Black Rock Movie Review

A fun reunion turns to a fight for survival when three childhood friends makes a wrong move on a weekend getaway in a remote island in Maine. Black Rock is directed by Katie Aselton who also stars in the film alongside Kate Bosworth and Lake Bell. This new mystery film is set to have a limited screening in theaters today, May 17th 2013. Check out the movie review for Black Rock below:

“Katie Aselton’s Thriller – Black Rock

Survival stories often occupy an ambiguous space in the horror genre, lingering somewhere between misogyny and female empowerment. The “final girl” trope pits a lone, frequently virginal woman against some ungodly threat, both glamorizing her struggle and imbuing it with dread. While generally conventional, Katie Aselton’s “Black Rock” contains a nice twist on the genre by dividing the “final girl” archetype among three strong women as they dodge a pair of murderers on a remote island. Aselton’s unassuming guilty pleasure gently diverges from a familiar scenario with impressively tense results.

A far cry from “The Freebie,” Aselton’s romantic drama that served as her directorial debut last year, “Black Rock” takes its cues from a screenplay by Mark Duplass (Aselton’s husband and co-star on the FX comedy “The League”). Duplass, one half of the sibling filmmaker duo behind “Cyrus” and “The Puffy Chair,” has generally made a mark in the business of being funny, which makes this effort especially unique (if highly formulaic) for expanding the range of both writer and director.

“Black Rock” begins when trio of childhood friends (Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell, and Aselton) reunite for a camping trip on a woodsy getaway off the coast of Maine. Bosworth, the group’s peacekeeper, tricks Bell and Bosworth into spending time together after a tricky romantic mishap drove a wedge between them. Bad blood appears to subside, but its relevance dissolves in the face of a much larger problem: When the group runs into a war veteran they know from high school, a nighttime hangout session turns sour when a drunken Aselton comes on to their old acquaintance, leading to a scuffle that concludes with the ex-soldier dead. His two pals, a pair of discharged Marines, quickly take after the women on a murderous revenge spree.

At this point, “Black Rock” transforms into a by-the-numbers riff on “The Most Dangerous Game,” but the run-and-gun pacing takes on an added dimension thanks to the advanced character development preceding it. The would-be killers (Jay Paulson and Anslem Richardson) hail from ridiculously one-note archetypes, shifting into madness with little rationale behind their behavior, but their targets endure a vacation from hell and plausibly go through the motions to survive the night. They belong in a better movie than this B-movie indulgence.

As a director, Aselton plays by the book, offering up a slick, uncomplicated style occasionally enlivened by telling close-ups of her terrified protagonists. A surprisingly gory showdown at the movie’s end nearly veers into slapstick mode before Aselton reels it back in, although that also makes her narrative more coy than the material aspires for. “Black Rock” never reinvents the rules, but it understands them just well enough to make its bloodless stabs at ingenuity stand out.

 
Criticwire grade: B”

The original article can be read at Indiewire.

Check out “The Purge Movie Trailer” right in this blog.

The Purge Starring Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey

The Purge is an upcoming horror film starring Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey and Adelaide Kane. This new suspense movie is written and directed by James DeMonaco and is set to be released in cinemas on June 7th 2013. The Purge is set in the year 2022 where the United States is prospering with an unemployment rate of 1% and where the crime rate is at an all time low. This was achieved when the government sanctioned an annual 12 hour period where all criminal activities are allowed without any consequence. This event happens every evening of March 21st until the morning of the 22nd is called The Purge. In this film, the family of James Sandin (Hawke) will be tested to see how far they would go to protect themselves during The Purge. Check out the latest buzz for this new film below:

“Producer Jason Blum Talk About The Purge

Writer/Director James DeMonaco’s Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes-produced The Purge (formerly Vigilandia), starring Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder, Adelaide Kane, Edwin Hodge, Tony Oller and Rhys Wakefield, hits theaters on June 7th. The film is produced by Jason Blum of Blumhouse (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister), Platinum Dunes’ partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), as well as Sébastien Kurt Lemercier (Assault on Precinct 13).

