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thedullwoodexperiment

~ Viewing movies in a different light

thedullwoodexperiment

Tag Archives: Previews

One Word Trailer Roundup

24 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Aquaman, Comic-Con, Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Glass, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Previews, Shazam!, Titans, Trailers

We’ve had a deluge of new trailers hit the Internet over the past week, and most of them thanks to this year’s Comic-Con extravaganza. With the big studios choosing this event to reveal the majority of their tentpole, blockbuster movies for 2019, it’s a set up that’s guaranteed to have fanboys in ecstacy, and the rest of us slapping our foreheads like Homer Simpson on being told Moe’s Tavern has run out of Duff beer. Of all the trailers that have been released, two show that their respective studios haven’t learnt anything from past mistakes, while the rest display a heavy reliance on the kind of wow factor that used to really, truly, actually make an impact (is it really twenty-two years since the trailer for Independence Day showed the White House being obliterated?). So, in something of a first for thedullwoodexperiment, here’s a rundown of the trailers seen at Comic-Con, along with a one word comment that is really, truly, actually the only word(s) for them…

Aquaman – blah

Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald – blah

Glass – hmmm

Godzilla: King of the Monsters – blah

Shazam – whoops

Titans – blah

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50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2018 – Part 2

30 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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2018, New movies, Previews

And… we’re back! Here’s the second batch of movies that may or may not have us jumping for joy at having seen them in 2018. There’s a pleasing mix of genres, some movies have really great casts, and some that may go on to win copious awards. Whatever happens these are all – at this moment in time – movies that are capable of finding a place in our hearts and in our Top 10 lists for the year – or maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see.

26 – Mortal Engines – Come December this might be the movie we’re all waiting to see if the teaser trailer released a little while ago is anything to go by. With a script by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, itself an adaptation of the novel by Philip Reeve, this steampunk fantasy (with solid echoes of Terry Gilliam’s work already on display) promises to be raucous, action-packed, funny, and visually arresting, along with its cast, which includes Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, and Stephen Lang as an ancient undead cyborg warrior called Shrike. And besides, what other movie of 2018 will have the city of London as its principal villain?

27 – Mary Magdalene – In the four canonical gospels, Mary Magdalene is a woman who had seven demons cast out of her by Jesus. She was also the first witness to Jesus’ resurrection from his tomb. But in the Middle Ages she came to be regarded as a repentant prostitute. Which approach this new movie will adopt has yet to be discovered, but either way, and with Rooney Mara in the title role, it’s likely that Mary will endure a lot of suffering on her way to becoming a saint. With Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus, and direction from Garth Davis (Lion), this could be a compelling portrait of one of biblical history’s most famous, and yet overlooked individuals.

28 – Isle of Dogs – Wes Anderson returns to the world of animation – and stop-motion animation at that – with this tale set in a future Japan where dogs have been quarantined on the remote titular island. When a young boy arrives on the island (somewhere he shouldn’t be) looking for his own dog, five of the canine residents decide to help him – in return for his helping them. This project is practically oozing quality, from Anderson’s involvement as writer and director, to the visuals (inspired by the holiday specials made by Rankin/Bass Productions), and a terrific voice cast that includes Bill Murray, Bryan Cranston, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, and if you can spot her (no pun intended), Yoko Ono.

29 – Entebbe – The fourth recounting of the events that led up to and became known as Operation Entebbe, José Padilha’s attention grabbing true life thriller looks like it’s a gripping account that will focus on the tensions both inside the Airbus A300B4-203, and within the corridors of Israeli power as they debated whether or not to give in to the hijackers’ demands. Rosamund Pike and Daniel Brühl are members of the Revolutionäre Zellen, the terrorist cell responsible for the hijacking, while Eddie Marsan provides a stand-out turn as Shimon Peres, and there’s further sterling support from Vincent Cassel, Nonso Anozie (as Idi Amin), and Lior Ashkenazi.

30 – Born a King – An historical drama that borders so much on fiction that it can only be true, the movie tells the story of fourteen year old Arab Prince Faisal who is sent to England by his father in order to secure the formation of his country. Set in 1919, this movie sees Prince Faisal facing up to the likes of Winston Churchill and Lord Curzon in his efforts not to be outmanoeuvred. British Colonial rule has become one of the hot topics at the cinema in recent years, along with World War II, but Agustí Villaronga’s first English language movie seeks to focus on a period and a sequence of events that have rarely been examined. However this turns out, that at least is to be applauded.

31 – Little Italy – It’s Romeo and Juliet again, but this time the two young lovers (played by Hayden Christensen and Emma Roberts) have to contend with their families’ and the on-going war between the pizza restaurants both have in common. With the likes of Danny Aiello and Andrea Martin on board to provide some Italian “seasoning”, this could be the kind of unexpected hit that My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) was. Director Donald Petrie has a lot of experience with romantic comedies, and if the script is as sharp as it should be – and avoids as many clichés as possible – then this could be a surprise breakout hit for all concerned.

32 – The Front Runner – Director Jason Reitman has two movies due for release in 2018. One is a comedy/drama called Tully, the other is this one, a black comedy and political satire about the rise and fall from grace endured by Democratic Senator Gary Hart (played by Hugh Jackman) when his extramarital affair was revealed during his campaign for the Presidency in 1988. Based on the 2014 book All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid, Reitman’s often acerbic approach to his projects should stand him in good stead here, and Jackman is provided with more than able support from the likes of Vera Farmiga, Ari Graynor and J.K. Simmons.

33 – A Simple Favor – A mystery thriller is the way in which director Paul Feig moves on from the debacle that was Ghostbusters (2016), as a mom blogger (Anna Kendrick) investigates the sudden disappearance of her best friend (Blake Lively), and whether or not her friend’s husband has anything to do with it. If Feig keeps it straight and maintains a consistent tone, this could be as good as Gone Girl (2014) and much better than The Girl on the Train (2016). What mustn’t happen? For Kendrick to play her usual ditsy cutesy character. But let’s hope that doesn’t happen – shall we?

34 – The Last Full Measure – Another true story of bravery and valour, this involves William H. Pitsenbarger (played by Jeremy Irvine), a United States Air Force Pararescueman who was instrumental in ensuring the survival of at least nine men during an enemy assault in Vietnam in April 1966. It’s a movie with another very impressive cast – Peter Fonda, Christopher Plummer (not replacing Kevin Spacey at the last minute), Samuel L. Jackson and William Hurt amongst others – and has the potential to be a rousing, patriotic endorsement of the kind of selfless heroism that is always so hard to ignore.

35 – The 15:17 to Paris – And… yet another true story of bravery and valour, this time involving three friends, two of whom were in the military, who foiled a terrorist attack on a train bound for Paris from Amsterdam in August 2015. In what feels like something of a coup for director Clint Eastwood, all three friends, Anthony Sadler, Alex Skarlatos and Spencer Stone are playing themselves. Whether or not this will add a degree of verisimilitude to proceedings remains to be seen, and whether they provide performances is another matter, but it will add to the charge that will be felt when the terrorist begins to make himself known on the train.

36 – Every Day – On what sounds like a convoluted romantic twist on Groundhog Day (1994), Angourie Rice’s shy teenager, Rhiannon, falls in love with a travelling soul called “A”, who each day inhabits a different body. What is a girl to do to ensure she finds true (and lasting) love? The answer lies in the screenplay by Jesse Andrews (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), which has been adapted from the novel by David Levithan. If the movie can maintain a sense of magical realism that doesn’t collapse under the weight of being too fantastical, then this could be both charming and effective, and the new favourite movie of thousands and thousands of lovestruck teenage girls.

37 – Gringo – In what is only Nash Edgerton’s second feature, the well-known stuntman and brother of Joel directs David Oyelowo as a mild-mannered businessman who finds himself assailed on all sides by back-stabbing business colleagues back home, local drug lords and a morally conflicted black-ops mercenary. This action comedy should be a refreshing change of pace for Oyelowo, and he has impressive support from the likes of Charlize Theron, Thandie Newton, Sharlto Copley, and Joel himself. The question that remains is a simple one: can Oyelowo bring the heat when he needs to?

38 – Winchester – A rare horror that doesn’t have connections to either Blumhouse or James Wan’s Conjuring universe, this sees Helen Mirren as the firearms heiress who comes to believe that she is haunted by the souls of the people who have been killed by the Winchester repeating rifle. Writers and directors The Spierig Brothers gave us the less than overwhelming Jigsaw (2017), but this is such an off the wall concept (albeit based on rumour and legend) that it will be interesting to see how they make this work effectively. Let’s hope at least that there’s a deficit of ghostly faces popping up out of nowhere all the time.

39 – Billionaire Boys Club – A remake of the 1987 mini-series about the titular group and their get-rich-quick scam (a Ponzi scheme) that led to murder, this has been delayed due to late reshoots and an extended post-production schedule (filming began in December 2015). Whether or not this is to ensure that the best version possible is released or not remains to be seen but it does have an attractive cast headed by Ansel Elgort, Taron Egerton and Emma Roberts, and its tale of financial recidivism is still as apt today as it was back in the 1980’s.

40 – Dragged Across Concrete – In just the space of two features, S. Craig Zahler has made a name for himself for making tough, uncompromisingly violent movies. Those movies are Bone Tomahawk (2015) and Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017), and this movie promises more of the same, as it deals with the issue of police brutality through the actions of two over-zealous cops whose pursuit of justice sees them adrift from the law and in over their heads in the criminal underworld. Zahler’s unflinching approach to his writing and directing should be to the fore and he should be ably supported by Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn as the cops who find themselves in really big trouble, making this one of the most anticipated movies of 2018.

41 – Serenity – Another crackerjack cast – Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jason Clarke, Diane Lane, Djimon Hounsou – is assembled for this noir thriller about a fishing boat captain whose past comes back to haunt him (surprise, surprise). The brainchild of writer Steven Knight (Locke), this is a movie that will stand or fall on the nature and credibility of its mystery premise, but even though Knight has had a rocky career so far in terms of quality, this still has the potential to be the kind of movie that leaves viewers scratching their heads – but in a good way.

42 – Widows – Of all the projects you might have expected Steve McQueen, the Oscar-winning director of 12 Years a Slave (2013) to have chosen as his next feature after that triumph, it’s a safe bet that it wouldn’t have been a remake of a 1983 UK TV series based on a novel by Lynda La Plante. Nevertheless, that’s what he’s done, and he’s written the script in conjunction with Gillian Flynn, the author of Gone Girl. With Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, and Cynthia Erivo as the widows of the title, and the action transported to contemporary Chicago, it will be interesting to see just how much of La Plante’s original story remains, and how easily McQueen adapts to the story’s criminal milieu.

43 – The House With a Clock in Its Walls – A fantasy horror directed by Eli Roth, and starring Cate Blanchett and Jack Black (now there’s a trio), this is adapted from the first in a series of novels for children by John Bellairs. The house in question was once owned by a couple who practiced black magic, and the clock is a magical McGuffin that could bring about the end of the world. Roth may not be the first choice for this kind of material, and neither Blanchett or Black have appeared in an out and out horror movie before, but if the script retains the novel’s sense of gloomy wonder then this could well be the beginning of a new franchise.

44 – The Grinch – Illumination! (best said or read Minions style) The makers of the Despicable Me trilogy turn their attention to Dr. Suess and his classic tale, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! With Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, this latest animation bonanza should be full of inspired visual gags, some adult humour in amongst all the child-friendly absurdities, and a number of cute secondary characters for the Grinch to pick on. And with the advance poster warning, He Gets Meaner, it seems clear in which direction Illumination are planning to take this.

45 – Alita: Battle Angel – So long in development you could be forgiven for wondering if it was ever going to be made, this adaptation of the manga by Yukito Kushiro has been a passion project for James Cameron since 2000. Now it’s almost here, with Robert Rodriguez in the director’s chair and Rosa Salazar having her eyes manipulated digitally to play the title character. There will be action, mind-bending visuals, and probably more talking points than the majority of movies released in 2018, but however it turns out, this will be another highly anticipated movie that should provide fanboys with all that they need from a big budget anime adaptation.

46 – The Meg – Jason Statham vs a seventy foot white shark. ‘Nuff said.

47 – Backseat – As in most years terrific ensemble casts crop up in plenty of movies, but this one is a contender for the year’s best. With Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Bill Pullman, and Sam Rockwell (as George W. Bush!), this biopic of Dick Cheney (Bale), and his tenure as the Vice President of the United States has been put together by Adam McKay (The Big Short), and has the potential to be as excoriating and hard to watch as any movie about a proto-despot should be. With the title meant to be ironic – did anyone ever think Bush was really in charge? – this could be one of the best political commentary movies seen in a very, very long while.

48 – Bohemian Rhapsody – Directors come and directors go and still (as Queen themselves would say) the show must go on. Whether Dexter Fletcher is still the director when this is released is probably worth a bet, but a biopic of Freddie Mercury is a movie a lot of people have waited for, and now that it’s nearly with us, the sense of anticipation is growing steadily. Early pictures of Remi Malek do show a marked resemblance to the flamboyant singer (though Malek’s eyes are a bit of a giveaway as to his identity), but it’s the movie’s structure and how truthful it is to all concerned will be of paramount importance, but if the movie does get it right then this should prove to be a joyous celebration of a much-missed and much-loved star.

49 – Where’d You Go, Bernadette – Richard Linklater’s latest movie is a comedy and a drama (surprise) about the titular character (played by Cate Blanchett) and what happens when she disappears one day, something that causes her daughter, Bee, to try and find her. The original novel by Maria Semple that this is based on is quirky and appealing, and the material should suit Linklater down to the ground. With support from the likes of Kristen Wiig, Billy Crudup and Laurence Fishburne, there’s little doubt that this will be another of Linklater’s joyous odes to smalltown America and all its little foibles and social animosities.

50 – Captive State – Much of the plot of this movie, the latest from Rupert Wyatt (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), is under wraps, but what is known is that it’s set in Chicago a decade after its occupation by an alien force. John Goodman heads up a cast that also includes Vera Farmiga and Alan Ruck, and it’s good to know that this was a project for which there was a bidding war, which for a science fiction movie concerned with that hoary cliché, the alien invasion, is cause for anticipation rather than concern. If anyone can make this sort of thing of work, though, Wyatt is definitely someone to have faith in.

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50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2018 – Part 1

26 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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2018, New movies, Previews

It’s that time again, when we look ahead to the coming year and hope against all previous experience that things will get better, that Hollywood will launch itself wholeheartedly into making original, entertaining, thought-provoking movies that aren’t creatively moribund. Well, perhaps, but in the continuing spirit of past changes on thedullwoodexperiment the movies highlighted here and in Part 2 won’t feature very many of the tentpole movies that will be hyped to death between now and their release next year, because, well, that’s what everyone else will be doing. So, here’s the first batch of contenders looking to conquer our hearts and minds in 2018. How many will you see, and how many will become new favourites?

1 – Annihilation – The first part of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy arrives courtesy of Alex Garland, whose Ex Machina (2014) showed that there’s room for intelligent, character-driven sci-fi on our screens. Focusing on the search for a biologist’s missing husband within an environmental disaster zone, Garland has assembled a cast that includes Natalie Portman (as the biologist), Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac (as the missing husband), and the movie promises to be as visually inventive as his previous foray into the genre, and a little mindbending too.

2 – Red Sparrow – Jennifer Lawrence reunites with her Hunger Games director, Francis Lawrence, for this action thriller that sees a Russian ballerina recruited into the titular intelligence service and trained to target a CIA agent on her first mission. But, inevitably, things don’t go as planned… After Atomic Blonde (2017), this could be another action heroine franchise starter, but even with Darren Aronofsky and David Fincher having passed on the project in its early stages, the movie is still an intriguing prospect, and features a supporting cast that includes Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons and Charlotte Rampling.

3 – The Commuter – Another director-star reunion, this time between Jaume Collet-Serra and Liam Neeson, that sees Neeson’s businessman finding himself caught up in a criminal conspiracy while on his daily commute home. Neeson’s an old hand at this sort of thing now so should bring the necessary gravitas to his role (as well as kicking ass in a heavily edited way), while Collet-Serra’s confident staging and visual flair should make the confines of the commuter train seem less restrictive in terms of the action, something that will contribute heavily to the movie’s potential success.

4 – A Wrinkle in Time – A family-friendly adventure involving three strange beings – played by Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and Oprah Winfrey – who help a young girl find her missing father, something that requires them to travel through space. Adapted from the well regarded children’s novel by Madeleine L’Engle, this has the potential to be a firm favourite in years to come, but much will rely on director Ava DuVernay’s approach to the material, as this is a complete change of pace for her after 13th (2016), and Selma (2014).

5 – Christopher Robin – Another exploration of the world of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh (after 2017’s Goodbye Christopher Robin), this sees Ewan McGregor as the titular character, now an adult and weighed down by the responsibilities of work and family. An encounter with the honey-loving bear leads to a return to the Hundred Acre Wood and a search for Pooh’s missing friends. Will Christopher learn to love life again? (Don’t bet against it.) Part animation, part live-action, this looks and feels like a love letter to forgotten childhoods, but should avoid being overly sentimental thanks to the presence of Marc Forster in the director’s chair.

6 – 12 Strong – originally titled Horse Soldiers, this tells the story of the first Special Forces team to be deployed in Afghanistan after 9/11, and their attempts to tackle the Taliban with the aid of an Afghan warlord. Director Nicolai Fuglsig has only made one feature before this, so is a bit of an unknown quantity, but he has a solid cast that includes Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon and William Fichtner, and a story that sounds very much like it’s from the “truth is stranger than fiction” camp. Whether this is a gung-ho war movie or something much more grounded remains to be seen, but just the images already seen of Hemsworth et al on horseback makes this look like it could defy expectations.

7 – The War With Grandpa – It’s a comedy and it stars Robert De Niro – not always a joyous combination – but this could be the movie where he finally loosens up and doesn’t look like he wants to flee the set at any given opportunity. The war of the title arises between a grandfather and his grandson (played by Colin Ford) when they have to share a room. There’s support from Christopher Walken, Uma Thurman and Jane Seymour, and director Tim Hill has a track record with family movies that should mean this can be sentimental and age-appropriately brutal all at the same time.

8 – The Peanut Butter Falcon – This indie movie tells the story of Zak, a young man with Downs Syndrome who runs away from the nursing home where he lives to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Along the way he meets a small-time criminal called Tyler (played by Shia LaBeouf), and their separate journeys become one. Zak is played by Zakk Gottsagen, a real-life Downs Syndrome sufferer, and though he’s surrounded by a terrific cast that includes Thomas Haden Church, Bruce Dern, Dakota Johnson, and WWE legend Mick Foley, it’s highly likely that it’s his performance that we’ll all be talking about in 2018.

9 – The Sisters Brothers – Jacques Audiard, the director of A Prophet (2009) and Rust and Bone (2012), makes his English language debut with this tale set in 1850’s Oregon about a gold prospector, the wonderfully named Hermann Kermit Warm (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), who finds himself the target of the titular brothers, a pair of assassins. Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly are the brothers, and there’s support from Riz Ahmed and Rutger Hauer, but Audiard is the main draw here, a director whose skill behind the camera could make this an awards contender across the board.

10 – The Man Who Killed Don Quixote – A movie that could and should be filed under “Finally!”, Terry Gilliam’s ode to Miguel de Cervantes’ famous knight-errant reaches our screens after several previous attempts have either ended in disaster or failed to get off the ground due to a lack of financial backing. With the basic plot of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court added for good measure, this sees Jonathan Pryce in the role of Don Quixote and Adam Driver as the advertising executive who finds himself travelling back and forth to 17th century La Mancha and encountering fiction’s most famous “tilter at windmills”. Let’s hope that Gilliam has finally been able to realise his vision for this story.

11 – The House That Jack Built – Jack (played by Matt Dillon) is a serial killer, and over the course of twelve years (beginning in the 1970’s) we see Jack evolve as a killer, and witness the increasing risks he takes as he strives to create art out of murder. Lars von Trier’s latest promises to be as controversial as any other movie he’s made so far, but its dark subject matter also promises to be leavened by both a philiosophical approach to the material as well as a degree of humour. von Trier always seeks to challenge his audience, and this looks as if it’s been assembled to do just that, but how violent or uncompromising it will be remains to be seen. However it turns out, this has the potential to be one of the most talked about movies of 2018.

