SUMMER FILM PREVIEW

Written by Kirk Baird

Summer officially kicks off June 20. But unofficially it begins today with The Avengers. The highly anticipated Marvel superheroes extravaganza launches the summer film season, a four-month lineup of original blockbusters and must-see sequels. Here are 10 highlights.

Today:

The Avengers. Comic-book geek Josh Whedon made the mother of all superhero films, featuring an all-star cast of do-gooders — Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow — who unite to stop an evil god and an invading army of aliens. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, and Tom Hiddleston.

May 11:

Dark Shadows. Tim Burton’s comic take on the 1960s cult TV soap opera features Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins, who is freed from two centuries of entombment to face the witch who imprisoned him as well as the even more frightening early 1970s. Also starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Jonny Lee Miller, and Chloë Grace Moretz.

June 1:

Snow White and the Huntsman. Charlize Theron camps it up in a deliciously evil performance as the witchy queen obsessed with being the fairest of them all, with Kristen Stewart’s beautiful Snow White as the one who stands in her way. Also starring Chris Hemsworth.

June 13:

Prometheus. Ridley Scott revisits the Alien franchise, as a group of outer-space explorers discovers a clue to the origins of humanity ... and then must battle to save it. Starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall-Green, and Idris Elba.

June 22:

Brave. Pixar looks to regain its magic touch after last summer’s disappointing Cars 2, with the story of Merida, the impetuous daughter of a Scottish king and queen, who defies tradition and must undo a terrible curse. Featuring the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Julie Walters, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and, of course, John Ratzenberger.

July 3:

The Amazing Spider-Man. Only a decade since the first Spider-Man movie, the Web crawler is back in another story of how Peter Parker acquired his amazing powers and what he decides to do with them. Andrew Garfield is the new Spider-Man and Rhys Ifans is his new nemesis, the Lizard. Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field.

July 6:

Savages. Based on the New York Times best-selling crime novel by Don Winslow, Savages is the story of a trio of friends and marijuana growers who wage war against the Mexican drug cartel. Oliver Stone’s violent drug drama looks like Natural Born Killers-meets-Scarface. Starring Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta, Salma Hayek, and Emile Hirsch.

July 13:

Ted. Directed by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, the R-rated Ted is the amusing tale of a grown man who must deal with a rude and crude teddy bear come to life as a result of a childhood wish. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, with the voice of MacFarlane.

July 20:

The Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan completes his Batman trilogy with the masked vigilante (Christian Bale) facing off against the only comic-book villain who ever "broke the bat," Bane (Tom Hardy). Figuring into the plot is Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway). Also starring Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Morgan Freeman.

Aug. 3:

The Bourne Legacy. Jeremy Renner takes over for Matt Damon as another super agent, Aaron Cross, who goes rogue. The Bourne Legacy was co-written and directed by Tony Gilroy (Duplicity), who wrote the screenplays for the original trilogy based on the Robert Ludlum novels. Also starring Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Albert Finney, Joan Allen, Scott Glenn, and Stacy Keach.

New To DVD This Week - Rampart

Written by Kirk Baird

Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his role as a crooked cop in Training Day. Woody Harrelson didn’t even receive a nomination for his equally memorable turn as a bad cop gone even worse in last year’s Rampart.

The little-seen drama with a big-name cast — Sigourney Weaver, Cynthia Nixon, Ice Cube, Anne Heche, Ben Foster, Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi, and Ned Beatty — had film-transfer issues with the screening DVDs sent to voters, which the actor in turn blamed for the lack of votes.

Those with bad screeners and those who missed the film entirely have another opportunity to see what they missed as Rampart debuts on DVD and Blu-ray this week.

The dark drama is set in Los Angeles in 1999, with Harrelson as veteran police officer Dave Brown, a rogue cop who bends the rules as necessary for his survival and that of his family. Brown has two exes, both of whom are sisters, and two daughters. It’s a dysfunctional group, with Brown keeping tight reins. He sees his controlling nature as loving; his family views it as tyranny.

It’s when Brown is caught on camera chasing down an African-American suspect and beating the man nearly to death that his world begins to crumble, as outside forces seek to ruin him, making the renegade cop desperate and even more dangerous.

Rampart was co-written and directed Oren Moverman, who also co-wrote and directed 2009’s The Messenger, for which Harrelson was nominated. The story of a renegade authority figure is hardly fresh, but Harrelson breathes life into the bad cop cliché. His commanding performance — his darkest role since playing a sociopath on a murderous spree in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers — punctuates the film.

Brown is not as drug-fueled and over-the-top zany as Nicholas Cage’s rogue cop in 2009’s The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans. And, no, Harrelson didn’t win an Oscar. But it is a memorable and unexpected role from an actor once best known for playing a dimwitted but lovable bartender on a TV sitcom.

The Dark Knight Rises!

Written by Kirk Baird

The new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises was released Monday. The film's director-cowriter Christopher Nolan is serious about besting The Dark Knight and, by the looks of this footage, he may have pulled it off. The trailer reveals loads of intense action, drama, cool gadgets, and a bloodied, beaten and unmasked Bruce Wayne asking his hulking captor Bane, "Why don't you just kill me?" "Your punishment must be more severe," comes the chilling reply. July 20 can't get here quickly enough. For those that can't wait like me, check out this amazing trailer. 

What do you think? Are you excited to see it too?  Let us know.

6 Performers Take on the Ballads of Queen in Hopes for the Idol Throne

Written by Danielle Desmond and Heather Brown

It was a night of Queen Songs as Roger Taylor and Brian Mann helped Jimmy as celebrity mentors. I must say I was still waiting anxiously for Colton Dixon to appear up there on stage and it was a big reality check when he didn’t… The performances were split into two categories, okay performances vs. awesome performances. First round the contestants chose a song from Queen and the second round they could chose any song they wished to perform.

