Now this is quite a trailer. The new film from Alejandro Inarritu, who just won the Oscar for Birdman, looks to boast some more incredible cinematography (which I can tell is going to be the real star of this movie) from Emmanuel Lubezci (also a newly-minted 2-time winner). Might already be three times the charm for Chivo, here from the looks of it. The Revenant is based on a novel and coming out in December- expect it to be a major Oscar player.
REVIEW: "Spy" (2015) Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham. Dir. Paul Feig
Melissa McCarthy has proven herself a force in comedy, both on television and at the box office in the last few years. But her rise seems to have corresponded to her collaborations with director Paul Feig, who knows how to use her to the best of her abilities, and by now has a shorthand with the actress on how to make the most of her unique comedic talents.
Spy is their third film together, after Bridesmaids (for which McCarthy was Oscar-nominated) and The Heat, where she essentially stole the movie from straight man Sandra Bullock, no stranger to comedy herself. Here McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a dowdy, meek CIA techie who spends her days literally in the ear of Jude Law's special agent Bradley Fine, a James Bond-esque, dashing American spy as he takes out bad guys in exotic foreign locations while she plays Chloe to his Jack Bauer. She has a crush on him of course, but he sees her only as his loyal pal, something more along the lines of a useful pet even. When something goes deadly wrong on one of Law's missions, Susan gets into the action on a quest for payback, and wild antics ensue as she bumbles her way through the mission in various countries, tracking down the baddie the CIA's after (an icy Rose Byrne, fellow Bridesmaids alum), and coming in contact with one kooky agent after another who either gets in her way, endeavors to help her out but fails spectacularly, or is pulling off their own secret double or triple cross.
Of course, Susan's really the best agent in the bunch, proving her worth as she slowly turns herself from the unwilling undercover cat lady to the raucous, foul-mouthed force of nature that is the Melissa McCarthy we all know and love (the one who had me in stitches in just about every scene from The Heat, still my favorite). The movie's a slick, efficient, nicely structured spoof on current spy movies, which are more the Daniel Craig Bond series than the Connery ones, and a perfect star vehicle for McCarthy's considerable talents. I appreciate the way she does try to be funny in a more mild-mannered style than in The Heat for a good while, gamely giving up some of the most hilarious lines to scene-stealer Jason Statham, simultaneously the world's most confident and incompetent fellow spy as they stalk Byrne and her nefarious colleagues all over Europe. Another admirable quality of the Feig/McCarthy projects is the full on embrace of female characters from the most consequential roles all the way down to the minor ones, with CIA boss Allison Janney to Byrne's villain and Susan's own techie sidekick, the delightful Brit Nancy (Miranda Hart), who's happy to be along for the ride.
There are plenty of big laughs in the movie, my favorites being Susan's first bungled but effective kill, and her switch from pretending to be Byrne's acquaintance to pretending to be her disgusted and volatile bodyguard who throws phones at the heads of random dudes whose faces she just "doesn't like." Spy is an enjoyable, female heavy summer diversion where if one joke doesn't land, the next one will come up fast and furious so as not to leave any awkward pauses. And it also works as an action movie, with McCarthy saving the day and going out for drinks with her best gal pal afterwards. There's a subtle feminism to her movies, a strain that doesn't force itself on you but confidently shows just how easy it is for women to be funny and dominant in any genre. I can't wait for the new Ghostbusters next year, also from Feig and starring McCarthy- I think these two make a certain kind of magic that simply works.
* * *
New Trailer for 'Pan' Hypes the Adventure
So, this third trailer for the Peter Pan origin story is still trying to make it look as action-packed as possible, but I haven't given up hope that Joe Wright managed to do something interesting with it in spite of it being from "the studio that brought you Harry Potter." Garret Hedlund is what looks strangest to me in all these trailers- since when does Captain Hook look and sound like an American cowboy? I hope there's an actual reason for that, I mean, there must be, right? Pan's coming out October 9th.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are Deranged 'Sisters' in New Comedy
Wow. I like Tina and Amy as much as anyone, but man, does this look awful. The premise itself seems a bit out of whack- okay, so two sisters reunite but are they like...mentally disturbed or something? The trailer makes it seem like we're supposed to think they're just two gals out for a good time, but clearly there's something wrong with them. With Baby Mama and this, for some reason the duo can't seem to translate their best buddy schtick from awards hosting duties to the big screen. It's coming out at Christmas and will be crushed by Star Wars, obviously.
Jennifer Lawrence Stars in First Trailer for David O. Russell's 'Joy'
We've got another potential Oscar movie here, although that kind of anticipation is mostly just based on Russell's recent hot streak with the Academy. Lawrence stars as Joy Mangano, or the woman who invented the "miracle mop," in this biopic, but you can't really tell a lot from this trailer, which is mostly a minute and a half of montage stuff. Obviously they're advertizing it as another Jlaw/Bradley Cooper vehicle, although I hear his part is actually much smaller in this, so that's misleading. Frankly, I'm starting to think my suspicion that she had two notes of acting range (loud or stoic) is proving true, because she sure looks pretty stoic again in this teaser. Interestingly, this is actually the first time Russell has put her in the lead role of one of his films. Joy's coming out at Christmas.
