Movie of the Day: "Glory Road" (2006)

Due to March Madness, we'll be posting some great basketball-centered movies over the next few days, and this feel-good story from 2006 is the first. The sports movie in general tends to follow a now cliched formula of overcoming obstacles on the way to gaining unprecedented success, but this one really moved me, and as it pertains to college basketball, it couldn't be more appropriate. Based on the true life story of the team that changed the sport by integrating college basketball in the 1960's, Josh Lucas stars as the coach of the small school of Texas Western, and Derek Luke is one of the star players of the 1966 season. It's a heartwarmer.

Trailer:

TRAILER: "Begin Again"

The new film from the writer/director of Once, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year, and is now set to come out in July. Keira Knightley (who does her own singing) and Mark Ruffalo star in this movie, which got ecstatic reaction from the Toronto crowd and was picked up by Harvey Weinstein, so it definitely has potential. Looks to me like it will depend on how good the music is, much like Once did:

TRAILER #2: "Jupiter Ascending"

The second trailer for the fairly ludicrous looking Jupiter Ascending, the new Wachowski sibling's movie coming out in July. I don't know about this one- maybe there's a chance it could be good, but it might have been a good idea to have Channing Tatum lay off whatever accent it is he's supposed to have in this, don't you think?

TEASER: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

Michael Bay's dreaded Ninja Turtles movie has a trailer out today, and those CG turtles could not possibly look any creepier. Ick. If this franchise has to continue, I'd way prefer the dudes in the costumes from the original 90's version. Everything else looks like typical Michael Bay- CG action galore, if you like that sort of thing.

TRAILER #2: "Edge of Tomorrow"

New trailer for Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt in the sci-fi thriller, Edge of Tomorrow, coming out June 6th. Looks like it might be interesting, and with director Doug Liman (Go, The Bourne Identity) at the helm, it at least has potential to be something noteworthy. Kinda seems like Emily Blunt is starting to get typecast as "the girl" in weird sci-fi movies though, with The Adjustment Bureau, Looper, and now this:

REVIEW: "The Past" (2013) Berenice Bejo, Tahar Rahim. Dir. Asghar Farhadi

Asghar Farhadi is proving himself to be a mesmerizing and expert storyteller. After 2011's Oscar-winning A Separation, he's now crafted the masterful The Past, a story of family drama and hidden secrets that come to light, bringing forth new revelations and mysteries among a troubled set of individuals. Much like A Separation, when key parts of the story are revealed, it only sets in motion events that continue to play out in unexpected ways, keeping the viewer guessing until the very end as to what may ultimately occur.

Farhadi is an excellent screenwriter, skilled at putting in place the atmosphere and set-up for a convincing personal drama, only to draw you into a complicated web of intimate relationships and feelings that make you feel a part of the action in surprising ways. The Past deals with the story of a woman (The Artist's Berenice Bejo) who has children from a past marriage, is living with her new boyfriend and his son, and is receiving a visit from her most recent ex-husband (Ali Mosaffa), who moves in with the makeshift family while in town to finalize divorce proceedings from Bejo. Already, you can see that this is highly melodramatic material- but unlike Pedro Almodovar, a contemporary of Farhadi's whose specialty is melodrama and high camp, Farhadi takes this subject matter and plays it deadly serious. We get to know each and every one of his characters, from the woman and her lovers, to their children and friends, and we experience up close their fears, hopes, pain and sorrow.

Bejo's teenage daughter is the first family member to be exposed as hiding a mysterious secret, and her anger at her mother's newest marriage manifests itself in crying fits and disappearances, which Bejo drags both her fiance and ex-husband into. But it all unfolds with precision and workmanlike efficiency. We begin to see where Farhadi's taking us as we meet each new character along our established character's journeys, and eventually it all makes sense as it heads toward a conclusion that in retrospect seems inevitable. The films this director is making are personal stories about the mysteries of human nature, and contemporary ones about the way people live today in Iran, France, and wherever else his next film might be set. The actors are held on guard by their director, never let off the hook to reveal too much in their performances, never more emotion than what's absolutely necessary at any particular moment. This is a man running a tight ship, in total control of his actors and screenplay, for the ultimate benefit of his viewing audience.

The Past may not be in the same league as A Separation, because in that film the stakes felt much higher, and the character's destinies ultimately seemed not to be in their own hands. Here we are dealing with affairs and backstabbing, and the film all rests on the personal choices of its protagonists. It's harder to escape the sense of melodrama, but it's dealt with in a high class, highly efficient, even suspenseful manner. It's no easy task to mine suspense out of intimate family drama, but Asghar Farhadi is a major talent, whose natural storytelling sensibilities make it look easy. I can't wait to see what he does next.

