This week we've got a couple of sequels, Sacha Baron Cohen playing a dictator, Tom Cruise singing power ballads, and a movie based on a board game. For a look at the movie we'll be showing on Showcase this weekend make sure to check back tomorrow!
The Dictator
When it comes to Sacha Baron Cohen, people tend to either love or hate his work. I'm in the former category, so I'm looking forward to The Dictator, a film (loosely based on a novel by Saddam Hussein) that aims to "tell the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed." If you're a Baron Cohen fan (particularly in Borat and Bruno) this trailer is worth a watch. If you're not a fan or if AIDS, terrorism, and/or Kardashian jokes offend you, well, not so much.
Men in Black III
This might make you feel old, but it's been almost 10 years since Men in Black II was released and 15 years since the original Men in Black debuted. To celebrate those anniversaries - and to make another boatload of cash doing it - Men in Black III is set for release in May, 2012. Will Smith (Agent J) and Tommy Lee Jones (Agent K) are set to reprise their original roles, but this time things are a little bit different, with Agent J traveling back in time and meeting up with a younger version of Agent J (played by Josh Brolin). The first MIB was pretty good and the second was pretty bad...hopefully the alternating quality pattern continues for the third.
G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation
The latest example of a sequel that gets green-lit despite a less-than-thrilling response to the original film is G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation. Critical reaction to 2009's G:I Joe: The Rise of Cobra was unfavourable (it holds a 33% at Rotten Tomatoes) and even fan reaction was lukewarm at best. Still, it pulled in over $300,000,00, which means one thing: sequel, baby. The trailer for G.I. Joe 2 looks promising, but we'll only truly know if it's any good when we see it. And knowing is half the battle.
Rock of Ages
If you want to watch shirtless Tom Cruise sing 80's power ballads...then we are on very different wavelengths. But if you do want to, then get excited for Rock of Ages. Based on the hit broadway musical, the upcoming adaptation stars Diego Boneta and Julianne Hough and also features the aforementioned Cruise, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bryan Cranston, and Paul Giamatti amongst others. It's set for release on June 1, 2012, and you better mark your calendars. If you don't watch it, then Xenu wins.
Battleship
Do you remember playing the board game Battleship when you were a kid and thinking to yourself "you know what, this would make a great movie"? Neither do I. Still, someone must have because there's movie coming out based on the game next summer. The first trailer for the flick, which looks like an aquatic version of Transformers, came out a few months ago, but the new second one gives a look at some new things, namely A) one of the aliens (who looks like Master Chief from Halo) and B) Rihanna (who looks like Rihanna). Anyway, the trailer's alright except for one thing - Liam Neeson should have angrily said "They sunk my battleship!!!" at the end of it, which would have instantly made this my favourite trailer of all-time.