Summer Movie Update; "Now You See Me"

Louis Leterrier's Now You See Me is a film that comes with expectations. First of all its cast -Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Melanie Laurent, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine- is filled with talent. Secondly its concept - a magic troupe robbing a bank without actually being there- has so much potential going for it that its trailer might actually fool you into thinking it could be a good movie. Thirdly, I'm a sucker for movies about magic, just look at my ten best list of 2006, you'll find two of them The Illusionist and The Prestige. Those films knew how to fool their audiences and stayed one step ahead of them the entire way through. Now You See Me commits the biggest sin a movie about magic should avoid at all cost, it ends up never staying one step ahead of its audience. We know what's coming every step of the way. We follow it all the way through waiting for the big HAHA moment which never comes. Much of the blame must lie in Louis Leterrier, a filmmaker who's track record includes The Transporter and -yikes- Clash Of The Titans. He films the movie in typical hollywood fashion; all style no substance. There is no magic in Letterier's film and once the final twist shows up we were never fooled, we in fact just never cared in the first place.

Oscar Watch 2012

Matthew Mcconaughey has never been nominated for an Oscar. It might be because not many people take the 42 year old actor so seriously, what with all the shirtless paparazzi shots taken of him over the years and the flamboyant partying he is so well know of doing. Well guess what? In Steven Sodebergh’s Magic Mike Mcconaughey is –yes- shirtless and does in fact still have that party animal instinct in him yet he resonates deeply in the viewer’s mind as Dallas, the owner of a male strip club that dreams of one day hitting it big with his business. It’s an incomparable, scene stealing performance that shows us the great depth the actor can have if given the right role. Dallas is a man that knows how to make money and understands the business he is in. It is also not a coincidence that Dallas is the first person we see in the movie’s opening scene – a memorable one that sets the pace for what is to come and has Mcconaughey teasing us with a finger waggingly hilarious intro. In fact, the movie – a slight cautionary fable at best- suffers when Mcconaughey is not on screen, which is a testament to the actor’s appeal throughout the movie. Ask anyone who has seen Magic Mike, they would most likely put Mcconaughey on top of their Best Supporting Actor shortlist. He’s that good.