Review: White House Down

“White House Down” is no “Independence Day,” but it is a major step up for Roland Emmerich primarily because he manages to successfully embrace humor while doing what he does best – blowing things up

John Cale (Channing Tatum) wants to be a good dad to his politics-obsessed daughter Emily (Joey King), but he isn’t around enough to do the job right. As a quick fix, he scores them a pair of passes to The White House so he can apply for a job in the secret service and finally become her hero. Even though John is quickly denied by agent Carol Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhaal) for his lack of respect for authority, he still gets the chance to prove himself when The White House is overrun by intruders and he winds up being the only one who can save the president (Jamie Foxx) and foil their plan.

It’s a summer blockbuster featuring Channing Tatum as an action hero, Jamie Foxx as the President of the United States, and an attack on The White House. There’s really only one way for this flick to work, Roland Emmerich knew it, and seized the opportunity in the best way possible.

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The Best – and Worst – Movie Trailers of the Week

Based on the film’s first trailer, the sex-addiction scenarios in Stuart Blumberg’s Thanks for Sharing could go one of two ways: unintentionally laughable or genuinely bittersweet. This one has a good shot at cracking the top or bottom three along the way, but for now we’re keeping neutral and giving those spots to six far more deserving candidates.

The Best Stuff

1. The Counselor

It can be tough to connect to a promo when there’s little to no story information, but the first international teaser trailer for The Counselor does such a spectacular job of conveying the film’s tone and intensity that the skeleton of the world becomes so engrossing it leaves you foaming at the mouth for more.

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Food Comes to Life at Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Sneak Peek

Vegetarians beware; if Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 ever becomes a reality, you’ll have absolutely nothing to eat.

The sequel picks up 60 seconds after the first film left off when Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader) manages to stop his Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator (FLDSMDFR) from turning any more water into mutated food. Flint, his family and friends are thrilled that he managed to destroy the machine and save the day, but now Swallow Falls needs some serious cleaning-up. Live Corp. bigwig and Flint’s hero, Chester V (voiced by Will Forte), swoops in to get the job done, but requires that everyone vacate the town while he takes care of business.

Flint relocates to San Fran Jose, California and takes a job at Live Corp., an idea factory that employs only the best and the brightest. It’s there that Chester V calls upon Flint for help. In order to clean up Swallow Falls, they need to track down the FLDSMDFR, but the Live Corp. team can’t manage to find it. Eager to please his idol, Flint agrees to head home to locate it himself.

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Interview: Paul Feig Brings The Heat

2011’s Bridesmaids undeniably put female-driven comedies back on the map, but whether or not the film continues to have a ripple effect throughout the industry, director Paul Feig is here to ensure Hollywood’s funniest leading ladies get their well-deserved time in the spotlight.

Feig had been supporting female-driven art long before Bridesmaids, having directed a number of episodes of “Weeds” and “Nurse Jackie,” but after snagging two Academy Award nominations and an incredible $288.4 million at the worldwide box office, Bridesmaids was an industry game changer, putting Feig in prime position to jump aboard The Heat, another feature with a pair of ladies at the helm.

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From the Set of James Wan’s The Conjuring

I’d like to bet a number of you at least wonder whether or not paranormal activities really go down. No? Are you a total nonbeliever? Perhaps you should look into the work of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a husband-wife team of paranormal investigators who’ve logged some incredible, out-of-this-world happenings including the infamous Amityville Horror.

With loads of supposedly true experiences ripe for a big screen adaptation, the Warrens’ files are a Hollywood goldmine and Warner Bros. knows it. The studio now has The Conjuring on the way, a film that tells the true story of the Perrons, a family of seven living in Rhode Island that suffers at the hands of sinister spirits in their own home in the 1970s. Lili Taylor stars as the matriarch, Carolyn Perron, and Ron Livingston as her husband, Roger. Desperate to keep their children safe, Carolyn and Ron call in Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) to investigate.

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The Best – and Worst – Movie Trailers of the Week

The first teaser trailer for Disney’s Frozen will absolutely melt your heart, but it barely got edged out of this week’s top three by another animated trailer that packs a particularly exciting nostalgic appeal.

