MTV Movie Awards get a Quality Face Lift with Django Unchained and Ted Leading the Nominations

Over the past few years the inclusion of Twilight, it's actors and their many wins seemed to take this award show down negative path.  Last year this award show decided to add "an academy" of their own, and things started to change ever so slightly, but this group of nominees reminds me of the the way the nominees used to look when I was growing up.  The show blended popularity and quality, rather than just letting popularity dictate things.

Both Ted and Django Unchained have 7 nominations a piece including Movie of the Year.  Other Movie of the Year nominees are Silver Linings Playbook (6 nominations-mostly all for J-Law, and Bradley Cooper), The Avengers (4 nominations), and The Dark Knight Rises (4 nominations).  Without Twilight in the mix predicting the winner will be tricky, but with Rebel Wilson as a nominee and host I am going to watch this year!

MOVIE OF THE YEAR
"Django Unchained"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Ted"
"The Avengers"
"The Dark Knight Rises"

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
Mila Kunis, "Ted"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emma Watson, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"
Rebel Wilson, "Pitch Perfect"

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE
Ben Affleck, "Argo"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"
Jamie Foxx, "Django Unchained"
Channing Tatum, "Magic Mike"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Ezra Miller, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"
Eddie Redmayne, "Les Misérables" 
Suraj Sharma, "Life of Pi" 
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" 
Rebel Wilson, "Pitch Perfect" 

BEST SCARED-AS-S**T PERFORMANCE
Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Alexandra Daddario, "Texas Chainsaw 3D"
Martin Freeman, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Jennifer Lawrence, "House at the End of the Street"
Suraj Sharma, "Life of Pi"

BEST ON-SCREEN DUO
Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson, "Django Unchained" 
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane as Ted, "Ted" 
Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo, "The Avengers"
Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, "The Campaign" 

BEST SHIRTLESS PERFORMANCE*
Christian Bale, "The Dark Knight Rises 
Daniel Craig, "Skyfall 
Taylor Lautner, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2" 
Seth MacFarlane as Ted, "Ted" 
Channing Tatum, "Magic Mike"

BEST FIGHT
Jamie Foxx vs. Candieland Henchmen, "Django Unchained" 
Daniel Craig vs. Ola Rapace, "Skyfall" 
Mark Wahlberg vs. Seth MacFarlane as Ted, "Ted"
Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson & Jeremy Renner vs. Tom Hiddleston, "The Avengers" 
Christian Bale vs. Tom Hardy, "The Dark Knight Rises" 

BEST KISS
Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx, "Django Unchained" 
Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook" 
Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg, "Ted" 
Emma Watson and Logan Lerman, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"

BEST WTF MOMENT
Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson, Candieland Gets Smoked in "Django Unchained"
Denzel Washington, Final Descent in "Flight" 
Anna Camp, Hack-Appella in "Pitch Perfect" 
Javier Bardem, Oops… There Goes His Face in "Skyfall" 
Seth MacFarlane as Ted, Ted Gets Saucy in "Ted" 

BEST VILLAIN
Javier Bardem, "Skyfall" 
Leonardo DiCaprio, "Django Unchained" 
Marion Cotillard, "The Dark Knight Rises"
Tom Hardy, "The Dark Knight Rises" 
Tom Hiddleston, "The Avengers" 

BEST MUSICAL MOMENT*
Anne Hathaway, "Les Misérables"
Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash and Adam Rodriguez, "Magic Mike" 
Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Alexis Knapp, Ester Dean & Hana Mae Lee, "Pitch Perfect" 
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook" 
Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"

Oscar Roundup 2012: Where Have all the Genre Films Gone

The year is coming to an end, the critics have named their top tens, the Globe and SAG nominations have been announced, soon the other Guilds will announce their nominees, and the Oscar nominees will be right around the corner.  If we look at all the precursors, and experts predictions, which align for the most part. These are the top ten pictures (if there are ten) which most likely be nominated for Best Picture (in alpha order):

Argo 
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
The Master 
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln 
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

These are the most predicted top ten, but there are two spoilers still in contention, but genre fans should not get excited because those two spoilers are The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (nominated at SAG and the Golden Globes), and Flight, which could get attention from numerous branches and had a great box office take.

