Movies

Joel Gilbert's latest documentary, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE UTOPIA, is a two-hour coast-to-coast tour of America in decline. Using THE WIZARD OF OZ as a springboard, Gilbert draws comparisons from the Wizard -- a charlatan -- to President Barack Obama. Not being as complicated of a connect-the-dots as his previous work, DREAMS FROM MY REAL FATHER, UTOPIA is easier to follow, and more inventive in its employment of effects and its cogent use of parallel analogy.

Liam Neeson returns to the big screen one final time as Brian Mills -- the family man with a "certain set of skills." But this time, his efforts to protect his family fail -- and his wife is murdered.

Wanted by the police, the FBI, and the CIA, Mills must disappear, while simultaneously protecting the only person left in his life: his daughter.

Olivier Megaton's trailer for TAKEN 3 has just the right amount of explosions, car crashes, gunfire, and cool fighting moves to draw in the action movie audience. The music is well timed to the action, with just the right build to a crescendo, setting up the perfect silent moment for one of Neeson's coldly delivered tough guy phrases.

If you're a fan of the TAKEN series, you'll definitely want a seat for this 20th Century Fox offering as the story comes to its conclusion. But be warned that it's going to be a bit of a wait -- TAKEN 3 gets teased today, but it isn't in theaters until January 9, 2015!

Remember that old 1980s television show, The Equalizer? If you’re much younger than me you may not. It was a solid show but skewed much older demographically than my age at that time. The show featured that other Michael Caine, Edward Woodward. He was old, and he wasn’t taking any crap from anybody, that’s pretty much all I remember. Fast forward 30-odd years to the present and director Antoine Fuqua has recreated the concept with his “Training Day partner Denzel Washington playing an old guy who isn’t taking any crap from anybody. That’s pretty much the gist of it. What you’re wondering is: “Is it any good?”

The spies are back in business... in Hollywood, that is. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a strong television following, Scorpion is kicking off, "The Equalizer" is debuting in theaters, and the original series starring Edward Woodward is also getting a full-series release. And that's just scratching the surface.

"Kingsman: The Secret Service" is a blending of James Bond with "Men in Black." Colin Firth is Harry Hart, a seasoned spy and man of action. Taron Egerton is Eggsy, a young delinquent in whom Harry sees untapped potential. And Samuel L. Jackson gets to play the bad guy, Valentine (not the one in "The Mortal Instruments" but a different one), a little bit more unbalanced than his "Mr. Glass" portrayal in "Unbreakable."

Liam Neeson is one cool cat. I enjoyed his work long before “Taken,” but after that gloriously performed throwback to the classic violent revenge films he was a bonafide superstar. Unfortunately for him, he’s dangerously close to being typecast. Whether it be the predictably subpar “Taken 2” or the surprising gem “The Grey,’ Neeson always seems to always play a man with a particular set of skills. “A Walk Among the Tombstones” may not seem all that different on the surface, but if you watch closely there’s a lot more to it than you might think.

Life can be funny sometimes. You could be perfectly content, making good money at a job you actually enjoy, with a loving wife and a beautiful home, and then suddenly life throws a monkey wrench into the machine. Everything goes crazy for a while and hopefully, eventually, you come to terms with the changes and find a place of contentment.

It's been a bajillion years in the making, but the much-awaited stop-motion animated film from the makers of "Coraline" and "ParaNorman" is finally headed into theaters this September 26.

Welcome to a whole new breed of family -- The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnifred (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family.

The Hunger Games has to be one of my favorite books. Mockingjay -- the third and final installment of the trilogy? Not so much. In fact, it was such a deviation in tone, style, and characterization that many readers felt let down, so much so that an essay on why people hated the third book made it into Smart Pop's collection, The Girl Who Was On Fire.

So it almost seems as though Lionsgate is adding insult to injury by taking "the worst of the three" and extending it out over two movies, drawing out the agony.

There's a giant flying monster that, wherever he goes, acts like a giant EMP burst. Cities are drained of power when he's near. Across the ocean, there's another giant monster on the ground who does the same thing. (Although not having power is the least of the problems when the skyscraper you're in is being toppled.) There's very little humanity can do except to drop a nuclear bomb on them -- powered by an analog wind-up timing device, out of necessity.

Andrea Logan White's resume ranges from heavy drama ("Sarah's Choice") to light comedy ("Veggietales: Princess and the Popstar") to apocalyptic action ("Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End"). But it has been consistent in one respect: it's target audience of Christian viewers. This May, she stars opposite Patricia Heaton (The Middle), Sean Astin ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy), Glee's Harry Shum Jr., and country music superstar Trace Adkins in the family-friendly comedy "Moms' Night Out."

We spent a few moments with Andrea to discuss her role in the film, and about being a Christian in the film industry.

You'll be starring in the upcoming film, "Moms' Night Out." But you're more than just acting in it -- this was your baby from the beginning, wasn't it?

Reverend C.L. Bryant's film "Runaway Slave" is an eye opening look into the African-American community from the perspective of black conservatives. The documentary interviews several prominent black leaders in putting together its case, among whom is the notable Catherine Davis, co-founder of the Black Pro-Life Coalition, who shares some astounding and shocking numbers and statistics. Seeking to dig more into the facts Davis puts forth in the film, we reached out to her for this interview.

So I've had the chance now to watch "Runaway Slave" and found it to be a powerful documentary, an opinion shared by others who've seen the film with me. How did you come to be involved with this project?

The Reverend C.L. Bryant is a statistical political anomaly: a former leader in the NAACP who made the conscious decision to do a political about-face and join the conservative Tea Party movement. His political documentary, "Runaway Slave," is both a history lesson, a study in comparative social structures, and a rousing call to action.

