Hmm. The new Woody Allen film gets a pretty bland trailer today for its upcoming release in mid July. I can't help but wonder if the studio was trying to downplay/hide the yet another "older man with a young girl" aspect of an Allen movie, which now has creepy connotations every way you look at it, but I will say this- at least it's a step up from pairing her with Colin Firth last year. The plot description of this movie makes it sound like Match Point meets Crimes and Misdemeanors, which isn't so great considering that would make it a rehash of not one but two of Woody Allen's previous films- is he out of original ideas at this point? Still, this one may be a lighter take on it, if the trailer can be believed (but I'm not sure it can).
Early Look at Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in 'Macbeth'
It seems like it's been quite a while since we had a good Shakespeare adaptation- I think the last one that I liked was The Merchant of Venice in 2004. Maybe it's finally time for another one? Macbeth is set to premiere in Cannes next month- hopefully with these two in the lead roles, it'll be successful enough for a release here later this year.
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Inherent Vice" (2014)
This week's choice is a movie a lot of people missed last year, and that's because it was a bit divisive among audiences and critics, but I'd argue it's still worth seeing as a trippy neo-noir early 70's sojourn, and any Paul Thomas Anderson flick has got to be at least interesting, right? Plus, as confusing and wobbly as the story/plot is, there are plenty of individual moments in it to keep you attuned. Joaquin Phoenix is great as the stoner detective who gets sucked into a vortex of drugs and mystery that even he doesn't really understand, and the rest of the cast has fun popping in and out of the frame with bit parts to add to all the chaos- especially Katherine Waterston as Phoenix's long lost love. Just think of it as an atmosphere movie, relax and let it wash over you. It's quite a ride.
Trailer:
Mark Wahlberg and Ted Return in the Red Band Trailer for 'Ted 2'
I really have nothing to say about this movie, so here's the uncensored trailer, guys. Enjoy it! (I didn't see the first Ted and pretty much watch none of Seth MacFarlane's shows- I don't dislike him or anything, but it's safe to say I'm not the target audience for this).
REVIEW: "Ex Machina" (2015) Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander. Dir. Alex Garland
Science fiction is the stuff of robots, artificial intelligence and mad scientists since the dawn of the genre, and the new sci-fi film Ex Machina takes on the familiar tropes in cerebral, intellectual fashion, perhaps too much so, although the notes it strikes are refreshing in their starkness. A spare cast of simply three characters (and another who doesn't speak) trapped in one remote location, debating philosophy and exploring the psychological trappings of powerful attraction to a being of mechanical creation, may not be the stuff of thrilling cinematic action, but the performances and dialogue give us a highly intelligent, interesting take on the genre, one designed to engage the attention span in ways not often asked of audiences in big budget action spectacles.
Domnhall Gleeson is Caleb, a 26-year-old coder for a company called Blue Book, the powerful search engine created by Oscar Isaac (the mad scientist in this futuristic Frankenstein story). Caleb wins a "ticket" to Isaac's remote estate hidden somewhere in the mountains through a contest set up to find the subject for a test designed by Nathan, Isaac's character. When he is brought via helicopter and left to stay on the premises for a week, he discovers that Nathan is an eccentric who's spent his days creating artificial life, and his invention of a female robot, Ava, is meant to be the subject of the Turing test that he wants Caleb to perform on her, in order to find out if she possesses true artificial intelligence. Caleb and Ava interact through a glass wall, as she is kept in isolation and must use her developed skills of manipulation through the emotions that have been implanted in her, to achieve her own hidden agenda.
You may have guessed already that Nathan himself has ulterior motives and other secrets, which of course he does, and which of course reveal themselves in the course of the story, but the bulk of this film revolves around the conversations between Caleb and Ava, and Caleb and Nathan, involving why and for what purpose Ava has been built, and how she functions. Not technically, that would be too "textbook" and dry for the audience (as Nathan literally says at one sly moment in the movie), but more in the vein of how Ava makes Caleb, as a straight, hot blooded young male, feel about her. Ava herself is a striking cinematic creation (maybe the only one in this movie), with just Alicia Vikander's face displayed on a part glass, part wired body with unfinished limbs and no skin besides the hands and head. She doesn't act fully human, with all the physical tics and unemotional vocal tones of the android she's supposed to be, but I suppose with Vikander's human face, that's all it takes for Caleb to find himself falling for her in spite of himself.
Despite the interesting visual image of Ava, Oscar Isaac is the most charismatic presence in the movie, elevating Nathan to seem not quite mad, just arrogant and possessing the god complex that anyone who invented the world's most powerful search engine at 13 years old probably would be. A fine actor who's shown himself capable of carrying films with a powerful and commanding screen presence, this is yet another impressive example after Inside Llewyn Davis and A Most Violent Year. But the movie itself is a cold, rather distant rendering of a familiar story (your too successful invention gone rogue), with just enough interest demanded by Isaac and commanded by the visual power of Ava, that it passes for a more thought provoking sci-fi than you'd find in a typical robot adventure. Just don't go in expecting too many fireworks.
