Skyfall 2012

Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

Director: Sam Mendes

Writers: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade

Cast:

• Daniel Craig as James Bond, agent 007. Director Sam Mendes described Bond as experiencing a "combination of lassitude, boredom, depression [and] difficulty with what he's chosen to do for a living."
• Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva (Tiago Rodriguez). the film's main antagonist. Silva is a former MI6 agent turned cyberterrorist who is seeking revenge against those he holds responsible for betraying him. Bardem described Silva as "more than a villain", while Craig stated that Bond has a "very important relationship" to Silva. In casting the role, director Sam Mendes admitted that he lobbied hard for Bardem to accept the part. Mendes saw the potential for the character to be recognised as one of the most memorable characters in the franchise and wanted to create "something [the audience] may consider to have been absent from the Bond movies for a long time". He felt that Bardem was one of the few actors up to the task of becoming "colourless" and existing within the world of the film as something more than a function of the plot. In preparing for the role, Bardem had the script translated into his native Spanish in order to better understand his character, which Mendes cited as being a sign of the actor's commitment to the film. Bardem dyed his hair blond for the role after brainstorming ideas with Mendes to come up with a distinct visual look for the character.
• Judi Dench as M, the head of MI6 and Bond's commanding officer. Skyfall is Dench's seventh and final appearance in the role.
• Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army and now the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, His position gives him the authority to regulate MI6. Fiennes stated that he could not say anything specific about the role other than that it was a "really interesting part which is really quite fun.

• Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny Harris' role was initially presented as that of Eve, an MI6 field agent who works closely with Bond. Despite ongoing speculation in the media that Harris had been cast as Miss Moneypenny, this was not confirmed by anyone involved in production of the film, with Harris herself even going so far as to dismiss claims that Eve was in fact Moneypenny, stating that "Eve is not remotely office-bound". According to Harris, Eve "[believes] she is Bond's equal, but she is really his junior".
• Ben Whishaw as Q, the MI6 quartermaster.
• Bérénice Lim Marlohe as Sévérine Marlohe described her character as being "glamorous and enigmatic" and that she drew inspiration from GoldenEye villain Xenia Onatopp (played by Famke Janssen) in playing Sévérine.
• Albert Finney as Kincade, the gamekeeper of the Skyfall estate. Sean Connery was almost approached to play the role in nod for it being the 50th anniversary of the film series.
• Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, the MI6 Chief of Staff.
• Helen McCrory as Clair Dowar, a British minister. McCrory joined the cast after Sam Mendes contacted her personally and offered her the part.
• Ola Rapace as Patrice, a French mercenary who "is a man of few words" and "loves violence".

Production:

Production of Skyfall was suspended throughout 2010 because of MGM's financial troubles. They resumed pre-production following MGM's exit from bankruptcy on 21 December 2010 and in January 2011 the film was officially given a release date of 9 November 2012 by MGM and the Broccoli family, with production scheduled to start in late 2011. Since then, MGM and Sony Pictures announced that the UK and Ireland release date would be brought forward to 26 October 2012, two weeks ahead of the US release date, which was 9 November 2012. The film's budget is estimated to be between US$150 million and $200 million, compared to the $200 million spent on Quantum of Solace. 

Skyfall is part of year-long celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Dr. No and the Bond film series. According to producer Michael G. Wilson, a documentary crew is scheduled to follow production of the film to celebrate the anniversary. Skyfall was also the first James Bond film to be released in Imax venues.

 

Title

In August 2011, several news websites reposted a rumour that originally appeared in Serbian newspaper Blic stating that Bond 23 would be entitled Carte Blanche and would be an adaptation of the recent continuation novel by Jeffery Deaver. On 30 August, Eon Productions officially denied any link between Bond 23 and Carte Blanche, stating that "the new film is not going to be called Carte Blanche and will have nothing to do with the Jeffery Deaver book." On 3 October 2011, fifteen domain names including 'jamesbond-skyfall.com' and 'skyfallthefilm.com' were reported to have been registered on behalf of MGM and Sony Pictures by Internet brand-protection service MarkMonitor. This led to supposition in media that the film had been given the name "Skyfall". These reports were not confirmed at the time by Eon Productions, Sony or MGM. Skyfall was later confirmed as the title at the November press conference, during which co-producer Barbara Broccoli said that the title "has some emotional context which will be revealed in the film". The title refers to the Skyfall Lodge, Bond's childhood home and the setting for the film's finale. 

Plot:

MI6 agents James Bond and Eve assist on a mission in Turkey to recover a computer hard drive stolen from a murdered MI6 agent that contains details of almost all undercover NATO agents in terrorist organisations. Bond and Eve chase the killer, mercenary Patrice, and attempt to recover the disk. During the chase, Bond is shot in the shoulder. While fighting Patrice, Bond is accidentally shot by Eve and is later considered "missing, presumed killed".

The head of MI6, M, comes under political pressure to retire during a meeting with the Intelligence and Security Committee Chairman, Gareth Mallory. On her return from the meeting, MI6 is hacked and an explosion occurs in the offices, killing a number of MI6 employees; the service relocates to its emergency offices underground. Bond, having used his supposed death to retire, learns of the attack and returns to London. Shrapnel taken from his earlier shoulder wound helps identify Patrice, and Bond tracks the mercenary to Shanghai.

