I shared my review of PASSENGERSthis morning. Spoiler alert - I did not care for it. I think the film releases Wednesday for anybody who is still interested. ASSASSIN'S CREED also comes out this week, so I hope to see it and post a review soon.
While working today, I pulled up the latest Movie Fight from the folks over at Screen Junkies. They don't do this all the time, but Screen Junkies recently started this new approach to Movie Fights by getting contestants drunk while arguing movies. It's great.
Today we got two new stills from ALIEN: COVENANT. The first trailer is imminent, per the folks at TrailerTrack.
We also got a brand new still from JUSTICE LEAGUE. This one features Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and Ezra Miller as The Flash staring pensively at something in the upper right corner.
We did, however, get the first trailer for THE EMOJI MOVIE. It's presented vertically, which means it is optimized for mobile viewing. Nobody will be surprised if the entire movie is shot that way. It's only a tease, but I think this trailer perfectly captures everyone's thoughts about the prospect of a film based on emoji.
There's also another trailer out now for A CURE FOR WELLNESS, which looks like a more stylized version of SHUDDER ISLAND. I'm excited for this one. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be terrible, but I think there's an interesting story and some insane visuals here. And I love haunted asylum horror/psychological thriller movies. This one is out mid-February.
Lastly, my mother is interested in seeing any and all Christmas movies right now, including KRAMPUS. I promised her we'd watch it tonight. We'll see how that goes.
Early previews for Passengers made it look like an intriguing successor to 2001: A Space Odyssey. With "America's sweethearts" Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt leading the cast, and The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum behind the camera, Sony had all the makings of a crowd-pleasing Oscar contender not unlike last year's The Martian.
The finished product is about as far removed from all of that as possible. Sure, Pratt and Lawrence have chemistry, but the script goes completely off the rails with a third act so contrived that it all but sinks the entire production. In this case, "S.O.S." might as well stand for "Save Our Story."
Pratt stars as Jim Preston, a mechanical engineer who awakes 90 years prematurely on a mission to colonize a distant, earth-like planet called Homestead II. He spends a year playing basketball, setting high scores on a space-age version of the "Just Dance" video game, and confiding in Arthur (Martin Sheen), an android bartender and the only friendly face Jim has to interact with. After all that time in solitude, and a brush with death, Jim decides that he needs human company.
Lawrence stars as Aurora Lane, a writer from New York City. Together, she and Jim must find and fix a malfunction that threatens to destroy their spaceship and take the lives of 5,000 colonists.
For about ninety minutes of its barely-two-hour run time, Passengers is a perfectly passable movie. It's neither flashy enough to measure up with a blockbuster like Rogue One, nor is it intimate enough to pass for an indie in the vein of Duncan Jones's Moon. Pratt proves that he has the charisma to carry a film on his own; the first 30 to 45 minutes or so are arguably the film's best. From this point, Passengers continues to skate by based on the chemistry that he and Lawrence share. Then something happens to remind you that there's actually a plot at work. The solution to the central conflict is literally placed in the protagonists' hands, and the rest of the film plays out as safely and predictably as one could imagine. By the end, you'll feel as though you've just sat through the ultimate male fantasy, and then you'll ask yourself how in God's name a certain actor received billing for his role in this film.
I think the overall message of the film is something along the lines of "love the one you're with." That may be clear, but there has got to be a better story to tell with this concept. To be totally honest, Michael Bay's The Island comes to mind as something of a favorable example of the his & hers "fish-out-of-water" tale. Pratt and Lawrence remain as likable as ever, but they need a vehicle that doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator.
I'm sorry that it's been a couple of days since I've written. 'Twas a busy weekend! I tried to keep up by tweeting and retweeting a lot of cool things I noticed online. I saw ROGUE ONE for a second time, yet it did not change my initial feelings towards the film as a whole.
This morning, I finished this season's viewing of the perennial cult classic SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. Based on the poster, you can probably guess what this movie is about. A traumatized young man dressed as Santa Claus goes on a Christmas Eve rampage across his town, snuffing out any and all semblances of naughtiness. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is most famous for the controversy surrounding it. Upon its release in 1984, no horror film had made a villain out of Santa Claus. That, combined with the film's graphic death scenes, prompted critics, politicians and concerned parents across the country to call for the film's swift ban, as well as the heads of both producer Ira Barmak and director Chuck Sellier, Jr. Among horror aficionados, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is most famous for containing one of the all-time great slasher movie deaths - a topless Linnea Quigley impaled on a mounted buck's antlers. Earlier this year, I picked up Anchor Bay's "30th Anniversary Edition" Blu-ray for an extremely low price. This is the complete uncut version of the film and is the only copy I've ever seen. Apparently, the master used for this Blu-ray disc was compiled from both an incomplete HD master and a VHS composite. At several moments, the "high-def" footage gives way to early-VHS-quality video. It's a bit jarring, and one could argue that it ruins the impact of one or two kills, but for me, it reinforces the film's low-budget charm. I can see why this is a cult classic, and just this year, it's become a fun guilty pleasure for me. Not recommended for children, the squeamish, or concerned mothers.
