FILM TOPIC: Dredd (2012) vs. The Raid: Redemption

Today was the big debut of the Dredd remake's trailer. It's beautifully shot and designed like that other 90s remake Total Recall. They both have tough guy leads and hot girls as heroes and villains. But this post is not about comparing those two future blockbuster hits. It's about a specific scene in the trailer that appears to be a sneak peek of the second half of the film, where futuristic law enforcement agent Judge Dredd infiltrates a tenement building filled with murders, thieves, and drug addicts who follow the orders of a drug king pin who refers to herself as Ma-Ma (pronounced maw-maw). In the scene, she says, "This is Ma-Ma. Somewhere in this block are two judges. I want 'em dead." Then we're shown a shot of the hollowed-out center of the building and the seemingly endless floors peppered with armed sociopaths.

When I saw that scene, I immediately thought of the Indonesian action thriller The Raid: Redemption. In it, a SWAT team infiltrates a tenement building (sounding familiar?) and gets trapped inside as an army of thugs and killers, who live there, follow the orders of a ruthless mobster to attack them. He says, "Good morning. We have some guests trawling the halls today. Now go to work! And please, enjoy yourself." Super close right?

Now I know that Dredd was filmed way before this film came out, but it's such a coincidence that I had to mention it. Definitely going to rent this before Dredd comes out September 21st to see who did it better. Obviously, Raid will have way more hand-to-hand combat and less gunfire, but I'm looking forward to seeing who can keep the suspense going the longest.

TRAILER: Lily Collins's "Mirror, Mirror"

Plot: A dark twist on the classic fairy tale, in which Snow White and the seven dwarfs look to reclaim their destroyed kingdom.
Cast: Lily Collins (Abduction and The Blind Side), Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer (J. Edgar and The Social Network), and Nathan Lane, Sean Bean
Verdict: By comparison this Snow White re-imagining is not as impressive. It's a shame. I love director Tarsem Singh's knack for creating beautiful imagery, imbued with rich colors and vivid details. While he may have achieved that in this—his first comedic family film—you'd be too distracted by the lame jokes and Roberts's wavering accent to actually notice it. This looks like that 2007 box office bomb Stardust, except Michelle Pfeiffer was much better at being comically evil.

Release Date: March 16

TRAILER: Eddie Murphy's "A Thousand Words"

Plot: After stretching the truth on a deal with a spiritual guru (Curtis), literary agent Jack McCall (Murphy) finds a Bodhi tree on his property. For every word he speaks, a leaf falls from the tree, and once all the leaves fall, he'll die.
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Cliff Curtis (The Last Airbender and "Trauma"), Clark Duke ("Greek" and Hot Tub Time Machine), Kerry Washington (For Colored Girls), Jack McBrayer ("30 Rock"), Allison Janney (The Help)
Verdict: When I first heard the premise for this film, I thought it was going to be as zany as...well all Eddie Murphy movies from the last decade, but most recently Imagine That. But it turns out that much like Liar, Liar, such circumstances force the afflicted to get creative, which leads to pretty funny situations. I think after seeing this film, a lot of audience members will attempt the feat of only using a 1,000 words in a limited amount of time. I'm sure they'll be surprised to discover what little value most of what they have to say has. I also look forward to the return of Duke. When this film comes out, he'll have been M.I.A. for two years. It's good that he paces himself though. He has the makings of comedic character actor, like Zach Galifanakis or Charlie Day, but he's got plenty of years to make a name for himself.

Release Date: March 23

TRAILER: "Snow White and the Huntsman" Teaser

Plot: In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.
Cast: Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth
Verdict: This looks awesome! Theron is surprisingly convincing as the evil witch! I love the way the knights shatter when you slice through them, how the face of the "Mirror Mirror on the Wall" is a cloaked, silky, golden being that reminds me of a Death Eater, and the way the witch can burst into a hundred crows. It looks beautiful. I can't wait to see more.