So I have to ask the Academy does this list of ten "serve the purpose" they intended?  After the 2008 Oscar debacle nominating The Reader over The Dark Knight Rises (or any other better film that year), the Academy knew they had reached their precipice. The Academy wanted to become more "audience friendly" and changed their rules to nominate 10 films, the following year.  Although this rule has been revised and their could be any combination between 5 and 10 now.

In 2009 the year after the rule change took effect the addition of five extra nominees added more genre films: Avatar (Sci-Fi/Action), District 9 (Sci-fi/Action), Up (Animated).  Avatar would have been a nominee no matter what, in fact it was probably the second place film, losing to The Hurt Locker.  The other two films District 9, and Up would never have made the top five, and these two films provided a greater film landscape, proving their new system was starting to work.  You could argue Inglorious Basterds may fit within a "genre" but to me this film fits more a classic drama style with intense action (the same way this year's Django Unchained does).

In 2010 two films would fit within the genre world, Inception (Sci-fI/Action), and Toy Story 3 (Animated).  With Nolan missing out on Best Director (again), I am going to argue that without 10 nominees both of these films would have missed out on the top five.  Now this is merely a hypothesis, and there is no proof, but I think if there were only five nominees it would have been Black Swan, The Fighter, The King's Speech, The Social Network, and True Grit.  Another way the ten nominees helped change the system.

In 2011 (after the rule change) there only nine nominees, and no genre nominee, there was no animated film the merited breaking into this group.  There were two "genre" films that could have broken into the Best Picture race, but were left off.  Drive is an action film, but was never taken seriously by the Academy and missed out on a nomination.  A Separation was the eventual winner in the Best Foreign Language Film category film from Iran, but did not make the top 9.  No foreign language film has ever made it into the top 10 since the rule change.

This year has the most potential for action or sci-fi films ever, with The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper, and Skyfall.  These four films could shake up the system, and all could be considered for this Best Picture race, but are any of them serious contenders?

Let's look at the super hero flick first. The Avengers will make it into the Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects category, but will go no further.  The Dark Knight Rises may get a Cinematography, Editing, or Original Score nomination, in the major technical categories, and like The Avengers will most likely score nominations in both Sound categories and the Visual Effects category.  Neither of these super hero tales will be taken seriously enough to make this list.

Looper a true science fiction action adventure film is being ignored left and right by many groups.  The Guild nominees will help determine if this is a viable contender.  Looper could sneak into the Best Original Screenplay category, and become Rian Johnson's first nomination, but may be passed over for more traditional fair, like Django Unchained, Moonrise Kingdom, Flight, The Master, and Zero Dark Thirty.  Looper could also make the Sound and Visual Effects categories, but has a lot of competition.

The biggest action film with the biggest chances at Oscar is the often forgotten James Bond, and Skyfall.  Of these four films Skyfall makes the most "sense" and deserves to make it into the Best Picture race, but at the moment is a major long shot.  Skyfall could score one major nomination with Javier Bardem in Best Supporting Actor, and will most likely get a nomination for Cinematography, Editing, Original Song, Sound, and Visual Effects.   No James Bond film has received an Oscar nomination, and this will be the first one.  Oscar has the chance to reward this film, and make a statement, but voters will unfortunately not put this into the Best Picture category.

No animated film has a shot like last year, but this year is filled with strong foreign language films, but only one has a shot, Amour.  With no foreign language film shaking up the box office like Crouching Tiger,  Amour has an uphill battle.  Amour has a shot in the Best Actress category, the Best Original Screenplay category, and of course will be nominated for Best Foreign Language film, but without any major support this film like most others will be contained within the foreign language category.

Have the more traditional voters monopolized the newer system, and brought even more traditional films into the fold?  The answer is still up in the air because the nominations have not been announced, but based on statistics none of the genre films are going to make the top ten.  This has been one of the best years in film in a long time, and I would hate for the Academy to play it too safe yet again, but it looks as though history will repeat, and comedy, action, sci-fi, animated, and foreign films will be left in the lurch.