Industry news I saw today noted that ROGUE ONE made about $150 million in North America over the weekend. Worldwide cumulative estimates were just above $290 million. Perhaps unsurprisingly, COLLATERAL BEAUTY, the ensemble melodrama led by Will Smith, struggled to hit pay dirt. Read more about the weekend's box office totals at BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Speaking of ROGUE ONE, director Gareth Edwards spilled to Radio Times that he found some unused footage from A NEW HOPE that made it into the final cut of the new film. Industrial Light & Magic cleaned up the aging celluloid, and Edwards then used it hoping that eagle-eyed fans would appreciate it and that less discerning audiences wouldn't notice. I won't post spoilers for ROGUE ONE on this blog, so if you want to find out exactly which footage was used, read here.
We also got a couple of insanely awesome new teaser trailers today! These two sub-2-minute clips may have singlehandedly rescued me from my cynicism towards the just-passable trailers of the past several weeks, including THE MUMMY and WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES.
First we got an all-new look at JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2, and it looks terrific. The last film was a pleasant surprise with franchise potential that nobody saw coming, and the sequel looks to build on that in a valuable way. I can't wait!
Then we got our very first look at BLADE RUNNER 2049! I was skeptical at the idea of a sequel to BLADE RUNNER, but once Warner Brothers confirmed all the talent involved, I grew more receptive to it. This teaser damns skepticism to hell and may just be the best of this year. It shows just enough to make us excited but not so much that any aspects of the plot are given away. I could watch it a million times.
As I wrote this post and finished some other work for the day, I put on Criterion's disc of Terence Malick's THE THIN RED LINE. This is one that's been sitting on my shelf for several months, and I finally got around to it. Such a magnificent film.
Lastly, I'm ending my day with a screening of the new sci-fi romance film PASSENGERS. Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt have been tearing it up on the press junket for this movie, so hopefully it lives up to the hype.
It's here folks. It's finally here, which means 2016 can officially end. Rogue One is out there now, and all can be right with the world...
Rogue One represents the first of Disney's attempts to milk the traditional Star Wars timeline for everything it's worth, hence the subtitle "A Star Wars Story" rather than "Episode VII" or even "Episode III.V." As such, the film is also the first in the franchise to begin without an opening crawl. The audience in my screening was so confused when John Williams' classic theme wasn't the first thing they heard. Don't let that ruin the experience for you. Despite several dubious creative choices that may have completely collapsed a non-Star Wars film, Rogue One is still themovie that fans have been waiting nearly 35 years to see.
In the grand scheme of things, Rogue One really serves no worthwhile narrative purpose to the franchise. It's a 2.5 hour movie about the team of rebels that stole the structural plans to the Death Star, as hinted at in the original film's opening crawl.
In truth, it's a 2.5-hour movie about the reason why the Death Star had but one structural flaw that could be exploited with a perfectly placed torpedo from an X-Wing. By the nature of this film attempting to fit into a pre-existing timeline, its stakes are diminished. We've been watching its "sequel" for 40 years; we know how the story of Rogue One ends.
Ironically, it's this film's final thirty minutes that are the most exciting.
Director Gareth Edwards (2014's Godzilla) stages some of the most harrowing set pieces that the franchise has ever seen. The confrontation between Rebel and Imperial forces on the beach planet Scarif has Saving Private Ryan vibes. The Stormtroopers still have terrible aim, but the violence manages to be visceral on a level not seen in a Star Wars movie before. I hesitate to say any more about it so as to avoid spoilers. I'll just say that Dunkirk may be the perfect trailer to show before this film.
To be completely honest, other than the stellar climax, the narrative has astonishingly little else going for it. The film's opening looks and feels like something out of a David Lean film, courtesy of Greig Fraser's franchise-best cinematography. For the following hour and a half, the film grinds almost to a complete halt. Star Wars hasn't been this dry since Hayden Christensen's monologue about sand in Attack of the Clones. There are some shootouts peppered here and there to try and spice things up, but it doesn't really matter when you have trouble finding a reason to care for many of the main characters. The only ones who saved it for me were Donnie Yen as the blind master Chirrut Imwe, Ben Mendelsohn as the villainous Imperial general Orson Krennic, and Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, a reprogrammed Imperial escort droid. Think of him as Chewbacca in droid form if Chewy could crack wise in English. Yen is the character with the strongest Force powers and thus the movie's greatest badass. Seeing his blind character walk through a no-man's-land of blaster fire and kick the crap out of Stormtroopers with his staff never gets old. As for Mendelsohn as Krennic, well, this is Ben Mendelsohn we're talking about. He's a worthy addition to the canon of Star Wars bad guys.
Speaking of which, yes, HE returns and, out of a couple appearances, has one of his coolest, most terrifying moments ever. The moment in question is easily one of the film's best sequences. Hopefully you'll recognize it when you see it.
