For anyone wondering where Hugh Grant's been for the last seven years or so, he pops up again in this new romantic comedy with Marisa Tomei (it's nice to see an age appropriate pairing for once). Teaming up once again with his friend Marc Lawrence (who directed him in Two Weeks Notice and Music and Lyrics), here he's a former screenwriter who tries to teach a college course at a university, where Tomei is a student. It's coming out in the UK in October, but no release date has been scheduled in the U.S., which is kind of odd. You'd think a movie with names this recognizable would be able to secure a release rather easily, but I guess that tells you how far romantic comedies have fallen in terms of profitability.
Movie of the Day: "Picnic" (1955)
In honor of today's holiday we have a 1950's classic that is set exactly on Labor Day, and is one of the rare movies that's worth seeing for one incredible scene in the middle of the film, where William Holden dances with Kim Novak to the classic song "Moonglow." It's one of the those magical movie moments, and to be honest the rest of the film is notable as a kind of time capsule, because a lot of it's pretty dated. It's one of those overwrought melodramas that were so common in this decade and were never really made after it- but sometimes those kinds of movies can be fascinating in their own way, as a product of its time and an example of the kind of movie that was once so popular with audiences. Rosalind Russell is really good though, as an aging teacher who despairs that her life is passing her by while all the townspeople around her are oblivious and overly concerned with Holden's arrival in their perfect neighborhood as the mysterious drifter. It's worth a look anyway, especially on this long holiday weekend. Happy Labor Day everybody!
Original 1955 Trailer:
Back to School Month is Here
Well, it's the first of September everyone, which means it's Back to School Month on Screen It Now, and we have the full list of ten movie recommendations to go with it. Complete with trailers, the movies are all about the school setting, whether it's college, high school, boarding school, etc. It can be about the students or the teachers, and the list includes classics like Rebel Without a Cause, Juno, Cooley High, To Sir With Love, and one of my favorites, Clueless (above). Check out the description for the month and then head on over to the September movie page to veg out with the perfect back to school movies all month long. Happy Movie Watching!
Movie of the Day: "The Sandlot" (1993)
Another coming of age story (those are very popular for summer themed films), about a bunch of kids in the 1960's who live to play baseball day and night. This is kind of a classic now, made in the vein of A Christmas Story, with a narrator looking back on his childhood years in episodic events- battling the giant bulldog next door, swimming at the pool, the hot lifeguard, etc. This is a great one for kids especially, as it's the kind of movie that really never gets made any more. It seems like the 90's was the one decade where live action movies starring kids were considered profitable enough to make on a regular basis. You don't see much of it now.
Original 1993 Trailer:
BOX OFFICE 8/29-8/31: 'Guardians' Tops a Slow Labor Day Weekend
A very sleepy weekend for this holiday weekend, as it usually is for Labor Day. Even though it's a holiday, studios never bother with releasing big movies over the unofficial last weekend of the summer. Guardians of the Galaxy repeated at No. 1 with $16 million, while Ninja Turtles was second with $11 million, and last week's teen melodrama If I Stay, came in third with $9 million, which is pretty decent, as the $15 million dollar drama has earned more than $32 million so far.
The cheap horror movie As Above, So Below came in fourth with $8 million, but as always with these found footage flicks, it already made back its entire budget on opening weekend, so it's already considered a hit. Let's Be Cops rounded out the top five, but this weekend did see the re-release of 1984's Ghostbusters for its 30th anniversary, which earned $2 million on 784 screens for the long weekend. The other wide release, Pierce Brosnan's The November Man, didn't do much, opening on Wednesday and making just $7 million over the three day frame, and $10 million total.
Top 5:
- Guardians of the Galaxy- $16.3 million
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- $11.7 million
- If It Stay- $9.3 million
- As Above, So Below- $8.3 milion
- Let's Be Cops- $8.2 million
In long term news, The Hundred Foot Journey is holding pretty well for older audiences, heading to a $50 million gross, while Guardians is now officially the top earner of 2014 so far and will certainly cross $300 million in the coming weeks. I bet it stays that way until the next Hunger Games movies comes out too. Next weekend is another boring one, with just one new release, The Identical, opening, along with a re-issue of Forrest Gump for its 20th anniversary.
Movie of the Day: "A Place in the Sun" (1951)
Our next end of summer movie actually takes place mostly over Labor Day weekend, so it's nearly the perfect choice. Starring Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor, it's a romantic drama with a very dark undercurrent, as Clift is a working class stiff who so badly wants to work his way into upper class society and be worthy of Liz Taylor that he treats his pregnant girlfriend (Shelley Winters) shabbily and even considers murdering his way out of the situation. Twists occur over the eventful Labor Day in which the film is set, and the haunting scene on the river between Clift and Winters is unforgettable in its impact. This is one of the classic films that made Taylor an icon as she crossed over from child star to adult sex symbol, but the movie belongs to Montgomery Clift as the desperate, tormented outsider who finds himself shut out of the American Dream.
Original 1951 Trailer:
TEASER #3: "Foxcatcher"
A creepy new teaser for Foxcatcher, which was of course rapturously received at Cannes and again today at Telluride. The film will be coming out November 14th, and I still think that depending on where they position Carell in the Oscar race (apparently he could go lead or supporting) he's going to have a really good chance at winning for this part. Even in the teasers you can see how compelling he is.
Movie of the Day: "Crooklyn" (1994)
It's another coming of age story for our end of summer movies this week, this one about a 9-year-old girl in Brooklyn during the 1970's. A very different kind of film for Spike Lee, and probably one of his most unknown, but I think it was also one of his best. When you watch this movie, which mostly takes place from the point of view of little Troy (Zelda Harris) as she deals with her four rowdy brothers and hard working parents (Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo), you realize how incredibly rare it is for any movie centered entirely around a young black girl to even be made. It was rare at the time and still is today, unfortunately. But Harris lights up the screen in this semi-autobiographical story and it deserves to be seen and discovered by more people. Check it out.
