A few weeks back I wrote a
Summer Movie Preview in which I tried to pin down the studio films that looked
the most promising this summer. That piece was met with mixed approval – some
thought I should have included more big name blockbusters. It was indeed a
mistake to leave out the new “Godzilla”, which finally gives Bryan Cranston a
long overdue leading role in movies and looks like it could erase the bitter
aftertaste of that god awful 1998 films starring Matthew Broderick. What were
they thinking? Also “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” could either kick ass or put
out a real stink bomb. Given that director Bryan Singer is back and he made the
best X-Men film to date (X2) I have high hopes for this new one. Otherwise, I
do stand by everything else that I selected. I have seen “The Amazing
Spider-Man 2″ and it is in fact not very good. Also does anyone actually
expect anything good to come from “Transformers: Age of Extinction”, “Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles, “The Expendables 3″ and “Hercules”? I doubt
it.
I’ve
written a follow up to that first article but this time focusing on independent
and foreign fare coming out in these dog days summer. I have seen a big chunk
of these, whether at film festivals or advanced press screenings, while other
promising fare I have yet to catch up with.
“The Double” (May 9th).
Jesse Eisenberg goes insane
when a doppelganger of his appears at his work. Directed by Richard Ayaode
(Submarine), “The Double” is a dark comedy that, despite fizzling out at its
end, has shades of Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” throughout its running time.
Ayaode’s depiction of a future society is both bleak and humorous and unlike
anything I’ve ever seen before. A dark comedy served black.
“Neighbours” (May 9th).
This indie and Hollywood
partnered comedy is as good as the advanced buzz makes it out to be. Why? Well
not only because it is one of the most outrageously hilarious things I’ve seen
in quite a while, but also because of the way director Nicholas Stoller shapes
his characters as not just merely stereotypes, but – shock – actual fleshed out
human beings, which you rarely see in these sort of comedies these days. This
has the potential to become a huge summer hit à la “The Hangover” or “The
Wedding Crashers”.
“The Immigrant” (May 16th).
I loved James Gray’s “Two
Lovers” which featured Gwyneth Paltrow’s last truly great performance and an
always incredibly tense Joaquin Phoenix. In “The Immigrant”, Gray teams up with
Phoenix once again, but this time with mixed results. The pacing is at times
awkward and the story never really sets off. It is a shapeless and unsatisfying
film, but has lots of passion and exquisite performances. I wouldn’t count Gray
out just yet, he still has lots of talent and in the smaller moments of this
film he really just takes your breath away.
“Tracks” (May 23rd).
The biggest applause I saw
any movie get at the Toronto Film Festival wasn’t for “12 Years A Slave” or
“Gravity”, but actually for John Curran’s “Tracks”, which is based on true
events. In 1975, Robyn Davidson set out on a 1700 mile journey through the
Australian outback with 3 camels and her faithful dog. Mia Wasikowska plays
Davidson and she’s great. So is Adam Driver as the pushy photographer that
follows her through this journey. This is a very by the books account of the
story, but it gets the job done.
“Night Moves” (May 30th).
A much anticipated film for
cinematic enthusiasts would be Kelly Reichardt’s “Night Moves”, a film about
eco-terrorism that strips down the genre conventions and ends up giving us the
bare bones of its topic. I deeply admired Reichardt’s past films (“Wendy and
Lucy”, “Meek’s Cutoff”), but this one works because it moves along at a faster
pace than the aforementioned. There are tense, gripping moments in “Night
Moves”, and its performances – notably those of Jesse Eisenberg and Peter
Sarsgaard – contribute to the film moving along admirably well.
“All Is by My Side” (June
TBA).
Directed by John Ridley,
“All Is by My Side” or, as people here tend to call it “The Jimi Hendrix
Bio-Pic”, is a flawed mess of a movie that features a great performance by
Outkast’s Andre Benjamin as Hendrix. I wouldn’t call this a Bio-Pic since it
only covers a year in the life of Hendrix, but an important year nonetheless:
1966. That’s when Hendrix moved to London and found fame. However, there isn’t
enough material in this one year to justify such a long, stretchy film. The
bright spot is Benjamin, who’s phenomenal as Hendrix and sometimes makes you
forget that it’s actually an actor playing the legendary guitarist. Will he get
an Oscar nomination or any critics awards for this? Probably not, but he does
prove he’s a fabulous actor.
“Snowpiercer” (June 27th)
Director Joon-Ho Bong
became a household name in the indie circuits after making 2009′s
great “Mother”. As the director of Snowpiercer, it’s his first foray in English
language film. Harvey Weinstein fought an infamously long and hard battle with
the director about the final cut of the film. Bong wanted a 2 and half hour
cut, whereas Weinstein wanted it closer to 2 hours. They finally settled for
the longer cut, but with the film getting weaker distribution in the U.S – They
were both wrong. The film is indeed half an hour too long, but highly ambitious
and fascinating, especially in its first 100 or so minutes, which are just
really hard to describe. I won’t ruin anything but here’s a movie set in an
apocalyptic future that will likely garner a cult following in the years to
come.
“Life Itself” (July 4th).
Also known as “The Roger
Ebert documentary”. I’ve read good press about it since its successful bow at
Sundance earlier this year. Most critics have praised it as a very emotional
journey and what I do know about the film is how unprecedented it is in its
depiction of the final days of Roger’s life. Cameras were there in the final
weeks with the approval of Ebert. Director Steve James is just the man to
direct it, Ebert discovered -and was the first critic to back up- his landmark
“Hoop Dreams” at Sundance exactly 20 years ago.
“Magic in the Moonlight”
(July 25th).
The new Woody Allen movie.
Given that the prolific director usually makes one film a year these days, you
don’t always get a “Midnight in Paris”, “Blue Jasmine”, “Match Point” or a
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. Sometimes you get a dud, like “Scoop” or “To Rome with
Love”, which is why I’m not too sure what to expect with this new romantic
comedy starring Colin Firth, Emma Stone and shot in the French Riviera.
“The Rover” (June 13th).
This looks amazing.
Selected in Official Competition for this year’s Cannes Film Festival, “The
Rover” is directed by David Michod, who made 2010′s intense Aussie drama
“Animal Kingdom” which gave Jackie Weaver her first ever Oscar Nomination and
was a surprising worldwide success. Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson star and,
if the trailer is any indication, we’re in for something very special here.
“Begin Again” (July 4th).
When “Begin Again”
premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year it began the biggest bidding
war of any movie at the festival. Harvey Weinstein eventually got the last word
and bought out everyone, and for good reason. “Begin Again” is a sweet and
caring musical comedy that will be a big audience pleaser when it comes out
this July. Directed by John Carney, who made “Once”, this is a movie that might
not have the simple acoustic magic of “Once”, but is so consummately made that
you forget all about its feel-good predictable trappings. With Harvey backing
this one up, who knows maybe Oscar will call?
“A Most Wanted Man” (July
25th).
The last Philip Seymour
Hoffman performance. It could be a memorable one too. Add in Willem Dafoe,
Robin Wright, Rachel McAdams and you might have something interesting going for
your movie. The screenplay is based on a John Le Caree novel about a Muslim that
gets caught up in the international war on. The director is Anton Cobijn
(“Control”,” The American”) a true original if there ever was one
http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/summer-preview-part-two-outsider-art/