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

My Day with Film (Thursday, 12/8/16)

Thursday, 12/8/16

Dear Diary,

I got through THE REVENANT late last night. It was my first time re-watching it since seeing it in the theater. I feel like if I ever want to watch that movie again, I need to rent out a movie theater. My 32-inch Vizio doesn't cut it. The visual experience of that film is just too good for an average home display.

I feel like there's been nothing to report on but movie trailers in the past two weeks. Today we've got full looks at the BAYWATCH reboot and THE WALL, a war thriller from Doug Liman (THE BOURNE IDENTITY) starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and John Cena.

If you ask me, BAYWATCH looks like a trainwreck in the making. I understand the commercial appeal of Dwayne Johnson and the cast of insanely attractive people, but, my God, Zac Efron is comedic cancer. He singlehandedly ruins this trailer for me. The script also sounds abysmal from the sound bites included here. As a fan of Alexandra Daddario's (*ahem*) body of work and the likely scene-stealing turn by comedian Jon Bass, I'll probably see this anyway. Expectations couldn't be lower though.

THE WALL could be solid. Liman is a director with marvelous control of action and suspense, which look to be delivered in spades here. If you think this seems like an interesting premise, go watch Mickey Keating's CARNAGE PARK on Netflix. Imagine the concept of THE WALL crossed with THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and you'll have a modest idea of what to expect.

In other news, Bloomberg reports that Fox, Universal, and Warner Brothers have entered into negotiations with Apple to offer first-run theatrical releases to iTunes & AppleTV users at a premium price point. It was really only a matter of time before something like this happened. The theatrical release window is only going to shrink with the rise of digital platforms. This move really only benefits families who would pay around $100 for a night out at the movie theater. I, for one, would not pay to watch JUSTICE LEAGUE at home for $50 on release day. Now if the studios agreed to release films on AppleTV a week or two before their theatrical run, that might be a different story. Only time will tell.

Paramount announced today that the next film in the CLOVERFIELD universe has been moved from March to October of next year. It's rumored that the film will be titled "GOD PARTICLE," about a team of astronauts who are forced to reckon with a shocking discovery. Sounds like an ALIEN reboot to me. J.J. Abrams would do that to us too. It sounds awesome though, especially with the cast of David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Bruhl, Chris O'Dowd, John Ortiz and Ziyi Zhang. 

Kodak also launched a new website and mobile app today called "Reel Film." It shows you locations where you can watch movies projected from actual film, as well as where you can see movies that were shot on film stock. I'd have to go to Columbus in order to see IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE on 35mm, but still, that's pretty rad. Check it out for yourself.

I got an email yesterday updating me on the status of an Indiegogo campaign I contributed to for this new '80s-style horror film called THE BARN. I've been following this thing closely for about a year and a half, and I contributed enough money to the campaign in order to receive a DVD. Allegedly, the DVDs had some printing and formatting issues which is why they're now over a month late on delivery. I've heard great things about the movie, and I cannot wait to see it! I'm disappointed it wasn't in my hands in time for Halloween this year, but I'd much rather have a quality product at the end of the day. Tom Holland's Terror Time got an inside scoop on what exactly this DVD will look like, and I couldn't be more stoked. 

Indiegogo contributors get first dibs and then the remaining stock will go on sale to the general public. Visit TheBarnMerch.com for all the goods!

Speaking of DVDs, I went to Best Buy today looking for Seth Rogen's Christmas movie THE NIGHT BEFORE. I found it and then some. 

I've never seen MUNICH, but I've heard that it's arguably Steven Spielberg's best film. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL was an interesting sci-fi thriller from earlier this spring that I've been eager to revisit. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON just got a 4K remaster for its 15th anniversary and was re-released with a bunch of new bonus material. For the price, it was a wonderful pickup. 

I'm going to see FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM with my sister tonight. It will be my second time seeing it and her first. She's writing a report / review on it for extra credit for a mythology class. 

Okay, I think that about covers everything today. By the end of the night, though, who knows? It's a lifestyle. 

I'll leave you with this badass photo of Josh Brolin and Paul Thomas Anderson on the set of INHERENT VICE. (Courtesy of @TheFilmStage)

Until tomorrow, 

BC

My Day with Film (Wednesday, 12/7/16)

Wednesday, 12/7/16


Dear Diary,

After midnight last night (technically today!) I watched Michael Dougherty's KRAMPUS. I'm convinced that it is a new holiday classic. At least it will be in my house. I love the mythology of its story, as well as Dougherty's creative vision and use of practical visual effects in order to realize that vision. Also, the film features one of the best opening credits scenes of all time. If CHRISTMAS VACATION and GREMLINS are near and dear to your heart, KRAMPUS is for you.