I thought Felicity Jones and Diego Luna were an absolute bore. They lead the film as Jyn Erso and Captain Cassian Andor respectively. They have almost zero chemistry, and their dialogue, rarely ever spoken above a whisper, has all the urgency of drying paint.
Perhaps Rogue One's most egregious sin, however, is Edwards' decision to use CGI for a couple of important supporting characters so as to shoehorn their place into this quasi-"prequel" narrative. If this wasn't a Star Wars film, I would have walked out. It nearly turns Star Wars into Who Framed Roger Rabbit? One character has far too much screen time while the other only makes a fleeting appearance. If you're a fan, you'll probably geek out for a second and then cringe. These characters look incomplete and totally unpolished, as though their scenes were re-shot and added to the finished product no earlier than a week before release. In the pantheon of Star Wars's kooky CG creations, I know where I'd rank them. I'll leave it to you, dear viewer, to decide which side of Jar Jar Binks to place them on.
In the end, Rogue One proves to be yet another journey to a galaxy far, far away that's worth taking. It's more in-sync with the original films than The Force Awakens and earns major points for being a distinctly original Star Wars narrative that still fits into the same timeline. Some of Edwards' creative decisions are dubious to the brink of catastrophe, but the film never totally crosses that line. If you were disappointed by Episode VII last year, and the word "prequels" makes you vomit in your mouth a little bit, then Rogue One may just be the Star Wars movie for you.
Since I last wrote, the first full trailer for Chris Nolan's DUNKIRK arrived online! It looks pretty awesome.
Is that Harry Styles I see in there? He actually looks like a human being! And Tom Hardy as an attack pilot?! Way cool. Allegedly, some IMAX screenings of ROGUE ONE around the country get to see the prologue of DUNKIRK projected from 70mm film. Unfortunately none of the theaters near me are lucky enough to have that.
Also since writing yesterday, I saw that Alan Thicke died tragically at the age of 69. I heard he was out playing hockey with his son and had a heart attack. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and with anyone else who was close to him. I used to love GROWING PAINS. With only about two weeks left, it'd be cool if 2016 could spare the rest of the greats.
In the gym earlier this afternoon, I heard "Shake Ya Tailfeather" from the BAD BOYS II soundtrack over the PA system. I nearly forgot how hard that song is. Instantaneously cranked my workout to the next level.
Then after my workout I went to see OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY. Some of the antics rival PROJECT X from a couple of years ago, but overall it isn't quite as memorable. It would've been a hoot to see the all-star cast go totally off-the-wall to deliver something as gleefully unhinged as PROJECT X or the first HANGOVER. They come close but never quite get there. Perhaps the saddest thing of all is that the movie just isn't that funny. Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, T.J. Miller, Olivia Munn, and Kate McKinnon have all delivered sidesplitting work in the past. I can't believe they couldn't push the envelope just a little bit more with this cast. There's a loose plot involving the Chicago branch of a data security company getting the sack unless they find a way to secure a big contract before everyone leaves for the holidays. So, they invite an important client (THE PEOPLE VS. O.J. SIMPSON's Courtney B. Vance) to their office Christmas party with the hope that he'll experience their culture firsthand and choose to work with them over the likes of Dell and Oracle. Holiday hijinks ensue. If you haven't seen this one yet, wait until next Christmas after it hits Redbox.
I saw on Twitter today were that the nominees for this year's SAG (that's "Screen Actors Guild) Awards were announced. You can check the list out courtesy of Variety. The big surprises that everyone's buzzing about are Viggo Mortensen's well-deserved inclusion in the race for Best Actor race for his turn in CAPTAIN FANTASTIC and Emily Blunt's Best Actress nomination for THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. Many are calling Blunt's nomination "the shock of the year" as she beat out the likes of ELLE's Isabelle Huppert and 20TH CENTURY WOMEN's Annette Bening who, up to this point, were two favorites to contend for the Oscar. I've yet to see ELLE or 20TH CENTURY WOMEN, but they can't be any worse than THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. Blunt's performance is okay but certainly not worthy of any major awards.
Another big thing I saw was that the first trailer for BLADE RUNNER 2049 is imminent. It will run exactly 98 seconds (the significance of that number, I'm not sure) and could be online as early as Sunday or Monday. If you ask me, it'd be smart for Warner Brothers to piggyback on ROGUE ONE. Aside from DUNKIRK I'm unaware of any other major blockbuster teases for opening weekend. BLADE RUNNER appeals to the same general demographic as STAR WARS, so why not? Maybe the hype of everything mushed together - DUNKIRK, STAR WARS, AND BLADE RUNNER - would just be too much. We'll see.
The last two news stories I noticed were that ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK's Ruby Rose is in talks to join PITCH PERFECT 3,and DOCTOR STRANGE was the highest grossing film in America during the month of November, raking in an estimated $222 million. According to Box Office Mojo, Marvel's latest has earned just under $650 million worldwide so far.
