XWired Online

Leave It: The Year’s Worst Flops in Film

admin — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The film business is like any other, there are winners and there are losers. It’s the competition that drives studio directors and actors to put on their best performances to both progress their career, but also in hopes of selling to a ticket to get into the theatre. But as time has taught us, that isn’t always the case. With every block busting thriller, there is more than a handful of movies each week that just don’t seem to make the bar. Whether it’s because they were under marketed, had a limited release, or were just plain bad, some movie are destined to flop.

2011 is shaping up to be another good year for movies, especially after the down turn from last year. But it hasn’t been without its terrible showings either. ‘Mars Needs Moms’ has been one of the biggest upsets of the years, though in itself definitely not the most amazing animated film in a while, many blame the failure on 3D prices. Another terrible showing was ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’, the classic retaking of shake spheres romantic tale, with gnomes. It’s been a rough year for animated films, but the summer promises for some excellent action packed entertainment.

Love It: The Year’s Best Movies in Review

admin — Sun, 29 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

2010 was a fantastic year for films, and Oscar winner The Kings Speech was not even the best film. That honor would go to Winter’s Bone.

Winter’s Bone, starring Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence, is an unforgettable noir style thriller set in the Ozarks. Lawrence was not the only Oscar nominee, as John Hawkes also picked up a nod for his unforgettable performance as the sadistic Teardrop.

A close runner up for best picture would be Toy Story 3. Nobody does animated films better than Pixar, and the company is at its best with the final installment of the very popular Toy Story franchise.

Chris Nolan brought the very trippy Inception to the big screen, and it delivered. Leo Decaprio headed an amazing cast, and the movie sparked many debates about what was real in the film and what was a dream.

True Grit, the Cohen brother’s remake of the John Wayne classic, was also a delight. Jeff Daniels earned his second straight best actor nomination, and 15 year old Hailee Steinfeld was also a stand out in the lead role.

Kick Ass was a very funny take on the Super Hero film and was a must see for any comic book fan.

Coming Soon! Upcoming Critically Acclaimed Films You Shouldn’t Miss

admin — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

2011 just may end up going down as the year of the super-hero at the Cineplex. With no less than five major releases built around characters that star in “comic books, www.mycomicshop.com, super heroes will be everywhere. Seth Rogen already starred in Green Hornet, and Thor, starring Natalie Portman will open May 6th. Two of the most anticipated movies of the summer debut in June, with X-Men: First Class, focusing on the early adventures of the X-men opening June third, followed by Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern on the 17th. The summer goes out with a bang with the release of Captain America, the First Avenger on July 22nd.

If 2011 is not the year of the super-hero, it could be labeled the year of the sequel, with no less than twenty sequels planned. Some of the more intriguing one include The Hangover 2, Scream 4, A fifth installment of Final Destination, another Mission Impossible, another round of Kung Fu Panda, and the fourth Underworld. Of course none of these can compare to what is sure to be the years two highest grossers, a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean, and the final installment of the Harry Potter series, The Deathly Hallows part two.

Music Review: The Apples in Stereo “Travellers in Space and Time”

