Final Destination 5: More of the Same, But with a Twist

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 69 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux


Final Destination 5 (2009)
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violent/gruesome accidents, and some language
DIRECTOR: Steven Quale
WRITERS: Eric Heisserer (based on characters created by Jeffrey Reddick)
PRODUCERS: Craig Perry and Warren Zide
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Brian Pearson
EDITOR: Eric Sears
COMPOSER: Brian Tyler

HORROR/THRILLER/MYSTERY

Starring: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Ellen Wroe, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, P.J. Byrne, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner, Courtney B. Vance, Brent Stait, and Tony Todd

Final Destination 5 is a 2011 supernatural horror film and the fifth movie in the Final Destination film series. This time Death stalks eight co-workers who avoided a grisly demise in a massive suspension-bridge collapse.

Final Destination 5 focuses on Sam Lawton (Nicholas D’Agosto), an office worker and short order cook/budding chef. Sam joins his coworkers as they travel by bus to a company retreat, but early in the trip, Sam discovers that there is a large road construction project underway, which gives him a bad feeling. When the bus comes to a stop on the North Bay Bridge, Sam has a terrifying premonition of a horrible disaster that costs many people their lives.

Sam and, his girlfriend Molly Harper (Emma Bell), and six other colleagues exit the bus and survive the bridge collapse. Later, at a memorial service, William Bludworth (Tony Todd), a local coroner, warns them that by surviving they have messed with Death’s design. Not long afterwards, the survivors start dying one by one in bizarre accidents, and those who remain alive must accept the fact that Death is stalking them. However, Sam and his friends believe that they have found a way to cheat Death, but can they cheat the one who makes all the rules?

Final Destination 5 returns to the darker tone and more character driven story of the original film. As in the first movie, the characters in Final Destination 5 have ambitions, dreams, and goals, as well as personal setbacks, internal conflicts, and relationship problems that will make the audience care about and root for them. In some cases, you may even feel a tinge of regret when some of these characters die gruesome deaths.

In the lead up to some of the deaths, the movie’s pace is painfully slow, as if the director decided to meditate on the last moments of each life about to end in a bloody, ghastly death. I think that just screws up the story’s rhythm and blanches the film’s nicely dark mood. Luckily, the massive suspension bridge disaster that practically opens the film (which is probably the best staged disaster of the entire Final Destination franchise) gives the story enough momentum to carry it through the dry spots. There is also a twist at the end that fans of the series will love.

When I recently reviewed the fourth film in the franchise, The Final Destination (2009), I wrote that it had the best ending since the original film. Now, I must admit that Final Destination 5 has the best ending since the original.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, August 13, 2011

"Bolt," "Chicken Little" Among Upcoming Walt Disney Blu-ray 3D Releases

THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS ADDS 3D FAVORITES TO ITS 2011 BLU-RAY 3D™ LINE-UP

Leader in 3D Filmed Entertainment Adds Four New Titles To Its Growing In-Home Blu-ray 3D Catalog

BURBANK, Calif. — August 5, 2011 — Leading the way in the advancement of 3D entertainment and continuing its commitment to the growing Blu-ray 3D™ market, The Walt Disney Studios today announced release plans to add four new titles to its growing in-home Blu-ray 3D line-up.

Among the popular films making their Blu-ray 3D debuts are Bolt, Chicken Little, G Force and Meet The Robinsons, all releasing on November 8th. The four new Disney Blu-ray 3D releases have been packaged as Disney Blu-ray Combo Packs, satisfying the multitude of viewing habits across the household whether it’s 3D, 2D, Blu-ray, DVD and/or mobile devices.

―In early January, Disney announced an aggressive plan to bring a wide variety of 3D content to consumers’ in-home experiences, commented Lori MacPherson, Executive Vice President, Global Product Management, The Walt Disney Studios. ―These latest Disney Blu-ray 3D releases all deliver the most superior in-home 3D viewing capabilities, and by offering the films in Combo Packs, we are continuing to provide families with exceptional value, quality, and versatility in a single purchase.

Bolt, Chicken Little, G-Force and Meet The Robinsons, will all join the studios unparalleled catalog of 3D in-home movies which include Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (releasing August 30, 2011), The Lion King: Diamond Edition (releasing October 4, 2011), Beauty and the Beast (releasing October 4, 2011), Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (releasing October 18, 2011), Gnomeo & Juliet (released May 24, 2011), TRON: Legacy (released April 5, 2011), Tangled (released March 29, 2011), Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland (released December 7, 2010), Step Up 3D (released December 21, 1010), and Disney’s A Christmas Carol (released November 16, 2010).