AFI Names Top Ten in Movies and Television for 2012

The American Film Institute (AFI) named their top ten in both film and television today, for the year 2012.  The AFI process have a "unique jury process in which scholars, film and television artists, critics and AFI Trustees determine the most outstanding achievements of the year, as well as provide a detailed rationale for each selection."  

The film list does not always indicate the Best Picture nominees, last year's list included Bridesmaids, and there have been many films included on this list, which did not make the cut, come oscar time.  the only major snub is The Master, but the inclusion of the Dark Knight Rises makes sense as it's the only blockbuster on the list.

Some may be wondering where films like Skyfall may be, but since Skyfall is seen as British film it is not in consideration, and my guess is the reason Les Mis made the list was because of Universal's production, otherwise the rest of these films are as American as apple pie.

Film
Argo
Beasts of the Souther Wild
The Dark Knight Rises
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

On the television side, the only surprise for me is the exclusion of Veep and Parks and Recreation.  Veep should have made the cut!  Overall a solid list.

Television
American Horror Story
Breaking Bad
Game Change
Game of Thrones
Girls
Homeland
Louie
Mad Men
Modern Family
The Walking Dead

Summer 2012 Movie Wrap Up

Summer movie season has had different start dates in different years, often journalists and bloggers have decided these numbers based on major box office achievements.  For example last year Fast Five mad a great deal of money in April, however this could be seen as a fluke.  I am going to use the prescribed notion that May (even though the first day of Summer is in June) starts the Summer movie season.

May 

The Avengers (2012) cleaned up!  Not only did the film rake in enough money to become the second highest grossing film of all time, but the movie lived up to its expectations.  Disney made up for the flop that was John Carter, and saved their massive bank.  The Avengers was well reviewed, number one at the box office for several weeks, and started the Summer on a great path.

Little did audiences know that The Avengers incredible start would provide audiences with one of the few watchable films from this month.  May provided numerous box office flops. and all of them were a mess in terms of quality.  Dark Shadows, Battleship, What to Expect When Your Expecting, and The Dictator all were financial failures, and sucked the life out its audiences.  Men in Black III escaped the poor quality of the second film, and while it did out perform the other films had the box office the film did well.

May drummed up some quality films with two small gems in Moonrise Kingdom, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  Both films had much smaller theatre counts than many of the summer releases, but they both had some pretty solid box offices.  Kingdom is one of the best reviewed films of the year, while Hotel had middling reviews it still was a breath of fresh air compared to the other low brow material.

June 

I was pretty excited about June, there were a lot of films on my radar that may not have looked like Oscar calibre films, they looked like they would still be fun.  Unfortunately I faced a bit of a letdown.

June started with Snow White and the Huntsman, the film was a flop creatively (although Charlize is one of the fairest in the land), but performed solidly at the box office.  Who knew that not long after we would find out how K-Stew got the part, what an awful miscast.

I skipped both animated films from this month, but both Madagascar 3 and Brave performed excellent at the box office.  I heard some mixed things about both films )in regard to the quality.  This is the year of Abraham Lincoln as well, and while I am intrigued to see Daniel Day Lewis portray this former president, I had no desire to see him as a vampire, and most of America did not either.

Prometheus proved to be ethereal, the film pulled me in with the concept of directing a film that tied back to the lore of the Alien films, but could not gain massive audiences once people figured out the film was just as cryptic as Lost.

America and critics did not love rock and roll.  Rock of Ages which could have had mass appeal, was a commercial and critical flop, proving that musicals need more than relate able songs.  Adam Sandler appeal has also been fading as well.  People did not want to watch him player a loser dad to someone who was not much younger than him in real life in That's My Boy.

June had its share of small films released, To Rome with Love, and Beasts of the Southern Wild.  Allen fell flat with a change of location from Paris to Rome, and could not charm audiences or critics with his film.  Meanwhile Beasts has done the exact opposite, and has garnered a lot of buzz which could carry the film to numerous Oscar nominations.  Proving quality wins over the name.

June closed things out with two different things strippers and a teddy bear.  Magic Mike worked magic on audiences and critics (although I thought it was terrible) proving that Channing Tatum to be one of the biggest stars of the year.  Seth MacFarlene took his own magic from television to the big screen with Ted, and had the largest R rated box office of the year (so far).  June had a much more interesting end than beginning.

