movies | Cavalcade of Awesome

Archive for the movies Category

Awesome comic book movie trailers for X-men, Thor and Capt America

Posted in comic books, movies, Star Wars with tags comic books, Marvel Comics, movie trailers, movies, Star Wars on February 17, 2011 by Paxton

There have been several awesome trailers released recently for Marvel comic book properties. I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t post them.

Along with some comments, if you please.

X-Men: First Class – I loved the first two X-Men movies by Bryan Singer in 2000 and 2003 (Wow, it took 3 years to get X2? I didn’t remember that). I was underwhelmed by X3. It wasn’t awful, it just wasn’t GREAT, either. And the more I watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the less I like it as a whole. So, to be perfectly honest, I was not on board with this movie. This trailer changes that. It looks BAD ASS. I know you can cut a trailer to hide a sh*tty movie (looking at you, Legion), but this looks AWESOME. I’m confused though, I thought I saw Nightcrawler in this trailer and if this movie is following the chronology of the existing movies, we shouldn’t see him until X2. Whatever, I’m officially interested and a bit excited for this movie.

Captain America: The First Avenger – I was all in on this movie when Chris Evans was announced. I even stayed on board when they said it was going to be a period piece during WWII (I don’t traditionally like war movies). And this trailer alleviates all my concerns. It looks fantastic. I can’t wait to see more footage of Hugo Weaving as Red Skull. At the very least, this has to be better than the 1990 Capt America movie with Matt Salinger. Right?

Thor – I felt about this movie the way I felt about X-Men: First Class…underwhelmed. I just didn’t think Thor translated very well to a movie. I thought it may look silly with the costumes and Asgard. I mean, you all did see Thor show up in the Hulk TV movie, right? SILLY. However, based on this trailer, I was wrong. Chris Hemsworth totally looks the part of Thor and I now can’t wait to see this.

I have to admit, I doubted Marvel Studios for a second there. Despite the fact that their track record since Iron Man has been better than average, I was worried they were straying from their formula. I need not have worried.

Okay, this isn’t a Marvel trailer, but someone took the audio from the above X-Men: First Class trailer and cut a spectacular Star Wars saga trailer to go with it. I mean, it’s fantastic. Check it out.

5 Comments »

Silence of the Lambs was released 20 years ago today

Posted in movies, pop culture with tags anniversary, movies, pop culture on February 14, 2011 by Paxton

(Via MovieGoods)

Silence of the Lambs was released on Feb 14, 1991, which makes it 20 years old today. Here are some things you probably never knew about the movie.

The Silence of the Lambs book is a sequel to the book Red Dragon. Red Dragon was originally adapted as a movie in 1986 with Brian Cox (left) portraying Hannibal Lecter.

Because Manhunter was a flop, producer Dino De Laurentis passed on making Silence of the Lambs and gave away the rights to make the sequel for free to Orion Pictures.

The skulls on the Death’s Head moths in the movie are not natural markings. The moths were given coverings with the skull marking.

Despite being released in February (traditionally considered a dead zone for Oscar contention), Silence garnered a sweep of the major Oscar award categories including Actor, Actress, Director, Picture and Adapted Screenplay. It is one of only three films to accomplish this sweep (the others are It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest (1975)).

The rights to the book were originally bought by Gene Hackman in order to star. Hackman decided not to do the movie after doing Mississippi Burning because he didn’t want to do another violent movie.

Here’s a newspaper ad for a Sneak Preview of Silence of the Lambs on February 1, 1991 (via Held Over!)

7 Comments »

15 more things I’ve learned about life while watching movies and TV

Posted in hollywood life lessons, humor, movies, pop culture, TV shows with tags hollywood life lessons, movies, pop culture, TV shows on February 8, 2011 by Paxton

1000-tvs1

In March 2010, I posted a list of 17 things I learned about life while watching movies and TV shows. It was extremely popular. It got picked up by WordPress.com and posted on the front page. It’s still one of my most popular articles. So, I thought, why not write a sequel?

And here that sequel is. 15 more things I’ve learned about life while watching movies and television.

When fighting, before punching or delivering a kick, make sure your opponent is standing in front of some breakable object. A wooden wall or glass table or shelving, for example. That way if you miss striking your opponent, you’ll shatter/break the object behind which, while it doesn’t help you in the fight, looks badass. Don’t worry, the object will shatter, not the bones in your hand.

