Movie of the Day: "Autumn Sonata" (1978)

In 1978 it was a big deal to see a Bergman/Bergman collaboration (no relation), those two icons of Swedish cinema, and Ingrid Bergman herself a Hollywood legend. This was her last performance in a feature film, one where she played a neglectful mother who has a tearjerking and harrowing (as most Ingmar Bergman movies were) reunion with her daughter. Liv Ullmann, the director's frequent muse, matched every beat of Bergman's portrayal, but Ingrid Bergman of course was the one to receive the Oscar nomination, also her last. It's a sad but powerful film that explores the complicated mother/daughter relationship- Bergman was always interested in female psyches and familial relationships, and this was also his last film not made originally for television. Both Bergmans chose a good one to go out on.

Original 1978 Trailer:

Another Look at the Upcoming 'Peanuts' Movie

I've lost track of how many trailers have actually come out for this movie by now, but I guess they're wary of kids' excitement for it. Speaking of voice actors, at least in this one they kept the original Peanuts thing of having actual kids voice the characters, but I guess they had to. Couldn't really imagine Bill Hader as Linus, could you? I'm crossing my fingers this will be at least decent, to do justice to the Schulz legacy.

First Teaser For the 'Angry Birds' Movie

All you Angry Birds obsessives, here's your first look at the much anticipated (?) movie coming out next May. It basically looks like your typical animated kids stuff with all the required comedians in the world lending their voice acting ability- I have a question. Do the names on the credits actually help sell these movies to anyone? Whatever happened to specific voice actor talent that used to be hired to do voices for animated features? I just seriously doubt that people like Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis lend box office might to a movie about angry birds.

Movie of the Day: "You've Got Mail" (1998)

Nora Ephron, the queen of romantic comedy filmmaking in the late 80's and 90's, made one of her most enduring films in 1998 (seriously, how many times a day is this movie playing on one channel or another?), which is ironic, considering how dated it's become in the subject matter. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan meet in an internet chatroom (remember those?) and fall in love online, but can't stand each other in real life. Oldest premise in the book, right? Not only that, but it's a remake of The Shop Around the Corner, a Jimmy Stewart/June Allyson comedy from 1940- but I'll bet you today more people have seen this movie than have even heard of the original, sadly. But what can I say about You've Got Mail, except that it's proven itself endlessly watchable due to the charm of its actors and lightness of tone. It celebrates New York in the fall, old-fashioned bookstores, true love right around the corner and Tom Hanks at his most un-actorly, authentic, Jimmy Stewart-esque self. Who can resist?

Trailer:

Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling Take on Wall Street in 'The Big Short'

A last minute entry into this year's Oscar race has just been given a cushy December release date and a premiere at the AFI Film Festival in November, and the oddest thing about it is that it's from Adam McKay of all people. A group of key financial players including Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt (the movie's bound to get attention based on the cast alone) decide to bet against the banks and profit from the oncoming financial crisis in 2006- a true story based on the non-fiction book by Michael Lewis, who wrote Moneyball and The Blind Side. Does the director of Anchorman and Talladega Nights have what it takes to make a serious drama (even if this does look like there's some comedy sprinkled throughout)? I guess we'll find out this year.

Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975)

Our blu-ray pick this week is the 40th anniversary of one of the great films of the 1970's, featuring one of Al Pacino's greatest performances from the best run of his career (the fact that he didn't win the Oscar for either Godfather film, this, or Serpico is one of the biggest awards oversights in history). Sidney Lumet directed this gritty look at a bank robbery gone horribly wrong, and interestingly, is one of the first films ever to feature a transgender character in the form of Pacino's boyfriend played by Chris Sarandon, whom he happens to be robbing the bank for, so that he can get the money for a sex-change operation. The acting from everyone is a tour-de-force in this movie and Lumet was able to encapsulate so many of the attitudes and undercurrents that were filtering through the culture of mid-1970's America in a series of perfectly subtle yet unmistakable moments. It's one of my favorite films.

Original 1975 Trailer:

Movie of the Day: "All That Heaven Allows" (1955)

Since fall is officially here this week, it's time to kick off the season with some of my favorite movies set around autumn. We start with this classic from the 1950's, Douglas Sirk's masterpiece exploring the relationship between a widow (Jane Wyman) and the gardener she falls in love with (Rock Hudson). You'd think there would be no problem with two single adults deciding to get married, but Sirk was famous for his subversive critique of 1950's American values, at a time when most people celebrated them. Wyman's friends and family are biased against Hudson for being a gardener (gasp!) and for being younger than her (the horror!). There are subtle jabs at the phony materialism, sexism and class prejudice that engulfed American society at the time, but most of Sirk's films were dumped on by critics of the day for being sappy melodramas (perhaps not so coincidentally, a lot of them were movies that centered around women's lives and the issues that affected them). But they're fascinating to watch today, for being films that were snapshots of the era from which they came and reflected perhaps the truth of the shallowness of the "good old days" when everyone was better off. Yeah, not so much. This movie still holds up both as a great romance and a picture of America brimming under the so-called perfect surface.

