EW has the new stills from the BvS movie, and okay, that Lex Luthor pic is a joke, right? I mean, as if Jesse Eisenberg wasn't the least intimidating person you could find to be Superman's archnemesis, but they had to go and give him ridiculous hair on top of it? Are they trying to make it funny? At this point, I'm looking forward to this movie as the hot mess it's guaranteed to be- Marvel may have perfected a formula for slick and professional entertainment no matter what the property, but WB is the studio behind the epic disasters Green Lantern and Man of Steel- this is going to be glorious.
REVIEW: "Jurassic World" (2015) Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard. Dir. Colin Trevorrow
The franchise reboot Jurassic World is a bit of a sociological revelation of the elevated power of fan fiction in the movies recently. So many beats of this film rely on winks, nods and callbacks to every frame of the original movie that there's almost no reason to see this unless you've seen the first one, preferably not just once, but hundreds of times, as many people (especially of a certain millennial generation) have. When the movie sends two of its characters out into the jungles of Isla Nublar so that they can get lost, stumble upon the dusty relics of the old Visitors Center and start ogling props from the original set (hey, it's the night vision goggles! And the banner that fell over the T-Rex's triumph! And is that...oh yeah it's the 1992 tour guide jeeps that miraculously still run and are filled with gasoline after twenty years!)...we're in the Twilight Zone of fanboy nostalgia here.
Is there anything in this film that tries to be its own new adventure? Well, kind of. Director Colin Trevorrow seems to take a page out of Roland Emmerich's book on how to make a B-movie that knows it's a B-movie from start to finish. It's very easy to criticize every bit of the ludicrous plot and paper thin characters, but the movie's not taking it all that seriously either and in fact wants you to just have fun and turn your brain off so it can get you to the dino action in reasonably rapid response time. To that end, I do give it some credit for knowing exactly what it wants to be and doing it fairly slickly...although you may feel slightly dumber for having watched it. Twenty years after Jurassic Park failed to open (the park, not the movie), we are transported back to the island which has now officially realized John Hammond's lifelong dream- Isla Nublar has become Jurassic World, a fully functional theme park where dinosaurs roam the grounds and tourists crowd in by the thousands to see the attractions up close.
Like in the first movie, a pre-teen and a teenager are sent there to eventually endanger themselves, but this time it's two boys, the nephews of Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), the business woman who runs the day to day operations of the park and has no time for kids or family (ala Alan Grant in the first film). So the kids wander off on their own while Claire deals with the ramifications of the lab scientists having created a genetic hybrid of an animal called Indominus Rex, who was raised in isolation and is now more dangerous than any creature on the island. You'd think regular old dinosaurs would be impressive enough for tourists, right, but the movie tells us no, people are tired of normal and they want bigger, louder, and with ten times more teeth. This may seem a sly commentary on the expectations of today's audience versus what people were struck by in 1993, but the cynicism of the hypothesis is fully embraced by the movie as Indo Rex of course breaks out of her cage and wreaks havoc on the park and its vacationers.
In the middle of all this, Claire must learn to embrace her own maternal side, while flirting with the raptor trainer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), who unlike her, bonds with the animals and respects them while strutting around in his leather vest and shotgun, ready to protect the female and kids at all costs. Actually Chris Pratt is great in this movie, playing a straight action lead with gravitas and a dose of humor, carrying the screen in an effortlessly charismatic, everyguy turn reminiscent of the kinds of roles Harrison Ford embodied at the peak of his career. I think he proves himself a star capable of a lot more than Star Lord in this big dumb romp, and he may well be the best thing about it. The commentary on what people want from action and action movies nowadays is contradicted by the endless reverence toward the original film, the best scenes from which are not measured up to by any shot of this movie. Spielberg knew how to create suspense like few others, and the old style combination of pro-go animation, animatronic robots and CGI still combine to make the '93 dinosaurs look better than anything on the screen in this film, which are your typical, computer generated monsters (not even Indominus Rex is all that visually impressive- if they're constructing a brand new dinosaur, why would they make her look just like all the others?)