Meanwhile, three NATO agents are killed after their identities are exposed, and further releases are threatened. After Patrice assassinates a target, he and Bond fight. Patrice falls to his death before Bond can learn of his employer. Searching Patrice's equipment, Bond finds a gambling chip which leads him to a casino in Macau. Sévérine, whom Bond saw earlier during the assassination, warns him that he is about to be killed, but promises to help him if he will kill her employer. Bond beats his attackers and joins Sévérine on her boat. They travel to an island, where they are taken prisoner by the crew and delivered to Sévérine's employer, Raoul Silva. A former MI6 agent who worked under M, Silva holds her responsible for his torture and imprisonment by the Chinese. Silva kills Sévérine, but Bond overpowers his guards and captures Silva for extraction to the UK.

Back at MI6's underground headquarters Q attempts to decrypt Silva's laptop, but inadvertently enables it to hack the MI6 systems, allowing Silva to escape. Pursued by Bond, he uses the tunnel system under London, including part of the London Underground, as part of his plan. Silva disguises himself as a policeman and attacks M during a public inquiry into her handling of the stolen hard drive. Bond arrives to join Mallory and Eve in beating off Silva's attack, and M is hurried from the building by her aide, Bill Tanner. Bond drives M away from the scene and takes her to his empty and remote childhood home in Scotland: Skyfall. He instructs Q to leave an electronic trail for Silva to follow, a decision supported by Mallory.

At Skyfall, Bond and M are met by Kincade, the gamekeeper to the Bond family estate. The trio are only lightly armed, but they improvise a series of booby traps. When Silva's men arrive, Bond, M and Kincade fight off the first assault, although M is wounded. Silva arrives by helicopter with a second wave, and Bond sends M and Kincade off through a secret tunnel at the back of a priest hole to a chapel on the grounds. The second assault uses firepower from the helicopter, and Silva throws incendiary grenades into the building. Bond detonates two gas canisters with a stick of dynamite and retreats down the same tunnel as M and Kincade. The resulting blast causes the helicopter to crash, killing a number of Silva's men. Silva sees Kincade's torch beam, follows, and arrives at a frozen lake ahead of Bond. Bond fights Silva's sole remaining follower, and the two fall through the ice, where Bond kills him. Silva meanwhile makes his way to the chapel and forces his gun into M's hand where he begs her to kill them both. Bond arrives and kills Silva, but M collapses from her earlier wound and dies. Mallory becomes the new head of MI6, while Eve—introducing herself as Eve Moneypenny—decides not to return to the field as an agent, but to work as M's secretary.

 

Argo (2012)

A dramatization of the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran. 

Director: Ben Affleck

Writers: Chris Terrio (screenplay), Joshuah Bearman (article)

Cast:

• Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez
• Bryan Cranston as Jack O'Donnell
• Alan Arkin as Lester Siegel
• John Goodman as John Chambers
• Clea DuVall as Cora Lijek
• Kyle Chandler as Hamilton Jordan
• Victor Garber as Ken Taylor
• Tate Donovan as Bob Anders
• Michael Parks as Jack Kirby
• Tom Lenk as Rodd
• Christopher Stanley as Tom Ahern
• Taylor Schilling as Christine Mendez
• Ashley Wood as Beauty
• Sheila Vand as Sahar
• Chris Messina as Malinov
• Richard Kind as Max Klein
• Titus Welliver as Jon Bates
• Rory Cochrane as Lee Schatz
• Devansh Mehta as Matt Sanders
• Omid Abtahi as Reza
• Scoot McNairy as Joe Stafford
• Kerry Bishé as Kathy Stafford
• Christopher Denham as Mark Lijek
• Karina Logue as Elizabeth Ann Swift
• Bob Gunton as Cyrus Vance (United States Secretary of State)
• Philip Baker Hall as Warren Christopher (United States Deputy Secretary of State) (uncredited)
• Adrienne Barbeau as Nina
• Fouad Hajji as Komiteh

Production: 

Argo is based on the Canadian Caper that took place during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979 and 1980. Chris Terrio wrote the screenplay based on the 2007 Wired article "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran" by Joshuah Bearman. Producers George Clooney, Grant Heslov and David Klawans set up a project based on the article in the same year, and Affleck's attachment to the project was announced in February 2011. The following June, Alan Arkin was the first person cast in the film. After the rest of the roles were cast, filming began in Los Angeles, California, in August 2011. Additional filming also took place in McLean, VA, Washington, D.C., and Istanbul.

Archival TV news footage from the era was used throughout the film as in-story exposition. Reflecting the time period of the film, the opening credits use the rolling W Warner Bros. logo that was used by the company from 1972 to 1984 instead of the contemporary "WB" shield logo.

Plot: 

On November 4, 1979, during the Iranian Revolution, a group of young Iranian revolutionaries storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran. This is in retaliation for American support of the recently-deposed Shah. Although most of the Embassy staff are taken hostage, six evade capture. They find sanctuary in the home of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber).

With the escapees' situation kept secret from the world, the U.S. State Department begins to explore options for "exfiltrating" them from Iran. CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), brought in for consultation, points out the fundamental weaknesses in all of the proposals for how to do so, but is at a loss to suggest an alternative until he gets an idea while watching Battle for the Planet of the Apes on TV with his son: create a cover story that the escapees are Canadian filmmakers, scouting "exotic" locations in Iran for a similar film.

Mendez, and his supervisor Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston), contact John Chambers (John Goodman), a Hollywood make-up artist who has previously crafted disguises for the CIA (in addition to his work in the Apes film series). Chambers introduces Mendez to film producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin).

Chambers and Seigel create "Studio Six Productions", and successfully establish the pretense of developing Argo, a "science fantasy" in the style of Star Wars. They accrue credibility to the cover story with trade-journal publicity, casting calls, script development, storyboard development, and script read-throughs for the trade press.