Dr. Doom Shows Up in New 'Fantastic Four' Trailer
The one panel that had the least interested audience at this year's Comic Con was the Fantastic Four presentation, which debuted this new trailer to limited fanfare. People just aren't jazzed about this one, guys. If you can't pump up a Comic Con crowd you know you're doomed. On side note, why the hell would they have The Thing in this movie without his underwear? Boy, that looks weird. I know it's not logical that he would necessarily be wearing undies in the first place, but logic hardly plays into any aspect of a superhero story, does it? How something looks in this case is more important, and The Thing sans the shorts is downright bizarre.
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Baby It's You" (1983)
For this week's blu-ray choice, I'm recommending a movie you've probably never heard of, as is the case with so many of director John Sayles' movies. His long, varied filmography is filled with gems that are far too underknown and underrated, and this coming of age film about a teenager's first romance is one of them. Starring Rosanna Arquette (the greater of all the Arquettes, in my opinion) as college freshman in the 1960's who falls for a guy she knows is bad news, but can't help herself from wanting to be with him and "fix" him, as many young girls tend to do. It's a sensitive, realistic, touching look at a time in this girl's life that she had to learn from in order to move on and grow stronger, and it really should be seen by more people.
Original 1983 Trailer:
New Poster for Tarantino's 'Hateful Eight'
The Hateful Eight crew showed up at Comic Con the other day to reveal this new poster and announce that the legendary Ennio Morricone would be composing the score for the film- his first Western score in over 40 years. That's exciting news to me, and I'm sure the movie will be in line with most of Tarantino's filmography. All his movies give his fans what they want, and this one will be no different. It's coming out at Christmas.
The Joker and Harley Quinn Come Out to Play in 'Suicide Squad' Trailer
The first look at Suicide Squad from Comic Con was finally released online today. I think this actually looks like it has more potential than Batman v Superman, although like all the DC movies, it's suffering from that same, somber, self-serious quality. But I'm thinking the fact that the protagonists are amoral, reckless villains in this one will give it a different energy. Jared Leto's Joker sure looks different from Heath Ledger's for example, and that's a good thing. Might be interesting. Suicide Squad's coming out next August.
Liam Hemsworth Romances Kate Winslet in 'The Dressmaker'
This looks kinds cute, actually. Kate Winslet is a grumpy dressmaker who finds love in her homeland of Australia, allowing Liam Hemsworth to use his natural accent for once. Although it seems to be standard that the Hemsworth boys are always cast as man candy to be ogled in whatever they're in- I guess it can't be helped, right? This movie comes out in October.
BOX OFFICE 7/10-7/12: 'Minions' Dominates the Competition
The Despicable Me baddies ruled the charts this weekend, setting a record the second best animated opening of all time, with $115 million. They didn't beat out Shrek the Third's $121 million, but they did pass Toy Story 3's $110 million back in 2009. With non-superhero movies now beginning to cross $100 million in their opening weekends on a semi-regular basis (or at least a handful of times a year), I'm wondering whether this magic number of $100 million doesn't really mean anything anymore. It doesn't account for inflation after all, and it hardly speaks to a cultural event movie the way it used to. Is $100 million in a weekend just the new norm for a hit movie? The other new releases were nothing to speak of- the Ryan Reynolds thriller Self/Less didn't crack the top ten with only $5 million (I seriously don't know how he keeps getting to star in anything), while The Gallows came in fifth with $10 million.
The rest of the chart was filled in by Jurassic World, which topped Inside Out once more with $18 million, and will become only the fourth movie ever to earn $600 million in the U.S. (after Avatar, Titanic and The Avengers), while Inside Out was right behind it with $17 million. Terminator Genisys dropped from its disappointing opening to fourth with just $13 million, so it's counting on international money to save it and justify yet another sequel for that series.
Top 5:
- Minions- $115 million
- Jurassic World- $18.1 million
- Inside Out- $17.1 million
- Terminator Genisys- $13.7 million
- The Gallows- $10 million
Nothing much else to write home about this week- the documentary Amy continues to do well in limited release, pulling in $1.7 million from over 300 screens and becoming the highest grossing doc of the year (possible Oscar contender, perhaps?), but not a lot of action from the other indies this summer. Next week it's Marvel's Ant-Man against Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer's Trainwreck, which I'm especially curious about, because of all the recent media hype surrounding Schumer. For all the attention from critics, she's still an unknown to virtually all of the country, which no one in the press seems to realize. Can that movie open well based solely on reviews? We'll find out. See you guys next week!
Special Comic Con Trailer for 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.' Released
At this point, with a third over 5-minute trailer for this movie, I'm not sure what else there is to show for the film. But the studio is obviously pushing it hard, and with early screenings generating some actual positive buzz, it may be that they know they have something here after all. I have to say, I don't think it looks bad, but Guy Ritchie is such a question mark, so you have to be skeptical.
