As Luca Guadagnino’s summer romance Call Me By Your Name appears to be the belle of the ball this awards season, the director is already gearing up for his next film. Previously titled Rio but newly retitled Let It Fall Back, the film looks to add Michelle Williams to a cast that already has Benedict Cumberbatch and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Williams is in talks for the film’s female lead, marking a reunion for her with Gyllenhaal, who she co-starred with in Brokeback Mountain. Penned by Steven Knight, Let It Fall Back centers on a financial journalist who travels to Rio de Janiero to visit a wealthy friend, only to get wrapped up in a plot to fake his friend’s death. Details on Williams’ role are unclear at this point.
Next up for Williams are a bunch of reshoots on Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, which has the potential to thrust her back into the Oscars race. She can be seen right now in Todd Haynes’ Wonderstruck.
We’ve all been, or are currently, that 20-something that is completely lost in life, not knowing which way is up or which way is down, searching for that sign or answers to questions like; “What am I doing in life?” Will I ever get out of my current shitty situation?” “Why am I my own worst enemy?” When I started watching the movie Almost Friends,starring Freddie Highmore, Odeya Rush, Haley Joel Osment, Christopher Meloni, and Marg Helgenberger; I thought, “cool, a story that I can really relate to,” but it turns out that I was sadly mistaken. Fairly quickly into my viewing I could tell that this movie wouldn’t be the identifiable and meaningful piece of cinema that I had anticipated.
Right off the bat any kind of empathy that the viewer could muster up for Charlie (Highmore); a 20-something, post-grad with great potential to be the next Emeril Lagasse; but because he’s physically stuck living at home, working a dead end job at a movie theater and also mentally and emotionally stuck in life period; is immediately put to rest when ages are taken into account. Charlie, like I said is a “20-something, POST-grad,” while Amber (Rush), his love interest in the movie, is a HIGH SCHOOL senior.
Granted, it is never specified whether Amber has officially graduated yet (seeing as though one of the storylines about her character is that she is going to NYU in the fall) or if she’s still under the age of 18. With that being said, I just couldn’t get past the fact that someone thought that having a pre-college girl and post-college man be each other’s love interest was a good idea.
I don’t think that having Amber be a little older would have hurt the story in any way. Although, some things may have had to have been changed, it’s not as if had the filmmakers made those changes that the story would have just fallen apart. Now, I know that this may not even be something that the typical viewer may really think twice or even care about while they are watching this movie because their ages are so glossed over and you’re never really ever visually reminded about Amber’s young age (save for that one time that Charlie decides to show up at one of Amber’s boyfriend’s track meets at what I can only assume is a high school track). However, once you realize this it’s something that (I think) is pretty hard to ignore. When I realized this it was pretty much the only thing that I could really focus on whenever I saw the two of the them on screen together; it was just really weird to me.
Maybe I am making a bigger deal out of than I should (although, I don’t think that I am, I just put that in there because I’m sure someone’ll think that), but I just really didn’t appreciate the choice to have two different characters, in two different age brackets and stages of life fall for one another when that didn’t have to be the case.
In terms of other flaws that I noticed, the movie seemed to suffer from a lack of knowledge of the age of technique of “show don’t tell.” There were a few instances where showing what was wrong with a character instead of just telling us about their problems could and would have gone a long way for the story at hand. For example, it is made known to us that when Charlie was younger he was a pretty good chef, so good that he came in 2nd place at a cooking competition and could have made a thriving career out of it.
Now, in Charlie’s defense because in his current life he is at such a crossroads leading him to feeling disillusioned with the things that once brought him great joy and purpose, I think that by perhaps choosing to show flashbacks of happier times when he was cooking to juxtapose his boring and meaningless current existence and/or showing him attempting to find that magic again but ultimately falling short because of x, y, or z could have driven that point, of him being disillusioned with life, home a lot better; instead of just telling us that he participated in a cooking competition and that he’s randomly cooking dinner one night for the family.
There were also other instances where they would show to us or imply something without ever really exploring the idea or really backing it up. With Amber, one of the main conflicts that her character experiences is that of a bit of a love triangle. Her four year relationship that she has had with Brad is suddenly put to the test when she foolishly decides to entertain Charlie, even though it is apparent from the beginning that he likes her.
In the same way that there was failed empathy for Charlie, this is pretty much the case with Amber because we never really understand why is it that her current boyfriend is no longer satisfying her outside of the implied “well she’s just young and dumb” and her explicitly stating something along the lines of how she doesn’t know what she wants anymore. The latter could have worked for the story and her character had this been explored throughout the movie, but it’s not, so it doesn’t.
