Tag Archives: Jennifer Connelly

Alita: Battle Angel Trailer #2 (2018) *From James Cameron & Robert Rodriguez*

Fox has released the second trailer for Alita: Battle Angel (or “The Adventures of Creepy Big-Eyes).  It’s kind of odd that it wasn’t showcased at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con.  Aside from a Deadpool 2 panel Fox really didn’t have much of a presence at the con.  With the studio’s acquisition by Disney now all but a matter of contracts, Fox finds itself at a crossroads.  Alita is definitely an F/X showcase and I thought the second trailer was an improvement over the ponderous and wistful first trailer.  This movie was initially supposed to come out last weekend and we’ll have to see in December if the delay was to get the kinks out or to put off a bomb.  More below from Coming Soon.


Visionary filmmakers James Cameron (Avatar) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) create a groundbreaking new heroine in Alita: Battle Angel, an action-packed story of hope, love, and empowerment. Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in.

Everything is new to Alita, every experience a first. As she learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield Alita from her mysterious past while her street-smart new friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), offers instead to help trigger her memories. A growing affection develops between the two until deadly forces come after Alita and threaten her newfound relationships. It is then that Alita discovers she has extraordinary fighting abilities that could be used to save the friends and family she’s grown to love. Determined to uncover the truth behind her origin, Alita sets out on a journey that will lead her to take on the injustices of this dark, corrupt world, and discover that one young woman can change the world in which she lives.

Alita: Battle Angel also stars Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, and Jackie Earle Haley.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the December 21, 2018 release features a screenplay by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis and Rodriguez. Based on the graphic novel series Gunnm by Yukito Kishiro, Alita: Battle Angel is produced by Cameron and Jon Landau.
Rosa Salazar in Alita: Battle Angel

Alita: Battle Angel Trailer #1 (2018) *Will Hollywood Finally Get Anime Right?*

*Text from The Verge
For more than a decade, James Cameron was working on an adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s manga Battle Angel Alita, before handing off directing duties to Spy Kids / Machete / Sin Citydirector Robert Rodriguez. That project is finally moving forward: Alita: Battle Angel is scheduled to hit theaters next year, and today, 20th Century Fox released an initial trailer, in which its main character falls squarely into the uncanny valley. Continue reading Alita: Battle Angel Trailer #1 (2018) *Will Hollywood Finally Get Anime Right?*

Jennifer Connelly’s 10 Best Movies

Jennifer Connelly

Jennifer Connelly had a stellar 2017, making a welcome comeback.  I’ve loved Connelly since I was a kid and she was the girl trapped in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, but she’s tremendously underrated as an actress.  Requiem for a Dream, A Beautiful Mind (for which she deservedly won an Oscar), and Blood Diamond alone are enough to prove you’re one of the most talented actresses working.  It’s just good to see her working more often.  In 2017, she joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as “Karen”, the AI in Spider-Man’s upgraded suit in Spider-Man: Homecoming.  In real life, Connelly is married to actor Paul Bettany, who provided the same service for Tony Stark as JARVIS before he transitioned to The Vision.  She was also a lynch pin in a great ensemble cast in the firefighter drama Only the Brave.  It looks like she has projects lined up, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her on TV and in films to come.
Continue reading Jennifer Connelly’s 10 Best Movies

Movie Review: Only the Brave (2017) *Fitting Tribute to the Granite Mountain Hotshots*

Josh Brolin in Only the Brave

With wildfires continuing to rage in Northern California and across the Western United States, Only the Brave is a timely reminder of those who stand on the front lines of battling those blazes.  The film is a primer on the life of a hotshot (a specialist in literally fighting fire with fire by setting controlled burns to rob wildfires of fuel) and a tribute to the Granite Mountain Hotshots.  Based on the GQ article “No Exit”, the film is an excellent look at the life of the men who made up the unit, their families, and the circumstances that culminated in the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire disaster.  If you don’t know anything about those events, the film is absolutely worth checking out and stop reading here if you don’t want to know more about what happened.


Continue reading Movie Review: Only the Brave (2017) *Fitting Tribute to the Granite Mountain Hotshots*

Only The Brave Trailer #3 (2017) “The True Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots”

All men are created equal… then, a few become firefighters. Only the Brave, based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, is the heroic story of one unit of local firefighters that through hope, determination, sacrifice, and the drive to protect families, communities, and our country become one of the most elite firefighting teams in the country. As most of us run from danger, they run toward it – they watch over our lives, our homes, everything we hold dear, as they forge a unique brotherhood that comes into focus with one fateful fire.

Only the Brave Poster