The situation in Tehran becomes more tense as the months pass. The American escapees become more and more frantic inside the Canadian ambassador's residence, sometimes having to hide under the floorboards. The Taylor's Iranian housekeeper witnesses a summary execution of a scared civilian by the Revolutionary Guard. Shredded documentation from the U.S. Embassy is being reassembled by child laborers, providing the revolutionaries with evidence that there are embassy personnel unaccounted for.

Mendez enters Iran under an alias and travelling on a Canadian passport. He acquires documentation legitimizing the purported purpose of his visit as a producer for Argo. Mendez meets Taylor at the Embassy of Canada in Tehran. They proceed to the ambassador's home and Mendez explains his plan to the six escapees.

The six Americans are provided genuine Canadian passports sent from Ottawa via diplomatic pouch, having been issued in secrecy by the Government of Canada at the behest of the Central Intelligence Agency, and imprinted with false Iranian visas by the CIA. Mendez also provides extensive, CIA-contrived information about their false identities, to help them convincingly bluff their way through security at the Tehran airport.

Although they are afraid to trust Mendez's scheme, they reluctantly agree to go along with it, knowing that Mendez is risking his own life too, and convinced that it is their only option. A "scouting" visit to the bazaar to maintain their cover story goes somewhat poorly, but Mendez manages to extricate them from the suspicious crowd.

O'Donnell tells Mendez that the operation has been cancelled by the White House to avoid conflicting with a planned military rescue of the hostages. Mendez pushes ahead nevertheless, forcing O'Donnell to hastily demand of his superiors to reactivate logistical support. At the airport there is tension as the escapees' flight reservations are only confirmed at the last minute, a call to the supposed studio in Hollywood at first goes unanswered, and revolutionaries who have uncovered their ruse rush to stop them. But the "Canadians" successfully board the plane, which takes off with revolutionary forces in close pursuit.

Taylor instructs the Canadian Embassy's military attache to destroy encrypted communication equipment and closes the Embassy. Taylor and his wife escape Iran under their own credentials as the operation was underway, as their involvement at that point remained unknown to the Revolutionary Guard. Their Iranian housekeeper, who had known about the Americans, escapes to Iraq.

To protect the hostages remaining in Tehran from further retaliation, all U.S. involvement in the operation is suppressed. Full credit is given to the Canadian government and its ambassador. Mendez is awarded the Intelligence Star, but due to the classified nature of the mission, he is not be able to keep the medal until the mission is declassified and the details made public in 1997.

All the hostages are later freed after 444 days in captivity on January 20, 1981, as Carter leaves office. The film ends with U.S. President Jimmy Carter giving a speech about the events, with screenshots from the film being compared with images of the actual people and events during the crisis upon which the film is based, in order to demonstrate its fidelity to actual history.

Hotel Transylvania (2012)

Dracula, who operates a high-end resort away from the human world, goes into overprotective mode when a boy discovers the resort and falls for the count's teen-aged daughter. 

 Director: Genndy Tartakovsky

Writers: Peter Baynham (screenplay), Robert Smigel (screenplay)

Stars: Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Andy Samberg

Cast:

• Adam Sandler as Dracula, the Hotel Transylvania owner, and Mavis' over-protective father.
• Selena Gomez as Mavis, Dracula's 118 year old "teenage" daughter.
• Andy Samberg as Jonathan/Jonny/Jonny-stein, a 21-year-old regular guy who stumbled onto Hotel Transylvania.
• Kevin James as Frank/Frankenstein, the lovable fire-hating monster.
• Cee Lo Green as Murray, an obese mummy
• Steve Buscemi as Wayne, a werewolf
• Molly Shannon as Wanda, a werewolf and Wayne's pregnant wife
• David Spade as Griffin the Invisible Man
• Fran Drescher as Eunice, Frankenstein's wife
• Jon Lovitz as Quasimodo Wilson, the former Hunchback of Notre-Dame who now works as a gourmet chef that desires to make a dish where humans are the main ingredients. He is always accompanied by his pet rat Esmeralda who is known to sniff out any humans.
• Luenell as Mavis' Shrunken Head
• Chris Parnell as Fly
• Brian George as Suit of Armor, a living suit of armor that works as the head of the Suit of Armors that make up the Hotel's security guards.
• Brian Stack as Pilot
• Jackie Sandler as Martha, Dracula's wife and Mavis' mother who was killed by humans while Mavis was still young.
• Sadie Sandler as Young Mavis, Winnie
• Rob Riggle as Skeleton Husband
• Paul Brittain as Zombie
• Robert Smigel as Fake Dracula, Marty
• Jonny Solomon as Gremlin Man
• Jim Wise as Shrunken Head
• Brian McCann as Hairy Monster
• James C.J. Williams as Foreman

Hydra heads voiced by Paul Brittain, Craig Kellman, Tom Kenny, Brian McCann, Jonny Solomon, and Jim Wise.

Production: 

Hotel Transylvania has been in development since 2006, when Anthony Stacchi and David Feiss were set to direct the film. In 2008, Jill Culton took over the directing position, and around 2010, Chris Jenkin, followed by Todd Wilderman. In 2011, Genndy Tartakovsky took over as the sixth director to direct his feature directorial debut.
In less than a year, Tartakovsky rewrote the script and reimagined the film to follow the energy, organic-ness and exaggeration of the 2D animation, particularly of the Tex Avery's cartoons. "I took all the aesthetics I like from 2-D and applied them here," Tartakovsky said. "I don't want to do animation to mimic reality. I want to push reality" "I wanted to have an imprint so you'd go, 'Well, only Genndy can make this.' It's hard, especially with CG, but I feel there's a lot of moments that feel that they're very me, so hopefully it'll feel different enough that it has a signature to it.
In November 2011, it was announced that Miley Cyrus would voice Mavis, Dracula's teenage daughter, but in February 2012, Cyrus left the film . It was later announced that Selena Gomez would replace Cyrus.

