The honorees for this year's Governor's Awards have been announced, and the Academy has made some unusual, but inspired choices this time around. The most familiar name among the bunch is the legendary Jackie Chan of course, who receives the award after four decades of brilliant and innovative contributions to action cinema as a master choreographer, stuntman and filmmaker as well as global superstar. In fact, it's hard to believe that at 62, the only question might be is he too young to receive what's seen as the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award (but hey, Spike Lee got this last year at 58, so if he can get one...). The other recipients are the British film editor Anne Coates, whose work includes Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, The Elephant Man, In the Line of Fire and Out of Sight, documentarian Frederick Wiseman, whose films were never even nominated for an Oscar, and casting director Lynn Stalmaster, who's filmography dates from the late 1950's to the early 1980's, and includes films like I Want to Live!, Judgment at Nuremberg, In the Heat of the Night, Jeremiah Johnson, Fiddler on the Roof, The Last Detail, Bound for Glory, Superman (we can thank him for discovering Christopher Reeve) and Being There. The 8th Annual Governor's Awards will take place on November 12th.
New Trailer for Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's 'Elle'
For me, this is absolutely my most anticipated film of the year. Verhoeven at his best makes shocking, bold, fiercely original and often female empowering films, and despite the controversy amidst the raves that this movie drew at Cannes, its garnered some of the best reviews I think I've ever seen for his usually divisive films. I'm betting that Isabelle Huppert will finally land her long overdue Oscar nomination for Best Actress, since this is really her movie, through and through.
Trailer for Sweden's Animated Oscar Entry 'My Life as a Courgette'
GKids, the studio that does the noble work of distributing foreign animated films in the U.S., has officially picked up Sweden's Oscar entry for animated film this year, the French language My Life as a Courgette (or zucchini). If you're like me, who's often tired of the same looking CG animation that comes out all the time here, this one looks like a gem, and it apparently is to the people who saw it at Cannes. Just from watching this, I'm pretty sure that it will be one of the year's Oscar nominees in the category.
Gene Wilder 1933-2016
Another star has been taken from us in the year 2016, which has sadly seen the departures of many icons from this earth. Gene Wilder, the comedic legend who had been immortalized on screen for Willy Wonka and his collaborations with director Mel Brooks, has passed away at the age of 83, from complications of Alzheimer's. He leaves so many great films and performances behind, most notably The Producers (1968), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (also 1974). All four of those classics have stood the test of time to be remembered today as iconic, and his Willy Wonka was so dominant a character that the original title of that book had to be renamed from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to accommodate who the true star was. Wilder was Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his turn in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, and was also known for his four films with Richard Pryor, most notably 1976's Silver Streak. His marriage to SNL star Gilda Radner in 1984 was well documented, as they starred in three films together and stayed married until her death from ovarian cancer in 1989, after which he stayed involved in promoting cancer awareness and founded a detection center and community organization both named after her. He was nominated for a second Oscar for co-writing the Young Frankenstein screenplay with Mel Brooks, and his last acting appearance was an episode of Will & Grace in 2003. He had an amazingly sweet, vulnerable, open screen presence that invited you in to see the bursts of manic energy and eccentricity hidden under the surface of his performances. He will be dearly missed.
It's really amazing to think that Gene Wilder essentially makes this movie work, as he was really the only compelling character in it. You can thank Wilder's inspired, magical performance for that entirely, epitomized in this song:
And if you haven't seen Young Frankenstein, please do so immediately. I think this was his greatest performance (although some would probably stick with Willy Wonka):
BOX OFFICE 8/26-8/28: 'Don't Breathe' Scares Up $26 Million
As the dog days of August drag on, the $10 million horror flick Don't Breathe exceeded expectations to earn $26 million at the box office this weekend, vaulting into first place and knocking Suicide Squad from the top spot. The movie got pretty great reviews as well, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of over 90% from critics, although audiences gave it a lukewarm Cinemascore of "B+"- still, it almost tripled its budget in the first three days of release, so that's a smashing success.
Suicide Squad picked up another $12 million for second place, with its total now at $282 million and $635 million globally, while Kubo and the Two Strings came in third with $7 million, just above Sausage Party, which fell to fourth. Rounding out the top five was the poorly reviewed Jason Statham actioner Mechanic: Resurrection, which didn't make much of a splash at all (not totally sure how Statham has managed to keep starring in movies all these years- they don't exactly make a lot of coin).