“In an America wracked by crime, the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity—including murder—is legal. The police can’t be called. Hospitals suspend help. It is one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of punishment. On this night plagued by violence and an epidemic of crime, one family wrestles with the decision of who they will become when a stranger comes knocking.”

BD Stringer Erik Myers caught up with Blum at the Stanley Film Festival a few weeks back and they discussed the themes behind The Purge as well as the film’s take on violence. They also catch up a bit on Insidious Chapter 2. Check it out below!

Some might see this film’s concept as being far-fetched, but the notion that humans are inherently violent is accepted in some segments of society. What are your thoughts?

“The movie is a violent movie about violence. It’s hard to depict violence without violence. I think that the movie is anti-violent, I hope you don’t walk out of the movie thinking The Purge is a good idea. (laughs) If you do, we did something wrong. But I think during the movie, you might. That’s what’s fun about it. You get lured into this idea while you’re watching.

America has had a unique relationship with violence since its founding. Was that on your mind during the production?

Oh yeah. There are very common American themes all throughout the movie. That’s supposed to work on you, the viewer, and make it more relatable.

The film only makes allusions to the backstory behind The Purge. How much of those details did you want to fill in?

That was never in the scrip “I saw it last week. There’s a rough cut of it, very cool. I think it does what a sequel should do. It brings back enough of the first movie so it doesn’t feel like a totally new thing, but there’s a ton of different stuff in it. And a lot of the mythology from the first movie… you’re going to get a lot of answers in the second movie. I’m looking forward to people seeing it.”t. I think it was ideal to tell it through one family’s point-of-view as opposed to going all over and only seeing the rest of the country through their TVs and monitors, and not actually cut outside too much, except with security cameras, so you really are experiencing the Purge through one family’s point-of-view. I think it gets you more emotionally invested in the story.”

Click here to read the rest of the interview at Bloody Disgusting.

Get ready for a whole new horror movie this June 7th with The Purge in theaters near you.

Browse through the latest films, trailers, pictures, movie reviews and news right here at New Movie Launches.

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing, a famous classic comedy by William Shakespeare takes a contemporary spin this June 7th 2013 as it premieres in the silver screen. Directed by Joss Whedon, this new movie will once again take audiences in the crazy game of love that involves the lovers Beatrice and Benedick. Much Ado About Nothing will bring you a sexy but dark story which is often seen in love stories in every era. This new movie stars Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof and Fran Kanz. Check out what you can expect in this classic Shakespeare that is going to hit the big screen this June:

“Joss Whedon’s Take on The Classic: Much Ado About Nothing

It’s my position that there are films in the world the highest and greatest purpose of which is to be delightful. That the creation of delight is an entirely valid use of one’s talent, and that normal humans have always known this, and it’s only critics who sometimes forget because they are bombarded with so much false and forced delight. So certain projects exist in part to remind you that real delight is an end unto itself. Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing is exactly this kind of film, and because it’s utterly delightful, it’s utterly successful.

Famously shot in just 12 days at Whedon’s own house, Much Ado features a lineup of some of Whedon’s favorite actors, some of whom I will list with a partial but not comprehensive list of their Whedon credits, so please do not e-mail me your corrections/completions: Amy Acker (Angeland The Cabin In The Woods) as Beatrice, Alexis Denisof (Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse) as Benedick, Fran Kranz (The Cabin In The Woods, Dollhouse) as Claudio, Clark Gregg (The Avengers) as Leonato, Reed Diamond (Dollhouse) as Don Pedro, and — bless his heart — Nathan Firefly Dr. Horrible Buffy “Joey Buchanan” Fillion as Dogberry the bumbling constable.

Perhaps you know this story and perhaps you do not, but suffice it to say that Beatrice and Benedick have a complicated relationship which only gets more complicated when a gaggle of people show up at the house to create your basic chaotic Shakespearean craziness involving intrigue, revenge, and in this adaptation, a lot of boozing and some stuffed animals. More than that, it would be unfair to say, and also, I’d probably get lost in the plot myself.

