Even though the last teaser for this movie seemed to me to function as a trailer, apparently it wasn't the real deal. This is though, as we get a look at the speaking voice of Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper), which Marvel seems to think is their main selling point for this movie. I get the feeling they think these guys are kind of like the "mystery men" of the Marvel universe and may be willing to be a little more experimental with the material than usual. We'll see though- it doesn't actually look that radical to me, aside from the characters being unknown. I still see the comedy and action that's the staple of the other movies here, but who knows? Guardians is coming out August 1st:
BOX OFFICE 5/16-5/18: 'Godzilla' Destroys at the Box Office
As expected, Godzilla delivered this weekend, but far above expectations, pulling in $93 million from Thursday midnight screenings to Sunday, which gives it the second best opening of the year, right behind Captain America ($95 million) and just ahead of Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($91 million). Given that it's not a comic-book franchise and the monster's last time out was the much loathed Roland Emmerich 1998 version, this is pretty impressive. Even more so that worldwide it's already amassed $196 million, making the expensive blockbuster a major profit already. I'm sure we'll see a sequel to this in a few years, given that it's guaranteed to make at least $225 million, and next week's X-Men is its only competition with the long Memorial Day weekend coming up.
The other new release was Disney's Million Dollar Arm, starring Jon Hamm, which didn't do much at all, earning just $10 million over the weekend, despite an "A-" Cinemascore (feel-good sports movies usually rank high with audiences). I guess Jon Hamm's movie career won't take off after Mad Men ends, but I always thought he seemed like a leading man from another generation anyway, which is why he was so perfect as Don Draper. Neighbors came in second with $26 million (Godzilla seemed to steal some of its audience), but now has a total of $91 million and will obviously earn well over $100 million, so that's a huge success for Seth Rogen, who's been on a roll lately (and for Universal, as this film cost just $18 million to make and has now earned $146 million worldwide). ASM 2 fell to third and will just barely cross $200 million overall, while The Other Woman came in fifth for a solid total of $71 million.
Top 5:
- Godzilla- $93.2 million
- Neighbors- $26 million
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2- $16.8 million
- Million Dollar Arm- $10.5 million
- The Other Woman- $6.3 million
In limited release, Jon Favreau's Chef has made just over $1 million total, while in older holdovers, Noah finally crossed $100 million domestically. Next week it's another big blockbuster weekend, as is traditionally the case over Memorial Day, with X-Men: Days of Future Past making its debut, along with the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore comedy Blended. See you then!
Movie of the Day: "Footloose" (1984)
Now this is the perfect prom movie, right? A young Kevin Bacon stars as Ren, the new kid from the city who moves to a town so uptight that they've actually outlawed dancing of all things. So of course he starts a revolution amongst the teen rebels, who are all game because they currently have nothing better to do than play chicken with tractors. Ok, so it's kinda cheesy and that Kevin Bacon barn dance solo was ripe for parody the second it came out, but Footloose is still a lot of fun. Hey, it's packed full of 80's montages and has the mother of all prom scenes in it, how can it not be? Also watch out for John Lithgow as the preacher in this- he gives one of the classic examples of the "wandering accent," performance, switching from southern to irish to midwestern depending on his mood change in any particular scene. It's hilarious.
Original trailer:
TRAILER: "Interstellar"
So here we are with the full length trailer for Christopher Nolan's hotly anticipated sci-fi epic. Looks pretty cool, and I do get a slight Close Encounters-esque vibe to it. Apparently there's a major food shortage in the future and people are going to have to leave Earth to colonize on other planets? There's still a bit of a mystery as to what exactly the humans are leaving the planet to do, but it's definitely intriguing. Maybe last year's Gravity has re-awakened our interest in movies set in space. Interstellar's coming out November 7th, and you can expect it to be one of the big awards movies this fall.
