Happy May Day everyone! This means of course, that the May movies have arrived in all their glory, this time celebrating another "In Commemoration" month, in honor of Memorial Day. This means war and wartime movies set 100 years ago or more, as look we back on the war time years leading all the way up to World War I. This includes some great films from many different decades, but many more older classics this time, including the one above, famously set during the Civil War, as we all know. My favorites on this list include Paths of Glory, A Very Long Engagement and Grand Illusion, but head on over to the Movies For Every Month page and the May movie page yourself to check out these ten great wartime films. Happy movie watching!
Emma Stone Battles Jimmy Fallon
Emma Stone shows why she's such a good sport, lip sync battling Jimmy Fallon to total victory on The Tonight Show the other day:
TRAILER #2: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
This second action-packed trailer for the new Ninja Turtles movie shows some of the movie's villain in William Fichtner, who's going to be Shredder. But I mostly can't get over how ugly these turtles are up close. Seriously, they're the stuff of kids' nightmares by the looks of this. Ick. It's coming out August 8th, but i'll probably be avoiding it.
Cannes Film Festival 2014 Lineup
The most prestigious film festival in the world will kick off in just a couple of weeks, running this year from May 14-25, and they officially have their film and jury lineup set. This year's jury is led by one of my favorite directors, Jane Campion (right) and is composed of a group of people from a very diverse, international background- although I don't think that ever necessarily dictates that they'll have a certain kind of taste. The members are Campion, French actress Carole Bouquet, Sofia Coppola, Iranian actress Leila Hatami, South Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon, Willem Dafoe, Gael Garcia Bernal, Jia Zhangke and Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (who made Drive).
As for the lineup, most are disappointed that some of the biggest, most anticipated films of the year have been pulled from the festival supposedly because they're not ready yet- in particular, Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice and Alejandro Innaritu's Birdman, both slated to come out in the fall. So for me that leaves these as the selections I'm most curious about:
- FOXCATCHER (Channing Tatum, Steve Carell. Dir. Bennett Miller)- Bennett Miller's last two movies, Capote and Moneyball, were big Oscar contenders, so everyone's expecting this one, which was supposed to come out last year but was held all the way over into Cannes, to be a major player. Especially for its two stars, who are trying to break into serious dramatic roles with this material (Steve Carell is playing a murderer, believe it or not).
- MAPS TO THE STARS (Mia Wasikowska, Julianne Moore. Dir. David Cronenberg)- I'm always interested in anything from Cronenberg, even if his taste isn't usually for everyone.
- MR. TURNER (Timothy Spall. Dir. Mike Leigh)- Same goes for Mike Leigh. I've pretty much loved everything he's ever done, and this biography about British artist J.M.W Turner is his first period film since 1999's Topsy-Turvy.
- COMING HOME (Dir. Zhang Yimou)- And you can apply that to Zhang Yimou as well. He hasn't had a critical or commercial hit in a while but he's still one of the great filmmakers and capable of knocking one out of the park at any time.
- HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (Dir. Dean Deblois)- This is showing out of competition but it'll be the first screening of the movie anywhere, so I'm excited to hear how it turned out.
- THE ROVER (Dir. David Michou)- I'm curious about this one mostly because I love both Michod's last movie Animal Kingdom and Guy Pearce, who stars in this one too.
And that's pretty much it, actually. I tend to choose films from directors I know to keep track of, but I'll be keeping up with reports on how all of these are received, plus any other films that break out at Cannes. There are plenty of international films that I know nothing about on the list of course, but if there are any breakout sensations from any country I'll be posting about them, so stay tuned.
FEATURETTE: "How to Train Your Dragon 2"
Continuing promotion for what I'm betting will be the biggest animated film of the year, and which recently has been announced to be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, of all places. I'd say they have some confidence in it, don't you? The new cast additions this time include Cate Blanchett as Hiccup's long lost mom, but this video just catches up with the old gang, all of whose original voice actors are back.
Bob Hoskins 1942-2014
Sad news this morning, as British actor Bob Hoskins has died at the age of 71. A mainstay in character roles in film, theater and television for more than three decades, some of his best known performances were in movies such as The Long Good Friday (1980), Mona Lisa (1986) (for which he was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor), Brazil (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Mermaids (1990), Hook (1991), Nixon (1995) and Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005). His final film appearance was in 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman before retiring from acting due to Parkinson's disease, but he was always a notable addition to any ensemble he was a part of, and according to his agent, he passed away from pneumonia last night after struggling with Parkinson's since 2011.
Here's the trailer for 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, maybe his best known role as a leading man:
And this is a guilty pleasure at best, but for me he's kind of inseparable from his part as Smee in Hook, where I was first introduced to him as a kid (a movie that I watched way too many times, but still). Here he is preventing Captain Hook's suicide:
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Touch of Evil" (1958)
Another movie that actually came out two weeks ago, but it's too good to skip over. Orson Welles' Touch of Evil is a classic film noir about corruption on a Mexican border town, starring a big cast that includes himself, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh among others. Filled with typical Orson Welles flourishes, most famously that 3-minute opening tracking shot, this is a movie that was butchered by the studio upon initial release and not restored to the director's full vision until 1998- but when it was it was, the plot was finally somewhat comprehensible and now it's surely one of the best and most out there movies the eccentric Welles ever made. Check it out.
Original Trailer from 1958:
New Star Wars Cast Announced
Well, here they are. The studio has made the official announcement of the full cast for the new Star Wars movie, and it includes original trio Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, along with Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), and new additions Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max Von Sydow. Rumors of Lupita Nyong'o possibly getting a part turned out not to be the case, as it appears they went with only one woman (kind of disappointing, in my opinion, although I'm guessing the girl is the daughter of Han and Leia). Here's the officially released picture of the table read with everybody. Star Wars Episode VII is coming out Dec 18, 2015. Are you excited?