12 – Mowgli – Delayed due to the release of Disney’s version in 2016, and originally called The Jungle Book, Andy Serkis’s imagining of Kipling’s classic tale promises to be darker and more confrontational than Jon Favreau’s take. Serkis has also managed to assemble an impressive voice cast that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett (as Shere Khan, Bagheera and Kaa respectively), while directing and taking on the role of Baloo. If it isn’t as self-congratulatory as Disney’s version, then this could be a treat indeed, because if anyone can bring a degree of realism to a fantasy story, then it’s the King of MoCap himself.

13 – Early Man – Aardman are back! Nick Park and co return to our screens with the tale of a Stone Age tribe that finds itself transported to the Bronze Age, and having to take on their future era oppressors at a game of… football. If it’s Aardman then you can expect wonderful sight gags, physical comedy, hilarious dialogue, and a top-notch voice cast that includes Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Miriam Margolyes and Timothy Spall. Park is making his first solo outing as director since Chicken Run (2000), but don’t expect him to be feeling any pressure: this is a movie maker who has won six BAFTAs and four Oscars already.

14 – Robin Hood – Do we really need another version of the Robin Hood story? Possibly not, but whether this turns out to be as gritty as promised, what does it make it interesting is the casting. Taron Egerton as the titular hero seems to imply a younger take on the character, while Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham seems like perfect casting. But it’s the supporting roles that are intriguing, with Jamie Foxx as Little John, Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlet, and comedian Tim Minchin as Friar Tuck. This could go either way, but there’s life in the old legend yet, despite the number of times he’s graced our screens, but as long as this production doesn’t go all Lock, Stock and Three Smoking Arrows on us (like a certain other revisionist take on British myths did in 2017), then this could be an action adventure movie everyone can enjoy.

15 – The Black Hand – An historical crime drama about the origins of the Mafia in the US, this adaptation of Stephan Talty’s 2017 novel of the same name, is set to feature Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life policeman Joe Petrosino as he went about trying to stop the Black Hand from establishing a foothold in New York City back in the 1900’s. There’s no director attached at present, and production hasn’t fully begun, so this may end up being released in 2019, but if we are fortunate enough to see this by the year’s end then unless things go very, very badly wrong, this could be another strong contender come awards season.

16 – Mary Queen of Scots – The story of Mary Stuart, cousin to Elizabeth I, has been told several times before, but this account of her efforts to overthrow the Virgin Queen features Saoirse Ronan as the doomed Mary, and Margot Robbie as the object of her displeasure. Neither actress is likely to be most people’s first choices for the roles, but both are more than capable actresses, and if the screenplay focuses more on Mary than Elizabeth, then this could be one of the better historical dramas coming our way. It will also be a test of director Josie Rourke’s abilities, as her main role is as the artistic director of London’s Donmar Warehouse theatre, a role that should see her ideally placed to make this a gripping piece of English history.

17 – White Boy Rick – Another story taken from the pile marked, “truth is stranger than fiction”, this is about Richard Wershe Jr (the White Boy Rick of the title), and is the second feature from Yann Demange after ’71 (2014). Wershe Jr became the FBI’s youngest ever informant when he was just fourteen, but the ensuing years saw him become a drug dealer, and he was eventually arrested – ironically – by the same FBI that he had worked for. Newcomer Richie Merritt plays the unfortunate teenager, while Matthew McConaughey plays Richard Sr, and Jennifer Jason Leigh is his mother.

18 – Fighting With My Family – A WWE Films production in conjunction with Film4 may not seem like a movie to look forward to (let’s face it, WWE’s movie track record isn’t something to shout about), but this may be the movie that bucks the trend. Featuring Dwayne Johnson, Lena Headey, Vince Vaughn and Stephen Merchant (who also writes and directs), this wish fulfilment tale of a former wrestler and his family who eke out a living peforming at small wrestling venues – while his kids naturally want to join the WWE – should prove to be better than expected thanks to its having Merchant at the helm, and in the DoP’s seat, Remi Adefarasin.

19 – A Rainy Day in New York – Woody Allen’s latest (his 50th) features another great cast – Jude Law, Elle Fanning, Timothée Chalamet, Diego Luna, Rebecca Hall, Liev Schreiber amongst others – and is a romantic comedy about a young couple who come to New York for the weekend and find themselves embarking on a series of adventures while coping with the bad weather of the title. Expect a wistful charm running throughout the movie, along with several quotable lines of dialogue, an air of sophistication, a great jazz-based soundtrack, and beautiful cinematography courtesy of the great Vittorio Storaro.

20 – Ophelia – Taking a break from the Force and lightsabre duels, Daisy Ridley plays the title character in a re-imagining of the story of Hamlet but told from Ophelia’s perspective. Adapted from the young adult novel by Lisa Klein, director Claire McCarthy has assembled a great supporting cast including Naomi Watts as Gertrude, and Clive Owen as Claudius, and if all goes well, this could be as entertaining in its semi-revisionist way as any other Shakespeare adaptation, and remind us that even when his work is being used as a launch pad for further artistic expression, the Bard is still as relevant today as he was over four hundred years ago.

21 – A Futile & Stupid Gesture – The poster states: If You Don’t Watch This Movie, We’ll Kill Will Forte. Whether or not Netflix really intend to go through with this threat remains to be seen (they probably won’t though), but it’s entirely in keeping with the movie’s subject matter, the building of a new media empire in the 1970’s and 80’s that came about thanks to the success of National Lampoon while under the guidance of Doug Kenney (Forte). Whether or not this is as wacky and laugh out loud as National Lampoon itself was during this period, we won’t find out until 26 January, but with a cast that also includes Domhnall Gleeson, Emmy Rossum and Joel McHale as Chevy Chase, this has a good chance of being a memorable Netflix movie – and for the right reasons for a change.

22 – The Women of Marwen – The latest from Robert Zemeckis is a fantasy drama based on the true story of Mark Hogancamp (played by Steve Carell), who after being nearly beaten to death in 2000, left hospital with little memory of his life up til then. Unable to afford therapy, and forced to find an effective alternative, he created a 1/6 scale World War II-era Belgian town in his back yard he called Marwencol. Just what approach to the fantasy elements Zemeckis has adopted, of course remains to be seen, but as a special effects pioneer over the years, the visual style of the movie is sure to be impressive, while the darker aspects of Hogancamp’s story should allow Zemeckis to examine what drives Hogancamp to do what he does.

23 – Three Seconds – Another literary adaptation, this time from the novel of the same name by the Swedish crime writing duo, Roslund/Hellström, the movie centres on an ex-con working for the FBI and attempting to infiltrate the Polish mob in New York. But when he has to return to the very prison he thought he’d left behind, and his identity is put at risk, it becomes a race against time to get out. Joel Kinnaman plays the lucky ex-con, while there’s support from Clive Owen, Rosamund Pike, and Ana de Armas. With its urgent, tense scenario and threat-filled location, this has all the hallmarks of being a muscular action thriller, but if the adaptation is locked in, then with a great deal of intelligence woven throughout as well.

24 – The Happytime Murders – More crime, but this time with laughs attached, as the cast of a 1980’s children’s TV show are murdered one by one, and the principal suspect is the disgraced LAPD detective turned private eye who is best placed to investigate the murders. The only problem? He’s a puppet, and he’s soon on the run with his human ex-partner (played by Melissa McCarthy). As scenarios go, it’s a little like The Muppets’ Murder Case (if such a movie had ever been made), but the movie will stand or fall on the way it integrates puppets and humans into a fully realised and convincing world. With Brian Henson directing, though, it stands a very good chance indeed.

25 – Mary Poppins Returns – Fifty-four years after she first graced our screens, (almost) everyone’s favourite nanny (played by Emily Blunt) returns to provide sympathy and understanding when tragedy strikes the now adult Jane and Michael Banks (Emily Mortimer, Ben Whishaw). Disney has been prepping this one for a while now, and as sequels go it appears to be in safe hands, with Rob Marshall in the director’s chair (let’s hope Into the Woods (2014) was an unfortunate one-off disaster), Lin-Manuel Miranda providing new songs, and a cast that also includes Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, and providing a link to the original, Dick Van Dyke. The only question that remains is how long it will be before a certain thirty-four letter word is spoken.

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Trailers – A Quiet Place (2018), A Bad Idea Gone Wrong (2017) and Game Night (2018)

21 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Comedy, Emily Blunt, Horror, Jason Bateman, Jason Headley, John Krasinski, Matt Jones, Previews, Rachel McAdams, Thriller, Trailers, Will Rogers

The premise of A Quiet Place is a simple one: a family must remain ever vigilant and ever quiet, or some things will find them and kill them. At this stage, the whys and the hows of this particular scenario remain unknown, which makes the trailer that much more effective. Star John Krasinski also directs – making this his third feature after Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (2009) and The Hollars (2016) – and he’s rewritten the original script by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, so this is close to a one-man show, but with an additional dose of nepotism, as Blunt is Krasinski’s real-life wife. This has the potential to be as scary as a mofo, and it will be interesting to see just how long the movie goes on for before a word is spoken, and if at all. Though it will inevitably include sound effects and music, what might be a modern day silent movie is an intriguing idea, and if Krasinski has got a confident grip on the tension and what looks to be a slowburn build up of terror, then the movie could be a breakout hit that attracts audiences wanting to be terrified.

 

When two life-long friends (and loveable schlubs) plan a burglary at a house that they absolutely know will be unoccupied, you just know that it’s not going to go according to plan. And so it proves in Jason Headley’s feature debut, the kind of indie comedy that looks down its nose at more mainstream comedy fare, and then sneezes heavily and appropriately (or inappropriately), as the case may be. As the two friends, Matt Jones and Will Rogers make for a good pair of lunkheads, and Headley’s script seems well set up to provide a mix of belly laughs, moments of wry amusement, and a knowing sense of the story’s complete and utter absurdity. Adding a measure of romance to the mix may be a smart move on Headley’s part, but whether or not the movie needs it is another matter. Unlikely as it may be that the movie will find a wider audience than expected, this still looks as if it could overcome the expectations everyone has for it and gain a lot more kudos for itself along the way.

 

Comedy thrillers are notoriously difficult to pull off, and though Game Night is billed as such, the trailer seems determined to skirt around the movie’s thriller elements and concentrate on the comedy. Whether or not this is a good thing remains to be seen, but what is promising is a cast that includes Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and Jesse “give this man more starring roles” Plemons. The idea, that a kidnapping of one of a group of good friends may or may not be real, and they have to decide which is the case, could and should provide plenty of laughs, and the trailer does its best to confirm this, but there’s the nagging sense that the best bits have been included in it, and the movie will prove less sharp than it looks (though the squeaky toy is inspired). Still, Bateman et al are all good value for money, and this could be just the silly alternative that’s needed when every other movie in 2018 looks like it’s going to involve superheroes being, well, super and heroic.

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Trailers – Bronx Gothic (2017), Stronger (2017) and The Hippopotamus (2017)

27 Tuesday Jun 2017

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Andrew Rossi, Boston Marathon bombing, Comedy, Dance piece, David Gordon Green, Documentary, Drama, Jake Gyllenhaal, Literary adaptation, Okwui Okpokwasili, Previews, Roger Allam, Stephen Fry, Tatiana Maslany, Trailers, True story

If you’ve seen the New York-based writer, performer and choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili then you’ll be aware of just how magnetic a stage presence she is, and how impressive is her ability to manipulate her frame in such a way as to give full expression to an incredible range of feelings and desires and emotions. In 2014, Okpokwasili performed her one-woman dance piece, Bronx Gothic, where she used a series of letters sent between two young girls in the Bronx – and her remarkable body – to illustrate how little one of them knew about her body, and how they were able to connect with each other. It was a tour-de-force performance, and is now the subject of Andrew Rossi’s latest documentary. Rossi, who also made Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011) and The First Monday in May (2016), goes behind the scenes of Bronx Gothic and examines the way in which Okpokwasili conceived and created the piece, and how she used elements from her own life in the process. This may not attract a particularly wide audience base, but it promises to be one of the more original and impressively mounted documentaries of 2017. And with Okpokwasili being such an incredible performer to watch, any chance to see her is absolutely worth taking.

 

Following on the heels (no pun intended) of Peter Berg’s gripping Patriots Day (2016), Stronger tells the smaller scale story of one of the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Jeff Bauman (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) was caught in the first blast and lost both his legs. The movie, based on the book of the same name written by Bauman and Bret Witter, charts Bauman’s recovery and readjustment to life in the wake of the tragedy, and how his rehabilitation affected him, and his relationship with his girlfriend, Erin Hurley (played by Tatiana Maslany). Without trying to denigrate or undermine Bauman’s efforts to learn how to walk again, and overcome the emotional trauma he experienced, the trailer for Stronger hints at the movie being a straightforward re-telling of Bauman’s struggle, and the trailer’s content seems to include all the clichés you’d expect, right down to the moment where Bauman cries, “I showed up for you!” Let’s hope then that director David Gordon Green has a tighter grip on the material than is evident from the trailer, and that Bauman’s story is given a better handling than what we’ve seen so far.

 

When he’s not appearing on television or in the movies, Stephen Fry is also a well regarded writer with a string of successful books to his name. The Hippopotamus was his second novel to be published, and if you’ve read it then you’ll know that it’s ripe for a big screen adaptation (or a small screen mini-series). And at last that big screen adaptation is here, and for once, with the perfect choice for its lead character, disgraced poet Ted Wallace, in the form of Roger Allam. Allam’s crumpled features and unimpressed demeanour are a terrific combination for the part, and from the trailer it’s clear that the actor has the measure of the role and is also enjoying himself immensely. Whether or not the script will allow him to be the singular focus of Fry’s typically erudite comedy of manners remains to be seen, but if so then this could be the movie that provides a well-earned boost to Allam’s career. Let’s hope then, that Fry’s eccentric yet amusing novel has been given the adaptation it deserves.

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Trailers – Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Logan Lucky (2017) and The Founders (2016)

03 Saturday Jun 2017

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Agatha Christie, Carrie Schrader, Charlene Fisk, Daniel Craig, Documentary, Golf, Kenneth Branagh, LGPA, Previews, Remake, Steven Soderbergh, Trailers

As remakes go, Murder on the Orient Express has its work cut out for it – or does it? When it was first made in 1974 with an all-star cast that included John Gielgud, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, and Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, its labyrinthine plot – adapted from the novel by Agatha Christie – required a cool head to keep up with it all, and to follow the various strands of its complex narrative. And the solution to it all still ranks as one of Christie’s more ingenious and surprising resolutions. So, with that in mind, perhaps it’s best that over forty years have passed between the original and this new version, directed by Kenneth Branagh, and featuring Branagh himself as the Belgian detective. Another strong point for the movie is that Branagh is working from a screenplay by Michael Green, who has provided scripts for two other highly anticipated movies this year, Logan and Blade Runner 2049. With a starry cast that doesn’t quite match the A-listers of 1974, this version still has enough acting firepower to ensure that audiences are kept on the edge of their seat – unless they’re focused entirely on the humongous moustache that Branagh sports as Poirot.

 

When Steven Soderbergh announced his retirement from directing movies after making Behind the Candelabra (2013), it was regarded as a definite loss. An idiosyncratic moviemaker with a great deal of smarts and an enviable career (few directors could release movies as disparate as Erin Brockovich and Traffic in the same year), Soderbergh’s retirement always seemed to be less of a retirement and more of a break. And so it proves – hurrah! – as he returns with a spirited caper movie that features a great cast (including some newcomer called Daniel Craig), the kind of convoluted plot that won’t be as straightforward as it looks, and Soderbergh’s bold, feast-for-the-eyes cinematography. The script is by another newcomer, Rebecca Blunt, but from the trailer it looks as if Soderbergh has allied himself with the kind of tale that suits his eye for the ridiculous and his talent as a storyteller. If Soderbergh brings his A-game, this could well be one of the funniest, and most enjoyable movies of 2017 – and it could make a star out of this Craig guy.

 

If you’ve never heard of Shirley Spork, Marilynn Smith, Louise Suggs, or Marlene Bauer Vossler, it’s not so surprising. They were pioneers in a sport that didn’t encourage female players, and they helped to legitimise women’s involvement in that sport. In 1950, they and nine other women players formed the LPGA, the Ladies Professional Golf Association, an achievement that The Founders covers through a mixture of contemporary footage and interviews with the four surviving founder members. It’s an inspiring tale, and shines a light on yet another example of the institutional sexism that permeated sporting life in the US, where women were deemed unable to play as well as their male counterparts. It’s the first feature-length documentary for its directors, Charlene Fisk and Carrie Schrader, but in telling the story behind the founding of the LPGA, they’ve hit on a piece of recent history that has a wider relevance even today.

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Trailers – Detroit (2017), The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) and Atomic Blonde (2017)

16 Sunday Apr 2017

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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12th Street riot, Action, Charlize Theron, Comedy, Drama, James McAvoy, Kathryn Bigelow, Previews, Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Trailers, True story

It’s been five years since the directing/writing team of Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal brought us Zero Dark Thirty – and it’s about time they had something new for us. Thankfully, the trailer for Detroit looks as if they’re not going to let us down. A stinging, emotive, and visceral look at the 12th Street riot that occurred in July 1967 following events that took place at the Algiers Motel, the movie has already come under fire for not including any black women in its main cast. It’s a little early to tell if this is a deliberate piece of revisionism, but what is clear from the glimpses of violence seen in the trailer is that Bigelow has captured the atmosphere and the grim inevitability of a situation that quickly spiralled out of control and left three men dead, and nine others brutally injured. Bigelow has also assembled a great cast, including John Boyega as a security guard who gets caught up in the riot, Jack Reynor, John Krasinski, Anthony Mackie, and in what could be the role that catapults him to well-deserved stardom, Will Poulter as one of the three cops who ended up on trial for murder. One of the must-see movies of 2017, Detroit has all the potential to be an impassioned and excoriating feature that will leave audiences stunned and impressed in equal measure when it’s released in August.

 

Samuel L. Jackson is the hitman. Ryan Reynolds is the bodyguard. Gary Oldman is the dictator both men team up to defeat. The tone of the movie? Well, you only have to see the poster for The Hitman’s Bodyguard to work that one out: a parody of The Bodyguard (1992) with Reynolds subbing for Kevin Costner, and Jackson for Whitney Houston. The trailer drives the idea home with what is obviously a deliberate lack of subtlety, and though Tom O’Connor’s screenplay was included in the 2011 Black List of unproduced scripts, this looks likely to be an action comedy that is big on action set-pieces, but short on actual laughs (though Reynolds’ comment that Jackson’s character has ruined the word “motherfucker” has an ironic touch to it that bodes well). However it turns out, and the trailer’s mix of shouty humour, action beats and Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote-style stuntwork doesn’t seem to say “instant classic”, this could still be the kind of dumb “Saturday-night-with-beers-and-a-pizza” movie that gains a loyal fanbase, and becomes a bona fide guilty pleasure in years to come.

 

After the success of John Wick (2014), it was perhaps inevitable that there would be a distaff version of that movie (literally) hitting our screens. And so we have Atomic Blonde, an adaptation of Antony Johnston’s graphic novel The Coldest City (the movie’s original title), and starring Charlize Theron as an MI6 agent tasked with retrieving a list of double agents being smuggled into the West prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The John Wick connection is cemented by David Leitch being in the director’s chair, and the trailer showcases a scene that has Theron taking out a roomful of assailants in much the same style as Wick. Whether there will be too many similarities between the two movies remains to be seen, and if there are it may hurt Atomic Blonde‘s chances with the critics, but if its sense of humour is as acerbic as its action sequences are full-on kinetic, then the movie has a chance of connecting with a wider, more appreciative audience. The presence of Sofia Boutella as a French operative Theron’s character “makes contact with”, plus James McAvoy as her operational ally in Berlin, and John Goodman as a less than friendly CIA agent, adds lustre to the movie, and the trailer can’t help but give potential audiences the impression that this may well turn out to be a very, very fun ride indeed.

