Behind the scenes video about Catching Fire and the IMAX experience. The movie comes out Nov 22nd.
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "The Little Mermaid" (1989)
One of my all time favorite Disney movies is out on blu-ray today, and you just have to check it out. Of course you've already seen it, but hey, you can always show it to a kid who hasn't yet become acquainted with the film that kicked off the Disney "renaissance" era (otherwise known as the movies that defined my childhood), that great run from The Little Mermaid through The Lion King (1994), when they were just hitting one home run after another. Trust me, even in this age of CG animation, the look, the story, the characters and especially the music- it's timeless and it all holds up. This is one of the great ones.
Trailer (it says it's the original but it's actually from the 1997 re-release, which is a better one):
TRAILER #2: "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
New trailer for Part 2 of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, coming out December 13th.
POSTER: "Catching Fire"
The new UK poster for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is out today. The movie is coming out in November, the week before Thanksgiving.
BOX OFFICE 9/27-9/29: "Cloudy 2" Tops the Chart
It was well past time for a family film to hit the marketplace, with Disney's poorly received Planes holding on as long as it did simply because there was a complete dearth of family films in release. So unsurprisingly, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 topped rather easily with a strong $35 million debut, higher than the original's $30 million bow 4 years ago. It should also do well going forward, as it received an "A-" Cinemascore and benefits from another lack of upcoming kiddie flicks, until Free Birds comes out in November.
Another wide release this weekend was Ron Howard's Rush, which expanded to 2,300 screens and only earned about $10 million, which is pretty middling for the extremely well reviewed film, but I was expecting that, given the lack of interest in Formula One racing in the United States. It did get an "A-" from the audience though, and could possibly hold on strong, but it's facing big competition in the coming weeks from other films targeting adults, like next weekend's Gravity. Joseph Gordon Levitt's directorial effort Don Jon also opened wide to just $9 million and a terrible "C-" Cinemascore (despite good reviews), so that one's probably a non-starter, and the Paula Patton starring comedy Baggage Claim got $9.3 million and another A- rating, but given the low budgets of both these films, they won't be considered flops and may even be profitable after their respective theater runs.
Top 5:
- Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2- $35 million
- Prisoners- $11.3 million
- Rush- $10.3 million
- Baggage Claim- $9.3 million
- Don Jon- $9 million
In the holdovers, Prisoners held relatively well in second place, but like Rush, is facing massive competition next week and the weeks after that could limit its final take, and Instructions Not Included passed Pan's Labyrinth this weekend to become the highest grossing Spanish language film of all time in the U.S. Next up, it's Alfonso Cuaron's long awaited Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock (yay- I finally get to see it!) against the Ben Affleck-Justin Timberlake movie Runner Runner.
REVIEW: "The Great Gatsby" (2013) Leonardo Dicaprio, Carey Mulligan. Dir. Baz Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann is something of an acquired taste for most people. You either love him or hate him, and I happen to be one of those who usually loves him, so I admit I may be someone who's more susceptible to the charms of this movie, which I think are many. I appreciate his bombast and theatricality, and I always look forward to it as something fundamentally different and unlike what typical filmmakers produce. This version of The Great Gatsby is everything you expect from a Luhrmann production (loud, excessive, highly stylized), but maybe also something you don't- it's surprisingly faithful to the classic story itself. It's also a hell of a lot of fun.
Luhrmann clearly loves the novel, so much so that he lifts text straight out of the book and spreads it across the screen in various typeface- an example of the kind of fanciful indulgence that some label as over the top and silly, but I happen to enjoy immensely. There is always plenty to look at on the screen in his films, perhaps never more so than in this one, which is packed from wall to wall with crowded details in the ravishing sets and elaborate costumes (this is this year's costume and maybe production design Oscar winner for sure), but luckily that's not all there is, and the thing that makes The Great Gatsby work the most is Leonardo Dicaprio in the title role. Not since Titanic has he been in a movie that strives more to showcase his natural charm and movie star charisma, and it comes so easily to him here that we are reminded once again that Leo's a romantic leading man in his bones, no matter how hard he tries to hide behind all those grim character roles and autobiographical parts. He's completely natural and fully embodies the enigmatic and secretly tormented Gatsby- there's virtually none of the strain I can sometimes see in his attempt to bury his movie star shine in films like J. Edgar and Blood Diamond.
