Tag Archives: James Franco

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The Interview (2014)

Review The Interview

If there is one thing The Interview will be remembered for it will be it controversy surround the movie and not the movie itself. During the past few weeks it was reported that Sony had been hacked by a group calling themselves “Guardians of Peace”. They stole a big amount of business sensitive data. This resulted in various movies hitting the internet before their release in cinemas and both internal mails and personal details being published. Threats followed, saying that cinemas showing The Interview could face events that would remember people of 9/11. The hackers group allegedly had ties with North Korea and as the movie is about killing its leader, Kim Jung Un, it would be the reason for the hack.

Initially Sony caved into the demands and issued a statement that the movie wouldn’t be released anymore after all the big American chains pulled out of showing it. Even president Obama responded and said not showing the film wasn’t a wise choice. On Christmas evening though Sony announced that the movie would be available immediately on various VOD platforms like Youtube, Google Play en Xbox. It’s a unique situation that such a “big” movie is offered in such a way to the consumer. The next couple of weeks will show if this strategy has meant financial success for Sony. If that is the case it could open the doors to other studios releasing their movies in this way as well. It would finally give the choice to the consumer to watch the movie at home immediately or head to the cinema. But back to The Interview. Has the controversy about it been valid? Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… James Franco

Overview in pictures of the roles and movies of actor James Franco

James Franco was born on April 19, 1978 in Palo Alto, California. He went to Palo Alto High School and appeared in several plays. During high school he got into trouble with the law for various things like graffiti and shoplifting and briefly was a ward of the state, looking at juvenile hall. He managed to change and went to university in California where he majored in English. He decided to drop out after his freshman year to pursue an acting career. He took lessons with Robert Cearnegie at the Playhouse West. His first appearance on a screen was in a Pizza Hut commercial, but he soon acted in several TV shows like Pacific Blue, 1973, To Serve and Protect and Freaks and Geeks. His first movie role was in Never Been Kissed and played James Dean in the James Dean TV movie for which he got nominations for a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. His next role would introduce him to a world wide audience, playing Harry Osborn in Spider-Man. Looking at his filmography you can say he is a very hard working actor, acting since 1997, with 84 titles to his name. These include City by the Sea, Tristan + Isolde, Flyboys, Pineapple Express, Milk, Eat Pray Love, 127 Hours, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Spring Breakers and Oz the Great and Powerful. Continue reading →

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Spring Breakers (2012)

Review of the movie Spring Breakers

Life is what you make it. It is one of those phrases which seems to have lost its power and doesn’t mean much anymore, but as Springbreakers shows, it still holds true. When a couple of teenage girls decide that they all want to head to Florida to party during spring break, they are willing to do anything to make sure that they have the money to go there. They want to escape their everyday existence, which has become boring to them. They rob a restaurant and head over to Florida to party and live out their dream, which eventually involves gangsters, guns and drugs. Continue reading →

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Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Review of the movie Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

The last couple of years I’ve read a lot of complaints about there not being enough originality in Hollywood and that too much sequels and prequels are being made. Personally I never had an issue with them, at least not if the quality of them are good (which I admit isn’t always the case). Oz the Great and Powerful is a prequel to the classic The Wizard of Oz and tells the story of how that wizard ended up in Oz and how he turned into the wizard. Continue reading →

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Yes, it is the movie with the title I’ve made most fun of this year. Of course there wouldn’t be any other way to make it clear to the movie going audience that this is a prequel to the classic Planet of the Apes. It has been a couple of years since I last saw that, but that ending is one of those twists that deserves a spot in a list of unexpected endings. After that a couple of sequels were made (which I didn’t watch) and even Tim Burton tried his hand at a remake (which the critics really didn’t like). With that history lesson out of the way the question is whether this prequel is worth checking out. How did those “damn dirty apes” manage to take control of the planet? Continue reading →

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127 Hours (2010)

127 Hours is tells the true story of Aron Ralston, a mountain climber who had an unfortunate fall, where a rock fell onto his right arm, trapping him. (for those who don’t know the story there is a spoiler following, highlight to read) [spoiler]In the end he had to cut of his own arm to survive.[/spoiler]
Even if you do know the story, is this film is worth watching? Do you really want to be stuck in one place for almost an entire movie, like we’ve seen in Buried? Continue reading →

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Date Night (2010)

Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire (Tina Fey) Foster have been married for many years. They work very hard and have two kids. After all these years the excitement of their marriage is starting to disappear. Even their weekly date night is not that special anymore as they go out to eat at the same restaurant and are home again before ten o’clock. When they hear that some close friends of theirs are splitting up, Phil decides to do something different on their date night. They head for Manhattan to eat at a very trendy restaurant, which Claire has been wanting to eat at for ages. When they arrive they find out that the restaurant is so popular that you a reservation has to be made months in advance. Phil does not want to go and decides to pretend he’s someone else when a name of another couple is called and no one responds. While they are enjoying the excellent food they are approached by two men who ask them to step outside as they need something from them. This is the start for a fun (and exciting) comedy Continue reading →