By Brett Blake Summer’s over. I mean, I guess technically we’ve got another three weeks or so before the fall season officially begins, but for movie-going purposes, the summer is gone. I thought this might make for a nice opportunity to look at where we’ve been over the last four months, cinematically. If the summer of 2013 will be remembered for anything in years to come, it will be for the quite large number of films that either underperformed at the box office, or downright bombed. Of course, there were some films that exceeded expectations (The Conjuring, The Great Gatsby, and World War Z did significantly better than they were forecast to, for example), but these are outnumbered by the slew of pictures that struggled. Films like Man of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness weren’t the massive hits their respective studios were hoping for (but by any definition, they were still successful), while The Lone Ranger, Pacific Rim, White House Down, and After Earth were pretty much full-blown financial disasters (domestically, anyway; foreign box office tells a slightly different tale), with each resulting in huge net losses for their production houses. It has to be said, though, that box office returns are not at all definitive indicators of the quality of the films from this summer (Pacific Rim, for example, is certainly a good movie), but there is most likely some kind of broad correlation, which brings me to this: I don’t think there were very many films from this summer that were unequivocally “great” or “events,” but there were many that were just “okay,” which makes the season - in retrospect - feel kind of underwhelming, at least from where I’m standing. So here’s how I want to tackle this - I’m going to present a film that I felt was the “Surprise of the Summer,” a film that turned out to be better than I was expecting; I’ll follow that with the “Disappointment of the Summer,” which I would hope is self-explanatory. Finally, I’ll list the five films that I enjoyed the most. It has to be said there are plenty of films from this summer that I missed. Some of these were movies I just had no interest in (White House Down, The Heat, Fast & Furious 6, This is the End), while others I simply haven’t had a chance to see yet, but still intend to (Now You See Me, The World’s End, You’re Next). Surprise of the Summer WORLD WAR Z No, World War Z isn’t a great film, but it is a solid entertainment with an interesting spin on the zombie movie genre; additionally, the third act - which slows things down and embraces the more conventional aspects of the zombie genre - is a pretty fantastic, self-contained setpiece. That a film this troubled (there were lots of problems behind the scenes) turned out this well is kind of bizarrely remarkable, and a pleasant surprise. Disappointment of the Summer Star Trek Into Darkness I want to say this first: I think Star Trek Into Darkness is a very good movie, but it’s because of this that its flaws are magnified. The plot lurches forward with little momentum, it shamelessly tries to recall famous moments from the franchise’s past, it almost wastes the estimable talents of Benedict Cumberbatch by saddling him with a shoe-horned in (and, basically, irrelevant) villain, and it offers a spectacularly anticlimactic ending. The final result is a film with great action and wonderful character moments, but no real coherent or interesting story to latch onto. This is a movie that should have been so much better. The Five Best Movies of the Summer 5. THE WOLVERINE A strong effort from all concerned, The Wolverine treats its title character with a more serious and mature mindset, and that pays off with an unusually thoughtful superhero film that still manages to bring in all the required action and excitement. Keep expectations in check, because this is certainly no masterpiece, but it is a welcome, lower key change of pace from the usual bombast in this genre. 4. MONSTERS UNIVERSITY Some people have described this film (very curiously) as just another soulless animated film bearing few of Pixar Studios’ hallmarks. I think that opinion is quite misguided, as Monsters University has a lot of heart, and a unique, powerful message about finding your place in the world. There seems to be a perception with Pixar that if each new film isn't bigger and better than the one before, then it's somehow a failure. I think that's nonsense, and even if MU doesn't reach the heights of The Incredibles, or Up, or Toy Story, it's still a completely satisfying and affecting film. 3. MAN OF STEEL Probably the most controversial blockbuster of the year, Man of Steel seems to be one of those “love it/hate it” type situations. I acknowledge its flaws, but count me as among those who really dug this one, and I think it was a fitting way to approach the character of Superman in a more modern or “realistic” fashion while still being true to the essence of who the character has always been. Henry Cavill makes for a fine Clark Kent/Superman, and he's backed-up by a fantastic ensemble portraying a roster of supporting characters who each get a moment to shine. 