Movie of the Day: "Grease" (1978)
Ok, so it's not about the prom exactly, but the whole climactic scene of the movie takes place at the "big dance," so it counts. One of the longest running Broadway musicals of all time instantly became one of the most popular movie musicals ever, and it's still an insanely entertaining treat to watch. Despite being notorious for having one of the oldest looking casts of high-schoolers in existence, it's hard to think of anyone replacing John Travolta (back when he was so cute!) and Olivia Newton-John as the inimitable Danny and Sandy (not to mention Stockard Channing- who cares if she was 34 playing 17, for my money she's the best Rizzo ever). It's campy, fun and makes you want to jump up and sing along, even though you've seen it a million times. Grease is the still the word, baby!
Original 1978 trailer (I love how the announcer feels the need to repeat the actors' names about a hundred times, just in case you forget):
TEASER: "Cinderella"
I hesitate to even post this, because it's literally one of the worst teasers I've ever seen in my life. Seriously, who in the marketing department thought this lame shoe scan was worth putting out? But it's for Disney's latest live action adaptation of Cinderella, and yes, this is going to be based on the 1950 animated classic. Directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Cate Blanchett as the Stepmother and Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother, it's scheduled to be released in 2015, but I really don't understand why Disney thinks it's necessary to start remaking/re-imagining all their animated movies now. Very few of these recent live action fairy tales have turned out to be any good. In fact, I don't think a single one of them has- the most successful was Alice in Wonderland, at least at the box office, so I guess that's what kickstarted this trend, but boy was that a terrible movie. The bar for these films seems set at mediocre at best.
Graham Norton with the X-Men Cast
Graham Norton is one of the more hilarious talk show hosts in Britain, mostly because he's figured out a way to break from the tired, decades old format that makes so many of our late night shows feel like exactly the same thing. He has everybody on at once and freewheels through a conversation, which leads to some of the funniest and most spontaneous celebrity interviews (if he's got guests willing to play along). This episode he had some great ones, as James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Hugh Jackman all have an easy rapport and were great sports as they read out the crazily obsessive X-Men fan fiction, before dancing to "Blurred Lines."
I think it's funny they managed to cast the perfect Professor X/Magneto pair twice, first with the terrific Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen (who are such good pals in real life that McKellen acted as minister for Stewart's last wedding) and now with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, whose chemistry as the two frenemies' younger selves may even top the older guys'.
TRAILER: "Mr. Turner"
A full trailer has been released for Mike Leigh's biopic about J.M.W. Turner, the renowned British painter, which just premiered at Cannes to flat out rave reviews, making it a strong contender for either the Palme D'Or or Best Actor for Timothy Spall. Since I love Mike Leigh, and this is a movie he's been wanting to make nearly his entire career, I can't wait to see it when it opens stateside December 19th. Of course, that's a long way off, but the trailer looks good, and I bet this is going to be a big Oscar player this year:
Movie of the Day: "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999)
Since it's prom season, we're back with some of the best prom-themed movies for a shortened Movie of the Day series this week. First up it's 10 Things I Hate About You, which is one of the better of the rush of late 90's teen movies that all came out around the same time. I'm not gonna pretend this is the greatest movie in the world, but since it's based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, it is actually a little bit cleverer and funnier than most romantic comedies. Plus It's worth it to see a young Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona, who's so cute and charming here that it makes you sad all over again about his premature death. He and Julia Stiles have real chemistry and make a cute pair, and since this was filmed in my hometown, on a personal basis, I get a kick out of recognizing every single location spot they used (including the giant castle-like high school, which I'm sure was the main attraction for setting the movie here).
Trailer:
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Her" (2013)
Her is finally out on blu-ray this week, so here's a chance to catch up with Spike Jonze's Oscar-winner if you haven't seen it. Joaquin Phoenix gives another outstanding performance as the sweet and lonely Theodore, an average guy living in the near future where people can befriend and even fall in love with their operating systems, which have now evolved into artificial intelligence at a level that dwarfs even human's. This is a lovely romantic fantasy that also features Scarlett Johansson giving her best performance ever as the voice of Samantha, Theodore's OS. It won a very well deserved best original screenplay Oscar last year, so you should definitely give it a look.