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Trailers – Coco (2017), Baby Driver (2017) and Early Man (2018)

16 Thursday Mar 2017

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Aardman Studios, Animation, Ansel Elgort, Eddie Redmayne, Edgar Wright, Nick Park, Pixar, Previews, Thriller, Trailers

The second movie this year from Pixar (after Cars 3), Coco sees the creators of the Toy Story series make what is arguably their first fantasy movie, as twelve year old Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) finds himself embroiled in a long-standing family mystery surrounding a ban on music. Miguel’s quest to solve this mystery, and how it connects to his musical idol Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), leads Miguel into the fabled Land of the Dead. The trailer makes it clear that music is integral to the story in Coco, and the TV footage of de la Cruz is reminiscent of the newsreel footage from Up (2009), but once again it’s the quality of the animation that captures the attention: the end reveal is breathtaking. Pixar appear to have weathered the initial controversy surrounding their decision to try and trademark the term “Día de los Muertos”, and in doing so, have created a Pixar movie first: Miguel is their first central character of ethnic origin. In a way this could be a movie to savour, as it’s the last original story idea we’ll see from Pixar until March 2020. But if the story is locked in, then this could be the kind of uplifting, emotionally resonant tale that Pixar does so well when it’s not concentrating too much on banging out lacklustre sequels to existing favourites.

 

Edgar Wright may be the only director to turn down a gig at Marvel (he walked away from Ant-Man (2015) citing creative differences), but the downside of that decision for movie fans was his distinctive directing style being absent from our screens for four loooong years. But now he’s back, and with baby-faced Ansel Elgort as, well, the Baby Driver of the title. An action/crime/thriller about a getaway driver (yes, Elgort) looking to “retire” after meeting the girl of his dreams (Lily Collins), but reeled in for one last job by über-crime lord Kevin Spacey, the movie is replete with Wright’s trademark visual stylings (no static angles allowed here), and offbeat sense of humour (the Halloween argument). Anyone familiar with the video for Mint Royale’s Blue Song will already know how Baby Driver begins, but those who don’t will be in for a treat nevertheless. The trailer features some very impressive stunt driving, a great supporting cast that includes the likes of Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm, and appropriately for a movie where the title character drives to the sounds of his own personal soundtrack, some really great tunes.

 

Aardman Studios are gloriously unique. They’re the only animation company who work with stop-motion clay animation techniques, and they regularly make crowd-pleasing movies that thrive on their own unique form of invention and wit. And if the teaser trailer for Early Man is anything to go by, then they’re onto another winner here as well. Even though we won’t see the finished product until January 2018, there’s already enough here to vouchsafe its tale of Dug (voiced by Eddie Redmayne) and his efforts to unite his tribe against rivals from the Bronze Age (yes, time travel is involved) in a confrontation that pre-dates European football by thousands and thousands of years. Dug is a classic Aardman creation, and will no doubt prove popular, but if one character is likely to stand out from all the rest, it has to be Dug’s trusty sidekick, Hognob the (early) pig. With this being Nick Park’s first solo venture as a director, and like Pixar’s Coco, Aardman’s last original story idea for some time to come, this is definitely one to look forward to (and hopefully treasure).

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Trailers – Speech & Debate (2017), The Bad Batch (2016) and Unlocked (2017)

14 Tuesday Feb 2017

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Ana Lily Amarpour, Drama, Horror, Jason Momoa, Michael Apted, Noomi Rapace, Previews, Thriller, Trailers

Based on the off-Broadway play by Stephen Karam (who also provides the screenplay), Speech & Debate concerns a trio of troubled teenagers who are all struggling to find their places in life, and most urgently, their school. Held back from expressing themselves by the repressive, hypocritical dictates of their school heirarchy, the trio – played by Liam James, Sarah Steele and Austin P. McKenzie – decide to resurrect the school debate club, and by doing so, attempt to challenge and overcome the rigid strictures they encounter on a daily basis. Steele was in the original stage production, and from the trailer it looks as if she’ll steal the movie – that last excerpt is a killer – but the rest of the cast appear on form as well, and if the use of Mika’s We Are Golden is anything to go by, then the movie’s likely to have a killer soundtrack as well. It’s been a while since we’ve had a decent teen-themed movie; maybe Speech & Debate will be the movie to rekindle our appreciation for them.

 

For her follow up to A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), writer/director Ana Lily Amarpour changes locations from the Iranian ghost town Bad City, to a Texas wasteland inhabited – not by vampires – but by cannibals. Amarpour has a distinct, vivid visual style (as can be seen in the trailer), and she isn’t afraid to depict violence in all its hideous glory, but she’s just as interested in ideas and the development of her characters as she is any bloodshed. The presence of Jason Momoa will no doubt attract a number of fans looking forward to another movie he’s in this year (Braven – obviously), but with the likes of Jim Carrey, Giovanni Ribisi and Keanu Reeves on board, the chances that Amarpour’s odd love story set against an equally odd backdrop will cement her growing reputation as an indie movie maker to watch out for.

 

And so it’s Noomi Rapace’s turn to kick ass and take names later as a modern day action heroine in Michael Apted’s by-the-numbers Unlocked. Twists and turns and betrayals every five minutes appear to be the order of the day, and the casting of John Malkovich, Toni Collette, Orlando Bloom, and Michael Douglas in lead roles is a strong nod to the level of credibility the movie is aiming for. But despite all this, Unlocked could still turn out to be quite respectful in its ambitions, and worth more of your time than you’d expect. Director Apted isn’t exactly inexperienced, and he certainly doesn’t need to make a generic action movie any more than he needs to, but his presence behind the camera is encouraging, and though the trailer doesn’t have the “wow” factor it needs to stand out from the crowd, it could still surprise us all… possibly.

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Trailers – Claire in Motion (2016), The Comedian (2016) and The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017)

25 Friday Nov 2016

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Betsy Brandt, Comedy, Drama, Jessica Chastain, Previews, Robert De Niro, Trailers, True story

In Claire in Motion, the titular character finds her orderly world turned upside down when her husband disappears. What follows – at least as far as the trailer goes – is a search that takes some unexpected twists and turns, and which further undermines Claire’s sense of her marriage and her life. Featuring a breakout performance from Breaking Bad‘s Betsy Brandt, Claire in Motion is the creation of writing and directing team Annie J. Howell and Lisa Robinson, and looks like a strong, compelling mix of mystery thriller and a woman’s emotional struggle to make sense of what’s happened, that takes a well-worn storyline and does something unexpected with it. Will the husband be missing out of choice, or will there be a more sinister reason for his disappearance? What looks certain is that the answer won’t be as straightforward as might be expected.

 

De Niro’s third movie of 2016 – after Dirty Grandpa and Hands of Stone – The Comedian sees him playing Jackie Burke, an aging comic who’s performance style is somewhat “confrontational”. A burgeoning relationship with Leslie Mann’s charity worker sets the character off on a journey of personal reassessment, but along the way he still finds time to be obnoxious and insulting – which isn’t surprising as his stand-up routines were written by Jeffrey Ross. The movie has had several ups and downs on its way to our screens (director Taylor Hackford was preceeded by Martin Scorsese, Sean Penn, and Mike Newell, while Mann was third choice after Kristen Wiig and Jennifer Aniston), so it remains to be seen if it can maintain a “straight face” away from the moments where Burke indulges in his penchant for derogatory remarks and non-PC attitude.

 

Based on a true tale of wartime heroism, The Zookeeper’s Wife tells the story of Antonina Zabinska and her husband Jan Zabinski (Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh) who not only saved hundreds of animals from the Warsaw Zoo – where they lived and worked – but also hundreds of people fleeing from Nazi persecution. It’s a movie with some arresting imagery (wild animals prowling the streets of ghetto-ised Warsaw), a script adapted from the book by Diane Ackerman (itself based on the unpublished diaries of Antonina Zabinska), and all overseen by Niki Caro, the director of Whale Rider (2002) and North Country (2005). It all looks promising enough then, and with Daniel Brühl’s Nazi officer no doubt making things difficult, it remains to be seen if the movie adopts a typically polished approach to the Zabinskis’ story, or aims to be more gritty and realistic.

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10 Horror Sequels/Remakes to Avoid in 2017

27 Thursday Oct 2016

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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2017, Horror, New movies, Previews, Remakes, Sequels

2017

With Halloween and all things spooky just around the corner – unless you’re the BFI and you have the chance to screen John Carpenter’s seminal Halloween (1978), which you do, though not on 31 October, but on the 17th instead – here are ten horror movies you would do well to steer very, very clear of in 2017.

1 – Friday the 13th – After their dreadful remake of the original Friday the 13th (1980), back in 2009, Platinum Dunes try again with another version. Originally planned for release this year, the movie has been put back to October of next year, and with very little in the way of a plot or storyline to be had, this seems to be a production that’s either being made as part of a contractual obligation, or as another attempt at making a quick buck off of Jason Voorhees’s fan club.

maxresdefault

2 – Rings – First there was the Japanese original, Ringu (1998), then the inevitable US remake, The Ring (2002), along with sequels from both countries. And now Sadako Yamamura is back, crawling out of another (the same?) well, and killing more people who’ve watched her doing so. The trailer for the movie shows events happening on board a plane, which begs the question: how is everyone on board going to receive a phone call seconds after the video has ended?

3 – World War Z 2 – The first movie started off strong then fell to pieces in its final third, but made enough money to (financially) warrant a sequel. Scheduling problems saw director J.A. Bayona leave the project early on, and little is known – surprise, surprise – about the plot except that it follows on directly from the first movie. Brad Pitt is back, but right now there’s no word on who will be joining him, and with so much up in the air at the moment, there’s a good chance that the movie won’t even see the light of day.

4 – Saw: Legacy – Proving yet again that if you’re making a horror movie series, and you include the words The Final Chapter in what is supposedly the last in the series, then all it means is that a further sequel will turn up eventually. Saw: Legacy is a continuation of the series, but one that nobody really wants or needs. With Jigsaw having been killed off long ago, let’s hope this one doesn’t get bogged down in trying to connect itself with previous outings, and tries at least to do something different, though the phrase, “Let’s play a game”, now seems a little ironic.

5 – Amityville: The Awakening – If ever there was a property that needed to be torn down and never built on again, then it’s 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. Not because of the terrible, tragic events that occurred there in November 1974, but because it might stop movie makers from flogging this particular cinematic dead horse (this is the ninth movie overall). That it’s attracted a crop of well-known names – Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gabriel Mann and Bella Thorne – might encourage some viewers, but with none of the previous entries having garnered much critical support between them, this is unlikely to be any different.

6 – Annabelle 2 – The first movie somehow managed to gross over $250m at the international box office, so a sequel was inevitable, but the basic plotline makes it all sound more confusing than it needs to be, as it seems to provide another origin story for the doll with the rosy cheeks. It’s in the hands of David F. Sandberg (Lights Out), but this is unlikely to stray too far from its The Conjuring roots to be any more effective or challenging (except maybe to watch).

annabelle-2

7 – Suspiria – The original, superbly directed by Dario Argento, is a classic Italian horror, and a movie that is a perfect illustration of the phrase “lightning in a bottle”. Argento was never able to replicate or even come close to the power of his now-signature movie, and there’s no indication here that director Luca Guadagnino will manage to come close to it either. And as if to further handicap the movie’s chances of being anywhere near as good as the original, the producers have seen fit to hire Chloë Grace Moretz – a seriously bad move; haven’t they seen Carrie (2013)?

8 – Insidious: Chapter 4 – Another horror sequel where the basic plot is unknown (even to the makers?), this at least brings back Lin Shaye as troubled psychic Elise Rainier, so there’s a degree of quality attached to this movie, but with this many trips to the well already, the likelihood of returning scribe and creator Leigh Whannell fashioning anything really scary is limited. Consistently good box office returns have gotten the series this far, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.

9 – Halloween: The Night Evil Died – With Laurie Strode no longer around to fend off or foil her tortured brother, Michael Myers, this outing (the eighth, ignoring Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1983) and the two sequels made by Rob Zombie) has no option but to fall back on the time honoured tradition of there being a wider family presence for Michael to kill in a variety of semi-cool ways. The series ran out of steam a long while back, and as with every other movie on the list, it seems that the producers haven’t caught on yet.

10 – Hellraiser: Judgment – It’s hard to believe perhaps – and especially because most of the previous entries have gone straight to video – but this will be the tenth Hellraiser movie, and in keeping with that particular milestone, much is being promised by writer/director Gary J. Tunnicliffe. But this has the air of a movie being made to ensure Dimension Films retain the franchise rights, and if history has anything to say about that particular motive, then this will be very disappointing indeed.

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50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2017 – Part 2

23 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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2017, New movies, Previews

2017

And… we’re back! Here’s the second batch of movies that may or may not have us jumping for joy at having seen them in 2017. There’s a pleasing mix of genres, some movies have really great casts, and some that may go on to win copious awards. Whatever happens these are all – at this moment in time – movies that are capable of finding a place in our hearts and in our Top 10 lists for the year – or maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see.

26 – Hidden Figures – The tagline is clever – “Meet the women you don’t know, behind the mission you do.” – and perfectly sums up the true story of the African-American women who were pivotal in ensuring that NASA were able to launch their space programme in the Sixties. It’s one of those inspiring true life tales that will no doubt pick up some Oscar buzz, but with a cast that includes Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Costner and Mahershala Ali, this should be a fascinating look behind the scenes of an equally fascinating period in NASA’s history.

hidden-figures

27 – Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – Luc Besson has wanted to make this adaptation of the French comic series by Pierre Cristin and Jean-Claude Mézières for a very long time. With Dane DeHaan in the title role, and the city in question providing a home to thousands of different species from across the universe, this could well be a riotous, visually spectacular movie replete with Besson’s quirky humour and operatic leanings. Like so many other movies in this list, there’s a great cast that includes Cara Delevingne, John Goodman, Clive Owen and Rihanna, and at €197 million, it’s also the most expensive French movie ever made.

28 – Despicable Me 3 – Steve Carell has stated that this will be his last feature outing as the not-quite-so-villainous Gru. If so, then it’ll be a shame as Carell’s vocal performance has been one of the series’ several high spots. Perhaps knowing this, the producers and writers have come up with a storyline that gives Carell twice as much to do as he plays both Gru and his long-lost brother Dru. Add to the mix the inclusion of Trey Parker as definitely villainous Balthazar Bratt, alongside the usual madcap humour of the Minions, and you have a second sequel that might just be better than expected.

29 – Tully – An original screenplay by Diablo Cody is brought to the screen by Jason Reitman for the third time – after Juno (2007) and Young Adult (2011) – and reteams them with Charlize Theron in a tale of a single mother with three kids who’s “gifted” a night nanny (the Tully of the title and played by Mackenzie Davis) by her brother. If Cody’s script is sharper than some of her more recent efforts then this could be a winning combination of comedy and drama that tugs at the heartstrings while also keeping audiences highly amused.

30 – Untitled Darren Aronofsky Project – This isn’t due for release until the very end of 2017, and Aronofsky is keeping details about his latest movie very close to his chest, but what we do know is that it features Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Harris, Javier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence, and concerns a couple whose relationship is put to the test by some uninvited guests. With extensive special effects still to be completed, just how the couple’s relationship is tested is an intriguing question, but in Aronofsky’s hands this is unlikely to be a standard home invasion thriller.

31 – The Dark Tower – Stephen King’s sprawling eight-volume tale set in Mid-World concerns the pursuit of a mysterious Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) by an equally mysterious Gunslinger (Idris Elba). An adaptation has been on the cards in various forms since 2007, but this production has been somewhat rushed, which may not prove to be a good thing. Still it’s highly anticipated by fans, and the main casting shows a willingness on the producers’ part to add some weight to proceedings, but it will be the strength of the adaptation that will decide if this succeeds or fails.

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32 – Dunkirk – The latest from Christopher Nolan recounts the evacuation of British, Canadian, French and Belgian troops from the beaches of Dunkerque in Northern France, and in the midst of an intense onslaught from surrounding German forces. This promises to be suitably epic, but whether Nolan has opted for Saving Private Ryan-style realism, or something a little less hard-hitting remains to be seen, but what will need to be seen is the movie in its IMAX 65mm format, which should make the movie look as spectacular as Nolan is probably intending.

33 – Baby Driver – Having departed from Ant-Man (2015), director Edgar Wright moved on to this comedy-action-thriller about a getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) who works for various bank robbers and finds himself in deep trouble when a heist goes badly wrong. Wright directs his own script so expect the humour to be spot on, and he’s assembled a great cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx and Lily James. However it all turns out, one thing is for sure: it’ll look and sound completely different from any other movie out there.

34 – A Cure for Wellness – If you’ve already seen the first trailer for Gore Verbinski’s first movie since The Lone Ranger (2013), then you’ll know that A Cure for Wellness is likely to be the most visually arresting movie of 2017. With a succession of stunning visuals allied to the mystery of a “wellness centre” located high in the Swiss Alps that is definitely not all that it seems, Verbinski has created a psychological mindbender of a movie that is likely to draw audiences in and then pull the rug out from under them – and not just the once.

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35 – Murder on the Orient Express – It could be argued that we don’t exactly need another version of one of Agatha Christie’s most famous stories, but with Kenneth Branagh directing and starring as Hercule Poirot, and surprisingly, with Johnny Depp as the murder victim, there’s a good possibility that it will transcend the more “stage-bound” versions we’ve seen before. A mixed supporting cast that includes Judi Dench and Daisy Ridley should lend some gravitas to proceedings, all of which leaves one last question to be asked: will Branagh lean towards Peter Ustinov or David Suchet in his interpretation of the Belgian detective, or will he find his own approach to the sleuth?

36 – How to Talk to Girls at Parties – From the title you might be expecting another teen comedy about lustful boys chasing beautiful girls, but while Neil Gaiman’s original short story starts off very much like that, where it takes you from there is another matter entirely. John Cameron Mitchell adapts and directs which should ensure that this will be one of the more interesting movies of 2017, and he’s supported by the likes of Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Matt Lucas.

37 – Downsizing – If your life is getting you, well, down, what if you had the chance to be shrunk to a much smaller size and lead a better life; would you take the opportunity? That’s the question inherent in the latest from Alexander Payne, which sees Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig as the couple granted such an opportunity, only for her to back out at the last moment and leave Damon stranded as 2017’s version of The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). Payne has been working on this project for some time, so expect his trademark wry humour and heartfelt drama to shine through, and provide one of the more affecting movies of the coming year.

38 – Hostiles – A Western drama that sees Christian Bale’s army captain reluctantly escort a Cheyenne chief (Wes Studi) and his family through dangerous territory, Hostiles could well be a dark, brooding affair touching on racist attitudes and the concept of self-determinism in amongst more familiar Western staples (which would be good), but if it isn’t then a good old-fashioned oater with lots of gunfights, Indian attacks and galloping about on horseback will do just fine.

39 – Andorra – Veteran director Fred Schepisi returns with an adaptation of the novel by Peter Cameron, about a man, Alexander Fox (played by Clive Owen), who leaves the US and settles in Andorra, only to find himself the prime suspect in a murder case. With Toni Collette and Gillian Anderson as the two women he finds himself involved with, it remains to be seen if Schepisi and Cameron (adapting his own novel) have retained the disturbing eeriness of the novel, and the country’s reimagining as one with a coastline and several other differences.

40 – John Wick: Chapter 2 – John Wick was both a pleasant surprise and something of a comeback for Keanu Reeves, and it may need to be again as Reeves has returned to making sub-standard DTV movies as the main part of his “day job”. With Reeves back again, along with directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch and writer Derek Kolstad, the action is relocated to Rome as Wick agrees to combat a former associate with plans to seize control of the assassins’ guild both belong to. Expect plenty of gunplay, gratuitous headshots, and bone-cracking fight scenes as Reeves does what he does best: play a focused, hell-bent killing machine.

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41 – An Interview With God – Questions of faith and belief are challenged when a young journalist (Brenton Thwaites) finds himself interviewing a mysterious man who claims to be God (David Strathairn). Quite how much of this will be a two-hander remains to be seen but there’s something to be said for a drama where God may just be in the room, and can be asked anything at all. This puts much of the pressure on Ken Aguado’s script, but if he’s been careful and thought things through, then this could be a movie that gets people talking about faith for all the right reasons.