* * *
BOX OFFICE 4/24-4/26: 'Furious 7' Gets Its Last Weekend on Top
Well, it was a rather uneventful weekend at the domestic box office anyway, as Furious 7 rode what will surely be its last hurrah at the top of the chart with Avengers coming out next week (this was sort of the the calm before the storm), but worldwide, the monster seventh entry in the franchise is still making news, as it crossed the billion dollar mark and surpassed Frozen to become the fifth highest grossing movie of all time. Yes, you read that right- a Fast and Furious movie is now the fifth highest grossing film of all time (unadjusted for inflation of course, which would kick so many of these recent record breaking movies so far down the list as to render it meaningless, at least in my opinion- tickets sold is what really counts in terms of movies that made a cultural impact at the time of release).
In second place was Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, which held off Blake Lively's soapy melodrama The Age of Adaline to snag second place with a $15 million dollar haul- depressingly, not a terrible drop off from last week, which says a lot about the taste of family audiences in this country. Meanwhile, Adaline came in third with $13 million- about in line with the last movie targeting a female audience, the Scott Eastwood one that I can't even remember the name of even though I wrote about it twice (what was it? The Longest something?), and Home and Unfriended rounded out the top five, putting up solid holds from their respective audiences.
Top 5:
- Furious 7- $18.3 million
- Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2- $15.5 million
- The Age of Adaline- $13.3 million
- Home- $8.3 million
- Unfriended- $6.2 million
In limited release, the critically adored Ex Machina expanded to 1500 theaters and grossed over $5 million, while Russell Crowe's directorial debut The Water Diviner bombed with just over $1 million. Next week it's Avengers time, with most predicting the Marvel sequel to surpass its last opening weekend of $200 million, so beware of hysterical theaters with costumed geeks out in full force. Not that it really matters what's opening against it, but a couple of films in limited release are coming out, with the period drama Far From the Madding Crowd and Kristen Wiig's Welcome to Me in case you're looking for alternatives. See you guys next week!
First Look at Jared Leto's Joker in 'Suicide Squad'
Suicide Squad director David Ayer tweeted a picture of Jared Leto as the Joker for the new Batman villains movie, and I guess it's safe to say we're in for a radically different version than was last seen in 2008's The Dark Knight. Which is for the best, don't you think? I mean, who wants to follow Heath Ledger's iconic, Oscar-winning performance with anything close to a similar kind of thing? I expected Leto to go in the opposite direction and I think this picture upholds those expectations (whether it turns out any good is a whole other story, since extremely over the top can sometimes give us stuff in the vein of the Joel Shumacher era Batman villains- shudder).
Movie of the Day: "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988)
Believe it or not, today is Arbor Day, possibly a more obscure, easy to forget holiday than Earth Day just two days ago. And unsurprisingly, there aren't a whole lot of movies that celebrate trees directly, so I'll just choose a great one that kinda celebrates them indirectly. This classic Miyazaki movie from the 80's is one of the best films for children ever made, a lovely story about two little girls and their protector, the big fuzzy, lovable Totoro, who lives among the trees (one giant one in particular). This is a wonderful movie about family, with emotions more genuine than many live action films, and Totoro is one of the most beloved magical creatures in film (a direct predecessor frankly, to sidekicks like Baymax in last year's hit Big Hero 6). This is a movie not to be missed, and if you need an excuse to check it out, well, Arbor Day is as a good a reason as any.
Blu-Ray Trailer:
First Look at M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Visit'
There was once a time when the name of the writer-director for this film meant millions of people would go see it- now it's more like a warning sign. Notice how the trailer doesn't even want to remind you of the many terrible movies he's made ever since The Village (which also was not good, but was his last hit). But who knows, could this one be his long awaited comeback? Doubtful- it looks silly as all get out.
Johnny Depp Transforms Himself for 'Black Mass'
As the notorious gangster Whitey Bulger, Johnny Depp finally looks like he's giving us something we haven't seen from him before. And yes, there's makeup involved, but even so, you have to admit he looks pretty impressive in this first look at the drama about Bulger from Crazy Heart director Scott Copper, set to come out September 18th. Could this be a return to form for Depp after so many recent flops?
Movie of the Day: "WALL-E" (2008)
It's Earth Day everyone! The holiday most likely to be overlooked by people who really shouldn't forget how doomed our planet is in the long term...but let's forget that depressing reality and watch this classic Pixar film about saving the Earth instead. That's right, one of Pixar's greatest movies, and the one that was most screwed out of a Best Picture nomination in 2008 (yes, even more than The Dark Knight). It's thousands of years in the future and Earth has become uninhabitable because of pollution, except for trash robots like Wall-E, whose job it is to slowly compact everything he sees. This was such an ambitious movie that the first half of it occurs with virtually no dialogue, and the romance between Wall-E and Eve, the girl robot sent back to Earth from the human space station to look for signs of life is one of the most touching you'll ever see. Once Wall-E and Eve get into space it becomes a little more conventional, but the film overall is one of the most imaginative and visually striking ever made.
Trailer:
First Look at Jack Sparrow in 'Pirates 5'
Well, yeah...that's Jack Sparrow all right. Did you forget they were making a fifth Pirates movie already? They still are, and it's called Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, scheduled to come out in summer 2017. Not sure whether this is actually warranted or not- but the last one still made a billion dollars worldwide (not so much here in the States), so of course they're doing it. If you ask me, what this series needs is a Fast and Furious style reunion of the original cast to revive some interest in it, but I guess it's doing well enough globally that they're not quite there yet.
