Man, is there any difference between a Nicholas Sparks movie and a Lifetime movie at this point? The dogs, the car crash, the cheating, the pop music soundtrack, it's all just so...ugh. It's coming out next February, but I really think these movies are just parodies of themselves by now, and besides that, who even sees them? Have any of these been a hit since The Notebook? And seriously, what the hell is Tom Wilkinson doing in this?
James Bond Runs From a Building in Final 'Spectre' Trailer
I see every Bond movie so I'll be seeing this one regardless, but I'm always wary of the one that follows a good entry, as everyone acknowledges Skyfall was. There are very rarely two good Bond films in a row, have you ever noticed that? Still, it looks exciting like they always do. November 9th, everyone.
10 Monster Movies For Halloween Month
Happy October 1st, everybody- it's the start of Halloween month and with it come the horror movies for the occasion. In our October movie page we have ten classic and modern classic monster movies and trailers, including some of my very faves like 28 Days Later, The Exorcist, Shaun of the Dead, An American Werewolf in London and Night of the Living Dead. That's a lot of zombies, I know, but what can you do? There's so many different takes on the zombie flick that it's become a genre in and of itself. But we also have Satan, Frankenstein, werewolves, aliens and Mr. Hyde to mix things up. Check out the Monthly Movie Page for a longer description of the month, keep the lights on and have fun with these terrifying monsters for the holiday!
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "A Room With a View" (1986)
Criterion Collection is out this week with A Room With a View, the classic that introduced the world to Merchant-Ivory (they'd been around before but this was their big breakthrough) and a young Helena Bonham Carter. A period romance done about as well as it could possibly be, with an absolutely unforgettable score to match. Sweeping romance comes into a young girl's life as she decides to go for her heart's desire over the stuffy suitor (an unrecognizable Daniel Day-Lewis) she's supposed to marry for her family's sake. A gorgeous, sumptuous, overtly romantic story that still catches you up in every moment.
Trailer:
Leo Dicaprio and Tom Hardy Battle in 'The Revenant' Trailer
Finally, a full trailer for The Revenant is here, and it looks awesome. The cinematography alone is bound to get the Oscar, which will coincidentally, be DP Emanuel Lubezki's third in a row. I can't wait to see this- it's coming out in limited release on Christmas and set to expand in January, like the typical late-breaking Oscar entry.
Ben Foster Inhabits Lance Armstrong in New Trailer for 'The Program'
This movie still doesn't have a North American distributor yet, but it's coming out in the UK in October. Even just from this trailer, it looks to me like Ben Foster really nailed it as Lance Armstrong here- I almost forgot who he was in two minutes alone. Stephen Frears directed this, and he's a solid filmmaker who made Philomena, The Queen, High Fidelity and Dirty Pretty Things, among others, so I'm not sure what the holdup is on a release over here. We'll just have to keep an eye out, I guess.
Romance Blooms Between Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller in New 'Burnt' Trailer
Another look at Burnt, the movie about Bradley Cooper's chef that got saddled with a really stupid title, but the movie itself doesn't look too bad. It's not meant to be an awards player, but it's coming out in October amid all those awards titles anyway, looking to hit commercially, although I believe it's going to be a limited release. Let's hope it fares better than Bradley Cooper's other movie this year, Aloha.
BOX OFFICE 9/25-9/27: 'Hotel Transylvania 2' Sets a New September Record
The family audience has been starved for content for a while, and they flocked to theaters this weekend to see the Hotel Transylvania sequel, which pulled in 47 million for a new record for September. The original made 42 million in 2012, and that also sets it up as Sony's biggest hit this year. Expect it to stick around for a while with most of that market to itself, unless Pan happens to break out in a couple of weeks.