2. THE CONJURING Man, am I a sucker for a good horror movie. The Conjuring isn’t the scariest movie I’ve ever seen (far from it), or the most unique from a story perspective, but in an age of “found footage” and “torture porn,” this film’s gleefully old fashioned approach to its scares is simply a delight, and the movie - a Poltergeist-ian horror house ride - is hugely entertaining, both for those familiar with the genre’s storied past, and for those who’ve grown tired with the horror genre’s mostly “same old, same old” lukewarm offerings in recent years. It's a classical haunted house story in the best sense of the phrase. 1. IRON MAN 3 We’re going all the way back to the first weekend in May for my number one pick. It’s kind of telling that my favorite film of the summer was the first one I saw; I guess it was all downhill after that. But that’s neither here nor there - Iron Man 3 (or Three, as the end titles would have it) is probably the best of Tony Stark’s stand-alone adventures, and it is a whole ton of fun, filled with witty dialogue, legitimately spectacular action sequences (the free-fall rescue, in particular, is exhilarating and kind of astonishing), and a cast doing top-notch work. This is everything we want from a summer popcorn movie. It's a blast. So there it is. Please feel free to share your own thoughts on what went down these past few months, or to set me straight on where I went wrong with some of these picks. Now, the summer might be over, but here’s the good news: in a few short weeks, we’ll begin to enter the prestige/awards bait season, which usually means a lot of quality films will be showing up in cinemas, and if the release schedule is any indication, the final four months of 2013 could be pretty spectacular. Let’s hope it pans out that way!
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By Brett Blake I've decided to follow up my previous article on this subject with yet another roster of five movies that, for whatever reason, are either underrated or underseen by the population at large. I think it's important for movie buffs to become evangelists for the films they love that don't often get talked about, so to that end, and in no particular order, here we go... Frenzy (1972) FRENZY marked director Alfred Hitchcock’s return to his London roots for the first time since 1940 (having worked exclusively out of Hollywood during those intervening 30+ years), and the result is a fresh, engaging thriller centering on a serial murderer and an innocent man wrongfully pursued for the crimes. The movie is something of a hodgepodge of classic Hitchcock themes (a man on the run, blacker-than-black macabre humor, a hint of sexual perversion mixed with shocking violence), but the very witty screenplay and the revitalized direction of Hitchcock make this a must-see; there are some tracking shots, in particular, that are pretty fantastic in their composition. It’s curious to think that this is truly one of Hitch’s “forgotten” films (as so many of his movies post-THE BIRDS are), but it deserves to be seen and appreciated by more people. The TRAILER is another one of Hitchcock’s patented pitches in which he appears - in full showman fashion - to personally sell the movie to you; he’s a delightfully deadpan ham. October Sky (1999) This is the tale of a teenager in late-1950s West Virginia who’s captivated by the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik, to the point that he becomes obsessed with building and launching his own rockets. Jake Gyllenhaal, in one of his first big roles, does a great job of communicating his character’s earnestness and drive, and I think anyone who’s ever had a burning desire to do something special or out of the ordinary with their life will find him easy to identify with. The plot, which primarily involves the conflict between the boy and his coal miner father (played by the great Chris Cooper), is on the cliched side, yes, but’s it’s acted well, and turns out to be quite affecting. Additionally, the locations and cinematography give the film a very unique, semi-autumnal look that’s great, and Mark Isham’s musical score is absolutely lovely, a moody and (at times) uplifting bit of writing that has gone mostly overlooked in film music circles. It’s a schmaltzy movie, no doubt, but a little well-done schmaltz never hurt anybody. The TRAILER’s on the hokey side (complete with unnecessary voice over!), but it’ll have to do. The Party (1968) Peter Sellers and writer/director Blake Edwards are most known for their acclaimed collaboration on the PINK PANTHER series of films, but this movie - often overlooked - came in the middle of that famed series, and is actually funnier