Disney’s Blu-ray 3D Films:

BOLT 3D (November 8)
Prepare to enter a fantastic new dimension of family fun as Disney’s sensational animated comedy leaps off the screen and into your living room. You’ll sit up and beg for more when Bolt springs into action in awe-inspiring Disney 3D.

Bolt is the star of the biggest show in Hollywood. The only problem is, he thinks it’s real. After he’s accidentally shipped to New York City and separated from Penny, his beloved co-star and owner, Bolt must harness all his super powers to find a way home.

Bolt 3D is available as a:
4-Disc Combo Pack (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) for the suggested retail price of $49.99 U.S./$56.99 Canada
3D Movie Download for the suggested retail price of $49.99 U.S./$56.99 Canada

CHICKEN LITTLE 3D (November 8)
Disney’s perfect family film (Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood) is now more fantastic than ever! All systems are go for fun, action and adventure as Chicken Little soars off the screen and into your living room in breathtaking, eye-popping Disney 3D!

When the sky really is falling and sanity has flown the coop, who will rise to save the day? Together with his hysterical band of misfit friends, Chicken Little must save the planet from an alien invasion and prove that the world’s biggest hero is a little chicken.

Chicken Little 3D is available as a:
3-Disc Combo Pack (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD) for the suggested retail price of $44.99 U.S./ $51.99 Canada
3D Movie Download for the suggested retail price of $44.99 U.S./$51.99 Canada

G-FORCE (November 8)
Buckle up for thrilling edge-of-your-seat action and laugh-out-loud fun in Disney’s G-Force as this elite team of highly trained guinea pigs leaps off the screen and right into your living room. Just as the G-Force is about to save the world, the F.B.I. shuts the secret unit down.

But these next-generation action heroes won’t be stopped. Armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, and with the F.B.I. on their tails, the fur flies as they race against the clock to save the world. From the producer of Pirates of the Caribbean and National Treasure, G-Force is fantastic 3D fun for the whole family.

G-Force 3D is available as a:
3-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD) for the suggested retail price of $44.99 U.S./$51.99 Canada
3D Movie Download for the suggested retail price of $44.99 U.S./ $51.99 Canada

MEET THE ROBINSONS (November 8)
Brace yourself for an eye-popping new dimension of imagination and surprises when Disney’s fun-filled family adventure blasts off the screen and touches down in your living room. Get ready to Meet The Robinsons – in amazing Disney 3D!

Join Lewis, a brilliant young inventor who sets off on a time-traveling quest to save the future and find the family he never knew. With the help of the wonderfully wacky Robinson family, Lewis learns to keep moving forward and never stop believing in himself.

Meet The Robinsons 3D is available as a:
3-Disc Combo Pack (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD) for the suggested retail price of $44.99 U.S./$51.99 Canada
3D Movie Download for the suggested retail price of $44.99 U.S./ $51.99 Canada


About The Walt Disney Studios:
For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under four banners: Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, Disneynature, Touchstone Pictures and Marvel. Original music and motion picture soundtracks are produced under Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records, while Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Broadway theatrical productions, Disney on Ice and Disney LIVE!.

For more information, please visit http://www.disney.com/.

Harry Potter 8 Now Third Highest Grossing Film Ever

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” is the Number One Film of 2011

The finale of the series is the top-grossing film domestically and internationally

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Continuing to make box office magic, Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” has now become the top-grossing release of 2011 in all categories: domestic box office, international box office and worldwide box office. The announcement was made today by Warner Bros. Pictures President of Domestic Distribution, Dan Fellman, and President of International Distribution, Veronika Kwan-Rubinek.

The last installment of the blockbuster motion picture franchise has broken numerous box office records around the world in just under a month since its July opening. As of August 8, the film had earned $344.8 million domestically and $801.5 million internationally, for an astounding worldwide box office gross of $1.146 billion, making “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” the third-highest-grossing film worldwide of all time.

Veronika Kwan-Rubinek stated, “‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2’ can truly be called a global phenomenon. The filmmakers and cast, who dedicated their talents to the success of these films for over a decade, share in this piece of cinema history. We congratulate and thank them all.”

Dan Fellman said, “This is another incredible milestone for the last chapter of this historic film series, and for the Harry Potter franchise as a whole. In a crowded and very competitive summer, it is a tribute to both the film and the people behind it that moviegoers are still turning out to enjoy it—whether for the first time or for a repeat viewing.”

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” is the final adventure in the Harry Potter film series. In the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry Potter who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here.

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reprise their roles as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The film’s ensemble cast also includes Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Ciarán Hinds, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Matthew Lewis, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, David Thewlis, Julie Walters and Bonnie Wright.

