My Day with Film (Tuesday, 12/6/16)

Tuesday, 12/6/16


Dear Diary,

As I expected, the first trailer for the next TRANSFORMERS movie was released within the last 24 hours. I'd be lying to myself, and to you, if I said this trailer didn't surprise me at least a little bit. There are some striking images, and I dig Anthony Hopkins' voiceover. How on Earth they hoodwinked Hopkins into doing TRANSFORMERS, we may never know. THE LAST KNIGHT doesn't look like a good film by any stretch, but it may mark an improvement from the last handful of nigh-unwatchable sequels. A kid can dream. Here's hoping Michael Bay somehow turns this ship around before leaving it in another director's hands.

I also came across another movie trailer on Twitter today for a film called THE CIRCLE. It apparently stars Tom Hanks, Emma Watson and John Boyega.

So it looks like Hanks plays some sort of a Steve Jobs-type, and Watson and Boyega are a couple of employees who stumble onto something they shouldn't have with one of the company's new gadgets. Sounds like it might be fun, but it could also turn out to feel like an average episode of BLACK MIRROR. With James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) handling the script and direction, and with that cast, prospects seem bright.

In personal news, I was feeling under the weather most of today. While resting up, I finished the season finale of HBO's WESTWORLD which blew my mind a little bit. I feel like I need to rewatch that series about a half dozen times to catch things I missed. This gives me anxiety because there is just too much great content I need to get through and not enough hours in the day. I've been trying to get through a stack of movies on my shelf which consists of KRAMPUS, THE REVENANT, OCTOBER SKY, SPACE JAM, THE THIN RED LINE, THE GAME, and BOYHOOD among others. Since writing yesterday, I also watched GREMLINS all the way through for the first time on Amazon Prime. So that's one more streaming movie I can cross off my ever-expanding list.

Also I read the news today that the U.S.'s bid to extradite Roman Polanski was denied by Poland's Supreme Court. Authorities in the States have been trying to get this bid through for decades. In the late 1970s, Polanski allegedly made inappropriate contact with a 13-year old during a photoshoot in L.A. and has eluded American justice ever since. The rejection of the extradition bid means that Polanski is now free to work and live in Poland as he pleases. With this second chance, let's hope he keeps his nose clean.

David Ehrlich of IndieWire published a list of his 25 favorite films of this year, including the most memorable moments from each. I think it's neat that Ehrlich chose a favorite scene from each one, explaining how the films left their impressions on him personally. This is a far more engaging piece than your standard "end-of-year" Top 10 list. I may try to do something similar once I get around to seeing the rest of the awards contenders.

Lastly, my friend Tyler Keeton has a really cool horror blog called "Dripping Red Cinephile." He just interviewed Gian Keys, who plays Detective Griff Meadows in THE LOVE WITCH. Their discussion is worth your time, and so is this movie!

Until tomorrow,

BC

"Inferno" Review

After a 7-year hiatus, the adventures of author Dan Brown's inquisitive university professor Robert Langdon continue in Inferno. They say "third time's the charm," but let's be honest. Your appreciation of Inferno will depend entirely on your tolerance for The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons.

This time, Langdon (Tom Hanks) wakes up in an Italian hospital wondering how he got there. With the close aide of Dr. Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), the professor finds himself unwittingly at the center of a sinister plot to release a worldwide plague orchestrated by charismatic billionaire Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster). The virus is expected to halve the world's population. To stop it, Langdon and Dr. Brooks must solve a series of riddles which all bear a striking connection to Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy." Hot on their tails are an assassin (Ana Ularu) with an allegiance to a dubious security organization, Bouchard (Omar Sy), a private security officer with a shady personal agenda, and W.H.O. agent Elizabeth Sinskey (Sidse Babett Knudsen), a figure from Langdon's past.

The source material surely has its own Indiana Jones B-movie roots, but the screenplay from David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible) does precious little to elevate it beyond dreck. The script has a couple of neat twists, and director Ron Howard commands a game cast. However, even the incomparable Tom Hanks can only do so much with lines such as "It's Dante... yes... YES!" The player who seems to be having the most fun is Irrfan Khan who plays Henry Sims, a fixer with no particular commitment to the good or the bad guys. Khan chews the scenery as well as he can, and his presence alleviates the film's monotony at times. The proceedings are fast-paced but largely dry due to Koepp's risible dialogue. There's also just not much direction here. I've always felt that Howard's identity as a director disappears with these Da Vinci Code movies, and that streak continues. He's better than this. Everyone involved is.

It's rumored that Sony declined to make a film out of Langdon's only other adventure The Lost Symbol due to creative similarities with Disney's National Treasure. I think that's for the best.

D+