10 Cloverfield Lane

It is with great delight I can say that I liked this film a lot. To be honest I knew I would. That first teaser trailer that came out of nowhere earlier this year promised a ‘sequel’ that would set itself apart from the original movie. The filmmakers delivered on that 100%

Frustratingly I am limited in what I can say about the film. There basic plot follows a young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who after being in a car accident finds herself inside a doomsday bunker. Her saviour (John Goodman) explains she is here for her own safety because some kind of attack has made being topside very dangerous! From that point on we are dealt with many questions, tremendous suspense, moments of humour and genuine horror. What is the cause of the attack? Who is this man? Who is the other guy (John Gallagher Jr.) who has also sought shelter in the bunker? Where is the Cloverfield monster? Haha. Some of those answers you may get answers to and some you may not.

10 Cloverfield Lane is it’s own entity and you can enjoy it wholly without having seen Cloverfield. The confined setting works in the favour of the story and it never (this was one of my fears before seeing the movie) felt like a gimmick. Set pieces (yep we get a few!) work in sync with the environment, the tension holds and the final pay off is fulfilling.

The cast are strong, the film looks great and I think I saw the budget for this was five million dollars? That is incredible, what the filmmakers manage to put up on screen is real confident and it speaks a lot about how good character work, a strong script and capable director can make a small budget movie come across as a much bigger budgeted flick.

*Light Spoilers Below!

This Cloverfield “universe” is really intriguing. I am not sure if this is a sequel or an anthology type of deal? I just hope we get another Cloverfield movie and please keep the mystery going. What I love is how as an audience we are met with a mystery and you get some answers without being hit over the head or spoon fed what exactly this all means. Are the two movies genuinely connected? Or are they not? Maybe it’s best that answer is never spelt out but instead is left open to debate!

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Stranger Things

From the minds of the Duffer Brothers comes Stranger Things the latest Netflix original series. It plays out like a pic & mix of 80’s nostalgia. You will find shades of Stand By Me, The Goonies, E.T. and Stephen King. If you are a fan of either of what I have just mentioned you are going to feel right at home with Stranger Things. The way the film is shot, the acting, the score and the tone are all lovingly reminiscent of a bygone era of story telling.

The plot I will have to tip toe around because I don’t want to spoil anything. Then again considering how big the show has become in such a short amount of time chances are you have seen it. The basics is that a kid goes missing, another kid with…abilities appears, there is (maybe) a monster terrorising the small town and it’s up to another group of kids to solve the whole thing! That is all you are getting from me! The best way to see Stranger Things is by knowing as little as possible. Should I say this….okay I will. One of my fears early on was the ‘threat’ would end up as some Super 8 vibe ( a film I liked until the whole “Oh it’s not really bad, it’s misunderstood” reveal) but thankfully that is NOT the case here. At all. The threat that Stranger Things unleashes is very real and very deadly.

The acting from the cast is tremendous. Across the board. Especially the kids. Normally with child actors, not to sound harsh, but they can come across as trying too hard end up being anything but natural. Not the case here. Also can we all just pause and appreciate how brilliant it is having the great Winona Ryder back? She is the anchor of the show and gives one of the best performances of his career.

Are there any drawbacks? Well I would be lying if I said that no there are not. See at times Stranger Things does walk a VERY fine line between homage and outright rip off. The good news though is as a whole it manages to not stray off that line and comes out as something wholly unique despite the clear fact it stands on the shoulders of giants and wears it’s heart on its sleeve for all to see. Part of me wishes this was a one and done show. It’s looking like we are getting a second season but I just fail to see how it could live up to this amazing first season. I truly feel this should have been a one and done show.

As a lover of all things 80’s I can’t recommend Stranger Things enough.

 

Kong: Skull Island trailer

One of the best trailers out of this years Comic Con is Kong: Skull Island. Look at some of these Apocalypse Now-like shots! It’s jaw dropping stuff and beyond the stacked cast we get one BIG Kong on display here. Look at the size of him! That is the kind of size I wanted to see on display in this movie and this is what we are getting. Hopefully Kong won’t be falling in love with a lady this time. Nothing wrong with that but we’ve seen that angle three times now. I hope this Kong is one mean beast that is just out to protect his kingdom from EVERYRONE! You happy with the reveal in this trailer? Do you think maybe there are one or two other monsters in this movie that are being kept under wraps?! Who knows! I might call it quits now with the Skull Island trailers. I’ve seen enough. It has my money!

Kong: Skull Island hits screens next year.

Justice League Comic Con Teaser

Comic Con fans were spoilt yesterday. Not only did they get a Wonder Woman trailer but Warner Brothers/DC gave ’em a exclusive first look at footage (it is more of a footage tease than an actual teaser trailer) of Justice League! Considering the film is still shooting I think the footage on display is impressive. We get a good look at the tone (fun), a hint of the threat and some new characters such as Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg! The film is still over a year away but I look forward to another teaser trailer maybe later this year. I liked the interaction between the characters. It’s nice to see Batman a bit more mellow-ish and able to crack a smile.

