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Paramount Pictures is an American film studio and one of the oldest in the world. Paramount Pictures news and movie trailers - Mission Impossible etc.

Top Gun: Maverick movie trailer is beautiful

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Trailer for American film Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to 1986’s Top Gun. Beautiful is not the usual word to associate with action movies, but I cannot find a better term to describe this teaser video… because it is really beautiful. In cinemas in June 2020 in Malaysia and the United States etc.

Not much thought about the first movie, it was a long time ago. Regardless, the film made Tom Cruise a superstar, and he is reprising his role after more than three decades. There are actually films with longer gap between sequel, such as the Blade Runner (1982-2017)…

There’s probably no feature film that stars the same main lead with such a huge sequel-gap like Top Gun though. Tom Cruise is THE leading actor in both movies. In other cases, the main cast may return but usually in lesser roles for a sequel that comes 20-30 years after the previous one.

Top Gun: Maverick is directed by Joseph Kosinski. Besides Tom Cruise, the main cast also includes Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman and Ed Harris. Val Kilmer, who played a key part in the original movie, also returns but with a small role instead.

Not much info about the plot, it looks like Cruise is becoming a mentor for some new fighter pilots. The film is going to be a hit as long as the story isn’t too bad. The visual effect looks great, and there’s always the nostalgia factor. This trailer certainly gives it a good head start.

The Cloverfield Paradox movie review

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Check out the trailer and my review for American scifi horror film The Cloverfield Paradox. The story follows a group of astronauts who try to solve the global energy crisis, but accidentally open portals to parallel universes which unleash all kind of weird stuff in their space station and bring doom to earth.

In true Netflix fashion, the movie is available on the online streaming service soon after they released the trailer last week. Directed by Julius Onah, and stars Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo and Zhang Ziyi.

Like its previous instalment – the 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016 – the Paradox is just a loose addition to the Cloverfield franchise. The story doesn’t focus on the main event from 2008 but connects in some ways. This new movie (the third instalment) is a bit more relevant than the second though.

The release came as a surprise regardless. Paramount was expected to release this in cinemas like the two previous Cloverfield films, but seems like they think that it would be more profitable to sell the rights to Netflix instead. And they probably made the right choice considering the bad reviews.

What’s wrong with Cloverfield Paradox

It’s a confusing movie if people try to understand the logic. Humans don’t have actual knowledge about parallel universe, we are not even sure if it actually exists. Science fiction films can do whatever they want in that setting because there’s no right or wrong with something we don’t know.

There are other shortcomings in the movie though. To begin with, it’s practical and easier to build wind turbines, solar panels and stuff – or spam nuclear plants if we are desperate – to solve energy problems instead of trying to harness “limitless” power like what they are doing.

There are also some technical errors but most people won’t notice that. The bigger problem is the lack of continuity in the plot instead. They simply put in all the weird events without connecting the dots. It’s not scientifically wrong but it’s a poor way to make a movie. It’s like a child’s doodle.

Zhang Ziyi in The Cloverfield Paradox movie

Another issue is the unnecessary use of Chinese language. I like Zhang Ziyi and I’m always happy to see an Asian face in a Hollywood production. But I find it stupid to have those characters speaking Chinese in an English language film simply for the sake of pleasing a certain market…

It’s especially ridiculous in Paradox because everyone else speaks English in the space station. To make it funnier the whole crew seems to understand Chinese perfectly. I can offer explanation for that e.g. an auto translator (it’s the future after all), but it’s just marketing gimmick to be frank.

It’s not all bad though

Despite the flaws, I still think it’s an average film. The cast is fine, visual effects are decent, and there are entertaining moments too. Can’t say it’s good overall but it’s not terrible. I think many of the reviews and ratings are harsh, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Regardless, the fact that Paramount dumped this probably means we won’t be seeing another Cloverfield film soon. Unless Netflix or others decide to pick up the franchise instead, which is doubtful because of the Paradox flop. It’s difficult to quantify but Netflix must have lost millions of dollars on this.

