There are many films that all of us see throughout our lives, but only a few leave an imprint. “Free Style” leaves that imprint on me, but a bad one that could be used as an example of what not to do when making a movie. The film tries to cloak itself on the surface as a motorcross sports film while underneath holding layers of other problems including racial prejudice. Everything about this movie is completely executed wrong. From the editing, directing, acting and the script, you wonder who even let this get the greenlight.

We follow Cale Bryant (Corbin Bleu) who has big dreams of being a professional bike racer but works like hell in order to keep his single mom (Penelope Ann Miller) and his little sister (Madison Pettis) afloat with the bills. A decision must be made either to continue helping his family and stay with his girl (Sandra Echeverria) or not when the promise of getting a spot on the pros comes up. The story is highly predictable, as if nobody would guess that everything would turn out right for the hero in the end. The story tries to put in serious subject matter like broken family and racism issues and forces it down your throat. It doesn’t taste too good at all, reaching the point to where you can’t take it seriously anymore and just laugh.

Corbin Bleu’s acting in the film shows that the High School Musical star should take more acting classes before he continues his career. Penelope Ann Miller is haggard in appearance and acting, drawing you to the conclusion that she’s here for a paycheck. Everyone else in the cast is completely forgettable, gone from your memory after the movie is over within the blink of an eye. The movie hits another snag when it prolongs its scenes, going hand in hand with its bland soundtrack. During the most pivotal appearing points of the feature, it continues to play and wishing you can put the whole film on mute.

A quick conclusion comes to me after a certain point watching this that the editor fell asleep on the job or was intoxicated. He blatantly cuts out during inappropriate parts of the film or lets them continue for way too long with no real point. There is no direction that is visible and ends up feeling like a student film project a majority of the time. If Free Style was actually made by a budding filmmaker then it would be some what understandable. What ends up happening is the potential within William Dear is washed away within this mess.

In the end this feature feels like a nightmare more than anything. It’s painful to get through and when it’s over your wiping the cold sweat off your face trying to shake it out of your head.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 

Thanks to the awesome folks at Gordon and the Whale, here’s the exclusive first trailer for the upcoming Pixar and Disney sequel Toy Story 3. When Andy has to go away for college, all of the toys come to the realization that they’re going to be given away. Now, set in new environments the toys are on the hunt for a new home. Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, John Ratzenberger and many others, here’s the trailer below!:

WWE Studios continue their spiral of lackluster potential films with their latest comedy/adventure attempt called Knucklehead. Just joining onto the casting list is Melora Hardin (17 Again), Mark Feuerstein (Defiance) and the WWE’s own Paul “The Big Show” Wright. Here’s the synopsis of the film from THR:

The film centers on a fight promoter (Feuerstein) deeply in debt to his crooked rival. Desperate for a new fighter that will help him win back everything he owes, the promoter catches a break when a 450-pound church handyman (Wight) who has spent his entire life in an orphanage agrees to wrestle on behalf of his fellow orphans. Hardin runs the orphanage with a nun (Wendie Malick). The trio embark on a road trip on their quest to enter him into a wrestling competition for the first time.

Mike Pavone is producing, previously doing work on Prison Break and Side Order of Life.

Munching away on a pretzel in sleek business suits in the middle of New York City is common. What is not as common is when it’s Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf walking around like this, but for the newest Oliver Stone movie Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. The Twentieth Century Fox feature also stars Susan Sarandon, Frank Langella and An Education’s Carey Mulligan. Here are some exclusive pictures below from Splash News:

Wall Street 2 Pictures from Splash News

It’s featurette time, but it’s taking the form of “Ultimate Ghost Story” in Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol. We get a better in depth look on each one of the ghosts that get at Scrooge (Jim Carrey) and why each one is designed the way they are along with brand new clips of the upcoming film mixed in. Also featuring the voices of Robin Wright-Penn, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Bob Hoskins, this 3D Walt Disney Pictures event will storm its way into theaters and IMAX on November 6th. Watch this exclusive piece below:

Director Terry Gilliam’s latest feature from Sony Pictures Classic comes a mysterious yet mystical tale known as The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Starring the late Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, this story is about a traveling theater company that goes through parrallel worlds in order to rescue the doctor’s daughter. Here is the US theatrical trailer below, set to come out this Christmas Day in limited theaters:

After Matt Groening’s popular animated TV series The Simpsons made its way onto the big screen in 2007 with their own Simpsons Movie, many predicted for it to be the end of the long running show. Instead, that final episode has continued to be delayed for years on end, making it the longest running American sitcom. Ever since the release of the movie, there had been constant rumors swirling about of a possible sequel. This is what Matt Groening and showrunner Al Jean had to say on it:

“It took 18 years to get around to doing the movie,” Groening said. “We got very frustrated. We thought it would take two years but it ended up taking four. Some day maybe we’ll do another one — but don’t hold your breath.”