42 – Wonder – It’s Jacob Tremblay again, grabbing all the good pre-teen roles before it’s too late, and playing Auggie Pullman, a young boy with a facial deformity that has all sorts of effects on the children at the school he goes to. This adaptation of the novel by R.J. Palacio features Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson as Auggie’s parents, and sounds like the kind of feelgood, triumph-over-adversity movie that awards are made for. But Palacio’s novel isn’t as easily transferable to the screen as some might think, so director Stephen Chbosky and co-screenwriters Steve Conrad and Jack Thorne have their work cut out for them.

43 – Submergence – Another literary adaptation, this time from the novel by J.M. Ledgard, this sees Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy as separated lovers who look back over their time together while both deal with different kinds of confinement: he in a windowless room at the mercy of jihadists, she in a submersible heading for the bottom of the Greenland Sea. A heavyweight romantic drama then, and the latest from Wim Wenders, this may not set the box office alight, but it has the potential to pick up awards by the bucket load.

44 – Logan Lucky – In Hollywood, even in the independent sector, retirement is usually just a word bandied about by writers, directors and actors when they feel they’ve done enough and can sit back and relax. Steven Soderbergh hasn’t exactly relaxed since Behind the Candelabra (2013), but this is his first feature since then, and it’s good to know he’s back. Telling the tale of two brothers (Channing Tatum, Adam Driver) who decide to pull off a robbery during a NASCAR race, this should be a clever comedy where nothing goes right for the brothers, and everything goes wrong.

45 – Annihilation – Following on from the success of Ex Machina (2015), writer/director Alex Garland continues with another sci-fi drama, this time an adaptation of the first novel in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. Telling the story of an expedition to the mysterious Area X, and what happened to several previous expeditions, the movie has attracted a great cast that includes Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and if Garland is on form, should be the year’s most thought-provoking sci-fi movie.

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46 – Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Fashion Project – Details are scarce at this point in time, but what we do know is that Anderson’s latest movie is set in the London fashion world of the 1950’s and features Daniel Day-Lewis. Just the fact that Anderson and Day-Lewis are reuniting on this project is enough for now, but whatever the movie is about, it’s sure to be an intense, mesmerising drama that grabs the attention and doesn’t let go, and should include another (potentially) award-winning performance from Day-Lewis.

47 – The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara – After going all family-friendly with The BFG (2016), Steven Spielberg returns to the arena of historical drama with this true story about a young Jewish boy in Italy in 1858 who was secretly baptised and then abducted by the Papal States and trained to become a priest. A massive political and religious scandal in its day, Spielberg is working from a script by Tony Kushner, and reuniting for the fourth time in as many movies with Mark Rylance, who plays Pope Pius IX.

48 – Kingsman: The Golden Circle – An inevitable sequel for the surprise hit of 2014, this sees Matthew Vaughn returning to the director’s chair, while he and Jane Goldman collaborate on the script. Also returning are Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Sophie Cookson, and surprisingly, Colin Firth, whose character was killed off in the first movie… or was he? This time round the Kingsmen have to team up with their US rivals the Statesmen, when their headquarters is attacked. Expect lots of action, lots of comedy, and lots of sharply tailored suits, as well as a cameo from Elton John.

49 – Untitled Woody Allen Project – With his recent movies pointing towards a kind of late-career renaissance, Woody Allen keeps things moving with this drama set in 1950’s New York. With the likes of Kate Winslet, Juno Temple and Justin Timberlake on board, there’s little doubt that whatever Allen has come up with story-wise, the movie should be further proof that late-career Allen is more than a match for most everyone else.

50 – God Particle – A sci-fi movie involving a team of astronauts who find themselves completely alone aboard a space station when the Earth disappears, this has yet another great cast – Chris O’Dowd, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, and Ziyi Zhang amongst others – and if Internet gossip/predictions are to be believed, is the third movie in the unofficial Cloverfield trilogy. Whether that’s true or not, the idea of the Earth vanishing is potent enough, and the involvement of J.J. Abrams as producer should help bring audiences into cinemas. Let’s just hope the ending isn’t as awkwardly tacked on as the one in 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016).

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50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2017 – Part 1

07 Friday Oct 2016

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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2017, New movies, Previews

2017

Is it really that time again, to look ahead to the coming year and hope against all previous experience that things will get better, that Hollywood will launch itself wholeheartedly into making original, entertaining, thought-provoking movies that aren’t creatively moribund? Well, yes it is, but in the spirit of recent changes on thedullwoodexperiment the movies highlighted here and in Part 2 won’t feature very many of the tentpole movies that will be hyped to death between now and their release next year, because, well, that’s what everyone else will be doing. So, here’s the first batch of contenders looking to conquer our hearts and minds in 2017. How many will you see, and how many will become new favourites?

1) Loving Vincent – A project that has literally taken years to accomplish (more than it takes Pixar or Dreamworks to produce one of their movies), Loving Vincent is the world’s first painted animation feature. It also incorporates traditional 2D animation and rotoscoping into its visual structure, and features the voice talents of Saoirse Ronan, Chris O’Dowd and Aidan Turner amongst others. The Vincent in question is Van Gogh, and the movie explores the mysteries surrounding his life and death, and will do so in a way that promises to expand the possibilities of animation in a whole new, breathtaking way.

loving-vincent

2) Granite Mountain – In June 2013, a wildfire ignited south of Prescott, Arizona that would later claim the lives of nineteen firemen as they fought to bring the blaze under control. The men were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and Joseph Kosinski’s tribute to them and their valiant efforts has attracted a stellar cast that includes Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, James Badge Dale, and the ever-reliable Jeff Bridges.

3) The Death and Life of John F. Donovan – Xavier Dolan directs a hopefully compelling drama that examines the consequences and moral contradictions that arise when a movie star, John F. Donovan (played by Kit Harington) is revealed to have corresponded with a child actor (who’s eleven). Assumptions are made, and Donovan’s career and reputation are put at risk. Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon and Jessica Chastain round out the cast, and for the eagle-eyed. there’s a cameo from Adele.

4) Tulip Fever – A project that was filmed in 2014 and has sat on the shelf since then doesn’t sound like a movie with much to recommend it, but Justin Chadwick’s adaptation of Deborah Moggach’s novel of 17th Century romance and drama amongst the art scene in Amsterdam, and based on a script by Tom Stoppard no less, doesn’t have to mean it’s a turkey ready-basted for the oven. It also features an eclectic cast that includes Zach Galifianakis, Alicia Vikander, Jack O’Connell, Christoph Waltz, and Judi Dench, but however it turns out, this should be interesting to watch if nothing else.

tulip-fever

5) The Coldest City – Based on the graphic novel by Antony Johnston, The Coldest City sees James McAvoy’s undercover MI6 agent sent to Berlin during the Cold War to recover a list of double agents that’s gone missing while also investigating the death of a fellow agent. It’s highly likely that the two things will be connected, but with the likes of Toby Jones, Charlize Theron and John Goodman to help muddy the waters, it’s also likely that McAvoy’s character will be fighting for his own life before the movie’s over.

6) The Circle – Originally due to hit our screens this year, James Ponsoldt’s adaptation of the novel by Dave Eggers features Emma Watson as a young woman who lands a job at a powerful tech company and finds herself involved in a wide-ranging conspiracy that could hasten the way in which surveillance technology erodes personal privacy. With Tom Hanks as a mysterious colleague whose loyalties Watson’s character can’t be completely certain of, this has the potential to be a whip-smart thriller, and quite timely as well.

7) War for the Planet of the Apes – Very little is known about this third entry in the new Apes franchise, but the good news is that Andy Serkis is back as Caesar, and Woody Harrelson is on board as the movie’s chief villain. Whether or not the title means there’ll be more action this time round remains to be seen, but as long as the dramatic threads of Rise… and Dawn… are maintained, then there’s no reason to expect anything but another intelligently handled entry in a series that’s been a surprise success from day one.

8) T2: Trainspotting – A sequel that many, many people have been waiting for, the awkwardly titled T2: Trainspotting reaches us with Danny Boyle returning to the helm, and reunited with the original cast (less Kevin McKidd). Based on Irvine Welsh’s novel, Porno, this promises to be as scabrous and deliciously crude as its predecessor, and if the tone is right, could be one of the more deliberately unapologetic movies released in 2017.

t2-trainspotting

9) Yeh Din Ka Kissa – It’s an indie movie with a classic indie set up: an estranged family gathers for an event to celebrate the father’s work. What long-lasting emotional traumas will be brought up, and which long-buried secrets will be disinterred? Only writer/director Noah Baumbach knows, but with the likes of Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson taking part, Yeh Din Ka Kissa has all the potential to be a must-see dramedy.

10) The Shape of Water – Guillermo del Toro returns after the disappointment of Crimson Peak with this eerie fantasy set against the backdrop of the Sixties and the Cold War between Russia and America. Sally Hawkins is the janitor working in a lab where a mysterious “amphibious man” is being held. Cue elements of romance, danger, and (no doubt some) horror as Hawkins’ character decides that the “amphibious man” should be freed. Del Toro seems to be walking a bit of a tightrope in achieving the necessary credibility for his tale, but it’s a project he’s been working on for some time, so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.

11) Molly’s Game – The directorial debut of Aaron Sorkin, this adaptation by the man himself of Molly Bloom’s memoir, features the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain as the writer who set up and ran an international high stakes poker game, and became the subject of an FBI investigation. Expect a screenplay liberally strewn with Sorkin’s trademark intelligent dialogue, and a close examination of a world that few people get to experience.

12) Battle of the Sexes – It’s true story time as husband and wife directing team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris take on the media circus that surrounded the 1973 tennis match between World No. 1 Billie Jean King (played by Emma Stone) and ex-champ Bobby Riggs (a well-chosen Steve Carell). It’s an event that cries out for comedic treatment, and hopefully the true absurdity of both the reasons for the match and the eventual game itself will be highlighted in such a way that audiences unfamiliar with it all will be wondering, How on earth?

13) Same Kind of Different As Me – A story that focuses on faith and how much it can transform a person’s life, Same Kind of Different As Me features Greg Kinnear as an art dealer whose relationship with a dangerous homeless man (played by Djimon Hounsou) could be the key to saving his marriage. With Renée Zellweger as the wife, and supporting roles for Jon Voight and Olivia Holt, this drama may not attract a wide audience, but it does appear to have enough going for it to be a strong alternative to the usual mainstream fare.

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14) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – James Gunn and crew return with a sequel that, if handled properly (and there’s no reason to suspect otherwise), will prove to be just as energetic and enjoyable as its predecessor. There will be other superhero movies released in 2017 – inevitably – but it’s this that has the best chance of rising above its competitors and showing them how superhero movies should be made (and yes, that means you, Warner Bros.).

15) Weightless – Set against the music scene in Austin, Texas, this could be veteran director Terrence Malick’s Nashville, but it’s just as likely that he’ll give us yet another elliptical, narrative-lite exploration of a character’s angst-ridden ennui that’s driven by their inability to connect with the people around them. As usual, Malick has assembled an amazing cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Cate Blanchett, Benicio Del Toro, and Natalie Portman, but while his recent, prolific output is to be welcomed, let’s hope this outing has more of a story than some recent releases.

16) The Book of Henry – Naomi Watts is the mother of a child genius (played by child star du jour Jacob Tremblay), who learns that something terrible is happening in the house next door, and that her son is not only aware of it, but has come up with a plan to deal with it and put things right. But her decision to put her son’s plan into action (inevitably) doesn’t go as planned. Directed by Colin Trevorrow from a script by Gregg Hurwitz, this could be a dark horse in the thriller stakes.

17) Shock and Awe – Ostensibly a drama that hopefully sees a return to form for director Rob Reiner, the title refers to the term used by George Bush to allude to the US Army’s approach to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. But the movie itself concerns a group of journalists who begin to doubt the President’s claim that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, and that the War in Iraq is as legitimate as he claims. Reiner’s assembled another great cast, including Woody Harrelson, Milla Jovovich, Alec Baldwin, and Tommy Lee Jones, and if the script points up the irregularities and misinformation the US government fed to the media, then this could be as pertinent a look at government perfidy now as it was then.

18) The Zookeeper’s Wife – Another true story, another Jessica Chastain movie, this sees her play Antonina Zabinski, who with her husband, Jan, was a keeper at the Warsaw Zoo during World War II. Determined to save as many of the zoo animals, and people, as she could, Antonina took tremendous risks in avoiding detection and capture by the Nazis, and in the hands of Niki Caro, this has all the potential of being a gripping thriller about personal courage against tremendous odds.

the-zookeepers-wife

19) American Made – It’s had its fair share of problems – two wrongful death lawsuits so far – and the concept: a pilot working for the CIA also works for a cartel running drugs, has potential at least, but American Made‘s success will hinge entirely on two men: director Doug Liman and star Tom Cruise. It’s a great combination, and should result in an action thriller that provides jaded action junkies with enough adrenaline-fuelled sequences to keep a perma-smile on their faces, but it’s the story that really needs to be solid if it’s all going to work properly.

20) The LEGO Batman Movie – The movie that’s most likely to be the best DC superhero movie released in 2017, The Lego Batman Movie sees the brick-solid Caped Crusader (once again voiced by Will Arnett) battling a horde of enemies including the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) and Harley Quinn (Jenny Slate), while also trying to raise his adopted son Dick Grayson (Michael Cera). This will be cool, funny, action-packed, and in a weird not-weird way, able to make grown men – okay, fanboys – cry.

21) Bright – This is one of the more out there movies coming out in 2017, as David Ayer directs a script by Max Landis that references a world where fantasy characters such as elves and orcs have become integrated into human society and everyone gets along. It gets generic though as Will Smith’s LAPD cop is assigned an Orc partner, and while details are being kept under wraps, it’s likely that they’ll have to investigate a murder, or a case of corruption, that ultimately leads to a behind the scenes villain who hates the status quo. But Landis has promised the action will be incredible, and Ayer is no slouch in that department, so we’ll just have to wait and see just how batshit crazy it all is.

22) Jungle – “If you go down to the jungle today…” – it’s bound to end badly. And that’s the likelihood in a thriller directed by Greg McLean that stars Daniel Radcliffe as one of a group of friends who go trekking through the Bolivian jungle with a guide who isn’t all he says he is. Based on a true story, with Radcliffe playing Yossi Ghinsberg, who ended up lost and alone in said jungle back in 1981, this could well be a nerve-shredding experience, but only if McLean puts the hugely disappointing The Darkness behind him and trusts in the material.

jungle

23) My Cousin Rachel – An adaptation of the novel by Daphne Du Maurier (and which was previously filmed in 1952 with Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton), this romantic drama spiced with intrigue and revenge features Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin as the cousins whose relationship becomes increasingly more intimate even though he suspects her of murdering his guardian. Roger Michell directs, and sensibly, the period setting is retained, making this a rare historical drama in amongst all the other releases in 2017.

24) Rebel in the Rye – A biopic of renowned, and reclusive, author J.D. Salinger, with Nicholas Hoult taking on the role, this also features Kevin Spacey as Whit Burnett, Salinger’s mentor at Columbia University, Zoey Deutch as Oona O’Neill, who had a short romance with Salinger in the late 40’s, and Sarah Paulson as Dorothy Olding, who was his agent. It remains to be seen if Danny Strong’s examination of Salinger’s life will reveal anything new about the writer, but he’s an intriguing character, and one worth taking a closer look at.

25) Beauty and the Beast – With the success of Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book, Disney adds another live-action adaptation of one of their animated classics to the roster. Emma Watson is Belle, Dan Stevens is the Beast, while the likes of Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci put flesh on the “bones” of all those ornaments and dinnerware we’ve come to know and love. But as with The Jungle Book, it remains to be seen just how many of the original animated classic’s wonderful songs will be kept in place.

beauty-and-the-beast

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Trailers – Fences (2016), Mean Dreams (2016) and The Free World (2016)

01 Saturday Oct 2016

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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August Wilson, Bill Paxton, Boyd Holbrook, Crime, Denzel Washington, Drama, Previews, Trailers, Viola Davis

In 2010, a production of Fences, August Wilson’s award-winning play, won Tony’s for Best Revival of a Play, Best Actor and Best Actress. The two leads in the revival were Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, so if you think after watching the trailer that their performances look incredibly good – well, there’s the reason why. Set in the 1950’s, the movie examines the effects changes in race relations in the US have on an average African-American family, and in particular the dynamic between Washington’s struggling husband and father Troy, and his teenage son Cory (played by relative newcomer Jovan Adepo). With Washington making his first feature since The Great Debaters (2007), it will be interesting to see just how much of Wilson’s tale of bitter regret and personal despair is retained, and if the movie retains the play’s episodic structure. But from the trailer alone it does look as if Washington has made a challenging, powerful movie, and perhaps a sure-fire awards winner further down the line.

 

In Mean Dreams, Bill Paxton is the kind of backwoods sheriff we’ve seen quite a lot of recently: outwardly charming, seemingly decent, but beneath all that, as callous and conniving as any regular bad guy (and probably more so). But this is a small-town sheriff bordering on the psychotic, which makes his treatment and eventual pursuit of his daughter (Sophie Nélisse) and her wrong-guy-in-the-wrong-place boyfriend (Josh Wiggins) all the more gripping. Given the right role, Paxton is an actor you should never underestimate; he can take a viewer to some very dark places indeed, and often at the drop of a hat. This has all the hallmarks of such a role, and while the movie has a wintry feel to it that appears to suit the mood and tone of the movie, it’s still going to be Paxton who grabs all the attention – and he looks good and ready to do so.

 

There are always actors who pop up in movies and make an impression, but who still manage to retain an air of mystery and have audiences scratching their heads and asking themselves, “Didn’t I see him/her in that other movie?” Boyd Holbrook is one of those actors. He’s been quietly amassing a body of work that’s also been increasingly impressive ever since he first appeared in Milk (2008). Now, it looks as if The Free World, a taut thriller about second chances and personal redemption set against the backdrop of a domestic murder case, could be the movie to catapault Holbrook into the big(ger) leagues. If it doesn’t, then it’s unlikely Holbrook will be too worried. He’ll just carry on giving good performances in whatever movies he makes.

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Trailers – Christine (2016), Nocturnal Animals (2016) and Annabelle 2 (2017)

15 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Amy Adams, Annabelle 2, Antonio Campos, Christine, David F. Sandberg, Drama, Horror, Jake Gyllenhaal, Literary adaptation, Miranda Otto, Previews, Rebecca Hall, Suicide, Tom Ford, Trailers, True story, TV reporter

Thankfully, Christine is not an unwanted, unexpected remake of the 1983 John Carpenter movie about a haunted car, but instead the true life tale of a haunted woman, Christine Chubbuck. Chubbuck was a US TV news reporter working in Florida during the late Sixties, early Seventies. She battled depression and suicidal thoughts before killing herself live on TV in July 1974. In telling her story, director Antonio Campos and screenwriter Craig Shilowich have created a compelling, richly detailed account of Chubbuck’s life and struggle with her personal demons, and the movie features what many critics are already describing as a “career-best” performance from Rebecca Hall. From the trailer we can see that the era when Chubbuck was alive has been painstakingly recreated, and that the cinematography by Joe Anderson is an integral part of what makes the movie look and feel so fresh and nostalgic at the same time. A tragic tale, to be sure, but Christine seems keen to be true to Chubbuck’s awkward yet painfully endearing persona, and which also doesn’t appear to shrink from exploring the “issues” that led to her untimely death at the age of just twenty-nine.

 

Based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright, Nocturnal Animals is Tom Ford’s first movie since A Single Man (2009). A movie that features a narrative full of twists and turns, it sees Amy Adams’ art gallery owner apparently threatened by the existence of a novel written by her ex-husband (played by Jake Gyllenhaal). The novel reads like a revenge tale, a way of his getting back at her for something she did to him that was really terrible. She recognises herself in the story, and comes to believe that he’s written it deliberately to make her afraid that the story will come true. Adams, after her disappointing turns in the likes of Big Eyes (2014) and the less than stellar DC outings involving Superman, here gets to grip with a meaty, dramatic role that better suits her abilities than having to play second fiddle to a green screen. But it’s still, first and foremost, a Tom Ford movie: stylish, elliptical in places, and beautifully lensed by Seamus McGarvey, making it a feast for the senses as well as the intellect.