Jessica Sanchez did a nice job with Bohemian Rap City (Although my favorite cover of Bohemian Rap City if obviously from Wayne’s World…Excellent!) Sanchez then took the stage and delivered a goosebump worthy performance of Luther Vandross’ Dance with My Father (Again). J Lo commented that the original was one of her favorite songs, and Jessica’s rendition was the best she had ever heard it sung.  

Another awesome performance of the evening was from front runner Joshua Ledet with Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Ready for Love. He slowed it down for Ready for Love and for once, he tenderly sang a song instead of screaming it in his gospel way. Truly amazing performance. “Goosies” number two!

Country girl Skylar Laine put a little twang into Queen’s The Show Must Go On and then of course performed Jason Aldean’s Tattoos on This Town. GASP! Skylar chose a country song; I know you were all shocked just as much as we were. The contestants this season are very predictable. However I think that no matter what the outcome in this season of Idol I think that if Skylar makes an album, it will do the best. She’s young, her voice is catchy, and the country music/Taylor Swift demographic will eat it up.  

Hollie Cavanagh performed the 1980 hit Save Me and save her they did, Hollie was the last in the bottom next to Elise who went home on the show last Thursday. Good song choice Hollie, America got the message. However she probably remains in the competition because of her show stopping performance of the evening when she belted out Miley Cyrus’ The Climb. During her stint on stage this round, she gave the judges that emotional connection they’ve been begging for. Congrats Hollie for proving them wrong!

Phillip Phillips or as some here at Midwest Tape will refer to him as Mr. Gray sang Fat Bottom Girls and then Dave Matthews Band’s The Stone.  He missed the mark on Fat Bottom Girls and sounded out of breath the entire time. However, he must have a huge fan base to still be this far in the competition. And unless you are a Dave Matthews fan you probably had no idea what his second choice song was. I will admit to being a DMB follower so I did enjoy his cover of The Stone. However, this is not a Dave Matthews Cover Band competition.

Sadly though it was the end of the road for one Idol hope. Rocker singer and Steven Tyler’s favorite Elise Testone was voted off after I Want It All and Bold as Love. It was kind of ironic that Elise picked the song with the lyrics “I WANT IT ALL I WANT IT NOW” and then she is voted off.  Sorry Elise but it appears as if you won’t be getting it all.

Tune into American Idol tomorrow night on Fox at 8pm as the five hopefuls continue their journey as we get closer to the finale.  This weeks theme is BRITISH INVASION. Hopefully they will leave Adele at home and bring a little Beatle love to the competition. 

Top Gun 2 - Talk To Me Goose!

Written by Kirk Baird

About seven years ago, Tom Cruise’s career was at a crossroads. The actor was a PR nightmare, first with his couch-dance “I’m in love with Katie Holmes” routine on Oprah, followed by his criticism of psychiatry during a heated interview/debate with Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today.

Neither national television moment sat well with the general public. It was so bad, in fact, that in 2006 Paramount Studios ended its 14-year relationship with Cruise. The divorce was as much about the actor’s sinking public opinion as it was financial concerns over her box-office reliability.

The actor’s 2006 Mission: Impossible III failed to make money domestically as did Robert Redford’s political drama Lions for Lambs in 2007, which featured Cruise, along with Meryl Streep and Redford. The 0-for-2 box-office streak was followed by the mildly successful Valkyrie in 2008, and then the summer action-comedy dud Knight & Day with Cameron Diaz in 2010.

There were some not-so-quiet murmurings that Cruise was no longer one of the more dependable bankable stars in Hollywood.

What a difference one film can make.

December’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol was Cruise’s biggest hit since 2005’s War of the Worlds, and only his second $200-million-plus film since 2000’s Mission: Impossible II. Cruise was back with another successful Paramount film and just like that all seems to be right again with the actor and moviegoers.

There’s already talk of a fifth Mission: Impossible film — no surprise. But longtime Cruise fans will be happy to know there’s also serious discussions of a sequel to 1986’s Top Gun, the film that launched Cruise from star to superstar status.

Adam Goodman, Paramount Film Group president, recently told The Hollywood Reporter: “We'll likely make a Top Gun sequel with Tom Cruise first. Jerry Bruckheimer would produce, with Tony Scott returning to direct. All parties are moving ahead. We've hired Peter Craig to write the script.”  Cruise also said he’s on board with a Top Gun 2 as well.

“If we can find a story that we all want to do, we all want to make a film that is in the same kind of tone as the other one and shoot it in the same way as we shot Top Gun," he told MTV News.

Frankly, it’s difficult to root against Cruise, who turns 50 on July 3. No matter what you think of him off camera — his outspoken dedication to Scientology certainly rubs many the wrong way — on screen he’s a true movie star. He’s handsome, smart, funny, and no one will ever be able to accuse him of not giving 100 percent in every film.

Watch Cruise in his barely recognizable comedic tour de force as Hollywood movie mogul Les Grossman in Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder. It’s a painfully funny and crude role, one few would have envisioned for Cruise. That was in 2008 and now he tweaks our expectations for him again with the upcoming singing performance of fictional rock star Stacee Jaxx in the musical-drama Rock of Ages, which opens June 15.

As much as Hollywood fetes its favorite actors come Oscar season, it needs its dependable movie stars during the box-office season: summer and the holidays. And for many years few were as dependable as Cruise — and hopefully is again.