There was also the introduction of characters that were really unnecessary to the overall plot. Jack, Amber’s deadbeat cousin, and Howard (Meloni), Charlie’s deadbeat father, were so irrelevant to the story that the existence of their characters really just came across as something that added to the contrived feel that was felt throughout the entire movie. There were scenes in the movie that felt like they were just inserted for the sake of emotion and nothing else. It felt as if the writers, when going over the movie, looked at the script and said “ok, we need some kind of climatic moment here;” “we need tears here;” “we need anger and yelling here;” instead of it all connecting and allowing for the story to unravel before them; essentially letting it write itself, making it feel all the more authentic.
This movie could have been decent, but unfortunately it lacks in real substance and in any real direction. The acting was ok, but it wasn’t enough to really save this movie. Had they thought the story through a little more and actually really explored the trials and tribulations that we all go through when we realize that we don’t have it all figured out, it could’ve been a great testimony and survival guide for anyone that is now or will find themselves in that same predicament.
Almost Friends releases in theaters November 17, 2017
As we roll on towards the Holiday season, everyone gets their annual refresher about the birth of baby Jesus, for who we Christians (and those who just want presents) celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. Most people know this story by heart as it’s ingrained in our faith and our culture. However, most of us know the story from the biblical or academic perspective. For some in today’s need-to-be-flashy-and-entertaining culture, the OG story may seem somewhat stale. How do you go and tell the story of Jesus’ birth in a way that is entertaining and somewhat informative? Why you can always have some talking animals to liven it up.
Sony Pictures Animation tells the Nativity Story through the eyes of the animals that were there in The Star. While Mary and Joseph to play a role in this tale, they operate as supporting members of this very large (and very famous) ensemble of all sorts of animals as they all try and follow “The Star” and make it to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus Christ. Timothy Reckart, fresh off his Academy Award for Head over Heels puts together an extensive cast including: Steven Yeun, Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Keegan-Michael Key, Kelly Clarkson, Patricia Heaton, Kristin Chenoweth, Tracy Morgan, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Plummer, Ving Rhames, Gabriel Iglesias, Delilah and Mariah Carey for this animated film.
While the trailers have made you think that we were going to focus on three camels (Tracy Morgan, Tyler Perry, and Oprah Winfrey), we spend the most of our time with Bo the donkey (Steven Yeun) and Dave the dove (Keegan-Michael Key), who want something more out of their lives than as servant animals, they want to march in the roman caravan. When Mary (Gina Rodriguez) is visited by an angel telling her that she will birth the baby Jesus in 9 months, a star shoots across the sky, kickstarting the adventure for many animals including Bo, Dave, the camels, and Ruth the sheep (Aidy Bryant). After escaping his menial life as a wheat miller, Bo injures his leg and ends in the care of Mary, just as she tells Joseph that she is pregnant with the son of God. Meanwhile, King Herod (Christopher Plummer) is nervous of the new “King of Kings” that will be born and dispatches his lieutenant and his two attack dogs (Ving Rhames and Gabriel Iglesias) to find Mary and Joseph.
The animation forThe Star is done very well. As expected from a Sony Animation film, the CGI works well as it would in any of their other well-made films like the Hotel Transylvania or the Smurfs and their sequels. The film itself is a little more to be desired. While theThe Star sticks to its Christian roots, to the point you will probably want to pull out your bible or go to Sunday school to make sure you remember everything and everyone’s names the way it was in the film (they put a large disclaimer at the end of the film that significant liberties were taken). The film isn’t 100% sure if it wants to be a Christian history lesson, or just a fun kids animation complete with poop and fart jokes. Some of the jokes work, others fall flat. One running joke that works until they run it into the ground is the fact that the humans can’t understand the animals. While it’s refreshing that in an animated movie, there is a separation between humans and animals talking (see: any Disney movie from the last 50 years), the joke wears thin after the third time its tried.
The film does have great moments when it comes to friendship, destiny, and doing the right thing. The character who goes on the hero’s journey is Bo as he’s the first animal we see and therefore the audience avatar. Bo wants to do one thing with his life and throughout the film, he gets to really understand who he is and what he wants to do, giving his significant character development compared to the rest of the uniquely large cast. His buddy Dave seems like he’s just along for the ride, but their friendship gives him (excuse the pun) wings.
