The Amazing Spider-Man‘s first trailer has popped up on one of my favorite trailer sites, Movie-List.  Considering The Dark Knight Rises will be released in the theatres around the same time as The Amazing Spider-Man and the San Diego Comic Con is about to start, I guess the trailer would be expected.  Alas, this is not a teaser trailer.  Many of the actors that are in this film are in this trailer.  Of course, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are in the trailer, but also Dennis Leary, Rhys Ifans, Campbell Scott, Embeth...

Cowboys & Aliens is one of those movies that I have been waiting all summer to see, though with a sliver of doubt in my heart.  I  mean, can a movie titled Cowboys & Aliens really be that good?  So far, the reviews are mixed on this one.  Let me tell you, sometimes critics take themselves and every movie they see too seriously.  Were they expecting a riveting drama and an award winning script?  Those who were are the ones who hated this movie.  With enough action, thrills and laughs to fill a ten gallon hat, it’s...

I eagerly awaited the screening of Crazy, Stupid, Love.  I loved the trailer, and I loved the actors that are featured in it.  It is Ryan Gosling’s first foray into comedy, and paired with one of the best comedic actors right now, Steve Carrell, I expected it to be a good movie with plenty of laughs.   The movie that I saw was actually more complex than the one I was expecting, and that is a good thing. The general story of the Crazy, Stupid, Love is Emily (Julianne Moore) wants a divorce from Cal (Steve Carrell) after...

Sarah’s Key is based on a novel of the same name by Tatiana de Rosnay that is a national bestseller.  I have not read the novel.  It is a rare occasion when I have not read the novel before seeing the film, but Tatiana herself said that the film translation was very close to the book. The story of Sarah’s Key surrounds events that many may have never heard about or even studied in school.  During World War II, the French government under German occupation rounded up French Jews and took them to Vélodrome d’Hiver,...

In light of the news from Comic Con that Jurassic Park 4 will finally see the light of day I was able to visit the park and talk with one of the best bands in the world, Foxy Shazam. Risking life and limb outside of one of the dinosaur’s cages we discuss the band’s new album, the future of Foxy Shazam, and their recent run in with the President. In all seriousness though if Foxy isn’t in your current iPod playlist I suggest you seek them out and if you know of the band and love the album you must see them live....

Everyone knows that sometimes the planets align and provide us with a perfect night of enjoyment. This just happened to me on Thursday night at the Record Bar in Kansas City. I had arrived to review an indie band called Empires and really knew nothing about them or the other acts they were playing with. They were the starting act for a line up that would also include My Gold Mask and a very interesting act that goes by the name Mark Mallman. The bar was, unfortunately for the bands, not at capacity for the show, but it was a...

Fact: When asked the question “which five people would you invite to dinner, living or dead, if you were allowed to invite anyone” my answer would undoubtedly be Kevin Smith, Nick Hornby, Hunter S. Thompson, Dr. Drew Pinsky and Stan Lee. That said, it tends to be hard for me to keep an open mind as I walk into a theater featuring a film involving the last name on my list. I’ve watched as awful casting choices and pseudo directors make a mockery of Lee’s life works. Most of these films were nothing more...

**I did not see No Strings Attached, the movie that was released earlier this year with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman.  There will be no reference or comparisons to it in this review. Who would have thought that Justin Timberlake would be an actor in legit Hollywood films, especially when he was a boy band heartthrob?  Well, apparently he can act well enough to get to play the male lead in Friends with Benefits with Mila Kunis.  The film is about just what you think from the title.  Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake...

The odds of someone using words like “low-energy,” “boring” or “unenthusiastic” when describing a Reel Big Fish concert seem about as likely Meryl Streep never getting an Oscar nomination again. After years of performing it would make sense for their routine to feel a bit lackluster or stale, but Monday night at the Beaumont Club in Kansas City was anything but. Celebrating their 20th anniversary on this current tour, they were as kinetic, entertaining, and upbeat as ever. A Reel Big Fish show is genuinely a group...

 Usually when I go to a show I find myself avidly observing. I’m always watching for the tiny moments. Moments like when two members of a band glance at one another before they do something tricky with a song. Or bashful winces as tiny errors are made that no one else notices but the musician himself. Even a brief dance that could only happen if the “dancer” is genuinely lost in the song make each concert-going experience a little bit richer for me. I like the inside jokes and smiles. I like catching the non-singing band...

Well, it is finally here.  The first The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer is, in fact, a teaser trailer.  You do not see much new footage.  The beginning is a rehash of the previous two films.  The majority of it is Gary Oldman playing Jim Gordon lying in a hospital bed talking to Christian Bale/Bruce Wayne/Batman who is off-screen.  You get a quick glimpse of Tom Hardy as Bane and it ends with Batman facing off with Bane.  There is no glimpse of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.  There is a nice shot that relates to the teaser...

Wow.  Just wow.  The teaser trailer for John Carter just debuted this morning and it looks better than I expected.  I included two of the production design drawings that were released a couple of days before the trailer.  They definitely got me more excited for the look of this movie.  The trailer did not disappoint.  I am way more excited for this movie than Sherlock Holmes 2.  I also have to give the trailer makers props for keeping the trailer short(er) at 1:44.  They could have shown less, and it would have been just...

SPOILER FREE – MOSTLY. The day has finally come. The day we have all been waiting nearly ten years for: seeing how it all ends. Now I know that most of you have probably read the books and therefore know how it will end. I, however, took an approach early on in the series that I would only read the book after that corresponding movie had been seen. That way, I could watch each film with fresh eyes, free from judgement that they had left out a favorite part of mine. Now, if you need a bit of a refresher, you honestly should...

I enjoyed the first Sherlock Holmes movie, and considering how successful it was, a sequel was bound to happen.  Guy Ritchie is back directing Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, and Noomi Rapace in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.  Rachel McAdams is gone, but there is a rumor that she may have a cameo.  This is Noomi Rapace’s first foray into English-speaking films after her awesome performance as Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish Millennium films.  The film also stars Jared Harris, Eddie Marsan, Stephen Fry, and Gilles...

A team of six players, called Quiet Corral, took the Riot Room stage on Friday night. While their first song was observed with a meager audience by their final number they had attracted a crowded bar focused intently on the stage. The audience swayed to every melody introduced and there were even a handful of over-enthusiasts who danced, sometimes interpretively, throughout the entirety of their set.  No small feat for an opening band hailing from Lawrence, Kansas. This enthusiasm from the audience could only be explained due...