M. Night Shyamalan to reunite with Bruce Willis

Yes. The Shyamalan curse is about to return.

It has been said that Shyamalan is in talks to resurrect one of his first scripts in a film effort which will reunite him with Bruce Willis. Willis starred in the Shyamalan films The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable and has been absent for his long list of flops ever since. The Sixth Sense went on to receive six Oscar nominations (including Best Director), two Golden Globe nominations, and four BAFTA nominations.
Shyamalan sold the script for Labor of Love years ago and the project fell through at 20th Century Fox because they didn't want him to direct. Now the project has gained new attention at Fox.

If you have paid any attention, M. Night Shyamalan hasn't exactly had the career many expected him to have after The Sixth Sense. Out of all his films the only two I would even consider worth watching are The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Signs wasn't bad at the time, but I re-watched it a while back and I realized then how stupid it was. His list of flops include Lady in the Water, The Happening, The Village, The Last Airbender, Devil (writer/producer) and After Earth. The Last Airbender has been said to be one of the worst movies ever made, he has been nominated for a total of nine Razzie Awards, and if you Google his name the third suggested result is "M. Night Shyamalan sucks." I remember seeing a preview for Devil and when his name popped up in the trailer the theater I was in started booing and throwing popcorn at the screen. So yeah, he doesn't have the best track record in Hollywood.
However, seeing that this script was written before all of the shitstorms we have seen it might have some promise. Labor of Love tells the story of a bookstore owner in Philadelphia grieving the loss of his wife. After he begins to feel guilty for not letting her know how much he loves her, he decides to walk from Philadelphia to her favorite spot in California. Filming is set to begin in mid-September.

How much you want to bet the twist is he died with her and is stuck in limbo or something like that. Seriously, any takers?

Moonrise Kingdom - Review

Moonrise Kingdom is the tale of two 12-year old children who fall in love and decide to run away together in their small New England island town. Their disappearance causes a town-wide search party to go after them during the biggest storm in the island's history.



The only reason I watched Moonrise Kingdom was because of the hype it had received during this awards season. I honestly knew nothing about the movie but I like to see the movies that get everyone's panties in a bunch. All I knew is that it had Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, and Bill Murray. Truth be told I didn't even read a synopsis until I got the Netflix envelope. Sometimes I think it's best to go into movies this way because I had absolutely no expectations or anything regarding this movie. Moonrise Kingdom was yet another film that had me walking away completely in love.
My synopsis above basically tells the backbone of this movie. Two 12-year old kids, Sam Shakusky and Suzy Bishop, meet during some sort of program at the local community center and shortly fall in love. They become pen pals as they live on different sides of the small island they both reside on and eventually they devise a plan to run away together. Sam is part of a scout group called Khaki Scouts who's scout leader, played by Edward Norton, is a down to business math teacher. Suzy is the oldest of four and is considered weird and troubled by her parents, siblings, and peers. The only person who seems to understand Suzy is Sam and the only person who seems to understand Sam is Suzy. When the plan to run away is executed, Edward Norton seeks the assistance of Suzy's parents (played by Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) and the local police captain (played by Bruce Willis) along with Sam's fellow Khaki Scouts to help find where the children have run off to.

First of all, I found the story to be rather original. We have had stories and movies of young kids who dabbled with innocent romance before but this movie was played out a little differently. The characters of Sam and Suzy were rather mature despite being 12-years old. Sam was an orphan who had been abandoned at scout camp by his foster parents and Suzy was coping with being a complete outcast in her own family. These experiences gave the children a little backbone and it made you feel like they knew what they were doing despite being so young. I think that is why the characters meshed so well together. It was absolutely brilliant.
Along with the characterization of the children I thought the adult characters were just as good. Edward Norton's performance as Scout Master Ward was almost hilarious. He plays this man who obviously took the scout master job to feel like he had a higher calling and responsibility. It was almost like he felt like having the respect of his scouts made him feel he had the control and discipline he always knew he could keep. I also loved Bruce Willis as Captain Sharp. He seemed like a good man who was just going through the motions of his life and his career until this event happened. He stepped up and wanted to do what was right for all the parties involved.
Aside from the brilliant characters I think the dialogue was perfect. The conversations Sam and Suzy had were so well written. Like I mentioned before, despite the characters only being 12 it felt like you were listening to a conversation between 20-year old adults. Somehow it worked, though. I never felt like the dialogue was unrealistic at any point. That goes for any of the characters.