www.xwiredonline.com — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

With the release of the Apples in Stereo’s seventh studio album, Travellers in Space and Time, the band is not in any danger of losing its existing fans. Most of those fans have been devouring the Apples’ neo-psych pop nuggets for years, along with those of the other members of the Elephant Six Collective, and so they know to expect some changes from each new album. For instance, debut Fun Trick Noisemaker was raw and lo-fi, while on The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone the band began incorporating R&B influences and a less-orchestrated sound. The new album is a continuation of some of the band’s former trends, and is a treat for fans in many regards. For new listeners, though, there should be just one question: why haven’t you heard of these guys before?The sound of the record can be classified as “progressive pop R&B for the wireless internet age.” The music certainly sounds modern, but the lyrics are filtered through a ’70s sci-fi lens. For example, stand-out track “Dignified Dignitary” offers the reminder: “Even in the middle of the city/When you are flying in the taxi/Above the people and machinery/Tell it to the dignitary,” while kicking into one of most aggressive guitar riffs on the album.The instrumental skill displayed on the album should come as no surprise by now, but it’s still worth mentioning, as vocalist/guitarist Robert Schneider is now the only founding member in the band. John Dufilho joins the group for the first time as drummer, and keyboardists Bill Doss and John Ferguson are both sworn in as permanent members. While the two keyboardists do give the music a synth-pop feel, especially on “Hey Elevator” and lead single “Dance Floor”, it doesn’t overtake the sound: this is still loud, fun rock music.The Apples in Stereo aren’t known for making party albums, but Travellers is the one that comes closest to that label. Each track seems designed to get you movingand in my case, it succeeded. For a band that hasn’t stopped for over 15 years, that’s impressive praise indeed.

“True Grit”: Take Two

www.xwiredonline.com — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Movie-going audiences have a fickle relationship with the remake. Most of the time, they offer one of two criticisms:1. The original film was already great, and a remake is simply an excuse to try to draw more money from itOR2.The original film wasn’t that great, and a remake is simply an excuse to try to draw more money from it.Either way, most remakes don’t get associated with artistic merit. That means that, despite the fact that directors Joel & Ethan Coen call their upcoming film “True Grit” a “second adaptation” of the 1968 novel, most people are simply going to see it as a remake of the 1969 John Wayne film. The original definitely falls in the “already great” category, with a rating of 88 on the movie consensus site Rotten Tomatoes. It seems an odd choice for the Coens, who have made their career on individualistic and original films like “Miller’s Crossing” (1990), “Barton Fink” (1991), and “Fargo” (1996). However, the pair is no stranger to adaptations. Their 2004 film “The Ladykillers” was directly based on the 1955 film of the same name, and their 2007 film “No Country for Old Men” (based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel) won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Picture. Still, this is the first time the boys are tackling a film generally considered a classic. What’s their plan?There’s no doubt that the plotline includes some of the Coens’ favorite themes, including vengeance and the effects of violence. The story follows a young 14-year-old girl named Mattie Ross who teams up with an alcoholic U.S. Marshal named Rooster Cogburn to track down the man who killed her father. Rooster, played by John Wayne in the original, is played by Jeff Bridges in this version. Mattie, originally played by Kim Darby, is here played by unknown Hailee Steinfeld. The brothers have emphasized their choice to make their film hew more closely to the original novel. In their own words, that includes capturing “the voice of the 14-year-old girl,” being “much funnier than the original movie was,” and being “a lot tougher and more violent than the original movie reflects.” Despite this, the film is one of the few Coen films to receive a PG-13 rating.The film will be released on December 22, 2010, but previews have seen unanimously positive reviews. If you have a fascination with either westerns or the Coens, you should definitely check out the film. Just remember to check out the original as well, if you haven’t already.

TV: “The Gates” closesbut is it for the last time?

www.xwiredonline.com — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:56:35 +0000

On Sunday, September 19, ABC’s supernatural series The Gates concluded its first season with a 2-part finale. The series has been plagued with spotty viewership and critics who instantly wrote it off as a cheap Twilight/True Blood knockoff. Those who did tune in found a flawed but compelling amalgam of genres, similar to the crime and horror elements found in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels. Instead of private eyes, though, The Gates focused on the workings of a small police force in a seriously unique gated community.That community is populated by vampires, werewolves, succubi, and more. Why all of these creatures flocked to this one location is never truly addressedperhaps the creators were saving it for the next season. ABC has made no comment on whether the series is coming back, though, so it may remain an unanswered question. The finale provided several of those, while tying up some major plot threads, such as what evil witch Devon (Chandra West) has been up to all season.I may be one of the few to shed a tear when ABC finally (inevitably) gives this show the ax. However, there’s always the chance another station might snap it up. It certainly brought a unique sort of darkness to the long summer days.