Plot:


Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) is the owner and creator of Hotel Transylvania, a five-star resort where the world's monsters can be safe from human civilization. Dracula invites some of the most famous monsters like Frankenstein's Monster (Kevin James) and his wife Eunice (Fran Drescher), Murray the Mummy (Cee Lo Green), Wayne and Wanda Werewolf (Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon), Griffin the Invisible Man (David Spade), Bigfoot, Steve the Blob, and other monsters to celebrate the 118th birthday of his daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez). However, Mavis prefers to explore the outside world with her father's permission, but the village he directs her to is actually an elaborate deception to convince her of the threat of humans enough to coax her back.
However, this charade inadvertently attracts the attention of an ordinary young traveler named Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg) who was exploring the surrounding forest and he follows the staff to the hotel. Once Jonathan enters the hotel, Dracula frantically attempts to hide him from the patrons such as disguising him as a Flesh Golem named Johhny-stein with the later hasty cover story of being a relative of one of Frank's body parts. Eventually, Jonathan is discovered by Mavis and company, forcing Dracula to claim he is going to arrange Mavis' birthday party with a young perspective. In doing so, Jonathan manages to liven up the staid activities at the hotel, charming everyone, especially Mavis. Eventually, even Dracula begins to like the human taking him into his confidence about his family's traumatic past after the vampire notices the young man knows something about them in a respectful manner.
Unfortunately, Chef Quasimodo Wilson (Jon Lovitz) realizes Jonathan is human and captures him to cook him, forcing Dracula to directly intervene by magically paralyzing the chef. Eventually, the birthday party happens and it is a raucous success until Dracula overreacts to Mavis and Jonathan's innocent kiss. Dracula, in his ranting, lets it slip that he tricked Mavis at the fake village and Mavis is outraged at being manipulated by her own father. Things get worse when Chef Quasimodo breaks out of the spell and interrupts the party and reveals Jonathan's true nature. Even as the clientele are revolted, Mavis still accepts and expresses her desire to be with Jonathan even though he is human. For his part, Jonathan feels obliged to reject Mavis for her father's sake and leaves the hotel. Afterward, Dracula realizes that in his efforts to protect Mavis, he has broken her heart and now she tearfully wants to stay at the hotel forever.

Wishing to undo his mistake, Dracula persuades his friends to help him find Jonathan and even risks his destruction by venturing out in the daylight to do so. Learning that Jonathan is about to board a flight out of Transylvania Airport shortly, they race on and enter a town en route. At that town, Dracula and company are stunned to see the humans celebrating a monster holiday with many humans costumed as the monsters in tribute. To clear a path, Frankenstein tries to scare them, but finds the humans are cheerfully welcoming them instead and even provide a shaded route through the town for Dracula to proceed at maximum speed.
However, Dracula finds that he is too late with Jonathan's plane taking off. With no alternative, Dracula desperately flies after it in broad daylight despite being hurt by the sun. With much effort, Dracula manages to reach the plane and resorts to mind-controlling one of the pilots (Brian Stack) to apologize and tell Jonathan that he wants him to return to be with his daughter. Jonathan accepts Dracula's apology and Dracula manipulates the plane back to the airport.
Later, Dracula returns Jonathan to Mavis, who tells her that she's his 'zing' and the reason why he had to reject her. Dracula gives his blessing to their relationship, Jonathan and Mavis kiss and the hotel has another party to celebrate his daughter's liberating coming of age before Jonathan and Mavis set off on their travels.
The film ends with Dracula and his friends being shown in traditional animation (in the style of Genndy Tartakovsky's cartoons) during the credits.

Looper (2012)

In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self. 

 Director: Rian Johnson

Writer: Rian Johnson

Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt

Cast:

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Young Joe
• Bruce Willis as Old Joe
• Emily Blunt as Sara
• Paul Dano as Young Seth
• Noah Segan as Kid Blue
• Piper Perabo as Suzie
• Jeff Daniels as Abe
• Pierce Gagnon as Cid
• Xu Qing as Old Joe's Wife
• Tracie Thoms as Beatrix
• Frank Brennan as Old Seth
• Garret Dillahunt as Jesse
• Nick Gomez as Dale
• Marcus Hester as Zach

Production:

Looper was written and directed by Rian Johnson. After Johnson released The Brothers Bloom in 2008, he re-teamed with producer Ram Bergman, who produced Johnson's previous two films, with the goal of starting production of Looper in 2009. In May 2010, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cast in one of the lead roles, which he would play after completing Premium Rush.Later in the month, Bruce Willis was also cast. In the following October, Emily Blunt joined Gordon-Levitt and WillisNoah Segan, Jeff Daniels, and Piper Perabo were cast in January 2011

Filming began in Louisiana on January 24, 2011

Makeup artist Kazuhiro Tsuji created the prosthetics that Gordon-Levitt wore in the film so that he would physically resemble Willis.