Original Trailer:

BOX OFFICE 9/18-9/20: 'Maze Runner 2' Topples 'Black Mass' at the Box Office

The Maze Runner sequel easily won the weekend with 30 million, besting the other new release Black Mass by over 7 million, even if it didn't manage to beat its own predecessor's 32 million opening last year. This seems to be the least popular of the three YA franchises currently coming out every year, after Hunger Games and Divergent, so I wonder how they'll justify turning the final chapter in this middling series into two separate films. Johnny Depp's Black Mass meanwhile, came in with 23 million, on par with other Boston crime dramas The Town and The Departed, but it got just a B Cinemascore, so you have to wonder how it will hold up with other adult dramas flooding the marketplace in the coming weeks.

Universal's Everest opened on 545 IMAX screens only, and earned a stellar 7.6 million from the limited release, potentially boding well for its wide release next Friday, and managing to crack the top five for the weekend. Holdovers The Perfect Guy and The Visit rounded out the chart, coming in with 11 million for The Visit and just under 10 million for The Perfect Guy- not bad holds for either of them, and considering the low budgets, both can be labeled hits.

Top 5:

1. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials- 30.3 million
2. Black Mass- 23.4 million
3. The Visit- 11.4 million
4. The Perfect Guy- 9.7 million
5. Everest- 7.6 million

In specialty release, Sicario pulled in the best opening PTA of the year, earning 390,000 on just six screens, a 65k per theater average. The Emily Blunt/Benicio del Toro thriller doesn't go wide until Oct. 2nd though, so keep a look out. The Bobby Fischer movie, Pawn Sacrifice, earned 206k from 33 screens, while Grandma expanded to over 1000 theaters, bringing its new total to almost 4 million. Next week it's Hotel Transylvania 2 against the wide release of Everest, so it'll be interesting to see what happens there- see you then everyone!

'Room' Wins the Toronto People's Choice Award

Brie Larsen is all smiles in Toronto for Room

Now this makes things interesting. I haven't done a complete TIFF roundup, mostly because everything that premiered there (as has been the case of late), was either immediately dismissed as inconsequential by the critics (Freeheld, Trumbo, Our Brand is Crisis), or if given a good reception (The Martian), deemed too mainstream and commercial for Oscar consideration, that is unless perhaps the potential box office success can push it to a token Best Picture nomination as an acknowledgment of the the public's choice (hasn't happened lately, but if they want the Oscars to remain relevant they really should take some of the public's preferences into account, along with good reviews- movies are still made for audiences, after all). But the People's Choice Award is still a major Oscar bellwether, as 6 of the last 7 winners all went on to be at least nominated for Best Picture. No one expected Room to pull that off, but alas, the reception at TIFF was so great for this tiny film, that now it must be taken seriously for major awards consideration, and Brie Larsen just became a heavy contender for her first Best Actress nomination. The question remains whether the little studio, A24, can handle this kind of awards campaign, but obviously they have the goods with the movie itself.

Spotlight cast basks in the attention

For what it's worth, Spotlight took second place here, and the reaction from the Toronto crowd was hugely positive for this movie as well, which some are starting to call this year's Argo, a film no one can dislike and the kind that can reach a broad consensus going forward. It may be enough to label it the BP frontrunner already, since most of the late year contenders that premiere after the film festivals tend not to be able to withstand end of the year criticism or even make it to most of the voter's viewing screens by the time voting begins. So keep an eye on Spotlight, everybody. This could be the major winner to come out of the festivals this year.

Special Effects Take Over in Final Trailer for 'The Last Witch Hunter'

I don't know why I keep posting trailers for this. I guess I just like laughing at how ridiculous it looks, since you really couldn't pay me to see it when it comes out in October. I think this is the first time I've noticed Vin Diesel seems to be doing some kind of accent here- he needs to take a page out of Arnold Schwarzenegger's book and wink at the camera sometimes. Something tells me that might be the only way to semi-save this one from epic disaster.

Trailer for 'Hardcore' Tries to Live Up to Its Name

This seems kind of insane- billed as the world's first first-person shooter movie, it looks like exactly that: a shooter game come to life. A Russian production co-financed by the U.S., this actually premiered at Toronto to some interesting reviews that say its smarter and more creative than its premise suggests. Let's hope so, because based on this trailer I'd have to say this is not my cup of tea, but whether they could actually pull this off remains an intriguing question.

Gritty New 'Point Break' Trailer Ups the Action

I still don't know what the purpose of remaking Point Break is, but for those interested, here's the second trailer for the movie coming out at Christmas. I'm not even sure that the stunts could be that much improved from the original- has stuntwork made major advancements since 1991?