WHITE HOUSE DOWN Review - If emotion > action = See it

Credits:

Director:  Roland Emmerich (2012)
Writer:  James Vanderbilt (THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN)
Cast:  Jamie Foxx, Channing Tatum, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods
Studio:  Sony Columbia

WHITE HOUSE DOWN is an action-thriller about an army vet turned Capitol police officer (TATUM), who tries to save The President (FOXX), after The White House is invaded by domestic terrorists led by (intentionally left blank, as it would be a spoiler alert).  However, a straight-forward, shoot-em up film, this is not.  It is brimming with emotion and not in the form of an active love interest for Tatum, which I'm sure his die-hard fans missed immensely.  Instead, the heart of the film is Tatum's precocious pre-teen daughter, Emily (JOEY KING).  Some of the most pivotal moments in the story are driven by Emily's actions and King is just as dazzling playing this little girl as she was in OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL as "China Girl".  (http://reeltalkreviews.blogspot.com/2013/03/oz-great-and-powerful.html).  Foxx and Tatum have a solid bromance throughout the story, but it is not enough to overcome the slow-pacing of the film.  Thus, I came away from the movie feeling like the drama outweighed the action and I would have preferred them to have been at least equal...especially since I really just signed up for the action.  Additionally, having seen OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2302755/?ref_=sr_1) in March, it was tough not to make comparisons.  For example, OLYMPUS cost less than half of what DOWN cost and somehow, in the former, they managed to blow more stuff up.  

I would see this movie if you want to get in touch with your passionate inner-patriotic self.  If you want to see things blow up in The White House for two hours, go stream OLYMPUS.

SMURFS 2 Trailer

U.S. Release Date - 7/31/13

http://www.smurfhappens.com/site/

Studio:  Columbia, Sony Pictures Animation
Director:  Raja Gosnell (BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA)
Writers:  J.David Stem & David N. Weiss (ARE WE THERE YET?) + 3; Peyo (source material) 
Cast:  Neil Patrick Harris, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Katy Perry
Logline:  Smurf happens when Gargamel and his minions try to turn Smurfette into a good girl gone bad.

KILLING SEASON Trailer

U.S. Release Date - 7/12/13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BBXWxS_i7A

Studio:  Millennium Films
Director:  Mark Steven Johnson (GHOST RIDER)
Writer:  Evan Daugherty (SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN)
Cast:  DeNiro, Travolta
Logline:  Two veterans of the Bosnian War, one Serbian (Travolta) and one American (DeNiro), go to war with each other.

GIRL MOST LIKELY Trailer

Release Date 7/19/13

http://girlmostlikelymovie.com/

Studio:  Lionsgate 

Director:  Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini (THE NANNY DIARIES) 

Writer:  Michelle Morgan (MIDDLE OF NOWHERE) 

Cast:  Kristen Wiig, Matt Dillon, Annette Bening 

Logline:  A failed NY Playwright awkwardly navigates the transition from it-girl to has-been. 

THE WOLVERINE Trailer

U.S. Release Date - 7/26/13

http://www.thewolverinemovie.com/

Studio:  Fox, Marvel 

Director:  James Mangold (KNIGHT AND DAY, WALK THE LINE) 

Writers:  Mark Bomback (TOTAL RECALL), Scott Frank (THE INTERPRETER), Len Wein (source material) 

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen 

Logline:  Logan does Japan.

PACIFIC RIM Trailer

http://www.pacificrimmovie.com/#videos/trailer2

Studio:  Warner Bros

Director:  Guillermo del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH) 

Writer:  Travis Beacham (CLASH OF THE TITANS) 

Cast:  Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba

Logline: IRON MAN:  the army versus Aliens.  

THE LONE RANGER Trailer

http://disney.go.com/the-lone-ranger/

Studio:  Disney
Director:  Gore Verbinski (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN) 
Writers:  Justin Haythe +3 
Cast: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Helena Bonham Carter 
Logline:  Native American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice.

WORLD WAR Z Trailer

http://www.worldwarzmovie.com/

Studio:  Paramount 
Director:  Marc Forster (QUANTUM OF SOLACE, MONSTER'S BALL) 
Writers:  Matthew Michael Carnahan + 3, Max Brooks (source material) 
Cast:  Brad Pitt.
Logline:  United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.

THE BLING RING Review

http://theblingring.com/ 

Studio: A24 

Writer / Director:  Sofia Coppola (LOST IN TRANSLATION) 

Cast:  Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Leslie Mann 

Coming to a theatre near you:  6/21/13

If you are like me, you have seen the posters for THE BLING RING, but do not have the slightest idea of the movie’s premise.  (If not, skip to the next paragraph.)  THE BLING RING is based on real events reported by Nancy Jo Sales in a Vanity Fair article, about a group of high schoolers, who rob celebrities’ houses by tracking their out-of-town dates through celebrity blogs.

Writer / director, Sofia Coppola is not too interested in character development or criminalizing the culprits.  Instead, she draws parallels between the lives of these n’er do gooders and the lives of the reality stars and B-list celebrities who were victims in the robberies.  Coppola points to some uncanny similarities and threads them throughout the film.    

Therein lies the most interesting part of the story.  Stars put a face to aspirational living and would have us believe it comes with golden-handcuffs because they trade their privacy in for it.  Critics would say:   “Don’t complain about your loss of privacy because you signed up for that when you decided to become a star.”

But don’t we Average Joe’s and Jane’s do the same?  We create Facebook profiles and use “friend request” and “delete” like velvet ropes.  We tweet the most menial thoughts we have to the most profound and Instagram our dinner.  Then we demand that these sites, which we have volunteered our information to, respect our privacy. 

Thus the lines between the celebrity and the layman have become blurred because the barrier of entry to super-stardom is at an all-time low.  We are all one sex-tape, heckle of a public figure or Youtube-clip away from TMZ following us to our cars.   Naturally in the end, that’s exactly what happens to the kids in this film.  Success? 

MONSTER UNIVERSITY Trailer

http://disney.go.com/monsters-university/#/video

Studio:  Disney / Pixar
Director:  Dan Scanlon
Writer:  Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson (MONSTER, INC)
Cast:  Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi
Logline:  A look at the relationship between Mike and Sulley during their days at Monsters University -- when they weren't necessarily the best of friends.

ONLY GOD FORGIVES Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqAeVosG4zI
Coming to a theatre near you - 7/19/13

Studio:  Radius / TWC
Writer / Director:  Nicolas Winding Refn (DRIVE)
Cast:  Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas
Logline:  Julian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok's criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother's recent death.

THE WAY WAY BACK Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qoaVUdbWMs

Writer / Director:  Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Cast:  Sam Rockwell, Steve Carell, Toni Collette
Studio:  Fox Searchlight
Logline:  Over the course of his summer break, a teenager comes into his own thanks in part to the friendship he strikes up with one of the park's managers.

GROWN UPS 2 Trailer

http://www.grownups2-movie.com/

D:  Dennis Dugan
W:  Fred Wolf, Adam Sandler, Tim Herlihy
Cast:  Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade
Studio: Sony
Logline:  After moving his family back to his hometown to be with his friends and their kids, Lenny (Adam Sandler), finds out that between old bullies, new bullies, schizo bus drivers, drunk cops on skis, and 400 costumed party crashers sometimes crazy follows you.