Because this film is aggressively Christian (and doesn’t care to hide it at all), the soundtrack is full of all sorts of gospel singers. Unlike most animated films, the main characters don’t do the singing. When the film breaks into musical interludes, we get to hear Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Pentatonix, and Casting Crowns to name a few. The main song “The Star” is sung by Mariah Carey, cause, well, it’s Christmas time, and you know Mariah’s gonna have a Christmas song.
The Staris made primarily for its core audience, and will have no problem making its budget back as many folks can easily go to the theaters after church. In fact, don’t be surprised if many churches bus their parishioners after service to go and see this movie. Secular people can enjoy the film too. It’s very Christian, but it doesn’t beat you over the head with its messages, and the themes are relatable no matter what religion you are.
There’s always more room for “Flashpoint”, apparently. The major DC Comics storyline has been adapted twice already, once on The CW’s TV version of The Flash, and again in the animated movie The Flashpoint Paradox. The premise is wide-ranging and sweeping every time, with Flash basically creating an entirely new alternate universe with some dramatic changes to the status quo. So it was a little surprising at Comic-Con when Flash’s solo movie was revealed to have Flashpoint as its title, but with it comes an opportunity to fundamentally change the DCEU.
Ezra Miller, whose Flash I think will be the breakout star of Justice League, hasn’t seen a Flashpoint script yet, but he recognizes the implications of that title. He tells EW…
“What fans understand when they hear Flashpoint, would be almost like hearing a word like ‘Crisis.’ We start to understand that our precious DC universe will inevitably be torn asunder to an endless, headache-inducing fabric of multiversality. The DC Hyper-Extended Multiverse, as I plan to call it. Quote me!”
He’s referring to the seminal crossover “Crisis On Infinite Earths”, the industry standard for company-wide reboots. It’s true, whenever the word “crisis” is used in reference to DC Comics, fans know something huge is going down.
While Miller’s comments are interesting by themselves, it’s DC Films’ Geoff Johns, who happens to be the writer of the original Flashpoint story, who may have the biggest tease of all. With Ben Affleck’s run as Batman looking shakier by the day, and The Batman director Matt Reeves reportedly eyeing his replacement, Johns seems to be teasing a storyline way to change who is the Dark Knight…
“There’s elements in it that we’re going to be playing into that we couldn’t do anywhere else. The scale of it, the Batman story of it all.”
That’s pretty much a confirmation Batman will be in Flashpoint, joining Wonder Woman and Cyborg in basically making this Justice League 1.5. But what Johns is doing is playing coy, because the Batman of “Flashpoint” isn’t Bruce Wayne, it’s his father, Thomas Wayne, who becomes the Caped Crusader after his child Bruce is killed. With all the timeline gymnastics going on it would be a simple (relatively) thing to work out a way in which an older Bruce Wayne is erased and replaced by a younger version. That would give Affleck the “cool” and “graceful” exit he’s looking for.
The only thing standing in the way? Well, Flashpoint isn’t any closer to happening now than it was a year ago. The film has had all sorts of problems keeping a director, and there’s no script to speak of. When production does finally begin there may be an entirely new plan in place because the DCEU is constantly shifting territory at this point.
Josh Gad is making the most of the connections he’s made in his most recent movies by recruiting them to star in his next one. Gad has sold to Netflix the rights to Super-Normal, a superhero comedy that promises to be different from what we normally get from the genre. Joining him in it will be his Murder On the Orient Express co-star Daisy Ridley, and Luke Evans, who he got to horse around with in Beauty and the Beast.
Gad wrote the film along with Aaron and Jordan Kandell, with THR describing it as ” a character-driven subversive take on the genre that Hollywood and the rest of the world loves too much.”
Know what that sounds like? Kick-Ass. Or Super. I’m not sure this is the right time to go down that road again, but apparently the idea was strong enough to start a bidding war to obtain it. Even Disney got in on it. I’m surprised they didn’t make more of an effort considering how much money they’ve made off Gad, Ridley, and Evans already.
It really doesn’t matter what the film is about if it has an ensemble boasting the talents of Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy, Kristin Scott Thomas and Timothy Spall. You already know it’s going to be great, and with a director like Sally Potter (Ginger & Rosa) at the helm, The Party is one you’ll not want to miss.
The title pretty much says it all; a group of friends get together for an intimate gathering, and of course personalities clash, secrets revealed, marriages destroyed, guns drawn…you know, all the ingredients for a great dinner party. Here’s the synopsis:
In Sally Potter’s new dark comedy THE PARTY, Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) is hosting an intimate gathering of friends in her London home to celebrate her political ascension, while her husband, Bill (Timothy Spall), seems preoccupied. Janet’s acerbic best friend, April (Patricia Clarkson), arrives and others follow, some with their own dramatic news to share, but an announcement by Bill provokes a series of revelations that gradually unravel the sophisticated soiree, and a night that began with champagne may end with gunplay.
