Movie of the Day: "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957)

In honor of Memorial Day, I direct you over to the May movie page, where we celebrated with war movies all month long, but for the day itself, I'm singling out another great one that I haven't mentioned yet- and that's David Lean's 1957 Best Picture winner The Bridge on the River Kwai. This is the slow burn story of British prisoners at a Japanese prison camp during WWII, and specifically the character study of Alec Guinness's Lt. Colonel and the Japanese commander Saito (Sessue Hayakawa). Great acting by the two leads carries the film, and William Holden also stars as an escaped American POW, but the bulk of the film centers on Guinness's seemingly inexplicable dedication to finishing the bridge he and his officers are instructed to build. It's hard to believe this is the kind of movie that could once rule both the box office and the awards season (I can't imagine audiences sitting still for this thing today), but it's one of the great war movies of all time, and Oscar winner Guinness really earned the accolades for his iconic Colonel Nicholson.

Original 1957 Trailer:

Documentary 'Amy' Gets Great Reviews from Cannes

This year's Cannes film festival turned out to be a pretty big snoozefest, by many accounts one of the weakest in years, but the new Amy Winehouse documentary Amy was screened and received very positively by critics, even reported to be one of the highlights of the festival. Said to be both heartbreaking and haunting, which of course the music always helps with, Amy comes out in wide release in July.

John Cusack and Paul Dano Take on Brian Wilson in 'Love and Mercy'

This new full trailer for the Brian Wilson biopic shows off both Paul Dano and John Cusack as pre and post-breakdown versions of the musical genius, but that kind of stunt is almost always distracting, not least of all because they don't resemble each other, and that makes it hard to believe either of them are playing the person in question. Still, this movie got some pretty ecstatic reviews from early film festivals, so I'll be checking it out when it comes out in June. Although I have a theory that any trailer that kicks off with the opening notes of "Good Vibrations" automatically makes you want to see it, no matter what's actually happening on the screen.

BOX OFFICE 5/22-5/24: 'Tomorrowland' Tops a Slow Memorial Day Weekend

Disney's epic sci-fi Tomorrowland got mixed reviews from critics and audiences, and even though it opened in first place, it's something of a disappointment for a movie that apparently had a $190 million budget. Yikes- in that way, a $30 million three day opening and likely $40 million four day just isn't going to cut it, and is reminiscent of cost-benefit bombs like The Lone Ranger a couple years ago. Last week's champ Pitch Perfect 2 held well to bring in another $30 million in second place, and theoretically could overtake Tomorrowland for the extended holiday weekend, depending on how it holds tomorrow. That's a big success for the female driven musical, and for Elizabeth Banks, who made her directorial debut with the film.

Mad Max: Fury Road came in third, after its successful showing last week with a $44 million opening, and a four day total this weekend of about $30 million. That takes its total to over $100 million and it'll likely finish with at least $150 million, not bad for an ultra violent R-rated actioner, even if it's potentially facing the problem of having a budget twice that size. The Poltergeist remake opened with $23 million, fairly decent, while Avengers rounded out the top five.

Top 5:

Tomorrowland- $32.2 million
Pitch Perfect 2- $30.3 million
Mad Max: Fury Road- $23.9 million
Poltergeist- $23 million
Avengers: Age of Ultron- $20.9 million

The Avengers has no crossed $400 million domestically and $1.2 billion globally (but it looks like Furious 7's going to hold on to that worldwide figure in the end, sitting at $1.4 billion and now the highest grossing movie in China's history). In limited release Ex Machina has become a success, grossing $20 million to become A24's most successful film, while Far From the Madding Crowd has crossed $5 million. Next week it'll be the opening of the Rock's disaster movie San Andreas against Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy Aloha. See you then!

