Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "The Lady From Shanghai" (1947)

On blu-ray this week is a classic film noir, directed by Orson Welles and starring his then wife, Rita Hayworth as a devious femme fatale. Read into that what you will, and you can, especially because Hayworth, who was known for her long red hair, was forced to chop it all off and dye it blonde for this film, at the request of her husband, who wanted to mess with her image as much as possible. This movie is all kinds of twisted, from Welles' ridiculous "irish" accent (why? who knows), to the insane plot that only loosely hangs together at all, but it's filmed in some spectacular shadows and never less than entertaining, despite the insanity. Which you can say for most of Orson Welles' films, no that I think about it.

Original 1947 Trailer:

REVIEW: "Cinderella" (2015) Cate Blanchett, Lily James. Dir. Kenneth Branagh

After last year's dreadful, near fatal experience that was Maleficent, I walked into Cinderella prepared for the worst, so imagine my surprise that what I found was a lovely, earnest, traditional re-telling of the classic story in such a straightforward manner as to seem old-fashioned. And to find a film that exudes an old-fashioned sincerity in this age of irony and cynicism (even in family entertainment) has now reached the point where the discovery of such a thing feels refreshing, somehow.

Kenneth Branagh takes the Cinderella story and gives it to us straight, with some spectacular sets, extravagant costumes, endearing performances and thankfully, as little CGI as possible (yes, the mice are there, but they're onscreen just a minimal amount, and they don't so much talk as make squeaky noises in the background). There are nods to the 1950 Disney classic of course (which this is no replacement for, but works as a companion piece), but the surprise is in the attempt to make the characters feel like real people rather than archetypes. There are no less than three "death of a parent" scenes in this movie (maybe keep that in mind when you take the kiddies), and no attempt at all to throw in superfluous war and battle sequences, unlike recent rebooted fairy tale adaptations Maleficent, Snow White and the Huntsman and Alice in Wonderland.

 In fact, the lack of extraneous action packed with special effects is such a relief and change of pace that it allows you to relax and enjoy the simple story and performances in a way none of these other films have. The fresh faced Lily James (Lady Rose for Downton Abbey watchers) plays Ella, renamed Cinder by her evil stepsisters for sleeping near the ashes in the fireplace, after having been turned into a servant in her own home. But I suppose it's redundant to explain the plot, isn't it? If you don't know the story of Cinderella, I'm not sure where you've been residing for the last hundred years, but surely not on Earth. In this version, the Prince is given a bit more to do, or at least a meaningful relationship with his dying father, the King, and is played with verve by Richard Madden (formerly Robb Stark, for Game of Thrones watchers), who shares a nice chemistry with James as Cinderella, an added bonus in stories such as these, where all that's usually demanded of Prince Charming is that he live up to the adjective his name describes. But, as you'd expect, the best performance in the film is reserved for Cate Blanchett, who sneers deliciously as the evil Lady Tremaine, or as we all know her, the Wicked Stepmother who invented the term. She relishes the role so much, you wish she could have had a bit more screentime, even.

Scene for scene, Cinderella gives you exactly what you want and expect, and somehow, Branagh directs in such a brisk and satisfying fashion that it's not a bad thing. Employing fabulous and overly decorative locations, excessive costumes, color blind casting in the Kingdom (a welcome touch), and an overload of sugary confection when it comes the ballroom sequence, Cinderella's dress and midnight flight (sparkles everywhere!) that it fits Disney's brand of consumer satisfaction, this time with no complaints whatsoever. Every once in a while, it feels so good just to get exactly what you ordered- no more, no less.

* * *

BOX OFFICE 3/13-3/15: 'Cinderella' Opens Big; 'Run All Night' Fizzles

Cinderella opened huge this weekend, earning $70 million from Friday-Sunday, slightly above last year's Maleficent, and this one without the benefit of 3D ticket prices. This tells me that above all, it's the property itself that sells these Disney reboot movies, and it doesn't really matter one bit who stars in them. Cinderella got an "A" Cinemascore and played with an overwhelmingly female crowd, and it also had the benefit of being the first film in this new genre to get decent reviews, with and 85% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. Meanwhile, the Liam Neeson actioner Run All Night took second place with a weak $11 million, paling next to the $39 million Taken 3 just earned a couple months ago, although such a close release date to that last film might have had something to do with the low opening.

In third was Kingsman: The Secret Service, which, in its fifth week has crossed $100 million and is clearly benefiting from positive word of mouth, as it dropped just 25% from last weekend. Rounding out the top five was Focus and Chappie, each with about $5.8 million, but neither ended up being the breakout hits the studios would have liked, while in very limited release, the well reviewed horror film It Follows, opened on 4 screens with $40k per screen average, a strong debut for a tiny film, which has a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Top 5:

1. Cinderella- $70 million
   
2. Run All Night- $11 million
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service- $6.2 million
4. Focus- $5.8 million
5. Chappie- $5.8 million

Next week we get to see how Cinderella holds up against the teen YA sequel Insurgent, and Sean Penn's The Gunman opens as well, although both are poorly reviewed, which may work in Cinderella's favor, as the one actually good movie playing in theaters right now. See you next time!