July 2012

July 2012 proved the theme of the summer was super heroes.  The reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, The Amazing Spider-Man did not match the original series, but made hefty some of money, and bested the quality of the original as well (in my opinion).  The much anticipated conclusion to the reboot of the Batman franchise was finally released 4 years later, and while The Dark Knight Rises was not as good as The Dark Knight, nor will it make as much money, the film was solid, and still will make a massive amount of money.

The rest of films from July feel like a blur to me, while Ice Age made money, the film never floated my boat, skipped.  Oliver Stone's Savages seemed to go up in smoke, get the munchies, and forget where it was.  Step Up should really go with the straight to DVD track like Bring it On.  The biggest failure was The Watch, which was panned by the critics, but their marketing campaign failed them even more, and the film did not fill any seats.

August

August is the month that starts to slow things down with less explosions and hodgepodge of random films.  August is the island of misfit toys for the "ideal summer film."  The Bourne Legacy tried to change this by attempting to change things up with a new story for the the franchise.  The film fell flat on its face with critics (the first time in the franchise), and has not performed well at the box office.  Total Recall tried to capture the fun of the original film , but never quite got there either.  Ironically the film sequel about a bunch of old school action stars has been the film which has had more people talking, and doing better at the box office.

With only three films containing major action/explosions the rest of August was like a grab bag ranging from Premium Rush (a pseudo action flick) to Hope Springs with Meryl Streep, both which got decent reviews, but under performed at the box office.  The Campaign filled the role of the token comedy, which also had decent reviews, but no one seemed to interested in the schtick.  Lawless tried to be the first serious drama/Oscar contender leading into September, but looking at their opening weekend numbers the film has garnered only solid reviews, and poor box office receipts, which means forget it! How can you forget the kids? August has give us Paranorman, which has not given the same numbers as Ice Age, but seems a shoe in to a major contender for the Animated feature Oscar.

As the Summer drew to a close I was plagued with the concept that year and year out Hollywood rebukes the concept of making the film experience fun by attempting to try and win audiences over with cheap ploys.  Hollywood has started to lose this battle as box office numbers, and film quality go down.  The average audience viewer can't afford to see a terrible film because of a major celebrity, they have to be choosier.  The summer of super heroes has proven that these are bankable enough, but that depth matters as well.  Many of the smaller films paid off for the companies proving that audiences never want to thinking (per say), but they do want something good making them feel like leaving the warm summer sun was worth their time.

The Dark Knight Rises to Meet the Expectations of Truly Impressive Conclusion

The Dark Knights Rises (4 out of 5)

Directed by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception, Memento)

Written by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan (Memento)

Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman

Last night I was able to experience all three Batman films from Christopher Nolan back to back. What a way to watch this "trilogy!"  Batman Begins started at 6:30, and set the pace from one of the entertaining film experiences I have ever had.  The film series has changed the face of "comic book" or pulp film, and this film is the largest undertaking for Nolan to date within this series.

The films starts eight years after The Dark Knight, Batman and Bruce Wayne have both disappeared from the public since the fall of Harvey Dent.  Batman is public enemy number one for the police, and Wayne himself has isolated himself from the outside world because he felt as though he failed at saving Gotham, and its people from the chaos the Joker imposed.  Bruce Wayne is drawn back in the world of Batman when a cat burglar named Selina Kyle (Hathaway) breaks into his home stealing his finger prints.  This thief leads way to another criminal mastermind Bane (Hardy( who wants to release Gotham from the chains of the government and take chaos to a whole new level.

Revealing any more of the plot would the pure enjoyment for audiences.  The film is epic and Christopher Nolan has taken on some mammoth productions in the past, but this films large scale ups the ante.  Nolan has tied together some modern elements of societal problems within this film like within his other films to make this world more salient.  Financial troubles are at the center of this film, and mistrust of the government.  In the current socio-political/economic climate (on a global level) there is a mistrust of those who were born with silver spoons in their mouth.  There are numerous points in the film when characters like Selina Kyle and others point out the fact that Bruce has never had to struggle financially so he does not understand the way these "villains" have built up this fierce anger and hatred toward those who have never had to fight or even work for what they needed.