I'm concluding my day with a very special digital IMAX 3D screening of ROGUE ONE. I couldn't be more stoked! I watched A NEW HOPE and part of THE FORCE AWAKENS last night because the hype was just too real. I also wanted the context and nuances of the original fresh in my mind before going into this one. Hopefully I'll get even more out of it that way. I wanted to play more STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT beforehand because there's new DLC that just came out, and I've played maybe five minutes of it. It's got maps and heroes inspired by the new film. Maybe I'll play a game or two after I get home.
I will type up my full review and share it tomorrow so that anyone going to the first shows can be informed. I promise to be as spoiler-free as possible!
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)
After two polarizing first films (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Warner Brothers and the DC Comics Extended Universe could really use a hit. They need a picture that gels both with critics and audiences to prove that they can do everything that Marvel and the Avengers movies can. As such, we've all been anxiously awaiting writer/director David Ayer's Suicide Squad with bated breath. We've seen wacky trailers, incredible posters, and promising promotional images for at least two years now. Surely these "bad guys" would be the ones to right the DCEU ship and deliver a satisfying, offbeat thrill-ride.
This week I sat down in my IMAX seat, 3D glasses on, waiting to fall in love with the Suicide Squad, but they might as well have stood me up. Considering the amount of hype that went into this thing, David Ayer's Suicide Squad is the biggest cinematic letdown in recent memory.
Believe it and accept it, folks. Rotten Tomatoes isn't out to get anybody, and this reviewer sure as shit isn't being paid to say so. The movie just really isn't anything special.
The first act is comprised of the same plot point reiterated at least 3-4 times. Intelligence officer Amanda Waller (a steely Viola Davis) meets with a handful of her superiors no less than twice to discuss her wishes of putting a strike team of supervillains together. With Superman out of the picture for now, the idea is that this "suicide squad" is to act as a contingency against "metahumans" who don't abide by America's best interests. Then we get scenes introducing each individual character as Waller runs down the roster. Each scene has a sort of funky appeal to it, whether by the characters themselves or some slick filmmaking on Ayer's part. For example, there's a great flashback scene between Deadshot (Will Smith) and Batman (Ben Affleck) which also introduces Deadshot's relationship with his daughter. Later, the Enchantress (Cara Delevigne) is introduced by way of some solid horror elements reminiscent of both Indiana Jones and Neil Marshall's The Descent.
The second act sees the team of misfits out on a mission in Central City, home of The Flash. One might expect him to turn up if there were evil afoot in his hometown. In fact, that would've been an interesting dynamic to explore - the Squad and Flash showing up to fight the same baddie and then, perhaps reluctantly, joining forces. Sadly that never happens. First, the Suicide Squad is tasked with rescuing a target from the top floor of a high-rise building. Next, they're sent to stop the Enchantress from building a machine which will wipe out most of the world.
Zzzzzzz...
When the Squad finally gets together, the whole movie ends up following a hokey plot we've seen a million times before in comic book movies and video games - kill a horde of monster henchmen to get to the final boss who's hellbent on global domination/destruction. Not to mention all of this stinks of the Joel Schumacher era. But where his Batman movies embraced and explored cartoonish camp, Suicide Squad still curiously remains grounded in reality. By trying to capture both the campy side and the gritty side of the material, the film loses its sense of identity, if it even had one to begin with. It tries so desperately to capture the manic outlaw spirit of Guardians of the Galaxy and the irreverent nihilism of Deadpool that the story feels like a shallow afterthought.
Speaking of shallow, the only characters worth their salt out of this entire cast are Deadshot, Amanda Waller, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and, for me, Diablo (Jay Hernandez). Diablo has an interesting backstory which informs his character and makes his arc possibly the most interesting of the film. As Harley, Robbie pulls off the seductive killer minx thing as well as anyone could've expected. The movie shines when she's on-screen, as long as it's not alongside the Joker (Jared Leto). Historically, I've enjoyed Leto's work both as an actor and musician, but I was disgusted by this interpretation of the Joker. As he sits in a secluded booth at the back of the strip club, decked out in gold chains and fur coat, with bodyguards on either side and Rick Ross bumping in the background, we have to wonder just when exactly the Joker became Suge Knight. Leto plays it like Tupac-meets-Tony Montana-meets-Jim Carrey. That's a curious combination which never once worked for me. We'll likely see him again, but I'm not looking forward to it.
The remaining members of this refreshingly diverse cast are all mostly squandered. Slipknot (Adam Beach) is around maybe for five minutes. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) is your average military-man character. Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) mostly just growls in the background save for a couple of barely-audible lines. But, hey, that makeup is impressive! Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) has a few kitschy lines and probably represents the high point in Courtney's career. Katana (Karen Fukuhara) is given precious little to do as the Squad's watch dog. Her backstory is glossed over almost completely, which is sad because she could've been great with more focus.
