Runner up

Before Ben Affleck becomes billionaire Bruce Wayne, he gets to be a high roller who sucks Justin Timberlake into his world of gambling in the new movie Runner Runner. Here's a look at the film's latest trailer.

RBR: Now You See Me

Portraying magic in the movies can be just as difficult as performing a trick in real life. Both require a lot of misdirection before a final reveal that needs to payoff. In Now You See Me, the crime thriller that came out last May, a group of magicians and illusionists band together to perform tricks that seemingly involve robbing banks. The group, known as the Four Horsemen, consists of Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco. After committing their first trick/robbery, they are put under investigation by a cop played by Mark Ruffalo and an Interpol agent played by Melanie Laurent. Also involved is Michael Caine who is producing the Four Horsemen's act and Morgan Freeman as a magician who has built a career out of revealing magicians' secrets to the public. As you can see, there are a lot of moving parts at play here. This enables there to never be a dull moment in the film, but is also prevents us from really getting to know any of the characters all that well. The most development comes from the budding romance between Ruffalo and Laurent, but I found that to be the weakest part of the film. Meanwhile, director Louis Leterrier throws a lot of tricks at you, both of the magical and visual kind, that are meant to, and mostly succeed, at enthralling you. This is a movie that begs you to "look closer" in order to try and figure out. While it does a good job of keeping you guessing, I am not sold that the final reveal works. Yet I found it to be a twist that encourages me to watch the film again rather than get annoyed or disgusted. If you let yourself get sucked in to the magic, you will likely find yourself fully entertained. But if you're the type of person who wants to take the magic out of everything, the film gives you plenty of ammunition to hate it. Personally, I was entertained and would gladly be interested in seeing more adventures from The Four Horsemen in the future. Rating: ****

Space case

In space, no one can hear me scream how excited I am for Gravity, the new thriller starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock set to open Oct. 4. Here's the new trailer to get you even more enticed.

2013 Fall Movie Preview (December)

AMERICAN HUSTLE (December 13)
Plot: A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock the States, "American Hustle" tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that�s as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. Like David O. Russell's previous films, "American Hustle" defies genre, hinging on raw emotion, and life and death stakes.

Quick thoughts: Every year there always seems to be one film that I do not identify on my yearly preview that I end up being really excited for when I then do my fall movie preview. This is easily that film this year. Director David O. Russell has basically merged the casts of his past two films, thrown them into the 1970s and let the good times roll. Given how well his past two films have done come awards season, I would expect more of the same for this thriller.


SAVING MR. BANKS (December 13)
Plot: Two-time Academy Award��winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar�-winner Tom Hanks topline Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks," inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney's classic "Mary Poppins" made it to the screen.

Quick thoughts: By the time this film comes out, we will already have a pretty good idea of whether or not we can expect Tom Hanks to be competing with himself for a Best Actor nomination. If I had to guess, I'll bet his work in Captain Phillips is better. That certainly does not diminish my anticipation for this film which looks like it could be the most charming movie of the year. Even if this film does not do much during the awards season, I believe it will still do big business with families during the holiday season.


THE MONUMENTS MEN (December 18)
Plot: Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, "The Monuments Men" is an action-thriller focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys � seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 � possibly hope to succeed?�But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind's greatest achievements.

Quick thoughts: I marked this in my top 5 most anticipated for 2013 and seeing the trailer for this a few weeks ago has not diminished my expectations for it in the least. The term 'all-star cast' is reserved for movies like that. If it can successfully blend the high stakes of adventure of Ocean's Eleven with the gritty realism that comes with covering World War II, this will be one hell of a movie.


ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (December 20)
Plot: With the 70's behind him, San Diego's top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the news desk in "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues." Also back for more are Ron's co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) - All of whom won't make it easy to stay classy, while taking the nation's first 24-hour news channel by storm.

Quick thoughts: This is the movie that I am most nervously anxious for. On one hand, the first Anchorman movie is one of my all time favorite comedies and I would hate to have the franchise tarnished in any way with a disappointing follow-up, but these characters are too great not to have had them make a return. Let's just hope this turns out to be the best Christmas present ever and not the equivalent of milk on a hot day in San Diego.


