Rush (2013) review

In the world of sports, there have been plenty of rivalries that have stood the test of time, including Yankees-Red Sox, Celtics-Lakers, and Duke-North Carolina. On the racing circuit, there was one rivalry that was certainly on the same level of those iconic rivalries, and that was the rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, which came to a head during the 1976 racing season. The story of these two drivers is the focus of director Ron Howard’s newest movie, ‘Rush’, a film that succeeds at appealing to both fans and non-fans of Formula One Racing. That is because the film is incredibly well-written in its depiction of these two men and the rivalry that defined both of their careers. Of course, the two outstanding performances from the two leads also help the movie very much. All in all, ‘Rush’ is an exhilarating thrill ride from beginning to end.

 

In the year 1970, a rivalry develops between British driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Austrian driver Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) while they are racing in Formula Three. A few years later, the both of them move up to the Formula One circuit, with Lauda being signed by Ferrari (after buying his way onto the circuit) and Hunt joining McLaren after his initial company runs out of money in 1975. Their rivalry continues into the 1976 season, as the two battle each other for the championship, both attempting to one up each other in the process. However, things start to change after the German Grand Prix, as Lauda gets caught in a near-fatal accident, putting him in a fight for his life as he tries to get back onto the track.

 

‘Rush’ is a movie that can appeal to those who aren’t fans of Formula One; not just because of the exhilarating race sequences, but also because of the writing and how it handles the whole ‘rivalry’ between Hunt and Lauda. It doesn’t try to make either one of them ‘the villain’ of the film and gives you reasons to root for both of them. You see them go through their own unique highs and lows. It’s just interesting to see how these two were driven by each other to do their best, especially because of their different personalities. Hunt is the playboy/womanizer with something to prove while Lauda is the cold and calculating tech genius. Sure, it seems like the movie’s a bit more focused on Lauda’s story (technically, the story is told from his perspective), but the two of them are given equal screen-time.

 

Of course, this movie wouldn’t be anything without terrific performances from its two leads. As Hunt, Chris Hemsworth once again shows off the charm that has worked so well for him in films like ‘Thor’ and ‘The Avengers’. As Lauda, Bruhl gives a star-making performance in the role, and the two of them work off each other well. However, while the relationship between them is well-developed, their relationships with their wives are another story. Now, I’m not talking about the relationship between Lauda and his wife Marlene (Alexandra Maria Lara); that’s actually handled really well. I’m referring to the relationship between James Hunt and his wife, Suzy (Olivia Wilde). She plays a very, very minor part in the film (Wilde is really not given anything to do); the two of them are married (rather abruptly I might add; I don’t know if that’s how it was in real life, but that’s how the movie plays it out like), they have very few scenes together, and then they split. There needed to be more between them because what is there is very weak in terms of character development.

 

This film reminds me of 2011’s ‘Warrior’, mainly because that film also revolved around two characters that were both likable despite the fact that only one of them would come out on top in the end. Both films also manage to appeal to those who are not fans of their respective sports, MMA in the case of ‘Warrior’ and Formula One racing for ‘Rush’, because of how well-written they are. The whole relationship between James Hunt and Niki Lauda is very compelling because of how each of them used the other to better themselves as both drivers and people. Hemsworth and Bruhl both give terrific performances, and the film is very exciting throughout. I’ll admit that I’m not a big fan of director Ron Howard’s work but this is easily one of his best efforts to date. ‘Rush’ is definitely a must-see during this awards season.

Rating: 4.5/5

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Pilot Review)

I know I’ve probably said this many times already but the following statement is undeniably true. Marvel has been on quite a run the last few years. Ever since the original ‘Iron Man’ film debuted back in 2008, Marvel has created an impressive ‘Cinematic Universe’, successfully connecting all of their main franchises together into one world. All of these superheroes would eventually unite for the ultimate superhero team-up film, ‘The Avengers’, which ended up with rave reviews and over a billion at the box office. Now Marvel is in the middle of ‘Phase Two’ as they continue to expand their universe even more, with the next team-up film, ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, slated to hit theaters in 2015. While Marvel has made an effort to connect these films together through references present in each film, the major force that keeps this universe connected is the government agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. (the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division). Usually just a minor part in most of the films, S.H.I.E.L.D. is now the headliner of Joss Whedon’s newest show, ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’