TRAILER #2: "The Fault in Our Stars"
The second, extended trailer for the teen tearjerker coming out this summer makes it look slightly less cheesy than the first one did (but only very slightly). It still reminds me of that movie, A Walk to Remember, where Mandy Moore was dying of leukemia (remember that one?). That was also based on a bestselling book at the time. But I guess there's a chance this could be moving and not overly sentimental, right? Maybe? We'll see. It's coming out June 6th.
BOX OFFICE 4/25-4/27: 'The Other Woman' Knocks 'Captain America' Off its Throne
The critically savaged female revenge comedy The Other Woman pulled in a surprising $24 million over the weekend, to take the top spot away from Captain America finally. The movie attracted an audience that was more than 75% female and got a "B+" Cinemascore, so Fox is now hoping the movie will keep doing good business based on word of mouth- a sad comment on the tastes of female moviegoers (and I say that as one of them) but good news for Cameron Diaz I suppose, who remains something of a box office draw despite the terrible movies she stars in.
Meanwhile, Captain America 2 fell to second place, earning $16 million for a $225 million total, showing strong resilience as two new superhero movies are set to come out over the next month- first The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and then X-Men: Days of Future Past. It's a question mark how well those movies will do now- Spider-Man has already opened to big numbers overseas but the early word on it is mixed-negative (we'll finally get major reviews this week), while the X-Men movie is currently reeling from the recent sexual assault accusations leveled against director Bryan Singer, who's dropped out of all promotion for the film. Rounding out the top five was Heaven is For Real, with 13 million (also showing strength), Rio 2 with just under that much, and Brick Mansions, Paul Walker's last completed film with $9.6 million.
Top 5:
- The Other Woman- $24.7 million
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier- $16 million
- Heaven is For Real- $13.8 million
- Rio 2- $13.6 million
- Brick Mansions- $9.6 million
Next week the big release is Amazing Spider-Man 2, which will I'm sure be a huge draw, but I'm more interested in how good it turns out since I kind of hated the first one, along with some low buzz, independent releases, so other than Spidey it'll be pretty quiet.
TRAILER: "Boyhood"
Richard Linklater's Boyhood was a smash hit at the Sundance Film Festival and a highly ambitious personal film from the director, who spent 12 years filming the same kid as he grew into a teenager. I can't wait to see it- the critics went pretty crazy over the results and it looks good from what you can tell in this trailer too. A coming of age story that promises to be unlike any other, Boyhood comes out July 11th.
REVIEW: "All is Lost" (2013) Robert Redford. Dir. J.C. Chandor.
Some movies require nothing but to simply sit back and let the story entertain you- whether that entertainment comes from the actors, action, visuals, whatever it may be that grabs your attention on the screen. And then there's a film like All is Lost, a very ambitious project to be sure, and one that demands the audience do practically all the work, and depending on what you bring to the experience, every person is likely to see a different movie.
Robert Redford stars as an old man lost at sea, and that is literally all we get of his character. We have no name, no back story, no characteristics for this man- I'm liable to describe him as not being a character at all, but a representation of all humanity, struggling to stay afloat against the forces of nature which are constantly knocking him down. This metaphysical reading may be the best way to interpret the film, as there is virtually no dialogue aside from a prologue read by Redford at the beginning, in which he reads what sounds suspiciously like a suicide note. With that bleakness assured from the start, the entirety of the film has us watching Redford in an epic struggle for survival after his boat is capsized by a floating cargo nearby. This is the opening scene and from then on we see the old man do everything possible to stay adrift for the next eight days, first in his boat and then in a life raft. Every move he makes is an endurance test, as he does everything right but is thwarted at every turn no matter how much time he buys himself. We feel that he's fighting the inevitable.
The film can be read as a metaphor for the aging process in some ways- Robert Redford is in his late seventies and at least coming closer to the end than many of us would like to think of ourselves as being. I have a feeling that particular aspect of the journey may help this movie to resonate stronger with viewers of a certain age, while others will undoubtedly grow impatient with the pacing, lack of story and especially the lack of other characters on the screen. Redford must survive storms, sharks, and come to terms with what is very obviously the end of his long life. With no character arc to speak of, I think identifying with the end-of-life through natural causes element is crucial to connecting with this story, which will limit its appeal.
And yet the movie is undeniably an admirable achievement on a filmmaking level. This is only director J.C. Chandor's second film (his first was 2011's Margin Call),and he shows great technical skill in having made this entire movie on the open seas in highly contained, small space areas. Redford himself has an incredibly difficult task with no real person to play, and for a performance he can only rely on his star power and ability to command the screen as he goes about the menial tasks of eating, drinking, attempting to repair his boat and consistently readjusting his expectation levels of what he's able to accomplish. It's a very physical performance, which one imagines is tough to extract from a nearly 80-year-old man, especially as he gets tossed around in the stormwaves and later in a lifeboat, but there's hardly one single instance of emotional reaction to any of these events.
The lack of character beats and usual moviemaking techniques make for a film that does indeed turn out cliche-free, but forces itself on the viewer as a meditational experience, possibly requiring too much from the audience, which insists on some level of storytelling in their entertainment. On the other hand, what comes across is no less than exactly the movie Chandor and Redford intended to make and maybe that's enough for many. I'm of mixed feelings on All is Lost, respectful of the technical achievement but left coldly distant from what should have been a rather moving experience. This movie probably requires you to experience it for yourself in order to discover your own individual response to it.
* *
