside of one performance (Leo's) the movie is a drag and one of the biggest disappointments of the year.

That said, it looks fantastic on Blu-ray. I never want to lay eyes on it again but it does look beautiful. The disc is light on features and there really isn't anything particularly interested to note. There is commentary but I had no desire to hear anyone, not even the great Sam Mendes, prattle on about this movie.

This film should have been amazing but int he end it's just a depressing disappointment. It's odd for a movie that displays so much emotion to feel like it has such a lack of it.

If you want to brave it, Revolutionary Road is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.

RAWR(for more)

Revolutionary Road Poster and Pictures!

Here is the official synopsis of Revolutionary Road, one of my most anticipated movies of the year:


Adapted from the landmark novel by Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road is an incisive portrait of an American marriage seen through the eyes of Frank (three-time Academy Award® nominee Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (five-time Academy Award® nominee Kate Winslet) Wheeler. Yates’ story of 1950’s America poses a question that has been reverberating through modern relationships ever since: can two people break away from the ordinary without breaking apart?

Frank and April have always seen themselves as special, different, ready and willing to live their lives based on higher ideals. So, as soon as they move into their new house on Revolutionary Road, they proudly declare their independence from the suburban inertia that surrounds them and determine never to be trapped by the social confines of their era.


Yet for all their charm, beauty and irreverence, the Wheelers find themselves becoming exactly what they didn’t expect: a good man with a routine job whose nerve has gone missing; a less-than-happy homemaker starving for fulfillment and passion; an American family with lost dreams, like any other.

Driven to change their fates, April hatches an audacious plan to start all over again, to leave the comforts of Connecticut behind for the great unknown of Paris. But when the plan is put in motion, each spouse is pushed to extremes – one to escape whatever the cost, the other to save all that they have, no matter the compromises.

Directed by Sam Mendes (Academy Award® winner American Beauty), from a screenplay by Justin Haythe, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and features an accomplished supporting cast including Academy Award® winner Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn (Boeing-Boeing) Michael Shannon (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, BUG) and David Harbour (Awake). The film’s producers are John Hart, Scott Rudin, Sam Mendes and Bobby Cohen; and the executive producers are Marion Rosenberg, David M. Thompson and Henry Fernaine.


Revolutionary Road hits theaters on December 26, 2008.

For more information visit:

Official Site
Facebook

RAWR(for more)

Revolutionary Road Trailer

Can. Not. Wait.

RAWR(for more)