There is, perhaps unsurprisingly, something warmly homemade about this film, which is sparkling and skillfully executed but also amiably loose in places. The house where it’s set is blessed with a lot of big windows and it’s shot in black and white, so there’s a lot of very pretty employment of natural light, even in the interiors. It really does help this story, with all of the overheard conversations and whispered plotting, to be set in a palpably real place where you can see out the windows and up and down the stairs, rather than on a set.

Of course, a project this simple would be nowhere without the actors, and Whedon gets fine work out of just about everybody. Among my favorites, Acker is a believably wary Beatrice, Denisof is a frequently goofy but still very romantic Benedick, and Fillion should quite possibly play nothing but Shakespearean law enforcement officers for the remainder of his career.”

The rest of the article can be read at NPR.com.

Don’t forget to watch “The Internship Movie Trailer” right in this blog.

Star Trek Into Darkness Movie Review

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness is going to premiere tomorrow, May 16th 2013. Starring Chris Pine as James Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as McCoy, Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison and Zoe Saldana as Uhura, the story takes place after the events of the first film where the crew of the Enterprise is summoned back to Earth. The world stands on the brink of annihilation when the crew finds a destroyed star fleet and chaos on their return. The Enterprise must now find the culprit and bring them to justice before everything is destroyed. Check out the latest movie review for Star Trek Into Darkness below:

“Star Trek Into Darkness: Delivering A Great Narrative Plus A Dazzle of Action Level

Star Trek Into Darkness gives you an exhilarating, tingle-inducing rush — that rare feeling that comes when a gigantic entertainment is firing on all fronts, exceeding your expectations. Having dutifully built a foundation that honored the past but left the future wide open in 2009’sStar Trek, director J.J. Abrams makes Gene Roddenberry’s original creation his own, sending these iconic characters on a breakneck-paced adventure that delivers the goods on both narrative and razzle-dazzle action levels.

Working with his frequent stable of writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof, Abrams pushes Star Trek into new territory while keeping a nostalgic eye trained on what has come before. The set-up is simple: A terrorist named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), a former Starfleet member, detonates a bomb in London that kills hundreds. Although the USS Enterprise is supposed to be used primarily for scientific exploration, Capt. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the rest of his crew are ordered to perform a military mission: Track down Harrison on the planet Kronos even if it means invading Klingon airspace, which could be considered an act of war.

That’s all the plot you’ll get here: One of the things that distinguishes Star Trek Into Darkness from most of the previous movies in the franchise is the number of big surprises the story springs. Although Abrams never allows the picture to get too heavy or allegorical (this is also probably the funniest Trek movie ever), the story raises the kind of moral and ethical quandaries that would have made Roddenberry proud. If the fate of a dear friend is in the balance, should you risk altering the natural destiny of a primitive planet by giving them a glimpse of future technology? If you suspect someone is planning to attack you, do you have the right to a pre-emptive strike, even though you could be wrong? Is it ever proper to break the law, or even commit murder, for the sake of maintaining the greater peace?

Kirk and his logic-bound first officer Spock (Zachary Quinto) spend a lot of time debating these issues, sometimes with dire consequences. Spock also has trouble with girlfriend Lt. Uhura (Zoe Saldana), who doesn’t think he gives their relationship enough weight. Engineer Scotty (Simon Pegg) gets in trouble when he disobeys a direct order, but he is later rewarded with a critical role in one of the movie’s most exciting setpieces. Lt. Sulu (John Cho) gets a chance to sit in the captain’s chair, and medical officer Bones (Karl Urban), used mostly for comic relief, continues to go around spouting “Dammit, Jim!.” Only Chekov (Anton Yelchin) seems wasted this time, spending much of the movie running around the bowels of the ship, making repairs.”

Click this link to continue reading the rest of the review at The Miami Herald.

Don’t miss Star Trek Into Darkness at theaters near you tomorrow, May 16th 2013.

Browse through the rest of this week’s “Sci-fi” movies right in this blog.

The Internship Movie Trailer

The Internship is an upcoming comedy starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Rose Byrne. This new film is about two salesman, Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson) whose careers were ruined when the digital era came. They must now fight their way into a coveted internship at Google. They have to compete with a new whole group of tech-savvy geniuses who are much younger than they are. The Internship is directed by Shawn Levy who is known for the films: Real Steel and Date Night.

“Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn in The Internship

What could be more fun than getting an internship at Google? How about filming a movie with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson about getting an internship at Google?

Late last year, Yahoo Movies (as well as a limited number of other outlets) got the chance to experience how fun it is to do just that as we visited the set of director Shawn Levy’s “The Internship,” — Vaughn and Wilson’s first movie together since2005′s blockbuster comedy “Wedding Crashers.”

Vaughn and Wilson play two out-of-work salesmen who somehow sell their way into highly competitive internships at Google. Once they arrive on Google’s campus, they encounter some sort of “mental Hunger Games against a bunch of genius kids for just like a handful of jobs,” as the trailer professes.

Though they spent time filming at the Googleplex, Google’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, Levy’s crew also created a replica of the office on location in Atlanta. In between filming, ping pong, and billiards, we caught up with Vaughn, Wilson, and Levy about the comedy.

Vaughn initially wrote the script after seeing a “60 Minutes” segment about the Google company culture. “I sort of thought of the concept of how, just in life right now, I felt a lot of people were losing their jobs — things were tough. And then I saw this thing on ’60 Minutes’ where I saw Google. I thought, this is so different from what we were raised for what a job to be. People have chefs around. They’re taking naps. They’re playing games in their campus. It looks like a fun college campus.”

So Vaughn began writing the fish-out-of-water tale. Along the way, he realized that it was the perfect chance for him to reunite with his old pal Wilson. “When Vince had this idea, it just seemed like something that would be really funny for us to work on,” Wilson recalled.

Vaughn pitched the idea to Levy (“Night at the Museum,” 2006; “Real Steel,” 2011) while on the set of “The Watch,” which Levy helped produce. Levy bit hard on the idea and had a fairly easy time selling it to Fox. “The fact it was me, Vince, and Owen coming as a package together with this big idea: Vince and Owen as interns at Google. It’s clean. It’s strong. It’s timely. So it was a pretty quick yes.”

The Vince-and-Owen part of that equation has been a pitch in the works since “Wedding Crashers” made over $285 million worldwide eight years ago.”

The rest of the article can be read at Yahoo Movies by clicking here.

 
The Internship is scheduled to be released on June 7th 2013.

 
Make sure you check back here at newmovielaunches.com for the latest movie reviews, trailers, new films and pictures.

The Great Gatsby Movie Review

The Great Gatsby is a famous novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a new addition to Baz Luhrmann’s movies. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke and Joel Edgerton, The Great Gatsby takes us to a new journey of love, obsession and tragedy. This new movie premiered in theaters last May 10th 2013. Check out the movie review for The Great Gatsby below:

“The Adaptation of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

But first, before the glowing review, a little movie history. When The Great Gatsby last ventured onto the large screen, in 1974 with a woefully miscast Robert Redford and Mia Farrow squeaking in a voice like loose change, the adaptation laid an Egg as big as East and West combined. In fact, the film was so bad that it immediately raised two possible questions about the Scott Fitzgerald classic: (1) Was it not really a classic after all and didn’t deserve its iconic rep?; or (2) Was the novel just too intrinsically literary and delicate to survive any transplant from its rightful home on the page?

Cut to the present when, in the lead-up to director Baz Luhrmann’s much-hyped foray into the field, a spate of keen revisionists, sacred-cow-tippers all, have emerged to answer the first question with a resounding yes, denouncing the book (often with more eagerness than proof) as overwritten, oversymbolic and vastly overrated. Which brings us, finally, to Luhrmann’s film and to a delicious irony: It’s a terrific adaptation that succeeds not only as a work of cinema but also, wonderfully, as proof of the novel’s greatness. In short, the picture rebukes the revisionists even while entertaining them. How?

For starters, Luhrmann and his co-screenwriter Craig Pearce are astute enough to know thatGatsby is much less an exercise in realism than a lyrical tone poem. In its style and its theme, artifice lies at the very heart of the book, and the director celebrated for his Red Curtain Trilogy (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet,Moulin Rouge) is no slouch at artifice. So right from the initial travelling shot, through an art-deco frame to that green light at the dock’s flickering end, the movie is unabashedly stylized and theatrical. His use of the 3-D camera, common now in action blockbusters but still rare in a drama, reinforces the artful point while also underscoring the script’s first surprise, and its only significant departure from the source material.