Talking about Looper and time travel in film, Johnson said:

"Even though it's a time-travel movie, the pleasure of it doesn't come from the mass of time travel. It's not a film like Primer, for instance, where the big part of the enjoyment is kind of working out all the intricacies of it. For Looper, I very much wanted it to be a more character-based movie that is more about how these characters dealt with the situation time travel has brought about. So the biggest challenge was figuring out how to not spend the whole movie explaining the rules and figure out how to put it out there in a way that made sense on some intuitive level for the audience; then get past it and deal with the real meat of the story.

Plot:

In 2044, the United States has suffered economic collapse, causing severe social decay and growth in organized crime. In addition, a mutation has occurred in ten percent of the population giving them telekinetic powers—the ability to levitate small objects. Thirty years further into the future in 2074, time travel is invented, but is immediately outlawed. Tracking technology has rendered it nearly impossible to dispose of bodies secretly, so crime bosses use illicit time travel to send those they want killed to the past where they are killed by "loopers": assassins paid with silver bars strapped to the victim. When crime bosses want to end a looper's contract, they send his present self back to be killed by his younger self, referred to as "closing the loop". Failing a contract is a death sentence.
In 2044, Joe Simmons works for a mafia company in Kansas as a looper. His boss Abe was sent from the future to manage the loopers and also owns a club that Joe frequents, and where he spends time with Suzie, a showgirl. Abe controls his own group of hired muscle, the "Gat Men", including the unstable Kid Blue, who is desperate to prove himself to Abe. One night, Joe's friend Seth visits him and tells him that he was supposed to close his own loop, but hesitated. Before Seth's future self escaped, he mentioned the Rainmaker, a mastermind who has taken over future organized crime and is closing all loops. Joe attempts to protect Seth, but later chooses to betray him to Abe instead of surrendering half of his silver savings, which he has stashed secretly for retirement instead of cashing in. The mafia mutilate Seth's body so that his future self will sustain the same wounds as scars. As Old Seth begins losing body parts, he arrives at a location that had been scarred on his arm by the mafia, and they kill him.
During another contract Joe hesitates when he recognizes the target is his future self, allowing him to escape. After meeting in a diner, Old Joe tells Joe that the Rainmaker sent him back to be killed, and that Old Joe's wife was killed during his capture. Old Joe killed his captors and traveled back to kill the Rainmaker as a child. Joe attempts to kill Old Joe and fulfill his contract, but both of them flee when they are attacked by the Gat Men. Joe tears a scrap off a map from Old Joe's possession, bearing a marked location and a string of digits.
Joe follows the map to a farmhouse owned by Sara, who lives with her son Cid. When Joe shows Sara the map, Sara recognizes the digits as Cid's birthday and the serial number of the hospital he was born in, prompting Joe to explain the situation about the Rainmaker. The database Old Joe used with the string of digits produced three possible children born on the same day in the same hospital, and he intends to kill all three.
As Joe and Sara become close, he learns that she is a telekinetic, and that Cid was raised by Sara's sister for most of his life until she was killed. Cid does not believe that Sara is his real mother. One morning, they are attacked by Gat Man Jesse, who is killed when Cid falls down the stairs and lets out a telekinetic blast. His extraordinary telekinetic abilities cause Joe to believe that Cid is the Rainmaker, and Sara confirms that her sister was killed by Cid when he lost control of his powers. Meanwhile, Old Joe is captured by Kid Blue.
Joe tells Sara and Cid to flee, surmising that his employers or Old Joe will target the farm. Meanwhile Old Joe breaks free, killing Abe and all the Gat Men except for Kid Blue. As the two Joes confront each other near Sara's house, Kid Blue attacks and is killed by young Joe. Old Joe escapes during the attack, then finds and attempts to kill Cid, prompting Cid to let out another telekinetic blast. However, before Cid can kill Old Joe, Sara calms him down and assures him mother is here. Old Joe tries to kill Cid again, but Sara stands between them. Joe realizes that if Old Joe kills Sara, it will lead to Cid becoming the Rainmaker due to his tormented childhood, thus creating a closed time loop. Joe kills himself, erasing Old Joe from existence and saving Sara and Cid.

 

Sinister (2012)

Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity. 

Director: Scott Derrickson

Writers: Scott Derrickson (screenplay), C. Robert Cargill

Stars: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance and James Ransone 

Cast:

• Ethan Hawke as Ellison Oswalt
• Juliet Rylance as Tracy Oswalt
• Clare Foley as Ashley Oswalt
• Michael Hall D'Addario as Trevor Oswalt
• Fred Thompson as Sheriff
• James Ransone as Deputy
• Vincent D'Onofrio as Professor Jonas

Production:

Shooting for Sinister began in fall of 2011, with Ethan Hawke and Juliet Rylance signing on to star in the film

Plot:

The film opens on Super 8 footage where a family of four are standing under a tree with bags over their heads and nooses around their necks. An unseen figure saws a tree limb acting as a counterweight with a rake, and cuts it off, sending the family up, strangling them.
Months later, true-crime novelist Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves into the same house as the murdered family with his wife, Tracy (Juliet Rylance), and their two children Ashley (Clare Foley) and Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario). Ellison uses the murders as the basis for his new book. Supposedly, there were five members in the family, and one of the children went missing after the murders.
Ellison finds a box in the attic, which contains a projector and several reels of Super 8 footage that are each labeled as if innocent home movies. He watches the films, all depicting families murdered in various ways, including having their throats slit in bed (Sleepy Time), an arson (BBQ), being drowned in their pool (Pool Party), being run over by a lawn mower (Lawn Work) and the hanging that opened the movie (Hanging Out). The drowning one proves especially disturbing for him, as he sees a dark figure with a demonic face. Upon seeing this figure, strange things begin happening around the house. Ellison continues to observe the films, and discovers strange things in them, such as a strange symbol painted near the murders, and the demonic figure, which begins to show up in every film.
He calls a deputy (James Ransone) to help him find the location of these murders. After going through the images, the deputy refers him to a religion college professor, Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio), to decipher the symbol in the films. Jonas tells Ellison that the symbol is that of a Pagan deity named Bughuul, who was known as an eater of children's souls, killing the families of the child and then taking the child to his own netherworld. One night, Ellison hears the film projector running and goes up to the attic. He finds five children (all of whom were the missing from each family after they were murdered) watching one of the films. When Bughuul suddenly appears in front of him, Ellison falls from the attic. Having had enough, he burns the projector and the film and moves out with his family. Upon returning to their old house, he goes into the attic and finds the box containing the projector and film, completely unharmed. However, there is a new item inside: an envelope with "extended endings." Within that, Ellison finds that after each murder took place, the missing child would come onscreen, revealing them to be the murderers, and then disappear.
Ellison again chats with Professor Jonas, who sends him scans of rare historical drawings of the mysterious symbol and explains that Bughuul would supposedly appear in the images, which acted as portals between his realm and the mortal realm.
Shortly after, the deputy, whose repeated calls Ellison had been ignoring all day, calls again and this time Ellison picks up. The deputy informs him that he has discovered the link between the murders: each family had last lived in the house where the previous murder had taken place. By moving out of the house, the deputy continues, he has put himself and his family in place to continue the pattern. Ellison begins feeling light-headed. He looks in his empty coffee cup and finds a mysterious liquid left behind, then notices the note that was under his cup from his daughter and loses consciousness.
Upon waking, he finds himself, his wife and son bound and gagged. Ashley walks in, carrying an axe and a Super 8 camera. She then documents the grisly murders of her father, mother, and brother, and paints the walls in their blood, with several childish images such as unicorns, cats and dogs . She then goes to the projector and plays the film she just took, revealing the children in the hallway. Upon Bughuul's appearance, the children run away. Bughuul picks up Ashley and walks into the film with her.
The final shot shows the box of film in the attic of the Oswalt house, this time with a new canister that reads "House painting '12".

Taken 2

In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.

 Director: Olivier Megaton

Writers: Luc Besson (screenplay), Robert Mark Kamen (screenplay)

Stars:Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace

Cast:

• Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, a retired Intelligence agent
• Maggie Grace as Kim Mills, Bryan's daughter
• Famke Janssen as Lenore, Bryan's ex-wife
• Rade Šerbedžija as Murad Hoxha, chief of the Albanian mafia and head of the kidnappers
• Leland Orser as Sam
• Jon Gries as Casey
• D.B. Sweeney as Bernie
• Luke Grimes as Jamie, Kim's boyfriend
• Kevork Malikyan as Inspector Durmaz

Plot:

After the events in Paris in Taken, family members of the men whom Bryan Mills (Neeson) killed while searching for his daughter, Kim (Grace), return to their hometown, Tropojë, Albania, for the funeral of the men whom Bryan had killed. During the ceremony, Murad Hoxha (Šerbedžija), the employer of the men and father of Marko, a victim whom Bryan killed by electrocution, states that they will find Bryan to avenge the deaths of their loved ones.
When arriving at Kim's home to take her on a driving lesson, Bryan learns from her mother Lenore (Janssen), who is currently having relationship problems with her husband, that Kim is not there and that she has a new boyfriend. After Lenore's husband cancels their holiday to China, Bryan suggests that Kim and Lenore join him in Istanbul after he has finished some work he has agreed to do. After being led to believe that they have not taken him up on the offer, Bryan is surprised to find that Kim and Lenore have indeed flown out to join him, using his friends to surprise him.
Later, after lunch in the marketplace, Kim stays behind in an attempt to help her parents rekindle their relationship. While they are out, they are pursued by Murad's men, and, despite Bryan's efforts, Lenore is captured, forcing Bryan to surrender. Before he does so, he calls Kim to explain the situation and tells her to hide. With advice from Bryan, she is able to evade the kidnappers.
Bryan wakes up with his hands tied to a pole in a dark room. Using a communications device that he has hidden in his sock, Bryan calls Kim, instructing her to go to the US Embassy and tell them what happened, but she begs for a chance to help him and Lenore, which he decides to give her. Under Bryan's guidance, she opens up his weaponry suitcase and throws a live grenade out of the window. Bryan uses the time it takes for the sound of the explosion to deduce his location. He then has her take a gun and two more grenades and travel towards his location via the rooftops while he frees himself from his restraints. Bryan then sends steam up a chimney to pinpoint his location, and Kim drops the gun down the chimney, allowing Bryan to use it to kill the guards and escape the building, leaving Lenore behind while he rescues Kim, who is being chased.
Bryan later returns, intending to rescue Lenore, but he is unable to do so as she has already been taken away, forcing Bryan and Kim to drive through the city in a stolen taxi while being chased by Murad's men. The chase ends with the two of them having to break through a military checkpoint leading into the US Embassy. Bryan calls Sam (Orser), a friend and former CIA colleague, and has him call off the embassy guards. Having memorized the route that the kidnappers used when they first took Bryan and Lenore to Murad's safe house, he returns to the building and kills everyone before confronting Murad. After confirming with Murad that his two remaining sons will want revenge should he die, Bryan offers to let him walk away if he leaves him and his family alone. Murad seemingly agrees, and Bryan drops his gun, but when his back is turned, Murad grabs the gun and attempts to shoot Bryan, only to discover that the gun has no ammunition left. Murad attempts to attack Bryan, but Bryan pushes him against a wall, which has a spike coming out from it, impaling and killing him instantly. Bryan then reunites with Lenore.
Three weeks later, the Mills family eats at a café to celebrate Kim passing her driving test. They are joined, much to Bryan's surprise, by Kim's boyfriend Jamie, with Kim jokingly asking her father not to shoot him.

