VideoETA News

Project 52: 'Shame'

I know that technically Shame falls just outside the parameters that I set for this little project, having been released in December of 2011, but I saw this film this weekend and I have to write about it. Besides, what good is having rules if you can't bend them from time to time?

Speaking of bending the rules, this film is no stranger to the taboo. It is the first NC-17... Read More

'Anchorman 2' trailer insults convicts & everyone else

It's the South Park style of comedy, but it's also effective. Insult everyone and no one can really claim to be offended. This approach is part of the reason that Anchorman was so successful and from the first look trailer below, it seems that the sequel is picking up right where the first one left off.

The trailer also provides all that you need to know going in to see Anchorman... Read More

Short film debuts characters from Disney's 'Frozen'

It looks like Disney Animation is taking a page out of rival Blue Sky Studio's playbook. You might recall that Blue Sky, the animation arm of Fox, really hit the stage with the breakout hit Ice Age back in 2002. While the film was pretty good and the sequels were at best mediocre photocopies of the original, the one interesting thing that stuck with me for the last decade was... Read More

Oscar Watch: Leo dances like a fool in 'Wolf of Wall Street' trailer

Martin Scorsese knows a thing or two about making New York movies. I suppose the only director "more New York" than him would be Woody Allen. Of course, you wouldn't hire Woody Allen to tell a story of Wall Street greed and mob infiltration.

Nope, for that type of story, there's no better director out there than Scorsese. And besides, I don't think you'll ever hear a Kanye West tune play... Read More

Monday Morning Mixer: It's a bird... It's a plane...

It's the Monday Morning Mixer.

Well, this is the day that we've been waiting for. Today would tell us one or another which way the Summer of 2013 would be remembered for. Would it be the train wreck that so many thought it would be after last Summer's stellar performance. Or would it simply be a further indication that the box office is well on its way to recovery?

I'm not quite... Read More

New 'Elysium' trailer gives away too much

Usually, I'm a guy who says that there can never be too much. There's never too much whipped cream on a piece of chocolate pie. And there's never too many good times to fit into a weekend.

However, there is a disturbing trend that I'm noticing in trailers these days and that has to do with giving away too much. It seems that the studios have gotten to the point where... Read More

Project 52: 'Mud'

I like Matthew McConaughey, but I wouldn't say that I'm a die-hard fan. He's good at what he does and that usually entails being goofy and taking his shirt off. So, imagine my surprise when I heard about this film and the first trailer sort of hinted that McConaughey might be able to handle meatier roles.

After watching the trailer, the film Stand By Me immediately popped into my head because... Read More

Oceans of blood gush from '300' sequel trailer

If there's one thing that 300 didn't shy away from, it was the copious amount of blood in the film. If the first trailer for the prequel/sequel 300: Rise of an Empire is any indication, there will be even more blood in the upcoming film.

In fact, the film takes the fighting to the water and the oceans naturally run red with all of the bloodshed. While Zach Snyder didn't direct... Read More

Oscar Watch: Naomi Watts channels the People's Princess

While we officially kicked off the Oscar Watch for 2013 in May, this is the first look at one of the leading contenders for Best Actress. By all accounts so far, the Best Actress Oscar is Naomi Watts' to lose this year.

Not only is she a talented actress with two Oscar nominations already under her belt, but she's portraying one of the world's most iconic figures of the 20th Century,... Read More

Legolas and Smaug cameo in 'Hobbit 2' trailer

Move over Game of Thrones, you're not the only one on the block to have dragons. Finally, Smaug, the dragon and titular character of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, sees the light of day at the end of today's first trailer for the second film in the trilogy.

And he's not the only one getting noticed.

I love it when they release a new Hobbit trailer because all of the Tolkien... Read More

Monday Morning Mixer: 'The Purge' cleans up at the box office

This is the calm before the Man of Steel storm at the box office and while there were plenty of surprises this weekend, I think the biggest one was just how robust the business was ahead of next weekend. Personally, we went and watched Mud this weekend and our showing was packed to maybe 90% capacity.

While relatively strong capacity numbers aren't surprising for a limited run film, what was surprising... Read More

Finding love at the movies and vice versa

"Never marry someone who doesn't love the movies you love. Sooner or later, that person will not love you." - Roger Ebert

Today marks the two year anniversary of marital bliss to my loving and very patient wife Julie. As I was struggling to come up with the perfect gift to express the wonderful happiness that were the last two years of my life, I was having trouble.

I don't think I'm... Read More

Project 52: 'Life of Pi'

This concludes the trilogy of films that I was able to watch while on vacation. Life of Pi is a film that, on face value, I was sure that I wouldn't like. Whenever they say that a book is not able to be filmed, they are usually right.

I had not read the book, but both my wife and sister-in-law had and they were both curious as to how the written... Read More

New 'To-Do List' red band trailer gets raunchy

A lot sure has changed since the last time we spoke about The To-Do List. Namely, the film was pushed back from its Valentine's Day release to a mid-Summer date that aimed to capitalize on the fun, summery aspects of the film.

One thing that hasn't change though is the hard R territory that it hopes to exploit. The premise is pretty simple, a high school valedictorian graduates with her virginity... Read More

Superman shills for phones and razors

Do you remember the good old days? You know before CGI and the countless number of product placements in films?

It's gotten so bad that they've created a movie that tackles this single epidemic. Of course, the problem with wanting to see the biggest and best explosions possible is that they are really expensive.

Unless you're happy with seeing a dude in tights as the superhero you look up to, then you're... Read More

What's in a name? Worst sequel titles ever

Ever since Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, we have come to ridicule, shame and outright mock those in Hollywood who are in charge of coming up with sequel titles. It's now perfectly accepted to add "Electric Boogaloo" to any sequel title in a surefire way to denote derision of the film or title choice.

Case in point: 22 Jump Street: Electric Boogaloo.

That's not a typo. In fact, I suppose you can thank... Read More

Review: 'Adventure Time' on Blu-ray is good for the soul

It's not very often that a television show designed for kids reaches a broader appeal. That's exactly what has happened with the Cartoon Network show Adventure Time. It's not only a hit with teens and pre-teens but it's also a favorite of older generations. The show has spawned toys, video games, comic books, and a spin-off show. It's also earned three Primetime Emmy nominations.

Adventure Time is the animated story of... Read More

Monday Morning Mixer: Will Smith crash lands at the box office

What's that old saying? It's good to be back? Well, it still rings true, although it feels a little weird slipping into my Monday Morning boxer shorts this morning after such a long layoff.

But I'm a professional and I will soldier on. I do want to thank Tim for graciously volunteering to take on MMM duties in my absence. I think he did a wonderful job and if we ask... Read More

Project 52: 'The Guilt Trip'

On paper teaming up Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand in a road-trip comedy sounds like such a good idea that it just had to be bad, right? Well, that's what I thought when I started to see the trailers for this film, but much like judging a book, you shouldn't pass judgment on a movie by its trailer.

Either that or the studio needs to make better trailer, but that's a... Read More

Trailers gone wild, it's time for a change

You've got green bands and red bands; international and domestic. There are outtakes, film clips, TV spots, bloopers and so on. When it comes to trailers and promoting a film before it is released, we are in the middle of a crisis and no one is doing anything about it.

I get it. We live in the age of social media where it's incredibly easy to tweet a link or post... Read More

'Machete Kills' rocks harder in Spanish

If there's one thing that you can expect from Robert Rodriguez, it's the unconventional. So, I supposed there's really no reason to be surprised that the first trailer for Machete Kills debuts in Spanish.

In fact, after watching the trailer, I really can't imagine it any other way. Oh, I'm sure they will release an English version at some point because we Americans don't like to read subtitles or watch anything... Read More

Project 52: 'Parental Guidance'

Between my admission earlier concerning my lack of understanding of Fast & Furious and what is to follow, I have a feeling that I'm going to have to surrender my "man card." If there's been one constant in this Project 52 journey this year, it would be to expect the unexpected.

You would think that I would know my movie tastes better than anyone, but you would be mistaken. So far,... Read More

Sorry, I Just Don't Get 'Fast & Furious'...

... and I'm OK with that.

This weekend provided yet another glowing example that I just don't get it. Sometimes, I'm clueless, not hip, the anti-cool. And yet, it doesn't bother me one bit.

While the rest of the world in my demographic flocked to the megaplexes this weekend to see Fast & Furious 6, I cleaned out a room and played with my daughter. This isn't one of those preachy pieces... Read More

Jennifer Aniston strips to save 'The Millers'

Here's a film that has been on our radar for a while now. In fact, Dannette included We're the Millers on her sleeper list of 2013 films. But, this is the first look that we've gotten of what could be this year's breakout comic gem.

And what an eye-opening look it is.

Warner Bros. released both a regular trailer and a red band explicit trailer with about 15 seconds of additional footage.... Read More

'Don Jon' trailer gets nostalgic with Tony Danza and Marky Mark

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or JGL for short, has been acting forever, but it's only been the last five years or so where he's really gone supernova. So, I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising that he's finally branching out into writing and directing.

What might be surprising is the content of said movie, Porn. Yes, that's Porn with a capital P because for Don Jon, Porn is right up there with family... Read More

New 'Man of Steel' trailer kicks Krypton butt

After being pretty much blown away by the first trailer for Man of Steel, the trailers that followed were OK, but they definitely didn't knock us out of our codpiece. The trailer below sent many a codpiece flying.

As I've mentioned countless times, I'm not a huge comic book fan and to be honest, I never really considered the Superman movies to be comic book movies in as much as they... Read More

Return to 'Return of the Jedi' one more time

Can you believe that it's been 30 years since the release of what was then the ultimate Star Wars movie? It's true. Return of the Jedi hit theaters on May 25, 1983 and ever since that day, we were torn with the finality of the film and our desire for further adventures from Luke and the gang.

Thanks to Disney, we will finally see Luke, Leia and Han back on the... Read More

'The World's End' new & improved trailer - now with robots!

You may recall that I wasn't blown away with the first trailer for The World's End. Of course, you'll also remember that I left the piece on a hopeful note, putting my faith in the usual suspects of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

It seems that after watching the second trailer (or first full-length trailer), that my worries were all for naught. We delve a bit deeper into the... Read More

Monday Morning Mixer: Held over with a 'Anchorman 2' tease

Back before the days of multiplex theaters, movie houses would schedule films for a one-week run. If a film performed well, it would be "held over" for another week of showings. That's exactly the case with this Monday Morning Mixer. You guys loved my performance so much last week that I've been held over for another installment.

Actually, no. Your regular MMM host John decided to extend his holiday for another... Read More

Red band trailer for 'Hangover 3' get nostalgic

Lots of film franchises have ended with great fanfare. In recent years both Harry Potter and Twilight had eagerly anticipated finales that put a cap to the series in a bittersweet way.

Call me crazy -- Chow-caliber crazy -- but I feel that way about The Hangover Part III. I can't wait to see how this outlandish trilogy ends but I'm also a little sad that it's all coming to a... Read More