Faring less well however, is Carey Mulligan as Daisy. She's filmed beautifully in every frame, but she's just too sweet and sincere for the role. Daisy Buchanan's ultimate actions make more sense in the finale if you sense a hollow and materialistic center under the perfect exterior- she's a good actress but here she seems miscast. The other actors all turn in good performances- Tobey Maguire serves his function as Nick, our narrator and entry point into Gatsby's world, but Australian actors Joel Edgarton and Elizabeth Debicki are especially good as Daisy's husband Tom and her friend Jordan Baker, bringing a real urgency to what could be minor parts.
Luhrmann's taste for pure spectacle is indulged here in every way you can imagine, from the lavish parties of the rich and famous meshed with a modern hip-hop soundtrack to CGI sets and cartoony visions in the night sky of human images tearing up letters- if this kind of thing is too much for you than I would presume you've never warmed to Luhrmann's style overall, but I think his fantastic theatricality enhances the fun and I was surprised to see how much substance there actually is in the end- with an extremely faithful climax and high stakes dramatics raised for the Gatsby character in particular. All in all, this is a very fun and over the top version one of the great American novels, and if it serves to bring more exposure and awareness to classic literature by reinventing it for a modern age, no matter how radical a manner in which it's done, what could possibly be the harm in that? Luhrmann pays tribute in his own way, and it's a big, bombastic blast from beginning to end.
* * *
FEATURETTE: "Thor: The Dark World"
Behind the scenes with Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston. Thor 2 is coming out Nov 8th.
TRAILER #2: "Philomena"
This is a much better trailer than the first one, in my opinion. And boy does it look Oscar-y. They love these kinds of comedy-drama tearjerkers. But it got great reviews at all the film festivals, so we'll see when it comes out- it's now slated to be released on Nov 27th, in time for Thanksgiving.
Raves for Captain Phillips at New York
Paul Greengrass' Captain Phillips has been met with near universal acclaim at the New York Film Festival. Both the film and star Tom Hanks are receiving high praise and it seems set to join Oscar frontrunners 12 Years a Slave and Gravity as a leading contender for Picture, Director, Actor and across the board categories, maybe even Supporting Actor for newcomer Barkhad Abdi, who's been praised as well. The fact-based story of Captain Richard Phillip's 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates (another survival tale- that's a popular trend this season) is coming out in theaters in two weeks, October 11th.
"'Captain Phillips' unfurls with an intensity that knocks the wind out of you. Paul Greengrass' film is the most gripping based-on-fact film so far this year." (NY Daily News)
"Hanks is tremendous in the role of Richard Phillips- the nuance with which he unveils layers of control, the lack thereof, fear, dread, escalating panic and hopelessness is astounding and hard to watch at times." (The Playlist)
"Greengrass creates one of the most impressive, captivating military spectacles in recent years...Hanks is so commanding, so authentic here, taking what could be cheap, sentimental heroism and creating a real but extraordinary human who is just smart enough to survive." (Cinemablend)
"Tom Hanks does his finest work on screen since 'Cast Away' as Richard Phillips...the story, which made international headlines, is brought to vivid life by Greengrass." (NY Post)
Here's the trailer once more:
FEATURETTE: "Oldboy"
Behind the scenes interviews with the cast and crew of the upcoming Oldboy, out Nov 27th.
New York Film Festival Starts Today
Well, with Venice, Telluride, and Toronto now over, it's on to New York, with the fall season Oscar movies continuing to roll out. NYFF will run through October 13th, and the contenders in contention at this one include Nebraska, All is Lost, Inside Llewyn Davis, Captain Phillips, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Her. Obviously the big premieres at this fest will be Captain Phillips (screening today), which has already been seen by a few critics, Ben Stiller's Walter Mitty and Spike Jonze's Her. There will also be a secret surprise screening to be revealed soon, and with Foxcatcher and The Wolf of Wall Street both now delayed until 2014, my guess is that Saving Mr. Banks will make its debut here as well. Oscar season's in full swing even though none of these films have been seen by the public yet- but that will change starting next Friday, when Gravity opens. From that point on it'll be one Oscar movie after another opening every week for the next two months. The frontrunners for the time being remain Gravity and 12 Years a Slave, with smaller movies like Nebraska and Inside Llewyn Davis hovering around the edges, and Philomena waiting in the wings for its release in December. I'll have reports on the reaction to the bigger contenders throughout the festival, starting with Captain Phillips later today.
TRAILER: "Frozen"
Disney's new animated feature loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen, coming out Nov 27th. You wouldn't know it from the trailer, but this is supposed to be an actual musical, and with the voices of Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff, you'd think they wouldn't be hiding that fact (Tangled was a big hit, wasn't it? It's not like people don't like musicals).
