Film Review | The Amazing Spider-Man 2
★★★½☆
Freed from the burden of a seen-it-all-before origin story, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a marked improvement from its predecessor and gets more right than it does wrong, but it is still unworthy of its title.
After a flashback gives us more details on Peter Parker’s parents (more on that later), the narrative picks up from where the first left off. Peter (Andrew Garfield) and Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) are very much in love, but Peter is still haunted by the promise he made to Gwen’s Father to stay away from her. Elsewhere, an industrial accident sees Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) transform into dangerous villain Electro, whilst Peter’s childhood friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) re-emerges with secrets of his own.
Film Feature | The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Extended Footage Report
This week, on behalf of HeyUGuys I was invited to a special screening of footage from Marc Webb’s forthcoming superhero sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which included the first 15 minutes in addition to two pivotal scenes. I won’t go into too much detail about what I saw, but here are some of my takeaways from what was revealed. Suffice to say, there’s plenty of reasons to start getting excited.
Film Trailer | The Amazing Spider-Man 2
As we near the end of 2013, the time has come to not only look back at the year’s best (and worst) films, but also to look forward to next year’s offerings. One of the most highly anticipated releases is The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), a sequel to Marc Webb’s not-so-amazing 2012 franchise reboot. The marketing machine has been getting into full swing over the past few weeks, from new posters and stills to not one, not two, but three ten-second teaser trailers granting us a brief look at the web-slinging hero. Now a full two-minute plus trailer has hit the web (no pun intended), and the footage gives us a closer look at what Peter/Spidey will have to overcome.
Interview | Director John Krokidas Talks ‘Kill Your Darlings’
Directed by John Krokidas, Kill Your Darlings is the previously untold story of how murder brought together a young Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston), and William S. Burroughs (Ben Foster) at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that would eventually lead to their Beat Revolution.
The film premiered to rave reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and on behalf of Flicks and the City I spoke to the director John Krokidas about researching his first feature, getting the most out of his actors, and how close Kill Your Darlings came to not getting made.
Read the interview at Flicks and the City here.
Film Review | Kill Your Darlings
★★★½☆
In the past three years a number of films have focused on the poets of the Beat Generation, with Howl, On The Road and Big Sur all enjoying varying degrees of success. Now it’s the turn of first-time filmmaker John Krokidas, who has admirably found a fresh perspective with Kill Your Darlings.
Read the rest of this review at Flicks and the City here.
Film Review | The Place Beyond the Pines
★★★★★
Derek Cianfrance made a name for himself with 2010’s acclaimed romantic drama Blue Valentine. For his follow-up, the director has again opted for drama, this time of the familial kind, with his ambitious fourth feature The Place Beyond the Pines (2013), which makes its way to DVD stands this week.
We begin with a visually arresting long take that introduces us to Luke (Ryan Gosling), one part of a bike-riding circus act. He soon discovers that Romina (Eva Mendes) has had his baby after their one night stand the last time he was in town. Despite the fact that Romina is now with Kofi (Mahershala Ali), Luke feels entitled to his family and is desperate to provide for them. That desperation leads him to oddball mechanic Robin (another great supporting turn from Ben Mendelsohn), and soon the pair are robbing banks. This in turn puts Luke on the radar of local cop Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper).
AMONymous 