Friday, December 9, 2016

My Day with Film (Friday, 12/9/16)

Friday, 12/9/16

Dear Diary,

Almost all the feelings I've had towards cinema over the last two weeks have stemmed from movie trailers. There have been so many! I started the day, or rather ended it late last night, with the trailer for SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING.


This looks fun enough for a Marvel movie. The wingsuit finally makes its big screen debut, and Michael Keaton looks incredible as the Vulture! He may be Spider-Man's best movie villain yet. However, I was sucked out of the whole thing immediately when I saw Peter in class watching footage of the airport scene from CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR on YouTube. Who on earth was filming it??? Giant W.T.F. there. I'm also wary of the relationship Peter has with Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Past SPIDER-MAN films have been interesting character studies because they're as much about how a young man grapples with both his personal relationships and his call to a higher duty as they are about action scenes. The whole allure of Peter Parker / Spider-Man is that he's forced to navigate the trials of young adulthood without a father figure. This iteration of the character - especially based on what we've seen in Civil War - feels like its beholden to a babysitter. I appreciate that they've skewed age-appropriate with the new casting, but I don't know if I'm entirely sold just yet. I am looking forward to seeing the finished product for Keaton's Vulture, if nothing else.

Then as I checked into Twitter this morning, I watched part of a live stream featuring the cast of ROGUE ONE. I guess they held some sort of event and Q&A at Lucasfilm, and then stars Alan Tudyk & Riz Ahmed and director Gareth Edwards took a tour of the Industrial Light & Magic offices. It was so cool to see all the different props and artwork in the halls from previous ILM features!

Later I saw even more new movie trailers! Can you believe it?? We got the first full trailer for WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES today and without a stupid fucking 15-second teaser days beforehand too!!!!

I've enjoyed this PLANET OF THE APES prequel series so far, and there's no reason to think WAR will be any different. I'm fascinated by Woody Harrelson's presence as much as I am eager to see Andy Serkis evolve the character of Caesar even further.

I've written before about how much I hate those "teasers for the teasers." Just give me the full two minutes. Universal did it late last week with THE MUMMY, and they're at it again with the first reveal of the next FAST & FURIOUS movie.


FAST 8 is officially titled THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS, and the full trailer will be available online sometime this coming Sunday. This is just another absurd superhero franchise anymore, but I've had a blast with the past few entries. I enjoyed some of the "behind-the-scenes" clips that the cast posted on Instagram during filming. Based on those alone, I'm excited to see what's in store for us next April.

In other news, /Film shared an insider report saying that James Franco has a role in the upcoming ALIEN: COVENANT. The report is a bit spoilery, so I'll leave you to explore further if you wish.

Warner Brothers officially announced the Blu-ray release of Ben Affleck's recent thriller THE ACCOUNTANT. It streets on January 10th.


I enjoyed this movie as much as anybody, but the superlatives they picked are just absurd. How can an acting performance be "action-packed?" That's literally impossible. The story has to be "action-packed." Stupid. Maybe I'm just irritated that Warner didn't contact The Reel for my superlative. A kid can dream.

I watched GANGSTER SQUAD this afternoon. I think it's massively underrated and that it features Sean Penn's best performance in over a decade. I'm sure I'm the only one on the planet who thinks so, but that's fine. I actually saw GANGSTER SQUAD for the first time in the theater as a double bill with ZERO DARK THIRTY. Guess which one I had more fun with?

I reviewed LA LA LAND today, so be sure to check that out!

Lastly, I've got plans to go see Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals tonight which has been drawing lots of critical acclaim. I also reserved HELL OR HIGH WATER and MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES at Redbox. That reminds me, I need to go pick them up!


Until tomorrow,

BC


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