What drove you to produce "Runaway Slave," and what's the core message you were seeking to deliver?

When Joel Gilbert wrote and produced "Atomic Jihad: Ahmadinejad's Coming War for Islamic Revival and Obama's Politics of Defeat," the film became a feature at the CPAC Conference and went on to win an award at the Hudson Institute Film Festival. Now, the contributing editor to FamilySecurityMatters.org has turned his political sights to another aspect of the Obama administration, that being the origins of the President himself. But if you think Gilbert is climbing aboard the Birther Express (which I would really love to see a version of among all the trains I've collected in my TrainStation 2 app game), think again. According to Gilbert, birthers are barking up the wrong tree. It's not a question of where Obama was born -- but rather, one of paternity.

When Walt Disney was looking for someone to lend her voice to the animated heroine of "Alice in Wonderland," a young English girl who had recently come to America caught his ear. Kathryn Beaumont would become twice immortalized through the magic touch of Disney, once as Wendy Darling in "Peter Pan," but first and foremost as Lewis Carroll's plucky protagonist, Alice.

With the sixtieth anniversary of Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" upon us, we reminisced with Miss Beaumont about those days spent with Walt and his cadre of animation geniuses.

As I prepared to talk about your version of Alice, it occurred to me that most of the other leading Disney animated females fall into the Disney Princess pantheon. But Alice -- although the scene didn't happen in this particular adaptation -- is the only one of all of them to have been crowned a queen. So technically, I think you outrank the Disney Princesses.

It's a long way from the sunny meadows of the Hundred Acre Wood to the crime filled streets of gritty vigilantism, but plucky Chloe Grace Moretz has made the journey and become a sensation. Her mind-blowing performance in "Kick-Ass" (billed as Chloe Moretz) as the butt-kicking, potty-mouthed vigilante, Hit-Girl, made her the ostensible star of the film, stealing every scene in which she's featured. Then again, with roles in a string of suspense and horror films like "The Amityville Horror" and "The Eye," maybe it wasn't too much of a leap after all.

We caught up with the young star for a very quick conversation, and picked up on some of her exciting future plans.

This is a big departure for you from previous works, particularly voicing the very kid-friendly Darby on My Friends Tigger & Pooh. Was there any concern on your part, or of your parents, given the nature of the role of Hit-Girl?

In "The Haunting in Connecticut," Virginia Madsen plays the mother of a young man with cancer who stands as the nexus of supernatural activity when the family rents a former funeral home.

Carmen Reed (then Carmen Snedeker) is the real-life mother Madsen portrays, the woman who lived through the events of story that took place in a renovated funeral home in Southington, Connecticut. This is her story.

Almost everyone knows that when a movie uses the phrase "based on actual events," the actual similarities between life and art can be miles apart. How far is the film from what you experienced?

It's hard to give a percentage. A lot of things you saw -- for example, the shower curtain scene -- definitely happened to me (it didn't happen to my niece), and there were apparitions in the house. My son did have cancer.

As far as bodies in the wall, all of that is fictionalized.

Stephen Anderson has over ten years of experience working for Disney's animation department. Starting as a story artist on "Tarzan," Anderson continued with other successful Disney projects like "The Emperor's New Groove" and "Brother Bear."

Most recently, Anderson has graduated to directing for the Mouse House, and his latest venture, "Meet the Robinsons," is soon to appear on DVD. In advance of that release, we spoke with Anderson about animators directing animators, creating eccentric characters, and working with musicians and voice actors.

It's easy to be a Bruce Campbell fan. One gets the sense that he is what he appears to be: capable, hardworking, smart, with a keen sense of his strengths and limitations. The hard part is trying to figure out just how good he is at his craft, how good he could be, given the right role, the right script, the right director, with something bigger than a B-movie budget and a shooting schedule extending beyond two weeks.

Given that you had relatively minor roles in your friend Sam Raimi's mega-blockbuster Spiderman movies (the carny-like fight announcer in the first film, the boorishly obstinate theater usher in the second), did the inspiration for Make Love!* The Bruce Campbell Way spring from these 'small-role-big-movie' Spider-man experiences?

Yes and no. I've been in and out of studio films like "Congo" for years, so it's my overall experiences that became amalgamated into an original Hollywood tale.

Canadian director Vincenzo Natali's latest film "Nothing" will soon be released on DVD. Natali's first feature-length film, "Cube", about a group of amnesiac strangers trapped in a giant, lethal puzzle box, garnered high praise for its smart scripting, conceptual originality, and deft direction. Natali's second effort, "Cypher", a futuristic story of shifting identity and corporate espionage starring Lucy Liu and Jeremy Northam, demonstrated an increasing sophistication of means and greater command of pacing. And "Nothing?" Unlike Natali's previous films, "Nothing" can safely be considered a comedy, although the comedic elements are an aspect (albeit an important aspect), not the whole.

Stan Lee. If you want to talk about comic book creators with your non-comic friends, his name is one of a select few you can bring up with a good chance he'll be someone they've heard of. He's not the father of the modern comic book--that title goes to men who came before him. He's more the favorite uncle, the one your mother isn't crazy about, but who never forgets to bring you a surprise whenever he comes to visit and who always has a treasure trove of amazing, incredible, and uncanny stories to tell, some of which might even be fantastic enough to be true.

We spoke with Stan "The Man" Lee a little over a week after HULK--another one of his marvelous brainchildren--debuted on the big screen, and even snuck in a question or two about PUNISHER and STRIPPERELLA.