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Showing posts from November, 2018

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald | Average Guy Movie Review

When Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) escapes from prison, a world-wide manhunt begins to re-capture him. But what is he planning? And how does Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) fit in? In order to find out, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) asks Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to head to Paris. David Yates delivers another fun instalment in J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World, and there's a hell of a lot going on! Firstly we've got some catching up to do with some returning characters, as well as meeting some new (and newish) ones. The Crimes of Grindelwald does do a good job of opening up the pre-Potter Wizarding World. Newt has some interesting new magical creatures to take care of, not to mention the creature that's had babies since the first movie. But as the title would suggest, this one is mainly about the big bad of the story. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them merely introduced the evil wizard. So this time around we're getting to know the bad guy, a

The Girl in the Spider's Web | Average Guy Movie Review

Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) - the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - is hired to acquire something from a certain government agency. But in doing so, she draws the attention of government agents from multiple countries and someone from her past, someone dangerous. And in order to put things right and clear her name, Lisbeth will have to face one of the darkest parts of her troubled past. Fede Alvarez takes control of the US variant of the Millennium series in this soft reboot/sequel to David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But where the first movie was a more than fucked up murder mystery, this is more a Bond/Bourne-esque espionage thriller. Alvarez does well stepping into Fincher's shoes, no doubt an unenviable task for many. He has put together a tense and engaging thriller. Despite adhering to the well-used storyline in which the main character begins to think/worry about someone just before they reappear to fuck up the main character's life, the movie do

A Jack Reacher Reboot?

According to Lee Child, Tom Cruise will no longer be playing Jack Reacher. The ex-Military Cop is getting a reboot to the small screen. Cruise played Reacher in two movies; Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Child - who has written 23 novels and 11 short stories about Reacher - told BBC Radio Manchester's Mike Sweeney "The size of Reacher is really important and it's a big component of who he is. The idea is that when Reacher walks into a room, you're a little nervous just for that first minute. And Cruise, for all his talent, didn't have that physicality." As a fan of the books, I thought Cruise did a good job with the role. His height wasn't an issue for me. I was more interested in a good performance, which is what I got. While it is true that fans have complained about Cruise's height since his casting in 2011, the real reason for this new direction will be the disappointing returns that resulted from fan backlash. Jack Reache

First Man | Average Guy Movie Review

A look at the life and career of Neil Armstrong. The story follows the astronaut and his involvement in the space race, during the 1960's, as NASA works to put a man on the moon. Damien Chazelle re-teams with his La La Land star Ryan Gosling to tell the story of one of the world's most famous astronauts. Rather than focusing on the job Armstrong did at NASA, Chazelle chooses to look more at the man himself. It's a bold choice given that you could easily make a movie solely about the Apollo 11 mission. The moon landing itself only takes up a very small part of the movie. But it's a gamble that pays off, when you watch First Man you realise how little you actually know about the man. After a heart-stopping opening involving the X-15 rocket plane, we're brought crashing back down to Earth, as Neil and his family deal with tragedy at home. A tragedy that will affect Neil more - it seems - than the dangers of his work. Gosling is the perfect choice to play A

Widows | Average Guy Movie Review

The lives of four women are threatened when their husbands are killed during the course of a robbery gone wrong. The men they robbed want their money back - all $2 million of it - and they're holding the widows responsible. The only chance these women have of clearing the debt is to pull off their husband's next job. There's just one problem, they've never done anything like this before. Writer/Director Steve McQueen, in his first project as director since 2013's 12 Years A Slave - and with the help of co-writer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) - has managed to catch lightning in a bottle once again. Widows is a tense and gritty thriller in which crime, politics and corruption are entwined in a web of deception and betrayal. McQueen and Flynn have created a criminal underworld befitting the Chicago setting. It's shiny exterior hides the rotten core in which those with power feed on the weak. Now you might think that sounds like an average day where

Disney CEO Announces New Live Action Star Wars Show

Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has announced a new live action Star Wars series for the upcoming Disney Streaming service; Disney+. The show - which will go into production next year - will focus on Rebel Intelligence Officer Cassian Andor and his missions for the Rebel Alliance before the events of Rogue One. Now here's the really good news...Diego Luna will be returning to the role. Luna told StarWars.com: Going back to the Star Wars universe is very special for me. I have so many memories of the great work we did together and the relationships I made throughout the journey.   adding We have a fantastic adventure ahead of us, and this new format will give us the chance to explore this character more deeply.   The only question that remains is; will K-2SO be joining Andor on his adventures? The Imperial Enforcement droid was captured by Andor and reprogrammed to serve the rebellion. He was played in Rogue One by Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball, I, Robot, Firefly). I person

Hunter Killer | Average Guy Movie Review

When a US submarine goes missing under the Arctic, Commander Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is ordered to lead the USS Arkansas to the last known location. Their mission is to locate the missing sub, rescue any survivors and investigate the cause of the disappearance. The only problem is, the incident may have got the US entangled in some serious Russian political turmoil. And in order to de-escalate the situation, the Arkansas and her crew will have to go where no American vessel has gone before. Now it sounds like Gerard Butler has made another movie in which his very Scottishy sounding, uber patriotic American hero saves the day. Well you'd be kind of right for thinking that. But Butler actually tones down the gung-ho, OTT shit this time round. Both he and director Donovan Marsh spent a few days aboard the USS Houston in order to get a feel for life on a submarine. The result of which is a more authentic performance from Butler, he's more reserved than we're used to s

Titles For The Avatar Sequels May Have Been Leaked

  BBC News is reporting that they have seen "documentation regarding future Avatar plans". These documents are said to reference four specific projects: Avatar: The Way of Water Avatar: The Seed Bearer Avatar: The Tulkun Rider Avatar: The Quest for Eywa According to James Cameron; future instalments will explore Pandora's ocean. Cameron told Collider that Avatar 2 and 3 would feature "a tremendous amount of water work". Part of this will be achieved using footage captured by a deep-water submersible exploring the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Scenes have also been filmed with the cast under water and wearing motion capture suits, another first for the technology. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the director also revealed that Kate Winslet will be playing one of the "reef people". Sigourney Weaver will be reprising her role of Doctor Grace Augustine - although we're not sure how. Recently she told The Hollywood R