We got five new images from Paramount International, giving us a brief look into JJ Abrams highly anticipated summer blockbuster, Star Trek. Star Trek is theatrically released on May 8th, 2009.Check them out and post your thoughts.

Here is a brief synopsis of the upcoming release from J.J.

A young Spock is tortured over his mixed heritage, the emotions he fights to control and the very different paths he has before him. He must choose between the Vulcan world which will never accept him as anything other than ‘half human’ and Starfleet Academy, worlds away from everything he has ever known. We meet Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy and a young linguist Uhura at the Academy and watch as a headstrong Kirk wreaks havoc on Starfleet’s rules and regulations.

For the past couple of decades now, our nation’s youth have been subjected to a slew of Disney’s child stars. First came the stars from the Mickey Mouse Club such as Britney, Christina, and Justin. Then, in recent years, using its Disney Channel shows, it’s been Hillary Duff of Lizzie Maquire, Shia LaBeouf of Even Stevens, and now Miley Cirus of Hannah Montana. It’s no question that, of these stars, Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana has taken the stage (pardon the pun) as the most marketable and widely known stars of the group. It was really never apparent to me that she was this popular until I was crowded into a theater with groups of girls ranging from 6-14 at this screening. All of which were donned in varieties of purple Hannah Montana paraphernalia, so much so that I was beginning to think I accidently walked into HannahCon 2009 (hey, it could happen!). Who would have thought that an unknown teen with a pseudo famous father, could accumulate such wealth and fame in such a short time.

Hannah Montana: The Movie is exactly what you think it is. A “tween” flick mashed together with a musical of sorts. Miley Cyrus stars as Hannah Montana in the film based upon the television show on Disney. The plot line starts in much the same as the show does in that Miley Steward/Hannah Montana has been neglecting her family and friends by becoming too much of a diva as Montana. Her father Robbie Ray, played both on the show and in the movie by real life dad Billy Ray Cyrus, punishes her by whisking her back to the hills of Tennessee, where they were originally from. This is so she can get back to her usual roots of hillbillies, chickens, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and horses named Blue Jeans. During her experience Miley reconnects with her first true love, a cowboy named Travis, played by Lucas Till. The two go way back and within minutes of the storyline, link up their past romantic feelings. It wouldn’t be a children’s movie if there wasn’t some kind of diabolical plan and of course there is one in Hannah Montana. A British reporter by the name of Oswald (Peter Gunn) is out to ruin Miley’s career. The story is what you would come to expect in a Disney film, predictable lines and a very predictable ending. It does, however, set up some of the film’s more physical humor.

That being said, I was actually kind of surprised. Thanks to my 11 year old sister, I’ve managed to catch many episodes of Hannah Montana before this screening, and I wasn’t ever impressed by Miley Cyrus’ acting chops. If not for the supporting cast, the show wouldn’t have one iota of appeal to me. Her acting on the show has always been stoic, over done, and somewhat awkward. Surprisingly, in this movie, it’s actually decent. In one scene of the movie, Miley stretches her acting skills and showed that she might be more than a “flash in the pan” actress, and could be in Hollywood for a while (that could be a good or bad thing). I am not sure if it’s the script writing for this movie or what, but Miley really does show a sense of excitement and enthusiasm on screen.

As for the rest of the cast and characters, I am not completely thrilled. This is probably my biggest flaw with the movie next to the cliché plot. As I stated earlier, my favorite parts of the television show are the supporting cast of Miley’s tv brother Jackson (Jason Earles), Lilly (Miley’s real life friend, Emily Osment) and finally Oliver (Mitchell Musso). All these characters are pretty much very limited with screen time, which to me is depressing because most of them have decent comedic timing. It just seems like the script focused too much on Miley, but what can you expect from a movie titled with the star’s alter ego. I guess in my mind, these characters carry the whole Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana plotline, so why limit their interaction with the main character? The script writers missed the opportunity to have these supporting characters in a “fish out of water” scenario that would have been interesting to see.

Billy Ray Cyrus does perform a decent job fitting in as the dad who can’t get what he wants, and trades what he does for his daughter’s happiness. There are a few characters that I have left out, but for the sake of this review, they were mostly backdrops to Miley’s storyline, they weren’t ever anything more than that.