But if anything left me in awe (and not in a good way), it was the climactic battle scene of the movie, where the T-Rex (summoned by flare of course, because that was a famous scene from the first film) teams up with the raptors to take down the villainous hybrid, and not only does this defy logic on principle, but the two then share a "meaningful moment" as they walk away from each other having consciously decided not to fight. They've now evidently become blood brothers, an idea I'm positive a fan fiction writer on the Internet came up with ten years ago, as he replayed the climax of Jurassic Park over and over, pumping his fist in the air in childlike jubilation. At this point, the dinos may as well start talking to each other and nodding, Mr. Ed-style, because that's the cheese level to which we've ascended. Still, despite the ridiculousness of most of the movie, I didn't hate watching it. It moved at a good pace, it was entertaining for the most part, and despite an unnecessary and preposterous military scheme concocted by the hammy Vincent D'Onofrio to weaponize the dinosaurs for foreign invasion purposes (um, seriously?), the charisma and efforts of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard (who does her best even as she runs through the entire island in heels that never once come off) keep you with it, even as your brain resists. Is this the definition of dumb fun, a competent but slavish devotion to something we all liked as kids? Yeah, probably. But I'll tell you one thing- ask anyone who liked this movie whether it compares to the first by any measure. The answer will be a resounding no- and that should tell you something else important. Maybe it's time to come up with some new stuff for this generation to call its own, instead of clinging to the relics of the past, wanting them to live forever, so that we ourselves never have to feel any older.
* * 1/2
Movie of the Day: "The Music Man" (1962)
One of the peppiest musicals ever made kicks off our next Movie of the Day series, which is also centered around the 4th of July. Yes, I recommended a whole month of movies on that topic, but this week I'm also giving you four bonus picks as we get closer to Saturday. Today it's The Music Man, which stars Robert Preston and Shirley Jones, and gives us the tale of con man Harold Hill, who arrives in River City, Iowa on Independence Day weekend with the scheme of being paid by the local yokels to create a marching band, but plans to skip town with the cash. Preston is iconic in the role of "Professor" Harold Hill (which he played on Broadway originally), and the songs include "76 Trombones" and "Til There Was You." It's a great summer movie that suits the mood this week, since there are few things more American than get-rich-quick schemes, right? Plus, this is one of those movies that just plain leaves you in a good mood.
Original Trailer:
10 Great American Movies for the 4th of July
It's July 1st, everyone, and we're celebrating the upcoming holiday by recommending ten patriotic American films for the occasion. These are movies that celebrate some kind of quintessential American value or the country itself and its ideals- some of the films on the list are The Pride of the Yankees, All the President's Men, Yankee Doodle Dandy and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, while there's a couple that just nod the holiday itself, like Rocky and Independence Day. We've also got a tribute to the founding in there, with the HBO miniseries John Adams, which is a history lesson everybody should see at some point, with the great Paul Giamatti as one of the most important founding fathers. Head over to the Movies For Every Month page to read the full description for the patriotic films of July, and then click here for the July Movie Page to see the full list of ten movies, complete with trailers. Happy movie watching!
Julia Roberts Out For Revenge in 'The Secret in Their Eyes'
The 2009 Argentinian film The Secret in Their Eyes won the Foreign Language Film Oscar in something of an upset that year, and now it's being remade in English with a big name cast and directed by Billy Ray, the writer of Captain Phillips. It looks like it could be pretty good- it's definitely a completely different kind of role for Julia Roberts. What's interesting is that it looks like they took some liberties with the story, which appears to differ here in some significant ways from the original film. It comes out October 23rd.
Michael Fassbender Shines in 'Steve Jobs' Trailer
Boy, this looks good. So good that I'm feeling pretty confident about Fassbender's Oscar chances here- it's the perfect role for that, isn't it? American icon serviced with a supposedly outstanding Aaron Sorkin screenplay? All he had to do was nail the accent, which it looks like he has. I can't to wait to see it. Steve Jobs is coming out October 9th.
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Five Easy Pieces" (1970)
Jack Nicholson stars in this classic character study that functions as an examination of the rootless existence of a blue collar kid who was once a piano prodigy, but like so many others of his generation, can't seem to figure out what the right path is for his adult life. This is a great Nicholson performance because it came from the "pre-Nicholson" era, which I like to think of as being before 1975, when One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest kind of solidified his star persona for the rest of his career. This early film reminds you of the kinds of character performances he was always capable of giving- and it's got the famous "chicken salad sandwich" speech in it, which is a little more classic Jack, but the rest of the movie isn't, as he's much more quiet and understated. He and Karen Black were both Oscar-nominated for their roles here.
