Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Mr. Turner" (2014)

Timothy Spall was criminally overlooked for a Best Actor nomination for this, one of Mike Leigh's finest films. An intimate portrait of British painter JMW Turner, this is a detailed, brave, entirely lived in performance like no other from last year, and as usual with Leigh's films, Spall is surrounded by a supporting cast that gives every bit character specific life, no matter how few scenes any one person is in. This is a movie that makes you feel as though you're transported back to this time and living and struggling its inhabitants. An emotional, moving experience that pays tribute to one of the world's greatest artists with a piece of art itself that honors him in every way.

Trailer:

Another Look at The Rock in 'San Andreas'

More disaster porn here- boy does this look cheesy. Although I sometimes have a soft spot for B-grade disaster movies, as long as they don't take themselves too seriously (like Independence Day, which is both one of the cheesiest and most fun). I can't tell if this one has a sense of humor or not- if it's just grim looks and buildings falling down it'll probably suck. Comes out May 29th.

Suicide Squad Suits Up

After getting our first look at the new Joker last week, director David Ayer has now tweeted a full picture of the entire Suicide Squad cast in costume (sans Jared Leto). I guess they're really going for a whole punk rock biker look all around, huh? I wonder how odd this movie's going to be- it seems kind of a strange concept to do a movie about a bunch of Batman villains minus Batman himself (or is he going to cameo?). Either way, WB's superhero movies all inevitably turn out to be messy and/or weird in far more interesting ways than Marvel's finely tuned corporate formula (even if that's because they have no idea how to get anything "right"- at least it makes for more bizarre/unique movies). I'll admit, I'm at least curious about this one.

BOX OFFICE 5/01-5/03: 'Avengers' Sets Record for 2nd Biggest Opening Weekend

So, the news this weekend was that Avengers:Age of Ultron blew away the box office as expected, but in something of a surprise, came in about $30 million short of Disney's own expectations and could not beat or even tie its own record from last time around. The Avengers became the first movie to make $200 million in a single weekend back in 2012, but this one will have to settle for "only" $187 million, which is hardly a disappointment, but may indicate there's a ceiling on this superhero thing after all. Which is good news, as far I'm concerned. They won't just keep getting bigger and bigger, eventually people are going to move on, and I think this is the first sign of that.

In a far distant second place, The Age of Adaline settled for about $6 million, and the rest of the top five were in single digits as well, with Furious 7, Paul Blart and Home rounding out the chart. Surprisingly, with this opening guaranteeing that the Avengers sequel will earn less than its predecessor domestically (which was predicted in the long term), that leaves Furious 7 likely to hang on the title of now fourth highest grossing movie of all time worldwide, which will remain the story for the rest of the year, in my opinion. If a superhero movie can't outgross a car chase movie, that says a lot about the kind of thing the rest of the world likes to watch, doesn't it?

Top 5:

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron- $187 million
   
2. The Age of Adaline- $6.3 million
3. Furious 7- $6.1 million
4. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2- $5.6 million
5. Home- $3.3 million

In limited release, Carey Mulligan's period drama Far From the Madding Crowd opened on 17 screens with $172k, or a $17k per screen average, which is fairly decent, while Kristen Wigg's barely promoted Welcome to Me opened on two screens for a $19k average (this isn't really the time of year for robust specialty releases). Next week it's the Reese Witherspoon-Sofia Vergara buddy comedy Hot Pursuit, and Jack Black's indie The D-Train, but expect Avengers to be tops for a while, maybe the next month even.

10 Movies For May

Happy May everybody! Even though this month has Mother's Day in it (and soon), here at The Movie Seasons we choose to celebrate May as part one of our two month war movie list, with Memorial Day as the chosen holiday for wartime films (the other is Veteran's Day in November). The theme of this month is wars from which there are no living survivors, all the way from The French and Indian War (above, with Last of the Mohicans) through The Civil War (Gone With the Wind, Glory), and WWI (some of the very best, with Paths of Glory, Grande Illusion and All Quiet on the Western Front some of the greatest films ever made). War movies actually encompass a very diverse genre, so don't worry about all of these being similar. Trust me, they're not, and you'll enjoy all of them in very different ways. So head to our Movies for Every Month page to read more on the May theme for Memorial Day, and click here for ten great wartime films in celebration of that holiday. Happy Movie Watching!

Vin Diesel is 'The Last Witch Hunter'

Not that Michael Caine's immune from doing bad movies (he's actually been in tons throughout his career), but his presence in this one could maybe gin up some extra interest from non-Vin Diesel fans. Although I don't really know how many of those there are out there- remember when he was supposed to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger? Yeah well, Fast and Furious aside, he's still trying it. This one comes out October 23rd, right in time for Halloween.

Charlize Theron Showcased in Final 'Mad Max' Trailer

So, WB really wants you to know that there's a Mad Max movie coming out soon, with this fourth and final trailer for the film, this time showing off Charlize's role (which seems to be co-lead with Tom Hardy). Still looks cool, although I suddenly realize that no one's Australian except Max in this one. I guess that's not a big deal, but the first two (and best) Mad Max movies were very definitely a desolate Australian wasteland, with every member of the cast an Aussie, including Mel Gibson of course. Somehow made it more exotic. Now everyone's accent is just whatever.

Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone in Woody Allen's 'Irrational Man'

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.

* * *