Prepare to see an aged Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) in a remote sanitarium, diagnosed as a depressed alcoholic (yes, Fitzgerald’s own fate). There, as winter rages outside an encircling window, the 3-D effects seem to have him ensconced within a giant snow globe, setting down on paper his account of that faraway summer in the Roaring Twenties. Of course, in the novel and here too, Nick is our narrator, prone to his occasionally purple rhetoric. But that imposed conceit, the image of a talented depressive writing from inside the bauble of his imagination, seems to validate his inflated prose and, better yet, lets us re-appreciate its inherent poetry.”

You can continue reading Rick Groen’s movie review at Mail and Globe.

 
Check out this week’s list of “Drama” films right in this blog.

33 Postcards Movie

33 Postcards is an upcoming drama written and directed by Pauline Chan. It stars Zhu Lin, Guy Pearce and Claudia Karvan. The story of 33 Postcards revolves around a Chinese orphan Mei Mei (Lin) who has been dreaming of meeting her Australian sponsor for ten years, Dean Randall (Pearce) and his family. The day comes when their orphanage travels to Australia to attend the Australian Choir Festival. Mei Mei decides to take this opportunity to look him up and she finds out that her sponsor’s life is far from what she has been reading in the postcards. Together, these two will begin a journey to find love, acceptance, family and belonging. 33 Postcards has been featured in different film festivals and will soon grace the silver screen on May 17th 2013. Read on to learn more about this new film: 33 Postcards. 

“The Touching Story of 33 Postcards

It’s fascinating to observe how different filmmakers portray different cities. Woody Allen’s New York is a fantasy of tree-lined streets and bustling restaurants, Pasolini’s early Roman films are filled with dusty shanty towns and anonymous concrete flats while Judd Apatow’s LA is a patchwork of strip malls and carpet-lawn suburbia.

Match these urban scapes with character types — Allen’s twitchy middle-class creatives, Pasolini’s hookers and pimps, Apatow’s sex-obsessed, misogynistic young men – and the cities really take on a flavour. This week a film shows us Sydney from a fascinating point of view. 33 Postcards is the third feature from Sydney-based, Hong Kong-born Pauline Chan. It’s the story of a Chinese orphan, Mei Mei (Zhu Lin) who’s come to Australia as part of a choir group, but goes AWOL to track down a local man, Dean Randall, her sponsor since childhood. Her journey is, in parts, a surprisingly dark fairytale, as she wanders through a city far from the postcard images of its beaches and tourist attractions, populated by European Australians who are like throwbacks to the city’s convict past.

Mei Mei finds Dean but she gets a frosty welcome and a shock: he is not the happy family man he’s written in postcards, but a broken, fearful inmate in a high security prison. We don’t know what he’s done, but he has contacts on the outside with a ring of inner city car thieves, and that’s where Mei Mei finds a friend in Carl, the son of the gang leader who runs operations from a cavernous old brick workshop. She doesn’t give up on Dean, she desperately wants to make a connection, but it’s clear from the beginning this is going to be a big learning curve and she won’t come out of this adventure unscathed. 33 Postcards is an intricate thriller, building to a climax where everyone has a lot to lose, especially Dean who, with his lawyer (Claudia Karvan), is trying for parole.

Against the nuanced darkness, Mei Mei’s wide-eyed, naive persona sits awkwardly. The film’s suggestion of a budding romance between her and Carl just doesn’t play: it’s crying out for a layer of sophistication. But the adult characters, who include some menacing thugs inside the prison, are well calibrated, and Chan also manages some moments of refreshing humour, too.”

The rest of the article can be read at ABC.net

Don’t forget to check out the latest film “Stories We Tell” right in this blog.