Peter Chelsom (Serendipity and Shall We Dance) did a fair job as director of this film. I was genuinely surprised by his work, in which he did give some great scenic shots of the Tennessee landscape. I did think at times, especially when Hannah Montana was on stage, that he chose angles that were incredibly annoying and often times jumpy. Maybe it was an attempt to give the viewer a feeling of being in the front row of a Hannah concert, but to be honest, it was really flat emotionally.

Overall, I must say that bringing my sister to this film made it a bit more enjoyable, and at times I tried to sit in her shoes and understand it from a little girl’s perspective. Even then, it was hard for me to get all of the way through it without feeling a little out of place in the audience. From a parent’s perspective, if you want a movie that your child will enjoy, Hannah Montana is everything and more for them. The Disney Universe of “feel good fun”. But if you are in your late teens, or an adult with no fan ties to the Hannah Montana storyline, you might get in a few laughs in, but that’s about it. You’ll walk away happy for the “tweens”, but wondering if you should have seen Disney’s Race to Witch Mountain instead.

Due to the overwhelming fan base, and the fact that this is the first actual non-concert motion picture for Hannah Montana, I think this will easily overtake the previous week’s box office winner, Fast and Furious 4, which is mostly depressing. Ugh, consecutive weeks of mediocre films making millions of dollars!

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

If this film hasn’t psyched people up yet, then these posters ought to do it. J.J. Abrams’ new highly-anticipated action/adventure is only 40 days away from release. I must say, I anxiously await Star Trek. The trailers look absolutely stunning, the CG, the acting and the plot just look so interesting. I hope it holds up against the hype seeing as it must contend with Terminator: Salvation and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Well without further introduction, here are the 5 brand new international posters. (Expect the domestic posters here soon).

I must say, I’m highly impressed. I could easily see the Golden Gate Bridge and the battle poster on my wall. What about you guys? Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Let us know.

Zack Synder’s highly anticipated Watchmen is already storming out of the gates with a 4.6 million offing for midnight showings. Thats almost double of what his previous film, 300 did.

Watchmen opened across 1,595 showings for last nights big midnight opening. Today it officially opens to 3,611(remember most out of any R-Rated film)Keep checking back for the latest updates.

Also, Zack Synder’s 300 scored a 70.9 million over its opening weekend.