When men take off a necklace, they don’t bother with the latch, they just tear it off. Probably because the latch is broken from the last time they yanked it off their neck. When they give the necklace to a lady, she is able to fasten it around her neck despite it being torn off previously.

If you need to know something, turn on the TV. The channel will automatically be turned to the news and it will be showing the exact news story with the exact information you need. If a friend called to tell you to watch the news, no need to hurry to turn on the TV, the newscaster will repeat exactly what they just said before you turned it on.

All building ventilation systems, air ducts and vents are built big enough to accommodate the size and weight of one or more adults. It’s in the building code.

Land developers routinely build houses on top of ancient Indian burial grounds (or old murder sites, places of spiritual importance, etc). However, the building of the houses don’t seem to upset the spirits, as the ghosts will not decide to violently manifest until after a new owner with a nice happy family has purchased it.

Continue reading →

6 Comments »

The Cavalcade takes a look at the 2010 Oscar Nominations

Posted in Academy Awards, movies, Oscars with tags Academy Awards, movies, Oscars, Oscars Wild on February 1, 2011 by Paxton

This is what I wait all year for. The reason I saw 50+ movies last year. The Oscar nominations.

I’ve been doing this review of the Oscar nominations for about 5 years now. Check out my Oscar nomination reviews from 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007. I’ve clearly shown that I know more than the Academy. So let’s see what I think of the nominations this year. I’m only going to look at the “money” categories because no one really cares about sound mixing unless they are actually a sound mixer.

Best Actor
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful” (Roadside Attractions) – Dammit. Where the f**k did this movie come from? I saw 50+ movies last year and I’ve never heard of this.
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit” (Paramount) – Yes. Agreed. Well done.
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing) – Just watched this. It deserves all the praise it’s getting.
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company) – This is one of those I know I should see and my wife will want to see, but I’m like…”I’ll pass.”
James Franco in “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight) – Apparently this movie is NOT a prequel to the 1993 Renny Harlin classic, Cliffhanger, starring Sylvester Stallone. And Franco does NOT play a younger version of Sly’s Gabe “Mountain” Walker. I don’t know about you, but that adjusts my expectations to somewhere below…zero.

Supporting Actor
Christian Bale in “The Fighter” (Paramount) – I didn’t like this the first time when it was called The Wrestler.
John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions) – I totally thought this was porn when I first read the title. I was like, “Go Academy!” Nope. It’s about a small girl who searches for her druggie dad who put the family trailer up for his bail. Sounds all lovely and depressing. My friend Dr Mike’s wife will love it.
Jeremy Renner in “The Town” (Warner Bros.) – Yes, I couldn’t agree more. This movie is great and Renner is fantastic in it.
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features) – So both Hawkeye (Renner) and The Incredible Hulk (Ruffalo) from the upcoming Avengers movie are nominated for Supporting Actor awards. That’s pretty awesome. Oh, and Batman. Forgot Bale was up there too.
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company) – This movie got a lot of nominations. I know my wife is going to want to watch it.

Best Actress
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features) – Lesbian couple, raising teenagers, Oscar noms, blah, blah, blah.
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole” (Lionsgate) – A couple’s son dies, they drift apart. The Academy loves these depressing dramas.
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions) – Kid searches for trailer park druggie dad. Not porn. Touching.
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight) – Lots of angry lesbian sex between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. Of course I want to see this. Too bad it was filmed by Darren Arnofsky who totally ruined similar sex scenes with Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a Dream.
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine” (The Weinstein Company) – Supposedly a very sexy picture. However, I don’t think I would agree because Michelle Williams is not sexy.

Continue reading →

4 Comments »

Awesomeness Elsewhere – Jan 28, 2011

Posted in 80s, blogging, movies, nostalgia, personal with tags blogging, nostalgia, personal on January 28, 2011 by Paxton

Hello everyone. It’s Friday. TGIF. I just want to catch you up on my activities elsewhere.

— I wrote a nostalgia piece today over at Strange Kid’s Club. I answer the question, “What Makes You a Strange Kid?” It involves Back to the Future, my dad and the Birmingham radio station I-95. Check it out here.

— I also wrote my weekly DVD column. I’m getting some really good feedback on it. If you want to know what to buy this week in DVD/Blu-Ray, then check out this week’s On The Shelves.

Stay tuned, next week I’m going to put up my yearly review of the Oscar nominations. Should be a blast watching me completely second guess the Academy. Did they get it right this year? Come back Monday or Tuesday to find out.

Have a good weekend.