With news that Warner Bros. wants to revisit “The Matrix” hitting recently, speculation has run wild about what a new film would focus on.
Birth.Movies.Death. is reporting that a new Matrix film would center around a young Morpheus, with Michael B. Jordan starring.
Lawrence Fishburne played Morpheus in the original trilogy.
If true, it looks as though WB wants to tell more stories in the film’s universe instead of a straight reboot.
Keanu Reeves is back in action mode with “John Wick”. Is this movie worthwhile or a misfire?
The Good
This movie is a blast. Action-lovers will have a lot of fun with the shootouts, and there are plenty. Reeves is in full a@@ kicking mode and there are several set pieces that are some of the best of the year.
There’s a lot of humor in the film as well, which helps keep the film moving along and entertaining. The supporting cast, including Willem Dafoe, Michael Nyqvist, and Adrianne Palicki all do a fine job with their respective roles. And it never takes itself too seriously, which only adds to the film’s enjoyment.
The Bad
Well…realism isn’t exactly this film’s strong suit. And, there are a few confusing choices made with some of the characters that could make a potential sequel a little hard to imagine.
The Final Word
A fun, funny and entertaining ride, “John Wick” is probably my favorite straight-up action film of the year. It’s a blast that is definitely worth checking out.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Surprising news emerged yesterday as Warner Brothers announced that “Jupiter Ascending”, due out in less than two months in July, would be delayed until February 6, 2015. It’s rare for movies to be delayed within six months of release. But less than two months? Should fans be worried? Let’s find out.
The reason: Officially, WB said it’s because they need more time to finish special effects. Frankly, I find that hard to believe. You’d think the studio would know a lot sooner the film wouldn’t finish in time. The bigger issue may come in the form of a new release hitting theaters this weekend.
“Edge of Tomorrow”, starring Tom Cruise, is being released in the U.S. on Friday. It’s getting great reviews (currently at 91 percent at Rotten Tomatoes), but it’s underperforming greatly overseas and there’s a sense that the movie will be a misfire domestically. Coupled with a lack of overall buzz for “Jupiter Ascending”, and the more likely scenario is WB is getting cold feet and doesn’t want to have two big budget sci-fi bombs in the same summer.
Why you should be worried: It’s almost never a good sign to see movies be delayed, especially to a time of year when most studios dump films that aren’t very good at. And a delay like this harkens back to films like “47 Ronin” where, despite all the damage control that studio tried to do, the film just suffered from issues on set and wasn’t very good.
Why you should be optimistic: There are a number of reasons to have faith. First, it’s opening the same weekend “The Lego Movie” came out, which is still this year’s highest grossing film (though not for long). “World War Z”, starring Brad Pitt, had its share of production problems, yet was successful both commercially and critically. And “Jupiter Ascending” stars two bright, young stars in Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis.
I thought the trailers have all looked very good so far. In short, there’s a lot of potential here and perhaps WB is just setting up “Jupiter Ascending” as the first blockbuster of 2015.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
I’ve decided to write this for a couple of reasons. The first is to say thank you to everyone who reads this blog. I know I don’t update it as much as I used to, but I appreciate people coming back to it and leaving comments! I try and do my best and I hope that everyone is enjoying it.
I am writing to gauge the interest of a project I am considering doing. I am working through the developmental stages of a documentary, similar to “Side By Side” (with Keanu Reeves) but slightly different in topic. That documentary focused on the effects of the movie industry’s transition to digital on filmmakers, editors, colorists, etc. This will look at the effects of that transition on theaters in rural areas. The question of course comes down to funding. I have a plan of attack, a director who is interested in helping me film but lack sufficient funds. I was considering starting a Kickstarter campaign (Ironic I know for for those of you who read my column on movies using Kickstarter to fund itself). But I am trying to see first whether people would be interested in seeing this and/or if they would be willing to help out with that campaign. Please let me know in the comments or through email or by the poll! Thank you to everyone and I hope you continue to enjoy the site!
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
James Mangold has a big movie coming out this summer in “The Wolverine” starring Hugh Jackman. But next he’s going to reunite with one of his “Walk the Line” stars in a film called “Three Little Words” based on a memoir of the same name. Reese Witherspoon is starring as a social worker in the story that (From Comingsoon.net) follows: a young Florida girl who entered the child welfare system when she was four and establishes a relationship with a volunteer (Witherspoon) who discovers her there nine years later. Witherspoon’s character decides to try to find the girl’s biological mother and convince her to give up parental rights to allow the teen a new and better life.
Witehrspoon is also said to be starring in “Passengers” with Keanu Reeves.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Here’s the first trailer for Keanu Reeves’ (“The Matrix”) directorial debut “Man of Tai Chi” starring Karen Mok and Iko Uwais.
Reeves is playing the villain in the film and Tiger Hu Chen, who was martial arts trainer for “The Matrix” trilogy, is playing the lead. This looks great! The bad news is it doesn’t have a North American release date yet, hopefully it gets one soon though. The film also reunites Reeves with Yuen Woo-ping, who was action choreographer of the Wachowskis’ trilogy.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Keanu Reeves has largely stayed out of the spotlight aside from making the excellent documentary “Side By Side”. That could be changing. He’ starring in the troubled, upcoming film “47 Ronin”. And now he’s set to star in a new sci fi film from director Brian Kirk (“Game of Thrones”, “Boardwalk Empire”). Jon Spaihts, one of the writers on “Prometheus” is writing the script which is said to center around “a spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet that has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, a single passenger (Reeves) is awakened 90 years before anyone else… He eventually decides to wake up a second passenger, marking the beginning of what becomes a unique love story (From Deadline)”.
Sounds a little bit like “The Lake House”, which he co-starred with Sandra Bullock in that it’s a love story with a sci-fi twist. I realize a lot of people didn’t care for “The Lake House”, but I think that film is underrated. And I have hopes that this one could lead to some interesting moments.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
“Point Break” was an insanely fun film. Starring Patrick Swayze and a pre-Matrix Keanu Reeves, the film was so excessive, it was a lot of fun. Kathryn Bigelow directed that film. Now with news that a “Point Break” remake is happening and unfortunately, it appears to be picking up steam. Reportedly Ericson Core has signed on as director and filming will begin at the end of this year. What has Core directed? Well…he directed the somewhat entertaining “Invincible” starring Mark Wahlberg. He also served as a cinematographer on “DareDevil” and “The Fast and the Furious”.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
The summer movie season is of course dominated by blockbusters. This May we’ll see “Iron Man 3”, “Fast and Furious 6”, “Epic” and more. But a film that is likely to get overlooked could be one of the most intriguing films. Here’s the trailer for “Generation Um…”
The film stars Keanu Reeves, Adelaide Clemens and Bojana Novakovi.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
“Taken 2” is kicking some butt at the box office. Now, Liam Neeson has his next role in sight: “Non-Stop”. He’ll star along side Julianne Moore, who plays a character who is “good with electronics” and is a love interest for Neeson’s character. The story is et on an airplane where mysterious threats are made against the passengers. Jaume Collet-Serra (“Unknown”) is directing.
Call me crazy, but given the title of the movie, something tells me there may be explosives involved and speed…like ahem…the movie “Speed” except on an airplane.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Lukas Eggen 