Later, when I woke up in the morning and scrolled through my social feeds, I found two new "teasers for the teasers." These are those 10-20 second clips of a movie trailer you usually see promoted in your Instagram or Twitter feed. In the past week, we've had "teasers for the teasers" for THE MUMMY, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 and TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT. Today, we got 'em for SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING and the BAYWATCH reboot. Full trailers for these anticipated blockbusters are coming tomorrow. Perhaps it's no surprise that SPIDER-MAN looks pretty awesome, and BAYWATCH looks like a trainwreck in the making. Decide for yourself.

I'm not sure where I stand on the whole "teaser for the teaser" thing. It's a neat ploy to build hype on social media, but at the same time, nothing beats seeing the full two and a half minutes in a movie theater for the first time. How cool was it when J.J. Abrams shocked us all in January with the trailer for 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE? You didn't see it on YouTube first; you had to go watch 13 HOURS in the theater on Thursday night. Call me old fashioned, but I think that's awesome.

Later in the afternoon, I had to swing by Target to pick up some working Christmas lights, but I found APOCALYPSE NOW on Blu-ray for $4. I nearly had a stroke when I saw that price. It has both the theatrical and "Redux" versions, as well as a separate disc full of bonus features. Both cuts of the film are on and off streaming services constantly, but APOCALYPSE NOW is one of those movies that demands consistency and quality in terms of home viewing. It deserves a place on your shelf no matter what. If you ask me, at $4, that's one of the finest deals you can get as a cinephile.

I saw that a remake of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is in the works at Warner Brothers, and they've announced Greg Berlanti as director. Berlanti is known for his work as a producer and showrunner for DC's television universe consisting of Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl. Might be interesting.

Tonight I asked some friends when we'll be seeing OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY and ROGUE ONE. One of my buddies is out of town, so OCP may be out. We'll see.

I also saw Will Smith's new film COLLATERAL BEAUTY. Be on the lookout for my full review next week. I'm reviewing LA LA LAND very soon as well. Stay tuned to my Facebook and Twitter pages.

Lastly, I'm thinking THE REVENANT for tonight's at-home viewing.


Until tomorrow,

BC

My Day with Film (Saturday, 12/3/16)

Saturday, 12/3/16


Dear Diary,

I'm close to landing a stint as an intern on the set of a new indie thriller shooting in Louisville this week and next. I've been in touch with some great people and now just waiting on approval from the Assistant Director staff. More to come on that in the days ahead.

James Wan is directing the AQUAMAN movie starring Jason Momoa for Warner Brothers. It's part of the whole Justice League / Batman v Superman movie universe. The official release date has been announced for that film: October 5th, 2018. That's the exact day my baby sister turns 21. Damn, I'm getting old.

I just saw an article from Indiewire which said that Johnny Depp, David Lynch and J.K. Simmons recently joined THE BLACK GHIANDOLA, a short film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Sam Raimi and Ted Melfi. It's about a young man risking everything to save the girl he loves after his family is killed by zombies. The kicker is that the short was conceived and co-written by young Anthony Conti, a teen battling stage IV adrenal cortical cancer. It makes my heart happy to see all this A-list talent coming together to turn this kid's filmmaking dreams into reality. I hope to see the finished product someday.

In other news, I think you'll be pleased to know that GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 2 looks even better than the original. Marvel just released a brand-new trailer which you can (and should!) check out here:

Baby Groot is poised to steal this entire movie.

Lastly, I'm trying to decide what movie to watch tonight. I have at least one episode of BLACK MIRROR to get through, but after that I'm not sure. Yesterday BLACK MIRROR had me in the mood to watch my Criterion disc of David Fincher's THE GAME, so maybe that'll be the one.

Until tomorrow,

BC

Trailer Round-Up (Week of 10/21/16)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WhQcK-Zaok

Logan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Div0iP65aZo

Assassin's Creed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4haJD6W136c

A Cure for Wellness - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mcVodJmBlU

"X-Men: Apocalypse" Review

WARNING: This post may contain spoilers... unless you've seen an X-Men movie before.

Bryan Singer returns to bring us the third film in the X-Men: First Class trilogy; a film which, in title alone, promises to be the biggest X-Movie yet. And with the promise of so many fresh faces, surely X-Men: Apocalypse would be something special, right?

Right???

Wrong.

X-Men: Apocalypse is the biggest cinematic letdown of the year so far. It isn't entirely devoid of all merit, but the shocking lack of both action and stakes, as well as an empty blowhard of a villain, make this a middle-of-the-road superhero movie and easily the most underwhelming X-Men film since X-Men Origins: Wolverine. 