Does JUSTICE LEAGUE unite the League or destroy? Following the success of WONDER WOMAN can Warner Bros. keep the momentum going with JUSTICE LEAGUE? On a very special episode of Cinema Royale, I’ll be joined by Matt Razak of Flixist.com and Jeff Lyles of Lyles Movie Files for a slightly spoilery review of the anticipated superhero flick! We’ll talk about the film’s box office prospects, those Batman rumors, and of course the future of the DCU!
All this plus news on Shazam, secret Marvel projects, Lord of the Rings, the impact of Hollywood’s sexual misconduct scandals, and more! Tune in and follow Cinema Royale on Blogtalkradio as part of Critical: The Movie Critics Network!
Hard to believe it’s been nine years since Bryan Bertino’s The Strangers. Harder still to believe it’s taken that long for the film to get a sequel considering it was both a critical and box office hit that helped redefine the home invasion thriller. It’s a little disappointing Bertino isn’t back behind the camera for Strangers: Prey at Night, but at least he helped write the script for what looks like a capable followup featuring a new band of masked stalkers.
Starring Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, and Martin Henderson, the film finds a different family terrorized in a mobile trailer park. Trailer parks are already pretty creepy on their own, but add a bunch of masked killers and the scare potential goes off the charts. Here’s the synopsis:
A family’s road trip takes a dangerous turn when they arrive at a secluded mobile home park to stay with some relatives and find it mysteriously deserted. Under the cover of darkness, three masked psychopaths pay them a visit to test the family’s every limit as they struggle to survive.
Directed by Johannes Roberts, Strangers: Prey at Night opens March 9th 2018.
What’s the point in wasting time, I guess? It was only a few hours ago that a rumor surfaced that The Batman director Matt Reeves had already made his choice to replace Ben Affleck, who is clearly done with the whole superhero thing right now. The story broke from John Campea, who said he’d think about whether to reveal the actor Reeves had in mind. And, well, he didn’t wait long before spilling the beans on his show.
Jake Gyllenhaal is apparently Reeves’ pick to play Batman, which…well, he’s not the first guy I would’ve had in mind but it makes sense the more I think about it. He’s got the look to play Bruce Wayne, and the physique to be a credible Caped Crusader, but he’s also a bit younger. Not so young that we’re talking about a teeny-bopper Bats, but young enough that he could stick around for a full trilogy without wearing down.
Plus it’s not like he’s busy trying to direct a bunch of movies, either. Affleck’s attention would always be split between the DCU and the stuff he really wants to be doing. To that end, Campea says Affleck’s farewell has been set in stone for a while, and this gives Reeves a chance to make the non-continuity film he wants.
I know Warner Bros. is said to be leaning towards more standalone movies outside of the DCU, but I think if Justice League is the smash it’s expected to be we may see their attitude change. I wouldn’t bet on this Gyllenhaal thing happening just yet, although it is apparently in the discussion stages.
Thoughts? Would you like to see Jake Gyllenhaal as the Dark Knight?
For a very long time now I though Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could do no wrong. Seriously the guy could make anything he appeared in seem fun, that electric charisma you can’t help but to enjoy watching. Obviously when a big screen adaptation of the classic arcade game Rampage, where you play either a generic Kong, Godzilla, or random wold character and destroy cities, was announced my thought was, “Sure, is anyone can do it, it’s the Rock. I’m not sure where I stand on that now that I’ve seen this trailer. On one hand it seems like pure popcorn gorgin’ summer blockbuster entertainment. On the other hand they brought in this angle where the People’s Champ is apparently a zookeeper and his best buddy is George, the Gorilla that get’s mutated into a Kong-like destroyer of world’s. It’s one moment in particular, when George is being shot at by the army and Johnson screams out “GEOOORRRGGEEE!”…i don’t know why but that 5 seconds of film just dropped my faith a few rungs.
Extra points to Jeffery Dean Morgan who appears to have inhabited Negan so deeply that it will just be his de facto persona from now on…you know what? I’m ok with that!
No matter the details, at the end of the day we have a movie here that most of the general public will dig for the ability to check out of their heads for 2 hours and watch some giant animals bang some stuff up!
Rampage Knocks Down Your Block on April 20th, 2018