The English Teacher Movie Trailer

The English Teacher starring Julianne Moore, Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins and Michael Angarano is an upcoming film that will bring you laughter and a few tears. Directed by Craig Zisk, The English Teacher revolves around the life of Linda Sinclair (Moore), a high school English teacher in a small town. Sinclair is very passionate about her subject and has earned the respect of her students. She is quite happy about her life even though she lives alone until her quiet solitude is disrupted when her former student Jason Sherwood (Angarano) returns to town after he failed to become a successful playwright. Linda then convinces him to produce his play in his former school. This journey will teach Linda and Jason that there are no great rewards without risks. Check out what else you can expect with this new film: The English Teacher.

“The Warmth and Charm of The English Teacher

Independent American dramedy The English Teachermay cover some familiar comic terrain but it does so with a fair amount of warmth and charm, qualities that are enhanced by a cast featuring Julianne Moore, Greg Kinnear and Nathan Lane. Probably too slight to make much of a mark in cinemas it could still find an audience of quirky comedy appreciators through in-home distribution.

Joint US distributors Cinedigm and Tribeca Film have already made the film – which premiered at last month’s Tribeca festival – available on VOD platforms in the States. And they are planning a May 17 limited theatrical release, putting the film up as counter programming to some of the early summer blockbusters.

In the second of her five scheduled 2013 releases, Moore plays Linda, a single, 40-year-old teacher who is apparently happy with a quiet, controlled life devoted to great literature and her students.

Things change when former star pupil and struggling playwright Jason (Haywire’s Michael Angarano) returns to town. Linda enlists school drama teacher Carl (stage stalwart Lane) to help her kickstart Jason’s career. But a romantic outburst puts her in conflict with Jason’s overbearing father (the equally busy Kinnear) and a sexy student (UK-born Lily Collins, from Mirror Mirror).

Director Craig Zisk, known for such delicately paced TV series as Weeds and Parks And Recreation, keeps the tone breezy. But it’s the cast that finds the telling moments in this tale of real life versus fantasy. Moore is terrific as the tightly wound Linda and Kinnear is a perfectly pragmatic foil. Lane provides the broad laughs in his those-who-can’t-teach role.”

The original article can be found at Screen Daily by clicking here.

The English Teacher premiered in the Tribeca Film Festival which was held last April 26th 2013. It will then have a limited release on May 17th 2013.

Check out the latest movie reviews, trailers, pictures, videos and new movies right here at newmovielaunches.com.

The East

Get ready for brand new espionage film from acclaimed director, Zal Batmanglij. The East is a new suspense movie starring Brit Marling who plays and FBI agent, Sarah Moss. She starts a new career at an elite intelligence firm where their main goal is to protect the interests of their top corporate clients. After being handpicked by the company’s head, Sarah goes in a deep undercover mission to infiltrate an elusive anarchist, The East. This group seeks revenge against big corporations who are guilty of criminal activity. After being accepted in the group Sarah begins to feel closely committed to the members of The East and finds herself torn between her mission and her morals. The East also stars Alexander Skarsgård, Jason Ritter and Ellen Page. Check out an early review for The East below:

“The East: An Intriguing Film By Zal Batmanglij

While domestic terrorism may be a popular trend in blockbuster films (I’m looking at you, Christopher Nolan), most films don’t leave the definition of terrorism up to the viewer and even less deal with eco-terrorism, a possibly waning but very much present form of terrorism in America.

This theme, almost entirely unrepresented on film, makes Zal Batmanglij’s The East a unique experience. When a business exploits the environment, damaging not only the land and animals but also people, what level of revenge is justifiable? This is the question on the minds of the East movement, who conduct elaborate payback schemes in the name of helpless.

While most of us probably wouldn’t join an eco-terrorist group and many probably wouldn’t even empathize with one, Batmanglij and co-writer/star Brit Marling have presented a pretty persuasive screenplay in The East. Marling plays Sarah, an overachiever who goes undercover for her private-sector company, hired by her boss (Patricia Clarkson) to infiltrate the East and not to “go soft.”