Really the film's biggest problem is an overabundance of characters and no clue how to handle them. Most of the backstories feel forced, and with so many subplots, it's difficult to tell where the movie's ultimate focus is. Still, all things considered, Suicide Squad is entertaining in spurts. A couple of action scenes here and there are cool, and many of the actors do strong work. The film also certainly represents a welcome shift in tone for the DCEU, but it should've come in a film with a stronger story and a deeper understanding of its characters. If you've been excited to see Suicide Squad, by all means, go buy a ticket. I don't think anyone should ever be dissuaded from seeing a movie they've been eager to support. Just temper your expectations and pray that the excellent Wonder Woman trailers don't go down in history as evidence of a similar fluke.
Having switched allegiance to Star Wars, J.J. Abrams steps out of the director's chair for the third installment of his rebooted Star Trek movie series. Star Trek Beyond is helmed by Justin Lin (the Fast & Furious series) and written by Simon Pegg & Doug Jung. Out of these three newer movies, this is the one that feels the most like classic Star Trek. It's also the least entertaining.
Here we find the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise at the mercy of Krall (Idris Elba), a villain who despises Starfleet and everything it stands for. With the crew divided and held captive on a remote planet, it's up to Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Chekov (the late Anton Yelchin) and the fierce nomad Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) to get everyone back and stop Krall from wiping out Yorktown, a vital Starfleet base.
Facing steep odds, the crew use the visceral power of none other than the Beastie Boys' hit song "Sabotage" as a space weapon to destroy thousands of technologically superior swarm ships.
Seriously, that happens.
It isn't a spoiler for the end of this movie so much as it spoils the franchise. Now, every time I think of Star Trek, I will recall this scene and be salty. The shark has irrevocably been jumped. Thanks, Justin Lin / Simon Pegg.
More of the problems I had with this movie...
Elba proved back in April that he can play a ruthless, terrifying villain when given the right material (see The Jungle Book). Here, he's underutilized as Krall and feels like yet another disposable "baddie of the week." His exact motive isn't revealed until the last 25 or so minutes, so prepare to spend most of this movie wondering exactly what in the hell this guy's beef with the Enterprise is.
I also couldn't stand the cinematography. The frame seems to constantly rotate 180 degrees, and when it's not doing that, everything feels like it's shot at a 45 degree angle. I walked out afterwards with a splitting headache, (Chris) pining for the days of J.J.'s lens flare.
I'll show myself out in a minute...
Otherwise, Star Trek Beyond is less of a "bad" movie and more of a "decent" two-hour TV episode. As I mentioned, out of the now three rebooted films, Star Trek Beyond is the most in-tune with the original television series. The character dynamics are more consistent with their original counterparts, which fans of the show should love. Kirk finally drops the smarmy playboy shtick and fully embraces his role as a leader. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Bones (Karl Urban) spend most of the film together, and their repartee could not be more perfect. Yelchin makes what is likely his best turn yet as Chekov, and I look forward to seeing what remains of his tragically curtailed, unreleased filmography. Star Trek Beyond just doesn't have much else that makes it feel distinctly cinematic and therefore worthy of your hard-earned cash at the box office. The IMAX showtimes may try to convince you otherwise, but this is precisely the kind of action flick you wait to enjoy on cable.
"We had twenty years to prepare, and we still weren't ready."
Tagline, or general consensus towards the idea of an Independence Day sequel?
Indeed, it has been precisely twenty years since Independence Day captivated our hearts and minds on its way to becoming one of the definitive summer blockbuster movies of all time. Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith affirmed their superstar status in a film loaded with humor, charisma, and balls-out action.
Of course, the idea of a sequel to such a beloved film (especially one without Smith!) didn't sit well with most people, myself included. Independence Day is one of this reviewer's favorite films, but when I discovered that the first wasn't exactly a critical darling, I became a bit more receptive to this sequel idea.
That made all the difference in the world.
As it turns out, Independence Day: Resurgence is a sequel worthy of franchise canon. Granted it's still grossly inferior, but anyone who enjoyed the original for what it was should find more than enough thrills here.
The second chapter of the Independence Day saga shows us what Earth might look like if we had twenty years to adopt advanced extraterrestrial technology. Washington, D.C. looks like a booming metropolis with sleek skyscrapers now flanking the White House. Capitol Hill looks like it's at the 50-yard-line of a state-of-the-art NFL stadium; plenty of capacity for those rah-rah speeches. David (Goldblum) is now the head of intergalactic defense, or something. Regardless, that's pretty f**king badass. Don't we all wish we had that job?
David heads out to the Sahara desert to investigate an event that coincides with an attack on the moon. A large alien craft makes short work of an international base there, effectively crippling Earth's defenses. The last ones fit to make a stand are Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth), your typical maverick fighter pilot, Dylan Hiller (Jessie T. Usher), son of the deceased Captain Steve Hiller (Smith), Charlie Miller (Travis Tope), Jake's co-pilot and the film's comic relief, and Rain Lao (Angelababy), a beautiful war hero and object of Charlie's affections.