The Expendables 2

Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat. 

Director: Simon West

Writers: Richard Wenk (screenplay), Sylvester Stallone (screenplay)

Cast:

• Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross:
• Jason Statham as Lee Christmas:
• Jet Li as Yin Yang:
• Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen:
• Chuck Norris as Booker:
• Jean-Claude Van Damme as Jean Vilain:
• Bruce Willis as Mr. Church:
• Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench:
• Terry Crews as Hale Caesar:
• Randy Couture as Toll Road:
• Liam Hemsworth as Billy the Kid:
• Scott Adkins as Hector:
• Yu Nan as Maggie Chan:

Plot:

The Expendables—leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), knives specialist Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), hand-to-hand combat specialist Yin Yang (Jet Li), heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture), the unstable Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), and sniper Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth), the team's newest recruit and Ross' protegée—are deployed to Nepal to rescue a Chinese businessman. There, they also rescue the captured mercenary Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Ross' rival. Yang parts with the group to escort the businessman back to China.
After returning to New York City, Billy tells Ross that he intends to retire by the end of the month to live in France with his girlfriend Sophia, and Ross accepts his decision. Later, Ross is forced to accept a mission from CIA operative Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) to retrieve an item from a safe in an airplane that was shot down in Albania. Church sends technical expert Maggie Chan (Yu Nan) with the team to crack the safe. In Albania, the mercenaries successfully retrieve the item, but are then ambushed by international criminal and arms dealer Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), his right-hand man Hector (Scott Adkins) and his mercenary group, the Sangs, who have captured Billy. Vilain demands the Expendables' weapons and the item in exchange for Billy's life. The team surrenders the item, but Vilain roundhouse kicks a knife through Billy's heart and flees with the Sangs by helicopter. Ross recovers a note for Sophia from Billy's body, and the team buries their fallen comrade, swearing revenge on Vilain.
Church and Trench arrive and free the Expendables and miners. The pair then joins with the Expendables to pursue Vilain. The group intercepts Vilain and his men at an airport as he prepares to leave by plane. Joined again by Booker, the Expendables, Trench, and Church engage the Sangs in battle. Christmas manages to decapitate Hector, while elsewhere Ross and Vilain fight their own personal duel. Ross defeats Vilain, stabbing him and avenging Billy.
In the aftermath, Ross is provided with an old biplane by Church. Church, Maggie, Booker, and Trench then leave the team. In France, Sophia (Nikolette Noel) discovers a box on her doorstep, containing a large sum of money and Billy's letter. As the Expendables depart in the plane, they give a final toast in honor of Billy.

The Bourne Legacy 2012

An expansion of the universe from Robert Ludlum's novels, centered on a new hero whose stakes have been triggered by the events of the previous three films.

Director: Tony Gilroy

Writers: Tony Gilroy (screenplay), Dan Gilroy (screenplay).

Cast: 

• Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross/Kenneth James Kitsom/Dr. Karl Brundage/Outcome 5
• Rachel Weisz as Dr. Marta Shearing
• Edward Norton as Eric Byer
• Joan Allen as Deputy Director Pamela Landy
• David Strathairn as Noah Vosen, the former director of Operation Blackbriar
• Albert Finney (cameo) as Dr. Albert Hirsch, the doctor responsible for the creation of Treadstone
• Louis Ozawa Changchien as LARX-03, a genetically modified super soldier who has been brainwashed into a remorseless killer
• Scott Glenn as Ezra Kramer, director of the Central Intelligence Agency
• Oscar Isaac as Outcome 3, an agent who was supposedly side-lined for falling in love
• Donna Murphy as Dita
• Stacy Keach as Mark Turso
• Željko Ivanek as Dr. Donald Foite
• Corey Stoll as Vendel
• David Asmar as Evan Pines
• John Arcilla as Joseph, a security guard
• Lou Veloso as The Fisherman
• Elizabeth Marvel as Dr. Connie Dowd
• Corey Johnson as Ray Wills

Plot:

Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is a member of Operation Outcome, a Department of Defense black ops program, which enhances the physical and mental abilities of field operatives through pills referred to as "chems". Cross is deployed to Alaska for a training assignment, where he must survive certain activities (such as diving into freezing water to locate an object) and traverse rugged terrain to arrive at a remote cabin. The cabin is operated by an exiled Outcome operative, Number Three (Oscar Isaac), who, upon arrival, informs Cross that he broke the previous mission record by two days.
Meanwhile, Operation Blackbriar and the Treadstone Project have been publicly exposed (through the actions of Jason Bourne as seen in The Bourne Ultimatum), leading the FBI and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), Blackbriar supervisor Noah Vosen (David Strathairn), Treadstone clinical researcher Dr. Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney) and CIA Director Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn). Kramer requests help from Eric Byer (Edward Norton), a retired Air Force colonel responsible for overseeing the CIA's clandestine operations.
Byer discovers potentially damaging video on the Internet in which the lead researchers for Treadstone and Outcome appear together at professional functions in public. To prevent the Treadstone investigation from finding and revealing Outcome's top-secret scientific advances, Byer decides to "burn the program to the ground." He sees this sacrifice as acceptable because the government has already separately initiated next-generation "beta programs" like "LARX": "Treadstone without the inconsistency. Outcome without the emotions."
The following morning, the police surround the flophouse while Shearing is away buying medicine. She screams out a warning. Cross escapes, then returns the favor by rescuing Shearing from the police who have begun chasing her. They steal a motorcycle and are pursued by both the police and LARX-03. After a lengthy chase through the streets and marketplaces of Manila, the police lose them and LARX-03 fatally crashes into a warehouse pillar. Shearing and Cross slide off their damaged motorcycle, and are rescued by a Filipino boatman. They pay him a gold watch (which Cross stole earlier from the chem factory's supervisor), to take them out of the country. The movie ends as the they sail for Vietnam, content to be together.