As Wayne Batman have grown weaker and goes further into seclusion the League of Shadows new leader Bane becomes "Gotham's reckoning."  Hardy does not get to act in the same fashion Heath Ledger did with his version of the Joker, but the Bane villain is different.  Bane wears a mouthpiece because of something when he was younger, the apparatus on his face keeps him alive.  People are going to complain they can't understand Bane, although it was much better in this film than in the initial test screening.  Bane represents more than an agent of chaos; he wants to turn Gotham inside out, and has no fear about bringing the people of Gotham to their knees.

Selina Kyle wants to see the people of Gotham suffer too.  Kyle's cat burglar is done incredibly well; she does purr, or become overly cat like, she is more of a bad ass acrobat.  Hathaway does a great job with being sultry, and has incredible chemistry with Bale.  The character never feels out of place like I thought it would.  The other female in the film Miranda Tate (Cotillard) is the financial savior for Wayne Enterprises, the character is a bit bland throughout and has sexual encounter with Bruce Wayne that does not seem to make sense because of Kyle, but the end result is brilliant.  

Another new character on the scene is John Blake (Gordon-Levitt) a cop who becomes a detective.  Through John's eyes the story tells a sign of the hope youth have in the the symbol of someone like Batman who will come in and save the day.  Gordon-Levitt is a great addition to this film, and it fits that Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon (one of the best working actors) finally has a cop on his side who understands what Batman represents.

Batman himself or the broken Bruce Wayne played by Christian Bale has evolved so much.  Watching Bale in all three films yesterday have proven to show that not only has this man grown as an actor, but he truly has taken fans of this franchise on an evolutionary journey with this character.  Bale's Bruce Wayne and Batman has taken flight within this film, and this is one great performance. 

While Bale and Nolan do an incredible job within this film, there are still flaws that exist.  Some will call this film "clunky" and while I disagree with that label I can see where the boom can over power.  The opening sequence tries to replicate the introduction of the Joker, but there is no way to repeat that brilliant introduction.  Hans Zimmer's score for this film has moments where the music overpowers the dialogue or becomes to bombastic, but yet there are also the quiet moments when the score reveals some of the most wrought moments.  There were times in the beginning when Nolan seemed to be going in too many directions with too many characters, but the film filtered that, and even as the end (like in The Dark Knight) feels as though its taking too long to get there you are on the edge of your seat because of the built up with anticipation.

As a comic book reader this film hit it out the park with some of the most interesting Batman stories.  While I know Nolan wants to end the story with this film, and it feels like it could be an ending there are so many stories to explore further.  If this is the end, as Nolan states this was an incredible way to end this series, and I feel as though the closure given provides enough on an opportunity for the caped crusader to disappear into the night. 

July Movies to See and Movies to Skip!

This past June was filled with a lot of highly anticipated yet disappointing films.  The month opened with Snow White and the Huntsman, which I was excited to see, but the film fell flat mainly because of a poor script and K Stew.  A week later Prometheus engaged more of the Alien world, and while it was a step up from Snow White the film used too much exposition.  I enjoyed it though.   The third week of June fell even flatter with Adam Sandler having his lowest opening in years, and a rock musical that fell sharp.  Brave gave a shot of excitement adding a strong female lead to the Pixar repertoire, while most people decided not to find out about Abraham Lincoln's life as a Vampire Hunter.  June's most exciting weekend was the last weekend with two R rated films topping the the box office.  I have seen Magic Mike, and I do not care what the critics say, this was a bad movie, they must have went in with incredibly low expectations.  Ted and Moonrise Kingdom are on my list for this hot summer week.

Now in July the two main films to see involved spiders and bats, both are part of reboots of popular series, while one is beginning the reboot the other closes out the final chapter in a series.  There is also a crappy comedy with Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller to dread, and another Oliver Stone flick that looks poorly acted (my how the mighty have fallen.)  This month has far fewer releases than June mainly because of Spiderman and Batman fighting crime.

