I guess I’m gonna check out the finale of this trilogy, but this series has not done anything to endear me to these characters. I don’t care if Rey is really a Skywalker or not, or what happens to Finn and Poe or whether Kylo Ren is defeated. And frankly, playing all those old clips from the original movies at the beginning of this only makes me want to watch those, because they were the only ones worth watching in this entire series.
Latest 'Lucy in the Sky' Trailer Shows Off Natalie Portman in Breakdown Mode
I don’t think I realized this movie was based on the real story of astronaut Lisa Nowak, who became a criminal and kidnapper due to her affair with a fellow astronaut in 2007. Anyone else remember that story? I vaguely remember it being in the tabloids at the time. This will premiere at TIFF next month and then come out on October 4th.
Adam Driver Uncovers the Truth in 'The Report'
I missed this trailer a few days ago, but this was another Sundance hit that’s coming out in November. It has an awards season release date, but Amazon is choosing to release it on their streaming service just two weeks after it comes out. That tends not to work out well for awards hopefuls, but it looks like Amazon is changing up their distribution strategy this year. We’ll see if it pays off.
'Lady and the Tramp' Gets the Disney Live-Action Treatment
Ugh. Lady and the Tramp is like my third favorite Disney movie ever, so of course I’m not cool with it being remade, but if they were set on doing this, is there any reason that they have to use CG for the dogs? I seem to remember a lot of movies about dogs in history that used real, trained ones and they worked great. Do their mouths have to move? Why can’t they do the Homeward Bound thing, where the voices are there but just inside their heads or something? There are some real dogs in this trailer, but the up close stuff is weird and obviously fake and I hate it. This story could have easily been done 100% “live-action” like they advertise. This will be one of the first features coming to the new Disney Plus streaming service though, so no theaters for this one.
Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman are Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson in 'Bombshell'
I’m wary about this movie, which is going to be about how Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson took down Roger Ailes for sexual harassment, not because what they did wasn’t a good thing, but because I have a really hard time believing the makers of this movie are going to show their heroines, particularly Megyn Kelly, for the uber racist that she is. And she IS. Undoubtedly. If you’ve ever seen any clip of her taking about race, the vile hatred and white supremacy spewing out of her mouth is sickening. And we all know that anybody who would work for that network in the first place condones and is complicit with promoting and selling constant 24/7 racism. But I have a feeling that will be ignored entirely since this story is again, about the other defining trait of that evil network, which is the misogyny and rampant culture of sexual harassment behind the scenes. But I find it difficult to root for a person who only wants to do their job of promoting racism free from sexual harassment. One the other hand, you do have to tip your hat to Charlize Theron, who eerily resembles Megyn Kelly here- she’s pursing her mouth in just the right way.
Peter Fonda 1940-2019
Peter Fonda has passed away after a battle with lung cancer at the age of 79. Son to Henry and brother to Jane, he was part of a Hollywood dynasty and one of the key figures in the counterculture revolution of the New Hollywood of the 60’s and 70’s. After guest starring on many television series like Wagon Train and The Defenders, he started making counterculture movies with director Roger Corman, films like The Wild Angels (1966) and The Trip (1967), which was written by Jack Nicholson. Then he produced, co-wrote and starred in 1969’s Easy Rider with Dennis Hopper, who also directed, and which became one of the defining movies of the decade. His original screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, as was his buddy Jack Nicholson for Supporting Actor. His track record as an action star and director was a bit spotty throughout the 70’s, but he had a comeback with 1997’s Ulee’s Gold, for which he was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor.
Trailer for Easy Rider:
Emilia Clarke Finds Love with Henry Golding in 'Last Christmas'
I didn’t realize Paul Feig (The Heat, Bridesmaids) had a new movie coming out, nor that it was co-written by Emma Thompson, who came up with the story with her husband Greg Wise (!). Honestly, just the Emma Thompson part makes me more curious about it than the actual trailer, which doesn’t look that different from a typical romantic comedy (not that many of those get made anymore, but when they do they’re usually, you know, terrible). Also, Emilia Clarke’s track record in movies is pretty dismal so far, but she’s still trying.
Terence Malick is Back With a New WWII Film 'A Hidden Life'
This honestly looks like the most narratively coherent film Malick’s made in a while. That can only be a good thing, and has to be the reason it was picked up by Fox Searchlight at Cannes. This story of a man who tries to defy his leaders during the war also seems extremely timely, to be honest.
Saoirse Ronan Stars in a New 'Little Women,' Coming This Christmas
Setting aside the need for yet another version of Little Women in the world (there was just recently a BBC series with Maya Hawke and I think they should have waited a good 40-50 years after the 1994 one to do another feature film), how do you think this one looks? It seems fine, except Florence Pugh does not look right to me as Amy. She’s a good actress (she was great in Lady Macbeth and The Little Drummer Girl), but they’re using her to play Amy at both ages, which is a no-no, in my opinion. You have to use two different actresses for Amy, because no one in their twenties is believable as a 12-year-old and Florence Pugh already looks older than her age. Eliza Scanlen (Beth) looks younger than her. I’ll be seeing this of course, as a Little Women aficionado, but I’m very attached to the Winona Ryder version, and I doubt this will top it.
New U.S. Trailer for Antonio Banderas in Almodovar's 'Pain and Glory'
The last time I posted a tease for this movie was in February- since then it did well at Cannes and came out in Spain. Now it’s officially coming out here in the U.S. in October. There’s some Oscar buzz for the never nominated Antonio Banderas, playing a semi-autobiographical version of Pedro Almodovar himself. I can’t wait.
Official Trailer for Sam Mendes's War Epic '1917'
I suppose it’s been awhile since we’ve had an epic war movie, right? This one is set in the World War I (one of the few) and stars a couple of unknowns, but a supporting cast that includes Colin Firth, Bendedict Cumberbatch, Richard Madden, Mark Strong and Andrew Scott. Could be good. It’s coming out at Christmas.
Martin Scorsese Brings in the Heavyweights for 'The Irishman'
This movie has a lot of hype surrounding it, not only because it’s Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel’s reunion with Scorsese, but it brings Al Pacino into the mix and it’s using the digital de-aging technology to make them all look young again. What do you guys think? The movie looks pretty good, but is the CG too distracting? The thing to me is that we’re all extremely familiar with how these guys looked as young men and I’m not totally sure (based this trailer) that this brings them back to exactly as they were. So it’s iffy. The movie is opening the New York Film Festival September 27th, and then coming out on Netflix sometime later this fall.