The Best Stuff

1. The LEGO Movie

If you consider yourself a LEGO kid, or perhaps even a LEGO adult, the first teaser trailer forThe LEGO Movie is an absolute winner. There’s the slightest sense that some of the humor might fall a little flat, but we’re only at the teaser stage so the reveal of the characters, the LEGO-piece animation, and those wonderfully nostalgic sound effects make for an excellent start.

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From ‘Trollhunter’ to ‘V/H/S’ – Movie Monsters Deserving of Their Own Prequels

Back in 2001, Mike and Sulley were a Monsters, Inc.factory dream team. Sulley racked up enough scares to get himself to the top of the scare charts and Mike functioned as the ultimate wingman, keeping his big best furry friend on top of his game. But no one just starts at the top. They had to work their way up and, it turns out, watching Mike and Sulley find their groove at college makes for a worthy Monsters, Inc. prequel. In honor of Monsters University’s June 21 release, we take a look at 10 other big-screen aliens, dinosaurs and obscure creatures deserving of a prequel of their own.

Cloverfield Monster

Due to the found-footage perspective, we never get to learn all that much about the Cloverfield monster’s origins, but even though producer J.J. Abrams, director Matt Reeves and writer Drew Goddard chose to do that deliberately to make the point-of-view approach more realistic, they still did go into production with a solid understanding of “Clover’s” condition. Abrams explained, “He’s a baby. He’s brand new. He’s confused, disoriented and irritable. And he’s been down there in the water for thousands and thousands of years.” Reconsidering the monster’s New York City rampage with those attributes in mind undoubtedly makes you wonder where did he (she?) come from and why.

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Quiz: Which Pixar Characters Are You?

You likely won’t track down a Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth-Class or your very own talking dog like Dug anytime soon, but thanks to TheFandom.net and Movies.com, you can take a step into the Pixar realm with your very own Pixar Identification Card.

The fine folks over at TheFandom.net are dedicated to everything and anything fandom related – Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Star Trek and loads more — but after the success of their ID card-producing Universal Fandom quiz, they’re looking to branch out and tackle Pixar, too. Similar to the Universal Fandom quiz, which requires you to answer a series of questions to determine which breed, species or house you belong to within each franchise or narrative, the Pixar quiz will use your answers to tell you which character you are in 10 different Pixar movies.

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Review: World War Z

“World War Z” is formulaic and predictable, but the thrill of watching Brad Pitt survive the impossible and do his part to save the world makes it a satisfying offering for the summer season.

It’s a typical day for the Lane family – until they drive their car straight into a hoard of ravenous zombies. Even with the bitten turning in seconds all around him, Gerry (Brad Pitt) manages to get his wife (Mireille Enos) and two young girls (Sterling Jerins and Abigail Hargrove) to safety with the help from an old pal from Gerry’s United Nations days, Thierry Umutoni (Fana Mokoena). The catch is, Thierry wants Gerry back. Gerry ditched his UN investigator duties to spend more time with his family but now, Thierry is convinced that he’s the guy to track down patient zero and fix this whole thing.

One of my favorite parts of a disaster movie is seeing how people react and life changes as the impending doom approaches. It isn’t always necessary – like in “28 Days Later” where Jim first wakes up 28 days into outbreak – but if you’re going to dabble in pre-disaster character development at all, you might as well dig deep. The catastrophe will be all the more impactful for it. Sadly, “World War Z” misses the mark in that respect.

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TThe Best – and Worst – Movie Trailers of the Week

The first looks at Evangeline Lilly and Luke Evans in action, and the return of Orlando Bloom are exciting and all, but the very first trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug falls short of evoking that overwhelming anticipation that should come from the first trailer for an impending blockbuster.

The Best Stuff

1. Elysium: The latest theatrical trailer for Elysium is an extended one and it’s still not enough. This baby rocks the ideal balance between character development and story information, essentially functioning as an experience in itself. However, fortunately, it falls just shy of showing too much and winds up making you feel like you’re in the know to the point that you’re invested, and that leaves you desperate for more.

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