It's been a long time since there was a good mountain climbing movie- was the last one Cliffhanger? Icelandic director Balthasar Kormakur takes on this true story based on the bestseller Into Thin Air, and it looks like it could be pretty cool. The real life tragedy in 1996 took the lives of all but one of the climbers, and Clarke leads a dream ensemble that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson and Robin Wright. Comes out on September 18th.
Teen Mystery Unravels in 'Paper Towns' Trailer
The latest trailer for Paper Towns makes the movie look slightly more tolerable than Fault in Our Stars, but still on the cheesy, weepy side. I really think John Green seems to be the new Nicholas Sparks- we can probably expect a movie to be made from every one of his books for a while, especially if this one pulls in the teen crowd in July as predicted. Although this one seems to be about a boy's coming of age, and the target demo for this audience is teen girls, so maybe it won't do as well? Who knows.
Noah Baumbach Reunites with Greta Gerwig for 'Mistress America'
Their last collaboration was the wonderful Frances Ha, and now Baumbach is back with his muse for his second film this year, after the well received While We're Young. This one got even better reaction at Sundance in January, and was immediately picked up by Fox Searchlight for release in August. Greta Gerwig plays another screwball type heroine here, in an obvious ode to her kooky free spirit-ness (she co-wrote the script with Baumbach). I'm definitely in- Noah Baumbach seems to be on quite a roll lately, which you may have to give Gerwig some credit for inspiring.
Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep Rock the Vote in 'Suffragette'
Just announced to kick off the BFI London Film Festival in October, this period drama about the suffragettes' movement to win women the right to vote looks to be right on its way to Oscar buzz, doesn't it? Certainly up their alley, anyway. With a good cast and a somewhat grittier look than I was expecting, this will likely be a promising contender this fall.
'Jem and the Holograms' Coming in October
So I missed this trailer a few weeks back, but boy does this look like the perfect companion piece to Pitch Perfect. Of course, any similarities to that musical franchise isn't enough for a studio, as this is also based on the 1980's toy line and animated series- I wonder if that explains the presence of 80's mainstays Molly Ringwald and Juliette Lewis in this. Fans, perhaps? It really couldn't look any cheesier, but I can't get worked up about any musical property still having fans, since it keeps the genre alive.
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Say Anything" (1989)
So with Aloha getting slaughtered by the critics, it's time to remember one of Cameron Crowe's great movies, and see what heights he was once capable of reaching. They say movies are products of their times, and that Crowe's special brand of sentimentality would probably get dumped on today, even if he turned out a movie as good as this one or Jerry Maguire, but I hope that's not true. If it is, it stops people from even trying to make good romantic movies anymore, which is a real loss for film, although it seems more or less true these days. John Cusack and Ione Skye are the high school graduates in love, and every beat of this movie still works, so I'd hate to think critics today are too cynical to acknowledge a movie as emotionally heartwarming and genuine as this one still is.
Original 1989 trailer:
First Look at Pixar's 'The Good Dinosaur'
I'd actually forgotten Pixar had a movie besides Inside Out coming this year, but I guess they're playing catch up since they had none last year. Here's The Good Dinosaur, a what-if-the-dinosaurs-had-survived tale that's been in the making for years, apparently. It's due for release this November.
10 Great 'Cops and Robbers' Movies to Watch in June
Happy June, everybody! As always, we kick off the new month with our list of ten great movies to celebrate with, and the theme for June is "Cops and Robbers," or my favorite action thrillers basically. There's a lot of good ones here, one for a different decade going back to the 1930's, with some classics like Scarface, Le Samourai, The Departed, Thelma & Louise, The French Connection, and one of my all time faves, The Big Heat (above, which you HAVE to check out- one of the great noirs of all time). It's cops chasing criminals, with the heroes sometimes on both sides of the law. One of my favorite themes, so head to the Monthly Movie Page to read more about the theme for June, and click here for the full list of ten movies and trailers. Happy Movie Watching! There's not a bad egg in the bunch.
BOX OFFICE 5/29-5/31: The Rock's 'San Andreas' Crushes the Competition
The old school disaster flick San Andreas pretty much destroyed the box office this weekend, coming in well above expectations with $53 million, making it Dwayne Johnson's biggest solo opening ever. Meanwhile the other opener this weekend, Cameron Crowe's Aloha, didn't even make the top five, earning just $10 million to go along with the absolutely scathing reviews it received from critics. It's been a long downhill ride for Crowe over the last 15 years- after the four great films he started out with (Say Anything, Singles, Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous), it's been nothing but disappointment ever since. Which is too bad, because Say Anything and Almost Famous in particular are two of my favorite movies, and it's sad to think some directors just flatline after showing so much promise.
Last week's opener Tomorrowland fell a harsh 60% from its so-so opening weekend, pulling in just $13 million for the three days, coming behind Pitch Perfect 2, so that will turn out to be a bust, while Mad Max: Fury Road and Avengers rounded out the top five, bringing their own respective domestic totals to over $100 million and $427 million. But San Andreas is the champ for the week, as The Rock continues to show himself a reliable box office draw after his other success with Furious 7 in April.
