Guardians of the Galaxy and Logan

Tomorrow we get to see Doctor Strange, the latest comic book movie in a long list of films from the genre, but in the last week we have seen a further glimpse into the cinematic future for more of Marvel's characters. 

On Wednesday,  director James Gunn and Marvel Studios released the first teaser trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which brings Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) back together for another adventure, where they must fight to discover the truth behind Peter Quill's true parentage.

In Marvel's synopsis for the film, they have told us that "old foes become new allies and fan-favourite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid". This leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Does this mean that someone could be changing their affiliations? Possibly Yondu? Or Nebula? Well we know that, in the comics, Yondu was once part of Team Guardians, so could he become an ally? It definitely looks possible from the short scene with him and Rocket amongst falling ravagers, or will Nebula finally show some sisterly affection for Gamora now that Ronan has gone? And as for new fan-favourite characters... where to start?

 

Only 24 hours after the cosmic heroes trailer debuted, the first trailer for 20th Century Fox's third Wolverine movie was released. This trailer confirms many rumours that were circulating about this upcoming movie as we see Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart as Logan/Wolverine and Charles Xavier/Professor X in what seems to be a desolate future timeline.

The film will be based around the Old Man Logan storyline from the comics and the films synopsis, released by Fox Movies via IMDB, tells us of a bleak future for mutants, with the loss of the X-Men, Logan's healing powers fading and in the trailer we hear "mutants... they're gone now". With the help of Professor X, Logan must now protect a young girl, Laura Kinney, who is "very much" like himself, from Nathaniel Essex and a corporation intent of destroying the Earth.

This will be the final outing for Hugh Jackman as the titular character, who he will have played for 17 years by the time of the film's release, but as we know from the synopsis that the young Laura Kinney is a female clone of Wolverine, possibly X-23, we could have another clawed superhero waiting in the wings... This would be exciting news if confirmed in the future, but I'm not that hopeful, particularly as the X-Universe has never been that consistent when compared to universes such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

So Doctor Strange is in UK cinemas from tomorrow but we're going to have to wait until 2nd March to see Logan, and then Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is out on 28th April 2017.

October 2016 - Queen of Katwe, Trolls and more...

The end of this month sees the release of a couple of great films but the film that I think a lot of movie fans will be most looking forward to is Doctor Strange, who will be Marvel's latest addition to their Cinematic Universe since Scott Lang got his first solo movie, Ant-Man, in July 2015. We have already seen characters in the MCU with magic, like Loki and Scarlet Witch (even though Marvel currently explain it away as science) but now the Universe is delving deeper in Marvel's "magical" source materials. 

After a horrific car accident, Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is forced to turn away from conventional science to learn about the mystic arts as traditional medicine cannot save him and after searching for an alternative cure he finds a mysterious enclave known as Kamar-Taj. Here he learns of a battle against unseen dark forces that aim to destroy reality as we know it. With his new powers, Dr. Strange has to choose whether to return to his world of fame and fortune or to leave that life forever and protect the world as its most powerful sorcerer.

I did say there were "a couple of great films" to mention in this post, and the second of those is Keeping Up with the Joneses. We've seen these types of movie before, like Mr. and Mrs. Smith or, to a lesser extent, The Incredibles, where the everyday, normal suburban family (or couple) turn out to be more than they say they are. In this case, Jeff and Karen Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher) grow increasingly suspicious of their impossibly gorgeous and ultra-sophisticated new neighbours, Tim and Natalie Jones (Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot), who are actually covert government spies and before long the Gaffney's become embroiled in the Jones's world of international espionage.

So we have an action comedy above, now we have a romantic comedy that will not be so well known. One Crazy Thing sneaked out last year with its international premiere at the East End Film Festival in London. It stars Ray Panthaki, a little-known (unfortunately) British actor, as Jay - a former television host now haunted by a sex-tape that went viral - who now tries to stay unnoticed and is always fearful of being recognised for his one stupid mistake. Jay's life brightens when he meets Hannah (Daisy Bevan), a bright and beautiful music student who hates modern life, but when he begins to fall for her he knows he must tell her about the tape. There's just one question - how?

And lastly, we have an animated comedy. Trolls is the latest world that DreamWorks have come up with after worlds with fairy tale characters, animal martial artists and globe-trotting zoo escapees, this time it's full of overly optimistic Trolls and comically pessimistic Bergens, who are only happens when they have trolls in their stomachs. After the Bergens invade Troll Village, Poppy (Anna Kendrick), the happiest troll ever born is joined by the overly-cautious Branch (Justin Timberlake) as she sets off on a rescue mission full of adventure and mishaps to save her friends.

It's been four years since we first saw Jack Reacher, the military police officer turned private investigator, jump from the pages of Lee Childs' novel to the big screen, and now he's back in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. In the second film of the series, Jack (Tom Cruise) is accused of murder and must go on the run, becoming a fugitive from the law, to clear his name and discover the truth behind a major government conspiracy, all the while uncovering potential secrets from his past that could affect his life forever.