The pilot episode takes place after the events of ‘The Avengers’, as the world now knows that superheroes are real in the wake of the Chitauri invasion of New York. When Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) is briefed by Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders, reprising her role from ‘The Avengers’) and told to ‘talk to Agent Coulson’, he tells her that he knows that Coulson was killed before the Battle of New York. To his surprise, Coulson (Clark Gregg) suddenly appears, very much alive. How did he survive being stabbed by Loki in the film? Well, I won’t spoil the explanation they give in this episode, but something tells me there’s more to it than what they initially tell us. Anyway, Coulson puts together a team of agents, including Ward, pilot Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), weapons tech expert Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), and bio-chemistry expert Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) to investigate a mysterious group known as the Rising Tide. In the process, they enlist the aid of the mysterious Skye (Chloe Bennet), a hacker connected with the group, and come across a man named Mike Peterson (J. August Richards), a single father that has somehow acquired superpowers.

Going in, I really didn’t know what to expect from this show but after watching the pilot, I can safely say that I like the route they are taking. Instead of focusing on a single superhero or a whole team of heroes, the focus is on S.H.I.E.L.D., more specifically the team that Agent Coulson forms to deal with the strange developments that occur in the post ‘Avengers’ world. This gives the show a more humanistic feel, which is a nice change of pace from the films, while still maintaining the fact that its characters live in a world full of heroes and gods, with plenty of references to the films. Will we see someone like Iron Man or the Hulk in future episodes? For the record, none of these heroes appear in the pilot (aside from some brief glimpses in the beginning, directly taken from ‘The Avengers’) but with a show like this, it’s very likely that this will happen in the future. I’m also interested to see how this show might tie in to one of the upcoming ‘Avengers’ films, the next possible one being ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’.

One thing that is certain about this show is that the cast is terrific, as it usually is in a Joss Whedon show. At its center is Clark Gregg’s Agent Phil Coulson, whose dry humor is a perfect match with Whedon’s writing. The explanation for how he survived his ‘death’ is a little questionable, but it seems like there’s more to it than what we’re initially told, as evident from a scene between Agent Hill and a S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor (played by Firefly’s Ron Glass). The rest of the members on Coulson’s team all do great jobs as well and have great camaraderie amongst each other. But in regards to this pilot, the one who steals the show would have to be Chloe Bennet as Skye. Like Gregg, she works well with Whedon’s dialogue and I’m interested in finding out the mystery surrounding her. At one point in the episode, she’s helping Mike Peterson clear his records and mentions that ‘she’s done it before’, indicating that there’s more to her character that we’re not getting at the moment. There are quite a few mysteries surrounding the cast, from an apparent incident that happened in Agent Ward’s past to the reason why Agent May doesn’t want to go back into the field, that are sure to be uncovered as time goes on.

The pilot episode for ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ has easily been one of the most talked about pilots in the history of television and ultimately it is a pilot that doesn’t disappoint. Joss Whedon makes a triumphant return to the world of television after his shows ‘Firefly’ and ‘Dollhouse’ were both cancelled prematurely (hopefully this show lasts longer than those last two). Of course, comic book fans will certainly love this show but it will also appeal to non-fans because of its terrific cast, its spot-on continuity with the Cinematic Universe, and for having a more humanistic feel to it by focusing on S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of a superhero. This show certainly has quite a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing what they do next.

Pilot Episode Rating: 4.5/5

Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2014

As 2013 begins to come to a close, it’s time to look ahead into the future. We’re kind of in an interesting situation right now because instead of focusing on this upcoming year, all eyes are looking ahead to the following year, 2015. There’s a pretty good reason for this, as 2015 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years for the film industry ever; there’s ‘Avengers 2’ AKA ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, a Batman/Superman crossover, the next entries in the James Bond and Jurassic Park franchises, and much, much more. But while I’m certainly looking forward to 2015, that’s two years from now, and there are still a lot of films to look forward to in 2014. So, with that in mind, here are my Top 10 most anticipated films of 2014. Keep in mind that this is mainly based on speculation, as we don’t have much material from any of these movies except for some set photos and leaked footage.

10. Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1, 2014)

While DC is currently at work on their ‘Batman/Superman’ crossover, Marvel will pretty much have 2014 all to themselves with four films being released over the course of the year (technically through different studios but that’s beside the point). I’m starting my list off with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and it’s at this spot for one main reason. Even though it’s been about a year since this film was announced, I really don’t know much about this franchise. It’s not like ‘Iron Man’, ‘Spider-Man’, or the ‘X-Men’. When this was first announced, my first response was, ‘Who?’ and somehow I find myself still kind of asking that question. From what I’ve read, the main team of heroes that this film is based around had their own series in 2008 but it was cancelled two years later, which can explain why I never heard of them (along with the fact that I’m not a comic book reader). This is a rather obscure franchise so hopefully Marvel knows what they’re doing by giving them a feature length movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But on the other hand, this movie does have an interesting cast; Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, and Benicio Del Toro just to name a few. So while I still don’t know much about these characters, the cast alone intrigues me and this is Marvel and they have been on a really great run lately in regards to their ‘Cinematic Universe’. Still, I’m going in rather hesitant.

