Happy June, everybody. As we head into the summer months we're already knee deep in blockbuster season (actually this year all the big releases seem to have been shoved even earlier, into May). But traditionally, this is the time for the big summer movies, that used to always be about bad guys vs. good guys, and kind of still are- it's just that they've all now morphed into superheroes and supervillains. Still, going back to the more traditional genre, this month is labeled "Cops and Robbers" in our Movies for Every Month page, where some of the ten best outlaws/cops/crime movies are listed for June, and this time they've come complete with their original trailers. I did include a superhero movie of course (The Dark Knight, one of the very best), but we've also got some of my other favorites, from Bullitt and Thelma & Louise to The Departed. I may have to do a couple weeks of bonus picks this summer, to suss out some of the very best pure superheroes or even just pure action, but for now you can't go wrong with any one of these ten "bad guy vs. good guy" flicks. Happy Movie Watching!
BOX OFFICE 5/30-6/01: 'Maleficent' Conjures Up $70 Million
Disney's latest fairy tale revamp opened big this weekend, with $70 million over the three day frame. The PG-rated fantasy attracted an audience that was 60% female and earned an "A" Cinemascore, while also pulling in $100 million overseas for a worldwide total of $170 million already. Needless to say it's the biggest opening of Angelina Jolie's career, and could possibly get to $200 million depending on the legs, which is pretty much an open question no matter what the audience rating these days. After Godzilla's epic fall last week, this time it was X-Men's turn- despite word of mouth reported to be much stronger, the comic book movie took a steep tumble of 64% to land in second place with $32 million. Many of the X-Men movies have had this problem in the past for some reason, as it's one of the most frontloaded franchises of the superhero genre, but globally it's another story, where it's already crossed $500 million worldwide (the first time any X-Men movie hit that marker).
Seth MacFarlane's poorly reviewed One Million Ways to Die in the West pretty much disappointed, earning just $17 million for the weekend, which was way below expectations, due to the massive hit that Ted was a couple of years ago. It won't do much overseas either, as comedies are not as easily translated like action movie franchises (a sad trend for the future of movies, I'm afraid). Rounding out the top five was Godzilla, which now has $174 million total and may not even make it to $200 million, and Blended, which overtook Neighbors this week for the other comedy slot on the chart.
Top 5:
- Maleficent- $70 million
- X-Men: Days of Future Past- $32.6 million
- A Million Ways to Die in the West- $17.1 million
- Godzilla- $12.2 million
- Blended- $8.4 million
Next week Tom Cruise returns to see if he can still pull some box office muscle in the sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow, while the teen tearjerker The Fault in Our Stars, tries to turn it's social media buzz into actual dollars. See you then!
Movie of the Day: "The Graduate" (1967)
Of course, right? Much like Terms of Endearment was the obvious Mother's Day choice from a few weeks ago, how much better can you do for graduation week than a little movie called The Graduate? It also happens to be one of my favorite movies ever, so yeah, it was an easy call. This was Dustin Hoffman's breakthrough role as Benjamin Braddock, the disillusioned and confused college grad who drifts into an affair with the enigmatic Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) and then falls in love with her daughter Elaine (the beautiful Katharine Ross). Scored to the iconic tunes of Simon & Garfunkel and leads up to one of the all time best ending sequences in the history of the movies. Enjoy The Graduate this week, as I have and will again and again, and congratulations to all recent ascendants of higher education. May your future path be less heedless than the wayward Ben's.
Original Trailer:
TRAILER: "What If"
Daniel Radcliffe tries his hand at romantic comedy in this trailer for What If, coming out in August. Looks kinda cute, although I've never been more fully aware of Radcliffe's diminutive status than when I see him standing next to guys like Adam Driver and Rafe Spall. Speaking of Adam Driver, how is it that he's in everything lately? I don't think anyone has ever broken out faster from a TV show than he did (although he was the best part of Girls, maybe the only good thing about it).
REVIEW: "The Normal Heart" (2014) Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts. Dir. Ryan Murphy
The Normal Heart is an imperfect yet emotional rendering of Larry Kramer's famed 1985 play, and thankfully, the original material is meaty and impactful enough to essentially overcome the unnecessary dramatic flourishes of its director, Ryan Murphy, who didn't realize that all he needed to do was step back and let the actors speak for themselves.
