Never Mind Pop Film

Gangster Squad starts with Sgt. John O'Meara commenting on the current state of Los Angeles in 1949. Several characters mention the City of Angels has turned into a cesspool since the arrival and subsequent takeover by gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). What we see and are shown never alludes to anything other than a hell-hole, but Sgt. John O'Meara's words must mean something.

To Sgt. O'Meara (Josh Brolin) honor and integrity are tangible things, they can be sought out and reclaimed. He has returned from The War to see his home ravaged and manipulated into a gangster's playground. His wife is pregnant and just wants him to take the check and keep low. After busting up an entire operation by himself, O'Meara has let it be known: he won't take this sitting down.

Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) has taken the opposite approach: retreat into liquor and women because the worst has not gotten here yet. Wooters' apathy hides a great deal, but O'Meara kno…

So much testosterone. Between Sean Penn and Josh Brolin alone, they could get flood the entire state of California.

The year's most complex film is heading to shelves in the weeks to come, but not in the way you think. Fox Searchlight will be selling the Tree of Life exclusively as a Blu-Ray Combo Pack. The decision makes sense in that the audience for Terence Malick's latest film is a very small one and already likely to own a Blu-Ray player.

If that doesn't grab you then maybe the 30 minute documentary featuring commentary by Christopher Nolan and David Fincher will.

The Blu-ray Disc presentation utilizes maximum bit rate encoding and 7.1 audio and a 2.0 stereo mix to bring Malick’s visually stunning masterpiece to life providing consumers with a premium cinematic viewing experience for the home. An exclusive 30-minute documentary on the making of the film, Exploring The Tree of Life, allows fans to dig even deeper into Malick’s visionary work and his cinematic legacy through interviews with his collaborators and cast members as well as with directors Christopher Nolan and David Finc…

After what seemed like an eternity to fans of Terrence Malick's filmography, Tree of Life made its debut at Cannes. Responses to the film were varied and lines were drawn in the sand. Terrence Malick tends to have that reaction on people. From Badlands to The New World, the atmospheric flourishes and strokes that Malick uses to paint his stories quite often alienate viewers. Common narratives are often ignored in favor of sweeping shots of the world around the characters and ethereal voice overs that convey the thoughts, hopes and dreams of those we watch onscreen.

Mr. O'Brien and Mrs. O'Brien offer contrasting lifestyles to their three children: the way of force and the way of grace. The patron O'Brien knows what little this life gives, it has to be hard-earned, or taken. Regret has colored Mr. O'Brien's life by his passions that have languished and he needs to make that impact felt for his three sons. Life is not to be frivolously spent and Brad Pitt's e…

Madness, valor, cowardice. No soldier's story is the same. 

This shot right up to one of my most anticipated films of next year, in fact it is the most anticipated. Words don't do this trailer justice, just watch.

The first peek at Terrence Malick's Tree of Life is attached to Black Swan and for those of you lucky enough to see Black Swan this weekend you'll get a look at one of the most anticipated films in recent history.
Tree of Life stars Sean Penn as Jack and Brad Pitt as his emotionally-vacant father. Malick's film is reportedly on an epic scale and ranges from when dinosaurs roamed the Earth to current day America where Jack faces an unknown crisis.