Next is another action adventure film, this time with a sci-fi twist. Based on the Mattel action figures of the same name and blended with a little imagination, Max Steel is the story of sixteen year old Max McGrath (Ben Winchell) who is just trying to fit into a new town when he discovers that he is the most powerful source of energy in the universe. When Max meets Steel (Josh Brener), a slightly rebellious and hilarious techno-organic extra-terrestrial, they find that together they form Max Steel, a powerful superhero stronger the anything in this world and now they are hunted by sinister forces seek to control their powers, as well as an unstoppable enemy from another galaxy.

The latest release from Disney is out next week and while it may not have the blockbuster appeal of some other Disney properties, like The Force Awakens or The Jungle Book, Queen of Katwe is still definitely worth a watch. This biographical drama follows Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) as she goes from a slum-dwelling ten year old in Kampala to an international Ugandan chess champion. First introduced to the game by missionary Robert Katende (David Oyelowo), her fascination for the game leads to continual tournament successes but as the tournaments become greater, she must learn to cope with life outside of Katwe as she dreams of escaping a poverty-ridden life for her and her family.

UK Release Dates
One Crazy Thing                                 18 October 2016  TRAILER
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back                20 October 2016  TRAILER
Queen of Katwe                                 21 October 2016  TRAILER
Trolls                                                21 October 2016  TRAILER
Doctor Strange                                  28 October 2016  TRAILER
Keepng Up With The Joneses                28 October 2016  TRAILER
Max Steel                                         28 October 2016  TRAILER

October 2016 - Storks, The Matchbreaker and more...

October is the month of the London Film Festival so there are a lot of films premièring over the next few weeks, but many of these films will not get a nationwide release and of those that do, it may not be for several more weeks or months. However, there are still plenty of movies coming out over the next thirty-one days.

In fourteen days, Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is back in Inferno, the third movie of the Da Vinci Code series. In an Italian hospital, the famous symbologist awakens with amnesia and has to recover the last thirty-six hours of his memory so he must team up with resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) who he hopes can help him remember the time he has lost. At the same time, the two have to escape a deadly assassin following them through Florence to start in a race against time across Europe, unravelling a series of codes created the by brilliant scientist Dante Alighieri in order to prevent a deadly, extinction level threat to humanity.

Ethan Cooper (Wesley Elder), an idealistic romantic, becomes a professional Matchbreaker in this romantic comedy when, after losing his job, he is offered a "one-time gig" to break up a girl's relationship, by parents who do not agree with their daughter on her choice in partner. As his success spreads through word-of-mouth, he becomes more and more popular with disapproving parents and is offered increasing amounts of work. However, when he falls in love with Emily (Christina Grimmie), the daughter of one of his clients, he must figure out how to balance his secret job with his love-life.

Based on the novel of the same name, The Great Gilly Hopkins tells the story of Gilly, an unmanageable, wisecracking twelve year old stuck in the foster system. She has bounced from family to family after outwitting them all and is constantly wondering whether her mother is out there, waiting for her... Gilly's latest family, the Trotters, are the weirdest yet and so she's determined not to stick around for long but the affectionate Maime Trotter is not prepared to give up on her. Gilly's determination to escape stands firm, whether that is simply by running or lying her way out but her plan doesn't go as she hoped and she begins to rethink her decision to leave her new foster family. 

The Girl on the Train is another film based on, and named after, a novel. Every day, on her commute to work, divorcée Rachel (Emily Blunt) passes by the house she use to share with her husband. In an attempt to forget about the house, she focuses on Megan (Haley Bennett) and Scott Hipwell (Luke Evans), a seemingly happy couple living a few houses down. One day, from her train, she sees something shocking and is filled with rage. The next day, she wakes up with a horrible hangover, various wounds and bruises, and no memory of the night before and now Megan Hipwell is missing. Is there a connection? Rachel soon becomes entangled in the case, trying to discover exactly what happened.

This is the third film based on a book, but this time on the life story of journalist and author, Ken Baker, whose world was turned upside-down after the removal of a brain tumour which prevented his pituitary system from releasing hormones efficiently for twenty-seven years. The Late Bloomer tells the story of Pete Newmans (Johnny Simmons) as he wrestles with both the physical and emotional changes made by these new hormones, and the reactions of his friends, family and enemies, all whilst attempting to win over Michelle (Brittany Snow), the girl next door, for whom he has fallen.

The final movie is the latest animated film from the Warner Bros. Studios, Storks. Everybody knows that storks deliver babies... or at least they used to. Now they deliver packages for a global internet retail giant. Junior (Andy Samberg) is the top delivery stork and is about to be promoted when he accidently activates the Baby Making Machine, producing an adorable but completely unauthorised baby girl. Now Junior, and his friend Tulip (Katie Crown), must begin on a wild and revealing journey to deliver the new bundle of trouble before his boss discovers the mistake, inadvertently restoring the true mission of Storks in the world.

UK Release Dates
The Girl on the Train             05 October 2016  TRAILER
Inferno                              14 October 2016  TRAILER
Storks                               14 October 2016  TRAILER

USA Release Dates
The Great Gilly Hopkins         07 October 2016  TRAILER
The Late Bloomer                07 October 2016  TRAILER
The Matchbreaker               07 October 2016  TRAILER