Brad Pitt's new WWII movie Fury is coming out this November, and here we have the first look at the film along with some behind the scenes footage. Directed by David Ayer (End of Watch and Sabotage) and with a cast that includes Michael Pena, Jason Isaacs, Logan Lerman and Shia LeBeouf, it's set for release on November 14th. It looks pretty generic to me, combining virtually ever war movie trait you've ever seen, but hey I thought that about End of Watch too (for a police procedural), but it turned out much better than that. And Brad Pitt usually has good taste for prestige fare, so we'll see with this.
POSTER: "Dumb and Dumber To"
Harry and Lloyd return in the long awaited Dumb and Dumber To, finally coming out November 14th. Not so sure this will be great though (yes it has the Farrelly Brothers behind it again, but how long has it been since they made an actual good movie?)
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "All That Heaven Allows" (1955)
A classic melodrama from the 1950's is out in a Criterion Collection edition blu-ray today, and you should really see this one, since it's so famous it's been remade twice. First in 1974 as Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, and then in 2002 as Far From Heaven, with Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid. The funny thing is, all three if these movies are great in their own right, but the original Douglas Sirk version is still a fascinating movie to watch. With Jane Wyman as the older widow who falls in love with gardener Rock Hudson, it's a perfect snapshot of 1950's middle class American values, and anyone who thinks it makes them look good should get their eyes checked. Sirk was a subtle yet harsh critic of that society and used his outlook to create what seemed on the surface like soapy melodramas, but that pretty obviously (at least I think so) spelled out his critique of American shallowness. It's a really good movie, and you should see all three versions in succession, starting with this one.
Original 1955 Trailer:
POSTER: "Guardians of the Galaxy"
The first character poster for Guardians of the Galaxy is here, and it highlights two of the more unknown characters in the Marvel universe, Groot and Rocket Raccoon. These two are obviously CG creations in the movie and will be voiced by Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, respectively.
I still don't really know what to make of this movie coming out- knowing Marvel and the absolute control they have over their properties (especially after ousting Edgar Wright from directing Ant Man, probably due to the uniqueness of a guy like Wright's vision), I sort of suspect this movie won't be all that weird after all, despite the strangeness of the characters. Anything truly off the wall will likely be stamped out by the studio as being too risky. But I guess we'll find out soon enough.
BOX OFFICE 6/06-6/08: 'Fault in Our Stars' Vaults to #1; 'Edge of Tomorrow' Disappoints
The teen love story The Fault in Our Stars came in a strong No. 1 this weekend, earning $48 million over the three day frame, along with an "A" Cinemascore and an audience that was a staggering 82% female and 79% under 25. Even though the movie was pretty frontloaded (early reports based on sales for Thursday and Friday showings had the movie opening north of $58 million) it's a huge success for a film that cost just $12 million to make. The top two movies this week were both female targeted, as Maleficent came in 2nd with $33 million, just a 52% drop from last week for a total of $127 million, and already over $300 million globally, making the revisionist fairy tale an unqualified hit.
Edge of Tomorrow, the Tom Cruise starring action sci-fi thriller, came in third with just $29 million, kind of a mediocre opening for a film that got some pretty outstanding reviews (89% Rotten Tomatoes), although it did come in number one overseas, with $82 million, proving that Cruise is still a worldwide draw for mass audiences, if not so much here in the U.S. My guess is that people thought the movie looked too similar to last year's Oblivion, another Cruise sci-fi extravaganza, which was okay at best. X-Men and One Million Ways to Die in the West rounded out the top 5, with the former now having grossed $189 million total, which means it will pass The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and the latter still a disappointment, having earned just $30 million.
Top 5:
- The Fault in Our Stars- $48.2 million
- Maleficent- $33.5 million
- Edge of Tomorrow- $29.1 million
- X-Men: Days of Future Past- $14.7 million
- One Million Ways to Die West- $7.2 million
Another big weekend is just around the corner, with both sequels next week coming in with stellar reviews on top of already huge expectations. How to Train Your Dragon 2 should come in very strong with the family audience, while 22 Jump Street should slide in nicely to the comedy void, especially with One Million Ways disappointing. See you next week!
REVIEW: "Non-Stop" (2014) Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore. Dir. Jaume Collet-Sera
Ever since 2009's surprise hit Taken, Liam Neeson has managed to carve out a niche for himself as a kind of older action star, usually releasing one movie every year that spotlights his rugged, take no prisoners, grizzled old man persona. That persona is entertaining in and of itself, never mind the plot or the characters or even the director (it was certainly the best part of Taken). Here once again, we have our annual Liam Neeson saves the day routine action thriller that manages to be pretty entertaining once more simply because of Neeson, as what else we're stuck with is a fairly ludicrous plot that would never in a million years be plausible in reality, but Neeson brings just enough gravitas to take us with him for the ride.
Which is what this movie is, pretty much a ride all the way through. Neeson is over the hill, paranoid, alcoholic ex-cop Bill Marks, who now works as an air marshal and is scheduled to be on a six-hour flight to London. Once on the plane he makes first contact with several passengers, all of whom have to be introduced with one random character trait so that we have reason to suspect each of them of being the terrorist at some point in the movie. Especially laughable is Julianne Moore, cashing a paycheck as a quirky passenger who just has to have the window seat (for a very special and heartwarming reason, as we'll find out later) and alternately annoys/endears herself to Bill with her incessant chattering. There's also a scared little girl flying alone, a rude passenger who keeps getting his luggage in Bill's way, another paranoid cop (Corey Stoll) who looks immediately suspicious (so he's clearly the red herring) and the nice flight attendant Nancy (Michelle Dockery from Downton Abbey) who's on Bill's side no matter what.
Once the plane takes off Bill starts getting threatening anonymous texts from someone on the flight who claims that a person will die every twenty minutes unless he gets $150 million wired to an account. This sets up the conflict for the rest of the film, as Bill must try to find the passenger and every action he takes seems to implicate himself as the culprit, which follows exactly according to the hijacker's plan. The twists this movie takes in order to get Bill to implicate himself requires huge suspension of disbelief (this guy's plan really had to go exactly right at every single turn and would seem to require his psychically knowing when and how things will go wrong too), and the passengers of course start getting rowdy and screwing things up, but for most of the movie I must admit it's never boring and seeing the dude drive Liam Neeson crazier and crazier as he resorts to even more drastic attempts to find him is pretty fun, almost like an airplane set game of Clue. But then, as the climax approaches things get really out of control and the ultimate third act motivations of the terrorist is so far out of left field that it just feels like a stupid attempt to tie in significant meaning to the devious plan and make the movie feel serious all of a sudden, when it really should have stayed on purely nutty territory all along (plus, the attempts made to turn the character's plot machinations upside down make zero sense and start to make events that happened earlier in the movie seem even more illogical).
But for a strictly mindless action movie, it works well as long as you go into it with fairly low expectations. This the kind of movie I can see playing on cable for years to come, as a purely escapist way to pass the time in the middle of the night when you're channel surfing and nothing else is on. That may sound like some pretty low praise, and to be sure this is not the greatest action movie you'll ever see, but for Liam Neeson's recent output, I actually think it's much better than the Taken series, which took itself way too seriously and had an ugly filmmaking style to go with it, while Non-Stop is fast-paced and unintentionally funny enough to keep you entertained throughout.
* * 1/2
Disney Set to Remake Beauty and the Beast
According to Hitfix, Disney has hired director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Kinsey) to direct a big budget, live action musical remake of 1991's Beauty and the Beast. The new version will draw from the old movie and the Broadway adaption that ran from 1994-2007, and will be including most of the iconic Alan Menken/Howard Ashman songs. It's not exactly hard to believe, since that seems to be the new trend, adapting or reinventing the studio's animated classics, but to do a flat out live action remake of what's still their all time best animated film? Ugh- all the household objects are going to be CG, aren't they? Can you imagine CG versions of Lumiere, Cosgrove and Mrs. Potts roaming around? I'm dubious about this already, even though it's apparently Bill Condon's passion project, and keeping it a musical was part of his pitch to the studio. I just hope the Beast is a guy in a costume and not CG himself, but I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up. This movie could never be as great as the original, no matter what they do. Any casting thoughts for Belle?
TRAILER #2: "The Giver"
A second trailer for the sci-fi adaptation The Giver, coming out August 15th. This one shows a lot more of the story and approach they've taken, which looks pretty straightforward, aside from the black and white future. This kind of strikes me as this year's Ender's Game- mostly for kids and fans of the book, maybe with a fun, scenery-chewing performance from Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges for the adults. But I don't know...it doesn't really look all that exciting, to be honest. What do you think?
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "The Man With No Name" Trilogy (1964-66)
In the 1950's and 60's very few television actors ever rose to a career in movies, being that TV was the far lesser medium at the time. But Clint Eastwood turned out to be a major exception when he jumped at the chance to shed his Rawhide image by starring in then unknown Sergio Leone's Italian-made western A Fistful of Dollars. It was a huge risk, but one that paid off in spades when he donned the hat and poncho, and a legend was born almost instantly. Leone pretty much reinvented the genre in the form of the spaghetti western, which spawned its own cult of fans that exists to this day. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the best of the three films, and my favorite too, but all of them are great and the trilogy is a must have for any fan of classic westerns.
