Captain Phillips
Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenwriter: Billy Ray
Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, Barkhad Abdi
Columbia Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 134 Minutes
Release Date: October 11, 2013

Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93) and written by Billy Ray (The Hunger Games), Captain Phillips is based on the book, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty.

The film is an examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. The story focuses on the tense relationship between the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), and Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse (Barkhad Abdi), his Somali counterpart.

Few directors have the ability to evoke a harrowing, real-life event like Greengrass – if you’ve seen United 93, you know exactly how affecting his films can be. Captain Phillips is an expertly crafted, documentary-style film with impressive performances from Hanks and Barkhad Abdi, who makes his film debut here. Hanks delivers some of his best work in years, playing the Hanksian Everymanâ„¢ – an ordinary guy who, despite insurmountable odds, survives and becomes a hero.

A large part of what makes films based on true-life stories so appealing to a wide audience is the fact that it relies so much on the drama. It’s what keeps the audiences glued to their seat, because even though they probably already know what is going to happen because they’ve read about it, they want to experience it first hand by watching it. So imagine what happens when they watch Paul Greengrass‘ latest directorial effort Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks in the titular role.

You can watch the trailer for the film here below.

For those who might not remember, Captain Richard Phillips was captaining the Maersk Alabama, a cargo ship, when it was attacked by Somali pirates. He offered himself as a hostage in order to save his crew members from further harm. This act of heroism made its way into national headlines as the world held its breath to see what would happen to the captain. The rest is pretty much history, but it does have all the ingredients for a intense drama.

DreamWorks animation slate is pretty stacked for the next few years. One of their biggest projects for 2013 is the animated caveman family comedy, The Croods, featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman. Quite a collection of talent for an animated film, and now we got our first look at the film. Check out the beautiful trailer for Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon) and Kirk DeMicco‘s The Croods here below.

Now an oppressive patriarchal father who forbids his adventuring daughter from ever leaving the nest is nothing new. Scaring his younger children with stories of adventurers’ deaths may be a bit dark for the younger audience, but all of that is overshadowed by the bright and colorful images and that sense of “seeing a new world” in this trailer. I especially like the the cloud and sunlight work seen in the earlier parts of this trailer. Its a bit strange to see Cage do some voice acting work, but I’m sure audiences will get used to it as the film progresses. The Croods opens in theaters on March 22nd, 2013.

When I first picked up Bryan Lee O’Malley‘s Scott Pilgrim series, I fell for it, hard. Here, finally, was a quirky, beautiful love interest who wasn’t just another Manic Pixie Dream Girl — a three-dimensional girl with motivations and an inner life of her own. (It doesn’t sound like that should be too much to ask, but the sad case is that it often is.) I found O’Malley’s take on the archetype to be just about perfect.

Then Edgar Wright‘s film adaptation came out, and it was hilarious, and inventive, and energetic, and sweet, and… and yet another story about a Hapless Hero and a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Although the film remained mostly faithful to the main plot of the source material, it had to cut copious amounts of backstory to fit into the running time. Perhaps no one suffered more than Ramona Flowers, who went from a fascinating, complex woman to a pretty trophy to be won.

What was most disappointing about it is that the downgrade felt unnecessary. Manic Pixie Dream Girls abound, but there’s always an opportunity for them to be more than that. Below, in honor of O’Malley’s original Ramona Flowers, are five other Manic Pixie Dream Girls who aren’t.

Up until now, we had only seen a mediocre teaser trailer for Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, but now the first full trailer is online and it definitely gives you a better idea of what the movie is looking to become.

The movie is directed by Chris Columbus, who also directed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. This is fitting, as The Lightning Thief has a definite Harry Potter vibe to it, only instead of wizardry, we have Greek mythology. It’s definitely aimed at a teen/family audience, but also looks like it could be a lot of fun for all ages. The story follows a teenage boy who discovers that he is the son of god of the sea, Poseidon, and has to help to locate the lightning bolt of Zeus before a war breaks out amongst the gods.

Click on over to check out the trailer and share your thoughts below!