Top 5:
- San Andreas- $53 million
- Pitch Perfect 2- $14.3 million
- Tomorrowland- $13.8 million
- Mad Max: Fury Road- $13.6 million
- Avengers: Age of Ultron- $11 million
Some limited release successes continue to be Far From the Madding Crowd (now over $8 million) and Ex Machina (at $23 million), while next week Melissa McCarthy's well received Spy is set to hit theaters and will no doubt be another hit for the comedy star. Also coming out in limited is the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy.
Keanu Reeves Stars in Horror Movie 'Knock Knock'
For those who want to be reminded of the unintentional amusements of Keanu Reeves' bad acting, here's what looks like the campiest horror flick of all time. Two young girls seduce and then terrorize Reeves' innocent victim- yup, sounds like an Eli Roth joint. This will probably be terrible, but it looks almost laughably so.
Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart Star in 'American Ultra'
Apparently the key to my wanting to check out a movie that has Kristen Stewart in it is to pair her with Jesse Eisenberg. It's an Adventureland reunion (I could almost see this as a spiritual sequel), and it looks pretty wacky, but in a Pineapple Express kind of way. Perfect casting of course for Eisenberg, who obviously fits this role like a glove. It's coming out August 15th.
REVIEW: "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015) Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans. Dir. Joss Whedon
It's hard to know what to say about a movie like Avengers: Age of Ultron. At this point, Marvel Studios has perfected a formula for the kind of movie that will give anyone who has any desire to see this exactly what they're looking for and what they think they want. Nothing more, nothing less, and they'll probably leave the theater thinking they got the appropriate amount of bang for their buck, with a couple of humorous moments along the way- but the best of these kinds of action movies usually end up giving you something you didn't even know you wanted.
Which is not to say that this is a bad film. It's not- it's put together well, action scenes kick in at the right moments, the actors all showed up in the right costumes and are on hand to deliver their designated wisecracks at the allotted time, but there's nothing especially memorable at hand here, nothing that feels of a creative vision or specific point of view. This is fine for people who just want to see their heroes on screen, but I require a little something extra for my own personal satisfaction. This is exactly on par with the first Avengers, so much so that it could well be the same movie. There are some new characters (too many), some new villains, a new battle to save the world, and a romance sprung from nothing which also adds nothing, and yet it flies by in a mostly entertaining fashion, and is seamless enough that it can't really be called a misfire in any way. It's a pile of big studio product professionally molded within an inch of its life, so much so that it can't fail as basic entertainment, but it also can't really inspire as anything artful either.
The story this time around is of course a new supervillain for the Avengers to face, this one intent on world domination like all the rest of them, but played by James Spader in a motion capture performance that makes use of his signature fantastically slimy voice. He's Ultron, the ultimate artificial intelligence robot, a creation sprung from the mind of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who wants to use him as a force for good, with the idea of a world peacekeeping mission in mind. But things get out of hand and Ultron quickly turns evil- I'm not sure exactly how that happened, except that all robots in movies must eventually become smarter than their inventors and desire to take control- this one wastes no time in getting to that point (it takes about ten seconds actually). So after an opening sequence that sets the Avengers on some kind of avenging mission that makes them look like video game characters bouncing around a forest, they celebrate their victory at an after party where various heroes mingle and wisecrack and flirt (this is where we find out that Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow apparently has a thing for Mark Ruffalo's Hulk- not sure why or when that started, but it's bound to never be important or brought up again, so don't bother to invest in it too hard). Scenes like this are always the best part of these ensemble movies, simply because watching the guys hang out is kind of a basic pleasure we don't get enough of, due to the constant barrage of action slated to occur after no less than 12 minutes of lagtime has passed (chalk that up to studio notes I'm sure- me, I'd prefer an entire movie of the Avengers hanging out and partying).
Ultron crashes the festivities soon enough though and goes about his quest to take over the world, bringing in a couple of new guys, Russian twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to assist him in his dastardly deeds. The twins (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen) aren't inherently uninteresting, but the movie is so crowded with characters that their backstory is glossed over, and just as soon as they're set to bring down the Avengers, they've suddenly changed their minds and are teaming up with them instead. No sooner does that happen than the movie introduces yet another hero, the Vision, who's the enhanced version of Paul Bettany's Jarvis, and by that point the movie becomes overstuffed with the sheer amount of costumed heroes on the screen and it's overwhelming to keep up with all of them. Yet Joss Whedon does what he can, deftly balancing sequences that veer from chit-chat to action and back again, handling it all in as swift a manner as possible without ever getting too bogged down in the weeds with technical jargon or know how. The movie tosses out plenty of Easter eggs to comics fans about events coming in future films (at one point Thor simply disappears to go off and find the "infinity stones," which won't be in play until at least the next Avengers movie), but ultimately everything happens exactly how you're expecting it to- heroes save the world, bad guy is defeated, the gang splits up and we're on to the next thing. It's spectacle that many people love, and that I myself kind of passively enjoyed- I just can't bother to care very much.
On television, this genre has the enormous benefit of being able to provide action with genuine character development and relationship building that you can become invested in over time. The movies have to play to the effects and the spectacle above all else, but with comic lover Joss Whedon there to maintain just enough downtime and the absolute bare minimum of character interaction for it to qualify as a movie and not an amusement park ride. We'll see what happens when he's no longer at the helm of the franchise. As of now, Age of Ultron is what it is- a tolerable entry in the assembly line of Marvel Studios products, but not a whole lot more than that.
* * 1/2