* * * 1/2

Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "The Freshman" (1925)

Harold Lloyd was one of the great silent comedians of the 20th Century, and even though Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are more well known and revered among today's film scholars, Harold Lloyd was actually the most popular star during his time and the biggest box office attraction. You can see why in his films, where he plays the nerdy, socially awkward stumbler, but that awkward relatability helps his persona to hold up sometimes even better than the other two. And he was just as funny- watch The Freshman, one of his best movies, to see why; it's just as hilarious as ever. Lloyd had influences on everyone from Woody Allen to the Marx Brothers.

Trailer for the restored edition:

TRAILER #2: "X-Men: Days of Future Past"

Really good new trailer for one of the superhero movies I am looking forward to this summer. Bryan Singer returns as director for the latest installment in the X-Men franchise and this one combines the old and new casts, giving you a good look at every mutant (although I have to say it's interesting that because Mystique is now Jennifer Lawrence, you get to see her in "human form" a LOT more than we ever saw Rebecca Romijn when she played her- I'm pretty sure she only got one single scene as herself in the old X-Men movies). This one's coming out May 23rd:

And here's the new poster, which is also pretty cool, I have to say:

BOX OFFICE 3/21-3/23: 'Divergent' Dominates

The latest young adult novel adaptation, Divergent, got off to a strong start this weekend, finishing in first with $56 million. Aimed at the same crowd that loves The Hunger Games, this one wasn't quite as successful and even came in slightly below expectations, but it's still a big opening and should hold well with that same audience. As expected, the audience was 60% female and under the age of 25, and gave the poorly received film an "A" Cinemascore, so this trend is likely to continue for a while. The best thing I can say about it is that with all the superhero movies dominating the box office every year, at least these ones have a female action hero, which is fairly new.

The other new release, Muppets Most Wanted, opened to disappointing numbers, pulling in just $16 million in second place. The last movie opened in 2011 to $29 million over Thanksgiving weekend and was frontloaded by a surprisingly older audience that was being driven by nostalgia, so this pretty much tells me that this generation's kids have no real connection to the beloved puppet franchise. Mr. Peabody held on in third with $11 million, so the family audience wasn't too drawn in by the Muppets, and it's now grossed $81 million overall. 300 was in fourth with $8 million and rounding out the top five was God's Not Dead, a low budget, no name movie about a college student who defends his belief in God to a professor. Faith based films are turning out to be surprisingly strong at the box office this year, with Mark Burnett's Son of God and now this movie turning a profit ahead of next week's Noah.

Top 5:

Divergent- $56 million
Muppets Most Wanted- $16.5 million
Mr. Peabody and Sherman- $11.7 million
300: Rise of an Empire- $8.7 million
God's Not Dead- $8.6 million

Next week it's the release of Noah amid a swirl of controversy over whether Christian audiences will turn out for a film that has been rumored to not follow the biblical story to a tee (after all, this is Darren Aronofsky we're talking about, director of Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan), but it's already pulled in a large haul in foreign markets, particularly the largely Catholic Mexico, so it's going to be interesting to see how it does.

TRAILER: "The Giver"

The long-awaited adaptation of Lois Lowry's Newbury Award-winning novel, The Giver, is finally coming out this year. A sci-fi story that will be familiar to many who've read the book, the movie stars Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep and is set to come out August 15th. Looks like it has potential, although it could turn out to be another Ender's Game. We'll see:

Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "American Hustle" (2013)

The best blu-ray offer this week is another new release, David O. Russell's hit comedy about con men in the 1970's. Filled with energetic performances from the entire cast plus Russell's frenetic direction, which makes for his best entry to date. Fun, fresh and lively, it actually was nominated for 10 Oscars and walked away with none, joining the ranks of films like The Color Purple and Gangs of New York for that dubious honor, but it was a great movie anyway, so take another look at it now that it's out.

Trailer:

TEASER: "Peanuts"

A teaser for the new Peanuts movie is out. I'm dreading this movie, because I love the Peanuts, and the idea of turning them into a big CGI spectacle just makes me gag. I mean, we all remember how well that worked out for the Smurfs and the Chipmunks, right? But Charles Schulz's beloved creations ought to remain un-violated by that kind of degradation, if you ask me. But here it is anyway, set for release in 2015- the best I can say is that it looks like they may still resemble their 2D selves, at least. Can someone tell me what the problem is with making a 2D movie anyway? Why do they have to be turned into this?