Dreamworks' new animated movie coming out next March is called Home, and based on a 2007 children's book about a runaway alien who befriends a teenage girl named Tip (Rihanna). Jim Parsons obviously voices the alien, but it's nice to see a black character in the lead for once in one of these animated films. You so rarely see that that it makes the movie stand out almost immediately.
Movie of the Day: "Kramer vs. Kramer" (1979)
Continuing on with fathers and sons today, as Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep headlined this popular family drama and both deservedly won Oscars for it. A very topical movie at the time it came out, which probably accounts for the Best Picture Oscar it won as well (especially considering it was up against Apocalypse Now), but it's still a heart-tugging tearjerker, thanks to the master class in acting from the two stars. Hoffman is the absentee dad who's forced to develop a bond with his young son when his wife runs out on the family. You then get to see the father-son bonding take place and just when you're starting to love the two of them together, Streep shows up again and decides she wants the kid after all. It's a testament to Meryl Streep's amazing performance that even after spending most of the film offscreen, she still feels like a three-dimensional character and practically forces the audience to have some measure of sympathy for her in the end. The movie could easily feel like a made for TV special, but the two leads elevate the material in a way that feels natural and completely genuine. It still holds up well.
Original 1979 Trailer:
TRAILER: "Obvious Child"
This indie comedy made a splash at Sundance and is starting to be labeled "Hollywood's abortion rom-com," but apparently it got some great notices for being a movie that acknowledges that abortion is an actual thing that some women, you know, choose to do. And that for some reason may not actually destroy their entire life. The skittishness on this topic in movies has been highly irritating and bizarre in recent years- I'll never forget that scene in Knocked Up where no one can even utter the word because it's just too horrible to contemplate. Um, I'm sorry, what year is it again? Of course, with this movie being written and directed by a woman (it had to be), Gillian Robespierre is finally approaching the topic as a reality. And hopefully it launches Jenny Slate (Mona Lisa to Parks and Rec fans), who's got great comic timing herself and desreves to be better known.
TRAILER: "The Boxtrolls"
The third feature from Laika, the studio that produced Coraline and ParaNorman, and possibly a contender for the Best Animated Feature this year, if it's as good as those two. They seem to be the only place committed to making stop-motion animated features, which is a worthy goal (I wish there was one for simple hand drawn animation too). This looks good though, following in the eccentric and kind of quirky footsteps of the other films. It's always refreshing to see animated movies that don't have that same, tired, ironic humor that for me is really getting old. The Boxtrolls comes out September 26th.
Movie of the Day: "Father of the Bride" (1950)
Today's movie dad is Spencer Tracy from the original 1950 Vincente Minnelli version of Father of the Bride. He's the frazzled dad who has to spend a fortune on his daughter's wedding while dealing with the idea of losing his little girl at the same time, and the daughter's played by an 18-year-old Elizabeth Taylor, who had just blossomed from the National Velvet child star into the screen legend she was about to become. The truth is this movie is kind of dated, although it works as a time capsule for another era when upper middle class (although today it looks like straight up wealthy) families had all these enormous pre-wedding rituals, most of which don't necessarily take place now. But it's still charming for the Spencer Tracy/Liz Taylor relationship, and if it's too old-fashioned for you, you can always check out the Steve Martin 1991 remake, which is pretty good in and of itself.
Original Trailer:
Ruby Dee 1922-2014
Oscar-nominated actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee died today at the age of 91. A trailblazer who started acting on stage in the 1940's and first gained film recognition for The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), who then went on to star in A Raisin in the Sun (1961) with Sidney Poitier, as well several other films in the 50's and 60's. She also guest starred on various television shows since the 1960s (Including Peyton Place), and was nominated for eight Emmy awards, before appearing in the Spike Lee films Do the Right Thing (1989) and Jungle Fever (1991). She was finally nominated for an Oscar for her brief role in American Gangster (2007) as Denzel Washington's mother, and was a political and civil rights activist along with her husband Ossie Davis, whom she was married to from 1948 until his death in 2005. Ruby Dee was awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors for her long career, as well as a Grammy, Emmy, SAG and SAG lifetime achievement award before she passed away from natural causes at her home in New Rochelle, New York.
Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis receiving the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004:
TEASER + POSTER: "Birdman"
The first look at Alejandro Innaritu's highly anticipated Birdman arrived today, along with the awesome poster. For a movie that was supposed to be a comedy, this looks an awful lot more like a drama to me, which makes sense given Innaritu's output so far (can the guy who made Babel, 21 Grams and Amores Perros really pull off a true comedy?) But it looks great anyway and like Michael Keaton is for sure headed to the Oscar race, which is really cool since he's been under-appreciated for pretty much his entire career. Birdman is coming out October 17th, but might show up at the Venice Film Festival in August, so we can look forward to first reactions then.
Poster:
TEASER: "The Interview"
Seth Rogen's really been on a roll lately and this comedy coming out in November could be another big hit for the comedian, as the concept shows it was ballsy enough for them to even make it. Looks like a must see for me anyway. Again co-starring with best pal James Franco and co-directing with frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg (they did This is End together), the two stars are journalists instructed to go on a secret mission to take out Kim Jon-un. That's right, the current dictator of North Korea, played by Randall Park as an actual significant character in the movie. Can't wait to see the reaction this one gets. It's coming out October 10th.
Movie of the Day: "The Pursuit of Happyness" (2006)
It's time to celebrate movie dads this week in honor of Father's Day on Sunday, and we start with this wonderfully weepy tearjerker from 2006. An Oscar-nominated Will Smith turned in a rare dramatic performance in this period set true story of a down on his luck single dad, who must take care of his young son (little Jaden Smith in his movie debut) while unemployed and even homeless for a time, living in various hotels and shelters. In a kind of 1980's Cinderella story twist, he miraculously manages to land a job as a stockbroker despite no experience, creating the ultimate feel good ending (and one likely to leave you cheering through your tears). It's still one of Will Smith's best and most authentic regular guy performances, one that makes you wish he would pursue that dramatic turn a little more often.
Trailer:
TRAILER: "Dumb and Dumber To"
Ok, so, right on cue, after the poster dropped last night, here's the official trailer for the Farrelly Brothers sequel, also coming out November 14th. I don't even know what to think. I should admit right now that I don't love Dumb and Dumber anyway (I know that's like heresy for some people), so fans of the original should probably be the ones to say whether or not this looks funny. I mean yeah, it does look like Dumb and Dumber, so I guess if that's a good thing then you can be excited? But I'm on the outside looking in on that particular fan club, so this wasn't going to be for me anyway.
FIRST LOOK: "Fury"
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?)