The threat is much bigger this time with the queen of the alien horde returning to mine Earth's core for energy. Instead of several small flying saucers over our major landmarks, the queen brings one massive ship that stretches across half of the entire planet. To stand any chance of survival, the young team of fighter pilots must coordinate with David and the minds at Area 51, including Dr. Oaken (Brent Spiner) and former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman).
There are too many side characters which effectively makes the already risible dialogue even more of a slog. I thought Maika Monroe and Charlotte Gainsbourg were nice additions to the cast; Monroe as Whitmore's daughter Patricia and Gainsbourg as scientist Catherine Marceaux. Gainsbourg's scenes with Goldblum are some of the film's better moments. I just wish she had a bit more to do. She deserved more screen time than, say, Dr. Isaacs (John Story) or Floyd Rosenberg (Nicolas Wright). These guys were given entirely too much to do since they're both superfluous in the grand scheme of things. The script is already inherently silly enough; I don't need a Floyd Rosenberg character trying to wring chuckles out of me.
Other than that, it's still the same mindless Independence Day you remember. Judd Hirsch returns as David's father Jules whose subplot is meant to fill the void left by Randy Quaid. This film doesn't have any moments that are as memorable as "Hello, boys! I'm baaaaaack!" But we do get Data from Star Trek telling us to get ready to "kick some alien ass" in the setup for Independence Day 3. THAT movie promises to be something like "Jeff Goldblum Saves the Universe," which is something we should all be able to get behind.
Filmmaker Ben Wheatley's controversial and highly-anticipated thriller High-Rise is finally here for us common folk to behold. It's based on a J.G. Ballard story once believed to be "unfilmable." Though Wheatley's aspirations are certainly commendable, the film feels like something of a missed opportunity. It comes off like a bastard cousin to the oeuvre of Stanley Kubrick. In all honesty, it probably could've been a masterpiece in that guy's hands.
The concept of the story is that an architect named Mr. Royal (Jeremy Irons) has designed four high-rise apartment complexes, each complete with a public swimming pool and supermarket. Unbeknownst to the residents, however, each high-rise houses a different social experiment of Royal's own design. The film smartly explores only one. There are so many supporting characters that the narrative feels pretty bloated as it is; this would only be exacerbated if more characters in the other towers were introduced. The main protagonist in this dystopia is Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston), a university psychiatrist. He acquaints himself with a colorful cast of characters, including love interest Charlotte (Sienna Miller), the unstable documentarian/lothario Wilder (Luke Evans), and Wilder's wife/other possible love interest Helen (Elisabeth Moss). They are our main lens into life on the "lower floors" of the high-rise. They contend with the likes of Royal and the bourgeoisie around him on the upper floors. (In case the class warfare thing wasn't clear, these folks regularly throw parties where everyone dresses as 18th-century nobility.) As Royal's experiment reveals itself, the lives of everyone on the lower and upper floors descend into chaos.
Wheatley has a talent for setting up striking images, of which there are plenty here. The problem is that he doesn't always allow them to breathe, with edits placed just a tad too short for us to fully process what we're seeing. This translates to how the story is handled as well. With so many characters on so many different tangents, Laing is something of a letdown as a protagonist. He's supposed to be the audience's window into this world, and he's never given any relatable qualities. The most normal-headed character in the bunch turns out to be Toby (Louis Suc), Charlotte's son, but he's given precious-little screen time in order for him to be a satisfying presence for the audience in this dystopia. That said, Hiddleston gives a committed performance as Laing and continues to make a case for being my new favorite actor. It's simply through misguided filmmaking decisions that the story's complicated sociopolitical and socioeconomic themes don't resonate with as much force as they're meant to.
Perhaps the best thing about High-Rise is the production design. It exists on a retro-futuristic plane circa 1978. The architecture, cars, costumes and hairstyles all work for the time but also never feel out of place in moments where the period is meant to be less obvious. The set dressing is also impeccable, from the penthouse decked in white, to the lived-in feel of the Wilder family flat, to Laing's manic grey-scale painting day.
All in all, High-Rise leaves us with the wrong kind of uneasy feeling. The film didn't force me to think about how its themes resonate in my own world so much as it got me thinking how they might have if Kubrick had made it instead. There are some excellent pieces here, and it's truly unlike anything else out there right now, but some of Wheatley's decisions ultimately render High-Rise a missed opportunity that's hard to recommend.
Indie auteur Jeff Nichols (Mud, Shotgun Stories) makes the leap to studio filmmaking with Midnight Special, a bold, new sci-fi adventure that's a little bit Bonnie & Clyde crossed with Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In the film, Roy (Michael Shannon) and his friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton) are purported to be armed fugitives who have kidnapped a small boy. Turns out, that boy is Roy's son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), and Roy has stolen him away from a religious leader (Sam Shepard) who alienated Roy and adopted Alton as his own son. Roy and Alton once lived on a ranch in Texas run by this cult whose entire theology centers around Alton and his unique abilities. As Alton's health begins to deteriorate, the conflict becomes a race against time, federal authorities and religious fanatics who all want to exploit the boy for different purposes.
