Concert Review: The Shins, Minglewood Hall, 5/18/2013


First off, let me commend the city of Memphis for what is shaping up to be the best year of live music the city has seen in years, maybe even decades. Between the big name, stadium shows (Elton John, Paul McCartney, Justin Timberlake), the enjoyable outdoor shows (Bob Dylan/Wilco/My Read more

Political Passport: Everything You Need to Know about the IRS Scandal


I've recently been asked to contribute occasionally to PolicyMic , an up-and-coming website striving to be an interactive and intelligent forum for diverse views on all topics affecting the Millennial Generation. Fear not, I'll always excerpt and link these posts here on The Wise Guise as well so you can Read more

Jack Bauer, Michael J. Fox, and Agent Coulson - They're Back!


Jack Bauer and 24 are BACK! I've tried to contain my excitement to just a few social media posts every day. It's been a wild week at work and spending as much time as possible with my new baby nephew Walt, so that's helped distract me from sitting on the couch in Read more

Movie Review: The Great Gatsby


It’s everything you ever dreamed it would be. The elaborate costumes, the overblown sets, the dazzling effects, the quick and furious cuts, the smoothly incorporated soundtrack – all the hallmarks of director Baz Luhrmann are apparent in “The Great Gatsby.” Well, for the first hour, they’re there, at least. Per Read more

Why We Love Baz Luhrmann


“I remember that first scene between Leo and Claire so well. Leo glancing at her through the fish tank. The visuals are so rich, and they were both so young and beautiful. Both were dressed to perfection - Claire’s dress and that armor Leo was wearing. And that song Read more

NBA Playoffs: A House Divided


My wife is from Oklahoma City. I’m from Memphis. We live in Memphis. Needless to say, the current NBA Playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies is creating a bit of tension in our house. In order to vent some frustrations, here are our thoughts on Read more

Movie Previews

The Yearly Star Wars Plan: Is the Force strong enough for this?

Posted on by Alex Beene in Entertainment, Featured, Movie Previews, Movies | Leave a comment

Star Wars The Yearly Star Wars Plan: Is the Force strong enough for this?

No matter how much I cover the film industry, I never cease to be amazed by how naïve I can be in certain situations. Take the recent acquisition of Lucasfilm by the Walt Disney Company. I hailed it as being a superb decision both fiscally and creatively for the Star Wars franchise.

That rationale was built on what I felt was a valid assumption that after George Lucas had tortured his beloved creation with a series of lame prequels in the early 2000s, Disney would very quickly swing in to save the day and administer first aid to the many wounds sustained. Instead, surgery hasn’t even been performed, and Disney is already sending out bills for the procedure. Read more

New Summer Movie Trailer Extravaganza!

Posted on by Joseph Williams in Entertainment, Featured, Movie Previews, Movies | 1 Comment

2013 movie preview the hunger games catching fire New Summer Movie Trailer Extravaganza!

Even though Clayton and I already previewed all the films premiering in March, April, and May 2013, the recent release of new movie trailers had me wanting to share each one on my Facebook wall. But instead of all that spam, I thought I’d embed them all in one post with some bits of commentary. Needless to say, as the three weeks of law school final exam cramming is upon me, I can’t wait for summer. And a big part of that is summer movie season.

But first, I have to share the newly released first look at the Hunger Games sequel, which is taking over Thanksgiving weekend given the conclusion of Twilight and Harry Potter franchises. I’ve watched it several times and it gives me goosebumps each time. It’s fascinating to me how they’re growing the films beyond the Katniss-narrated structure of books… and I think the payoffs will continue to be positive. Ridiculous how little they’re trying to spoil and therefore, how little of the substantial plot is revealed. AND YET, every second has me more excited. Read more

Upcoming Films of 2013: March-May

Posted on by Clayton Martin in Entertainment, Featured, Movie Previews, Movies | 1 Comment

the great gatsby Upcoming Films of 2013: March May

As some of you may remember, last March I did a post outlining every upcoming movie of 2012. Joseph and I recently started creating such a post for this year but then decided that it would definitely be an information overload for everyone. We’ve decided to just make a series of these for 2013 and break down a few months’ releases at a time. Here are all the movies being released in Memphis/Nashville during the remainder of March thru the end of May. Read more

New Veronica Mars, New KickStarter Frontier, New Pope: Our Thoughts

Posted on by Joseph Williams in Entertainment, Featured, Movie Previews, Movies, Television | Leave a comment

kickstarter logo New Veronica Mars, New KickStarter Frontier, New Pope: Our Thoughts

Yesterday was a game-changing day for a number of reasons. What does the new Veronica Mars film mean for the future of entertainment projects? What does it mean for the future of fundraising? Joseph, Palmer and Clayton are digging in and trying to take their shot at some of the obvious questions that arise from this project’s instant success. Read more

Fast & Furious 6 is here. Oscar Race for 2014 is over.