Trailer:
FIRST LOOK: Ben Affleck as Batman
Well, here it is. A day after teasing the Batmobile, we now get a full picture of Ben Affleck in the new Batsuit, as well as a clearer look at the car.
So yeah, the car to me looks like Tim Burton's and the big reaction to the suit seems to be over the short ears, which is a different look. But I still think Ben Affleck will bomb hard in this role, and that the whole movie sounds like a mess with the million characters they've introduced. As for the suit, I mean, I guess it looks all right, but I've never been somebody who gets excited or disappointed over how the costumes look (unless it's completely unrecognizable or something, which Batman never is). What do you guys think?
A Tribute to Katharine Hepburn
Another Hepburn has a birthday today and I'd be remiss to let this one go unnoticed. The great Katharine Hepburn, one of the biggest stars in the history of the movies, who died at 96 in 2003, living a long, fruitful life as one of the most unique and memorable screen presences of all time. Named by the American Film Institute as the greatest female star of all time, actually- and here's what for me are her most essential films:
1) The Philadelphia Story (1940)
She became a star in the early thirties with movies like Little Women and Alice Adams, but this is the one that directly cemented her on screen persona the way she's remembered- the upper class, intellectual, fiercely independent modern woman, who, because of the time, always has to get taken down a peg or two by the men just so they can stand in her presence. That's kind of annoying, but when Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart are fighting over you that's not a bad place to be, and the acting is amazing from all three leads in this one.
2) Woman of the Year (1942)
The first (and my favorite) of the nine movies she made with Spencer Tracy, her legendary on and off screen love interest. There's a slight mystery to the exact nature of their 27 year relationship, but here where they met, there's no doubt that the sparks were there. The chemistry between them is charged and this remains their most romantic movie, despite being a battle of the sexes comedy where Kate, of course, is the one that must ultimately be molded again to fit the man's idea of what she ought to be. It's ok though- they could knock her down on screen all they wanted but it could never happen off. She was just too much herself.
3) Summertime (1955)
In this one Kate is an older single woman alone on a summer vacation to Italy. What a concept, right? Of course it's been stolen many times since then, from Under the Tuscan Sun to Eat, Pray, Love, but David Lean's original is the best. This is what could be called a gooey chick flick now, but it's unapologetically romantic (she has a summer fling with the hunky Rossano Brazzi) and thanks to being filmed on location during the height of tourist season, functions as the best kind of travel porn, as Italy always does. One of the best of the 50's tearjerkers.
4) Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Before Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant was probably her best match on screen, and this is without a doubt, for me her funniest and most out there performance. Bringing Up Baby is the most classic example of a screwball comedy and it's so nutty that it may not necessarily be for everyone, especially modern viewers, who aren't used to this kind of comedy at all (I've heard that some people hate this movie in particular, actually). But the performances from the two leads are so bold and full on that it's gotta be worth at least trying out. Grant and Hepburn are hilarious as a befuddled scientist and a possbily insane kook who purposely sets out to trip him up. I love this movie exactly because it's the kind that can't be made anymore- I don't think anyone would be brave enough (actor or director) to even try.
5) Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
This was the last movie that Hepburn and Tracy made together before he died, and though the subject's dated now, Hepburn is one of the great movie moms, and in her later years has lost absolutely none of her fire and intelligence as the progressive parent who must face her daughter's choice of a husband. I love her in this because, unlike some stars in their older years, who tend to lose that charisma that made them when they were young, Katharine Hepburn really never did, and throughout her nearly 6 decades in the movies she remained nothing but herself to the very end, a source of comfort and reassurance that nothing, not age or men or even illness (she had Parkinsons in her later years) was ever going to bring her down one notch. And it never did.