Update June 2018 – Didn’t see this coming. Producer JJ Abrams confirmed that there will be a fourth movie. And this time it will be a real sequel for the original 2008 film. No further details though.

10 Cloverfield Lane movie trailer

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Trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane, an American psychological thriller film. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, and stars John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr. It’s a spiritual sequel to the 2008 monster movie Cloverfield. In theatres in March in America, and April in Malaysia.

The film was developed from a spec script titled The Cellar. The story follows a woman who, after a car crash, wakes up in a doomsday bunker with two men who insist that a catastrophic event (from the first movie, although not originally so in the script) has left the earth surface uninhabitable.

Seems like a decent thriller film, as the woman ponders between trusting the men or escaping instead. The plot could work as a standalone movie, but the Cloverfield producers decide to pair this up with the franchise, and it could create some huge spoilers for the new movie. People who’ve watched the first instalment know what has happened, and it might take away the surprise element.

I’ve not watched the original film because of motion sickness (with found footage stuff) but I know what it’s about. I actually think that it’s a clever way to make a sequel – with seemingly unrelated story which somehow connects to the main event. The potential is limitless, they can make this into a huge franchise. The challenge though, is to keep the suspense and not making this into a spoiler fest.

Review and updates

It’s a decent movie, could have been better if it’s a standalone production instead. As suspected, the Cloverfield linkup took away the suspense especially in the second half of the film. The ending is anticlimactic too, feels like they insert the last 10-15 minutes just to make it relevant to the franchise. The final parts are unnecessary, and the execution is poor regardless.

The storytelling is good in the first half though; it’s pretty intense when there’s still element of surprise early on. The cast did well too, and John Goodman is simply amazing. Overall it’s still a good movie despite some flaws. Again, could have been better if it’s a standalone film, but I guess it won’t perform as well in the box office if that’s the case. And money speaks loudest in Hollywood.

Update 2018 – Check out the trailer and my review for the new instalment, The Cloverfield Paradox.

Transformers: Age of Extinction movie trailer

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Official teaser trailer for American scifi action movie Transformers: Age of Extinction. It’s the fourth instalment of the live-action Transformers film series. In cinema this summer.

Age of Extinction is directed by Michael Bay, who’s also in charged of all the predecessors. This sequel features an all new human cast though, which includes Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Sophia Myles, Li Bingbing, Titus Welliver and T.J. Miller.

Not sure about the plot but this doesn’t look like the Transformers universe I’m familiar with from my younger days. I understand a film franchise has to continue evolving but it’s not always a good thing to change too much. Going to watch this regardless, hope it’s worth a trip to the cinema.

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World War Z movie trailer

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Trailer for World War Z, an American zombie movie starring Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos etc. Directed by Marc Forster and based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Max Brooks. In cinemas next June.

Pitt stars as a former United Nations investigator who must travel the world to find a way to stop a zombie pandemic. From the teaser seems like he has to get his family out of trouble first.

Zombie apocalypse is a possible thing in real life, all we need is a mutated rabies virus to start an outbreak. The infected may behave in many ways like a zombie, but it make no biological sense that zombies can become superhuman. And thus, I don’t really buy into this fast zombie stuff.

The trailer looks pretty intense though; and I’m a fan of disaster films, so I’ll be watching it regardless.

Update and verdict

The drama, suspense and acting are all pretty good.

There are criticisms about the anti-climax ending but I actually like that part. Not all action movies have to end with a bang; it’s good to be serene sometimes, especially when it’s done right.

Hugo movie trailer

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Trailer for Hugo, a 3D adventure drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. Based on Brian Selznick’s historical fiction novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and adapted for the screen by John Logan. It tells the story of a boy who lives alone in the Paris Montparnasse Train Station in the 1930s.

The cast includes Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer and Jude Law. In cinemas in the United States next month.

This is Martin Scorsese’s first movie in 3D, and family friendly drama isn’t really his forte. Regardless, the video is visually striking, and the child actors looks decent. The plot seems a bit weak though; I know it’s just a trailer but you really have to make a good teaser these days to hit the market.