The film itself is deliberately paced but consistently engaging. Nichols' indie roots are felt throughout the production in the choices he makes with the narrative and the characters. Despite B-movie ingredients, this is a very intimate, grounded production which values human emotions and interactions over extraneous visual effects. It doesn't feel "slick" or polished like last year's indie sci-fi darling Ex Machina. Midnight Special feels gritty in the way Nichols' previous work has, but it never gets overbearingly dreary. Alton is the key to maintaining a subversive sense of childlike wonder and discovery for the audience, and both Nichols' direction and Lieberher's performance deliver on that despite the external forces bearing down on the protagonists.
The most distressing part of this whole production is that Shepard's character is underused, and one gets the sense that much of his role was relegated to the cutting room floor. How do you get Sam Shepard for your movie and then hardly use him? Hopefully he'll get his due diligence in the Blu-ray deleted scenes.
Some audiences may also find fault with the way the film ends. While it's refreshing that things aren't exactly tied up in a bow, the climax sees Nichols perhaps overplaying his hand with "the big reveal." If you saw 10 Cloverfield Lane, the payoff feels similar; not completely void of merit but perhaps a little more than necessary. As a whole, though, Midnight Special is a unique sci-fi adventure that's worth taking, especially for indie fans.
(F.Y.I. - Midnight Special is NOT based directly on the folk song, although a new cover version is used over the end credits.)
10 Cloverfield Lane is NOT a sequel to 2008's found-footage monster flick, Cloverfield. I like J.J. Abrams' analogy: "two different rides at the same amusement park." 10 Cloverfield Lane is really only related in name but still affirms the world-building of its predecessor. That is, the possibility and plausibility of a larger parallel universe existing alongside our own - one populated by kaiju from the depths of the sea and aliens from the farthest reaches of outer space.
This is a very different film from what a direct Cloverfield sequel might look like. It abandons the found-footage aesthetic for more traditional cinematography and scales the whole production down from a massive monster attack in New York City to a chamber piece set almost entirely in the claustrophobic confines of a fallout shelter.
The story follows Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a young woman confronted with an emotional conflict that prompts her to leave her fiance, Ben (Bradley Cooper, whom we only hear or get to know by a phone call). On her way out of town, she's run off the road and rescued by Howard (John Goodman), a conspiracy theorist and doomsday prepper. Michelle wakes up in Howard's bunker and is told that the air above ground has been contaminated by a chemical attack and that no living thing remains. Also holed up with them is Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.), a young man who claims to have worked for Howard and knew that the bunker would be safe from whatever happened outside. After Howard sets some strict ground rules such as "no touching" and supervised bathroom privileges, Michelle and Emmett begin digging around and discover that Howard may be a manipulative psychopath. This makes them desperate to plan an escape and find proof of what really happened outside.
The message is in the tagline: "Monsters come in many forms." Michelle especially is confronted with several, and the film is about how she grows and overcomes these demons or "monsters," as it were. The first is personal. She claims that she has a problem with conflict and that she always runs away when she doesn't know what to do. That's tough when you're confined to a small doomsday bunker. The second is her fellow man, and the third is something out of this world. The obvious question that the film poses, however, is "Which is the bigger monster - mankind, or the unknown lurking outside?"
First-time director Dan Trachtenberg and his team of writers (including Whiplash's Damien Chazelle) give levity to both sides of this question. My nerves were shot from beginning to end because I truly had no idea what to expect. Sure, the intimate stuff is more engaging, but the big final act gives ample credence to the three character arcs and finishes in a very satisfying place. This film works extremely well if you take it on its own merits and don't carry in the baggage of what you think a "Cloverfield sequel" should look like. I have no complaints. Just about anything that first seemed off can be explained if you just give the story some thought.
Skip out on IMAX for this one. The scope of the film is far too small to justify the cost of an even bigger screen.
Gods of Egypt is an action/fantasy film from director Alex Proyas (The Crow, I, Robot) and stars far too many miscast actors - including Gerard Butler, Brenton Thwaites, Geoffrey Rush, and "Game of Thrones'" Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Even Chadwick Boseman - one of the film's two ethnically appropriate actors - is forced to try on a British accent to woefully awkward avail. Elodie Yung is the only hope for accurate representation as Hathor, the goddess of love. She's great, and the rest of the cast are as good as they can be even if it is difficult to take anything, or anyone, from this bonkers production seriously.
Regardless of the talent involved, this kind of casting really isn't okay. Perhaps Gerard Butler is an easier sell as the lead of a blockbuster action film than, say, a guy like Naveen Andrews (Sayid from ABC's "Lost"), but that's the problem. Would the general public reject the film if Naveen were in the lead role? Somehow I doubt it, as long as the film's decent. Gods of Egypt offers a small handful of mindless pleasures, but let's just say the whitewashing is only the beginning of this film's problems.