Top 5:
- Don't Breathe- $26.1 million
- Suicide Squad- $12.1 million
- Kubo and the Two Strings- $7.9 million
- Sausage Party- $7.7 million
- Mechanic: Resurrection- $7.5 million
In limited release, Southside With You, the Obama's first date movie, opened on over 800 screens with an okay $3 million, but may hold well with great reviews of its own, while Hell or High Water keeps plugging along, bringing in $3.7 million from over 900 screens as it continues to expand. In totals news, Bad Moms keeps showing off strong staying power, pulling in another $5 million for a total of $95 million and now sure to cross $100 million for that underserved female demographic, so congratulations to STX for that one. There's really nothing of note coming out next weekend over Labor Day, so expect to see the holdovers do well next week.
David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike Fall in Love in 'A United Kingdom'
In the second fall season movie about a famous interracial marriage in history, Oyelowo and Pike star as Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams Khama, the couple whose marriage rocked South Africa under apartheid in the late 1940's and 50's. This film is premiering at the London Film Festival in October, but usually when there are two films of a competing theme, one of them gets a leg up. I have a feeling Loving will the movie that sets sail of these two, but that may be because I can tell the performances of Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga are more of the showcase sort. This looks more like a romanticized love story, so it may be seen as lighter. Then again, who knows? Trailers can be deceiving.
REVIEW: "Kubo and the Two Strings" (2016) Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey. Dir. Travis Knight
Laika Studios has in recent years become the sole studio dedicated to the preservation of stop-motion animation as an art form, and the production of films that showcase this unique style in all its glory. They deserve kudos for that noble cause, and the singular filmography they’ve produced thus far, which includes Coraline, ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls, films of varying quality but boundless storytelling creativity and visual beauty, two things that aren’t often seen in most American animation these days, which is quite frequently the same old, same old. The studios have gotten good at churning out that CGI product, but let’s be honest with ourselves- doesn’t it all start to blend and look similar in ways that the old traditional 2D style never did?
Kubo and the Two Strings is the fourth entry in the Laika catalog, and probably their best yet. It’s a stirring, spiritual adventure of a young boy’s quest to affirm his family lineage and let go of the ghosts of his past, and not only does it not look like the typical animated product, but the story is a sensitive, mature, and even profound dive into learning how to let go and claim your own destiny aside from the one set out for you at birth. This is a fantasy set in ancient Japan, where a young boy named Kubo must deal with the anguish brought about by his mother’s tragic past, a past that has rendered her untethered to reality as she drifts in and out of a lucid state in which she only occasionally recognizes her son and remembers his father.
Kubo has all kinds of questions about his late father, who was a warrior, and his mother, who descends from a magic realm of otherworldly beings ruled by the Moon King, also known as Kubo’s evil grandfather who stops at nothing to regain control of his traitorous daughter who deserted her kingdom with her newborn son in tow. For now Kubo remains safely hidden in a rural village where he entertains patrons with his tall tales of the Moon King and flying origami figures, but soon that changes, and he embarks on a quest to defeat his grandfather, his two evil aunts and reclaim control of his life. That adventure comes complete with comic relief sidekicks of course, one in the form of a toy monkey come to life (voiced by Charlize Theron), and another of a human sized beetle with memory loss (Matthew McConaughey). Those two companions come with secrets of their own that must be unraveled, while the story plays itself out as essentially one of Kubo’s riveting tales, in which he stars as the hero.
In some ways this is a formula story, but in others there is a deep emotion at its core that cuts to a longing within every child to know who their parents are and where they come from. And unlike other kids movies, this one does not shy away from genuine loss in favor of a pat happy ending that pretends everything can work itself out too perfectly. The film is a visual splendor, with bold, striking colors and several underwater environments that stand out as a majestic celebration of detail. Sadly, it’s still a bit distracting, at least to me, that the movie takes pains to steep itself in Japanese culture and be about Japanese characters, yet the leads are all voiced by white actors in the continued whitewashing tradition of Hollywood. Meanwhile, George Takei cameos as an extra in a crowd scene while Ralph Fiennes voices the Moon King, and you end up asking yourself…why is it that George Takei couldn’t play that crucial role, exactly? You might say what does it really matter in terms of voice acting, but ask yourself if white actors would ever be brought in to play the leads in an animated film about African-American characters. I don’t think I’m off base in thinking other minorities shouldn’t have to be whitewashed either.
