releasing this week: Knight & Day and Step Up 3
No CommentIt’s that time of the week again! Now I still haven’t seen The A-Team so that’s my mission for this week but I assume that if you’re here then you want to know about the new films coming out… and who am I to deny you?
Probably the biggest film this week is the Tom Cruise / Cameron Diaz vehicle – Knight and Day.
Now… I have to be confess, I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise… but he’s grand, I’ll watch him… I am, however, no fan of Cameron Diaz. What can I say? Every time I see her on tv I think she deserves a slap.
This all goes back to that awful bloody travel show she did back in 2005. Trippin’ – where she and her really cool friends went to really cool places to do really cool things and talk about how cool it was to do them. And tell you about the environment. Kind of. Mostly it was about how cool they were. That show made me feel sick. Gah. Look it up on youtube… you won’t thank me.
So… that’s why I was shocked when I saw the trailer for this a couple of months ago and I thought it looked pretty good. I even laughed a few times. Now I’m not trying to say that I think this is going to be a brilliant film. It’s probably not going to be appearing on any top 10 lists any time soon… but it looks like it’s one of the better action comedies to appear in a while. It’s gotta be better than Cop Out, what an waste of time.
Basically, Tom Cruise is some kind of super spy on the run and Diaz gets dragged in somehow. Kind of like Jason Bourne, except less gritty and more funny. Yer man from Buffy is in it as well, Marc Blucas, he played Finn. I wondered what he was up to these days. Actually there’s a pretty decent supporting cast – Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Grace (Lost) and Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood) all appear.
Anyway, like I said. I thought the trailer looked pretty funny and there were some great looking explosions so I think there’s probably enough there to keep action fans amused… Then again, I did see a lot of Cameron Diaz in the trailer so personally, I’ll probably stay away… But, I reckon that as long as you aren’t expecting too much and you can stand the sight of Diaz and Cruise, then it could be a bit of a laugh.
Second this week is Step Up 3D.
I’ve never seen a dance movie before. I’ve never even seen Dirty Dancing… But I’ve always imagined that, while the plots might leave much to be desired, the dancing would be amazing. I also presume that if the Step Up franchise has managed to get to a third film then either it’s got a good story or it’s got some fantastic dancing…
Given the IMDb ratings for the last two installments I suspect it’s probably the latter.
No matter though. As long as it’s got the dancing I’m up for it – I may not watch dance movies but I’ve spent enough hours watching So You Think You Got To Dance With The Stars to have a fair idea of what’s hot and what’s not in dance these days…
And let’s face it, you already know if you’re going to Step Up 3D. This film has a built in audience. I imagine that anyone who watches those shows should be on for this. The trailer looks class, the 3D is supposed to be excellent and for about €11 (depending on 3D prices in your local cinema) you get to see some of the best dancers around, probably some of the best in the world. Cheaper than going to a live show so you can’t really complain.
I have to admit I do wonder where all these dance shows came from though. They seem to be everywhere these days. I guess you could probably trace this recent outbreak back to when the likes of Britney Spears and *NSYNC were established and wowing VMA audiences around the world…
I loved *NSYNC, I’m not ashamed of that. I still think their performance at the 2000 VMAs was brilliant. Remember when people used to sing and dance live? Bloody hell, I can’t believe it was 10 years ago though… But anyway, as far as I can see, it’s only really been in the last few years that we’ve seen proper dance crews on TV as performers in their own right. It makes sense though… 10 years for people to grow up with it, establish it on it’s own footing, make movies and then TV shows about it… sounds like a possible life cycle right?
I could go on waffling a little longer but instead I’ll just leave you with this. To mark the release of Step Up 3D here Universal Pictures Ireland got in touch with some of Ireland’s own dance crews; led by Gillian Deegan they created a dance to one of the songs off the Step Up 3D soundtrack – ‘This Instant’ by Sofia Fresh feat. T.Pain. Enjoy.
Other films releasing this week…
I’ve gone on too long already so I’ll be brief.
Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore – Family film. Follow up to 2001’s surprise success Cats and Dogs. The international Cat and Dog networks find they have to team up to take on their mutual enemy. Kitty Galore.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky – another biopic about Coco Chanel. This one starts just after where the Audrey Tautou one left off and, unsurprisingly, it’s about her affair with Russian musician and conductor Igor Stravinsky.
Undertow – Peruvian drama with a supernatural twist. It’s about a married fisherman, outwardly he has a happy life however he is concealing an affair with a male lover. I’m probably not going to do this justice in a couple of lines but it actually looks really good. It won the Audience Award in it’s category at Sundance, over such excellent competition as Four Lions, and it’s rated highly on the websites that matter. Showing in The Screen on D’Olier Street in Dublin only.
Knight and Day, Step Up 3D, Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Coco & Igor and Undertow are all in Irish cinemas from today, Friday 6th August 2010.
No Comments