The film was directed by David Yates, and produced by David Heyman, David Barron and J.K. Rowling. Steve Kloves adapted the screenplay, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling. Lionel Wigram is the executive producer.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” is the first Harry Potter film to be released in both 3D and 2D. Concurrently with its nationwide theatrical distribution, the film is being released in select IMAX® theatres. The film is being distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. It has been rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence and frightening images.

http://www.harrypotter.com/

"The Final Destination" is Free Death Porn

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 68 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Final Destination (2009)
Running time: 82 minutes (1 hour, 22 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violent/gruesome accidents, language and a scene of sexuality
DIRECTOR: David R. Ellis
WRITERS: Eric Bress (based on characters created by Jeffrey Reddick)
PRODUCERS: Craig Perry and Warren Zide
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Glen MacPherson (director of photography)
EDITOR: Mark Stevens
COMPOSER: Brian Tyler

HORROR/THRILLER/ACTION/MYSTERY

Starring: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, Haley Webb, Mykelti Williamson, Krista Allen, and Andrew Fiscella

The Final Destination is a 2009 supernatural horror film and is also the fourth film in the Final Destination film series. The Final Destination takes place three years after the events of Final Destination 3 (2006), which began with the “Devil’s Flight roller coaster accident.” Once again, a group of teens survive an accident in which none of them were meant to survive, so Death stalks them one by one, killing them in elaborately-staged and bizarre accidents.

The Final Destination begins with four young friends enjoying car racing at McKinley Speedway. One of them, Nick O’Bannon (Bobby Campo), has a premonition of a terrible car crash that leads to the deaths of several people, including him and his friends. Nick persuades his girlfriend, Lori Milligan (Shantel VanSanten), and their friends, Janet Cunningham (Haley Webb) and Hunt Wynorski (Nick Zano), to leave. There is indeed a horrendous multi-car crash that leads to death and devastation, but Nick, his friends, and several other people who were supposed to die survive.

Sometime, after the crash, Nick hears that a few of the survivors have been killed in bizarre accidents. He also discovers that there were other disasters in which one of the survivors had a premonition which saved lives. When he learns that those survivors died one by one in strange accidents, Nick starts to believe that Death is also stalking the survivors of the McKinley Speedway crash. Nick and Lori join another survivor, security guard George Lanter (Mykelti Williamson), and set out to break the chain of deaths and hopefully save as many lives as possible. But does Nick really understand how this game of Death works?

The Final Destination is like other Final Destination films – full of mayhem, desperation, death, blood, and mutilated bodies, but this movie isn’t just another gory horror flick. Every time I thought The Final Destination was turning to crap, something inventive, creepy, surprising, and/or shocking pulled me right back into the movie.

The characters are weak and are barely interesting and few of them are even likeable. It is not so much that you care about them; it’s just that you only anticipate the next horrible depiction of violent and bizarre death every time they are on screen. So, the movie works even without having at least one outstanding character, although Mykelti Williamson as George and Andrew Fiscella as the mechanic Andy Kewzer stand out by making something of the nothing the screenplay gives them.

The Final Destination is fun and has the best ending since the original film. It makes me look forward to the next installment.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

"Footloose" Remake Soundtrack Due in September

ATLANTIC RECORDS / WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE RELEASES “FOOTLOOSE” SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 27th

BLAKE SHELTON REMAKES ICONIC “FOOTLOOSE” SINGLE

Soundtrack Features Additional Songs From Big & Rich, Zac Brown of Zac Brown Band, Cee Lo Green, Hunter Hayes, Victoria Justice and Jana Kramer, among others

“FOOTLOOSE” Opens Nationwide in Theatres October 14th

NASHVILLE, TN – (August 9, 2011) – Atlantic Records / Warner Music Nashville announced today that they will release the movie soundtrack for the upcoming Paramount Pictures film, “FOOTLOOSE,” available everywhere on September 27th. The 12-track album features music from the film and includes eight new songs along with remakes of four of the classic hits from the original soundtrack.

Blake Shelton sings the film’s title song, “Footloose” and Victoria Justice and Hunter Hayes join the album with the movie’s love theme, “Almost Paradise.” The star-studded line-up for the soundtrack also includes new music from Big & Rich, Cee Lo Green, David Banner, Whitney Duncan, Lissie and Zac Brown of Zac Brown Band. Other classic songs featured on the album are “Holding Out For A Hero” by Ella Mae Bowen and “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” by Jana Kramer.

Writer/Director Craig Brewer (“HUSTLE & FLOW,” “BLACK SNAKE MOAN”) delivers a new take of the beloved 1984 classic film, “FOOTLOOSE.” Ren MacCormack (played by newcomer Kenny Wormald) is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where he experiences a heavy dose of culture shock. A few years prior, the community was rocked by a tragic accident that killed five teenagers after a night out and Bomont’s local councilmen and the beloved Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) responded by implementing ordinances that prohibit loud music and dancing. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling in love with the minister’s troubled daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) in the process.

