‘Homefront’ plays better on home screens
Phil Broker (Jason Statham) is a former undercover DEA agent who gives up his badge and the lifestyles after his action against a biker gang went horribly wrong and it cost the life of his boss’ son. A recent widow who is left with a 9 year old daughter Maddy, Broker decides to retire to a small town to get away from everything. After his daughter fights off a boy who was bullying her at school, Broker finds himself caught as this sets in motion a round of events that end in his direct confrontation with the local Meth drug lord Gator (James Franco). Broker has a mission in his mind to protect his daughter and even with is past coming back to haunt him he remains determined to keep his daughter safe.
Written by Sylvester Stallone as a vehicle for himself, the film ended up staring his Expendables co-star when he decided he might not be the best fit for the role anymore. Homefront has some very solid action set pieces and features decent performances from its leads Statham and a kind of slumming Franco and packs the background with familiar faces. Kate Bosworth puts in some solid work as Gator’s sister; the mother of the bully Maddy defends herself against, as does Winona Ryder as a junkie/love interest that helps Gator. Clancy Brown, Omar Benson Miller, Frank Grillo and Rachelle Lefevre all show up in supporting turns as well.
Spring Breakers is a must own on Blu-ray
New on Blu-ray from VVS Films is the tantalizing and titillating new film from “Kids” scribe Harmony Korine, the heavily buzzed about “Spring Breakers”. Starring a pair of former Disney child stars, a ‘Pretty Little Liar’ and Harmony’s own wife as bikini-clad bandits who desperately want to leave behind their humdrum college lives for sun, drugs and the allure of Spring Break. Spring Breakers has grown with infamy over the explicit nature of its subject matter and its stars as well as the nature of where Franco’s character truly came from, but the film succeeds on its own merits and is one of 2013’s best offerings so far.
Spring Breakers Blu-Ray Review
Starring Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, Selena Gomez, Gucci Mane and James Franco
Written and Directed by Harmony Korine
Four sexy college girls, Faith (Gomez) Candy (Hudgens) Brit (Benson) and Cotty (Korine), plan to fund their spring break getaway by burglarizing a popular fast food shack. But that’s only the beginning. At a motel room rager, fun reaches its legal limit and the girls are arrested and taken to jail. Hungover and clad only in bikinis, the girls appear before a judge but are bailed out unexpectedly by Alien (Franco) An infamous local thug and rapper, Alien takes them under his wing and leads them on the wildest Spring Break trip in history. Rough on the outside but with a soft spot inside, Alien wins over the hearts of the young Spring Breakers, and leads them on a Spring Break they never could have imagined.
‘This is the End’ rings in the apocalypse with laughter
The writers behind comedy smashes “Pineapple Express” and “Superbad”, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, are back with a big screen adaptation of the 2007 short “Jay and Seth vs the Apocalypse”, “This is the End”. Supersizing the cast and budget from the original short, Rogen and Goldberg have turned their directing debut into an ego skewering laugh fest that has many of the younger stars of Hollywood taking a shot at their own egos and reputation.
This is the End
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Rihanna, Jason Segel, Mindy Kaling, Martin Starr and many more
Written and Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg based on the short film “Jay and Seth vs the Apocalypse” by Jason Stone.
The ‘Spring Breakers’ want you in theaters this weekend
New in theaters across Canada this week from VVS Films is the tantalizing and titillating new film from “Kids” scribe Harmony Korine, the heavily buzzed about “Spring Breakers”. Starring a pair of former Disney child stars, a ‘Pretty Little Liar’ and Harmony’s own wife as bikini-clad bandits who desperately want to leave behind their humdrum college lives for sun, drugs and the allure of Spring Break. Korine has long searched for the right follow up to his landmark film “Kids” but has not quite achieved it yet. Will Spring Breakers prove to be it?
Spring Breakers
Starring Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, Selena Gomez, Gucci Mane and James Franco
Written and Directed by Harmony Korine
Four sexy college girls, Faith (Gomez) Candy (Hudgens) Brit (Benson) and Cotty (Korine), plan to fund their spring break getaway by burglarizing a popular fast food shack. But that’s only the beginning. At a motel room rager, fun reaches its legal limit and the girls are arrested and taken to jail. Hungover and clad only in bikinis, the girls appear before a judge but are bailed out unexpectedly by Alien (Franco) An infamous local thug and rapper, Alien takes them under his wing and leads them on the wildest Spring Break trip in history. Rough on the outside but with a soft spot inside, Alien wins over the hearts of the young Spring Breakers, and leads them on a Spring Break they never could have imagined. (more…)
‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ looks to put a spell on audiences
Oz the Great and Powerful 3D (2013)
Starring: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, Zack Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King and Tony Cox
Written by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire based on the works of L. Frank Baum
Directed by Sam Raimi
New in theaters this week from Disney Studios comes the prequel tale based on the legendary Wizard of Oz book and film: Oz the Great and Powerful. The story of how the actual Wizard of Oz ends up in Oz and how he comes to rule is brought to screen by Spider-Man director Sam Raimi complete with his flair for stories grand in scale. So how does Oz the Great and Powerful stack up to the original Wizard of Oz?
When Oscar Diggs (Franco), a travelling circus magician with dubious ethics and results, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s found his path to fame and fortune. Aboard a hot air balloon Oscar is whisked away in a tornado the same way as Dorothy is after him. After landing in Oz, Oscar meets three witches, Theodora (Kunis), Evanora (Weisz) and Glinda (Williams) (more…)
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