Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Picnic at Hanging Rock" (1975)

A really terrific movie is out on blu-ray today- a mysterious and elegiac mood piece from the great Australian director Peter Weir, and this is one of his earliest films. Picnic at Hanging Rock tells the story of four teenage girls in turn of the century Australia who suddenly vanish one day into the strangely beckoning rocks of the Outback, and no one can figure out what happened to them. Was it real? Is it an allegory for female subjugation in the early 1900's? Or something else entirely? See if you can break through the silence when you watch it- Weir gives us no answers, only unsettling and provocative questions and atmosphere. You can't miss this one, it's one of the great films of the 1970's.

Original 1975 Trailer:

TRAILER: "The Equalizer"

Denzel Washington reunites with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua for his latest thriller, based on the 1980's TV show that ran on CBS for four seasons. He's kind of like a vigilante ex-cop who enacts his own personal justice on criminals. There's nobody better than Denzel in these types of righteous, badass roles, so I have to admit I thought this looked kinda good (in a guilty pleasure kind of way). It's coming out September 26th:

REVIEW: "Edge of Tomorrow" (2014) Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt. Dir. Doug Liman

The best videogame movie not based on a videogame. That was my immediate reaction after watching Edge of Tomorrow, the latest Tom Cruise action sci-fi adventure that manages to recycle several elements of themes that have been done before (war battles, alien invasions, the Groundhog Day-esque reliving the same day over again), into a surprisingly enjoyable exercise in spite of the obvious gimmicky touches at work.

The film's based on a novel called All You Need is Kill, by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, and stars the eternal Tom Cruise as Maj. William Cage, a media relations officer in a future where Earth has been invaded by aliens and we're at constant war with these big, purplish, Matrixy-looking, rubber "mimics" that have spider-like poles for arms and kill you almost instantly, as far as I can tell. Cage is a cowardly phony who's never been in battle himself, so when General Brendan Gleeson orders him into the field with the "J-Squad" led by an amusingly hammy Bill Paxton (is there any other kind?), he does everything he can to get out of it, but fails and falls into the massive D-Day invasion (we're actually invading France again, in a nod to WWII I suppose) completely unprepared and at a loss for what to do. Since he's strapped into a hulking mechanical armor suit that's got some automatic weapons attached, he does however manage to kill at least one mimic, almost by accident, while the slaughter's taking place. This one though, was an "Alpha," which he finds out is a special kind of alien that transferred its powers to him when it died, which means every time Cage himself dies, the day resets and he has to live it all over again.

Okay so it's a familiar premise, but one that you can usually get a lot of mileage out of if done right, which it more or less is here. Tom Cruise harnesses a playful, bewildered sense of humor and it's amusing to see him purposely figuring out ways to die when he knows he has to start over, but even the terms "reset" and "start over" immediately bring to mind battle videogames where you have to keep figuring out the steps in order to get to the next level. Cage must do exactly that, and he needs the help of the war's most decorated soldier, Rita Vertasky (Emily Blunt), who gets to play a pretty kickass female action heroine, who once was doused in the Alpha's blood herself and relived her glory on the battlefield until she got it right. Rita believes his story and trains him until he becomes the indefatigable Tom Cruise hero we all know and love, and together the two keep going after the Omega (the head alien) which is kind of like the Mother alien who will shut down all the little babies once it's put out of commission. Or in other words, the boss level, right?

The humor works, there's a nice chemistry between Cruise and Blunt (even if it's slightly annoying that at 53 years old, the male movie star can only be partnered with a woman 20 years his junior and never let's say, someone his own age), and the action is relentless and pounds you into submission, even if I wouldn't say there's a whole lot of stunts or special effects in this that you haven't actually seen before. Certainly battling invading aliens at this point is something that happens in at least one action film every summer, but Doug Liman helms a fast-paced, slick and most importantly, fun thrill ride that gives you just what you want from these kinds of movies. And the gimmick and videogame aspect to it shows how you can actually make that kind of material work, as long as you have the right star in the lead, one that audiences will follow anywhere. It is kind of cool to see Cruise evolve from shallow jerk to competent soldier, and it's believable that anyone might do that themselves once you take away the factor that prevents people from constantly living on the edge- the fear of death. Edge of Tomorrow is all kinetic action, humor and thrills by the minute- and also just clever enough to give it a solid pass as a worthy entry in this year's summer blockbuster canon.

* * *

Movie of the Day: "Finding Nemo" (2003)

One of Pixar's most beloved classics is an excellent Father's Day choice, as this movie follows devoted dad Marlin (brilliantly voiced by Albert Brooks) as he darts through all the dangers of the Great Barrier Reef to find his little son Nemo, who's been snatched up by scubadivers and taken to Sydney, Australia. This is one of the most emotional films in the Pixar canon, but still has all the humor and visual wonder that makes it one of the most emblematic of the studio when it was at its best in the 2000's. Ellen Degeneres provides the voice of Marlin's nutty tagalong pal Dory (who's now getting a sequel movie based around her coming out in 2016) and the two characters together created an iconic movie duo that's been loved by kids ever since. You can't go wrong with this one.

Trailer:

TRAILER #2: "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For"

The second trailer for the Sin City sequel makes it look pretty good actually. It looks to be reuniting much of the cast from the 2005 original (Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Mickey Rourke) with new actors including Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eva Green. It's hard to say what the interest level in this is though- even the first one had limited appeal at best. The movie's coming out August 22nd:

BOX OFFICE 6/13-6/15: 'Jump Street' Sequel Scores Big; 'HTTYD 2' Second

22 Jump Street was the big winner this weekend, as the Channing Tatum/Jonah Hill buddy cop movie earned a whopping $60 million over Father's Day weekend, along with good reviews and an "A-" Cinemascore. The sequel played over 50% female and under age 25 (showing just how seriously strong Channing Tatum's female fanbase is- the guy's a major star), and the opening is the second biggest debut ever for an R-rated comedy (behind the original Hangover in 2009). Meanwhile, How to Train Your Dragon 2, the other big release, opened with "just" $50 million, which was genuinely surprising, given the amazing reviews, beloved status of the first movie, and especially the fact that there was no other competition for that coveted "family audience" slot this weekend. The first film opened with $43 million but held very strong, eventually becoming a sleeper hit and earning $217 million total, so maybe the same thing will happen here (it did get a strong "A" rating from crowds). So yeah, it's kind of baffling to me on that one (was the four year wait between films just too long?), but since there are no other animated movies out for the next month, it still has the market free to itself for a while. We'll see what happens.

In holdover news, The Fault in Our Stars fell off a cliff, dropping 67% to land in fifth place this weekend (totally unsurprising due to the teen only targeting crowd), while Maleficent came in third with $19 million, another fairly leggy hold for the fantasy, which takes its total to $163 million and it will easily pass $200 million now. Edge of Tomorrow was fourth, actually showing some decent legs of its own after it's light opening last week, and X-Men passed $200 million total, beating both Godzilla and Amazing Spider-Man 2 to that marker, so that's clearly the most popular of the recent blockbusters that all opened with $90 million weekends, but haven't been able to really sustain momentum (Captain America remains the box office winner of the year overall).

Top 5:

22 Jump Street- $60 million
How to Train Your Dragon 2- $50 million
Maleficent- $19 million
Edge of Tomorrow- $16 million
The Fault in Our Stars- $15.7 million

In limited release, Chef has turned out to be the second major indie hit of the year (after Grand Budapest Hotel), amassing $13 million so far and now expanding to more theaters thanks to increased interest. Check back in next week to see how Think Like a Man 2 and Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys fare against the current films in release.

TRAILER: "Home"

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: