[Trailer] The Peanuts Movie
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With Thanksgiving a little more than a week away, it's not uncommon to see a whirlwind of holiday-related advertising campaigns. Considering how The Peanuts' most popular special is A Charlie Brown Christmas, it makes sense that marketing for next year's The Peanuts Movie would begin just around the lead-in for this year's festivities.
As the kayfabe storyline goes, Snoopy "leaked" the latest trailer for The Peanuts Movie earlier this morning following yesterday's release of images from the film. It's fitting, considering the focal point of the trailer is on Snoopy continuing the endless dogfight against his arch-nemesis, the Red Baron. As if yesterday's images from the film weren't gorgeous in their own right, the art style looks even better in motion. For those that aren't exactly the biggest Snoopy fans (myself included), fear not: the film will be equally focused on both Charlie Brown and Snoopy.
You can read the film's official synopsis below.
In PEANUTS, a 3D, CGI animated comedic adventure, Snoopy, the world’s most lovable beagle – and flying ace! – embarks upon his greatest mission as he and his team take to the skies to pursue their arch-nemesis, while his best pal Charlie Brown begins his own epic quest back home.
[Trailer] Drug Lord: The Legend of Shorty
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There have only been two men in history to be named Public Enemy Number One: Al Capone and "El Chapo" Guzman. At the time of his arrest this past February, El Chapo was considered the most powerful drug trafficker in the world, with his power and influence spreading all across North America. Chicago was impacted heavily by the aforementioned influence, as the drug trade in the city dictated a lot of the violence it's faced recently. Of course, we're all familiar with the high level of drug cartel-related violence that has plagued Mexico as of late, as well. Given Guzman's power and ability to evade authorities for a decade, chasing after him for a documentary sounds peculiar and down right discouraging, right? Yet, a documentary team took on the challenge, rustling up enough interest to even have El Chapo himself attempt to thwart their plans.
Drug Lord: The Legend of Shorty is directed by Angus MacQueen and Guillermo Galdos and produced by Simon Chinn (Searching for Sugar Man) and Andrew Mackenzie-Betty (Thriller in Manila). The documentary is currently playing in select theaters and is available on VOD right now.
[Trailer] Manny
When I caught Manny at SXSW this year, I admittedly teared up. Given my Filipino heritage, Manny Pacquiao represents The Philippines' most visible celebrity, greatest athlete, and an icon that represents every Filipino across the world. His rags to riches story is something many Filipinos are familiar with, not only because of Pacquiao's status, but also because it closely resembles the stories of many other Filipinos who grew up in poverty that were able to find a better way of life. As a sports documentary, Manny runs down Pacquiao's illustrious career up to last spring's match against Timothy Bradley, but what ultimately made the documentary so great was that it was able to capture who Pacquiao is outside of the ring, not as the Filipino icon, but simply as a Filipino man.
Manny will be available in select theaters and On Demand on January 23rd, 2015. However, if you would like to hear more about the documentary, watch our video interviews with Lenny Mesina, editor of Manny, and Ryan Moore, co-director of Manny, from this year's SXSW.
[Trailer 2] Exodus: Gods and Kings
The final trailer for Ridley Scott's upcoming Exodus: Gods and Kings has just released ahead of its release next month. The film, which is another adaptation of the Biblical book of Moses, stars a who's who in Hollywood today including Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, and more. The film, as is typical of Scott's style of filmmaking, is very SFX-heavy, juxtaposing the Moses' story against the Pharaoh Ramses with 3D effects, grandiose green screen fight scenes, and tons of muscles and blood.
Exodus: Gods and Kings will be in theaters on December 12th.
[Trailer] Chappie
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Neil Blomkamp might be Hollywood's best director when it comes to live-action/CGI films, as demonstrated successfully in his debut film, District 9. Beyond the gorgeous special effects of that film is the real heart and talent in Blomkamp's direction: the ability to engage audiences' minds and balance subtle comedy, strong emotion, and exciting action sequences all within the same film. With his third film, Chappie, it appears that Blomkamp is picking up where District 9's tone left off (Elysium notwithstanding).