Out of the DC movies to date (the post Nolan era) I have only seen Man of Steel ( I liked it in case you are wondering!) and I have to say I am rooting for ’em. I love Marvel too. You can like everything! It is just Marvel are ALWAYS good. It’s bit boring now. No not boring. Those films are great! I think you know what I mean though. Marvel are very SAFE. Which is boss but some serious competition is always a good thing and I hope the DC movie universe manages to be just that moving forward.

 

 

Wonder Woman trailer is wonderful!

Wonder Woman is going to be a great comic book movie if this trailer is any indication of the films overall quality. I love the story, the look and the humour. I still haven’t seen Dawn of Justice, as I have said before, so this extended look at her majesty in action was brilliant. Soon as Dawn of Justice is out I’ll be checking it out and putting my thoughts up on here. Take a look at this trailer and get hype. This is enough for me. I think they have done a solid job of letting fans know exactly what sort of film they will be getting. Hopefully outside of the comic book fun we get a good exploration of a woman being strong and shedding some light onto a mans world so to speak. I want a good comic book movie but Wonder Woman may just prove to be a great one.

Wonder Woman is out next summer! Did you see Dawn of Justice? How did you feel about her in the movie?

:O Blair With trailer terrifies!! SPOILERS!

 

SPOILERS – Feels like this trailer gives a lot away so beware! I watched it and now I regret it.

Almost 20 years ago The Blair Witch project took the world by storm. The simple found footage flick terrified audiences worldwide. The story had a troop of students venturing into the woods to make a doc about this supposed Blair Witch legend. Things don’t go to plan and well…it gets pretty serious and scary. Now out of nowhere we got a new Blair Witch movie that will follow on from the original. It’s not a remake or a reboot. This is a full on sequel. The film has already screened and early word is that it more than delivers. Word of warning…I have heard from those who have seen it that this trailer spoils quite a few of the films scares so maybe you might want to go into this blind?

This sequel was made in secrecy and even got it’s first teaser trailer under the fake title The Woods! Part of wishes the surprise wasn’t revealed until release but the fact it was kept under wraps this long also makes me happy especially in this day and age.

Blair Witch hits cinemas September time and it comes from The Guest and You’re Next’s Adam Wingard.

Warner Brothers unleashes Wonder Woman Comic Con poster.

I like this. I have not seen Dawn of Justice but I know one thing a lot of fans agreed on was how good Wonder Woman is in the movie. For sure she is one of that films highlights. In her solo outing Diana will be leaving her Amazon home and venturing into the world of man and World War One. Early this year Warner showed a very small glimpse of footage from the movie. Hopefully today a full teaser trailer will be released. I’ll be sure to be back with my thoughts on that if we get it.

Wonder Woman hits screens next summer.

Wonder Woman & Blue Beetle join Injustice 2

Ed Boon revealed the new additions yesterday during the Injustice 2 Comic Con panel. No real news was revealed besides the reveals. Boon did confirm that Injustice 2 will have a tournament friendly mode which will allow pro players to play the game without the perks the gear system will allow.

I say we can expect Injustice 2 around the same time Mortal Kombat X launched last year so April 2017. Maybe. Blue Beetle looks great.

EVO 2016: Tekken 7: Fated Retribution adds Bob & newcomer Master Raven!

It was EVO2016 this weekend and I forgot all about it! I thought it was NEXT week! How bad is that? So sadly I have no idea who won what but on the flip side I have a ton of great matches to catch up on. I blame Star Wars Celebration for this. Haha. Anyhow…let’s take a look at the two latest additions to the Tekken 7 roster.

Bob. Bob is a lot of fun to play as and it doesn’t look like that has changed between Tekken 6 & Fated Retribution. His new costume is a step up from that Tekken 6 outfit!

Master Raven! Seems like she’s Raven’s Master? Haha. Why not just add Raven? I don’t know. Are their moves the same? Or does she look to have a more unique move set? If it’s the later than that’s cool. Regardless of the move set it’s a brilliant design. Just if she does play more like a clone I’d have rather it she have her own unique style. I didn’t play as Raven a whole lot so I just can’t make that assumption.

Tekken 7: Fated Retribution hits PS4, XB1 & PC early 2017.

Star Wars Rebels Season 3 trailer!

Look at this! There is a lot of stuff here to get excited about least of which is Grand Admiral Thrawn is now officially CANON!! Haha. That is pretty massive to be honest and it is a move that is bound to make a lot of Star Wars fans super happy. Clearly there has been some sort of time jump between the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3. The characters have new looks, the stakes have been raised and the tone looks VERY Empire Strikes Back. I’m gonna shut up now and just let you watch this brilliant trailer and then get HYPE!!

Star Wars Rebels Season 3 kicks off later this year.