OTHER POSSIBLE FILMS OF INTEREST
Out of the Furnace (December 6)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (December 13)
Foxcatcher (December 20)
Jack Ryan (December 25)

Back with Black

And now from the department of things that make you feel really old, the cast of School of Rock recently reunited in honor of the film's 10th anniversary. A photo of (almost) the entire cast, plus a story about the reunion from EW.com can be seen below.

“Now raise your goblet of rock. It’s a toast to those who rock!” Last night the Austin Film Society hosted a 10th anniversary screening of Richard Linklater’s hard-rocking crowd pleaser School of Rock. Mr. Schneee S.’s whole class came to party, from now heavy weight Nickelodeon star Miranda Cosgrove to Robert Tsai (“You’re a fat loser and you have body odor”) to the back-up singers (Maryam Hassan, Caitlin Hale, Aleisha Allen). Jack Black held court during the terrifically freewheeling Q&A after the screening. When a fan asked him for a song, Black broke into an extended verse of “Legend of the Rent” complete with caterwauling and high kicks.

Ten years later and all the kids turned out alright. Many had graduated from college. Some wanted back in the business. Cosgrove, the biggest star of all the kids, said that she’s seen The Rolling Stones in concert ten times. Joey Gaydos Jr. (who played the guitarist Zack) and Kevin Clark (who played the drummer Freddie) are both in bands, living in Detroit and Chicago respectively. Robert Tsai, who played the supremely lovable nerd Lawrence, and who recently graduated from Dartmouth, got the biggest applause of the whole night. (The sweet and shy 22-year-old appears to have ditched out on the above reunion photo.) He was also the only person up there on stage in full suit and tie. At the end of the evening, under much pressure to recreate the improvised handshake he shared with Lawrence in the film, Black and Tsai pulled it off and enjoyed a charmingly awkward embrace.

Black says he and screenwriter Mike White still kick around talk of a sequel. “Never say never,” says Black. “It’s tough for me because it’s the best movie I’ve ever done. You get sensitive about the thing. But yeah it’s possible.”

2013 Fall Movie Preview (November)

THOR: THE DARK WORLD (November 8)
Plot: Marvel's "Thor: The Dark World" continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel's "Thor" and "Marvel's The Avengers," Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos...but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

Quick thoughts: Iron Man 3 proved that there can be life after The Avengers, although that movie had the benefit of having the awesome Robert Downey Jr. Still, I think a lot of people are going to be very interested to see the latest adventures in Asgard, especially if it means more Loki. This should serve as a nice alternative to the mostly sophisticated fare that will around in the fall.


THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (November 15)
Plot: Based on Jordan Belfort's best-selling memoir "The Wolf of Wall Street," which chronicles Belfort's dramatic rise and fall on Wall Street, along with his hard-partying lifestyle and tumultuous personal life, which included drug and alcohol addiction.

Quick thoughts: How does a cross between Goodfellas and Wall Street sound? By itself that would be a winning combo. When you combine that with the fact that this is being directed by Martin Scorsese and has an all-star cast featuring the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, and Jonah Hill, you've got a film that has crazy high expectations. Maybe this is the one that finally earns Leo his Oscar.


DELIVERY MAN (November 22)
Plot: From DreamWorks Pictures comes "Delivery Man," the story of affable underachiever David Wozniak, whose mundane life is turned upside down when he finds out that he fathered 533 children through sperm donations he made twenty years earlier. In debt to the mob, rejected by his pregnant girlfriend, things couldn't look worse for David when he is hit with a lawsuit from 142 of the 533 twenty-somethings who want to know the identity of the donor. As David struggles to decide whether or not he should reveal his true identity, he embarks on a journey that leads him to discover not only his true self but the father he could become as well.

Quick thoughts: The most recent trailer suggests that this will be more of a dramedy than a zany comedy, despite its premise. I'm ok with that as long as the story is good. The fact that the studio pushed this back from its original October release date suggests they have some confidence that this will be a real winner with families during the Thanksgiving holiday.


OLDBOY (November 27)
Plot: "Oldboy" is a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment.

Quick thoughts: If you are not familiar, this is an adaptation of a cult Japanese film that was released about a decade ago. I have not seen the original, but I will admit that the film's high concept certainly has me intrigued. Spike Lee is often hit or miss with me, but I am hoping that because he's working with proven material here, he'll be able to deliver something that will be equally satisfying.


