Not sure about this one either. There always has to be some comedy released on Christmas, and this is the culprit this time. These two were funny together in The Other Guys, but I get the feeling lightning didn't strike twice for this one. We'll see, I guess.
Bennett Sisters Fight Back in 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'
The full trailer for the zombie version of Pride and Prejudice is here, and it actually looks kinda stupid now that we get a fuller glimpse of it. Yeah, I'm not so into this now, even if the graphic novel was popular. It just looks dumb without any clever jokes or anything to the premise.
Gotham Awards Nominations Give Boost to 'Carol' and 'Diary of a Teenage Girl'
The first big awards nominations of the season have arrived- the Gotham Independent Film Awards, which honor American indies and are essentially the precursor to the Independent Spirit Awards. But they usually include some eventual Oscar nominees in their ranks as well, especially in the Feature and Acting categories. I think we're looking at Spotlight and possibly Carol to be the ones that go on to make it to heavier recognition, while Diary of a Teenage Girl will probably be limited to the Indie Spirits, but it's nice to see that nodded here. The biggest acting contenders here are Brie Larson and Cate Blanchett.
Best Feature
- "Carol"
- "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
- "Heaven Knows What"
- "Spotlight"
- "Tangerine"
Best Documentary
- "Approaching the Elephant"
- "Cartel Land"
- "Heart of a Dog"
- "Listen to Me Marlon"
- "The Look of Silence"
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director
- Desiree Akhavan for "Appropriate Behavior"
- Jonas Carpigano for "Mediterranea"
- Marielle Heller for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
- John Magary for "The Mend"
- Josh Mond for "James White"
Best Screenplay
- "Carol," Phyllis Nagy
- "The Diary of a Teenage Girl," Marielle Heller
- "Love & Mercy," Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner
- "Spotlight," Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer
- "While We’re Young," Noah Baumbach
Best Actor
- Christopher Abbott in "James White"
- Kevin Corrigan in "Results"
- Paul Dano in "Love & Mercy"
- Peter Sarsgaard in "Experimenter"
- Michael Shannon in "99 Homes"
Best Actress
- Cate Blanchett in "Carol"
- Blythe Danner in "I’ll See You in My Dreams"
- Brie Larson in "Room"
- Bel Powley in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
- Lily Tomlin in "Grandma"
- Kristen Wiig in "Welcome to Me "
Breakthrough Actor
- Rory Culkin in "Gabriel"
- Arielle Holmes in "Heaven Knows What"
- Lola Kirke in "Mistress America"
- Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in "Tangerine"
- Mya Taylor in "Tangerine"
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Back to the Future" (1985)
Today is Back to the Future day all over the world, and in honor of the occasion the movie and the trilogy are playing across theaters in special showings. We're marking it today because October 21st, 2015 was the day that Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled to the future in Back to the Future Part II- remember all the hover boards and nutty stuff going on in that universe? They did correctly predict that we'd be seeing the release of another Star Wars sequel. It's all about the first movie for me though- an instant classic that's so tightly written, perfectly cast and acted, with not a wasted scene in the entire movie. It feels just as timeless as it ever did, despite the very specific time and place it marked. The best time travel movie ever made? I think so.
Original Trailer:
Chris Rock to Host the 2016 Oscars
This is a good choice, in my opinion. Chris Rock will now officially host the Oscars for the second time, making his return appearance after first hosting back in 2005. I always thought he did a good job at that show, but the reaction from people at the time was that he didn't play as well in the room, I guess because he was edgier than the usual Billy Crystal song and dance man routine that they love. Well, I hope they're over that now, because Rock is hilarious and he'll do a great job. The Academy Awards will air Feb 28th, 2016.
Jennifer Lawrence Stars in Trailer for 'Joy'
The new trailer for David O. Russell's Joy looks very serious indeed, and early word is that it's his most dramatic film yet. Lawrence looks back in her Hunger Games/Winter's Bone stoic mode that she employs for her dramas and it looks intriguing, if nothing else. It's coming out on Christmas Day, but apparently it's being screened in several different versions right now for test audiences, as Russell tries to figure out which cut works best for the crowd.
New Trailer for 'The Force Awakens'
Here it is, guys- the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in all its glory. It's still pretty vague if you ask me- looks like they still don't want to tell us anything about the plot, but hey, look, it's Han and Leia! I have to admit, I was sucked into watching this when it debuted live during Monday Night Football like everyone else. No Luke again, but I'm sure they're hiding his appearance because he's become some kind of wizard looking, Obi Wan Kenobi guy now- I hope he's not a ghost. Get your tickets now, everyone- they went on sale as of a couple hours ago.