Release Date: June 1

TRAILER: Denzel Washington & Ryan Reynolds's "Safe House"

Plot: When a CIA-operated safe house is targeted by a group of bad guys, the facility's house-sitter (Ryan Reynolds) is tasked with the dangerous job of moving the criminal (Denzel Washington) who is being hidden there to another secure location.
Cast: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and In Bruges), Vera Farmiga (The Departed), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
Verdict: "Denzel Washington the villain" has returned. Or has he? Something about the conspiracy-laden dialogue makes it seem like he might turn out to be the "all-knowing good guy" in the end, who enlightens Reynolds' character to how things really work in the government, or maybe he's a con artist who manipulates Reynolds into trusting him. Either way, it's obvious, by the poster, that this is being marketed as a Denzel Washington film, but I have to note that Reynolds deserves credit for holstering his six-pack and playing your average everyman. Someone like Joseph Gordon Levitt or Jesse Eisenberg might've been a little more believable as an oblivious, frazzled, plaid-wearing patsy, but Reynolds pulls it off. The cinematography is very erratic and gritty, and the song choice for the trailer puts you in the right state of mind.

Release Date: February 10

TRAILER: Jonah Hill & Channing Tatum's "21 Jump Street"

Plot: An undercover police unit consisting of young looking officers infiltrate high schools to control youth crime.
Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Dave Franco ("Scrubs"), Rob Riggle (Killers), Ellie Kemper (Bridesmaids), Nick Offerman ("Parks and Recreation"), Brie Larson ("United States of Tara"), Johnny Simmons (Jennifer's Body), DeRay Davis (Jumping the Broom), Jake M. Johnson ("New Girl"), Holly Robinson ("Hanging' with Mr. Cooper"), and, yes, Johnny Depp.
Verdict: Yeah this isn't "21 Jump Street," but it is hilarious. Purists will be disappointed. Fans of the moron cops in Superbad, The Other Guys, and Hot Fuzz, however, will be elated. That's what these two are. Idiots with guns. Rookie cops are going to love this. It reflects every single complaint they have about their underwhelming job so far. Also, I'm so happy that Tatum managed to buck the meathead curse and actually be funny unlike his predecessors The Rock and Mark Wahlberg who still have a long way to go. My favorite parts of the trailer (where I burst out laughing in my cubicle smh) were when Jonah asked "What the fuck are those?" referring to a clique, he got stabbed without realizing it, and he tried to jump over a car. For his first writing credit, I think the kid's gonna do just fine.

Release Date: March 16

TRAILER: Project X

Plot: Three high school seniors throw a birthday party to make a name for themselves. As the night progresses, things spiral out of control as word of the party spreads.
Cast: Thomas Mann (It's Kind of a Funny Story), Oliver Cooper, and Jonathan Daniel
Verdict: Hmm, IMDb has it logged as a comedy, but the trailer would suggest something a little more serious. Maybe it's the Kid Cudi musical assist, but the way it's shot reminds me of the party montage scenes in HBO's "How to Make It In America." That series finds the funny in life's serious situations, so maybe it'll have that vibe. As for the robot rocket launch towards the end, I have no clue what that suggests. But so far, I'm intrigued. I hope that for once Hollywood is going to portray a suburban party the way it truly goes down, devoid of the Disney PG-13 filter and the romanticized happy endings.

Release Date: March 2

TRAILER: Michael B. Jordan's "Chronicle"

Plot: Three friends who gain superpowers from a mysterious substance turn on one another when personal problems arise.
Cast: Dane DeHaan ("In Treatment"), Michael B. Jordan ("Parenthood" and "Friday Night Lights"), Alex Russell, Michael Kelly ("Criminal Minds")
Verdict: I like the concept of a Cloverfield/Blair Witch Project for the superpowered, and I like that it's like Teen Sylar ("Heroes") if he had actual friends, but let's be serious: My Nubian brothas and sistas do not crawl into mysterious holes with ominous sounds emanating from them. However, that is exactly how teenage boys would behave if they got superpowers, and I'm glad there's some diversity, and that Jordan is getting more roles.

Release Date: February 3

TRAILER: Hardy, Pine, & Witherspoon's "This Means War"

Plot: Two top CIA operatives wage an epic battle against one another after they discover they are dating the same woman.
Cast: Tom Hardy (Inception and Warrior), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Reese Witherspoon, Chelsea Handler
Verdict: This is seriously the bff version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which shouldn't be surprising since one of the screenwriters wrote that movie, but I love director McG so I'm going to let that slide. I'll even try to pretend that that "same time" scene wasn't incredibly girly and unbelievable, despite the fact that Hardy is too much of a badass Brit to ever utter such words. I'll let all of it slide because he's giving me two incredibly hot guys, a newly sexified Witherspoon (did you see that lingerie sexy scene? can you say MILF?), and the gift of Handler as the funny bff. Come on, who else would say, "Do you think Gloria Steinem got arrested and sat in a jail cell so you can act like a little bitch?" My girl Handler. That's who!

