New DOTPOTA Poster and TV Spot

Two new pieces of DOTPOTA marketing have emerged today in the form of a new poster and first tv spot. The poster seems to echo baby Caesar from the first film whereas the tv spot only contains one thing you need to know about...apes on horseback! Yes, after a fleeting reference in the first film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes appears to bring back the Ape cavalry made famous in the original series.

What do you think of the new poster? Are you glad to see the horseback apes return?

Carrie (2013): Review

Carrie is a 2013 supernatural horror remake. Directed by Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry) and starring Chloe Moretz (Let Me In, Kick Ass) and Julianne Moore (Hannibal). The film is a remake of the Brian De Palma classic and based on the same Stephen King story.

Much like the original, the film follows the teenage angst of Carrie White (Moretz), a troubled girl who has been abused so much by her schoolmates that a telekinetic ability has been awakened. To add to her troubles, Carrie is also abused by her rabidly right wing, religious mother (Moore) who regularly berates her and locks her in a small cupboard for being a “sinner”. After the opening sequence of the film (which will be familiar to fans of the original) some of the more ruthless students are banned from the prom, leading to a cruel plot to humiliate Carrie White and unleash her telekinetic rage upon the town.

The main problem with this remake is a misjudgement in tone and a miscasting in its lead actress. The beauty of Sissy Spacek’s Carrie White is that she was frumpy and weird enough to sympathise with but still somehow relatable as a girl next door type. Moretz, on the other hand, is an objectively pretty girl and no amount of “uglifying” can lead me to fully invest in this incarnation of the character being an outcast or freak. The tone and look of the film is markedly different to the original, which you’d expect considering how firmly rooted in the 70s it was, but for me this seemed to lean towards the melodramatic and overblown. This is summed up particularly well by the film’s ludicrous take on the original’s infamous shock ending.

Having said that, I do feel that the film’s climactic “prom rage” sequence does somewhat improve on the originals by virtue of its bigger budget and less than subtle effects. From levitation to pyrokinesis and some impressive automobile based telekinesis it makes for a much more intense and climactic payoff to the rest of the film and far closer to the plot of the original novel. The only other thing on offer to hold the viewers attention is Moore's spot on portrayal of Carrie’s demented mother. Piper Laurie’s Performance in the original is a tough one to top but Moore puts a lot of energy and zeal into the character making it equally as memorable in this incarnation.

It almost seems cliché nowadays to say that this is a pointless remake of an iconic 70s horror film but I’m afraid I’m going to have to opt for this opinion once again. The original film is not only an iconic adaptation of one of King’s finest creations but one of the jewels in DePalma’s auteur crown. Peirce wisely avoids a shot for shot remake but ends with a mostly dull retread, perhaps the modernising of the story will appeal to modern day teenagers but for me there really wasn’t much to see here.

*** 3 stars

What did you think of Carrie? Was it faithful to the original?

Full Godzilla trailer

The highly anticipated full trailer for Godzilla 2014 has finally been released! After a breathtaking teaser trailer back in December expectations were high but this rachets the excitement levels up to a head exploding level. The combination of Bryan Cranston delivering a passionate speech over epic disaster scenes and well disguised glimpses of the big G himself continue to give me faith that this reboot has been very carefully judged and balanced. This continues to be my most anticipated film of the year, if not the decade, check out the trailer...

What do you think of the trailer? Are you looking forward to the movie?

"The Sacrament" trailer

A new red band trailer has emerged for the upcoming Ti West film "The Sacrament". Re teaming West muses Joe Swanberg and Aj Bowen fresh off their appearances in You're Next the commentary format follows a film crew's attempts to locate a missing person amongst a sinister cult. I've never been a Ti West fan and the cult bar has been set high in recent years with Sound of my Voice (2012) and Gareth Evans' excellent segment in V/H/S 2 (2013). Check out the trailer...

What do you think of the trailer? Are you a Ti West fan?

New Godzilla poster

Legendary pictures have released a brand new Godzilla poster. Seeming to take one of the most impressive vista shots from the trailer we see the big G looming large over the San Francisco skyline. Although some fans have jumped to the conclusion that Godzilla is twice the size of a skyscraper I would tend to think think this is more of a visual and symbolic statement. Only three short months until Godzilla is unleashed in cinemas on May 16th!

What do you think of the poster? How big will Godzilla actually be?

"Joe" trailer

A trailer has emerged today for upcoming indie drama "Joe". Directed by David Gordon Green (pineapple express) starring Nicolas Cage (leaving Las Vegas) and Tye Sheridan (Mud), the film is adapted from Larry Brown's novel of the same name and centres around an unlikely father figure in the titular anti hero. For my money, Cage hasn't turned in a serious dramatic performance since 2005's Lord of War (although his genre work has been more than entertaining) and I can't wait to see this critical return to form for the man that won an Oscar nearly 20 years ago. Check out the trailer...

Are you looking forward to this? Can Cage really make a critical comeback?

TMMDI Top ten of 2013

2013 will be remembered as the year of the comedy with 3 excellent comedies and 1 horror comedy making it into my list. Comparatively, it wasn't a great year for horror with only 2 entries on the list but some big budget sci fi powerhouses picked up the slack. Honourable mentions to only god forgives, the place beyond the pines, you're next, the world's end and stoker.

1. This is the End

2. Maniac

3. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

4. Bad Milo

5. Gravity

6. Pacific Rim

7. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

8. Filth

9. Spring Breakers

10. The Conjuring

What were your favourite films of 2013? Have we missed any of our list?