OTHER POSSIBLE FILMS OF INTEREST
Dallas Buyers Club (November 1)
Last Vegas (November 1)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (November 22)
Nebraska (November 22)

Rocket powered

We've got even more Marvel casting news today. This time from Comingsoon.net

Following rumors late last week, Marvel has officially confirmed a new addition to the cast of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy: Bradley Cooper is set to voice Rocket Raccoon!

"Rocket has been genetically and mechanically altered," Marvel Studios' President Kevin Feige said of the character in a recent interview. "He's an experiment from one part of the galaxy."

Cooper, recently nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Silver Linings Playbook, joins Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio del Toro, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Vin Diesel and Gregg Henry in the sci-fi adventure, set to hit theaters August 1, 2014.

2013 Fall Movie Preview (October)

GRAVITY (October 4)
Plot: Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone--tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth...and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

Quick thoughts: It's hard to believe that this film's released was delayed by nearly a year. However, unlike so many movies who get delayed, this should still be a quality movie. The trailers showcase what looks to be an intense thriller that is also beautifully shot. A lot of people have been eagerly awaiting Cuaron's follow-up to Children of Men and I don't think they'll be disappointed.


RUNNER RUNNER (October 4)
Plot: Princeton grad student Richie (Justin Timberlake), believing he's been swindled, travels to Costa Rica to confront online gambling tycoon Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). Richie is seduced by Block's promise of immense wealth, until he learns the disturbing truth about his benefactor. When the FBI tries to coerce Richie to help bring down Block, Richie faces his biggest gamble ever: attempting to outmaneuver the two forces closing in on him.

Quick thoughts: I highly doubt that this movie will help get Ben Affleck back-to-back Best Picture Oscars, but what it may lack in gravitas I am hoping it makes up for in just good old fashioned entertainment. Timberlake is a rising star who should be able to hold his own here. While the gambling story has been told before, it is one that I still find interesting when it is done well.


CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (October 11)
Plot: Columbia Pictures' action-thriller "Captain Phillips" stars two-time Oscar� winner Tom Hanks in the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years. The film is directed by Oscar� nominee Paul Greengrass, from a screenplay by Billy Ray and based upon the book, "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea," by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, and Michael De Luca.

Quick thoughts: Director Paul Greengrass has shown he knows how to do action with his work on the Bourne movies and he has also shown skill at being able to depict real life events like he did in United 93. The fact that he has Tom Hanks in the titular role here only adds to my anticipation for the film. While I know the basic story, I've tried to avoid reading about a lot of the smaller details so as to enjoy this film that much more when it comes out.


JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA (October 25)
Plot: 86-year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companions, his 8-year-old Grandson Billy in "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa." This October, the signature Jackass character Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) and Billy (Jackson Nicholl) will take movie audiences along for the most insane hidden camera road trip ever captured on camera. Along the way, Irving will introduce the young and impressionable Billy to people, places and situations that give new meaning to the term childrearing. The duo will encounter male strippers, disgruntled child beauty pageant contestants (and their equally disgruntled mothers), funeral home mourners, biker bar patrons and a whole lot of unsuspecting citizens. Real people in unreal situations, making for one really messed up comedy.

Quick thoughts: I have to give Knoxville credit for finding a way to freshen up the Jackass. I have to admit laughing very hard at a lot of the scenes in the trailer for this film. This seems to be going for the Borat approach with a Jackass mentality, which likely means it will be a big hit, especially with younger audiences.


OTHER POSSIBLE FILMS OF INTEREST
A.C.O.D. (October 4)
12 Years a Slave (October 18)
The Fifth Estate (October 18)
The Counselor (October 25)

Bad robot

We've got some cool Avengers 2 casting news today, courtesy of EW.com:

Avengers: Age of Ultron has its psycho robot.

James Spader has signed on to play the villain in writer-director Joss Whedon’s upcoming superhero sequel, Marvel announced today.

The film is set to open May 1, 2015.

Marvel’s announcement didn’t specify whether the three-time Emmy winner Spader (Boston Legal, The Practice) will perform motion-capture to play the mechanical being (as Mark Ruffalo does for his scenes as The Hulk), or simply provide the character’s voice.

Smart money says Spader’s commitment won’t be too intense. He’s starring in the NBC series The Blacklist this Fall, as an ex-government fugitive now helping the FBI track down the world’s most wanted criminals. That probably won’t give him a lot of time to go galavanting in a robot suit.