than many of the PANTHER installments. Sellers plays an eccentric Indian film extra working in Hollywood who’s accidentally invited to a huge, glamorous bash; what follows are some incredible sight gags and comedic setpieces, all tinged with a degree of good-natured bizarreness. They don’t all hit, but the ones that do are howlingly funny, and Sellers’ work here is some of his very best. His character isn’t as tightly focused as his Inspector Clouseau creation, but he goes to some really weird places in THE PARTY that are very funny. The movie’s an “everything and the kitchen sink” kind of deal, which some people could find grating, but for those ready for a huge helping of late-1960s zany comedy, this one’s a blast. The trailer for this film stinks, so here’s a complete scene, instead. Blow Out (1981) Brian De Palma has always had the reputation of being, well, let’s say indebted to Alfred Hitchcock, and while that’s certainly true with many of his films, in the case of BLOW OUT, he drew inspiration from Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 psychedelic mystery, BLOW-UP. De Palma’s film stars John Travolta (in what I would argue is his finest performance) as a movie sound recordist who - while out at night gathering sound effects - records a fatal car accident. This “accident” turns out to be nothing of the kind, and soon Travolta is on the run from some very dangerous people intent on keeping him silent. It’s something of a continuation of the tone of the paranoid political thrillers that started cropping up in the ‘70s, and De Palma’s command of cinematic technique is first rate (including innovative camera set-ups, masterful editing, and a dense, detail-laden sound effects track), and he draws exceptional performances from Travolta and - as a full-blown nutjob creep - John Lithgow as one of the men on Travolta’s tail. Toss in some bravura suspense sequences and one of the great gut-punch endings of the 1980s, and you’ve got one hell of a top notch thriller. The TRAILER is a fairly good encapsulation of what to expect. The Freshman (1990) What we have here is a movie with basically a one-note gag idea (“Let’s get Marlon Brando to spoof his own performance from THE GODFATHER!”) that, miraculously, is a pretty darn charming and breezy little romp. This was Brando at the height of his “collect a huge paycheck, then sleepwalk through the role” phase, but he’s fully engaged in this, and really quite funny in the way he affectionately lampoons his own previous work, but there’s also a surprising amount of warmth and humanity to the performance, too (it’s not just a performance designed to get laughs). Beyond Brando, you’ve got Matthew Broderick playing as likable and affable as he’s ever been, you’ve got a wild plot that manages to involve Broderick settling in at film school (and some accompanying gentle satire), a Komodo dragon, an endangered species import/export racket, bent government agents on the take, and a clinically insane gourmet chef, and you’ve got a clever screenplay that hits all the right notes - and makes all the right mob movie references - without ever seeming hackneyed. HERE’s a kind of cheesy trailer that doesn’t really do the film justice, but you’ll get the idea.
By Breanne Brennan Only so often does a trailer come along that really wows me. From last year's theatrical trailer for LES MISERABLES to the previous year's GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO teaser, the recent trailer for Scorsese's THE WOLF OF WALL STREET is one that demands the audience's attention. What do I look for in a great trailer? Expert cutting, appropriate music choice, tone, and what it's focusing on (ie: character, story, etc.) Starting out no holds barred with Kanye West's single Black Skinhead, fast cuts of NY, and a snarky narration for the film titular character, we're immediately thrown into the rock star world of a Wall Street stockbroker. Midway through as the music and the excess build, up come the terrific titles of "More...is never enough." Needless to say, this trailer is a fine example of pacing and cutting in relation to the music choice. With that, we get an idea of character, and a touch of story, but it's enough to make me want to see this movie. By Breanne Brennan
As you may have heard, Warner Brothers and Weinstein Company have butted heads over the title registration of the upcoming film THE BUTLER. Turns out WB wants to protect their 1916 silent film of the same title that I'm sure nobody has ever seen. The movie is now called LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER, but I think all these changing titles might confuse old white movie-goers. I had someone come up to me and ask, "What is the movie coming out that's like THE HELP, but for men?" That being said, here's a new title that the old white people might relate to better... |
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