9. Transcendence (April 18, 2014)

Christopher Nolan is currently at work on his next film, ‘Interstellar’, but something will be different this time around… his long-time cinematographer, Wally Pfister, will not be involved with that film. Instead, he will be making his directorial debut with ‘Transcendence’. That’s the main reason why I’m interested in this film; to see how Pfister fares as a director. I have a feeling that there will be a bit of Nolan’s influence in the way he directs. Aside from that, the plot is also rather intriguing. A computer scientist (Rebecca Hall) uploads her husband’s (Johnny Depp) brain into a computer after he’s killed by terrorists. Their goal is to achieve technological singularity; a world where the computers are capable of transcending the abilities of the human brain. We haven’t seen any footage from the film yet but this is looking like it’ll be a really entertaining film.

8. Tomorrowland (December 12, 2014)

If I made a list of my top 10 favorite directors, Brad Bird would easily be near the top of the list. He’s the man responsible for two of my top 10 favorite films of all time, ‘The Iron Giant’ and ‘The Incredibles’. Aside from that, he’s also made another great animated film, ‘Ratatouille’, and successfully transitioned from animation to live-action with ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’. I’m always looking forward to whatever project he does next, and this one is no exception. However, we don’t really know that much about this film aside from the fact that it shares the name of one of the themed lands of Disney parks, ‘Tomorrowland’. Will part of the movie take place there? I don’t know but that won’t stop me from seeing the film when it comes out. So why is a film from one of my favorite directors only at number eight on this list? Well, one of the writers on the film is Damon Lindelof AKA the guy behind the rather disappointing ‘Prometheus’ and the one (from what I’ve heard) who was responsible for having Khan put into ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ when Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were against it. Thankfully, Bird has a writing credit as well so fingers crossed here.

7. Hobbit: There and Back Again (December 17, 2014)

(*insert annual Hobbit post here*)

I’m just kidding, but yes, taking the number seven spot on this list is the third and final film in ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy, ‘The Hobbit: There and Back Again’. Now, at the time I am writing this, ‘Desolation of Smaug’ hasn’t come out so we do not know where this film will take place in the story. It’s safe to assume that ‘Desolation of Smaug’ will revolve around the dwarves’ attempting to reclaim their kingdom from the dragon Smaug. So, I’m thinking that ‘There and Back Again’ will most likely focus on ‘The Battle of Five Armies’, though reportedly it will mainly be based on the appendices that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in order to expand the universe of Middle-Earth. If that’s the case, then I hope that they don’t cram in the ‘Five Armies’ battle into the second film. I haven’t read ‘The Hobbit’, but it sounds like that final battle is more than enough to be the focus of one film. Then again, I’m not really a fan of the decision to go from two movies to three because of how smaller of a story ‘The Hobbit’ is compared to ‘Lord of the Rings’. In the end, I’m mainly hoping that these last two films don’t succumb to the same problem that the first film had; an padded out run-time that makes it feel like we’re already watching the ‘Extended Edition’ of the film.

6. The Lego Movie (February 7, 2014)

The reason why I was highly anticipating 2012’s ‘Wreck it Ralph’ was because its video-game premise instantly connected with me, as I am a huge fan of video games. It’s a similar situation for ‘The Lego Movie’, as I loved playing with LEGO’s when I was a kid so I’m intrigued to see what they do with this movie, which also happens to be an original story. It has a really great crew behind it. The directors for the movie are Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the duo behind two of the funniest and most creative films of the last few years, ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ and ’21 Jump Street’. It also has a really impressive cast; Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, and much, much more. According to Lord and Miller, the film will combine computer animation with stop-motion animation, and the trailer for the film definitely has a ‘stop-motion’ vibe to it. Suffice it to say, there’s quite a lot of potential with this film.

5. Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (November 21, 2014)

Like with ‘The Hobbit’, I am writing this having not yet seen this year’s entry in the Hunger Games series, ‘Catching Fire’, but the main thing to talk about here is that the final story, ‘Mockingjay’, will be split into two films, with Part 2 coming out in 2015. I’m not so sure about this choice; will it work like ‘Harry Potter’ or it will be pointlessly drawn out like ‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn’? Only time will tell. Francis Lawrence, director of ‘Catching Fire’, returns to helm these two films so it seems like the producers were happy with his work on ‘Catching Fire’. Hopefully we’ll see what they saw when ‘Catching Fire’ hits theaters this November.

4. Interstellar (November 7, 2014)

No poster/image yet of the film so here's a pic of Nolan on the set of 'Dark Knight Rises' instead.

 

Christopher Nolan is a director that needs no introduction. His latest film, ‘Interstellar’, will serve as the first film he’s done since the conclusion of ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy. Like with ‘Tomorrowland’, not much is known about the plot, and what we have been given so far is rather vague; it’s apparently involved around wormholes… and corn. But hey, it’s Nolan so there’s no way I’m missing this film, which also has quite a stacked cast; Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, John Lithgow, Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley, Michael Caine, and Matt Damon… and that’s just to name a few. Nolan has yet to disappoint when it comes to his films, and I’m betting that streak will continue with this one.

3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014)

Just a quick spoiler; the top 3 films on my list are all superhero films and kicking things off is the sequel to 2011’s ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. ‘The First Avenger’ ended up being one of my personal favorite films of Marvel’s Phase One because of how Marvel managed to make one of their least interesting characters interesting, thanks in part to Chris Evans’ terrific performance in the role. So, with that in mind, I’m eagerly awaiting this film. For one thing, I’m interested in seeing how the directors on this film will handle it. Marvel has always picked some interesting directors for their movies, and the two working on this film are no exception; Anthony and Joe Russo, a duo mainly known for directing episodes on the cult hit NBC show, ‘Community’. How will these guys handle an action movie? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

2. X-Men Days of Future Past (May 23, 2014)

After a disappointing third film and a rather terrible prequel/solo film, the ‘X-Men’ franchise got back on track in 2011 with ‘X-Men: First Class’, an effective reboot featuring a great new cast to take over for the cast of the original X-Men trilogy. But the original X-Men cast isn’t done yet and next year they will return alongside the ‘First Class’ cast with ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’, directed by X-Men/X2 director Bryan Singer. With Singer back in charge of the franchise that he helped start back in 2000, I have a feeling that this film will turn out well, and it’s also based on a very famous storyline from the comics. The only thing that might end up hurting this film in the end is the fact that the cast is as big as it is. The same thing can sort of be said for the other 3 superhero films on this list, but this one is running the biggest risk.

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (May 2, 2014)

So why am I anticipating the sequel to ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ more than ‘Days of Future Past’? Aside from the fact that I’m a bigger Spider-Man fan than I am an X-Men fan, there are a few reasons as to why. Like everyone else, I was very cautious about Marvel’s decision to reboot the Spider-Man franchise just five years after director Sam Raimi’s trilogy concluded in 2007. But, to my pleasant surprise, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ ended up being really good; in fact, better than at least two of Raimi’s films and, dare I say, just as good as Raimi’s best, Spider-Man 2. That was mainly because the two leads, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, were much more compelling and the writers did a good job at handling the struggles of Peter Parker, who wanted to know why his parents left him with his aunt and uncle when he was young (though for the record, the whole ‘parents’ storyline did not even go anywhere). Will the ‘parents’ storyline continue to become important as these films go on? At this point, who knows? But even if they don’t go that route again, the movie still looks good based on what I saw from the Comic-Con trailer.

First off, I like the villain they decided to go with, Electro, along with the actor playing him, Jamie Foxx. His character’s design looks pretty good (I mean let’s face it; it’s a better look than Electro’s main design from the comics. Can you imagine if they went with that look?). I also like the new additions to the cast, including Dane Dehaan as Harry Osborn, Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn, and Paul Giamatti as the Rhino. Spider-Man’s suit also looks much better than it did in the last film. I’m not saying that I didn’t like the suit from the last film; it’s just that I was never a fan of how the mask looked. When the first image of Garfield in the suit (without the mask) surfaced, I thought it looked really cool but then when the mask was shown, I was rather mixed on it, namely with how the eyes looked. The new suit looks more in line with Spider-Man’s usual design. I’m interested in seeing how this Spider-Man series will turn out. I don’t want to spoil anything but I’m kind of hoping that they eventually do go through with doing a key death from the comics. Fans of Spider-Man should know what I’m talking about. If not in this movie, maybe in the next one; they do have two more on the way.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Fast and Furious 7- Boy, the Fast and Furious series has been on quite a run recently; its last two films ended up being the best entries in the series and keep in mind, the series currently stands at six films. It was because of ‘Fast Five’ that I was really looking forward to ‘Fast and Furious 6’ and it’s that film that has me excited for the next entry. But why is this film not on my list? Well, series director Justin Lin will not be helming this new film. Instead, horror director James Wan is in charge this time around. I haven’t seen any of his films and as far as I know, he’s never directed an action movie before. Hopefully they picked a good replacement for Lin.