Original 1970 Trailer:
New Teaser for Oliver Stone's 'Snowden'
This teaser gives us no footage but some highlights of the now (overly) familiar Edward Snowden story- although after last year's Citizenfour I wonder how much this is really necessary. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is playing him here, but Oliver Stone hasn't made a decent movie in many years (not since what, Nixon?) and with his trademark preachiness I'm not sure this particular issue will play to his strengths. But who knows, I guess he might be due for a comeback. It's coming out at Christmas.
Michael B. Jordan is the New 'Creed'
Wow, this looks much better than I thought it would. The director of Fruitvale Station (which I loved), is taking on this semi-continuation of the Rocky saga, but this time it's about Apollo Creed's son (who cleverly wants nothing to do with his dad's legacy). Stallone's Rocky is here again, but honestly it doesn't look like the old Rocky movies at all. Okay guys, you've piqued my interest. Creed's coming out November 25th.
BOX OFFICE 6/26-6/28: 'Jurassic World' On Top Again; 'Ted 2' Disappoints
Jurassic World held off everything else once again for a $54 million dollar take, and has now crossed $500 million domestically, becoming only the fifth film ever to reach that marker. Unbelievably, it's behind only Avatar, Titanic, The Avengers, and The Dark Knight, and it got there faster than any movie in history. It's been holding fantastically well week to week and will probably end up passing The Dark Knight in total, not sure if it can get to $600 million like the other three. Either way, that success is astounding and inexplicable, considering the cultural impact of the other films on that list. I don't care how much people enjoyed this movie, there's no real way to explain how it's done this phenomenally well.
Inside Out fell a small 42% for second place, coming in with $52 million, and it now has $184 million total- that's a great drop, in line with Pixar's usual tendency for its films to have strong legs, while new release Ted 2 opened with just $32 million, much less than the $54 million of the first movie, and less than was expected, as it was projected to at least take in $45-50 million this weekend. I suppose the novelty has worn off on the talking bear. The family film Max (a movie I had never heard of until a few days ago) came in fourth with $12 million- not too bad considering the marketing was non-existent, and Spy was fifth with $8 million, bringing its total to $88 million.
Top 5:
- Jurassic World- $54 million
- Inside Out- $52 million
- Ted 2- $33 million
- Max- $12 million
- Spy- $7.8 million
The limited release films continue to struggle, with Love & Mercy nearing $10 million. The adult audience has been sucked in by the success of Jurassic World as well, with no counter-programming seemingly needed this summer. With the 4th of July coming up next weekend, the new release films come out on Wednesday the 1st, and those include the new Terminator film and Magic Mike XXL. I presume Magic Mike will have a hefty female audience, although reviews could be a question mark. See you guys on the next holiday weekend!
Tom Hardy Plays Gangster Twins in 'Legend'
Tom Hardy is quietly putting together a remarkable resume of transformative character performances, from Dark Knight Rises to Locke, Warrior, Mad Max, and now Legend, where he plays the notorious Kray twins- the 60's British gangsters who rose to prominence on the London party scene before getting caught in 1969. Brian Helgeland (writer of L.A. Confidential) wrote and directed this film, which is coming out October 2nd in the U.S. Could this be Hardy's invitation to the Oscars for the first time? He hasn't been around that long, but he's already starting to feel overdue for recognition.
'Guardians of the Galaxy' Cleans Up at the Saturn Awards
The awards for sci-fi/fantasy/horror films were handed out last night, and the Marvel hit seemed to be the favorite film of the last year, along with Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films also awards prizes to the other movies like independent and international productions, but this is the main group to acknowledge the genre that mostly gets overlooked by prestigious awards bodies.
Comic Book Film: Guardians of the Galaxy
Sci-Fi Film: Interstellar
Fantasy Film: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Horror Film: Dracula Untold
Thriller: Gone Girl
Action/Adventure: Unbroken
Best Actor: Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Actress: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Best Supporting Actor: Richard Armitage, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Best Supporting Actress: Rene Russo, Nightcrawler
Best Performance by a Younger Actor: Mackenzie Foy, Interstellar
Best Director: James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy
Film Editing: Edge of Tomorrow
Production Design: Interstellar
Music: Interstellar
Costumes: Dracula Untold
Make-Up: Guardians of the Galaxy
Special Effects: Interstellar
Independent Film: Whiplash
International Film: The Theory of Everything
Animated Film: The Lego Movie