Assembling a great cast, virtually all of whom turn in wonderful performances, The Normal Heart is set at the onset of the AIDS crisis, in the very early years of the disease, when it was still being labeled "gay cancer," there was no known treatment and it was only seen to be affecting homosexual men in the large gay communities of major cities like New York and San Francisco. Larry Kramer's play was written in the midst of the crisis and the voice of the protagonist, Ned Weeks, is an angry one, a stand-in for himself as the well known activist and writer of the gay rights movement. Mark Ruffalo plays Ned in the film, and is utterly convincing as the pained and angry rabble rouser, trying desperately to shout his case from every rooftop and at anyone who will listen, which at the time, was close to no one. Fear and hatred plagued the straight world, made up of indifferent (or closeted) politicians who didn't want to come anywhere near the sick and dying, like the majority of the public in the early 1980's. Even the medical community had little hope to offer, seeing how difficult it was to get enough research funding to simply identify the virus that was only seen to be affecting those members of society who were already outcasts.
Julia Roberts plays Emma, a doctor and ally of Ned's with polio, who's just as angry as he is but incapable of doing much except prolonging the lives of the sick, who nearly all perish in her hospital rooms, with many of her own staff afraid to even to bring them their meals. Ned starts the Gay Men's Health Crisis, an organization intended to put pressure on the government to help the affected, but ends up doing many of the tasks that go along with consoling the dying men, much to Ned's protestations throughout the film. The other men involved include Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons and Joe Mantello, each of whom get their chance to shine with the dramatic monologues imbued throughout the script, even if Ryan Murphy can't help himself from going nuts with the camera during some of the speeches, thus robbing the actors of what should have been urgent, quiet spotlight moments for each of them. A major standout among this cast is Matt Bomer as Felix, a New York Times reporter Ned gets involved with, but who succumbs to the disease over the course of the film, and it's he who feels the most developed as a character and whose arc over the movie leaves you the most heartbroken. He goes from a confident, smart and charming young man with his whole future ahead of him, to a broken down vessel of wasted potential, making you feel as depressed and outraged as Ned and his friends at the generation of lives lost due to the public's indifference and lack of outcry. If the final scene between Felix and Ned doesn't pummel you into a submission of tears then you truly are made of stone.
Yet even with the powerful material and well cast actors on hand (although Julia Roberts is perhaps a bit distracting as she's made to look as self-consciously unglamorous as possible and her simple inability to disappear into a part proves to be unintentionally amusing when she goes zigzagging around hallways in her wheelchair), Ryan Murphy hamstrings the production with a schizophrenic camera style (especially during the opening Fire Island-set sequence) and poorly edited flashback scenes that often are distractions in and of themselves. It has the unfortunate effect of feeling like it should be a TV movie when HBO films are often a cut above that in effort, usually seeming like they should have easily been in theatrical release (such as last year's Behind the Candelabra, which had Steven Soderbergh's decidedly cool restraint behind the scenes). Still, the actors make it worthwhile, and the feeling and urgency of a subject matter that sometimes seems as though it's been unjustly forgotten in the days when HIV is now treatable and no longer a death sentence, make films that look back on those dark early days a much appreciated tribute to those whose lives were lost. It's a noble effort from all involved and a reminder of the necessity to have compassion and empathy for our fellow human beings, none of whom are ever as different from us as you might believe.
* * 1/2
Movie of the Day: "American Graffiti" (1973)
Today's graduation pick is an essential for any film lover, and if yesterday's choice was one of the best teen romances ever made, than this is one of the best movies ever made about teenagers, period. It's set on the last night of summer in 1962, the night before high school grads Kurt (Richard Dreyfus) and Steve (Ron Howard) are set to go off to college in another state. But as all recent graduates do, they're now having second thoughts, conflicted about what it is they really want, and while they mull it over, we get to hang out with them and their pals as they spend one last, aimless night cruising around town to one of the best soundtracks ever put to film. Part of the fun of this movie is picking out the future star-studded cast when virtually all of them were unknowns (hey there's Harrison Ford!), and Lucas managed to capture a moment in time that felt so authentic it struck a nostalgic chord across the country and became a sensation, influencing dozens of movies in its wake (including Dazed and Confused, which tried as hard as it could to do for the 70's what this one did for the early 60's). I know what you're thinking, it's hard to believe George Lucas of all people had something like this in him once, huh? Almost makes you wonder what might have been if it hadn't been for that little space movie...