Godzilla- It’s the first major Godzilla movie in a decade (more than a decade for us Americans). The last time they brought Godzilla to the screen here in America… didn’t turn out so well. So, let’s hope this one turns out good.

A Million Ways to die in the West- Seth MacFarlane made an excellent debut as a film director with ‘Ted’, so I’ll be looking forward to his next film, and it’s a western comedy.

Transformers: Age of Extinction- I’ll admit it… I did like the first three Transformers films. I stand by my belief that the first Transformers film was a really good movie. The sequels… yes, they weren’t as good as the first film, but they’re not the worst movies ever (as some people like to refer to them as). Thankfully with this next film, they have a new cast, which includes Mark Wahlberg, Kelsey Grammer, and Stanley Tucci. I’ll see it, but I hope that they do a better job with the script than they did with the last two films.

The Butler (2013) review

There was a rather interesting bit of controversy surrounding this film before it came out. A few months ago, Warner Bros had filed a claim with the MPAA for this film to be renamed because they had made a movie that was also named ‘The Butler’… a short film from 1916 which, as far as I know, not many people know about. In other words, this will easily go down as one of the most pointless ‘renaming’ cases in the history of Hollywood. But, in the end, the MPAA did implement a title change and the film’s current title is ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’. So, if you think that director Lee Daniels is being pretentious by having his name in the title, there was nothing he could really do about it. But as for the film itself, ‘The Butler’ (for the record, I will be referring to it by that name throughout this review) is a top-notch historical drama with excellent performances all around and for also doing a great job at focusing on certain aspects of the history of our country, namely the Civil Rights Movement.

The film is loosely based on the life of Eugene Allen, who had served as a butler in the White House from 1952 to 1986. However, the movie centers on a fictional character, Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), who grew up on a cotton farm. After the farm’s owner (Alex Pettyfer) shoots his father (David Banner), Cecil is hired as a house servant by the farm’s caretaker (Vanessa Redgrave) and years later, his experience as a servant ultimately lands him a job at the White House. Over the years, Cecil serves for multiple presidents, from Dwight D. Eisenhower (Robin Williams) to John F. Kennedy (James Marsden) to Richard Nixon (John Cusack) and becomes an eyewitness to key events in American history, including the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. While all of this is going on, Cecil’s oldest son Louis (David Oyelowo) finds himself right in the center of most of these events and a conflict emerges between the two because of their differing ideologies.

The main reason why the film works so well is because it doesn’t feel romanticized. Other recent films centered around African-Americans, including ‘Red Tails’ and ‘42’, didn’t really delve into some of the struggles their characters went through, even though it’s clear that the films showed much respect for them. This film does do that, and key events of the Civil Rights Movement, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s role in the movement and the controversial Black Panther party, are shown and we see how it affects the main characters. Not only that, but we get to see the events from two different perspectives. We see them through the eyes of Cecil, as he quietly works for the Presidents, and his son Louis, who is usually at the frontlines of these events. Because of this, there’s an interesting dynamic contrast between the two; Cecil is worried about his son getting killed while Louis is keen on being involved with the Civil Rights movement. Both characters are very compelling because of that.

The film also benefits from a terrific cast, and this is quite a big ensemble cast. Forest Whitaker gives one of the best performances of his career as Cecil, effectively carrying the movie on his back. Oprah Winfrey, who plays Cecil’s wife Gloria, and David Oyelowo give excellent performances as well. The three of them succeed at making their characters feel real, even if they are only fictional characters (in a story inspired by a real-life person). The supporting cast is also great as well, including Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz as two of Cecil’s co-workers in the White House. While I have heard some doubt over the actors portraying the Presidents, each of them did a very good job. If I have to choose the best out of them, it would have to be a tie between James Marsden as Kennedy and Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan (even though apparently the way they portray him in the movie wasn’t like how he was in real life).