July 6th 

The Amazing Spiderman (July 3rd)

Savages

I have heard a lot of debate about this Spiderman reboot.  I think it looks like a winner, the director did 500 Days of Summer, Peter Parker is played by the more capable Andrew Garfield, and they are starting with Peter's romance with his first girlfriend Gwen Stacey, played by the amazing Emma Stone.  I am there.  Then there is the film Savages.  I have seen previews for this film for months, and they can't pay me to see this ill contrived film.

July 13th 

Ice Age: Continental Drift

This is the fourth film in the series, and unlike Madagascar 3 they do not have the great advertising.  I have not see one preview for this film, which means it could be a giant flop.  Once these animated films get so far in the series isn't it time to call it quits, and come up with something new?

July 20th 

The Dark Knight Rises

I do not even know if I have to sell this film, but I am beyond excited, and with them changing Bane's voice so I can understand him that makes it even better.  Sad to see this series end, but excited to watch the final chapter.

July 27th
The Watch 
Step Up Revolution

I will say it until I am blue in the face, Ben Stiller is not funny.  The Watch looks contrived, and looks like upstart Jonah Hill is a scene stealer again.  Did there need to be a fourth Step Up film?  I guess as long as So You Think You Can Exists they will have cheap actors for these films.

In a month with a limited amount of releases....

See: The Amazing Spiderman, and The Dark Knight Rises (and catch up on Beasts of the Southern Wild and Ted)
Skip: Savages, Ice Age, The Watch, and Step Up Revolution

Time to Reboot! Film Franchises Getting a Jolt from Bourne to Batman

This evening I watched The Bourne Identity, and it made me think about a trend going on in films today.  Many successful franchises that have flat lined or started to creatively falter have started to have been remade or taken a new path.  Bourne does not follow this pattern.  This is a film series that got increasingly better.  Not only did the quality increase with the third film The Bourne Ultimatum (which won an Academy Award for Best Film Editing), but the amount of money increased from film to film.  The Bourne Identity made 121 million domestically, The Bourne Supremacy made 176 million domestically, and The Bourne Ultimatum made 227 million domestically.  Matt Damon is a pretty popular actor, but they are replacing him in the series with actor Jeremy Renner who will play Aaron Cross.

Why replace Damon and change up the successful franchise?  I have tried to find an explanation that explains why, but it may be as simple as the film makers in Hollywood are getting smarter than ever before.  Damon's Jason Bourne's story seemed complete in the last film.  Is this the a story of greedy producers or producers who realize they have a good story on their hands that can evolve throughout time.  Robert Ludlum has created numerous books cased on this this character, so there is a lot of story that can be adapted to make many movies for the future.  Bourne is the American version of James Bond for the next generation, but even more badass.  The latest Bourne movie which is being released this year is being directed and written by Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Duplicity) an expert in writing political thrillers.  This will be his first major action film he had directed.  Based on the preview below I am more excited than hesitant about the direction of this new franchise.

Bourne is not the only film franchise reboot this year. The Spiderman franchise unlike the Bourne franchise flatlined in quality with the third film.  Spiderman 3 was seen as a massive decline from the first two films.  The script was terrible, and with massive uncertainty about a 4th film, director Sam Raimi crammed a lot of plot into one film that did not connect cohesively.  Throughout the the franchise history each film in the Spiderman franchise made relatively the same amount of money.  the first film made a little over 400 million, the second film made about 377 million, and the third film made 336 million.  Throughout the years the franchise did slowly decrease in domestic box office numbers.  There was talk back and forth that the original cast would come back to do a fourth film but that was squashed.  Then there were rumors that Raimi direct the rebooted series but then that fell through.  Spiderman was almost dead in the water but with the success of the rebooted Batman series Columbia decided this film was worth a reboot.

The Amazing Spiderman will be released this summer with Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as Peter Parker and Emma Stone (Easy A) as his original love interest from the comic books Gwen Stacey.  Like with the Batman reboot it feels as though this reboot will be a bit darker, and follow a path more similar to the comic books.  The film is being directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) and has Harry Potter screenwriter Steven Kloves.  The combination of these two men should prove succesful.  There are a couple of key ingrediants missing, like J Jonah Jamerson, but I trust that this film series will not be handled with great care than the original.  I will be curious if Emma's Gwen Stacey eventually gets the same fate as her character in the comics, if they do that (at some point) I will be impressed.