Original Trailer:
TRAILER #2: "Annie"
The second trailer for the December 19th release Annie, thankfully doesn't look as bad as the first, and you can tell little Quvenzhane Wallis definitely has a screen presence. But where's the music? For a movie that's supposedly a musical they sure are trying to hide it in the marketing. I do wonder though if this is a movie that might turn out slightly better than it looks, because the director Will Gluck (Easy A, Friends With Benefits) does have some comedic storytelling ability and his past two movies were actually pretty decent. But I wouldn't get my hopes up just yet.
Movie of the Day: "Say Anything" (1989)
Our second movie for graduation week is Cameron Crowe's Say Anything, one of the best teen romances ever made and the movie that gave us John Cusack in his iconic role as Lloyd Dobler, the boyfriend every girl wants in her life. Charming rambler Lloyd is in love with Diane (Ione Skye) the class brain, but can't get up the nerve to ask her out until after graduation, when they only have the summer together before she goes off to college in England. The sensitivity of relationships is everything in this movie, and it never hits any note that's crass or overly sentimental, just total perfection all the way through. A lot of movies have tried to copy it without succeeding (most recently The Spectacular Now, which was a pale imitation) and that's why this one is still the movie to beat when it comes to portraying the real feelings of teenagers and the heartbreaking anxieties of first love. It's one of the great ones.
Trailer:
TRAILER: "This is Where I Leave You"
This family relationship dramedy looks pretty good actually, based on the novel by Jonathan Tropper, who also wrote the screenplay. The cast is star-studded with TV heavyweights plus Jane Fonda as the matriarch of a family who reunites when the father dies. Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver and Corey Stoll are four grown siblings who spend the next week at home, and the usual hilarity/heartwarming antics ensue. Shawn Levy is the director (the guy who did Night at the Museum and Date Night), so I wouldn't say it's guaranteed to be good, but the trailer doesn't look so bad overall. It's coming out September 12th.
Movie of the Day: "Adventureland" (2009)
Well, since we did prom a couple weeks back it's now time for graduation, which will be the theme of our Movie of the Day series for the rest of the week. We start off with this sweetly satisfying and underrated movie from 2009, a film that was more than a little surprising to me because, fair or not, I can't walk into anything starring Kristen Stewart with any degree of optimism. But I'm willing to admit that she's actually pretty good in this comedy set in 1987 about a recent college grad James (Jesse Eisenberg), who moves back home to Pennsylvania and has to work at the local amusement park for the summer. It's there that he meets Em (Stewart), a too cool for school fellow employee (an attitude that actually suits her screen personality for once) and spends his time hanging out with pals while pondering what to do with his life now. This is a movie that kind of wants to be like an 80's Dazed and Confused (and it isn't on that level), but Jesse Eisenberg is completely charming as the goofy and aimless but decent James, and he and Stewart share a sweet and actually moving coming of age romance. This was a nice little gem that more people should discover.
Trailer:
TRAILER #2: "Get On Up"
Another trailer for the James Brown movie, Get On Up, still coming out in August. I hope this will be good, but I don't know- it just looks like a very old school, traditional, straight down the middle biopic to me. I could almost see it airing on HBO or something. But maybe Boseman will bring something more to it in the performance scenes.
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Red River" (1948)
A great western from the 40's is out today on blu-ray, and it was one that cast John Wayne in one of those darker roles that he was always so good in (see him in The Searchers for a look at his most famous twisted character). Always great as the traditional western hero, but even better as a shady antihero with ulterior motives, here he played a damaged rancher leading a cattle drive from Texas to Missouri, who grows ever more at odds with the younger cowboy he took under his wing (Montgomery Clift), when he slowly reveals how disturbed he really is. The movie has an old Hollywood copout of an ending, clearly not the natural climax the story was headed towards, but overall it's a great film from the genre worth seeking out.
Trailer (sorry about the subtitles on this one):
