The Wrestler Trailer

The official trailer for Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler was released tonight and it looks like the movie me and my roommate Caleb have been wanting to make since the sixth grade. Really, this thing looks amazing. Mickey Rourke is the man. This is officially my most anticipated film of the rest of the year. 

Watch the trailer below. Now.

Source: Trailer Addict

YDKS Movies is on MySpace

We're on Facebook, we're on Twitter, we're on RSS Feed and now, finally, YDKS Movies is on MySpace. I've never really been that into MySpace. However, to further bring together the readers of this site closer to us along with expanding us on the net, I decided to have one made. Moviefan225, one of our first readers here at YDKS, made the MySpace for us and I've been customizing it as I have found free time throughout the day. So, if you have a MySpace, be sure to friend us and get in contact with us. 

You can find us on MySpace here:

http://www.myspace.com/ydksmovies

Also, YDKS Movies now has an official email. If you want to contact us, please email us at YDKSMovies@gmail.com.

Star Trek Trailer

As everyone probably knows by now, the new trailer for J.J. Abrams' version of Star Trek hit the web yesterday (and was attached to certain prints of Quantum of Solace this weekend, though not mine). Most people seem to be really into it. I like it for the most part. It's filled with a lot of crazy action and, honestly, it's kind of hard to really gauge what all is really going on in it. However, it definitely looks a lot different than what I imagined for a Star Trek movie. 

For the record, I've never really watched Star Trek... like at all. It's just not my thing. I've always been more of a Star Wars kind of a guy (well, before it sucked). With that said, I was able to be intrigued by this trailer. If it was just another Star Trek film, I wouldn't care at all about it. However, because it is a reboot, is very different and is filled with some pretty awesome special effects, I can't help but be pretty interested. How about that opening in the desert? Just that alone sets this vastly apart from the rest of Star Trek. 

There are times in the trailer were it just all feels like too much but overall it's pretty fun. I don't know what the final product will be like but I will see it. Check out the trailer below. 

Speech of the Week #17

Hey guys, welcome to a column here on YDKS Movies entitled Speech of the Week! For now on, every Monday I will post a new scene from a movie that features a speech of some sort being given. After all, there are a lot of famous scenes in film where characters give an influential speech of some sort. Then again, there are also a lot of scenes where characters give a speech and it just comes off cheesy and lame. In this section, you will see both kinds. That's right, people, I'm giving you the good and bad of film speeches all wrapped up in one great big package. I hope you all enjoy.

This week's speech is basically the end of Scent of a Woman so, if you haven't seen that movie I wouldn't watch this clip. Don't get me wrong- it's an amazing speech. However, you should definitely see this film in its entirety before watching this speech.

In this speech, Al Pacino comes to the defense of Charlie (Chris O' Donnell before he ruined his career) who is basically being screwed over by a headmaster and some of his friends for not confessing who played a prank on the headmaster. Pacino's speech is pretty much awesome and he really made me wanna yell in public and say the f-word a lot. It may sound like I'm putting the speech down in that last sentence but, really, I'm not. The speech is amazing and is basically the reason that Pacino won his first and only Oscar. In fact, this is probably the definition for a great film speech. My favorite parts? When Pacino expresses that he wishes he could take a flame-thrower to the school and when he screams, "F-you too!" to Charlie's "friends." 

Give it a watch. It's awesome.

Quick Review: Quantum of Solace

Since most of my reviews tend to be ultra-long on here, I'm gonna do myself and the reader a favor by doing a section for quick reviews. As busy as my life has been lately, this may be in effect for a while. The first film I am going to give a quick review is Quantum of Solace.

I got back a few hours ago from seeing this movie and, while everyone I went with seemed to really enjoy it, I couldn't say I felt the same (though I didn't really say anything then because I don't believe in raining on people's parades; someone did that to me after Sin City and I still want to kill them). Although Quantum of Solace is much better than most of the older Bond films, it is nowhere near as good as Casino Royale. It can be entertaining at times but, for the most part, it feels very standard and kind of average. Walking out of the screening, the word on my mind was "meh." After thinking about it some more, I feel like that word still sums it up for me.

Going into Quantum of Solace, I didn't really have any expectations. Although I loved Casino Royale and feel like it completely revitalized and redefined the Bond genre of films, I wasn't really pumped or anything to see this new addition. I mean, I wanted to see it but I definitely didn't have any huge expectations to be shattered. With that said, I was still disappointed. 

From minute one, I immediately began to miss the direction of Martin Campbell from Casino Royale. Marc Forster's direction is kind of like that of Paul Greengrass- incredibly shaky and with a very short shot length. However, unlike Greengrass, it's not very effective. The beginning of the film features an overly shaky car cash that I honestly could not tell what was going on in. After a few seconds, my eyes hurt and I just kind of became bored. Most of the rest of the action sequences in the film were like this. Most of the shots in these sequences averaged from one second to half a second. No, really, I am serious. I was so bored / distracted by this filmmaking method that I began to count the shot length. I really really want this method of filming to stop. I believe that there can be a proper way of doing it (see Greengrass' direction in United 93 as opposed to The Bourne Supremacy where even he overused it to a ridiculous amount). Unfortunately, most people that use it are not talented and turn in action sequences that look like vomit. Anyways... moving on...

What else did I not like? Well, the story's pacing was pretty awkward. Even though the film was only an hour and forty minutes, it felt like it was much longer (Casino Royale, on the other hand, was two hours and forty minutes and felt short). I don't feel like a lot of it was particularly memorable. Along with its awkward pacing, the story tends to be overly-confusing at times (something that even my friends who liked the movie agreed on) and, therefore, is not as engaging as it should be. Other than Bond, most of the characters are forgettable (except for Mathis, who is kind of wasted anyways). Even the bad guy (who is pretty weird looking guy) was pretty forgettable. Jeffrey Wright, who is a really great actor, is wasted in a nothing role (though I did just enjoy his presence). Despite all the potential they had of exploring Bond's psyche after what he went through in Casino Royale, they tend to throw it away except for a few particularly effective scenes here and there. What a wasted opportunity. I really didn't like those location-themed titles. They seemed cheesy when compared to the rest of the film's realism. Lastly, Forster's direction and the editing feel very awkward in a few sequences (other than the big action sequences). There's one part where they try to parallel Bond shooting his way through some bad guys with a violent opera that is occurring at the same time. The idea is creative and inspired but the execution is a flawed, muddled mess. Much like all the other action sequences, it's hard to understand what is happening and it's overall unenjoyable.

Did I like anything in this movie? Yes. The main reason to see the movie is to see Daniel Craig continue his awesome portrayal as a very cold but wounded James Bond. Craig's portrayal is just as strong here as it was in Quantum of Solace but, unfortunately, it gets bogged down by a lackluster script and bad direction. Still, it was great to see a continued sense of realism injected into the Bond series. One sequence where this was particularly effective was when Bond attacked Mr. Slate in his apartment. I wasn't expecting this scene to be nearly as brutal as it was. Take that Roger Moore. I have to admit- I did enjoy the little Goldfinger homage they pulled with the oil. That was pretty clever and, at the same time, mean spirited. I liked it. Lastly, towards the end of the film, I felt somewhat of an emotional impact with some of the things that were happening (especially the scene with Bond and the guy at the very end). Too bad that it was at the end of the movie.

Overall, Quantum of Solace is pretty disappointing when you compare it to Casino Royale. All the solid direction, characterization and storytelling are gone. Sure, Craig and the gritty realism are still present but, without a great story or director, there's not much you can really do with this sequel. It's still better than most of the old Bond films but it's not that great either. If I had to label it, I'd say it's just a solid rental. Daniel Craig is still great but he needs a better script and a compotent director to make a better movie next time. And make those shots longer!

6/10

New Watchmen Feature Trailer

Getting tired of Watchmen posts on here? Too bad. Warner Bros. released a new "feature" trailer on Yahoo last night (though I'm giving you a Trailer Addict version). The trailer is also said to be attached to some prints of Quantum of Solace. This trailer attempts to give more story, setting up the murder of the Comedian and Rorschach's investigation that follows. 

A lot of people are complaining about Rorschach's voice on the Internet right now but it doesn't really bother me. Many are comparing it to Christian Bale's super deep Batman voice but, if you read the graphic novel, you can tell from his word bubbles that his voice is shaky and raspy. It probably would have been better as a little more monotone and without any feeling but I think it will work like this for the film. I do have a problem with Dr. Manhattan's voice however. It basically sounds like Billy Crudup's voice with little alteration at all. When reading the graphic novel, I always imagined Dr. Manhattan's voice as deep, booming and almost God-like. If you watch the Watchmen Motion Comics, it is portrayed like this as well. One could argue that barely altering Crudup's voice makes Manhattan more identifable and human for the audience but it's just not what I had in my head at all. Another thing that I really just didn't like at all was the heroes constantly referring to themselves as "Watchmen." Anyone who has ever read the graphic novel knows that they never ever referred to themselve as "Watchmen." Watchmen comes from the protesters' graffiti that stated "Who Watches the Watchmen?" This was used to comment on all the power that these heroes had and if that power was really something we should trust them with when they were actually just as flawed (if not more flawed) than all the rest of us. The only names the groups of heroes referred to themselves as were "The Minutemen" (from the 1940's golden era of the masked vigilante) and "The Crimebusters" (which I understand has been changed to "Watchmen" in the film). I guess it's a nit-picky complaint but it just felt weird to hear Rorschach refer to himself as one of the "Watchmen" is all. Also, this is the second trailer that has featured footage from the new ending. I guess Zack isn't even trying to hide it anymore. Lastly, I did think that some of the trailer was awkwardly cut at times. Although I really like the opening song by Philip Glass, I don't think that "Take a Bow" by Muse was nearly as haunting and powerful as "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" by the Smashing Pumpkins was in the first trailer. 

With those complaints aside, I did like some of the trailer. The opening featuring the murder of the Comedian was pretty beautiful to watch. That shot of him being thrown about the room with that song playing felt almost like I was watching some kind of weird, violent ballet. It was also great to see Rorschach going around, doing his investigating from Chapter 1 of the graphic novel. Also, Patrick Wilson looks and sounds just like I would imagine Dan Dreiberg to look and sound. Although I think Wilson is a really great actor, when he was cast, I was really unsure of him because he doesn't remotely resemble what Dreiberg is in the graphic novel. However, it looks like he gained a lot of weight and they did a great make up job on him. The shot of him and Rorschach in his basement next to the Owl Ship got me really excited. 

Overall, after watching the trailer a few times and thinking about it, I'd say I'm slightly disappointed. It has some good moments but, for the most part, I feel like the trailer's kind of awkward. Who knows what the final product of the film will be like. It looks like it could go any way at this point. But I'm gonna see it. 

YDKS Reaches 300 Posts!

I'm proud to say that this past Tuesday YDKS Movies reached 300 posts. Considering how busy we have all been here since beginning the site, that seems pretty amazing to me. I'd like to thank Jason, Austin, Caleb, Zach, Blossom and anyone who has helped the site in anyway since we began it.

Also, I'm sorry I haven't updated since Tuesday. This week, much like last week, has been incredibly hard on me. It seems like it may be this way for awhile now. However, I will do my best to keep updating. Just bare with me. I'm trying.

Thanks for reading and be sure to look forward to 300 more posts.