Posted on by Joseph Williams in Featured, Movie Previews, Movies | 1 Comment

fast6poster 201x300 Fast & Furious 6 is here. Oscar Race for 2014 is over.

Well, we’ve all been waiting. I could not WAIT to see Fast Five in the early summer of 2011. Especially after listening to Bill Simmons and Adam Carolla breaking it down on Simmons’ podcast after they saw a preview of it.  And the absurd action didn’t disappoint.

Stealing cars from moving trains, cliff dives that made Butch Cassidy & Sundance’s look like kids play, and more babes in revealing outfits than ever before.

But as absurd as the action was and as wonderfully self-aware it seemed, the true joy of Fast Five was found in the little things (like tiny little Jordana Brewster with a basketball under her shirt to look pregnant during the final living-secluded-on-the-beach-scene-where-the-badguys-can’t-find-you-but-Vin-Diesel-can). Or the big things, like The Rock’s arms.

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Spring Break Forever

Posted on by Clayton Martin in Featured, Movie Previews, Movies | 8 Comments

james franco spring breakers movie Spring Break Forever

A couple weeks ago, Joseph shared a link with me from a Grantland post about the upcoming Harmony Korine film, Spring Breakers. I was instantly curious about the film and decided to do a little research. Who is this Harmony Korine guy that apparently people have actually heard of? What is this Spring Breakers movie? Well good people, the following is my journey into Spring Breakers and Harmony Korine. Buckle up, because this is an absurd ride. Read more

‘Mama’ Looks Terrifying

Posted on by Clayton Martin in Featured, Movie Previews, Movies | Leave a comment

Mama 1024x553 Mama Looks Terrifying

First off, I’m not a big horror film guy. I like the classics and can always go for a good psychological thriller-type horror movie but overall I’m more of a comedy/drama/anything-but-horror guy.

I do however have a lot of respect for Guillermo del Toro as a filmmaker. And when it comes to the new film he’s producing, Mama, I don’t know what to do. Since I’m a big list guy, let’s break this down. Read more

A Haunted House: Really America?

Posted on by Warner Russell in Featured, Movie Previews, Movies | 2 Comments

A Haunted House A Haunted House: Really America?

Spoof movies are very, very bad. They might be the lowest form of humor. Parody is funny. Spoofing is for stupid people. Read more

Josh Smith: Alas, Cloud Atlas Future Cloudy

Posted on by Guest in Featured, Guest Spots, Misc. Posts, Movie Previews, Movies | 1 Comment

cloud atlas 670 Josh Smith: Alas, Cloud Atlas Future CloudyWe’re ecstatic about today’s guest post from best friend of The Wise Guise, Josh Smith, who previously wrote this joy of a blog post. If we had it our way, Josh would write a new post every day, but he’s a legitimate family man, so alas, no can do. However, we couldn’t be happier to have his book review and movie preview of Cloud Atlas today.  Mainly because we wanted to have a clue what was going on in the movie when we saw it and Josh read the book for us. But this post is filled with wit, insight, and a litany of intelligent cultural references. Hope y’all enjoy it as much as we do!

Josh has now seen the movie, as well. After reading this post, check out his Movie Review of Cloud Atlas.

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Ladies and Gentlemen It’s Time For THUNDERSTRUCK!!!

Posted on by Clayton Martin in Basketball, Featured, Movie Previews, Movies, Sports | Leave a comment

 

Thunderstruck Ladies and Gentlemen Its Time For THUNDERSTRUCK!!!

I’ve established myself pretty well as a movie nerd. I don’t hide it or deny it. So when I stumbled upon a little ditty a couple months ago called Thunderstruck, I was ecstatic. I planned to do a blog post immediately but decided it needed to be as thorough as possible. I mean, when this thing hits theaters today, it has the potential to be the second greatest movie starring an athlete! (Editor’s note: Number one is obviously Kazaam.) Read more