Original 1994 Trailer:
POSTER: "The Judge"
A new poster for Robert Downey Jr.'s family tearjerker The Judge, coming out in October. This is also the opening night film of the Toronto Film Festival, so we'll be hearing how it is by next week. Part of me wonders now whether Robert Downey Jr. can play anything other than his wisecracking self anymore- it feels like he's been put in one particular box ever since the Iron Man movies. The trailer makes him look pretty much the same, but maybe the movie will be good in spite of that. Here's hoping.
REVIEW: "The Fault in Our Stars" (2014) Shailene Woodley, Ansel Egort. Dir. Josh Boone
The category of film known as the "teen weepie" is one of the hardest genres to make palatable to anyone outside its very specific target demographic (that is of course, young girls between the ages of 13 and 25), and to whatever end The Fault in Our Stars is at all successful, is almost entirely due to Shailene Woodley's sympathetic performance in the leading role.
I say this with some surprise, because in both previous movies I've seen her in (The Descendants and The Spectacular Now) I did not respond to her screen presence in any way, and thought she was sorely lacking in charisma. Here however, she really soars above the material, and is in fact, I would say the only reason to see this movie. It's not a terrible film, but the subject matter puts it at risk of cloying sentimentality and it comes with a certain level of built-in phoniness, no matter how goodhearted its intentions (look at us, we're terminal teens with cancer, but see how much fun we can make of our lives!). It's inevitable we're going to run into some corniness when we're dealing with two dying teenagers falling in love. But the first step is to at least try to have a couple of well written characters for the audience to get involved with.
Woodley is that character, playing 17-year-old Hazel Lancaster, who was diagnosed with lung cancer at age 13, and has become fairly cynical due to the toll its taken on her life (understandable), yet is still intelligent and courageous, with a curiosity about the world and a fierce determination of will and compassion for others, including her family members, whom she realizes may have it worse than herself when she eventually leaves this earth. She has an honest and great relationship with her mom (Laura Dern) and Shailene Woodley is completely natural, bright-eyed and authentic in the role at every turn, whether she's dealing with the physical effects of her illness, arguing her position on a book she loves, or facing the ramifications of her life on those around her, that I just wish she had been surrounded by a better movie. Hazel falls in love with a guy she meets at a cancer support group, a fellow patient played by Ansel Elgort (her Divergent co-star) but the big problem with this romance is that nothing about this kid strikes the same authentic chord that she does. He's nothing but a collection of arbitrary quirks and artificial dialogue, meant to seem eccentric in a endearing way I suppose, but played against Hazel's realism it comes across as unbearably irritating and overwritten. Even his name is phony- I mean, really, who names their son Augustus? Elgort is fine with what he's given, I just never bought into him as a real person, and so their relationship didn't hit the right tragic bone in me it was meant to.
There are a few good moments in here, scattered along the way of a contrived storyline that involves Hazel and Augustus going on a journey to Amsterdam to meet the author of her favorite book (Willem Dafoe in a scene-stealing cameo, as usual), but the last third of the movie drags, as the predictable twist involving who really dies in the film brings everything around (and slowly) to its inevitable, tearjerking ending. But Woodley holds our attention through all the cliches, bringing life and energy to a movie that might otherwise be unwatchable without her. Her brief scenes with Laura Dern are good enough that I found myself wishing this had been a story about how a mother deals with the premature death of her daughter from cancer, instead of the cheesy Love Story remake that's been done so many times. Although, with movies like this, you do have to remember who they're for, and that target audience I referenced earlier will undoubtedly eat this up, and hey, they could certainly do worse. Anybody remember A Walk to Remember with Mandy Moore? Yeah, I'd say this is better than that. It's a perfectly serviceable teen melodrama with a refreshingly original female character in the lead- I just wish the script had been a little more up to par with the talents of its star.
* * 1/2
Movie of the Day: "Stand By Me" (1986)
Our Movie of the Day series is back with a special end of summer theme, which seemed appropriate what with Labor Day approaching and all. Our first end of summer movie is a 1986 coming of age classic directed by Rob Reiner and starring Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell and the late River Phoenix in one of his best performances. The 12-year-old pals hike into the woods to find the body of kid who died, but it's mostly about the rapport between the guys and the protagonist Gordie (Wheaton) who must come to terms with his own brother's death. But for me this movie is all about Phoenix, who shows off just how much potential he had as the sensitive kid with the tough exterior. He's so good he makes us wish he could have lived a little longer to see it realized. It's also worth a look for the great 50's soundtrack and a young Kiefer Sutherland as the creepy Ace, a truly dangerous teenage hood.
Original 1986 Trailer:
Maureen O'Hara, Harry Belafonte to Receive Honorary Oscars
The four recipients of the annual Academy Governor's Awards were announced today. The winners of the Honorary Awards are Maureen O'Hara, Harry Belafonte, Hayao Miyazaki and screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere. Maureen O'Hara was a star of Hollywood's Golden Age who acted in such classics as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Miracle on 34th Street (1947) The Quiet Man (1952) and The Parent Trap (1961). Carriere is a celebrated screenwriter who collaborated with Luis Bunuel on several films, including The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and That Obscure Object of Desire, while Hayao Miyazaki is the legendary Japanese filmmaker who founded Studio Ghibli and is responsible for classic features like Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, among many others. Harry Belafonte, an actor, singer, producer and activist since the 1950's, is being awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his humanitarian efforts. The Governor's Awards are being held November 8th.
