Rise of the Planet of the Apes: from chimpan-A to chimpazee

After the completely misguided Tim Burton's remake from ten years ago, a new visit to the planet of the apes seemed as relevant as a Donkey Kong film adaptation. Yet Fox had other ideas and decided to greenlight a new project, as a true franchise never dies these days. However, having read the synopsis and seen the first two trailers, it looks a lot darker and more exciting than anticipated.

X-Men: First Class review. Best superhero movie ever?

You should never lose faith in films. After X-Men 2 elevated the franchise to new heights, it all crashed down when Bryan Singer left the directing duties to Brett Ratner who ruined everything with a loud and substandard blockbuster that eschewed all the originality of the previous films, and managed to bungle the most interesting storyline of the comic books, the creation then death of Phoenix.

So when I heard than an X-men reboot/prequel was in the works, featuring a younger cast, I feared the worst. It smacked of focus groups and the willingness to milk a moribund franchise. Yet things were looking up when writing/directing duo Jane Goldman/Matthew Vaughan were put at the helms. After the uneven but promising Stardust, and the excellent Kick-ass, this showed the studio was willing to take some risks. And the release of the stylish first stills and trailer amped up the interest.

Cloud Atlas: 2012's craziest film?

What is the film you are expecting the most of for 2012? Is it The Avengers? Is it the Superman reboot? Or is it Terrence Malick's new film, produced in record time, and said to be even more experimental than The tree of life? I, for one, cannot wait to see the Cloud atlas adaptation. And why is that? Where to begin! The unusual source, the unusual collaboration of three very different directors, the unusual A-list cast...

The Muppets are coming!

I have to admit, I was dubious when I heard that a new Muppets movie was being produced a few months ago. For the last two decades, they have been involved in a serie of increasingly derivative adaptations, such as Muppets Treasure Island, Muppets' Christmas carol... (what's next, Muppets' Black swan?) And then I was baffled when I read that not only would Amy Adams and Jason Segel take the leads, but a whole bunch of famous faces would join them for cameos (Zach Galifianakis, Katy Perry, Emily Blunt, Jack Black, Danny Trejo, Ricky Gervais...)

Don't be afraid of the dark!

After much delay, the Guillermo Del Toro's produced Don't be afraid of the dark is finally getting a release date, 12th of August in the U.K., and 26th of August in the U.S. The film, directed by Troy Nixey, is a remake of a 70's American TV movie of the same name, which seems to have terrified a generation of viewers, and sadly has been little seen outside the U.S. An initial teaser was released nearly a year ago, in prevision for a originally planned January release that never happened. But now, Miramax has revealed a full trailer, which makes me feel that, unlike what the title says, we should be afraid of the dark indeed, very afraid!

The Hangover 2 Review

There are some experiences in life that, once you have missed them, are just lost forever. Your best friend's wedding, a week in Ibiza with your best mates, that person you were too shy to approach at a party and never saw again... This is how I feel about The hangover. Already well aware of the ever growing hype, because of a few flaky friends who let me down, or worse, went to see it with somebody else, I actually managed to miss it on the big screen. (And I do go and see everything and anything, hell I paid to see Red riding hood!). And now, unless I rent a cinema and hire 300 people to pretend to laugh as if they had never seen it, I will never get to experience what it was like to watch it on a big screen in a crowded cinema.

The late summer of 3D horrors

It has become a tradition for studios to release low budget, trashy horrors/action movies late in the summer season. After a couple of months of overblown, overlong blockbusters, the audience is ready for some less taxing fun. In the last few years we had Snakes on a plane, The expendables, The final destination, Piranha 3D... However this year the studios are really trying their audience goodwill, releasing four films targeting the same audience within a few weeks of each others, promising a month of blood splattered 3D glasses.