TRAILER: "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck"

The fascination with rock legend Kurt Cobain continues with this Sundance documentary from Oscar nominated filmmaker Brit Morgan, who directed The Kid Stays in the Picture and On the Ropes. It got amazing reviews out of Sundance and is set to air on HBO May 4th, after a limited theatrical run this spring. Be on the lookout for it.

Zoolander Walks the Runway

Derek Zoolander and Hansel MacDonald showed up at Paris Fashion Week the other day, as it was announced that Zoolander 2 is officially coming out February 12th, 2016. It's always a bit weird when a sequel to a movie comes out fifteen years after the first one- I know Zoolander became a cult favorite (it used to be kind of a guilty pleasure of mine), but are there that many people who were clamoring for another one all these years later? Still, I hope it's good, and just as silly as the first one.

TRAILER: "San Andreas"

Dwayne Johnson's latest disaster movie looks almost like a flat parody of those old 70's ones. The earth will literally crack open, Paul Giamatti? Really?! Like No Escape, this one produces quite a few unintentional giggles, at least in the trailer, but destruction porn always does well in the summer, so it'll probably be a big hit. Frankly, with this kind of thing, the sillier the better, so let's hope it doesn't play it too straight.

TRAILER 2: "Inside Out"

It's not the greatest trailer in the world, but at least it looks more creative than a lot of the stuff Pixar's been doing lately. That beginning part is kind of annoying though, with the rampant 75 year old male/female stereotypes- it would have been cooler if they showed an actual specific family with maybe the total opposite roles played by the parents. Inside Out comes out June 19th.

TRAILER: "Tomorrowland"

The new trailer for the mysterious Tomorrowland shows a bit more of the actual story, and for some reason this reminds me of one of those old 60's or 70's fantasy movies like Escape to Witch Mountain or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where the kids go off on this big, colorful adventure in another world. Which is kind of cool, I guess, since they don't really make a lot of live action fantasy movies strictly aimed at kids anymore. And it's Brad Bird, who directed The Incredibles and Ratatouille, so I trust him. Tomorrowland's coming out May 22nd.

TRAILER: "No Escape"

I'm sorry, but this is one of the most unintentionally hilarious trailers I've seen in quite a while. What with Sean Penn in The Gunman and now Owen Wilson in this, it seems every actor thinks he can grab a piece of that Liam Neeson "play against type as an action hero" fanbase. Does anyone who watches this find him believable as a dad trying to save his wife and kids from Asian warlords? I may have to check this out just for the entertainment value. It could be this year's Non-Stop.

BOX OFFICE 3/06-3/08: 'Chappie' Disappoints on a Slow Weekend

Neil Blomkamp has followed up his 2010 breakout success District 9 with two bombs in a row, first Elysium and now Chappie, which opened at number one with just $13.3 million. The critics didn't support this film (just 30% on Rotten Tomatoes), and given the fact that Blomkamp seems to perhaps have been a fluke, you have to be wondering about the studio's recent decision to hire him to direct the next Alien movie. The other new release this week was The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which landed in third with $8.6 million from about 1500 theaters, an okay result, especially given that the first film was strictly a limited release to begin with. And Unfinished Business bombed outright, pulling in a paltry $4.8 million for tenth place, making it Vince Vaughn's lowest opener ever. With so many bombs in recent years, it's no wonder Vaughn is now headed to TV to try to rebrand himself on HBO's True Detective.

Focus fell 45% to second place, earning $10 million for a $34 million total so far, not a great result, while Kingsman has almost hit $100 million and Fifty Shades of Grey fell out of the top five, but has earned a total of $156 million so far (and half a billion worldwide). Finally, American Sniper passed Hunger Games to become the top grossing movie of 2014, amassing $337 million, which is a huge marker and a boon to people who'd like to see the top box office movies of the year boast something other than franchise and superhero films once in a while. The last decade has been pretty ugly on that score, but this one obviously clicked in a big way.

Top 5:

1. Chappie- $13.3 million
   
2. Focus- $10 million
3. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel- $8.6 million
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service- $8.3 million
5. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water- $7 million

Next week the box office should finally pick up some, maybe quite a bit, when Disney's new Cinderella movie opens- despite no big names in the cast other than Cate Blanchett, this new genre of rebooted fairy tales has been quite popular, and surprisingly, so far at least, the Kenneth Branagh directed film has actually been getting some decent reviews. Also opening is Liam Neeson's Run All Night, which may get some traction despite Taken 3 already having come out in the last couple of months- we'll see if the Neeson action fans have tired of him yet this year.

Albert Maysles 1926-2015

One of the most influential documentary filmmakers of all time died today at the age of 88. A pioneer of the art form, Albert Maysles broke through in the 1960's with his brother David, by championing the style of cinema verite, notably in their 1964 film The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit, which in many ways is the real life version of A Hard Day's Night, both in look and style. Other landmark documentaries the brothers produced and directed were Salesman (1968), the famous Rolling Stones concert film Gimme Shelter (1970) and Grey Gardens (1976).

Original 1970 Gimme Shelter Trailer:

TRAILER: "Dark Places"

Not sure why this movie doesn't have U.S. distribution yet, but it's the new thriller from Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn's other novel, Dark Places. Charlize Theron stars with Nicholas Hoult, Chloe Moretz and Christina Hendricks in what looks like a mystery about past murders. It's only got an international trailer, because it will be releasing overseas this year, but so far no one wants to pick it up for release in America. I wonder if that's because it's bad.