Seeming to backtrack once again from the ending of Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse takes place in the mid-1980s, so one can't help but wonder why Patrick Stewart never went back to warn James McAvoy that they'd eventually be pitted against an Egyptian god capable of decimating the entire world with little effort. The story here is that the world's first mutant, En Sabah Nur a.k.a. "Apocalypse" (Oscar Isaac), awakens after being preserved underground for 5,000 years. Back then, the Egyptians worshiped him because of his abilities. In the '80s, he comes to find that too much has changed, including the fact that nobody worships him anymore. To him, the only logical thing to do is cleanse the earth of mankind and "build a better world" where everyone will kneel to the might of En Sabah Nur and his "four horsemen." Since Pestilence, War, Famine and Death are no longer by his side, he recruits powerful mutants like Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Angel (Ben Hardy), Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender). From here, Apocalypse can be seen preening for the rest of the movie. On the other side of the coin, the X-Men have some bushy-tailed recruits of their own, including Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Quicksilver (Evan Peters). They join mainstays Professor X (McAvoy), Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) in an effort to prevent yet another extinction-level event.

This is pretty standard superhero formula, and the script by Simon Kinberg (responsible for two different ends of the X-spectrum, including X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past) does precious little to deviate from that. That said, Magneto gets a bit of a fresh facelift as we pick up with him trying to live a normal, peaceful life in Poland. He has a wife, daughter, and steady job as a metalworker of all things. Fassbender gives another committed performance and has one of the best scenes in the entire franchise when Erik faces the consequences of revealing his powers during a workplace accident that would've killed a man without his help.

For the most part, however, nobody else in the cast is given strong material to work with. The performances aren't awful; there's just nothing here to make anybody in particular stand out. This is an ensemble packed with loads of exciting talent, and it will be awesome to see future installments with this cast. But there was nothing here that made me go "Man, I LOVED ______ ! I can't wait to see more of him/her in the next one!" Sure, Quicksilver gets a couple more great time-freezing sequences but nothing that lives up to the one in the Pentagon kitchen in DoFP. I will say that it would be ill-advised NOT to use Munn's Psylocke in a Deadpool sequel since she's basically Wade Wilson's female counterpart. She hardly gets to do anything in this movie anyway, so using her elsewhere might bring the fulfillment that fans (and the character) deserve. Perhaps more devastating than the actual apocalypse itself is the fact that Oscar Isaac's talents are essentially reduced to rubble along with everything else. En Sabah Nur, a guy who's supposed to single-handedly wipe everything out, ultimately does nothing with it. He destroys Cairo, and part of New York City, and sends the world's nuclear payloads to outer space, but in the grand scheme of things, he accomplishes literally nothing aside from getting a few mutants to listen to his incessant monologuing about how the world will soon fall and rise again in his image. Isaac could've made him an intriguing character, but it seems Kinberg failed to write him that way. We get no sense of stakes with his "evil" plan, and there's barely a shred of evolution for any of the characters. For the ones that do really change like Magneto, who actually makes an effort at a normal life, it feels like we've seen it all before. Characters like Magneto, Mystique and Professor X have shown shreds of various characteristics, both good and bad, in these movies for years now. So when Mystique takes on a role as a leader of the X-Men, Magneto flip-flops from good to bad to good yet again, and Storm moves to the good guys' side, it doesn't really feel like anything new.

The last major disappointment here is that the film suffers from Star Wars prequel syndrome - too much talking, not enough "doing." If Singer, Kinberg, and apparently Apocalypse himself had their way, humanity would end simply by talking everyone to death. There is one cool action scene mid-way through that doubles as an exciting cameo, and then there's the climactic fight scene which lasts maybe 10 minutes. That's it. Something isn't right if the X-Men are supposed to be facing their single biggest villain yet, and it all blows over like a dusty fart.

X-Men: Apocalypse earns a couple points for at least doing something interesting with Magneto and for Michael Fassbender acting the shit out of it. There are a handful of fun character moments, but that doesn't make up for a rote villain and a story with no sense of stakes or purpose. You should know already if you're going to see this movie or not, but my recommendation falls at the lower end of "average."

C-

"Captain America: Civil War" Review

This is it. The superhero film you've been waiting for is finally here.... for the most part.

Captain America: Civil War lacks the cohesiveness of its direct predecessor but still manages to be one of Marvel's better films to date. Now overseers of the franchise, writers Chris Markus and Stephen McFeely (along with sibling directors Anthony & Joe Russo) weave a yarn that proves they understand how to make all these characters work inside of the same 2.5-hour run time. Joss Whedon proved it could be done in the first Avengers movie, and now that he's moved on, the Russos have crafted a more urgent Avengers sequel than Age of Ultron.

At the end of the last movie, the Avengers lineup looked a bit different. As such, Cap (Chris Evans) appears to have led these "New Avengers" on several missions between the end of Age of Ultron and the start of Civil War. It appears the core lineup is now Cap, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), the Vision (Paul Bettany), and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) with Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) joining in occasionally.