Whedon recently told EW’s James Hibberd about his plans for the character, an artificial intelligence with a heavy-duty god-complex, overwhelmed with rage toward his creators and longing to overtake the planet with his own spawn.

Think of him as a droid with one hell of a set of daddy issues. “As a character I love [Ultron],” Whedon says, “because he’s so pissed off.”

“I knew right away what I wanted to do with him,” Whedon added. “He’s always trying to destroy the Avengers, goddamn it, he’s got a bee in his bonnet. He’s not a happy guy, which means he’s an interesting guy. He’s got pain. And the way that manifests is not going to be standard robot stuff. So we’ll take away some of those powers because at some point everybody becomes magic, and I already have someone [a new character, Scarlet Witch] who’s a witch.”

In Marvel comics lore, Ultron is the creation of scientist Hank Pym, a.k.a. Ant-Man, a hero who has a suit that allows him to shrink to tiny proportions and a transmitter that can manipulate insects to do his bidding. Pym is a genius R&D guy, and Ultron is one of his greatest creations. But since the machine is designed to be self-aware and self-teaching, it quickly develops a narcissistic quirk in its programing that sends it off the rails into murder and mayhem.

Ultron begins rebuilding himself into more and more powerful iterations and seeks to create artificial life on his own in a twisted desire to become a parent — especially important since he feels betrayed by his own builder, Pym, when he doesn’t support his programming’s new murderous bent.

But Ant-Man, a film being co-written and directed by The World’s End filmmaker Edgar Wright, won’t be out until after the Avengers sequel. So there is a question about whether Ultron’s origin story will be changed, or if Pym will show up a little early. (Whedon has told Annalee Newitz of io9.com that he won’t.)

In footage shown at Comic-Con in July to announce the title and reveal Ultron as the new villain, it begins with a close-up of what appears to be Iron Man’s mask. We hear various lines from the assorted Avengers that were spoken in previous Marvel movies. As they bicker, the Iron Man helmet revolves and is pulverized by an unseen force.

At the end, we see the title reveal — and Iron Man’s mask has become Ultron’s grinning, fang-like metallic skull.

That has led to a lot of speculation that Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, no slouch in the Research & Development field for new technology, may be rewritten as the creator of Ultron, whose mission is to eradicate organic life from Earth and replace it with his own mechanical offspring.

Right now, we can only guess. But one thing is for certain — this pairing of ’80s Brat Packers Downey Jr. and Spader is the most unlikely Less Than Zero reunion anyone could have imagined.

Maybe Ultron just wants Stark to give him his 50K?

UPDATE: Even Whedon has gotten in on the action, tweeting this out to his followers…

All these old Spader & Spader/Downey references and NO LOVE FOR “TUFF TURF”?!?!?! Step up your game, people! #madthrilledbtw

2013 Fall Movie Preview (September)

I know this is a little later than when I normally do this, but I'll be looking at the major movies coming out for the remainder of this year over the next few days. There looks to be some good stuff, so let's get right to it.

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (September 27)
Plot: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" picks up where Sony Pictures Animation's mouth-watering comedy left off. Inventor Flint Lockwood thought he saved the world when he destroyed his most infamous invention -- a machine that turned water into food causing cheeseburger rain and spaghetti tornadoes. But Flint soon learns that his invention survived and is now creating food-animals - "foodimals!" Flint and his friends embark on a dangerously delicious mission to battle hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, hippotatomuses, cheespiders and other foodimals to save the world again!

Quick thoughts: I'll admit that I was only lukewarm on the first Cloudy movie, but the story is based on a clever idea. When the first trailer came out a few months ago, I legitimately laughed at some of the clever word play and 'foodimals' that they came up with. The kids will not doubt eat this one up, but let's hope that this sequel serves up a bit more for the adults as well.