 

The inclusion here of the first, teaser trailer for a sequel to a spin-off movie that nobody really wanted, is, on the face of it, a little strange in itself (the original didn’t even merit inclusion in the Monthly Roundup it should have been a part of; yes, it’s that bad). But three things warrant giving the trailer for Annabelle 2 the equivalent of a hall pass: one, that’s Miranda Otto holding the cross, an actress who rarely makes bad movies; two, its director is David F. Sandberg, fresh from his success as the main creative force behind Lights Out (2016); and three, it keeps things commendably brief and doesn’t rely on a manufactured jump scare to get you, well… jumping out of your seat. These may not be enough to stop the movie from being as bad as its predecessor, but for the moment, this is one teaser trailer which understands that, when it comes to horror, less really is more.

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Trailers – Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Split (2017) and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

11 Thursday Aug 2016

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Andrew Garfield, Charlie Hunnam, Desmond T. Doss, Fantasy, Guy Ritchie, Hacksaw Ridge, James McAvoy, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, M. Night Shyamalan, Mel Gibson, Previews, Psychological thriller, Split, Trailers, True story, War

If you don’t know who Desmond T. Doss was, then prepare to be amazed. The trailer for Hacksaw Ridge introduces us to a man whose pacifist leanings led to his being the only non-weapons carrying member of the US Army during World War II, and who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and courage in rescuing over seventy-five men during the Battle of Okinawa. It’s an incredible tale, and judging from the trailer this could very well be in contention for a whole slew of awards once it goes on general release in November 2016. Advance word is overwhelmingly positive, and many people who’ve seen the movie already are praising its director, Mel Gibson – making his first movie behind the camera since Apocalypto (2006) – for the way in which he presents both the intensity and horror of the conflict on Okinawa, and Doss’s personal faith and its effect on the men around him. Andrew Garfield looks to have finally found a movie that allows him to step up to the mark in terms of his acting ability, and there’s advance word that Vince Vaughn (seen briefly here as a drill sergeant) gives his best performance yet in a movie. If all this early praise is to be believed, then this could prove to be one of the finest war movies ever made, and a reminder that Gibson, whatever his personal problems in recent years, is still a damn fine movie maker.

 

The latest from writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, Split looks like an attempt at making a disturbing psychological thriller based around the notion that a kidnapper with multiple personalities – 23, in fact – is doing so at the behest of the strongest, most fearful personality of the lot… the Beast. It remains to be seen if Shyamalan can pull off this particular storyline with anything like the degree of credibility it needs (and having James McAvoy playing the central character, Kevin(!), will certainly help his chances), or if the mechanics of the narrative will require McAvoy to shift personalities at too rapid a speed for things to remain plausible. This being Shyamalan, it’s hard to tell, but what can be discerned from Split‘s first trailer is that he’s going for a taut, gripping viewing experience, the kind he hasn’t really tried before, and one without any supernatural elements either. It’s easy to dismiss Shyamalan as a writer/director, but The Visit (2015) was a welcome semi-return to form, and he’s such a strong, distinctive, visually arresting director that it’s about time his skills as a writer were able to once again match those he has as a director.

 

At first sight, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword looks like a spirited romp through an alternative Arthurian timeline, one where the fabled King begins life as a child of the streets, but still ends up removing Excalibur from its stone and ruling a kingdom. And while there’s nothing remotely wrong with the idea of retelling the Arthur legend in such a way, what is obviously, clearly, undoubtedly, unquestionably and visibly wrong here is the way in which that idea has been executed. Guy Ritchie may be a very talented director, and he may have assembled a very talented cast – Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law, Eric Bana, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, and, erm, David Beckham – but the tone of the movie is plainly off by a country mile. Martial arts fight sequences, modern day humour, large-scale battle sequences straight out of the Peter Jackson Middle Earth Playbook, and a visual style that apes any number of other fantasy movies made in recent years; all these aspects and more make the movie feel derivative and lacking in originality. While it’s evidently been created with the intention of being one of 2017’s must-see tentpole movies, here’s a prediction: come next March we’ll all be asking the same question, “Why, Guy, why?”

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Trailers – xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017), Hands of Stone (2016) and In a Valley of Violence (2016)

22 Friday Jul 2016

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Action, Biopic, Ethan Hawke, Hands of Stone, In a Valley of Violence, Movies, Previews, Ray Arcel, Robert De Niro, Roberto Duran, Sequel, Ti West, Trailers, Vin Diesel, Western, xXx: Return of Xander Cage

In the trailer for xXx: Return of Xander Cage, one thing stands out: that pretty much all the action beats we see, involve, or are performed by, everyone with the exception of Vin Diesel (aside from one leg swipe and an elbow to the neck). So straight away this seems less of a movie about the return of Xander Cage, and more of a movie where the star of the Fast & Furious franchise reinvigorates another, minor franchise by inserting his character into a storyline Cage didn’t originally feature in. If that’s so, then Diesel and director D.J. Caruso have an uphill battle on their hands to make Cage a still-relevant action hero at a time when Jason Bourne is back on our screens, and the best action movies are being made by a little outfit called Marvel. But if this really is a brand new outing designed and written specifically for Cage, and is intended to restart the franchise with Diesel firmly in place this time, then on first glance, it’s not looking too good. And it’ll be interesting to see where Tony Jaa fits into the scrapping order (first Paul Walker, now Diesel – who’s next? Michelle Rodriguez?). Let’s hope the two have a thumping good fight scene together, and one that doesn’t rely on the kind of editing that makes you wonder if their stunt doubles should be sharing top billing.

 

Real violence is on display in Hands of Stone, the story of boxer Roberto Durán’s rise from the poverty-stricken streets of Guarare in Panama, to glory in the ring, and two historic fights with Sugar Ray Leonard. The trailer makes it look as if Durán’s story is being told from the perspective of legendary trainer Ray Arcel, so it may be that the movie carries a degree of objectivity in its approach, and isn’t out to simply lionise Durán’s achievements. The boxer had his demons, and though the trailer touches on these, it’s hard to tell how much time will be spent on the man outside the ring instead of or rather than, the man inside it. Ramirez seems an obvious choice to play Durán (and he may be hoping to erase moviegoers’ memories of his performance in the Point Break remake), but he’s not an actor who’s really proven himself to date. De Niro has proven himself (many times) but the trailer doesn’t make it look as if he’s really trying, so let’s hope he’s more engaged than he’s been in recent years. And let’s hope the fight sequences are more Raging Bull (1980) than Grudge Match (2013).

 

Ti West is an indie movie maker in the best sense: he writes and directs his own movies, and he has a intriguing visual style that means you’re never sure where he’s going to take you next. Sometimes, as in The Sacrament (2013), he can surprise you just by getting the camera to turn a corner; other times, as in The Innkeepers (2011), he can surprise you by not surprising you (you’ll have to see the movie to know what that’s like). In a Valley of Violence has been on West’s to-do list for some time, and now that the first trailer is here we can see that it’s been well worth the wait. There are few trailers that can adequately instill a sense of foreboding from its assembly of clips, but this is one of those trailers. The lone stranger in town isn’t exactly a new twist on the Western genre, but under West’s stewardship, this looks like meaty, thrilling stuff indeed. With a great cast that includes Ethan Hawke, John Travolta (let’s hope it’s the kind of role he can do real justice to), James Ransone, Karen Gillan and indie favourite Larry Fessenden, this should be a rousing treat come the end of the year.

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Trailers – The Hollars (2016), La La Land (2016) and A Monster Calls (2016)

14 Thursday Jul 2016

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A Monster Calls, Comedy, Damien Chazelle, Drama, Emma Stone, Fantasy, J.A. Bayona, John Krasinski, La La Land, Musical, Patrick Ness, Previews, Romance, Ryan Gosling, The Hollars, Trailers

Movies about dysfunctional families are almost a sub-genre all their own, and this latest, written by Jim Strouse – Grace Is Gone (2007), People Places Things (2015) – and directed by actor John Krasinski, features a great cast (which includes the fabulous Margo Martindale), the kind of serio-comic situations that hide a variety of truths beneath the humour, and no doubt, a few life lessons along the way. The trailer focuses, unsurprisingly, on the more comedic elements of the script, but under Krasinski’s stewardship, this should still be a movie that touches the heart as well as the funny bone. Any movie that examines what it is to be part of a family should have a head start on our attention – we’ve all been there, right? – but The Hollars looks a little more smart in its approach, and that makes it a movie worth watching out for.

 

In the latest movie from Whiplash director Damien Chazelle, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone play Sebastian, a jazz pianist, and Mia, an aspiring actress, who meet and fall in love against a backdrop of ambition and mounting success that threatens to tear their hard-fought-for relationship apart. The trailer acts as a mood piece, allowing us glimpses of the characters and the environments they work in, and tantalising peeks at the various genre elements – comedy, drama, romance,musicals – that Chazelle has utilised in order to tell their story. There are moments of visual wonder as well, with several beautifully framed and lit shots that are simply breathtaking. La La Land is likely to be a strong contender come awards season, but however it turns out, this is definitely one movie that at this stage, warrants an awful lot of anticipation.

 

A Monster Calls may appear to be a children’s tale, but Patrick Ness’s powerful novel, on which this is based (and which has been adapted by him), is a much darker fantasy than you’d expect, and it’s to the movie’s credit that the trailer doesn’t downplay this. Focusing on a young boy, Connor (played by newcomer Lewis MacDougall), who struggles with issues surrounding bullying, deep-rooted anger, and his mother’s battle with terminal cancer, this is as far from lighthearted stuff. Help though comes in the unexpected form of a monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) who like to tell stories – stories that help Connor deal with the problems he’s experiencing. Director J.A. Bayona has previously given us The Orphanage (2007) and The Impossible (2012), two movies with a strong visual style, and an equally strong focus on children overcoming difficult situations, so his involvement here is a good sign that one of the most impressive pieces of low fantasy fiction of recent years will be just as impressive on the big screen.

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Trailers – American Pastoral (2016), The 9th Life of Louis Drax (2016) and Keeping Up With the Joneses (2016)

30 Thursday Jun 2016

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Aaron Paul, Action, Alexandre Aja, Comedy, Drama, Ewan McGregor, Gal Gadot, Greg Mottola, Isla Fisher, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Literary adaptation, Liz Jensen, Mystery, Philip Roth, Previews, Sarah Gadon, Supernatural, Thriller, Trailers, Zach Galifianakis

For his feature debut as a director, Ewan McGregor could have (probably) chosen any project he wanted, but not one to shirk a challenge, the actor has decided to film Philip Roth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (it’s been in development for over a decade, and Jennifer Connelly is the only person still on board from back then). So, no pressure there, then. But the trailer reveals, albeit in a disjointed fashion, that McGregor appears to have found a way of coherently presenting the various social and political upheavals of the period (the Sixties), and without sacrificing any of the personal or emotional effects these events have on the characters involved. With David Strathairn cast as Roth’s alter ego Nathan Zuckerman, and a supporting cast that also includes Molly Parker and Peter Riegert, McGregor has found himself in very good company indeed, and if his direction, allied with John Romano’s screenplay, is as good as it looks (and thanks to DoP Martin Ruhe it looks beautiful indeed), then this could be a strong Oscar contender come next February.

 

In The 9th Life of Louis Drax (it’s never Johnny Smith anymore, is it?), a young boy’s fall from a cliff and subsequent coma opens up a mystery that will involve his parents (Sarah Gadon, Aaron Paul) and his doctor (Jamie Dornan). Liz Jensen’s 2004 novel was due to be adapted by Anthony Minghella before his untimely death in 2008, but now it’s been adapted for the screen by his son Max, and with the formidable talent of Alexandre Aja in the director’s chair. The trailer is sufficiently twist-y enough for clues to Louis’s “condition” to be given in one second and then overturned in another, and the movie’s success is likely to depend on how well the mystery is maintained before answers have to be revealed. The cast also features the likes of Oliver Platt, the ubiquitous Molly Parker, and Barbara Hershey, and seems to have got a firm hold on the supernatural thriller aspects of the story, so this should be as satisfying – hopefully – as it looks.

 

Whatever you want to say or think about Keeping Up With the Joneses, there’s little doubt that this mix of action and comedy about a suburban couple (Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher) who discover that their new neighbours (Jon Hamm, Gal Gadot) are international spies, is exactly the kind of moderately high concept idea that the Hollywood studios love to put their money behind. The trailer offers perhaps too many laughs (and hopefully not all the best ones), while downplaying the inevitable action sequences, but whatever the finished product gives us, let’s hope that director Greg Mottola’s quirky sense of humour is front and centre, and the chemistry between each couple adds to the fun to be had. If not we’ll just have to chalk it up to a good idea gone bad, or to put it another way, a movie that you switch off from once it’s started.

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Trailers – Denial (2016), Moana (2016) and Before I Wake (2016)

20 Monday Jun 2016

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Animation, Before I Wake, David Irving, Deborah Lipstadt, Denial, Drama, Holocaust, Horror, John Lasseter, Mike Flanagan, Moana, Movies, Previews, Rachel Weisz, Timothy Spall, Trailers

In 1996, the Holocaust denier David Irving sued the historian Deborah Lipstadt for libel in the English courts over remarks she had made about him in her book, Denying the Holocaust: the Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. With the burden of proof planted firmly in Lipstadt’s corner, she had to prove to a libel court that Irving’s claim that the Holocaust didn’t happen, was false. Now this trial is being brought to the screen with a script by David Hare, and a cast that has more than a little experience in bringing heavyweight drama to the fore. Weisz is a great choice to play Lipstadt (though she has replaced Hilary Swank in the role), and Spall looks both banal and creepy as Irving. With its terrible historical background, Denial looks like it has the potential to be a thought-provoking, morally complex thriller that examines one of the more darker, and disturbing assertions made about the Holocaust in the last thirty years.

 

If you’re John Lasseter, you’ve got to be feeling pretty satisfied with yourself and the state of play at Disney at the moment. Two out of the three last Disney animated releases have taken over a billion dollars at the international box office, and just in the last few days, the latest movie from Pixar, Finding Dory (2016), has broken all kinds of box office records including the largest opening weekend for an animated feature. Pretty sweet indeed. This must make the next Disney animated release another cause for (probable) celebration. However, this first teaser trailer for Moana doesn’t give anything away, and aside from some beautifully realised sea-faring animation, and a rather scrawny looking chicken as comic relief, there’s nothing to get excited about. Let’s hope Moana‘s first full trailer gives us something more to look forward to.

 

Mike Flanagan is a name that most mainstream movie goers will be unfamiliar with, but if you’re a fan of horror movies and have been paying attention in recent years then you’ll know that he’s made a handful of features that have tried (and sometimes succeeded) in doing something a little bit different with the genre. Absentia (2011) was a quietly unnerving experience, while Oculus (2013), even though it didn’t work completely, was a stylish and clever exercise in combining two linear narratives to heighten suspense. With Before I Wake, the signs are that Flanagan has found a story that will play to his visual strengths as well as his ability to craft unsettling experiences out of everyday occurrences. And for anyone who thinks the child actor has a familiar face, it’s Jacob Tremblay, from Room (2015).

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Trailers – Yoga Hosers (2016), Can We Take a Joke? (2016) and Collide (2016)

08 Wednesday Jun 2016

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Can We Take a Joke?, Collide, Felicity Jones, Kevin Smith, Nicholas Hoult, Previews, Trailers, Yoga Hosers

Watching the trailer for Yoga Hosers, the latest from Kevin Smith, is akin to hearing a long joke with every third sentence left out. You get the idea what’s being said is funny, you know you’re being told a joke so you’re waiting for the punchline (hopefully it’s not in one of those third sentences being left out), and the person telling you the joke is very funny to begin with, so the joke should also be funny – right? And yet, as the joke’s being told you start to get the idea that, actually, it’s not going to be very funny, and that maybe any humour in the joke is in the way it’s being told. Or maybe it’s just not a very good joke in the first place. That’s the idea with Yoga Hosers, whose trailer makes it look like there’s tons of humour in the movie, but at the same makes the movie look like it’s trying too hard to be wacky (oh look – there’s Johnny Depp “in disguise” again!). Smith doesn’t lack for confidence but his scripts aren’t always as water-tight as he might think (“So much nein it’s almost ten”?), and on this evidence he might be in for a mauling from both critics and audiences. Let’s hope not, though, because Smith is always one of cinema’s most idiosyncratic movie makers, and he’s not afraid to take chances; and that’s a good thing.

 

Staying with humour, the documentary Can We Take a Joke? looks at where comedians draw the line (if some of them ever do), and how they can justify stepping over it. In these days of instant outrage fuelled by social media platforms such as Twitter and  Facebook, it’s harder than ever to fly under the radar with a joke, particularly if it’s in response to a recent tragedy, but should comedians be constrained in such a way that an audience is effectively censoring them before they even step out on stage (or through whatever medium they’re broadcasting)? There are arguments for and against, and however you feel about jokes that may cause offence, this exploration of what “offensive” means looks certain to provoke a wider debate, even if it’s only for a short while until somebody else says or does something that the Take Offence brigade objects to.

 

In recent years, Felicity Jones and Nicholas Hoult have both built on their emerging careers to the point where their presence in a movie is something of a guarantee of quality. They’re also both very likeable, have very good screen presence, and franchise experiences aside, have made some very interesting choices in the past. And now we have them appearing in Collide, an action thriller that looks like any number of other action thrillers made in recent years, and also looks like it features the same clichéd character motivations we’ve seen over and over before. The presence of Anthony Hopkins in principal villain mode is not a good sign – hands up anyone who can remember the last decent performance Hopkins gave us – and the sight of Ben Kingsley hamming it up to eleven isn’t encouraging either, but the stunt work appears to be the key element, and in that respect the trailer does make the movie worth seeing just for the vehicular mayhem alone. One to see with low expectations then, and the hope that Jones and Hoult can rescue some of the movie with their performances.

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Trailers – Diary of a Chambermaid (2015), Morgan (2016) and Len and Company (2015)

27 Friday May 2016

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Benoît Jacquot, Diary of a Chambermaid, Kate Mara, Léa Seydoux, Len and Company, Luke Scott, Morgan (2016), Previews, Remake, Rhys Ifans, Tim Godsall, Trailers

When you’re making a version of a novel by Octave Mirbeau that’s been filmed before by the likes of Jean Renoir (in 1946), and Luis Buñuel (in 1964), then you need to bring something special to the mix. Alas, from the looks of the trailer for this latest incarnation of Diary of a Chambermaid, it seems as if director and co-writer Benoît Jacquot has somehow mishandled things to the point of making Léa Seydoux’s title character more pouting and hostile than sympathetic. Combined with elements that make it look like it will descend into thriller territory, this adaptation looks as if it’s doomed from the start, but with Vincent Lindon in support it may yet redeem itself, although to do so, it’s really got to outshine a trailer that doesn’t do the movie any justice. Unless…

 

Morgan is the first feature from Luke Scott (son of Ridley), whose short movie Loom (2012) showed considerable promise. The tale of a corporate risk assessment consultant (played by Kate Mara) who is tasked with deciding if an artificial being that’s been created in a laboratory should be terminated, it looks stylish, creepy and tense, and the trailer holds back from revealing what the artificial being looks like – even though Morgan is played by Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin in The Witch (2015). By adding a touch of mystery, and not revealing too much about the movie’s scenario, the trailer does better than most in making Morgan a movie that might just be better than other Frankenstein-inspired efforts released in recent years.

 

In Len and Company, Rhys Ifans is the washed-up rock star turned in-demand producer trying to get away from it all by imposing a voluntary exile on himself. But the peace and quiet and booze-assisted reflection he seeks is interrupted first by his son (played by Jack Kilmer, son of Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley), and then by the pop star he helped create (played by Juno Temple). With director Tim Godsall’s drama leavened by some moments of bittersweet humour, the movie has a knowing attitude toward its characters, and serves as a reminder that Ifans can be a remarkable actor when necessary. It may not make it onto many people’s Ten Best lists for 2016, but this looks as if it has the potential to surprise anyone who sees it.

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Trailers – The Accountant (2016), Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016) and The Light Between Oceans (2016)

13 Friday May 2016

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120fps, Alicia Vikander, Ang Lee, Assassin, Ben Affleck, Derek Cianfrance, Drama, Forensic accountant, Gavin O'Connor, Joe Alwyn, Literary adaptation, Michael Fassbender, Movies, Parenthood, Previews, Rachel Weisz, Thriller, Trailers, Vin Diesel, Warfare, Western Australia

NOTE: The current For One Week Only is taking a well-deserved break after its Disney sequel marathon yesterday; it’ll be back tomorrow.