* * *
First Trailer for Casey Affleck in 'Manchester By the Sea'
This film from director Kenneth Lonergan premiered at Sundance to rave reviews, was immediately labeled a major potential Oscar contender, and was eventually bought by Amazon. The studio wants to launch it as its first awards candidate, and in doing so it needs to release it in theaters, unlike what Netflix did last year with Beasts of No Nation. They're planning a limited release in November, right around Thanksgiving, as the perfect date for these kinds of films, so we'll see if this family drama about grief (it seems it may be a bit reminiscent of something like Ordinary People) can take off. I'm guessing Casey Affleck (the greater Affleck, I've always thought, as far as acting talent goes) can probably land a Best Actor nomination at least, but the movie could be in there all across the board, especially once critics chime in. The trailer seems a bit mild, but it's always kind of hard to market old school family dramas in an interesting way. I trust the buzz out of Sundance on it more.
Emma Stone Sings in New Trailer for 'La La Land'
What do you guys think of her voice? It's...okay, I guess. I mean, come on, she's no Judy Garland or anything. I think this movie is going to be a love it or hate it situation, like most exercises of this kind usually are. Looks gorgeous though, that's for sure. Tech noms galore. As for the rest of it, we'll be finding out very soon, since it's premiering at Venice and will be showing at Telluride in just a couple weeks.
Laika's 'Kubo and the Two Strings' has a soft opening
BOX OFFICE 8/19-8/21: 'Suicide Squad' Stays on Top a Slow Weekend
Laika's 'Kubo and the Two Strings' has a soft opening
None of this weekend's newcomers boasted impressive openings, allowing WB's Suicide Squad to continue to reign atop the box office, pulling in $20 million, another 50% drop from last week, making it on par with Batman v Superman's trajectory. The movie has also now earned over $572 million globally, which is kinda depressing when you see how these crappy films just keep making enough money to justify continuing them, no matter how awful they are. When are people going to wise up? It might not be as much as they want, but if it had only earned maybe $300 million or less? Now that would the epic, in the red flop that the studio deserves.
Sausage Party took second place again, falling over 50% itself, for another $15 million and a new total of $65 million, which is a big hit for its $19 million budget. War Dogs came in third with a meager $14 million and a bad "B" Cinemascope, so don't expect that one to stick around, while Kubo and the Two Strings sadly landed in fourth with $12.6 million. The animated film has earned the best reviews in Laika Studios short history, but it looks like families aren't much interested in animation that doesn't look exactly like everything else they see. Too bad. Paramount's Ben-Hur rounded out the top five for a truly epic flop debut, earning just $11 million on a $100 million budget. See now that's absolute rejection from audiences towards a genuinely terrible movie. Can't they manage to do the same for the awful WB superhero slate?
'Ben-Hur' is an epic flop for Paramount
Top 5:
- Suicide Squad- $20.7 million
- Sausage Party- $15.3 million
- War Dogs- $14.3 million
- Kubo and the Two Strings- $12.6 million
- Ben-Hur- $11.4 million
In limited release, Hell or High Water expanded to over 400 locations for a $2.7 million total, a pretty good $5k per theater average, making it the rare platform success this year. It looks likely to overtake the other limited release films as the most successful of 2016, which kind of makes me wonder if this could turn into a sleeper Oscar contender, given its rave reviews. At the very least, if the critics come back for it at the end of the year, it could get launched into consideration. Meanwhile, Natalie Portman's directorial debut A Tale of Love and Darkness opened with a nice $18k per screen average. Next week it's the horror movie Don't Breathe, Mel Gibson's would be comeback thriller Blood Father, and the Obama date movie Southside With You in limited. Stay tuned.
Amy Adams Talks to Aliens in the Full Trailer for 'Arrival'
So this kinda looks like Contact meets Close Encounters, am I right? Amy Adams seeks her sixth Oscar nomination as a translator for the visiting life forms from another planet, and I think this looks pretty good, actually. I've liked each successive Denis Villeneuve film a little bit better than the last, so this has the potential to be his best yet, hopefully. And unlike Emily Blunt's superfluous character in Sicario, this one looks to actually be all about Adams and her role in the story, so I'm excited. It premieres at the Venice Film Festival in a couple weeks and opens right in the thick of Oscar season on November 11th, so it looks like Paramount's got high hopes for it.
Chris Pine and Ben Foster are Bank Robbers in 'Hell Or High Water'
I must have been sleeping on this movie, which did play outside if competition at Cannes in May, but came out this weekend to some pretty stellar reviews. In fact, it's now the best reviewed film of the year. Described as in intense modern day western with some amazing performances from Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges, it seems like it came out of nowhere to be a can't miss. I always thought Chris Pine had some potential outside of Captain Kirk, so I'm happy for that. I think he's the one with the most serious acting potential of all the major "Chrises"- Evans, Hemsworth, Pratt and Pine. Do you agree?