DON JON (September 27)
Plot: Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a strong, handsome, good old fashioned guy. His buddies call him Don Jon due to his ability to "pull" a different woman every weekend, but even the finest fling doesn't compare to the bliss he finds alone in front of the computer watching pornography. Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) is a bright, beautiful, good old fashioned girl. Raised on romantic Hollywood movies, she's determined to find her Prince Charming and ride off into the sunset. Wrestling with good old fashioned expectations of the opposite sex, Jon and Barbara struggle against a media culture full of false fantasies to try and find true intimacy in this unexpected comedy written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Quick thoughts: I'll admit the film's plot doesn't scream mainstream audience, but the fact the Gordon-Levitt wrote and directed this film has me intrigued. He has been able to show a good amount of range on-screen, now we'll see if he has the same success behind the camera as well. The film has already played at some film festivals and has earned good buzz so this may become an unlikely success.


HELL BABY (September 6)
Plot: Rob Corddry ("Children's Hospital," "Hot Tub Time Machine") and Leslie Bibb ("Iron Man") star in "Hell Baby," a horror comedy about an expectant couple forced to enlist the help of the Vatican's elite exorcism team after they move into a haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans. The hilariously zany feature directing debut of writing-acting duo Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon ("Night at The Museum," "Reno 911!: Miami"), "Hell Baby" also stars Keegan Michael Key ("Key and Peele," "Due Date"), Michael Ian Black ("This Is 40"), Riki Lindhome ("Million Dollar Baby"), Rob Huebel ("Children's Hospital," "The Descendants") and Paul Scheer ("The League").

Quick thoughts: We have already seen the horror genre played for laughs several times this year, but I'm hoping the talent behind this film is enough to have it rise above those other mediocre efforts. Lennon and Garant have proven with Reno 911 that they now how to mine comedy out of more serious material. Just like with Cloudy, I found myself laughing a lot at the trailer, so I'm hopeful that translates well when seeing the full length film.


RUSH (September 20)
Plot: Two-time Academy Award winner Ron Howard ("A Beautiful Mind," "Frost/Nixon"), teams once again with fellow two-time Academy Award nominee, writer Peter Morgan ("Frost/Nixon," "The Queen"), on "Rush," a spectacular big-screen re-creation of the merciless 1970s rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The epic action-drama stars Chris Hemsworth ("The Avengers") as the charismatic Englishman James Hunt and Daniel Bruhl ("Inglourious Basterds") as the disciplined Austrian perfectionist Niki Lauda, whose clashes on the Grand Prix racetrack epitomized the contrast between these two extraordinary characters, a distinction reflected in their private lives.

Quick thoughts: I can't say that I typically go for a lot of racing movies, but this one has a pedigree behind it that helps it stand out from those others. I typically am very impressive with Ron Howard's films and I'll be interested to see what he brings to the table when it comes to filming the racing scenes. It seems like someone from the Hemsworth family is in every film that comes out these days, but there's no denying that Chris has good charisma and should do well in this daredevil playboy role. If this film meets its potential, it could be a major player come awards season


OTHER POSSIBLE FILMS OF INTEREST
Riddick (September 6)
Insidious Chapter 2 (September 13)
A Single Shot (September 20)
Prisoners (September 20)

RBR: Olympus Has Fallen

When I saw White House Down a couple of months ago, I did not have the luxury of comparing it to the other "Die Hard in the White House" movie that came out this year, Olympus Has Fallen. Now that this one, which stars Gerard Butler in the "John McClane" role, is out for rent I can see that both films share similarities beyond their set-up. Both films are also flawed. Where WHD decided to take a lighter approach to the terrorist plot, Olympus is far more somber. The death count is higher and the kills are more graphic in this one. There are also some problems with the film playing fast and loose with the timeline of event. Compressing the time of events would not be so bad if it was not for the fact that they chose to constantly put a clock up telling us what time it was. You sit there wondering what everyone has been doing for the past two hours when they jump ahead, yet nothing seems to have happened since the previous scene. Plot holes and shoddy filmmaking can be ignored if a film is entertaining, but this movie treats everything so seriously that it's difficult to enjoy any of it. Even Morgan Freeman, who plays the Speaker of the House and eventually takes over as President, seems weary playing his role. While White House Down is no cinematic classic, it at least had the sense to have some fun with its ludicrous plot. This one may boast a higher number of celebrities in its cast, but that's no reason to opt for this dreary disappointment. Rating: **

Tribe Watch '13 (Week 21)

Record: 71 - 59

Standing: 2nd in AL Central (6 games behind Detroit); 1.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot

The Tribe did what they needed to do this week, which was beat up on lesser teams. They pulled off a sweep of the Angels in Anaheim and then took two out of three at home from the Minnesota Twins. Most of the wins were not overly flashy or impressive, but all that matters is putting another notch in the W column. We have now already surpassed the team's win total from last year and we still have over a month of baseball to go. It is so nice to be continuing this column this far into the season and have the team being playing meaningful games at this point. Speaking of meaningful games, the Indians have an important 9-game stretch coming up starting on Tuesday. It begins with going on to the road for series against the Braves in Atlanta and our final series of the regular season against the Tigers in Detroit. Both of those teams are almost certainly going to the playoffs this year, so it would be nice to be competitive against them. At this point, we do not want to risk falling too far out of playoff contention, so every win matters. The good news is that a lot of our guys are starting to heat up offensively. If we can get each of them hot at the same time, this can be a very dangerous team. Even as the temptation to shift your focus to football emerges, let's continue to root on this team and have them actually play baseball all the way into October! Go Tribe!

RBR: Oz The Great and Powerful

I can't claim to be any huge devotee to The Wizard of Oz like others can. The Judy Garland original doesn't do a whole lot for me, but I can at least credit for creating movie magic. Through pure ingenuity and filmmaking, the audience feels as if they have been transported to a magical land just as much as Dorothy does. That ability is one of the reasons why it continues to find new fans constantly. I don't believe anyone will be looking as fondly to this prequel, which stars James Franco as the man who would become a wizard. We begin in Kansas where Franco plays Oscar, a Kansas magician who makes a living out of fooling people, especially women who take a shining to him. When one of his cons catching up with him, Oscar tries to flee in a hot air balloon, only to get caught up in a tornado that sends him to Oz. Though the screen pops with bright colors upon arriving in this magical land, everything feels as phony as Oscar's magic act. The computer graphics used to create Oz do it no justice, creating a distance from the audience. Instead of getting caught up in this world, you are preoccupied with watching Franco try to do a bunch of green screen acting. Some actors can pull it off, but Franco isn't one of them. Along the way, we get introduced to a number of character, both new and old, including three witches - Theodora (Mila Kunis) Elenora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams) - one of whom becomes quite "wicked" before the movie concludes. None of these characters are particularly interesting. For most of the film, I just sat waiting just to see how they would connect this with the Garland film. The third act is decent as we see the wizard finally use his magic to its fullest capability. Somewhere buried in this movie is a decent origin story, but it is not expertly explored here. This had the potential to be a new classic but ends up being another soulless adventure that tries to get by on pure visual gimmickry. The curtain gets pulled back for audiences before they even have a chance to be amazed. Rating: ** 1/2

Family feud

With the new fall TV season quickly approaching comes the announcement of a new Survivor. The big twist for this next installment, dubbed 'Blood vs. Water', is that returning players will be squaring off against a tribe of their family members. For more on what you can expect this season and who will be a part of the cast, here's the story from EW.com:

Jeff Probst already announced on Entertainment Weekly Radio that the next season of Survivor — subtitled Blood vs. Water — would feature returning Survivor contestants playing with (or, rather, against) their loved ones. Then, yesterday we revealed that one of those pairs would be Survivor: One World’s Kat Edorsson and her boyfriend, Big Brother season 12 winner Hayden Moss. Now the rest of the cast can be officially unveiled. And that cast will be playing in the most twist-heavy Survivor season ever.

Among the cast of Survivor: Blood vs. Water —which filmed this past May and June in the Philippines — will be a contestant from the group that started it all, as season 1 player Gervase Peterson returns to compete along with his niece Marissa. He will be joined by three million dollar winners — Tina Wesson from The Australian Outback (who will be playing with daughter Katie), Aras Baskauskas from Panama (with brother Vytas), and Rupert Boneham, who has never won in his three previous outings but did collect a million dollars as the winner of a special fan voted prize given away during the All-Stars season. He will be joined by his wife Laura.

In a surprise, the new cast also features three players from One World — which is generally considered one of the weakest Survivor seasons ever. Joining Kat will be Monica Culpepper (and husband Brad) and the controversial Colton Cumbie (and fiancé Caleb). Rounding out the cast are threepeaters Tyson Apostol (with girlfriend Rachel) and the former Candice Woodcock (now Candice Cody, with husband John), as well as Laura Morett from Samoa (with daughter Ciera).