We pick up with the team in Lagos where they appear hot on the trail of Crossbones (Frank Grillo), one of Cap's classic nemeses from the comic books who was teased towards the end of Winter Soldier. During the operation, Scarlet Witch makes a foolhardy move that accidentally claims the lives of several innocent civilians (although, to this reviewer, the Avengers have appeared to do far worse damage before). This act proves to be the final straw to the United States government who feel some type of way about having their team of super-powered operatives making a mess of the entire world (see just about every "phase two" MCU film). The "Sokovia Accords" are passed as legislation requiring all super-humans to register with the United Nations or face retirement. This divides the Avengers in two, with #TeamIronMan in favor of the new law and #TeamCap looking to continue operating without oversight in order to eradicate evil wherever it may lurk rather than where the UN says it does. The greatest superhero clash in the history of movies ensues.

Although this reviewer is part of the minority which enjoyed the hell out of Batman v Superman, Marvel's superhero battle is every bit as satisfying as one could hope. Those disappointed in the marquee fight in DC's movie should be pleased with Civil War. Although it'd be great if the MCU films took a cue from their Netflix counterparts and gave the stunt choreography more room to breathe, a few sequences here aren't entirely masked by quick cuts and camera movement. The "money" fight scenes look incredible and contain some of the hardest-hitting action of the franchise. That said, it never gets quite as brutal as Daredevil or Jessica Jones.

By now, fans are eagerly anticipating the arrivals of Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Rest assured, they are both perfect. Civil War left me wanting to watch Ryan Coogler's Black Panther solo movie immediately, while our now-third cinematic Spider-Man proves to be the most comics-accurate of the bunch. If you originally balked at the idea of yet another rebooted Spider-Man, wait until you see Civil War. This is the breath of fresh air we never knew the franchise needed.

So, what's wrong with all of this? Well, Civil War just has so many important characters to stuff into each scenario that it just ends up feeling like a more bloated version of Winter Soldier. This is, by and large, a Captain America movie in which the real emotional conflict can be nailed down to Cap's ongoing struggle to bring his pal Bucky / the "Winter Soldier" (Sebastian Stan) "back to the land of the living," as they say. Enter Iron Man on the other side of the aisle, and you have an interesting exploration of the costs of friendship and brotherhood. Basically, this is what you get when you explore indie-film themes with a $200 million budget.

In the end, Civil War doesn't quite shake things up for the MCU like Winter Soldier did. For that, the film comes off as a bit of a disappointment. It's a worthwhile journey despite feeling fundamentally like another stepping stone. Still, these characters are great, the performances are stellar, and the action is as satisfying as billed. Though it may not be the perfect "savior" for the genre that some are saying, Captain America: Civil War demands your attention. Not to be missed.

B+

"Deadpool" Review

After years in development hell at Fox, the "Merc with a Mouth" finally has his own live-action movie! And they finally did right by the character. You may recall that Ryan Reynolds first played Wade Wilson in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but whatever abhorrent movie monster they turned him into for the final act was most assuredly NOT Deadpool.

Eww, no.

As a result of the public's violent outcry for an honest portrayal of Deadpool, Reynolds, along with writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, championed the character and the idea of an R-rated, stand-alone Deadpool film. After some "leaked" test footage went viral, Fox couldn't put the movie off any longer. They finally took a risk on what is essentially an R-rated X-Men movie. The character of Deadpool has always been synonymous with crude, scatalogical humor, crass language, fourth-wall breaking and graphic violence. Thank our lucky comic-book stars that none of that is lost in 2016's Deadpool.

Probably the film's most contrived aspect is that it is, at its core, another basic superhero origin story. The big difference is that Deadpool is well aware of its own trappings. First-time director Tim Miller and his writers use these basic pieces to present a character and his world so in-tune with the source material that this becomes a superhero movie that actually feels refreshing. 

Eww, yes.

Explaining the plot in-depth will give too much away because of the way Deadpool himself toys with the structure of the film. For example, he stops in the middle of the opening action scene and narrates to us how we got to the current situation, which happens to be a thug impaled on his dual katanas "like a fucking kebab." Deadpool's words, not mine. Through this detour, the character's backstory and stakes are established. We learn that the opening action scene is one important moment in a larger revenge narrative.  

As crass as Deadpool is as both a character and film, its lightheartedness is infectious. It's impossible to hate the way this story is treated when the character is played with so much enthusiasm and loyalty to its roots. Kudos to Reynolds for working tirelessly to do this character right and for finally pulling off a superhero role. It's been tossed around that this is the part Reynolds was "born to play." Deadpool fits his comic sensibilities and his physicality so perfectly that it's hard to argue otherwise.

As a film, Deadpool will never win any awards and may never be considered a "masterpiece" by anyone's standards. However, this is a film that knows exactly what it has to be and pulls it off without any glaring flaws. Believe it or not, Deadpool, Fox's R-rated super-gamble, is the first must-see movie of 2016.

A+