Michael Fassbender revealed as Steve Jobs in New Biopic

Expect this to probably be The Social Network of this year- this is the movie whose script (by Aaron Sorkin) was supposedly so amazing it had producers and executives fighting over the rights to make it in those leaked Sony emails. I'm looking forward to it- I just hope Michael Fassbender has finally nailed the American accent he's struggled with in everything I've ever seen him in. Steve Jobs really shouldn't be mistaken for even slightly Irish, don't you think? It's coming out in October (I'm betting early on it being a centerpiece showing at the New York Film Festival).

New 'Pan' Trailer Recalls Look of 'Harry Potter' Movies

I guess that's the angle WB thinks they can use to sell this movie, a Peter Pan origin story, but from the "studio that brought you Harry Potter" (the studio, not even the director, producers or writers- I guess all you need is the studio). Not sure about it. I'm crossing my fingers, because I love Joe Wright (director of Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, Hanna and Anna Karenina), so I hope it's got some genuine imagination in here, and not just special effects explosions.

Johnny Depp Gives Sage Advice in New 'Black Mass' Trailer

Obviously, the entire marketing push surrounding this movie is going to center on Johnny Depp's transformative Whitey Bulger performance. You can hardly blame them, with his being seemingly unrecognizable and all. I hope the movie as a whole lives up to his role, though.

Final 'Minions' Trailer Shows their History

The more I see of these trailers, the more I think these guys look extremely irritating, but they must have something, right? Eh- I'll probably just be out of the loop on this one, but I'm sure it will destroy the box office next month. It hasn't been a great year for family films anyway (although Pixar's Inside Out could give it a run for its money).

Anne Hathaway and Robert DeNiro in 'The Intern'

So, Nancy Meyers, director of Something's Gotta Give, What Women Want and It's Complicated, is known for a certain kind of movie (sappy), but she does have her fans. Hey, at least it's not a romantic comedy starring these two. It doesn't look like it's for me, but I bet this will have an audience when it comes out in September. It looks harmless enough. Hopefully DeNiro isn't sleeping through this one.

A New Look at Guillermo del Toro's 'Crimson Peak'

I can't wait to see this. The new full trailer for Crimson Peak makes it look beautiful and gothic, probably worth seeing for the sets and costumes alone. Hopefully it will be a great original horror movie, since we rarely get those (last year's The Babadook was the first in a long while). If I had one complaint it's that Charlie Hunnam is a terrible actor and I don't understand what del Toro sees in him, but I'll try to overlook that bit- maybe he's got a tiny part.

Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Make Way For Tomorrow" (1937)

Out this week is this heartbreaking Depression-era film that served as the basis for 1953's classic Tokyo Story, but is just as moving and sad in its own way. It's the 1930's and an older married couple can no longer afford to stay in their home, and so they must separate and go live with their grown children. Today it may not be as easy to accept the fact that they couldn't find a way to keep the parents together, but it's more believable in a film from this era, maybe because the Depression really did affect poor families in tragic ways like this. The acting is sensitive and mature, and the movie holds up all these years later and will break your heart in the same way it did for audiences at the time. Give this one a chance and see how well you hold up against the powerful emotion of the story.

Original 1937 Trailer:

Movie of the Day: "Stella Dallas" (1937)

The great Barbara Stanwyck stars in this classic weepie about a mother who does anything to preserve her daughter's future, even if it means sacrificing herself in the worst way imaginable. Stella is a lower class girl who marries a rich man and has a daughter named Laurel, but when the marriage goes south she realizes that she's just not fancy enough to give Laurel everything she needs for the better life she wanted her to have. So Stella does the "right" thing and gives Laurel up to her father and his new, classier wife. The sensibilities of the movie are a little old-fashioned (is it really in Laurel's best interest to think her own mother, who she loves, never wants to see her again just because she doesn't fit in with the upper class?), but it rips the tears out of you as hard as possible, and Stanwyck carries the movie as she always does, with spunky ferocity and humor that showed you just what a tough gal she really was. She is the movie, and that's what makes it a great pick for Mother's Day.

TCM Clip: