April Round Up

(yup Ross, work it. via tumblr)
New films seen: 17
Rewinds: 7
Total: 24
A lot of watching, but a little writing. April has wiped me out with all the work I had to do. To be honest I don't recall much of my month besides work. It's already summer in my part of the world and let me tell you, it is hot. Scourging hot! Really missing the spring weather from nearby countries. Besides being swamped from work, I hadn't noticed that the month has breezed by. Realized that today was the final day of the month when I sat down to check the date. 

Links
Amy from Movie Writing shares her thoughts on two supernatural romance flicks Warm Bodies and Beautiful Creatures.

Nick from The Cinematic Katzenjammer shares the trailer for The Way, Way Back. which stars two of my favorite people, Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell.

Mettel Ray shares her top 50 films (part 1/part 2) in celebration of her 500th post. 

Sati from Cinematic Corner's Scene of the Week: Batman Returns is making me want to see it. Michelle Pfeiffer looks amazing in it...and this is just in gif form. Imagine the movie!

For Game of Thrones fans, here's a mnemonic device from Vulture for the names of the characters. I still have yet to check out the show. I should get to it before I go away this summer. I think I will need this.

This entry about The Hangover III from Ultra Culture did get my attention.

The Big Bang Theory's been in hiatus for most of the month, but here's an article about some of the guest stars in the hit comedy show from The Hollywood Reporter.

Reading screenplays is one of my favorite past times. Here's an excerpt from Perks of Being a Wallflower, also from Vulture.

What's next for May?
I may have a Mother's Day post lined up for the weekend, and a bit of high school nostalgia when I get around to it. Hoping to put some posts on queue before I go on another trip!

Anna Karenina

Cast: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Director: Joe Wright
Based on: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Keira Knightley is similar to Johnny Depp, in a way. While Johnny Depp acts all kinds of weird characters, and almost always work with the same director, I guess in a way Knightley is the female version of Depp; she is always in period movies. You name it, she's there. Whether she's in recent history (WWII) or far away from it, or even in fantasy, she always in costume that it's now a rare treat to see her in something modern. Anna Karenina is one of her period projects, one that got recognized in the Oscar Awards. Prior to watching the movie, I had no exposure to the novel or to the other adaptations. Guess it can be said that it's from a fresh perspective. While the movie does have some beauty to it, I found the rest uneven, ending it in in a disappointing note. 

Never Let Me Go

Cast: Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield
Director: Mark Romanek
Based on: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go had the same impact on me similar to Blue Valentine. I would see stills of the film and I thought to myself, wow, this looks great, I should go watch it. The film tells many things that are deeper than what is seems to be on the surface (the love triangle) but although the film itself is sad, it was something that I did not think to look past the surface.

Trailer: World War Z


I wasn't exactly Brad Pitt's biggest fan, but he won me over after seeing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I'm not a big fan of zombies either, but I'm slowly getting used to the fact that the zombie genre isn't going to go away anytime soon. While it looks like another one of the many zombie apocalypse flicks out there, the trailer is pretty good, which makes me want to see the movie. Really hoping this doesn't disappoint!

Oz the Great and Powerful

Cast: James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis
Director: Sam Raimi

The Wizard of Oz is a classic, and frankly, is placed into so much watch lists. I do admit, it is certainly a must watch. It’s not insane to try to reboot the movie by showing a prequel, and hopefully if all things work out, would probably receive a remake of the original film. While Oz achieves the prequel to give light to the origins of the great wizard and the wizard of the west, it does not do it in the same light as the original film.

Celeste and Jesse Forever

(or how Celeste needs to get over her marriage to Jesse)
Cast: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Elijah Wood
Director: Lee Toland Kreiger

For a movie with two titular characters, I expected to see Jones and Samberg have equal screen time but alas, the destruction of their marriage was mainly from Celeste's point of view. While I'm guessing divorces are generally messy, Celeste and Jesse doesn't make it seem so, until the realization dawns on Celeste that her marriage has ended for real. While the movie started off in a good note, it eventually went downhill.