Release Date: February 12

TRAILER: A Few Best Men

Plot: A comedy about a groom and his three best men who travel to the Australian outback for a wedding.
Cast: Xavier Samuel (Eclipse), Kris Marshall ("Traffic Light" and Death at a Funeral), Jonathan Biggins, Kevin Bishop, Olivia Newton-John (Grease), Laura Brent (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader), Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids)
Verdict: Looking at this trailer you will see flashes of The Hangover, Bridesmaids, Wedding Crashers, and the writer's previous film Death at a Funeral. It promises nudity, drunkenness, gunplay, drug abuse, animal abuse, slapstick, unreliable friends, and a morally ambiguous mother-in-law. But, since it's a UK comedy set in the Outback with B-grade actors, it sort of screams Rental. Take comfort in knowing that on that rainy night when you're perusing the streaming queue, you'll get to ogle the adorable Samuel and watch Sandra D. snort coke with the groomsmen before her daughter's reception.
Release Date: TBA

TRAILER: Jonah Hill's "The Sitter"

Plot: A comedy about a college student on suspension who is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him.
Cast: Jonah Hill, Ari Graynor (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist), Sam Rockwell, Max Records, Landry Bender, Kevin Hernandez
Verdict: (shakes head) Where do I begin? This is why people need to wear condoms. These kids are monsters. And I honestly can't wait to watch them torture Hill, especially that little vato Rodrigo. When they first said this was a rated-R version of Adventures in Babysitting, I thought it was going to try too hard to push the envelope. Plus, anytime a comedian does a film with kids, it can make him seem like he's going soft or getting desperate for roles. But Hill did the smart thing and didn't sacrifice quality (jokes) for quantity ($$). It's about time he lead a comedy and showed his Apatow brothers how it's done.

Release Date: December 9

TRAILER: The Darkest Hour

Plot: In Russia, a group of young adults struggle to survive after an alien invasion.
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby (The Wackness and Juno), Max Minghella (The Social Network), Rachael Taylor ("Grey's Anatomy" and Transformers)
Verdict: Once you get past the likelihood of Americans voluntarily traveling to Russia "for fun!," you will be sincerely amazed by the ultra cool and pretty original alien that's invaded the Communist nation. It's an invisible force that absorbs energy—and humans count. Once it touches their skin, it disintegrates them. Too cool! My only question is how did they get indie mainstays Hirsch, Minghella, and Thirlby to star?

Release Date: December 25

TRAILER: Juno Temple's "Dirty Girl"

Plot: It's 1987 and Danielle, the high school 'Dirty Girl', is running away. With her is chubby, gay Clarke, a bag of flour called Joan and a Walkman full of glorious 80's tunes.
Cast: Juno Temple, Jeremy Dozier, Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy, Mary Steenburgen (The Proposal), Tim McGraw, Nicholas D'Agosto (From Prada to Nada)
Verdict: The packaging of this film is all off. The script, I bet, read like an R-rated coming-of-age indie, but whoever is distributing it packaged it like a Disney movie complete with a Hannah Montana soundtrack. I'll see it because in an alternate universe Juno Temple and Emma Stone are practically interchangeable, and I'm always game for a female-led comedy.

Release Date: August 5

TRAILER: Jason Sudeikis's "A Good Old Fashioned Orgy"

Plot: A group of 30-year-olds who have been friends since high school attempt to throw an end-of-summer orgy.
Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Lindsay Sloane (She's Out of My League), Lucy Punch (Bad Teacher), Leslie Bibb (Zookeeper), Martin Starr (Adventureland), Tyler Labine ("Mad Love"), Lake Bell (No Strings Attached), Michelle Borth ("Combat Hospital")
Verdict: I can't even...*sigh* On what planet would this be a good idea? This being the concept, not the movie. How will they even be able to look at each other at the end? I can't process. That aside, looks like a funny cast. Wish I wasn't too grossed out to watch it.