Once he’s reprised his role as Batman in Suicide Squad, Ben Affleck will next be seen in this odd thriller about a maths savant who works as a forensic accountant by day and is a hired assassin by night (of course). Working for the bad guys works out okay, but when Affleck’s character, Christian Wolff, takes on a legitimate client, things take a more deadly turn. It doesn’t help that Christian is also being pursued by the Treasury Department (led by J.K. Simmons). Whether or not this will be any good is open to conjecture, but Warner Bros. have put back its original release date from 29 January to 14 October, suggesting that there’s not the complete confidence in it that you might expect. It does have a great cast, with Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal and John Lithgow in support, and director Gavin O’Connor did a good job in taking over on Jane Got a Gun (2015), so this does have bags of promise at least. Perhaps a bit of finger-crossing is in order, then.

 

An adaptation of the novel by Ben Fountain, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk has a lot to recommend it. It’s the first feature from Ang Lee since Life of Pi (2012), it has a supporting turn from Vin Diesel which should remind people that away from muscle cars and a certain genetically-enhanced murderer he’s a much better actor than he’s given credit for, and has been filmed in 4K, 3D and 120fps. Early footage shown at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas last month was greeted with the kind of superlatives that make this a shoo-in at next year’s round of awards ceremonies. Away from the technical side though, this looks to be an emotional and compelling look at the differences between the realities of war and perceptions reached at home, and features a break-out performance from newcomer Joe Alwyn as Billy Lynn.

 

Another literary adaptation, this time from the novel by M.L. Stedman, The Light Between Oceans is the latest from director Derek Cianfrance, who gave us Blue Valentine (2010) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012). It’s a heartfelt tale of impassioned romance, parental loss, uncontrollable grief, and a gift from the sea that brings with it a painful moral dilemma. Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander are the couple making a difficult choice in the midst of overwhelming grief, while Rachel Weisz is the widow whose recent loss threatens their regained happiness. The movie looks beautiful thanks to Justin Kurzel’s go-to cinematographer Adam Arkapaw (he also shot the first series of True Detective), and the period settings – post-World War I Western Australia – appear to have been lovingly recreated. If everything turns out as hoped, then this too will be sparring for awards come the beginning of 2017.

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Trailers – Southside With You (2016), Bad Moms (2016), and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

07 Saturday May 2016

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Australia, Bad Moms, Barack Obama, Barry Crump, Comedy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Julian Dennison, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Literary adaptation, Michelle Obama, Mila Kunis, Movies, Previews, Richard Tanne, Sam Neill, Southside With You, Taika Waititi, Trailers, True story

In Southside With You, writer/director Richard Tanne invites us to witness a very special first date: the one between Michelle Robinson (played by Tika Sumpter) and Barack Obama (played by Parker Sawyers). Taking place in the summer of 1989, it’s an epic date, taking in far more than the average dinner and a show, and the movie pitches this event at the level of an above average romantic comedy – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sawyers looks particularly convincing as Obama, his tone of voice and physicality so reminiscent of a certain modern day President that it’s sometimes spooky to see, while Sumpter is equally convincing as the self-assured Michelle. The movie does look like it might be a little too “cute” in places, but there’s enough deprecating humour here to offset any charges that the movie is being overly winsome.

 

When your latest comedy stars Mila Kunis as an overworked, worn out, under-appreciated mom who decides to go on a bender in order to feel better about herself and her life, you’d better make sure that such a set up is at least halfway credible (Kunis as a mom is a bit of a stretch all by itself). Sadly, the trailer for Bad Moms – Kunis is joined by Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn to make up the titular trio – doesn’t give the potential viewer any such assurance. There are definitely laughs to be had but writers/directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore have too much of a patchy track record – 21 & Over (2013), The Hangover (2009), and er, Four Christmases (2008) – to instil any confidence that we haven’t already seen the best bits from the movie in the trailer – and if that’s the case then the movie, and we the audience, are in a lot of trouble.

 

Playing like the surreal second cousin to Up (2009), Hunt for the Wilderpeople sees Julian Dennison’s troublesome youngster, Ricky Baker, the focus of a manhunt when he goes missing with his foster uncle Hector (played by Sam Neill). Adapted by writer/director Taika Waititi from the novel by Barry Crump, this is the kind of quirky, offbeat movie that offers a surfeit of genuine laughs to complement the heartfelt drama on display elsewhere. Having co-created the sublime What We Do in the Shadows (2014), Waititi is on his own here, but from the looks of the trailer has done a fantastic job in creating the kind of strange, off-kilter world that allows Ricky and Hector to bond without anyone voicing concerns about the difference in their ages or Hector’s less than friendly demeanour.

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Trailers – Special Correspondents (2016), The Founder (2016) and Blood Father (2016)

26 Tuesday Apr 2016

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Comedy, Drama, McDonalds, Mel Gibson, Michael Keaton, Movies, Previews, Ricky Gervais, Thriller, Trailers, True story

Netflix adds another movie to its distribution roster with the latest from Ricky Gervais, a satirical look at at a journalist (played by Eric Bana) and his sound man (Gervais) who find themselves covering a civil war in Ecuador… from the safety of an apartment in New York. Adapted by Gervais from the 2009 French comedy Envoyés très spéciaux, the movie had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and will be released worldwide on 29 April, but from the trailer it’s hard to tell if the movie is going to be as funny or as satirical as Gervais intended, and largely because the trailer’s pretty much a laugh-free zone. Gervais’s big screen projects haven’t exactly set the box office on fire in the past, and advance word isn’t very positive, so it’s likely that Special Correspondents will disappear just as “effectively” as Bana and Gervais’ characters do in the movie.

 

The true story of Ray Kroc’s acquistion of the McDonalds chain over the course of the late Fifties/early Sixties, The Founder looks to be a pull-no-punches examination of how Kroc outmanoeuvred the McDonald brothers (played by Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch), and gained control of what has become one of the world’s largest and most successful franchises. As Kroc, Michael Keaton has landed yet another role likely to reward him with a slew of awards nominations, while the recreation of the period looks to be spot on. This has the potential to be an unexpected hit at the box office, partly due to the nostalgia on offer, and partly because in the current US social and political climate, a tale of how the American dream was usurped and bent to someone else’s needs seems all too relevant.

 

Tough and moody, with a brutal streak running through it a mile wide, Mel Gibson’s latest foray in front of the cameras sees him playing an ex-con who’s forced to protect his estranged daughter (played by Erin Moriarty) from the drug dealers bent on killing her. Blood Father has an exploitation movie vibe to it, allied to strong visuals, as well as a pleasing sense that Gibson is playing a role more attuned to his work in the first two Lethal Weapon movies rather than the cartoon-oriented variations of the third and fourth. With an intriguing supporting cast on board – William H. Macy, Diego Luna, Elisabeth Röhm, Dale Dickey – this latest from the director of Mesrine Parts 1 & 2 (2008) could be another redeeming feature in Gibson’s post-meltdown career.

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Trailers – Our Kind of Traitor (2016), The Family Fang (2015) and The BFG (2016)

11 Monday Apr 2016

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Comedy, Ewan McGregor, Fantasy, Jason Bateman, John le Carré, Literary adaptation, Our Kind of Traitor, Previews, Roald Dahl, Steven Spielberg, The BFG, The Family Fang, Thriller, Trailers

John le Carré has always been a good source for the movies. His stories are both entertaining and complex, and his characters, often as complex and deceptively drawn as le Carré’s plotting, are the kind that actors can have a veritable field day with. Our Kind of Traitor, with its criminal Russian oligarch seeking to defect to the West, is, on the page, a terrific blend of cat-and-mouse political manoeuvring and heightened thrills. By making his main character a naïve teacher (played here by Ewan McGregor), le Carré draws the reader/viewer in by using their lack of experience to muddy the waters further in terms of what’s going on. With luck, the more than competent cast, along with screenwriter Hossein Amini and director Susanna White, can pull off yet another movie adaptation of a le Carré novel that’s both compelling and engrossing, and the cinematic equivalent of a page-turner (just like its source).

 

Making his second directorial feature – after Bad Words (2013) – Jason Bateman brings yet another dysfunctional group to the big screen, The Family Fang. It’s also yet another indie comedy, with quirky characters and even quirkier situations, but this appears to have a better pedigree than most, being an adaptation of the novel by Kevin Wilson – though the script is courtesy of David Lindsay-Abaire, whose last screenplay was for Poltergeist (2015) (not a great recommendation when you think about it). Hopefully, the top-notch cast, including Bateman himself, Christopher Walken, Josh Pais, Kathryn Hahn, Michael Chernus, and Nicole Kidman (in a performance that will hopefully remind us just how good she can be after a slew of recent, underwhelming performances), have brought their A-game to the material, and this will be one movie that proves to be both memorable and funny in equal measure.

 

It’s directed by Steven Spielberg. It’s a children’s fantasy from the extraordinary mind of Roald Dahl. It’s The BFG. And it looks – on the evidence of the trailer – a lot like Pan (2015). But again, this is Spielberg at work here, and when it comes to spinning magic on the big screen, he’s in a league of his own. The BFG also features the final screenplay written by the late Melissa Mathison, whose last collaboration with Spielberg was a little movie called E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). And with recent Oscar-winner Mark Rylance playing the titular giant – his amazing voice tips you off before you even see the BFG’s face – it all looks to be in very good hands, even if – and this is just an instant reaction to seeing them – the other giants, Fleshlumpeater et al., all look like early character designs from Warcraft (2016).

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Trailers – Elstree 1976 (2015), The Nice Guys (2016) and Lights Out (2016)

30 Wednesday Mar 2016

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Action, Comedy, David F. Sandberg, Documentary, Elstree 1976, Horror, james Wan, Jon Spira, Lights Out, Previews, Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Shane Black, Star Wars, The Nice Guys, Trailers

A big hit at the BFI London Film Festival last year, Elstree 1976 is a lovingly crafted ode to ten people who worked on a little movie called Star Wars, but who won’t necessarily be known to the wider public (well, Dave Prowse might argue about that). That none of them went on to find worldwide fame and fortune isn’t the point of Jon Spira’s documentary; rather it’s the communal joy that came out of working on a project that none of them could have known would have been so successful, and which has enriched their lives in ways they couldn’t have imagined (even if it didn’t feel like it at the time).

 

The latest movie from the mercurial mind of Shane Black, The Nice Guys is the kind of uproarious mismatched buddy movie that only Black can put together. The teaming of Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling looks inspired, and the Seventies setting looks so vivid  it’s hard to believe it wasn’t filmed in 1978 and has been sitting on the shelf ever since. The plot concerns the apparent suicide of a fading porn star, but don’t be surprised if there are larger shenanigans afoot, along with lashings of stylised violence, visual gags galore, and whip-smart banter between the leads.

 

The latest chiller from producer James Wan, Lights Out takes writer/director David F. Sandberg’s short movie – just three minutes long – and expands it to feature length. Its tale of a supernatural entity stalking three generations of the same family may suffer from being extended from its original set up, but hopefully Sandberg has crafted a back story that will explain everything satisfactorily. Either way, expect plenty of scares, lots of spooky rooms for the scares to take place in, and an array of characters who keep turning the lights off when they know they really shouldn’t.

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Trailers – The Shallows (2016), All the Way (2016) and Too Late (2015)

23 Wednesday Mar 2016

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All the Way, Blake Lively, Bryan Cranston, Civil rights, Crime, Dennis Hauck, Great white shark, Jaume Collet-Serra, Jay Roach, John Hawkes, Lyndon B. Johnson, Previews, Racial equality, The Shallows, Thriller, Too Late, Trailers, True story

Forty-one years after we all thought it was safe to go back into the water, and despite movies such as the Jaws sequels, Open Water (2003), and The Reef (2010), it’s time to really crank up the terror and put Carcharodon carcharias back where he belongs: prowling the waters and looking for people to munch on. Or in this case, a person to munch on, as Blake Lively’s unfortunate surfer finds herself trapped two hundred yards from shore, injured, and with the least friendliest denizen of the deep idly swimming about between her and safety. Anthony Jaswinski’s screenplay was on the 2014 Blacklist, and has been picked up by Jaume Collet-Saura – Orphan (2009), Run All Night (2015) – so there’s every chance that this will have aquaphobics everywhere repeating “It’s only a movie” over and over.

 

American politics in the Sixties was dominated by one issue: racial equality. But what few people remember is that the Civil Rights Bill was passed during Lyndon B. Johnson’s time in office, and that he was more instrumental in getting the Bill through Congress than you’d expect. All the Way is an adaptation of the Tony award winning play by Robert Schenkkan that also starred Bryan Cranston as LBJ, and which reunites Cranston with his Trumbo (2015) director, Jay Roach. So, in essence another biopic set against the backdrop of turbulent political times in America. But with the prospect of a certain wild-haired businessman sitting in the White House in nine months’ time, this may well serve as a timely reminder that what a country really needs in a leader is the will to do what’s right, and not what his party thinks is right.

 

In Dennis Hauck’s first feature, John Hawkes is the world weary private eye tasked with finding a missing woman in this modern day film noir that consists of five “acts”, all of which have been filmed in a single take. What may seem like an awkward way of presenting a traditional kind of Hollywood movie looks to have been overcome by the cleverness of the script and the freshness of the direction, and the presence of a terrific cast, headed by one of current cinema’s best character actors. With the investigation taking a back seat to the effects on the characters involved, this should be quirky and rewarding, and prove to be one of those movies that rewards the lucky viewer who seeks it out.

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Trailers – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016), A Hologram for the King (2016) and Trapped (2016)

15 Tuesday Mar 2016

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A Hologram for the King, Abortion, Documentary, Drama, Eva Green, Fantasy, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Movies, Previews, Tim Burton, Tom Hanks, Tom Tykwer, Trailers, Trapped

If there was ever any doubt as to who would be the first choice to direct the movie version of Ransom Riggs’ best-selling novel, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, then those doubts will have been allayed with the appointment of Tim Burton to the director’s chair. A perfect match of visionary and material? Perhaps. A great combination of visual flair and dramatic invention? Perhaps again. But if you’ve read the first of Riggs’s Peculiar Children trilogy then you’ll know that it’s a lot darker than what’s glimpsed in the trailer, which highlights the idyllic nature of the children’s existence. The script is by Jane Goldman – always a good sign – so this may be one fantasy adaptation that retains the source’s vitality and creative energy and sticks closely to the story, but if Burton is still finding it difficult to connect with the material, as seems to have been the case in recent outings, then we may be faced with a movie that only achieves a portion of what it sets out to do – and that would be a shame.

One of four Tom Hanks’ movies planned for release in 2016, A Hologram for the King sees the rubber-faced everyman on the cusp of a (late) mid-life crisis, and travelling to Saudi Arabia in the hopes of pulling off that one last deal that will help him regain his self-respect and solve all manner of other issues that he has. Aided by the likes of Ben Whishaw and Tom Skerritt, Hanks’s character, Alan Clay, is the traditional fish out of water, ignorant of the customs of the country he’s in, and out of his depth – at first -when it comes to making his comeback. With a romantic sub-plot involving the lovely Sarita Choudhury thrown in as well, this adaptation of Dave Eggers’ novel, written and directed by Tom Tykwer – Run Lola Run (1998), Cloud Atlas (2012) – looks and sounds great, and hopefully, will prove to be a rewarding alternative in amongst all the big budget superhero movies coming our way in 2016 (and it includes a fantastic Talking Heads parody).

A powerful documentary that won a Special Jury Award at this year’s Sundance Festival, Trapped looks at the increasing number of US states that are introducing so-called “trap” laws, or Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers. As these states seek to take away a woman’s right to legalised abortion, and in doing so, put many women’s lives in danger, Dawn Porter’s unflinching look at the potential consequences that these decisions could have both in the short and long term is both frightening and appalling. By focusing on the lives of the men and women who are taking the fight to the lawmakers, and who refuse to back down in the face of so much blinkered, often Christian-centric prejudice, the movie becomes a rallying cry for anyone who still believes that the decision in Roe vs Wade still gives a woman the right to choose what happens to her body.

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Trailers – The Brainwashing of My Dad (2015), Ghostbusters (2016), and The Meddler (2015)

03 Thursday Mar 2016

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Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Jen Senko, Kirsten Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Previews, Susan Sarandon, Trailers

In The Brainwashing of My Dad, documentary movie maker Jen Senko asks the perfectly reasonable question: why did my father change from a life-long Democrat with no axe to grind against minorities, to a right-wing fanatic with no time for gays, blacks, or the very Democrats he was a part of? The answer lies in the rise of the right-wing media in the US, and shows just how pervasive it’s become – and with no clear way of redressing the balance. By using her father as a prime example of how persuasive the right-wing media phenomenon has become, Senko seeks to understand and explore the ways in which Americans are being drip-fed a steady diet of paranoia and xenophobia, and how the effect of this diet is both wide-ranging and a major reason for concern in the years ahead.

 

The reboot of Ghostbusters features four of today’s finest comediennes – Kirsten Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones – and plonks them down in many of the situations that made the original so entertaining. So is there likely to be a fresh approach to Ivan Reitman’s Eighties classic, or will we find ourselves awash in the kind of romantic nostalgia that provided the basis for Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)? It’s hard to tell from this first trailer, which combines two iconic moments from the original in its first twenty seconds, and then seems content to rehash scenes from Ghostbusters II (1989). That might be prove to be a good thing, but right now the jury’s still out on just how effective Paul Feig’s gender-switch update will be, and how funny.

 

With the unlikely name of Marnie Minervini, Susan Sarandon’s interfering mother – or The Meddler, if you prefer – has all the hallmarks of a woman who lacks boundaries and treats her kids as extensions of her own personality. In Lorene Scafaria’s offbeat yet heartwarming comedy, Sarandon doesn’t lack for opportunities to show off her comedic skills, but you can be sure that in amongst all the indie hijinks and scatterings of inappropriate behaviour, there’s a simple story about mother-daughter differences that are overcome in the end. A feelgood story? Very probably. A movie that offers us something fresh, or new? Maybe, but at least it looks as if you’ll have fun finding out.

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Trailers – The Huntsman (2016) & Zoolander 2 (2016)

18 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Ben Stiller, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Comedy, Emily Blunt, Fantasy, Owen Wilson, Previews, Sequels, The Huntsman, Trailers, Will Ferrell, Zoolander 2

Ah, sequels… what would we do without them? Have less movies to watch probably, as movie makers the world over love giving us more of the same – even if it didn’t work out that well the first time. For me, both Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and Zoolander (2001) were moderately entertaining movies that didn’t aim particularly high and didn’t reach their full potential. So it may not come as a surprise when I say that, based on these latest trailers, I’m not hugely excited about either sequel hitting our screens next year. With The Huntsman it already looks like it’s going to be a triumph of special effects over story and content, while Zoolander 2 has the feel of a long-in-development sequel that looks set to rehash what made the original outing a bit of a cult movie (I kept thinking of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) while I was watching it). Still, both movies have their fans, and they’ll probably do well enough to make the option of a third movie in both series a good possibility, but I’m thinking that these trips to the well should be the last. Let me know what you think.

 

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10 Movies to Avoid in 2016

28 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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2016, Movies, Previews

While there are plenty of movies to look forward to in 2016, the sad fact is that there are quite a few movies that should be avoided. These movies are the cinematic equivalent of being trapped in a basement with a zombie, or being forced to watch an Angry Birds movie – oh, hang on, that’s a real thing, isn’t it? Below are ten movies you might want to steer clear of in 2016, and if anyone asks why you don’t want to see them, just mention that zombie in the basement.

1) Ride Along 2 – As if Kevin Hart comedies aren’t bad enough on their own, now someone’s letting him make sequels? This sees Hart and the perennially snarling Ice Cube travel to Miami to take down a big time drug dealer, but any sequel that decides to take its main characters out of their normal environment while trying to retain the feel of its predecessor has lost the plot already (and anyway, didn’t anyone see Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2? Oh wait, no, they didn’t).

Ride Along 2

2) Extraction – Bruce Willis’s career continues its swan dive in this dreary-sounding action thriller about a CIA operative captured by terrorists whose son launches a rescue mission when nobody else will. The less than stellar cast also includes D.B. Sweeney and Kellan Lutz, and if this doesn’t go straight to DVD or VOD, then it’ll be a minor miracle.