‘The Butler’ is easily one of the best movies of the year, and I won’t be surprised if this film gets a couple of Oscar nominations (especially Forest Whitaker for Best Actor) for next year’s ceremony. Whitaker is outstanding in this film, and is also backed a terrific supporting cast, from Oprah to the actors who portrayed the Presidents. But aside from its cast, the film also works so well because, compared to other recent African-American centered films, it didn’t feel romanticized and did a great job of focusing on key moments and the struggles that the main characters went through, especially with the dynamic between Cecil and his son and the contrast of their ideologies. Many people might find similarities to ‘Forrest Gump’ and I’d say this film is just as good as that 1994 classic.

Rating: 4.5/5

2013 Preview: September

The summer season may be coming to a close, but we’re only just two-thirds of the way through 2013 and now we’re heading into the ‘Oscar season’. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview for the films that are set to come out during 2013. This is Part 9 and today we’re going to be looking at the films that will be hitting theaters during the month of September. This month, we have a few sequels, some original films, and even a re-release of a timeless classic.

SEPTEMBER 6- Only one release is set to open during the first weekend of the month

*Following 2000’s ‘Pitch Black’ and 2004’s ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’, Vin Diesel returns to the role of convict Richard B. Riddick for ‘Riddick’, the third entry in director David Twohy’s sci-fi series. In this film, Riddick finds himself abandoned on a desolate planet where he must fight for survival against the predators of the planet.

SEPTEMBER 13- This weekend will see the release of a horror sequel and the latest film from the director of ‘Leon: The Professional’ and ‘The Fifth Element’.

 

*When it was released in 2011, director James Wan’s ‘Insidious’ was a huge success at the box office, grossing nearly $100 million on only a $1.5 million budget. Fresh off of ‘The Conjuring’, James Wan returns along with writer Leigh Whannell and most of the main cast for ‘Insidious: Chapter 2’. After the events of the first movie, the Lambert family looks to find out the reason why they have been connected to the spirit world.

 

*While known for directing films like ‘Leon: The Professional’ and ‘The Fifth Element’, director Luc Besson has spent most of this last decade producing films like the ‘Taken’ and ‘Transporter’ series. His newest directorial effort, ‘The Family’ (aka ‘Malavita’ outside of the U.S.) will hit theaters this weekend. Robert De Niro stars as a mafia boss who is forced to relocate his family (his wife (Michelle Pfeiffer), his daughter (Dianna Agron), and his son (John D’Leo)), with the help of a CIA agent (Tommy Lee Jones), to France after snitching on the mob.

SEPTEMBER 20- One crime thriller and a special 3-D re-release this weekend.

 

*Back in March, Disney released ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’, a sort-of ‘prequel’ to the 1939 classic from MGM, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, based off of author L. Frank Baum’s famous book of the same name. The 1939 classic hits theaters once again in 3-D, celebrating the film’s 75^th anniversary (even though, technically speaking, that is supposed to be in 2014).

 

*An all-star cast headlines the crime thriller ‘Prisoners’. Hugh Jackman stars as a father who desperately searches for his daughter and her best friend after they are kidnapped on Thanksgiving. The film also stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello, Paul Dano, Viola Davis, and Melissa Leo.

SEPTEMBER 27- There’s a lot to talk about this week, with four new releases; this includes an IMAX exclusive and a film that expands to a nationwide release.

 

*After opening in LA and NY markets the previous week, Ron Howard’s ‘Rush’ will expand nationwide this weekend. The film focuses on the rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) during the 1976 Formula One season, a year where Lauda nearly lost his life in a crash at the German Grand Prix.

 

*After the original ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ became both a critical and commercial hit in 2009, ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2’ will hit theaters. While Phil Lord and Chris Miller are not directing the film, they are still involved with it, serving as executive producers while Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn take over directing duties. After stopping the disastrous food storm that forced them to leave the town of Swallow Falls, inventor Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) and his friends return to the town in order to clean up the food mess caused by his invention, the FLDSMDFR. However, when they return, Flint discovers that the machine is still operating and has now created food ‘animals’.

 

*Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes his directorial debut with ‘Don Jon’, where he stars as a modern-day ‘Don Juan’ who is addicted to porn but soon looks to change his ways after meeting the ‘love of his life’ (Scarlett Johansson). Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, and Brie Larson co-star.

 

*The final film this month is an IMAX exclusive, ‘Metallica: Through the Never’ (it will be released in theaters everywhere the following week). Directed by Nimrod Antal (‘Predators’), the ‘concert’ film stars Dane Dehaan as a roadie for Metallica who is tasked with an urgent mission during one of the band’s shows but this soon turns into a surreal adventure.