Original Trailer for A Fistful of Dollars (1964):
REVIEW: "The Immigrant" (2014) Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix. Dir. James Gray
James Gray's The Immigrant is a bit of a mixed bag. Visually inventive and pleasant to look at, but not much of a story holding the isolated performances together in the end. The thriving immigration days of the early 1920's should provide a fascinating setting for an equally interesting story to follow, but instead Gray sets up three characters who remain locked in immoveable emotional places for the majority of the film's running time, which can occasionally be a laborious slog.
Not that the film doesn't have its moments. Gray seems to be going for a kind of old-fashioned melodrama with the very minimal plot that's been set up, and by old-fashioned I mean very old-fashioned, almost in the heightened reality style of a silent film from which the era is set. If that is what he's aiming for I wouldn't say the film doesn't achieve it, I just question whether it's enough to hold anyone's attention for nearly two hours (which at times feels longer). Marion Cotillard plays Ava, a Polish immigrant who comes to America after World War I, seeking a new life with her sister, who's immediately detained at Ellis Island for lung disease, leaving Ava to strike out on her own. After being determined liable to become a public charge because of a sexual assault that happened on the ship (thus branding her a woman of "low morals") Ava is helplessly alone, leaving her vulnerable prey for a shady pimp named Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix), who takes her under his wing with the intention of turning her into one of his prostitutes. Ava's downfall is now complete, but she spends the movie caught between the vice grip of Bruno and the kind attentions of his cousin Emil (Jeremy Renner), a magician who falls for her and sets up the love triangle between the three characters.
And that's about it for the story, as the film spins its wheels veering between the melodramatic Bruno/ Emil confrontations for Ava's attention and Ava's continual depression at her hopeless situation. The performances aren't bad but are rather one note- Cotillard strikes the same worried tone for every scene, with only minimal dialogue with which to express herself. It's a believable character given the times but the slow going pace of this film does it no favors. The environment is well set up, portraying early 1920's New York with convincing authority in the set design and art direction- you can almost smell the market spices being sold on the street corners. But simply not enough happens in this film, which is the biggest problem with it, and yet also might be the director's intention. In silent film melodramas, the action is minimal yet exaggerated, and several scenes in this film seem meant to recall the simple emotional pain of these sorts of stories. But I don't think that style can be replicated in a modern movie which is in fact not a silent film. It needs more of a strong throughline to get from Point A to Point B, otherwise it can be a long, heavy slog in which we don't get enough character or action to sustain a feature length film.
It's still a well acted, well shot and beautifully composed movie- but doesn't do enough with the narrative or atmospheric sense to be seen as a satisfying experience overall. The frustratingly opaque filmmaking techniques leave one at something of a loss as to what Gray was ultimately trying to do here (I can only make assumptions), and the result is a feeling of disappointment, or even pointlessness.
* *
TRAILER: "Life of Crime"
I must have missed this one, but the trailer for Life of Crime, based on the Elmore Leonard story came out last week. The movie premiered at Toronto last year to pretty positive reception but it was held over until August of this year, so it was obviously deemed not an awards kind of movie. But it does look pretty good, with all the familiar Leonard dialogue and quirkiness. The cast is great, and Jennifer Aniston so rarely appears in decent movies that that's always nice to see when it happens. It's coming out August 29th.
Happy Birthday Marilyn Monroe
A major icon's birthday is marked today and she's so well known that there hardly seems to be anything to say about her that hasn't already been said. She's still a ubiquitous presence in our culture that has never gone away and won't anytime soon, what with Jessica Chastain set to take on the role in the latest Marilyn biopic. Still, though everyone knows her image, I wonder how many people today have actually seen her movies. We know she was always a bigger star and screen presence than a great actress, so what were the films she made that are still worth watching? I'd say these are her three essentials:
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953)
A light comedy to be sure, but it's definitely the movie that solidified her ditzy blond image, and this is where she sings "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," so you gotta see it. Jane Russell is actually a pretty funny co-star, but it's obvious she gets blown off the screen in favor of Marilyn. Sorry, Jane, it just couldn't be helped.
THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955)
Her first team up with Billy Wilder and it's another comedy, but by now she was already an icon and had to be the impossible dream girl upstairs, completely out of reach and almost unreal for schlubby neighbor Tom Ewell, who fantasizes about her at every turn. This movie may be a bit dated now, but Monroe is perfectly cast (Wilder always knew what to do with her) and creates another famous movie moment- in the white dress on top of the subway breeze.
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
To me it's her best movie and performance by far, with Wilder again knowing exactly how to use her personality and musical talent, giving her the chance to be both funny and bewitching, as she captivates Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, and turns in two great music numbers, with "I Wanna Be Loved By You" and "I'm Through With Love" (below). In fact, this might be the only Marilyn Monroe movie you really need to see. It captures the legend completely.