Survivor host Jeff Probst gives credit for the loved ones concept to Survivor casting director Lynne Spillman. “It’s something she brought up for years,” Probst told EW.com. “But this year she pitched it and she said, ‘I think I can pull it off. I think I’ve found the right amount of couples.’ And once we started talking about it and talking about who would play, it went from something we thought about doing next year to something we were going to do this season. It was one of those moments were I left and went ‘Oh, everything’s different.’” As if having returning players playing against their loved ones was not a big enough twist, there are several other smaller changes, some of which could dramatically alter the way the game is played. Here they are:

* For the first time ever, the game will not be 39 days long, but rather 39-and-a-half days, as the couples will begin the game the night prior to day one with a new twist titled “Day Zero.” The 10 pairs will be sent out at sunset to 10 different locations to live by themselves for the night. They will then all meet up to be officially welcomed by host Jeff Probst and start the game the next morning. “The whole idea was to try and get them thinking and maybe believing that they would play as a pair,” says Probst.

* Just minutes after congregating, the returning players and their loved ones will be split into two different tribes, with the returning players making up the yellow Galang tribe and the newbies comprising the red Tadhana tribe. “Suddenly your partner becomes your adversary, your competition,” says Probst. “And that was the whole premise of Blood Vs. Water. How is that going to play out in a game where only one person can win?”

* First impressions can be key in the game like Survivor, and that will prove true here as just moments after meeting each other, each team will vote one member off their tribe. They will later be informed that these people have not been voted out of the game, but rather will be sent to Redemption Island, which makes its return after having been absent for the past three seasons. There they will battle to stay alive and reenter the game at a later point.

* Confused yet? Well, it gets even more confusing! Jeff Probst will then immediately offer each of the loved ones of the two people voted off the opportunity to trade places with them, meaning that if, say, returning player Tina is voted out of her tribe at the start, her daughter Katie can opt to take her place at Redemption Island instead, and Tina would then join the tribe of newbies.

* As mentioned, Redemption Island is back. Anyone voted out will be sent there and will then compete in a three person duel. The last place finisher in each contest is out of the game for good, while the top two remain. However, if someone’s loved one is still in the game they can take their loved one’s place before a duel. (So if, say, Monica is at Redemption Island but her husband Brad thinks he would do better at a duel involving strength, he can swap places with her, electing to do the duel while she takes his place on his tribe. They could then swap again at the next duel if it is a contest better suited to her strengths.) “That puts blood and water to the test,” says Probst. “And we’re gonna do it at every duel. So the first time early in the game, somebody may say ‘It’s just too early.” But as those duels increase and they get closer to what they think might be a merge, their strategy is going to start to change.”

* That’s not all when it comes to Redemption Island. The person who finishes first in each duel will also get to give a clue to the location of a hidden immunity idol to any person from either tribe that they choose. “There’s all these things you can do,” says Probst. “Because for a moment, even though you’re on the outest, furthest part of the game, you have a little bit of power.”

Tribe Watch '13 (Week 20)

Record: 66 - 58

Standing: Second in AL Central (7 games behind Detroit)

Well anything the Tribe did this past week would have been an improvement over the week before so I guess we should be positive, but I sure would like to see this team playing better than they are right now. After dropping the opening game to Minnesota, they managed to take the next two and the series, which is what they should do against lesser opponents. After heading out west, however, the Indians could only manage to win one game against the A's. Oakland is a decent team, so there's no shame to losing two games to them in their place, but it is just frustrating because they currently sit ahead of us in the Wild Card standings, so it would be have been helpful to gain some ground on them. Right now it seems like our focus should be on earning one of the wild card slots as Detroit shows no signs of relinquishing first place before the end of the year. Our efforts to procure a playoff spot begin this week as we finish up our west coast road trip with a three game set against the Anaheim Angels. Then we finally head back home to take on the Minnesota Twins in a weekend series. Neither of those teams are making the playoffs this year, so we need to rack up a lot of wins against them. Despite our recent struggles, it is still great to be playing meaningful baseball this late into the season. As the Indians try to make that late season push, I'll be there with them each step of the way rooting them on. Go Tribe!

It's always hardest on the adults

Check out this trailer for A.C.O.D. (which stand for Adult Child of Divorce), the latest indie dramedy that features one hell of a talented and funny cast.

