More of Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin, in preparation for the Blu-Ray release:
TRAILER: "Philomena"
Supposedly Judi Dench's next Oscar push, but this feels like an extremely small scale film to me. Still, director Stephen Frears has a very good track record and has directed Dench to a nomination before, in Mrs. Henderson Presents. His other credits include The Queen, Dirty Pretty Things, High Fidelity and Dangerous Liaisons, so maybe this will be another hit.
BOX OFFICE 8/9-8/11: Elysium Grabs Top Spot, We're the Millers Impresses
The Matt Damon/Neil Blomkamp sci-fi thriller Elysium opened to $30 million this weekend, which is fairly soft, given recent sci-fi openings of Oblivion and Pacific Rim to at least $37 million, and District 9's own performance, also to $37 million in 2009. The reviews were so-so, along with audience reaction as it received a middling "B" Cinemascore, so the legs on this one may not be too strong.
Stronger was the Jennifer Aniston/Jason Sudeikis comedy We're the Millers, which took in $26 million over the weekend, for a total of $38 million since opening on Wednesday. Despite the mixed-negative reviews on the film (41% RT), this goes to show that Jennifer Aniston probably is a draw under certain circumstance- a lot of her movies bomb, but she does have five $100 million dollar grossers to her name, and it might be six after this one's run, given the "A-" rating from crowds.
As for the other new releases, Disney's Planes took in a mediocre $22 million for a film that was originally headed straight to DVD, but with no other family films on the horizon for the next month or so, it may hold on for a decent gross in spite of itself. Meanwhile, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters opened with a weak $14 million compared to the first one's $31 million a few years ago, so this was basically a sequel nobody asked for.
Top 5
- Elysium- $30.5 million
- We're the Millers- $26.6 million
- Planes- $22.5 million
- Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters- $14.6 million
- 2 Guns- $11.1 million
In holdovers, 2 Guns had a massive drop of over 59% and may not reach that $100 million mark, while The Conjuring has now crossed $120 million and has a shot at passing The Blair Witch Project's $140 million dollar total to become the second highest grossing horror film of all time (behind The Exorcist, of course, which remains untouchable). Next week it's a slew of new releases again, with Lee Daniels' The Butler, Kick-Ass 2, Jobs, and the thriller Paranoia.
REVIEW: Iron Man 3 (2013) Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow. Dir. Shane Black
The third film in the Iron Man franchise may not be the best in the series, but nonetheless, I think it's actually my favorite. Directed and co-written by Shane Black, who works well with Robert Downey Jr., having previously directed him in 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, it's the wittiest, fastest paced film in the series, and the one that understands that Tony Stark out of the armor is the kind we like best. Indeed, in this film there are entire action sequences where RDJ is taking on the villains himself, wisecracking his way though the whole thing of course. He's become so closely associated with his onscreen character now that it's almost impossible to distinguish him from it- and in fact, I don't think there's any point in doing so. You go to see the Downey persona, similar to past screen stars like Sean Connery or Steve McQueen. Without him there's no other spark to these movies, and it's what distinguishes them now from the generic superhero films that flood the market every single summer.
The plot this time around involves the Mandarin, one of the famous Iron Man villains from the comics, who's played by Ben Kingsley in theatrical fashion, and who's enacting a string of terrorist bombings in the U.S. When one of these bombings injures Tony's loyal security chief Happy (Jon Favreau), Tony reacts by vowing vengeance against the Mandarin. This endangers his home base and his love Pepper Potts (again Gwyneth Paltrow), and sends him on a wide ranging journey first to rural Tennessee and then back to New York, encountering genetically enhanced agents of the Mandarin along the way. James Badge Dale plays one of these agents in a flashy, charismatic turn- be on the lookout for this guy in future roles, he's been popping up in scene-stealing supporting parts for a few years now (Shame, Flight, The Grey). There's a final plot twist involving the villain and true identities that everyone probably knows by now, and that had more than a few fanboys up in arms about the deviation from comic book continuity. But since I've never picked up a single issue, this third act reveal worked well for me, as I found it a surprising and decently unfolded twist.
As I mentioned before, Shane Black (who wrote the original Lethal Weapon) scripts the movie with his trademark wit and there are barbs launched left and right, not just from Tony, but from others as well. Even though it's the funniest Iron Man film, Tony is also dealing with recurring panic attacks resulting from the events of The Avengers, and Downey again excels at flaunting casual wit mixed with weighty existential crises. Regardless of plot twists and a final action climax that turns fairly routine, the whole movie is essentially a showcase for one of our most famous movie stars, which in and of itself isn't a bad thing- unless of course you find his schtick annoying or obnoxious, which he could be unless restrained. Luckily, he is here by the talented Black, who balances comedy and action with considerable skill. I was thoroughly entertained by Iron Man 3, and what more could you ask for from a summer tentpole?
* * *
TRAILER: "The Monuments Men"
The George Clooney directed film is set to come out Dec 18. Normally, this is exactly the kind of movie that the Oscars love- WWII, big stars, little known story with a happy ending...could be the Argo or King's Speech of this year. On the other hand this trailer kinda makes it look like Ocean's Eleven in Germany, so it may be too lightweight to win anything. We'll see.
TRAILER #2: "Captain Phillips"
This second trailer for the Paul Greengrass thriller shows more of the story and it looks intense. It's been selected to be the opening film of the New York Film Festival and the London Film Festival, so it looks like there's quite a bit of confidence in it. In theaters Oct 11th.
A New Hunchback of Notre Dame?
Variety reports that Zhang Yimou is in talks to direct Quasimodo for Warner Bros., with Josh Brolin attached to star. Yimou is one of the great Chinese directors, having made Raise the Red Lantern, Hero and House of Flying Daggers. I can't wait to see what he does with this story, filmed many times of course. My favorite is the 1939 version with Charles Laughton as the hunchback and Maureen O'Hara as Esmeralda.
Check out the great "Sanctuary" scene from the 1939 film below. Laughton was an amazing Quasimodo:
TRAILER: "Her"
The latest from director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), coming out Nov 20th. Look pretty great- I'll bet Joaquin Phoenix is in contention for Best Actor again for this one.
TRAILER: "The Counselor"
Finally, the real trailer for Ridley Scott's The Counselor drops. With a screenplay written by Cormac McCarthy, set to come out Oct 25th.
TRAILER: "Thor: The Dark World"
Not sure if this sequel will be any good, but at least this is a better trailer than the first one. Out Nov 8th.
Johnny Depp and Jerry Bruckheimer Blame Critics for Lone Ranger Flop
Well, looks like the cry babies are out in force for this one. With Disney set to lose $190 million from the movie's failure, Johnny Depp, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and even Armie Hammer are laying the blame squarely at the feet of the critics' bad reviews.
"I think the reviews were written seven to eight months before we released the film. I think the reviews were written when they heard Gore (Verbinski) and Jerry (Bruckheimer) and me were going to do 'The Lone Ranger.'" (Depp)
"I think they were reviewing the budget, not reviewing the movie. The audience doesn't care what the budget is- they pay the same amount if it costs a dollar or 20 million dollars...they'll review it in a few years and see that they made a mistake." (Bruckheimer)
"This is the thing with American critics: they've been gunning for our movie since it was shut down the first time. That's when most of the critics wrote their initial reviews. They tried to do the same thing with 'World War Z'- it didn't work, the movie was successful. Instead they decided to slit the jugular of our movie." (Hammer)
Sounds like a lot of whining to me. Crowds don't pay attention to reviews, for the most part, especially for blockbusters. If they did, would Grown-Ups 2 have just passed $100 million? And I don't know what Hammer's talking about, but the reviews for World War Z weren't nearly as dismal as the ones for The Lone Ranger (which sits at 28% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes versus WWZ's 67%). If they hated it because of its production problems, wouldn't they have slaughtered that movie in the same way? When a movie gets horrible reviews AND it bombs at the box office (clearly word of mouth didn't save it)- don't you have to conclude that the reason might be because you made a shitty movie? Man up, guys.
REVIEW: Fruitvale Station (2013) Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer. Dir. Ryan Coogler
Fruitvale Station is a highly impressive debut from 26-year-old writer-director Ryan Coogler. It's made with skill and confidence, evoking sensitive performances from everyone involved, even as it treads controversial ground, especially in light of the recent Trayvon Martin ruling in which George Zimmerman, accused of killing an unarmed black teenager, got off scot free. The way Coogler tackles this similar material is not to make a politically charged statement about what happened to Oscar Grant, but to depict the last day of this 22-year-old's life by using a highly personal, intimate, and small scale docudrama approach, which has the effect of gutting the audience emotionally and thereby leaving the most powerful impact of all.
We have one day to get to know Oscar Grant, the young man from Oakland who was shot and killed by a white police officer in the early morning hours of New Year's Day, 2009. That may seem like not enough time to get involved with who he is, his problems and his feelings, but the small slice of life we are provided with is infused with so much detail, a vivid evocation of time and place, and three great performances that bring a sense of real energy and authenticity to the story. Michael B. Jordan is the lead, and in what should be a star-making performance, he manages to convey the charisma that makes Oscar so popular with his friends and family, as well his hotheadedness and reckless behavior that has already landed him a couple of convictions for drug-dealing in the past. Oscar isn't whitewashed or made into a saint- he's a nice kid with potential, who's nevertheless troubled and saddled with a girlfriend and a 5 year old child at a young age, struggling to make it in a working class life that hasn't offered him many opportunities.
Octavia Spencer is terrific as his mother, who loves Oscar unconditionally but is exasperated and worried about his choices. She manages to convey so much emotion and underlying concern with just her eyes in this film- there's a scene where she subtly but firmly convinces her son to take the train rather than drive if he's going to be drinking, and she comes across as a mother who has accepted Oscar the way he is but is still trying in a kind of mama bear type way to protect him in any way she can. The last great performance in this movie is Melonie Diaz as Sophina, Oscar's girlfriend and the mother of his child. She's incredibly natural, girlish and unpretentious in the part, as we see her at times alternately annoyed, charmed by and devoted to him, even as we see his tendency to fool around on her revealed in his flirtations with other women and her anger at past indiscretions.
By the time the climactic showdown on the train station rolls around, we are enwrapped in Oscar's life and feel that we know him, his problems and his friends- the final scenes of police abuse and the shot that ended his life are filmed in a chaotic manner, with the train passengers capturing every moment with their cell phones. These scenes are made more powerful by the film's opening shot of the real video that captured the actions taken by those police officers. As Oscar dies after we have gotten to know him, there's a sense of tremendous waste having taken place. Look, would he have gone on to become President? Almost certainly not. Would have ended up back in jail? Possibly, but maybe not. The point is that whatever life he was going to carve out for himself, belonged to him and was only just beginning- and the pointless action by which that life was taken away is a tragedy and a crime that, as we now know, befalls more young black men for no reason at all in this country, and is still an issue that has not progressed the way that our civil rights battles of the past would have you believe. By making this film and giving audiences white and black a personal connection to the life of one of those young men, Coogler brings the best kind of activist awareness to the world that any one filmmaker can. It's an important movie that needs to be seen.
* * * *
