Stellar Buzz for Christopher Nolan's Space Travel Blockbuster

For hype and anticipation, Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic Interstellar is the one to beat right now. It's about two weeks away from release and early reactions are starting to surface online, all of them positive. What can I say, if the likes of Edgar Wright ("Emotional, visually stunning"), Rian Johnson ("some of the finest space travel spectacle this side of 2001") and Brad Bird ("WOW") are bowled over, I think we're going to be in for a dazzler. It's also worth noting Interstellar is the first Hollywood blockbuster we've had in what seems to be an alarmingly long time that isn't a sequel or based on some existing franchise/toy/book. Be sure to see at IMAX on November 6!

Guardians of the Galaxy: Best Marvel Film Yet?

As Marvel heads into Phase 3 of its Cinematic Universe, there's a sense -- for me at least -- that a little novelty has been lost with their recent, workmanlike sequels. James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy could be the one to change that. Introducing a set of fresh characters -- and pretty left-field ones at that -- this "space opera" is garnering great early reactions, some of which can be found here and here. I'm intrigued just for the involvement of James Gunn, a director whose previous, much smaller films -- the gore-soaked monster flick Slither and brutal, bleakly funny comedy Super -- displayed a irreverent sensibility that could bring a distinctive edge to Marvel's slick, generally cookie-cutter factory. If you've ever wanted to see Vin Diesel play a tree and Bradley Cooper a raccoon, have a peek at the eye-popping trailer now:
Next week we will be giving away 10 Guardians of the Galaxy prize packs, containing an in-season double pass to the film, a sticker roll and a key chain. Look out for the email in your inbox!

The Raid 2 Obliterates Sundance Crowd

...and with those few eloquent words, you pretty much have the gist of overwhelmingly orgasmic reactions to Gareth Evan's The Raid 2 which premiered at Sundance yesterday.

Due here on March 28, the sequel to the 2011 bone-crunching Indonesian actioner has generated plenty of buzz among fans, and if the tweets last night are anything to go by, then Evans has really delivered the goods, and then some. Here's a sampling of those tweets:

Comparisons to Kubrick AND Kurosawa? Holy shit! There HAVE been a few more "balanced" reviews -- like this Indiewire one, and this dude who almost vomited -- and I still do have concerns over the film's 148-minute length. But damn, I'm so ready to be broken by this movie. Click below for the latest trailer: And if you haven't seen the first one, rent it here!

Trailer: Under the Skin

The first trailer for Scarlett Johanssen's new film Under the Skin has hit the web and (AV quality issues aside) it looks intriguing and positively mind-blowing, though I'm hard-pressed to tell what the heck is going on. This arty, ambitious sci-fi flick, directed by Jonathan Glazer (his first film since 2004's Birth), has already generated a lot of talk and divided critics since its screenings at Telluride and Venice Film Festivals. The Guardian calls it an "extraordinary malarial dream"; The Telegraph says "astonishing"; Variety didn't show as much love, describe it as an "ultimately torpid and silly tale of an alien on the prowl". Me? I'm sold.

Cars 2: A Pixar Wreck

I guess it had to happen sooner or later, and it's perhaps not surprising that Pixar's golden track record has been tarnished by Cars 2, an unnecessary sequel to one of their lesser films, its existence made only possible by the franchise's apparently lucrative merchandising. It's currently sitting in the mixed yellow zone at Metacritic, and I tend to agree with the comments at the negative end of the spectrum. As you can expect from Pixar, the film is stuffed with dazzling action sequences, faultless animation, etc. Unfortunately there's little that's emotionally engaging about any of it here: not the waffly, cliched Bond-riffin' spy plot, not buck-toothed tow-truck lead Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) whom you want to clobber constantly, and as already proven by the first film, not its distancing human-less, all-vehicle world. Cars 2 feels like an aberration from Pixar, a hollow, exhausting, shrill, blatantly studio-ey product. It's also the first Pixar film that's ever given me a headache. Boo.

Avatar Not Blowing Everyone Away

Avatar reviews are popping all over the web right now, the majority of them raving and singing praises about James Cameron's long-awaited-years-in-the-making-sci-fi-epic-that-will-change-cinema-forever. But there are also a handful of reviews that are a bit more cautious, and less outright blown-away, usually pointing towards a crappy script as the film's chief failing. So being the annoying contrarian and cynic* that I am (I'm gonna go into the film with low expectations...), here are a few examples of mixed reaction reviews that I've come across to balance out all the positive ones:

9 First Impressions of Avatar - S. T. Vanairsdale's piece for Movieline is the loosest, wittiest one I've read so far weighing up the pros and cons of the film.

Epic Filmmaking, Epically Bad Dialogue - from SlashFilm.com, David Chen laments the script, which he says he can't describe as "anything but terrible".

Cinematical's Avatar review - well-written, even-handed review by Todd Gilchrist who says "it's neither the worst or best film of the year".

Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips, on his Talking Pictures column, says the first 90 minutes are terrific, and "the other 72 minutes, less and less terrific".

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gives Avatar a B rating, claiming "as a movie, it all but evaporates as you watch it".

The always-amusing Mike D'Angelo tweeted: "Avatar ('09 Cameron): 51. Pretty evenly divided between engaging and stupid. Cool concept, lame script, some stunning F/X, I still hate 3-D."

Keith Phipps' review on his Celluloid Heroes blog wrote, "It never took me further than James Cameron’s laptop".

It's kind of ironic then that Cameron's toiled so much over the advancement of technology when his writing skills are - if what these reviews are indicating - rudimentary at best. Which is unsurprising I guess, coming from the guy who wrote Titanic. Anywho I'll reserve judgement until I've seen the film...

(*seriously though, I like reading a good take-down, especially if it makes you think twice about the film. And variety is the spice of life and all that jazz...)