“FOOTLOOSE” Soundtrack track listing:

1. Footloose – Blake Shelton
2. Where The River Goes – Zac Brown of Zac Brown Band
3. Little Lovin’ – Lissie
4. Holding Out For A Hero – Ella Mae Bowen
5. Let’s Hear It For The Boy – Jana Kramer
6. So Sorry Mama – Whitney Duncan
7. Fake I.D. – Big & Rich feat. Gretchen Wilson
8. Almost Paradise – Victoria Justice & Hunter Hayes
9. Walkin’ Blues – Cee Lo Green feat. Kenny Wayne Shepherd
10. Window Paine – The Smashing Pumpkins
11. Suicide Eyes – A Thousand Horses
12. Dance The Night Away – David Banner


About “FOOTLOOSE”
Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment present a Dylan Sellers Zadan / Meron Weston Pictures Production of a Craig Brewer Film. Footloose stars Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Andie MacDowell and Dennis Quaid. The film is directed by Craig Brewer from a screenplay by Dean Pitchford and Brewer and Story by Dean Pitchford. It is produced by Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Dylan Sellers and Brad Weston. The executive producers are Timothy M. Bourne, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Jonathan Glickman.

Third "Final Destination" Film Not a Charm

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Final Destination 3 (2006)
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong horror violence/gore, language, and some nudity
DIRECTOR: James Wong
WRITERS: Glen Morgan and James Wong
PRODUCERS: Craig Perry, Warren Zide, Glen Morgan, and James Wong
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert McLachlan
EDITOR: Chris G. Willingham

HORROR/THRILLER

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Texas Battle, Jamie Isaac Conde, Amanda Crew, Sam Easton, and Patrick Gallagher

Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a high school senior, fails to stop an ill-fated roller coaster ride after she has a vision of dying a gruesome death with her friends when the ride goes awry. Some people remain on the coaster, and a mechanical disaster does indeed cause the death of several of Wendy’s friends, including her boyfriend. However, it’s soon clear to her and Kevin Fischer (Ryan Merriman), another survivor, that they were supposed to be killed in the coaster accident. Now, Death is revisiting the survivors and picking them off one by one in a series of grisly accidents.

When I saw the teaser poster for Final Destination 3 in a movie theatre lobby late last year, I was ecstatic. I’d hoped that they’d make a third film in this franchise; in fact, after seeing Final Destination 2, I was sure that New Line Cinema would make another one. Still, as time passed, I forgot about it. Now, that I’ve finally seen the third film, I wish that it were a little better, and I wish they’d put more effort into making it more than just a stiff installment in a popular horror franchise.

Final Destination 3 certainly has its moments. The opening roller coaster sequence and the lead into it are an absolute blast, the kind of the thrill ride the first film offered. Throughout this picture film, the atmosphere is perfectly chilly and filled with a sense of impending doom and creeping dread. Still, it all feels clunky, and not having much of a plot doesn’t help. The gruesome deaths feel contrived; of course, they are, as this is a work of fiction. Still, it shouldn’t seem so obviously overdone, gruesome just for the sake of being a hard R-rated horror flick.

The first film was a cool, teen horror movie with a good-looking young cast. The second film was a grisly delight stuffed to the gills with novel ways for the characters to die painful accidental deaths, and it was darkly comic with a sense of gallows humor surpassing its pedigree. This one is more mechanical than macabre, and only a few of the ghastly deaths really hit home. Some will make you cringe in genuine horror; others will make you cringe in embarrassment for the filmmakers.

As horror movies go, Final Destination 3 is not so much cinematic as it is DVD. Even horror fans who consider horror movies a must-see will find that in the case of this scary movie, they can wait.

5 of 10
C+

Sunday, February 12, 2006

2011 Lebowski Fest Has "The Big Lebowski" Cast Reunion

In celebration of The Big Lebowski Limited Edition Blu-ray™ debuting on Aug 16th, join Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore + T Bone Burnett for a very special evening celebrating all things Lebowski on August 16, 2011 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. The date will also mark the launch of Jeff Bridges' self-titled album.

The evening will include a special Q & A with Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore and T Bone Burnett, as well as a screening of the film and other festivities.

2011 marks 10 years of beautiful tradition with Lebowski Fest and Universal Studios Home Entertainment has teamed up to bring the Achievers the pop-culture event of the century! This limited seating event at the historic Hammerstein Ballroom will be the ultimate celebration of all things Lebowski.

Tickets are now on sale on Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.com/The-Big-Lebowski-tickets/artist/14764

Mark it 10!

For more information, please visit http://www.lebowskifest.com/.