New 'Star Wars' Poster Revealed
Here it is, everybody. Looks like we're getting a female lead in the Luke Skywalker position- and I'm still willing to bet she's Han and Leia's daughter, don't you think? I like seeing Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher on the poster, but where's Mark Hamill? He's top billed along with the other two, and we know he's in the movie. I'm sure they have their reasons for excluding him. The brand new trailer premieres tomorrow night, so stay tuned.
BOX OFFICE 10/16-10/18: 'Goosebumps' Leads a Crowded Weekend
The Goosebumps movie took the top spot this weekend, somewhat surprisingly beating out The Martian to deny it a third week atop the box office. It was a crowded week overall, with four new releases vying for attention, but it looks like nostalgia for the 90's continues, with the interest in Goosebumps being higher than expected. The Martian wasn't too far behind it though, grossing another $21 million to place it below Goosebumps' $23.5 million. The Martian has now earned $143 million total.
Meanwhile, the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies opened with $15 million and a very adult audience (over 50% was over the age of 50), but it also got an "A" Cinemascore and could be fairly leggy, given good reviews and word of mouth. Crimson Peak on the other hand, disappointed, opening with just $12.9 million, Guillermo del Toro's lowest big studio opening weekend (and given the way the theater I saw it in responded, I don't expect crazy word of mouth to work its magic on this one). The top five was rounded out by Hotel Transylvania 2, which earned another $12 million for a $136 million total.
Top 5:
- Goosebumps- 23.5 million
- The Martian- 21.5 million
- Bridge of Spies- 15.4 million
- Crimson Peak- 12.9 million
- Hotel Transylvania 2- 12.5 million
In limited, Steve Jobs expanded to 60 theaters to earn about $1.6 million before it goes wide next week, and the debut of Oscar hopeful Room was pretty solid, with a 30k theater average on four screens for a 120k total. Truth, the Cate Blanchett film about CBS and Dan Rather, did not fare so well, opening in six theaters to just $76k. And Beasts of No Nation was released on Netflix but opened in 31 theaters to almost $51,000. Next week it's fairly crowded again with the wide release of Steve Jobs, Jem and the Holograms, The Last Witch Hunter and the new Paranormal Activity movie, along with the limited debuts of Rock the Kasbah, Suffragette and Burnt. Whew. And they wonder why it's so hard for so many adult driven films to find an audience this time of year.
Movie of the Day: "Creature From the Black Lagoon" (1954)
Our last movie monster this week is one of the greats- the dreaded "creature" from 1954's classic B-movie Creature From the Black Lagoon. I expected this film to be one of those cheesy 50's sci-fi matinee movies, but what surprised me was that it's actually much, much better than that. Jack Arnold infused this film with scenes of real suspense and really made this creature an effective and sympathetic presence, more so than any of the human characters in the movie. A bunch of people go on an expedition to the Amazon looking for fossils of a mysterious sea creature and lo and behold, they find and are somewhat terrorized by the creature itself, who wants the female member of their group (Kay Lawrence) all to its own devices. It's kind of a King Kong story, but the movie is fast paced and holds up every bit as well as anything made today with a similar premise. There are scenes that are genuinely freaky (the one where the monster kidnaps the girl from the boat is still crazy startling), and a beautiful sequence of the creature swimming alongside his beloved from far underneath the water where she can't see him. I really recommend this one- it's a fun treat to end your monster movie week.
Original Trailer:
Movie of the Day: "The Wolf Man" (1941)
Another one of Universal's classic movie monsters is the entry today, and that's 1941's The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney, Jr (son of the more famous Lon Chaney, the silent screen star who gave rise to many movie monsters himself, including Phantom of the Opera). This movie is actually less frightening than some of the other films this week, as the wolf man legend is inherently sillier, and this film doesn't treat it with the ambiguous brilliance of a movie like Cat People. But like Dracula, this one is so iconic and with so many great images that you've got to see it anyway. Lon Chaney walking through the fog in the original Wolf Man costume for instance- it doesn't get any more cinematic than that. It also was the first to give out all the werewolf lore we're used to now, including silver bullets and full moons and everything. You can withstand some of its silliness for its deserved status as an essential movie monster, that's for sure.
Trailer:
Joan Leslie 1925-2015
A screen actress from Hollywood's golden age passed away today at the age of 90, and although she acted in plenty of films from the 1940's, she's probably most known for playing James Cagney's wife Mary in the classic Yankee Doodle Dandy. Her other most notable credits were the Humphrey Bogart film High Sierra and the Gary Cooper led Sergeant York, before making guest appearances on television shows from the 1950's through the 1980's. But Mary, wife of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle was her liftoff moment.
Scene from Yankee Doodle Dandy:
