Mel Gibson Takes on Drug Dealers in 'Blood Father'

This might be the most Mel Gibson-y movie he's starred in quite some time. On one level it looks like he's doing his best Liam Neeson in Taken, but Gibson setting off to wipe out a bunch of drug dealers who are trying to kill his daughter seems like something a little more tailor-made for him personally. And hey, I heard after this premiered at Cannes that it was surprisingly pretty good, with critics saying it was easily his best lead role in many years. The question is of course is anybody willing to watch Mel Gibson in a movie these days. It's hard to separate him from the insanity in those leaked tapes, isn't it? Blood Father is coming out August 26th.

Daniel Radcliffe Becomes a Neo-Nazi in 'Imperium'

I suppose this feels like a timely movie right now, what with the insanity of the Trump campaign and all, but I'm not sure I buy Daniel Radcliffe as an undercover spy for anything, really. I know he's trying, but I can't help but wonder if he'll ever break out of that "I'm Harry Potter" image. Eight movies and your entire childhood growing up onscreen will do that to you. Plus, the story looks kinda routine and mediocre, but still...it's yet another film with name actors (Toni Collette's pretty legit, isn't she?) not getting a real release in theaters, as it's coming out on VOD and in limited on August 19th. Shame.

Michael Cimino 1939-2016

Hollywood director Michael Cimino died today at the age of 77. Best known for making films in the 1970's and early 80's, most notably Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Deer Hunter, The Rose, Heaven's Gate and Year of the Dragon. He won the Oscar for Best Director for The Deer Hunter, which also won Best Picture in 1979, as one of the most searing films about war ever made, particularly the Vietnam War. His career went largely off course after his follow-up film Heaven's Gate, which has the reputation of being one of the worst financial failures in Hollywood history, and eventually contributed to the collapse of its studio, United Artists, although critical re-assessments of the film have been made in recent years, helping to rehabilitate its image as a movie that was unfairly tarnished in its day.

Original 1978 trailer for The Deer Hunter:

New Trailer for 'War Dogs' Changes the Tone

I thought this looked awful based on that first trailer, so this new one gives Miles Teller a bit of a conscience and emphasizes the "badness" of what they're doing a little more, but I still don't really trust Todd Philips to tell a story like this. I mean, this is the guy who directed the three Hangover movies, people. Bottom line though, is that it doesn't look as bad as the first trailer made it seem, so that's a point in their direction I guess.

See the Trailer for 'The Red Turtle'

This animated film is a co-production with the legendary Studio Ghibli, and managed to stun audiences at Cannes this year, so you can count on it being nominated for the Animated Feature Oscar. The animation branch goes out of its way to nominate hand drawn, international films to recognize the work of other countries, even if the rest of the Academy never even glances at them. That's how the Disney or Pixar hit wins every single year, no matter what else is nominated. I really don't think most of the voters in AMPAS give a shit about this category or bother watching any of the films, which is a real shame. Maybe they ought to let just the branch vote on this one, as opposed to the rest of the group, just to give someone else a shot once in a while. This looks outstanding, and I can't wait to look for it when it comes out in limited release this fall.

See the Trailer for Terrence Malick's 'Voyage of Time'

This long gestating documentary project from the illusive filmmaker Terrence Malick is finally coming out this year, and in IMAX at that. It's written and directed by Malick, about the origins of the universe, from its birth to final collapse. For anyone who saw Tree of Life, this should look vaguely familiar, as that film took elements of his vision for this one in the birth of the universe segment. Ennio Morricone did the score for this, and it was his first collaboration with Malick since Days of Heaven, interestingly enough. There will be two versions of this film- a 40-minute IMAX one narrated by Brad Pitt and a feature length version narrated by Cate Blanchett. It's hard to know how much interest there will be after the failure of his last two films though.

Miles Teller Goes for an Oscar in 'Bleed For This'

You can't tell me that's not what he had in mind when he signed up for this movie, right? Playing real life boxer Vinny Paz, who on top of the boxing thing, actually got into a life threatening injury from a car accident, was told he'd never walk again, and came back from that to ultimate victory? Sounds like all the requisite cliches are in there, that's for sure. And Martin Scorsese produces it too. I don't think Miles Teller has enough good will from other actors, but if he's that good in this, I guess it could happen. He's made it clear in interviews he wants it badly enough. We'll see when this comes out in November. 

Bryan Cranston and James Franco Face Off in 'Why Him?'

Ugh. A cheaper, even more sitcom-y version of Meet the Parents. Why, Bryan Cranston, why? His post- Breaking Bad film career hasn't exactly been spectacular, has it? The premise of these kinds of movies is just ridiculous, and it's always centered on making the girl look like as big an idiot as possible, even though she's clearly supposed to be an afterthought, because it's all about the battle between the boyfriend and the dad. But she's the one who picked the asshole, right? So to me it's always clear who the real villain is. Blech.

Tom Hanks Pulls Off the Miracle on the Hudson in 'Sully' Trailer

Clint Eastwood's latest takes us back to the day that "Sully" Sullenberger heroically landed that plane on the Hudson river and saved every person on board...and then apparently was the subject of an investigation into the incident and what might have gone wrong. When I first heard about this movie, I did wonder exactly what the story was going to be, since I'm not sure that other than the incident itself, Sully had anything other than an ordinary pilot's life before or since. If there were some repercussions to what happened that day I certainly never heard about them, and probably not too many others know either. So maybe there is more to it after all.