Preview Perfection: The Gosling Effect

After brushing my teeth, my favourite thing to do before bed is put on my Front Row and peruse previews. Here are a couple of films I can't wait to see:

1) Gangster Squad - October 2012 (Warner Bros.)

If you haven't seen this, prepare to be blown away. Literally. The cast is ridiculous: Penn, Brolin, Stone, Nolte and yes ladies, GOSLING. Nuff said. 

2) The Sound of my Voice - Selected theatres now (Skyscraper Films)

I'm still in awe of Brit Marling's haunting performance in Another Earth, and hoping to get out this week to see her in this sci-fi flick (Marling also doubles as a writer). 

3) Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap - June 15 

Ice-T takes us on an intimate journey through the birth and evolution of hip hop. Hearing from influential artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, Big Daddy Kane, Bun B, KRS-One, Common, Kanye West and Eminem. 

4) Rise of the Guardian - November 2012 (Dreamworks)

Tooth Fairy + Easter Bunny + Sandman + Santa = the Dream Team. What more can I say? Except, why didn't anyone think of this sooner!

5) Ruby Sparks - July 2012 (Fox)

Paul Dano stars as a struggling novelist who wills the love of his life into existence. This makes my heart swell. I love love. 

Enjoy! 

Marvelled by The Avengers

This film had so many unique visuals to choose from - but I decided to take the patriotic approach with a Captain America inspired colour-blocked ensemble. 

Jeans, blouse and purse - thrifted

 Ankle Booties - ASOS 

 Blazer - Urban Outfitters

Necklace & Bracelet - F21

Marvel's The Avengers sees iconic superheroes the Hulk, Thor, Captain American, Iron Man, Black Widow and Hawkeye team-up when an unexpected enemy threatens earth.

Joss Whedon masterfully weaves together the stories of the six heroes into a quick-witted, fantastical action-packed adventure.

What is more impressive is that the characters don't overshadow each other's glory -although they start off with a ‘my hammer is bigger than yours’ attitude - instead their interactions and relationships make this everything a movie of this genre should be and more. 

Let's break it down: 

Nick Fury - Samuel L. Jackson is a badass. Period. I pretty much want to channel my inner-Aaliyah and bring the eye-patch back in a big way.

Captain America - Chris Evans earns stars as the strategy-based, ever-idealistic soldier who struggles to understand the world he only wants to protect.

Black Widow - Props to Scarlett Johansson for playing in the boys club and actually being cool, instead of the over-sexed playmate that we're accustomed to seeing in female action roles. 

Hawk Eye - I generally love Jeremy Renner and he doesn't disappoint, but Hawkeye certainly isn't the selling feature of this film. 

Thor - I've never been the hugest fan of Thor, but I could definitely listen to Chris Hemsworth say "impenetrable" until the world ends.

Iron Man - And then there's Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man. Stark, with his ignorant confidence and genius is the Kanye West of superheroes. He's the producer. He injects the team with the confidence they need to reach success. He makes the bigger man (literally) worth his sweat. 

You can't deny he's a cocky mother sucker, but either can you that greatness could not be achieved without it (yes, I’m a HUGE Kanye and RDJ fan). 

The Hulk - Outside of RDJ, I was most impressed with Mark Ruffalo's smashing portrayal of Bruce Banner's conflicted genius. I expected it to be far beyond that of Eric Bana’s, but was not expecting him to surpass Ed Norton. 

The Avengers was marvelous – it exposed what I love most about superheroes movies:

That perhaps war is not won on sentiment, but humanity is. 

What makes us uniquely human is the belief that if we conquer our differences and unite our strengths we can be great -it's also what makes us worth saving.

There will likely be a sequel, and in that case I’m hoping a few more soldiers join the roster. Namely, Spider Man (I’m thinking the upcoming origin film is setting him up as a shoe-in) and a little Wolverine action would also be appreciated.

I'm looking forward to a superhero-inspired summer with The Amazing Spider Man and The Dark 

Knight Rises (sick trailers) hitting the screens this July. 

Thinking Like a Man

Based on Steve Harvey's best-selling book, Think Like a Man follows four men whose relationships take a turn when their ladies buy Harvey's book and put his words to action. Realizing they've been betrayed by one of their own, the fellas attempt to use the book to teach the ladies a lesson. 

Cast: Kevin Hart, Gabrielle Union, Meagan Good, Steve Harvey, Michael Ealy, Jerry Ferrara

TYPICAL. 

Kevin Hart gave the film heart and humour, but otherwise ugghh. Typical cast, typical stereotypes, typically predictable. And the fashion SOOO typical (Meagan, that belt was not good.. you should know better). 

Essentially it was every other black film with a rotated cast and akwardly-inserted excepts of chiclet-mouth himself (Harvey) telling women how they should behave and what they should be... thanks, but no thanks. 

Basically it was a two-hour book promo...thanks, but no thanks. 

My beef with this whole book/movie is this: you tell women not to settle, but then thats the advice you give. The "Women Who's a Man" aka successful, has her stuff together, has to temper her expectations, and essentially lower her standards. Why? Answer me that Steve. 

However, the men in this film were fiiiiiiinnnee and it was mildly entertaining, but the cast lacked depth and it was certainly not cinematic excellence. 

Speaking of fiiiiiinnee, my favourite part of the film was the soundtrack and most notably John Legend's Tonight (although it probably played 10 times): 

The title track by Jennifer Hudson, Neyo and Rick Ross is also far more entertaining than the film:

Thankfully I have something more realistic to look forward to - the Avengers hits theatres this Friday.