The story kicks off when the angry god Set (Butler) usurps Horus (Coster-Waldau) on the day of his coronation, blinds him, and banishes him to exile. Set takes up the throne and rules by fear, pain and darkness. A mortal thief, Bek (Thwaites), seeks Horus's aide in a bid to save the woman he loves (Courtney Eaton) from death under Set's watch. This alliance between god and man begets an action-packed journey in which the heroes encounter several other gods of Egyptian legend, including Ra (Rush), Thoth (Boseman), Hathor (Yung) and Anubis (Goran D. Kleut) among others.
It looks and sounds a lot like a corny Clash of the Titans setup, but it actually ends up being a decent plot for a popcorn flick with little expectations.
It's important to realize that this tale is rooted entirely in fantasy and that none of it is meant to be taken as a serious interpretation of Egyptian history or folklore - however you like it. Some audience members at my screening found it easier to see past the whitewashing by acknowledging this.
On that note, the fantastical adventure of a film like Gods of Egypt demands spectacular set pieces and rich visuals. Some of the fight scenes are pretty intense, but the CGI landscapes and settings in which the action takes place look atrocious. For a film with a budget north of $140 million, you'd think they could afford cleaner green-screen rendering. Some sequences look so bad that they may actually be incomplete, including a scene where Bek and Zaya (Eaton) escape Set's palace by chariot and also in a later scene where Bek and Horus face two giant cobras in the deserted garden.
Gods of Egypt tries desperately to be a worthwhile diversion but lacks the heart to be considered "good" mindless entertainment. The message is a bit too iffy in the end. Combined with all the film's other glaring issues, as such it's certainly possible to find better "mindless entertainment."
The first trailer for Hardcore Henry was recently released, and it is definitely worth taking a look at - unless you’re easily susceptible to motion sickness. The trailer sells the film as “a motion picture event unlike any other,” and it’s pretty obvious that the movie is taking some pretty enormous risks that could either pay off big time or fail spectacularly.
Hardcore Henry is a first-person action movie, meaning you see everything through the protagonist’s eyes. It is obvious that the film takes a great deal of inspiration from countless "first-person shooter" video games. The protagonist, Henry, is half-man, half-machine. Following the tradition of most first-person shooters, Henry is also mute. As the trailer conveniently states, his “speech module” hasn’t been installed yet.
Hardcore Henry looks interesting purely because of the enormous risk it's taking by being a live-action, entirely first-person narrative. Featuring the talents of Tim Roth, Sharlto Copley and Haley Bennett, the movie doesn’t lack talent in front of the camera’s ”eyes.” However, the film’s plot seems incredibly bland. A menacing group wants the technology that has been installed into Henry; so in order to get to him, they kidnap his wife.
Given the innovative way the film is presented, the plot could be more interesting. If the action holds up, however, a bland plot may not be a glaring issue to most viewers. Thankfully the action in the trailer looks easy to follow, which is surprising considering that the camera will probably be incredibly shaky during most of the action scenes.
Whether or not Hardcore Henry will make viewers sick, à la Cloverfield, or will live up to the creative premise is yet to be seen, but this trailer at least caught my attention.
Ctl+Alt+Delete is a new sci-fi thriller from writer/director James B. Cox which proves definitively that when a film has a strong story, confident direction and a team of passionate individuals working in front of and behind the camera, no budget is too small for big thrills.
The drama centers around Thule, a cyber-security conglomerate that decides to cut its losses by instituting M.A.N.A., an artificial intelligence to manage its data centers. One night, the Thule offices are overrun by a trio of hackers seeking to expose the valuable secrets stored in the data vaults. Sensing an attack, M.A.N.A. fights back and gives the villains (and the heroes, for that matter) more than they bargained for. What ensues is a high-stakes game where the good guys and bad guys join forces to fight a larger, potentially smarter threat.
You don't see that "joining of forces" too often anymore in genre film. What makes this dynamic between the characters even more fascinating is just how intimate it is. The film has a very claustrophobic feel to it which lends urgency and tension to the proceedings. Even if we aren't always aware of the far-reaching consequences of the data breach, the close-knit clash of ideals between the characters keeps things interesting.
The film doesn't take itself too seriously as Cox peppers some nicely-timed comedy throughout his script. The characters Jayhawk (Adam Shapiro) and Rafi (Josh Banday) are the lovable misfits at Thule who end up playing a huge role in the outcome of the story. Rafi is especially fun as a more likable Dennis Nedry-type character whether he's building "failsafe" security software or hitting on interns at the gym.
Lastly I'll mention how amazing the visual effects are for a film with a budget under $500,000. The makeup effects and CGI look very professional and thus chilling at all the right moments.
Ctl+Alt+Delete is a rollicking blend of comedy and tense, sci-fi drama that should play very well with the Comic-Con crowd. With such a high concept and such a low budget, Cox pulls off fresh, fun things with his first feature-length film. Keep it on your radar as the year goes on, and don't pass up a chance to see it.