True Blood star Alexander Skarsgård leads the anarchist group as Benji, a brooding giant with excessively long, brown hair (that – praise a higher power – is cut off early in the film) who has Skarsgård’s trademark combination of stone-cold intimidation and puppy dog eyes. After some awkward first impressions, Skarsgård portrays Benji in such an ominous yet honest way that he becomes somewhat of an antihero.
Ellen Page plays Izzy, an aggressive, influential member of the group. Contrasting Benji’s enigmatic personality, Izzy is blatant and clear. She provides an anchor of normalcy to the group, a rag-tag group of loners with a common goal. The other members showcase compelling performances by supporting actors Toby Kebbell and Shiloh Fernandez – Doc and Luca – who inspire trust with their kindness and clear intellect.

Marling more than delivers as the lead, whose entire lifestyle is questioned as she spends more time with the East, inevitably growing attached (as Clarkson declares is bound to happen). Marling commands respect as Sarah, with radiant confidence and a compelling sense of self-assurance. While we don’t know much about Sarah (besides that her home life suffering from being a spy all the time and such), Marling establishes a deep sense of respect with her character.

Sarah believably adapts to her situation in the East, thanks to the script’s perfect pacing and the supporting cast’s convincing acting. The members of the group are revealed appropriately for the audience to adjust right with Sarah, as aspects of their personalities and motivations behind their crimes are revealed. As both the star and co-writer, Marling gets extra kudos for character development.”

The rest of the review can be read at Wegotthiscovered.com

The East is scheduled to be released in cinemas May 31st 2013.

Check out the latest “Now You See Me Movie Trailer” right in this blog.

Now You See Me Movie Trailer

Now You See Me is an upcoming film that revolves around a group of magicians called “The Four Horsemen” who use their illusions to steal money from people. Directed by Louis Leterrier, Now You See Me will showcase the elite FBI and a cat and mouse chase with The Four Horsemen. These magicians pull daring heists to rob corrupt business leaders and give the profits to the audiences. This new movie stars Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher. Check out the latest news on Now You See Me below:

“Now You See: A Great Illusion For A Grand Heist

“Now You See Me,” a heist movie with magicians standing in as the thieves, is set to hit theaters this May. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg as the cocky leader of the Four Horsemen, a group of magicians plotting to steal millions of dollars and give it to their audience.

Filmed on location in Paris, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and New York, the picture, from Louis Leterrier (“The Transporter”), pulls together a surprisingly varied cast from Woody Harrleson to Michael Caine to Mark Ruffalo.

At the 5 Pointz urban graffiti showplace last November, the stars of “Now You See Me” sat down for several roundtable discussions with a few select outlets. Below, are sevens things we learned on-set.

It took a long time to convince the cast to join this movie

“We took seven months to cast, so a long time,” Leterrier said, “Everybody, anyone, actors, are terrified it’s going to be corny and full of visual effects and everything. But when they understood what we were doing, that’s how I was able to get these guys, because they understood they would do the real stuff.” Enter Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, and Morgan Freeman.

Eisenberg had a personal reason for joining “Now You See Me”

One of the reasons the actor decided to sign on was because of an experience he had growing up. “My mom was a birthday party clown, and so when she was sick, or when it was my birthday and she didn’t do the party, she bartered a party for this magician, this guy Bruce,” Eisenberg said.

Granted, Eisenberg had some trouble sticking to the code while learning magic tricks for this movie

“I feel very guilty doing magic because you’re deceiving somebody. When I am with David Kwong [our magician consultant] and he does magic, people love it and they don’t want to know [how he does it],” Eisenberg said, candidly. “But I … just feel immediately guilty that I tricked them and tell them how it’s done and David gets upset and the night ends pretty early.”

Woody Harrelson hypnotized Mark Ruffalo during filming

“Woody got very proficient at hypnotizing people. and we were out one night and I don’t know if something was dropped in my drink or Woody actually hypnotized me, but something did happen to me,” Ruffalo said.

Ruffalo knows why you would sympathize with the “bad guys” in this film

In “Now You See Me,” Ruffalo plays a cop looking to take down the group of magicians who are stealing money from banks and giving it to their audiences, so the actor realizes why moviegoers may be backing the thieves.”

The rest of the article can be read at Moviefone.

Get ready for a brand new magic trick with Now You See Me which opens in theaters on May 31st 2013.

Check out the latest “Thriller” films right in this blog.