The Possession 2012

A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.

Director: Ole Bornedal 

Writers: Juliet Snowden, Stiles White

Cast

• Natasha Calis as Em Brenek
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Clyde Brenek
• Kyra Sedgwick as Stephanie Brenek
• Madison Davenport as Hannah Brenek
• Grant Show as Brett
• Matisyahu as Tzadok
• Jay Brazeau as Professor McMannis
• Brenda Crichlow as Miss Shandy
• Anna Hagan as Eleanor
• Ella Wade as the voice of Dybbuk

Plot

The film opens with an old woman trying to open a strange box. She turns on old classic music and grabs holy water and a hammer. Before she is able to destroy the box, she is thrown violently around the room by an unseen force. When her son enters, she is unconscious on the floor.

Next, the audience is introduced to newly divorced couple Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick). They have two children, Em (Natasha Calis) and Hannah (Madison Davenport). Clyde introduces his daughters to his new house.

Clyde and his daughters shop at a yard sale, where Em becomes intrigued by an old box which has Hebrew inscriptions engraved on it. Clyde agrees to buy the box for her. When Em walks around the house carrying the box, she discovers the old woman lying in bed while in a full body cast. Upon seeing the box, the old lady slams her hand against the window, screaming, until her nurse closes the window blinds.

Em asks her father to open the box, but he is unable to and concludes it is not meant to be opened. Em keeps the box in her bedroom and that night, begins to hear whispering coming from inside the box. She is successfully able to open the it, and inside it finds a tooth, a corpse of a moth, and a ring, which she begins to wear. Em then falls asleep with the box.

After coming home the next day, Clyde, Hannah and Em hear an animalistic noise in their kitchen and discover food all over the floor. When the intruder escapes through their pet flap, Clyde assumes it was a raccoon.

Em becomes solitary and spends her spare time staring at the box. Her behavior grows increasingly sinister, to the point where she stabs her father in the hand with a fork. One night while Em is in the bathroom, she starts to gag. She uses a flashlight and points it into her mouth. After a few seconds, a hand is seen crawling up from the back of her mouth. Em is startled, but she doesn't say anything and goes back to bed. The house later becomes infested with moths, mainly clustered in Em's room.

The next morning, Brett prepares to take Em to the psychologist. However, when Em stares blankly at Brett, his mouth begins gushing blood and his teeth begin falling out, causing him to drive away frantically. Em then has a seizure on the front lawn and is discovered by Hannah and Stephanie, who call 9-1-1. Em is taken to the hospital for an MRI. During the procedure, the lights begin to flicker, and the machinery begins to malfunction, and Stephanie and Hannah are horrified when they sees the dybbuk's face in the images, next to Em's heart.

Stephanie then realizes that Em is possessed. Clyde and Tzadok join the rest of the family at the hospital and attempt to conduct an exorcism in the physical therapy room. Before they begin, Tzadok requires everyone present to put a valuable item of his or hers into the box. The exorcism begins, but Em breaks free from her family and attacks Tzadok. Em escapes to the morgue with Clyde in close pursuit. Em attacks Clyde, and he survives but he is now possessed by the dybbuk. Tzadok performs an exorcism which is successfull the dybbuk crawls out of Clyde and back into the box.

The family is reunited, with Clyde and Stephanie's love rekindled. Tzadok drives away with the box in Clyde's vehicle. Minutes after telling Clyde he will ask his rabbi father what to do with the box, his car is suddenly hit by a truck, apparently killing him.

As the camera pulls out from the car crash, the box is seen, having landed several feet from the wreckage. The dybbuk is heard whispering from inside the box, unharmed.

Resident Evil: Afterlife

Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 3D science-fiction action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in the series, the first being the first installment. It is the first to be in 3D and fourth installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is based on the Capcom survival horror series Resident Evil.

The film follows Alice searching and rescuing the remaining survivors in Los Angeles after the T-virus outbreak, and teaming up against Albert Wesker, the head of the Umbrella Corporation. Chris Redfield, a primary character from the video games, was featured for the first time in the film franchise. Other characters from the games and films who returned are: Claire Redfield, Chris' sister who has lost her memory prior to the film's events; Albert Wesker, the film's primary antagonist; and Jill Valentine, who appeared in a cameo appearance.

While still out to destroy the evil Umbrella Corporation, Alice joins a group of survivors who want to relocate to the mysterious but supposedly unharmed safe haven known only as Arcadia.

In May 2005, producers mentioned the possibility of following Extinction with a sequel titled Afterlife. Extinction was released in 2007 and was a box office success prompting Afterlife to begin development in June 2008, with the script being written by Anderson that December. Elements from the video game Resident Evil 5 (2009) were incorporated into the film. Filming took place in Toronto from September to December 2009 using the 3D Fusion Camera System.