3) Kickboxer – Another reboot, another trip down Déjà Vu Lane as yet another kickboxer (Alain Moussi) trains hard to avenge the death of his brother. With Dave Bautista as the villain, Tong Po(!), and Jean-Claude Van Damme stepping up from avenging brother to Muay Thai mentor, this has all the hallmarks of a movie that probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but as the original wasn’t that great to begin with…

4) Sausage Party – An animated feature written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, this has been in development since 2010, and concerns a sausage – yes, a sausage – and its attempts to find out where it came from. With a voice cast that includes James Franco, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride, and characters with names like Teresa Taco and Sammy Bagel Jr, you can guess the level that this movie is aspiring to. And it just begs the question, how soon will it be before the first sausage and beans joke is made?

Sausage Party

5) Journey 3: From the Earth to the Moon – Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson are back as intrepid explorers Hank and Sean in a movie that seeks to further mine the oeuvre of Jules Verne. The first two Journeys were largely unremarkable, which begs the question, will this be any different? And with two more planned sequels to come, how much thinner will the basic idea be spread before audiences lose interest completely?

6) Natural Born Pranksters – If you’re familiar with the names Roman Atwood, Vitaly Z, and Dennis Roady, then you’ll have seen their pranks on YouTube. Some are genuinely funny, others miss the mark by a mile, but if the trailer for this movie is anything to go by then they’re not showcasing their best (or funniest) pranks – fake flashing in the park, anyone? A reminder then that what works well on the small screen doesn’t always transfer well to the big screen.

7) Grimsby – Possibly one of 2016’s best casts – Sacha Baron Cohen, Isla Fisher, Ian McShane, Mark Strong, Gabourey Sidibe, Penélope Cruz, Rebel Wilson – may now be looking back on this as a good idea at the time, while regretting making what Sony executive Mark Braddel called “pretty lazy and predictable” and “a pretty generic idea that should work across a variety of territories”. With that sort of backing, this tale of a super spy forced to team up with his football hooligan brother already sounds like a dud.

Grimsby

8) Fifty Shades of Black – As if Fifty Shades of Gray wasn’t bad enough, now we have to endure a parody of it, with Marlon Wayans heading up the cast (didn’t he used to have a proper career?). It’ll be a close run thing, but it’s a pretty safe bet that the original movie will remain funnier than this, and that’s without it even trying.

9) Kindergarten Cop 2 – After twenty-six years we finally get the sequel/remake we’ve all been waiting for, with noted comedian Dolph Lundgren inheriting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s role as an undercover FBI agent struggling with cute kids and political correctness. There’s no doubt this will be bad, the only question is just how bad.

10) Friday the 13th – The second reboot of Sean Cunningham’s seminal shocker is evidence of how little regard the makers have for both the fans and the series, as its main thrust appears to be an explanation of why Jason can’t be killed – despite this being explored/revealed in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), and again in Jason X (2001). And if the first reboot didn’t work, then why should it now? (And for once, the advance poster has it spot on.)

Friday the 13th

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50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2016 – Part 2

21 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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2016, New movie, Previews

2016

Here are the rest of the movies that look likely to be interesting to watch/surprising/blockbusters/worth giving a try in 2016. Some are already household names thanks to the power of blanket coverage advertising allied with fanboy extremism, but hopefully there’ll be enough movies where the main characters don’t wear spandex to provide some much-needed balance.

26) Jason Bourne – Having vowed never to make another appearance as Jason Bourne unless Paul Greengrass agreed to direct, Matt Damon makes a welcome return to the franchise after the misfire that was The Bourne Legacy (2012). Whether or not the pair can work the same magic they did before remains to be seen, but with Julia Stiles also returning, and Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones also in the cast, the signs are looking good for a triumphant fifth entry in the series.

27) The Lost City of Z – In 1925, the English explorer, Percy Fawcett, travelled to the Mato Grosso region in Brazil to begin looking for a lost city that he was convinced existed there in the jungle. James Gray’s recreation of that expedition looks set to be one of the most spectacular experiences of 2016, and could be the movie that finally makes an A-list star of Charlie Hunnam.

28) Silence – Delayed from 2015, Martin Scorsese’s latest sees Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as two Jesuit priests in 17th Century Japan trying to spread the gospel of Christianity against continual persecution. Oscar may like this a lot, but it may prove a tough sell at the box office. It’s Scorsese though, and if he’s on form, then this could be astonishing.

Silence

29) The Circle – Emma Watson and Tom Hanks star in this adaptation of the novel by Dave Eggers, about a young woman who goes to work for a powerful tech company and becomes involved with a mysterious colleague. Is the company she works for up to no good, and if it is, will she be able to do anything about it? If director and screenwriter James Ponsoldt is on the ball, this could be a terrific cat and mouse game set against a backdrop of unethical corporate machinations.

30) Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – The latest from Tim Burton has the potential to be 2016’s number one fantasy adventure, based as it is on Ransom Riggs’ wonderfully eccentric (and cleverly illustrated) novel. The cast includes Eva Green, Samuel L. Jackson, Judi Dench, and Asa Butterfield as the young boy who discovers a world where magic takes some strange and wondrous forms.

31) The BFG – The first co-production between Disney and Dreamworks also sees director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Melissa Mathison reunited for the first time since E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – and look how that turned out. With Mark Rylance as the title character, and supported by Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader and Jemaine Clement, what may seem like an odd choice for the director could well prove to be one of his most affecting movies.

32) Suicide Squad – While its Dirty Dozen set up isn’t anything new, it is the first time a group of supervillains has been the focus of a DC or Marvel movie. Whether or not DC’s Extended Universe can be as successful as Marvel’s own efforts remains to be seen but with David Ayer in the director’s chair and a cast that includes Focus (2015) alumni Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Will Smith as Deadshot, all eyes will still be on Jared Leto as the Joker.

Suicide Squad

33) Criminal – Ryan Reynolds is the career felon whose unpredictable and dangerous behaviour still qualifies him to be used in an experiment to replace his own memories and skills with those of a deceased CIA agent. Director Ariel Vroman made the austere but impressive The Iceman (2012) so this has a chance at being a step up from purely ridiculous, but a lot will depend on how seriously it all plays out.

34) The Nice Guys – Shane Black writes and directs this mystery thriller where a private eye in 1970’s Los Angeles (played by Ryan Gosling) investigates the murder of a porn star and uncovers a web of corruption. Russell Crowe and fellow L.A. Confidential star Kim Basinger lend support, and if this sounds a little like Black’s homage to Chinatown (1974), then that’s not such a bad thing given his abilities as a screenwriter.

35) Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – The latest from Ang Lee is a thought-provoking drama based on the novel by Ben Fountain about a group of soldiers who, after surviving an intense skirmish in Iraq, are sent on a “victory tour” of the US – and then learn they have to go back. Lynn is played by newcomer Joe Alwyn, but he’s ably supported by Kristen Stewart, Vin Diesel, and Steve Martin as the wonderfully named Norm Oglesby. Expect a sincere if uncomfortable look at the nature of patriotism, and a meditation on personal needs weighed against a greater responsibility.

36) Money Monster – A scathing look at financial organisations and the dubious ways they make money, this features Jack O’Connell as the investor ruined by TV personality George Clooney’s “hot tip”, and is Jodie Foster’s fourth feature as a director. It leads to a hostage situation in a TV studio, and asks the perennial question, just what is a man’s life worth, as O’Connell tasks Clooney with restoring his losses. With Foster calling the shots, and a crackerjack cast that also includes Dominic West and Giancarlo Esposito, this could be 2016’s most intelligently handled thriller.

37) Finding Dory – Perhaps the most eagerly awaited of all the Pixar sequels so far, this sees the ever so slightly forgetful blue tang fish Dory reunited with her family – played by Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy – and discovering just how important family is (as if she didn’t learn that from Finding Nemo – oh hang on, she’s probably forgotten). If Pixar have got this right then this will be the year’s best animated movie, and a future family favourite just like its predecessor.

Finding Dory

38) Assassin’s Creed – Director Justin Kurzel, Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard reunite after their collaboration on Macbeth (2015) to bring the classic video game to the big screen. Fassbender is a big fan of the original, and perhaps not the first choice for such a heavily stylised action movie, but this might, just might, be the first video game adaptation that doesn’t descend rapidly into nonsense after the opening five minutes.

39) Misconduct – A legal thriller that features Josh Duhamel as the young(-ish) lawyer taking on the ruthless chief executive of a large pharmaceutical company (played by Anthony Hopkins), this tale of corruption and murder could be a surprise hit, and has Al Pacino and Alice Eve in support. Everything depends on the script and how first-time director Shintaro Shimosawa handles both it and the high-powered cast, but even if it’s reminiscent of a John Grisham thriller, it could still be worth seeing.

Beyond Deceit

40) American Pastoral – For his directorial debut, Ewan McGregor hasn’t exactly taken the easy option by transferring Philip Roth’s ambitious novel surrounding the social and political upheavals of the Sixties to the big screen, but it will be very interesting to see how it turns out. Aided by the likes of Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning and David Strathairn, McGregor is aiming very high indeed. Let’s hope he doesn’t need a safety net.

41) My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 – The original was a surprise hit back in 2002, and made a star of Nia Vardalos, but whether or not lightning can strike twice remains to be seen. If it does then the exploits of the Portokalos family will be sure to raise smiles galore while also offering a sincere appreciation of the quirks of Greek family life. With the original cast all returning, including John Corbett’s amiable outsider, and Michael Constantine’s grouchy father, this could be unexpectedly successful.

42) Bad Neighbours 2 – Another sequel (originally entitled Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising), this sees Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne once again at odds with Zac Efron and his raucous frat buddies. The same team are involved as before, and are joined by Chloë Grace Moretz and Selena Gomez, but it’s touch and go as to whether or not this will match the first movie’s mix of out-there physical humour and homespun values.

43) X-Men: Apocalypse – Oscar Isaac is the big bad villain, but there’s no room for Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen in Bryan Singer’s latest mutant epic, the final part of the trilogy that began with X-Men: First Class (2011). While the plot is being kept under wraps, there’s still enough anticipation surrounding the project that in some respects, it’ll be a box office success whatever happens.

X-Men Apocalypse

44) Warcraft – Duncan Jones’ adaptation of the ultra-cool video game has been avidly waited for for years. Early footage suggests this will be one of the most visually arresting movies of 2016, while the cast, led by Vikings star Travis Fimmel, all seem chosen for their intensity and commitment. It will all come down to the story (as usual with video games adaptations), but Jones is an intelligent, inspired director, and this could be his best movie yet.

45) Hail, Caesar! – The cast of 2016 – including Channing Tatum, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton and Dolph Lundgren – assemble to help Joel and Ethan Coen tell the story of a Hollywood fixer in the 1950’s who spends all his time keeping the stars in line, and out of trouble. It promises to be a wonderfully carefree, spirited movie that revels in its time and place, and should be chock-full of the Coens wicked way with dialogue and farcical situations.

46) Moana – Disney have two animated movies on release in 2016 – the other is Zootropolis – but this already has set tongues wagging thanks to how beautiful it looks. Dwayne Johnson heads the voice cast in this tale of a young woman, the daughter of a tribal chief, who uses her navigational skills to find the fabled island that will help her family in their time of need, and which features demigods and creatures taken from “real” mythology.

47) Hacksaw Ridge – A biopic that could well feature prominently come Oscar-time, Mel Gibson’s latest movie as director tells the story of Desmond T. Doss, a World War II army medic who served during the Battle of Okinawa but refused to kill anyone, and who became the first conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. Andrew Garfield is Doss, while Vince Vaughn and Sam Worthington provide solid support, but all eyes will be on Gibson, stepping behind the camera for the first time since Apocalypto (2006).

48) Allegiant – The third movie in the Divergent series takes Tris et al. outside the wall and introduces the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. With the first two movies having established a very specific world and its denizens, it’s now time to explore the bigger picture, and find out just what did happen all those years before. Shailene Woodley heads the cast again, and Robert Schwentke resumes director duties, while fans will be waiting to see if this entry has as much jettisoned from the source novel as the previous instalment did.

49) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – The first trailer’s release had DC fans jumping for joy at seeing their favourite heroes battling it out, but it also showed evidence of the kind of city-wide destruction that has become predictable and boring in recent DC (and Marvel) outings, so while its commercial success seems assured, it’s likely it won’t do so well with the critics. But Ben Affleck looks like a good choice for Batman, while Henry Cavill still looks like a stuffed shirt in a lycra bodysuit, a description that should never apply to someone who’s playing Superman.

Batman v Superman

50) Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur – Guy Ritchie’s take on the Arthurian legend will no doubt involve a lot of editing wizardry, a heavily saturated colour scheme, and fight scenes that reference more modern styles of combat, but however it looks, it should certainly feel fresh and exciting. The plot, like many others, is being kept under wraps, but with minor characters such as Brothel Punter, Low-Rent Villager, Dan Clan Pikey, and Towel Boy 2 making probably fleeting appearances, what can be certain is that there’ll be humour in amongst the carefully choreographed action, as well as David Beckham in his second screen role (hands up those who missed him in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.?)

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50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2016 – Part 1

20 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2016, New movies, Previews

2016

Yes, it’s already that time again when we look ahead to some of the movies coming our way in 2016. You might notice a slight bias towards superhero movies, but that’s not my bias, it’s the studios, all of whom seem to feel there’s a lot of life in the old genre yet. That remains to be seen, of course, but there are plenty of other movies worthy of our attention next year, and here are the first twenty-five out of fifty. See how many you’re looking forward to.

1) Alice Through the Looking Glass – The storyline is being kept under wraps for now, but what we do know is that most of the cast from Alice in Wonderland are back, although James Bobin is sitting in the director’s chair instead of Tim Burton (who’s now only a producer). Magical, fantastical, charming – if it’s any of these things then there’s a good chance it’ll be as successful at the box office as its predecessor.

2) The Magnificent Seven – One of many remakes for 2016, Antoine Fuqua’s take on the classic Western (itself based on Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai) features a great cast as the titular mercenaries for hire – including Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt – and promises to be as compelling and authoritative as John Sturges’ 1960 version. Let’s hope that John Lee Hancock and Nic Pizzolatto’s screenplay is up to the task.

3) Snowden – Oliver Stone makes a welcome return to the big screen with another confrontational look at the state of US politics, and the shady secrets America’s government would rather we didn’t know about. With CITIZENFOUR (2014) already acting as a primer for audiences interested in Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing exploits, it’ll be interesting to see if Stone can bring his usual outrage and savage condemnation of political hypocrisy to the table without it being watered down.

Snowden

4) Doctor Strange – Marvel introduce yet another of their vast stable of superheroes, with actor of the moment Benedict Cumberbatch assuming the mantle of Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. Expect spells and other dimensions and supernatural threats tempered with knowing humour, and a nod to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe popping up (probably) after the end credits.

5) Ghostbusters – They’re back, only this time they’re all female! This gender variation on the classic Eighties comedy has all the potential to be as funny as the original and just as successful at the box office. With Paul Feig ensuring things go bump in the night, and a role for Bill Murray (though not as Peter Venkman), the only important box left to be ticked is the theme song. Now, who they gonna call?

6) The Secret Life of Pets – The trailer is fantastic, and features some of the cleverest animal-related jokes that Illumination Entertainment can come up with. Without a Minion in sight, can this do as well as expected? Let’s hope so, because if the Internet has taught us anything, it’s that seeing animals getting into trouble when they think we’re not looking is often the funniest thing ever.

Secret Life of Pets, The

7) The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins’ impressive novel is given the big screen treatment with a screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson, whose previous work includes Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) and Chloe (2009). With Emily Blunt taking on the central character who becomes embroiled in the mysterious disappearance of a woman she doesn’t know, only the choice of Tate Taylor as director is any cause for concern.

8) Zoolander 2 – Long-awaited sequel finally arrives and finds male supermodel Derek Zealander still as vain (and stupid) as he’s always been. With a strong supporting cast including Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell and Penélope Cruz, director and star Ben Stiller appears to have retained the comic energy that made the original such a good movie, and throws in a few cameos to keep the audience on their toes.

9) The Bad Batch – Ana Lily Amirpour follows up The Girl Who Walked Home Alone at Night (2014) with another nightmarish fantasy that focuses on a love story set in a community of cannibals living in a Texas wasteland. However this turns out, Amirpour is a clever, talented director with a fascinating visual style, and a unique way of looking at the world. With luck we’ll get something bizarre, quirky, strange and amazing.

10) Independence Day: Resurgence – Twenty years after the world successfully fought off an alien invasion, they’re back, and more destructive than before. Director Roland Emmerich assembles several members of the original cast (including, surprisingly, Brent Spiner), but has to rely on Liam Hemsworth to fill Will Smith’s shoes (and is that really fair?). Expect devastation on a global scale once more, but how much will have been done with scale models?

Independence Day Resurgence

11) Deadpool – After his less than thrilling introduction in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), the self-styled Merc With a Mouth gets his own movie, and is portrayed by big fan Ryan Reynolds. The anarchic humour and intense violence associated with the character is firmly on display in the trailer, and Reynolds seems to have nailed the character’s mix of arrogance and charm, and if the storyline’s right then we can say hello to another superhero franchise.

Deadpool

12) The Light Between Oceans – A beautifully written novel is hopefully translated into a beautifully made movie, as Derek Cianfrance adapts and directs this tale of a lighthouse keeper and his wife – the ever-reliable Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender – who raise a baby they rescue from a drifting rowboat. Set off the coast of Western Australia, this has all the potential of being an awards winner down the line, and an audience favourite.

13) The Great Wall – The latest from Yimou Zhang – Raise the Red Lantern (1991), House of Flying Daggers (2004) – is a mystery centred around the construction of China’s Great Wall. With a cast that includes Willem Dafoe, Matt Damon and Andy Lau, this may be one of Yimou’s more mainstream movies, but there’s no doubting it will be spectacular to see as well.

14) Nocturnal Animals – Adapted from Austin Wright’s novel of the same name, Tom Ford’s second movie after A Single Man (2009) is a tale within a tale that sees a woman sent a manuscript by her ex-husband whom she left twenty years before. He wants her opinion on the manuscript, and as she reads it, she’s forced to confront a number of dark truth about herself. Amy Adams is the lucky woman, and the cast also includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon and Armie Hammer. This could be one of the most fascinating, and stylish, dramas of 2016.

15) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – The J.K. Rowling bandwagon carries on rolling along with this adaptation of her companion book to the Harry Potter series. Focusing on the adventures of writer Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he navigates the secret world of New York’s wizards and witches, a chance to relive the magic of the world of young Mr Potter may not be as successful as the eight-movie series, but will be a welcome contribution to the year’s releases.

16) The Huntsman – A prequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), this promises to be an origin story for the Huntsman character to come, and a chance to expand the universe that’s already been created, thanks to the inclusion of Emily Blunt as the Snow Queen, Freya. With Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth reprising their roles, and directing duties handed over to Cedric Nicolas-Troyan (who worked as a second unit director on the first movie), this could go either way, but should still remain an entertaining fantasy.

17) Clerks III – The final part of the trilogy that began back in 1994, this sees Kevin Smith return to his roots as a movie-maker, and reunites the original cast plus Rosario Dawson from Clerks II (2006). Fans expecting scabrous dialogue and enough witty banter to sink a battleship are unlikely to be disappointed, and they should thank their lucky stars that Tusk (2014) was as successful as it was, because without that success, this probably wouldn’t have been made.

Clerks III

18) The Adventures of Tintin: Red Rackham’s Treasure – Now that he’s able to leave Middle Earth behind and concentrate on something else, it’s Peter Jackson’s turn to make a Tintin movie, and the second of the planned trilogy. With this being two firsts for the director – first animated feature, first movie where the screenplay hasn’t been written by him – and with Steven Spielberg’s entry receiving a lukewarm response from critics and audiences alike, Jackson has his work cut out for him. But if anyone can maximise mo-cap animation to its full potential then it’s Jackson.

19) USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage – The true story of the sinking of the US warship Indianapolis in the Philippine Sea during World War II, and the five days the survivors spent waiting for help, was memorably recounted by Robert Shaw in Jaws (1975). Hopefully this will be as emotive and heart-stopping as the circumstances require, and even though Nicolas Cage is the star, here’s hoping his recent track record is sidelined on this occasion.

20) Captain America: Civil War – Already hyped to the stars and back because of the likely inclusion of a certain web-slinger, Chris Evans’ fourth outing as Steve Rogers (five if you include his cameo in Thor: The Dark World) ups the stakes considerably as superheroes takes sides against each other. With pretty much everyone involved except the Hulk and Thor, this could crumble under the weight of trying to tell too many individual stories all at once, but one thing’s for certain: it won’t skimp on the spectacle.

21) Kung Fu Panda 3 – The continuing adventures of unlikely kung fu warrior Po (voiced again by Jack Black) sees our rotund hero on the verge of meeting his real father, and discovering there’s an imminent supernatural threat to everyone’s safety, a threat only he and the Famous Five can defeat. The usual cast return, augmented by Bryan Cranston as Po’s real father, and there’s a sense that the stakes have been upped to provide a more exciting visual experience.

Kung Fu Panda 3

22) Star Trek Beyond – The third in the rebooted series is currently shrouded in secrecy, the makers perhaps having learned their lesson after Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and the difficulty in keeping some cast members from blabbing various facts about the plot. So far, everything is under wraps, but if the template established by J.J. Abrams is followed, then this will still be a mission to remember, and should translate into box office gold.

23) Imperium – Daniel Radcliffe is the FBI agent tasked with infiltrating a group of white supremacists who plan to build – and use – a dirty bomb. Based on a true story, and giving Radcliffe one of his meatiest roles to date, this should be scary and fascinating all at the same time, while also examining issues of trust, fatalism and homegrown revolution.

24) Ben-Hur – Lew Wallace’s love letter to the early days of Christianity gets its fifth screen outing with Jack Huston and Timur Bekmambetov stepping into the particular shoes of Charlton Heston and William Wyler respectively. As ever, all eyes will be on the chariot race (and any riders wearing wrist watches), while it will be interesting to see if Wallace’s religious beliefs translate well with today’s audiences.

25) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Just for those Star Wars fans who can’t wait until 2017 for Episode VIII, Disney has come up with this semi-prequel set between Episode III and Episode IV. Details are as sketchy as you’d expect but the cast does include Ben Mendelsohn and Felicity Jones, and the prospect of Darth Vader making an appearance has already had fans practically creaming their Millennium Falcon-patterned underwear.

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Son of 50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2015

14 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Tags

2015, New movies, Previews

The original idea seemed simple enough: pick out fifty movies due in 2015, provide a brief overview of each one, and settle back in the knowledge that the most intriguing, most interesting, and most looked-forward-to movies were included. But as with the best of best laid plans, more and more movies keep popping up that deserve to have been included in the original posts – 50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2015 – Part 1 and 50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2015 – Part 2. So here are ten more movies coming in 2015 that, hopefully, will tempt audiences into their local multiplex.

Minions - poster

1) Tomorrowland – A sci-fi fantasy starring George Clooney and Under the Dome alumni Britt Robertson about a place that exists somewhere in Robertson’s consciousness (or maybe space and time – or both), this is the movie that Brad Bird turned down Star Wars Episode VII for. Now if that’s not intriguing…

2) The Revenant – Set in the untamed American West in 1822, this revenge thriller sees Leonardo DiCaprio’s left for dead frontiersman out to get the two men who abandoned him. Co-starring Tom Hardy, Will Poulter and Domhnall Gleason, this adaptation of a true story by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros (2000), this year’s Birdman) looks set to attract awards by the bucket load.

3) San Andreas – Dwayne Johnson is the rescue chopper pilot who finds himself making a perilous journey to rescue his daughter after a massive earthquake devastates California. With Ioan Gruffudd and Kylie Minogue along for the ride, this could be either 2015’s premier disaster movie, or just a plain, flat-out disaster.  Here’s hoping it’s the former.

San Andreas - scene

4) Macbeth – Adapted by Todd Louiso – remember him from High Fidelity (2000)? – and starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, this promises to be a gritty, heavily psychological interpretation of the Bard’s most accessible play. With a supporting cast that includes David Thewlis and Paddy Considine, the only potential drawback is relative newcomer Justin Kurzel in the director’s chair. But as the Bard quite rightly points out, “The play’s the thing…”

5) Aloha – With only We Bought a Zoo (2011) having come along from Crowe since 2005, this look at a military contractor involved in a love triangle features a dream cast that includes femme du jour Emma Stone, Bradley Cooper and Bill Murray, and will no doubt feature yet another of Crowe’s quirky, idiosyncratic screenplays.

6) The Finest Hours – This dramatisation of a true story set in 1952 after two oil tankers were destroyed in a blizzard off Cape Cod, and the Coast Guard rescue operation that followed, looks set to be a tense nail biter of a movie. Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm) directs a cast that includes Chris Pine and Eric Bana, so expect plenty of testosterone amongst the waves.

7) Spotlight – A powerful retelling of the Boston Globe’s exposé of the cover up of child molestation in a local Catholic archdiocese in 2002-3, Spotlight has an impressive cast (2015 seems set to be the year of great ensemble casts) that features Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci. Grim subject matter aside, this should still be gripping stuff.

Spotlight - scene

8) By the Sea – Set in the 70’s, this romantic drama sees married couple Vanessa and Roland struggling to keep their marriage going while staying in a small French seaside town. Uniting Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for the first time since Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), and directed by Jolie, this could be more rewarding than it seems at first glance (plus Pitt has been making some great choices in recent years).

9) La La Land – It’s a romantic musical comedy drama and stars rising star Miles Teller as a jazz pianist who falls in love with Emma Watson’s aspiring actress. With writer/direcotor Damien Chazelle building on the promise shown by Whiplash (2014), this has all the hallmarks of an engrossing, emotionally charged drama.

10) Rock the Kasbah – Barry Levinson continues to chop and change genres with this comedy surrounding a music producer (played by Bruce Willis) who aims for one last shot at the big time with a golden-voiced young girl from Afghanistan. With support from the likes of Kate Hudson and Bill Murray, this could be a mordant satire or a crazy parody of shows like The X Factor; either way it should be a treat.

That’s all for now!

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50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2015 – Part 2

06 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2015, New movies, Previews

Minions - poster

And… we’re back!  Here are the rest of the movies that will (hopefully) make 2015 a bonanza year for going to the movies.  Again, in no particular order…

26) Jurassic World – A long time coming (always a worry), but if the makers have managed to reinvigorate the franchise this could be a welcome addition to the series.  The only problem will be in replicating the “Wow!” factor of the first movie’s convincing mix of CGI and live action dinosaurs (and the script, of course).

27) The Hateful Eight – Quentin Tarantino’s latest venture is a Western by nature but expect the usual florid dialogues, startling camerawork, and as many movie references as one writer/director can cram into one movie.  Oh, and there’s the usual top notch cast as well, including Tarantino favourite Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell and Bruce Dern.

28) The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – The first movie was such a delightful surprise (in that it was so much fun), that reuniting with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy (plus newcomers Richard Gere and David Strathairn) is something to look forward to.  Plus a gentler movie in amongst all the superhero/action shenanigans of the rest of the year isn’t a bad thing, either.

Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The - scene

29) Avengers: Age of Ultron – And speaking of superhero/action shenanigans, here’s the daddy of them all for 2015, with Marvel once again seeking to dominate the box office and remind DC just how it’s done.  Loud, brash, colourful, funny – this will be all these things and more, and all under the expert guidance of returning writer/director Joss Whedon.

30) Fifty Shades of Grey – Not to be confused with Wallace & Gromit’s 50 Sheds of Grey, E.L. James’ bestseller gets the big screen treatment after failing to land several potential leading men (including Charlie Hunnam) before settling on Jamie Dornan.  Expect glossy, stylised versions of the book’s “romantic interludes”, and very little critical acclaim.

31) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – Guy Ritchie takes time out from rebranding Sherlock Holmes to do the same for the classic 60’s TV series.  With Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer as Ilya Kuryakin, it remains to be seen if this updated version will be as “bromantic” as the Holmes movies, but audiences can expect some whip-smart action scenes and some glamorous settings.

32) Blackhat – Back in the director’s chair for the first time since Public Enemies (2009), Michael Mann’s latest thriller focuses on the hunt for a cybercrime network and is headed up by Chris Hemsworth and Viola Davis.  No doubt there’ll be plenty of stunning visuals, and Mann making crime look both cool and ruinous at the same time.

Blackhat - scene

33) Heart of the Sea – Chris Hemsworth again in the true story, set in 1820, of a whaling ship preyed upon by a sperm whale that leaves the crew stranded thousands of miles from land.  With Ron Howard in the director’s chair, this tale of human endurance has Oscar-worthy written all over it but should be powerful stuff nevertheless.

34) Ant-Man – Marvel take a chance on one of their lesser-known superheroes, and pin their hopes on Peyton Reed to shepherd the movie to completion after the departure of Edgar Wright.  Have they made the right decision?  Maybe, but Marvel do have a knack of choosing their directors wisely, so they may know something we don’t.

35) Insurgent – The sequel to Divergent continues the story of Beatrice as she begins to uncover the conspiracy that governs the world she lives in.  Everyone except for Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn are back on board (so no surprise there), and they’re joined by newbies Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer.  Will this be darker than the first? Let me think…

36) Pixels – The latest from Chris Columbus sees video game players recruited by the military to fend off an invasion of 80’s-era video game characters.  Adam Sandler heads the cast but this looks like it could be a blast if they’ve gotten the tone right.  And besides, any movie where Kevin James plays the President has got to be worth a look.

37) The Good Dinosaur – Pixar return to our screens after a break in 2014 with two movies; this, the second, is a tale about a 70-foot dinosaur that befriends a young boy called Spot.  The departure of director Bob Peterson is as concerning as that of Edgar Wright leaving Ant-Man, but as long as the movie’s heart is in the right place, and the animation is up to Pixar’s usual standard, this will still be pulling in the audiences.

Good Dinosaur, The - scene

38) The Woman in Black: Angel of Death – The first movie showed that shocks and scares added to the right story (Susan Hill’s novel) can make audiences jump over and over (and then come back for more).  Set during World War II, this sequel will hopefully deliver the same balance (though Daniel Radcliffe will be missed).

39) High-Rise – Brit helmer Ben Wheatley returns with an adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s cult novel about the residents of a tower block and what happens when their daily lives spiral out of control.  How much of Ballard’s novel remains is still to be seen but if enough of the weirdness is present, this could be one of the year’s most disturbing movies.

40) Bridge of Spies – The world’s biggest box office star, Tom Hanks, reunites with Steven Spielberg, playing a lawyer recruited by the CIA to rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union.  With a script co-written by the Coen brothers, and strong support from the likes of Alan Alda and Amy Ryan, this has class and style written all over it.

41) The Fantastic Four – The casting has caused no end of fan base uproar – Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm anyone? – but director Josh Trank is a great choice to steer this reboot to the screen, and one piece of casting should prove to be inspired: Toby Kebbell as Dr Doom – nuff said.

42) Ted 2 – At present there aren’t any plot details, or signs of a returning Mila Kunis (or Sam Jones for that matter), but Seth MacFarlane’s follow-up to his 2012 original should be high on belly laughs and low on subtlety – just how we like it.

43) Kingsman: The Secret Service – Colin Firth as a super-spy?  Newcomer Taron Egerton as the young tearaway he takes under his wing?  Matthew Vaughn back in the director’s chair after reinvigorating the X-Men franchise?  Samuel L. Jackson as the villainous Valentine?  Is there anything not to like about this movie?

44) Everest – Another great ensemble cast – Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley, Josh Brolin, and John Hawkes to name but a few – add extra drama to the tale of a climbing expedition that runs into trouble thanks to a severe snow storm.  Expect this to be compelling, gruelling and chilling in equal measure.

45) Absolutely Anything – The remaining members of Monty Python reunite (albeit as the voices of extraterrestrials) for Terry Jones’ tale of a teacher who discovers he has magical powers.  Featuring Robin Williams’ final performance (as the voice of Dennis the Dog), this should be laugh out loud funny and suitably poignant at the same time.

Absolutely Anything - scene

46) Igor – Yet another version of Mary Shelley’s classic tale, this focuses more on the relationship between Victor Von Frankenstein (James McAvoy) and his assistant Igor (Daniel Radcliffe).  Originally titled Frankenstein, the name change may turn off some potential viewers but with McAvoy and Radcliffe on board this should be arresting stuff nevertheless.

47) Inside Out – The other (and first) Pixar movie of 2015 is shaping up to be their best since Toy Story 3 (2010).  The tale of a young girl called Riley guided by her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – who all live in the central part of her mind, this has all the hallmarks of classic Pixar.

48) Pan – J.M. Barrie’s much-loved children’s classic gets the origin treatment with Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard, and relative newcomer Levi Miller as the young boy fated to become Peter Pan.  With Joe Wright in the director’s chair this could well be one of the most handsomely mounted movies of the year.

49) Trainwreck – The latest from Judd Apatow is being kept well under wraps at present, but it does feature Daniel Radcliffe, Tilda Swinton and Bill Hader amongst others, so however it turns out, this will still be one to watch.

50) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens – It might be okay.  I guess.  Probably.

If I’ve missed any movies you think we should be looking out for in 2015, feel free to let me know.  Happy Viewing!

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50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2015 – Part 1

04 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2015, New movies, Previews

Minions - poster

With 2015 fast approaching, here’s the first 25 in a list of 50 movies coming our way next year that may or may not prove to be as successful as we, or they, may hope, but which are certain to have a level of expectancy attached to them.  So, in no particular order…

1) Spectre – How the series continues following the death of M (Judi Dench) in Skyfall could mean a whole new world for everyone’s favourite secret agent, but whatever returning director Sam Mendes and screenwriter John Logan have come up with, it’s sure to be a hit at the box office.

2) Cinderella – With Kenneth Branagh in the director’s chair, and a cast that includes Helena Bohnam Carter, Stellan Skarsgård, Derek Jacobi and Cate Blanchett, this fairy tale romance has all the hallmarks of being a lavish reimagining of the classic story.

3) Mad Max: Fury Road – The trailer looks like this long-awaited reboot is one long chase sequence (no bad thing), but with Tom Hardy stepping into Mel Gibson’s boots, and with support from Nicholas Hoult and Charlize Theron, this retread looks suitably gritty and dramatic.

Mad Max Fury Road - scene

4) Kung Fu Panda 3 – Dreamworks’ other ongoing animation franchise (the other features a dragon or two), builds on the groundwork laid in the first two movies and introduces us to Po’s biological father (Bryan Cranston).  Is he villain or hero?  Only Shifu knows…

5) Mortdecai – Johnny Depp?  Nazi treasure?  A character called Jock Strapp?  However this comedy thriller turns out, it won’t be for want of trying, and may well be a pleasant surprise at the start of the year.

6) Terminator: Genisys – As promised, he’s back.  Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to the role that made him an icon, aided and abetted by a great cast including Jason Clarke, Matt Smith and Emilia Clarke.  Who wants to bet if he says, “Come with me if you want to live”?

7) The Jungle Book – A live action version of Kipling’s classic tale, directed by Jon Favreau, and featuring a top-notch voice cast including Scarlett Johansson and Ben Kingsley (not to mention Bill Murray as Baloo), this is intriguing to say the least, but will it have the warmth the animated version has?

8) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 – And so we bid farewell to Katniss Everdeen and her struggle to stay alive against all the odds.  As plucky heroines go, Katniss is up there with the best, but will this final instalment give viewers anything different from what readers of the book are already aware of?

9) Holland, Michigan – The feature film debut of legendary documentarian Errol Morris, this sees the ubiquitous Bryan Cranston and Naomi Watts as a married couple hiding secrets from each other.  But whose secret is more dangerous than the other’s?

10) Regression – A twisty thriller from Alejandro Amenábar (The Others) about a father who’s accused of a crime he has no memory of committing, this has Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson heading up the cast, and could well be a surprise hit with audiences if it gets the right exposure.

Regression - scene

11) Sea of Trees – It could be a case of inspired teaming, but this drama set in Japan’s Aokigahara (suicide forest) unites director Gus Van Sant and star of the moment Matthew McConaughey.  If Van Sant reins in his experimental side, this could be one of the most powerful and moving movies of 2015.

12) London Has Fallen – The sequel to Olympus Has Fallen gets a sappy title but reunites Messrs. Butler, Freeman, Eckhart and Bassett for what will no doubt be another risible but hugely enjoyable action-fest that sees Butler single-handedly saving the day.  It’ll be interesting to see how much of London actually gets trashed, though.

13) In a Valley of Violence – Horror director Ti West broadens his horizons with this revenge Western set in the 1880’s starring Ethan Hawke and John Travolta.  If it’s even half as intense as The Sacrament, then this should be compelling stuff.

14) The Minions – As promised, they’re back, with an origin story that shows how they met Gru (Steve Carell) at a villains convention in the 60’s.  The little yellow guys(?) have a worldwide following, so this should be as successful at the box office as Despicable Me 2 was (but hopefully funnier).

15) Silence – The latest project from Martin Scorsese sees Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as two Jesuit priests in 17th Century Japan trying to spread the gospel of Christianity against continual persecution.  Oscar may like this a lot, but it may prove a tough sell at the box office.  It’s Scorsese, though, and that could mean something astonishing.

16) Crimson Peak – Guillermo del Toro returns to his horror roots with this tale of a young woman, played by Mia Wasikowska, who discovers her husband is not who he appears to be.  Expect startling visuals and the kind of creeping suspense few others directors pull off so well.

17) Triple Nine – With a great cast including Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson and Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Hillcoat’s crime drama about a group of corrupt cops forced to carry out an impossible heist looks set to be gritty and compelling, and setting audiences on the edge of their seats.

Triple Nine - scene

18) Magic Mike XXL – The sequel to Magic Mike features a story by Channing Tatum, some returning cast members (but not Matthew McConaughey), and photography and editing chores handled by a certain Steven Soderbergh.  Whether this adds up to a movie that is as fun as its predecessor, only time and some slick dance moves will tell.

19) Entourage – The hit TV series transfers to the big screen with the gang all present and ready to take on Hollywood.  If the movie is as funny as the series, then audiences are in for a treat, but for a shot at real success it needs to bring in enough non-fans to make it soar at the box office.

20) Mission: Impossible 5 – With locations including the Vienna Opera House and London’s Houses of Parliament (never filmed in before), this latest outing for Ethan Hunt and the M:I team has a considerable challenge in trying to top the success of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

21) Fathers and Daughters – A Pulizer Prize winning author played by Russell Crowe struggles to raise his daughter in the wake of his wife’s death, and we see the effects of that on her as an adult (played by Amanda Seyfried).  A more obvious Oscar contender would be hard to find, but Crowe is ideally suited to this type of movie, and he’s supported by the likes of Aaron Paul, Quvenzhané Wallis and Jane Fonda.

22) Knight of Cups – Set against the backdrop of the music scene in Austin, Texas, this has possibly the best ensemble cast of 2015 – Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling and Cate Blanchett to name but a few – and is likely to be one of the most eagerly awaited movies of the year.

23) Jupiter Ascending – Delayed from 2014 (not usually a good sign) the Wachowskis’ latest sci-fi blockbuster features Channing Tatum with pointy ears and genre-bending visuals.  Whether the story is as compelling remains to be seen but any movie by such visionary filmmakers deserves a fair chance.

Jupiter Ascending - scene

24) The Martian – More sci-fi, with Matt Damon’s stranded astronaut forced to improvise a lifestyle that will enable him to survive on the Red Planet until his rescuers arrive.  The book is a page-turner, let’s hope Ridley Scott’s adaptation is the filmic equivalent.

25) Fast & Furious 7 – With Parts 5 & 6 upping the action stakes and the sad loss of Paul Walker in November 2013 pushing back the release date by a year, this latest instalment needs to pull out all the stops.  Vin Diesel is confident it’s the best F&F yet, and with Jason Statham, Kurt Russell and Lucas Black added to the cast (Black reprising his role from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift), this promises more macho strutting than it seems possible for one movie to cope with.

Movies 26-50 will follow soon.  If you have a movie that you’re looking forward to in 2015, please feel free to let me know.

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