Release Date: September 2 (limited)

TRAILER: Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man"

Plot: IMDb and Wikipedia didn't feel the need to provide a plot since this is a remake and we already know what happens. But in the event you were born after 2007 (and you read blogs), it's the origin story of a spider-enhanced superhero.
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire)
Verdict: I don't really understand what all the secrecy is about with his parents, but I am sufficiently intrigued. Was he always meant to be a Spider-Man or is something else going on? The mystery is enticing, but the real reason I'm excited to see more of the film is because of the perspective shots. Sam Raimi did an amazing job of showing us Spider-Man swinging through the city skies, but I don't think he ever gave us videogame-like perspective shots. If you watch the last few seconds of the trailer, it's almost like you're Spider-Man. My friend said it was a little dizzying, but I thought it was awesome. In the past, we've seen what it was like to become Spider-Man but I think this time we'll learn what it's like to be him. And I think with the addition of Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) as the new director, the love story will be more bearable and fleshed out. My only qualm is with the fact that there are so many cooks in the kitchen screenwriting-wise. That never bodes well.

Release Date: July 3, 2012

TRAILER: Ryan Gosling's "Drive"

Plot: A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong.
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan (Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps), Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad"), Christina Hendricks ("Mad Men"), Ron Perlman ("Sons of Anarchy" and Hellboy), Oscar Isaac (Sucker Punch), Albert Brooks
Verdict: I love the new cool-and-debonair character kick Gosling is on lately. It suits him well. But this just seems like a high-brow Transporter and I don't get the hype. Some bloggers are saying that this is Gosling at his sexiest, but I just find it hard to be attracted to a guy who goes from making out with a girl one minute to violently assaulting a guy the next. I have no doubt that it'll all look cool. I just haven't decided if I'll be basking in all that coolness in theaters or from the comfort of my own couch.

Release Date: September 16

TRAILER: Steven Soderbergh's "Haywire"

Plot: A black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission.
Cast: Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton ("Big Love"), Michael Angarano (The Forbidden Kingdom)
Verdict: Steven Soderbergh plus such amazing heavyweight actors as Douglas, Banderas, and Fassbender all seem like a desperate attempt at making an uninteresting character appealing. Honestly, I really wanted to like this film for so many reasons. If not for the stellar cast or my love for indie poster-boy Angarano, then for the fact that I was intrigued by the idea of hiring a real MMA fighter to be the lead of this film—and for that fighter to be a woman. All signs pointed to a winner, but then I saw the trailer and it was anti-climactic. The action looked really well-orchestrated and the collection of big names certainly peaked my interest, but in the end she's not very charismatic. Unfortunately, actresses have to "romance" the audience whether they're in a romantic comedy or in an action film. They have to make us care, especially if they're newcomers and they don't already have that built-in audience.

Release Date: January 20, 2012

TRAILER: Robert Pattinson's "Bel Ami"

Plot: A chronicle of a young man's rise to power in Paris via his manipulation of the city's most influential and wealthy women.
Cast: Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci, Natalia Tena (Tonks in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2).
Verdict: Pattinson perceived as a sex object? *gasp* Never! Despite the amount of girls who fall at his feet, Pattinson has yet to garner any true recognition for his work as an actor. I think the reason is because many critics mock the melodramatic acting that the Twilight saga requires, caked in longing and desire. This film reverberates those elements as well on a more mature level. And I think it's because of its older audience (and the fact that it's not a fantasy love story about vampires) that his character expresses his emotions more intensely. Critics won't find a robotic, non-emotive Pattinson in this film. But I think by the end of it, we'll all be wondering whether or not we prefer the other version.

Release Date: October 19

TRAILER: Taylor Kitsch's "John Carter"

Plot: Civil War vet John Carter (Kitsch) is transplanted to Mars, where he discovers a lush, wildly diverse planet whose main inhabitants are 12-foot tall green barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter Dejah Thoris (Collins), Princess of Helium, who is in desperate need of a savior.
Cast: Taylor Kitsch ("Friday Night Lights"), Lynn Collins (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes), Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad"), Ciaran Hinds, James Purefoy ("Rome")
Verdict: It's a little weird that they're going from the Victorian era to a future with an alien nation, but I think that's also what's interesting most about it. Not to mention, Kitsch has always been an entrancing actor, who can hold your gaze with his penetrating eyes. He seems born to play a hero, but I won't know for sure if that hero wears a loincloth and battles extraterrestrials until I see the film. All I know for sure is that I'm rooting for him—and those spaceships look awesome!

Release Date: March 9, 2012

TRAILER: Matt Damon's "Contagion"

Plot: An action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak.
Cast: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Sanaa Lathan (Love & Basketball), Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad")
Verdict: I'm impressed with the star-studded cast and Damon's performance looks like it'll be critic-approved, especially during that wife-is-dead-denial scene. But it seems too slow and not intense enough for an apocalyptic film.

Release Date: September 9