Don’t adjust your computer screen or think you are suffering from déjà vu: White House Down is like another Die Hard in the White House kind of film, only thing is, it looks like the production budget for the film is a lot higher than the $80 million that was spend to make Olympus Has Fallen, Antoine Fuqua’s recently released political action film starring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman.

Watch the trailer here below.

The plot is pretty much the same, too: A secret service agent’s knowledge of the Presidential detail and White House will aid him in his mission to save the President of the United States (Jamie Foxx) from certain death. The opening quote about the country’s dark secrets bringing about our nation’s downfall could also be a possible plot twist in the film, but for now, let’s just go with the fact that White House Down is Die Hard in the White House, except with younger and sexier faces.

Okay folks, it’s confession time. I thought Jack Reacher, the Christopher McQuarrie-directed adaptation of Lee Child‘s novel One Shot that courted major controversy among fans of Child’s books when Tom Cruise was cast as Reacher even though he hardly fit the character’s description as a blonde, hulking bruiser who spoke softly and carried a big stick called himself, was one of the finest and most undervalued movies of 2012.

McQuarrie turned the novel into a classical, old school action thriller that would not be out of place in the filmographies of directors like John Frankenheimer and Don Siegel. The fist fights, shootouts, and car chases were executed and filmed with lean, professional precision and edited with fewer cuts than you would find in most modern action scenes. I wasn’t a fan of the Reacher books but nevertheless I thought Cruise gave a cool, forceful, and at times hilarious performance as a human killing machine with far more brains, wit, and soul than you would expect. He had able support from Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, Robert Duvall, and famed German filmmaker Werner Herzog as the movie’s villain, the Zec.

A snail that dreams of being as fast as a NASCAR race car is perhaps the most clique thing ever. Obviously it can work as some sort of inspiration/motivational story for a younger audience, and thankfully DreamWorks Animation saw the potential in that and created Turbo.

The film centers on a snail (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) who dreams of racing in the big leagues. And the trailer leads you to believe he can do it up until the end that is. Of course this being a teaser, there isn’t a whole lot to get into. Check out the first trailer and synopsis for Turbo below.

Killing Them Softly
Directed by Andrew Dominik
Written by Andrew Dominik
Starring: Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta
The Weinstein Company
Rated R | 97 Minutes
Release Date: November 30, 2012

Written and directed by Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Killing Them Softly is an adaptation of George V. Higgins‘ 1974 crime novel, Cogan’s Trade.

When South Boston low-lifes Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) break into an illegal card game and steal the cash, they attract the attention of contract killer Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt).

The underground poker circuit is run by low-level mobster Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), who becomes an immediate suspect because he robbed his own card game a few years back. The two thugs assume the blame will fall on Trattman, leaving them free from mob retaliation. As you might imagine, they assume wrong.

The South Boston mob sends a representative (Richard Jenkins) to sit down with Cogan to work out the details of Frankie and Russell’s demise, and what to do with Markie – who is living on borrowed time after his previous stunt.

Killing Them Softly is set in the months leading up to the 2008 Presidential election, where writer/director Andrew Dominik repeatedly hits us over the head with comparisons between a financial crisis, a corrupt political system, and the violent circumstances of Higgins’ crime-drama.

The Cabin in the Woods
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by Drew Goddard
Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard
Starring Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Fran Kranz, Richard Jenkins
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 18, 2012

Taking a break from their college studies, a group of friends – Dana (Kristen Connolly), her friend Jules (Anna Hutchison), Jules’ jock boyfriend Curt (Chris Hemsworth), wisecracking stoner Marty (Fran Kranz), and Holden (Jesse Williams), a friend of Curt’s he trying to hook up with Dana – embark on a weekend getaway to an isolated cabin somewhere in the mountains (and some woods of course, hence the title).

Despite an uncomfortable encounter with a creepy local (Tim De Zarn), the quintet carry on with their relaxing weekend, but unbeknownst to them outside forces led by Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Hadley (Bradley Whitford) are monitoring their every move and preparing to unleash a nightmarish horror upon them. As Dana and her friends battle to survive the night, they begin to realize the full scope of the evil that wishes to prey upon them, and by the end all will be revealed and it will not exactly be what you expect.