Street Fighter Movie Review

Street Fighter for over two decades has established itself as a premiere, or go-to, fighting platform. While not as dark as its cousin Mortal Kombat, it did fill the need for a dependable side-by-side fighting game, minus the gratuitous gore and violence MK provided. Now, like MK, both franchises have two motion picture installments in the can. For lack of better words, it has been a disappointing run for them both.
On a side note, let me start off by saying I was never a fan of Street Fighter. It’s not that I didn’t like it; it was more that it never intrigued me as much as Mortal Kombat did. So Street Fighter fanboys might be a bit prone to liking this film, and I stress a bit.
The first Street Fighter (1994) was another example of poor video game-to-movie entries of the time. And like the others (Mario Brothers, Double Dragon), it lacked multi-dimensional characters and solid storylines. Not even the then-hot Jean Claude Van Damme, and the late and very talented Raul Julia could save it. I will say that watching it now, years later, it does have some entertainment potential, as a movie to poke fun at. So long as you don’t remember that it was Julia’s last movie before passing away. That thought alone gives me chills, and not the good kind.
The Legend of Chun Li never gives the franchise a second chance to redeem itself. As I stated earlier, not a huge fan of either the game or the first movie, so walking into this film I never expected anything of value here, and how right I was. Not a continuation of the first, nor a reboot, Street Fighter starts off with Chun Li (Kristin Kruek) having her father taken from her at a young age by the crime boss, Bison (Neal McDonough). Bison uses his influence and wealth to raise his syndicate, Shadaloo, to full supremacy. Like all big bosses, Bison is closely guarded by a heavyweight by the name of Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan), the enforcer. He is the baddie that makes sure all of the land goes to Shadaloo without problems, and does so through violence and intimidation. It’s not long before Chun Li is a grown concert pianist that receives a scroll written in ancient Chinese, which vaults her into a quest for her lost father, and subsequently, vengeance against the man and the syndicate that took him. The subplot involves a pair of detectives (Chris Klein and Moon Bloodgood) that are teamed up while investigating murdered crime bosses. This investigation leads them to Bison, and in turn, they end up teaming up with Chun Li to take Bison down. You get the drift.
It doesn’t take much description to know that this film’s storyline is both extremely weak as well as formulaic at best. At no point did this story ever get better than that rough, and albeit brief summary I wrote. Writer Justin Marks basically throws together a screenplay that feverishly threads very poor fight sequences with even worse punch lines. The movie falls completely off of the wagon here, and not once does it try to pull itself up.
During the movie I kept thinking “this couldn’t get any worse, maybe the some of the acting will save it.” Nope! It does get a whole helluva lot worse. Kruek, better known for her decent performances on Smallville, absolutely misses the mark with her performance here. Although she has very little in the way of material to work with, she doesn’t do much with what she has. By most standards, she is striking in beauty, but even that is abashed by her unsettling performance that just doesn’t fit her. This miscast role for her felt more like an easy paycheck then a chance at a decent starring role.
The supporting performances from the rest of the actors was easily the worst acting I’ve seen in the last two or three dozen movies. Michael Clarke Duncan chewed up every scene that he was in. I would have been more intimidated with his acting if he didn’t speak the entire film. Neal McDonough, a fairly decent character actor with roles in the award winning Band of Brothers mini-series, Star Trek: First Contact, Timeline, and Flags of Our Fathers, fails miserably to capture any kind of presence in his role as Bison. Often at times it felt forced, and like every other actor in this piece, he had very little, to no material to work with. As soon as you see him in his fight sequence where he is “gliding” ala Crouching Tiger style, you are going to realize how insanely ridiculous this film is. Chris Klein and Moon Bloodgood sadly don’t do anything to back up for the rest of the cast. Klein was given the same three lines and told to act them any time he was on screen, and Bloodgood was simply thrown on as eye candy and barely has any speaking parts.
Alright, so you’re probably wondering, “Nathan this isn’t a review, it’s a whine fest. When are you actually going to speak something half way decent about the film?” Well to whoever thinks this, I’m sorry but there is nothing even close to redeeming about this film besides the Kristin Kruek and Moon Bloodgood eye candy factor. Even when the film sets up for a huge fight sequence between Chun Li and Bison, it fails miserably. The first half of the fight sequence involves fighting with a giant bamboo stick. No, I’m not lying; they seriously fight with an 8 foot tall bamboo stick. The fight sequence ends when Chun Li uses her “ball of fury” and defeats Bison.
Overall, Street Fighter should have died a long time ago with Van Damme’s failed attempt. This film was doomed to fail and it didn’t help that the actors probably already knew this. Sign contract, read a few lines, throw a kick or two, pick up paycheck….. voilà! This film is one of those you would have gladly seen the budget go towards a charity instead of this disastrous film.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 

More Watchmen

Another clip from the highly anticipated Watchmen film. This is an exclusive that Synder was willing to release. It clocks in about 3 minutes long and it shows how well done the journal is by Rorschach and some little stuff here. I will say that this can be considered as a SPOILER so please view if you are willing to see it.

So what are your thoughts on this film? It looks more and more promising with every little clip that is released. Can’t wait till March 6th!

The newest Terminator

This is an official photo to the summer film, Terminator Salvation. GamePro got a hold of this image for their March magazine release.

If your thinking, “Hey this is 2009, why does the Terminator look like a robot from the 1800′s?” Well here is a little history for you. This terminator model is the T-600 approximately 10 years off the Arnold Schwarzenneger T-850 model. Below is the T-850 model.

So what do you guys think of the new picture? Do you think Salvation is heading in the right way?

Land of the Lost

Finally we get a glimpse of the 70s TV show remake Land of the Lost, starring the ever young Will Ferrel. Its very very brief as much of the teasers are for the Super Bowl but it does look pretty hilarious.

So what do you guys think? I’ve never seen an episode of this show but I think it looks pretty good thus far.