Vickie Guerrero cuts a promo to tout her accomplishments on the day of her performance evaluation by the McMahon’s (also known as a public humiliation). In a stunning display of athleticism, she cuts her promo from the top of a ladder; a nice callback to the time Eddie Guerrero did the same. This promo leads directly to…
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
Bryan remains over as heck, and Sheamus continues to receive scattered X-Pac heat.
Bryan pins Sheamus clean with a roll-up; in a shocking twist, Sheamus decides to NOT kick Bryan in the head post-match.
Backstage
AJ Lee is stressing about Kaitlyn coming after her and Big E Langston says that she’s “buggin'”, which made me laugh for some reason. Dolph Ziggler shows up to make out with AJ, blurring the lines between face and heel, and confusing all.
Cold open with Vickie Guerrero announcing that tonight’s WWE Raw will be celebrating the history of the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championships, with title holders John Cena and Alberto Del Rio facing off tonight. This is met with general apathy from this Iowa crowd. It’s gonna be a long night.
In-Ring Segment
Daniel Bryan out first sporting a terrific new shirt touting ‘Respect the Beard’, and he receives a pretty nice reaction. Who would have thought that a strong in-ring push would get a competitor over? Bryan compares himself to wrestling legends such as Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Hogan’s name was met with jeers, which is pretty funny.
Sheamus then arrives to kill the mood. He brings up beating Bryan in 18 seconds at WrestleMania. Randy Orton also arrives sans music and says stuff. Then Kane arrives with pyro but no music, which is just bizarre. They are ultimately joined in-ring by both Christian and then CM Punk, and it seems all men shockingly covet the WWE Title. They posture and trade insults for a while until eventually Orton hits Kane with an RKO and this weak segment fizzles out.
The second sequel to the 2009 runaway smash from writer/director Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School), The Hangover Part III has already arrived and it continues the misadventures of the series ‘Wolfpack’: Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis), and Doug (Justin Bartha).
In this installment, we find our gang chaperoning out-of-control sociopath Alan to a rehab centre in the wake of a string of incidents at his hand, including a highway giraffe decapitation and the death of his father (Jeffrey Tambor). On their journey they are accosted by gangster Marshall (John Goodman), who — knowing of their prior association — demands they bring to him the wily Mr Chow (Ken Jeong), who has stolen a large amount of gold from him. With Marshall holding Doug hostage as collateral (of course!), it is up to the rest of the Wolfpack to trace down the recent jailbird Chow, setting up a film which is less buddy comedy and more a dark, action oriented… something. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t possibly classify it as comedy.
2013 will be a bumper year for science fiction and the two that have me psyched are the two most original concepts: Guillermo del Toro’s giant-robot/kaiju slugfest Pacific Rim and Neill Blomkamp‘s directorial follow up to the highly acclaimed District 9, Elysium.
Blomkamp will — much like District 9 — load Elysium with sociopolitical commentary, which I always welcome. Films with a message, whether you agree with them or not, at least prompt discussion and are more likely to have a longer shelf life than films without a strong message (which is why science fiction films from the 1970’s and 80’s leave a lasting cultural impression, unlike a majority of today’s product).
Elysium stars Matt Damon and co-stars Jodie Foster, William Fitchner, Alice Braga, and Blomkamp staple Sharlto Copley; Damon and Copley both sporting striking and unique visual looks. It opens in Australia on 15 August, and I can’t wait.
After the rather nifty teaser which dropped late last year, we’ve seen a series of posters for Carrie — based on Stephen King’s 1974 novel — featuring the titular heroine (Chloë Grace Moretz, following in the blood-drenched footsteps of Sissy Spacek); and now finally, a full theatrical trailer which… feels like déjà vu.
There is nothing on display which was not present in Brian De Palma’s original adaptation (or other adaptations to follow); which is clear because this trailer takes us through nearly the entire plot of the movie. Was this due to the marketing execs understanding that a large percentage of the population is already familiar with this story, or is it just a bad, spoiler-filled trailer?
Either way, this boasts all the hallmarks of an unnecessary remake — an odd choice for director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry, Stop-Loss), but I am a Stephen King fan and films based on his novels have dried up since the 90’s, so I remain optimistic. It also stars Julianne Moore, Judy Greer, Portia Doubleday, Gabriella Wilde, and Ansel Elgort. It will receive wide Australian release on November 14.
Following up on the success of 2011’s Drive, director Nicolas Winding Refn re-teams with star Ryan Gosling and follows up with the similarly violent and atmospheric Only God Forgives.
This film has all the hallmarks of being a terrific companion piece for not only Drive, but also Pusher and Bronson; all directed by Refn. Check out the amazing Argento-style cinematography and lighting!
Also starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Vithaya Pansrlingarm, Only God Forgives currently does not have an Australian release; which I can not forgive.
Now this is a trailer! This is the End is a high-concept comedy from the brains-trust of Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (Superbad, Pineapple Express), and they have gathered their buddies together to film what could be the greatest comedy ensemble to rival Cannonball Run or Ocean’s 11.
The cast consists of Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride as fictional versions of themselves, trapped in Franco’s home as the apocalypse rages around them. The film also includes Emma Watson (it feels so good to hear Hermione swearing), Michael Cera, Aziz Ansari, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, David Krumholtz, Martin Starr, Mindy Kaling, and Kevin Hart. It even includes the Backstreet Boys and Rhianna! Who knows what other special cameos are in store?
I’m predicting This is the End to be a massive success — it will at least be better than this years other ensemble comedy, Movie 43 — and will get a wide Australian release on June 27.
The Wolverine – Domestic and International Trailers
Promotion for James Mangold‘s The Wolverine was modestly quiet for a long time. But this week we have seen a range of promotional materials trickle out including stills, posters, and the obnoxious ‘tweasers’: the micro teasers for the trailers. Then in one fell swoop Fox has released the US domestic trailer as well the considerably different international trailer. Lucky us!
This is the sixth big screen appearance of Hugh Jackman‘s popular X-Man, and by the looks of these trailers we will be getting more of a personal journey in this outing: the film is based on Chris Claremont and Frank Miller‘s popular story-arc from the 1980’s which sees our hero in Japan and is the basis of a lot of the characteristics that made old Logan such a popular superhero.
Besides an appearance from Famke Janssen‘s Jean Grey, keep expectations low for surprise appearances by another other X-characters.
The film also stars Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Svetlana Khodchenkova, and Will Yun Lee as the freaking Silver Samurai!
Will The Wolverine hack its way to box office supremacy on the film’s global release on July 25? Despite the final quality of the film, and taking in to account the lack of competition on that date, the answer is probably.
Deep Impact versus Armageddon. Dante’s Peak versus Volcano. Here we have the 2013 equivalent: the battle of Olympus Has Fallen versus White House Down — both action films dealing with a takeover of the White House and the peril of the US President.
With Olympus Has Fallen only a week away, there will be a few months breathing space between films: White House Down is being released locally September 5.
Which movie will win the battle of the White House? Personally, I’ll take White House Down‘s director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) and stars Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx over Olympus Has Fallen‘s director Antoine Fuqua and stars Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, and Aaron Eckhart.
Olympus Has Fallen will probably already be available on home video by the time White House Down hits Australian theatres. Will the gamble of leaving such a large gap pay off, or will people be weary of the similar premise by then?
Elisa Iannunzio
Luke Miksa
Sorry I'm Late.com 