In second place was Nancy Meyers' The Intern, which did a better than expected 18 million over the weekend- also targeting an older, female heavy demo that hasn't had any films aimed at them in months. The movie snagged an A- Cinemascore, so we'll see if that one can stick around with the onslaught of adult oriented films in the coming weeks. Everest meanwhile, did less than expected after its strong IMAX start last weekend- it only brought in 13 million for a 23 million total so far, a slow start, one of Universal's only ones this year, although it has done well overseas, with a worldwide total of just about 100 million already. Black Mass and The Scorch Trials rounded out the top five, with Black Mass falling a steep 49 percent since last week, not boding so well for the film's awards prospects, of which Depp remains its strongest bet.
Top 5:
- Hotel Transylvania 2- 47.5 million
- The Intern- 18.2 million
- Maze Runner 2: The Scorch Trials- 14 million
- Everest- 13.3 million
- Black Mass- 11.5 million
In limited release, Sicario continues to do well, earning a high 30k per screen average in 59 theaters ahead of its nationwide expansion next week, although it will be facing direct competition from The Martian. And Stonewall bombed hard, pulling in just 842 dollars per theater on 129 screens, one of the lowest PTA's I've ever seen. Yikes. Next week it's The Martian and the IMAX only release of The Walk- it should be a big weekend, as The Martian has gotten spectacular reviews and is said to be a big crowdpleaser, so we'll see. Stay tuned.
Movie of the Day: "Far From Heaven" (2002)
We started off the week with a Douglas Sirk melodrama and so it's a perfect cap to conclude with a tribute to Sirk, this 2002 film made by Todd Haynes as direct homage to Sirk's canon, and All That Heaven Allows in particular. This exquisite drama was made in the style of a 1950's film, right down to the way it was shot, written and acted by the principle players, yet it went one step further in dealing with things under the surface beyond what Sirk could have dared to (although he undoubtedly would have had his films been made just a number of years later). Julianne Moore is a lonely housewife who once again falls in love with her gardener, but this time he happens to be an African-American man played by Dennis Haysbert, and her husband neglects her not due to his work, but because he's a gay man suffering the stifling effects of the closet. It's a gorgeous, movingly rendered film for which Moore should have won her Best Actress Oscar, and not for last year's Still Alice. I still think to this day it's her best performance.
Trailer:
Movie of the Day: "The Straight Story" (1999)
In 1999, David Lynch of all people directed this very straightforward, sentimental film about an elderly man named Alvin Straight who travels from Iowa to Wisconsin on a lawnmower in order to visit his estranged brother, played by Harry Dean Stanton. It was based on a true story and there were no typical, Lynchian, surreal twists on the material- he just told the story as it was, letting the movie rest on the performance of Richard Farnsworth, who received an Oscar nomination for the role. Sadly, Farnsworth was terminally ill with bone cancer at the time of filming, and committed suicide not long afterwards, at the age of 80 years old, a sad end to a life spent acting in films and television since 1937. The movie takes place in September, making it a perfect fit for out fall theme this week.
Trailer:
New Poster for 'Creed' Evokes Rocky Memories
The buzz on Creed is that it's pretty good, even though it's not coming out until November and I'm not quite sure where this early buzz is coming from- maybe it's had some early screenings, but there's no critical word yet and for all we know it could be studio plants. But since the movie was written and directed by Ryan Coogler, whose first movie was Fruitvale Station, I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least decent. And it does have the Rocky nostalgia going for it, which is quite powerful and goes back a long ways. Hopefully this one can be as uplifting as the first, bring back some of that original underdog theme.
Cate Blanchett Takes on the Dan Rather Story in 'Truth'
The second movie about journalism to come out of Toronto, Truth got mostly positive reviews, but excellent notices in particular for Cate Blanchett's performance, with most stating it's one of the best of her career, even better than her Oscar-winning role in Blue Jasmine. She plays Mary Mapes, the 60 Minutes producer whose career was destroyed by the Bush administration, along with Dan Rather's, when the news magazine program fumbled the story on the president's National Guard service back in 2004. This film is explicitly political and takes the side of Mapes and Rather, so it will definitely be facing some controversy, no matter how good the performances are- I personally can't wait to see it. Sony Pictures Classics waited quite a while to release a trailer, since the movie is coming out on October 16th, but here it is. Keep a look out.