Class act

When Neill Blomkamp's directorial debut came out in 2009, it felt like a bit of fresh air within the sci-fi genre. Finally we had a movie that gave audiences something more than your normal creature feature. With his follow-up effort, Elysium, Blomkamp has once again attempted to blend a social class allegory with science fiction.

Elysium refers to a large space station that hovers over Earth and houses the wealthiest, most elite people while everyone else remains on Earth, which has turned into one big third world country. Elysium's inhabitants not only live a posh lifestyle, they have access to the most advanced technologies, including machines that can cure you of any disease you have. Making sure that those perks remain used by only the privileged is the head of Homeland Security, Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster). She stops at no cost to keep Elysium pure, even if it means shooting down ships filled with people trying to sneak into their paradise.

On Earth, things are particularly are particularly grim for Max (Matt Damon). Raised in an orphanage, Max grew up running afoul of the law several times while bouncing from one dead end job to the next. While working at a robotics factory, Max is involved in a machine malfunction that leads to him receiving a lethal dose of radiation. With only five days left to live, Max sets out on a mission to get to Elysium so that he can cure himself.

The set-up for the movie offers tremendous promise. It offers a tantalizing future that is rooted in current day issues of immigration and class warfare. Damon, as always, is terrific in this role as you can sense the weariness his character has for his lifestyle even before he's given a death sentence. The film also has a lot of fan establishing this futuristic Earth that is run by robotic cops and a few corporate leaders who only periodically stay on Earth to make sure their businesses are still functioning properly.

The back half of the film cannot quite live up to the promise established in the beginning unfortunately. Max's quest to make it to Elysium is filled primarily with a lot of noisy action. In order to get on a ship headed to Elysium, Max aligns himself with Julio, a well-connected criminal who wants Max to get him some important information that could take down Elysium and its people. To help him with this mission, Julio fits Max with a robotic exoskeleton that makes him look like a beta version of Robocop. Standing in Max's way is Secretary Rhodes' hired gun, Agent Kruger. Kruger is a rogue thug played by a nearly unrecognizable Sharlto Copley.

Kruger and Max go toe-to-toe on a couple of occasions as the movie progresses. I will admit that Blomkamp's filming of the scenes is impressive. He has a true visual flare for shooting action sequences that feel fresh and engaging. It's just a shame that the scene did nothing for me on an intellectual level. I kept wishing that those scenes would have been balanced out with more scenes of political discourse regarding Elysium's policies. With that said, a little of Foster's Secretary Rhodes goes a long way in this film. Foster is an Oscar winner and has delivered several great performances, but I have no clue what she was going for her as she takes on a baffling accent that is borderline laughable. Any potential for political intrigue is undercut by her performance.

At a time when so many films play it safe or give us the same old story, I respect Blomkamp for providing us with something that feels different. I just wish he would have had the guts to see it all the way through instead of relying on sheer action at the back end of the picture. While the movie may have some flaws, I'm certainly recommending it because I want to see films that takes risks like this get rewarded with viewers. Blomkamp may thumb his nose at the 1 percenters, but with Elysium, he is quickly proving that he belongs in an elite class of directors. Grade: B+

Getting hammered

Some people have been having some fun with the new Thor trailer that came out last week. First up we have Conan reprising a bit where he shows us why he doesn't think Chris Hemsworth is the right guy to be playing Thor.



Then someone thought it would be a good idea to smash up the new trailer with the world of Arrested Development. You can check out that end result, called 'Thorested Developement' below.

Tribe Watch '13 (Week 19)

Record: 63 - 56

Standing: Third in AL Central (7 games behind Detroit)

Even yesterday's come from behind win against the Angels wasn't enough to buoy my spirits after a completely dismal week. Frankly I don't even want to talk about it. We can only hope this 10 day road trip that features the Tribe going against Minnesota, Oakland, and Anaheim puts them back on the right track (although tonight's loss to Minnesota certainly isn't a good sign). I gotta keep rooting for my team, but it's awfully tough to feel good about their postseason chances these days. Let's hope I'm singing a much different and happier tune next week. Until then, go Tribe!

Danny Ocean goes to war

Sorry for the glut of trailers this week, but they've been all good ones. Here's one for The Monuments Men, a movie that was in my Top 5 Most Anticipated for this year. The film stars George Clooney, (who also directs it), Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and John Goodman. Check it out below.