This trend seemed to take flight with Batman Begins (2005).  Most films prior to this kept aiming to continue the pattern of previous films, or tried to be a sequel to other series even without the main character (s).  Like the Terminator franchise without Arnold.  The last film Batman film prior to this 1997's Batman and Robin.  Joel Schumacher had already brought this series down a peg with Batman Forever but this fourth film in the series took the franchise to a whole new low.  George Clooney was vetted to play Bruce Wayne; he seemed like a great choice, but he will never be able to live down the focus on the bat nipples.  This film is beyond campy, and makes the 1960s television series look like Citizen Kane.

Eight year later Christian Bale takes over as Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan's version of Batman, and fanboys drooled over just how great this film was.  Who would have known it could only get better, with the sequel The Dark Knight.  This is the only film based on a comic book series to be nominated for and win a major Academy Award (Heath Ledger's posthumous win for playing the Joker).  This year the  third and final film in the franchise is going to be released, The Dark Knight Rises.  There are of course already rumblings that there will be another reboot after Nolan walks away, but I am hoping the series gets a reprieve for a little while.

As this trend continues to work film companies are going continue this pattern, and adapt it as needed.  For example X-Men: First Class, which is not really a reboot but more of an origins story.  With the popularity of this film don't be surprised if they either reboot the entire X-Men franchise or make a sequel to the film released this past year.  As long as the quality of these films remain steady this is one trend I am on board with!

Should old Acquaintance be Forgot....Some Hopeful Pop Culture Events for 2012

TV


Revenge-After watching the first nine minutes of the first episode in 2012 I hope the show continues on it brilliant soapy path it started with in the fall.


Community-I just hope NBC realizes what it has with this show, cancels Whitney, and brings this show back, and stops this quick hiatus.


30 Rock-  I hope that Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin realize that while I love this show it may be time to pull the plug after at least year 7.  I do not see the show going much further, I think they should end after this year, but I do not think that will happen.  Who knows maybe season 6 will bring back the glory days of this show.


Mad Men-After almost two years of being off the air, I am excited to have this show back in my living room.  I want more Don Draper in my living room.  This great show has taken too long to come back, thanks a lot for drawing out the contracts AMC.


Movies


Meryl Streep-Simply put, I have not seen Meryl in her new film, but I want to see her win her third Academy Award this year she deserves to have a third Oscar on her mantle.

The Amazing Spiderman, The Avengers, and The Dark Knight Rises-These three comic book films look promising.  Spiderman needed a reboot after the mess of Spiderman 3, and I think Andrew Garfield will be a better Peter Parker, although this looks to be taking the franchise into a darker place.  The build up to The Avengers has all the chess pieces in place, we have seen every film so character development does matter as much.  I think the story and action look awesome!  The Dark Knight was/is the best comic book film of all time so it will be tough for the final installment to live up to its predecessor, but I think Nolan is up to the task,  I hope all three of these films knock it out the park.


The Post Oscar drought -From February to the end of April the movies fall apart for me every year.  The only two films I want to see are The Hunger Games and  potentially 21 Jump Street.  I hope there are some diamonds in the rough that emerge out of nowhere.  There better be or I will be in trouble.


Magic Mike- A movie about male strippers that includes Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Bomer,  and Joe Mangamiello better have some full frontal-that's all I am saying.

Movie musicals-Rock of Ages and Les Miserables will most likely both be released in 2012.  They both better be good.  Rock looks fun, and Les Mis has so much potential.


Music


U2-I have heard this may be their last major CD release for a VERY long time, in fact they are potentially talking about doing each of their projects.  If this is true I am hoping that this CD surpasses their last album, and makes me forget about Bono and the Edge writing Spiderman the musical.

The Stage


More original shows not based on films, television shows, etc..  I want more shows like Next to Normal. Plain and simple broadway needs to find a balance, and stop creating haphazard shows that they think will make money.