Regular Blomkamp collaborator Sharlto Copley (Hardcore) provides the voice for Chappie, a child-like robot possessing the ability to think and feel for himself. And much like every child, he must learn about life from his surroundings and the people around him in a world that is frightened by him. Chappie also stars Hugh Jackman, Dev Patel, and Sigourney Weaver.
March 6th is when Chappie will hit theaters, and I'm sure we'll hear more about the film in the ensuing months. For now, enjoy the trailer and the film' first poster below.
[Trailer] Hardcore
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First-person shooters are one of the most popular genres in video games with franchises like Call of Duty and Halo generating billions of dollars over the last two generations of gaming. Other genres have attempted to take the point of view (POV) approach to moderate success (Mirror's Edge), but it hasn't grown as widespread in use outside of the FPS and RPG genres. The film industry, meanwhile, is constantly pushing the technical and cinematic edge of what can be done with a large budget and solid concept, yet we haven't seen a true, feature-length POV film... until now.
Hardcore is the feature-length film debut from Ilya Naishuller. It was Naishuller's music video for his band Biting Elbows that went viral last year that has led up to the production of Hardcore. As seen in the "Bad Motherfucker" video, the video's plot is a full POV film that's equal parts action film and hardcore parkour viral video. With over 20 million views and comments asking for more, including one from Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov promising to produce a full-length POV film, the groundwork for Hardcore was set.
Hardcore is a sci-fi/action film about a cyborg named Henry who must save his wife/creator from a villain that possesses telekinetic powers with the help of Jimmy, played by District 9's Sharlto Copley. The entire film was shot on-location in Moscow with custom GoPro rigs created specifically for the film. However, considering the film is mostly an independent venture, the crew needs additional funds to ensure the post-production process can elevate the film to a level of quality it deserves.
If you have the funds or would like to help spread the word about Hardcore, you can visit the film's IndieGoGo page for more information on how to do so. You can also watch the aforementioned "Bad Motherfucker" music video below.
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[Trailer] Furious 7
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The next (and seemingly final) entry in the Fast & Furious franchise has officially been renamed Furious 7 with the release of the film's first trailer. Since Fast Five, the Fast & Furious franchise has almost singlehandedly held up the Hollywood blockbuster action genre, elevating its heights over every successive film and making Fast & Furious 6 the highest-grossing film in the franchise. However, with lead actor Paul Walker's untimely death last year, production on Furious 7 was stalled for awhile, and the prospect of the film's release was at risk. But much like Vin Diesel's character Dom loves to re-iterate, the cast and crew is "family," and the film pushed on.
Which brings us to this past weekend when the first trailer for Furious 7 was released. As we've come to expect from the franchise, the trailer is full of high-energetic set pieces, including an opening clip of the crew car parachuting out of an aircraft to rob a truck. Also playing a pivotal role in the 2-minute-long trailer is Jason Statham's debut in the film. As if the trailer wasn't already lacking in sheer badassness, there's even a small scene of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wielding a gatling gun. Furious 7 is gonna be awesome.
Theaters will get a little more Furious (7) in April 2015.
[Trailer] Ex Machina
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I love everything about sci-fi and speculative fiction. Outside of the inherent layers of literary depth that the genres represent, they allow artists to truly explore their imaginations, creating reality out of the thoughts and ideas that run rampant in their brains. Androids and A.I. have played large roles in films over the past few years, with everything from large blockbusters like The Avengers embracing A.I., robots, robotic armor, etc. as pivotal points in their plot to more independent films like Her where an actress can deliver an Oscar-worthy performance without ever appearing on camera (that Scarlett Johansson snub still rubs me the wrong way). Plus, there's the inherent and widespread acceptance that robots (and cyborgs and androids) will forever be cool.
So when a film like Ex Machina begins running the press rounds, I can't help but be drawn to it. Written and directed by 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland for his directorial debut, Ex Machina stars Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb Smith, a programmer at a tech company who wins a contest to spend a week with the world-renown CEO of his company, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). During Caleb's stay, Nathan tasks him to be the human counterpart of a Turing Test for his latest experiment: an android named Ava (Alicia Vikander) that's exhibiting heightened levels of intelligence and emotions. However, Ava's intelligence is much more expansive than the two imagined as Caleb and Nathan both find themselves caught in her deceptions.
Ex Machina will be in theaters on April 10, 2015.