I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this movie. It was a very pleasant surprise for me. I highly recommend checking out Moonrise Kingdom if you haven't done so. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Bruce Willis to return for A Dame to Kill For

It has been rumored for a while, but Robert Rodriguez has now confirmed via an interview at Sundance 2013 that Bruce Willis will return for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
Rodriguez also talked about the usage of 3D in the sequel. He stated they are filming in 3D so the dimension and stylization created will "blow people's mind." 

If you don't remember Willis' character in Sin City, he played a police detective named John Hardigan who was assigned to investigate a serial killer rapist. He discovers the suspect is the son of the most powerful man in the city, Senator Roark. Hardigan is shot after his partner frames him while attempting to rescue 11-year old Nancy Callahan. Roark frames Hardigan for the rape of Nancy and he spends 8 years in prison. Nancy is the only person to keep in contact with him over the course of his sentence and he accepts whatever comes at him as long as she remains safe.



Sin City: A Dame to Kill For will be released on October 4, 2013. The film also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Juno Temple, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Jaime King, and Josh Brolin.

Looper - Review

Looper fast forwards us to the year 2074 where the mob uses time travel to transport people 30 years into the past where they are killed by specialized hit men called Loopers. A Looper named Joe gets more than he bargained for when his scheduled loop is the future version of himself.


I know I'm a little late to the party when it comes to Looper because I just now watched it, but I do have to say that I really enjoyed it. I thought the story was interesting and fresh and the acting was also really good. I also thought they did a pretty good job with making Joseph Gordon-Levitt look like a believable young Bruce Willis. It wasn't spot on, obviously, but it was pretty damn good.
I thought the writing was great and the dialogue was awesome. It was serious enough to keep you interested and curious, but there was also a decent mix of humor in there to keep you from getting too into it and feeling like your brain is turning into scrambled eggs.

I did like the idea of time travel being invented and then immediately outlawed. It's almost like there is a glimpse of hope that our future people would realize when too much power is too much. However, I was a little disappointed with how it wasn't really gone in depth. They didn't describe when it was invented or what exactly caused it to become illegal. A minor gripe but it is there.
I also was a bit confused with what exactly the drug was Joseph Gordon-Levitt (aka, Joe) was using. It was referred to as "dropping" but again, they never explained exactly what it was. Was it a form of cocaine or heroin or was it a brand new drug that was created between now and the year 2044?
One thing I did like is the fact that they didn't make the future too much of... the future. Like, there wasn't a lot of futuristic feeling in the sense of you felt like you were in an episode of The Jetsons, but at the same time it gives you enough to believe you are in the year 2044. There were hover bikes and futuristic cell phones and stuff.

I don't want to ruin anything even though I am pretty sure most people have seen Looper already, but I am going to stop before I get too into the movie. If I do this review will be super long and I don't want that. I will say I did like Looper. It was very well played out and I also will say Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a great job. I was also surprised with Emily Blunt.
I recommend it if you haven't seen it yet.

GI Joe: Retaliation moved to March 2013

Yes, we were supposed to get the upcoming sequel to GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra in about a month, on June 29th, but Paramount Pictures has other plans for the film. It was announced that GI Joe: Retaliation has been pulled and rescheduled for a release date 9 months from now on March 29, 2013.

Why the move? To add 3D.

A studio executive at Paramount stated that they have pulled the movie to add 3D because they have seen the effect it has on the box office numbers and hope the addition will increase their foreign box office success. Although the 3D allure is seeming to have died down a bit here in the US (thank God) it is still quite popular and thriving overseas.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/g-i-joe-retaliation-moving-to-march-2012-to-add-3d-for-bigger-foreign-box-office/


Personally, I think this is a dumb move. There are quite a few major movies coming out that are not in 3D. One of them being Snow White and the Huntsman. Not to mention the major success of The Hunger Games and that wasn't in 3D. I think they are basing this on the success of The Avengers and nothing more. After making a big deal about a Super Bowl ad and releasing trailers paired with Battleship and The Avengers I wonder if this will bite them in the ass. It's not like a bunch of people have been dying to see GI Joe: Retaliation anyway... were they?

Looper teaser trailer released

This movie looks like it's going to be awesome.

Moonrise Kingdom to open Cannes 2012

As far as I can see there isn't a full list of the films screening at Cannes, but it has been confirmed that Moonrise Kingdom directed by Wes Anderson will be opening the festival.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/wes-andersons-moonrise-kingdom-to-open-cannes