Trailers Week 44: 10/04/15

Vacation

We here at That Other Movie Blog have the utmost respect for the legend of comedy that was John Hughes and we have particular reverence for his Vacation movies. This reboot of the series of films should have us all nervous, but instead looks to be rather funny. In it, a grown up Rusty will take his own family on a road trip cross country to Walley World. Instead of being played by Anthony Michael Hall, he will this time be played by Ed Helms. Also starring Christina Applegate, Charlie Day, Chevy Chase and Chris Hemsworth.

Ricki and the Flash

Veteran director Jonathan Demme directs Meryl Streep in this film about ageing rocker (this time a woman!) Ricki, who is reunited with her estranged family after her grown daughter goes through a bitter divorce. Also starring Kevin Kline, Mamie Gummer, Sebastian Stan and Audra McDonald.

Freedom

This dual timeline movie follows a slave who has freshly escaped just before the breakout of the Civil War and the ship captain who transported his ancestor to the Americas. It's Roots, just modern and a movie. Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., William Sadler and Bernard Forcher.

Tangerine

This indie flick is about a girl who has been out of prison for less than 24 hours who finds out that her boyfriend cheated on her whilst she was on the inside and does everything that she can so that she won't get sent back inside. Starring Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, James Ransone and Mickey O'Hagan.

Absolutely Anything
This movie follows a man who is granted the powers to do anything imaginable and if he uses them for evil, the Earth will be destroyed by the alien civilisation who gave him the powers. It stars Simon Pegg, Eddie Izzard, Kate Beckinsale and the voices of Monty Python and Robin Williams.

Return To Sender

A rape revenge fantasy in which Rosamund Pike is the victim and slowly torments her rapist who was caught and is in prison. Also starring Nick Nolte, Rumer Willis and Shiloh Fernandez.

Magic Mike XXL
Mike the stripper comes out of retirement to join his crew and take on a stripping championship. In this trailer Channing Tatum gets hot and heavy with some metalworking and Joe Manganiello obviously never learned the correct way to drink water from a bottle.

An Open Secret
This week we end on a bit of a downer with a documentary about child abuse in Hollywood through the manipulation of child actors. It's a scary reality, but a story that needs to be out there nonetheless.

Infini

Aussie director Shane Abbess seeks to emulate the classic sci-fi movie Aliens with his debut. Although it does work as a good horror film, some poor writing and direction has made it slightly disappointing, despite being quite an ambitious film.

In the 23rd century, an impoverished population of Earth earn money by taking part in off world mining that they travel to via a process called Slipstreaming (time travel mixed with teleportation, it's a bit unclear). Whit Carmichael (Daniel MacPherson) is on the first day of this job, but after a crisis at the home base, he is transported to the furthest outpost in the galaxy. A search and rescue team is dispatched to bring him home. Only once they get there, the team discovers that there is an airborne virus that turns the crew against one another.

As previously stated this film is very similar to Aliens at the base level. But where this film suffers is that there is too much exposition happening throughout the entire thing, followed by patches where you are unsure of what is going on. Within the first twenty minutes we are exposed to a lot of sci-fi technology that we need to understand for later in the movie, but we don't get a clear enough explanation of how exactly they work. The movie also tries to make way too many explanations about what the virus is (spoiler: it's an alien lifeform!) and how it spreads, but instead we could have just been told that it is turns you into a space zombie, that I could have taken on board and not have been so confused about. Without going into it too much, the ending is also very confusing. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be an allegory for something because what is there seems like a bit of a cop out.

The characters are largely unsympathetic as we don't get enough time to see any development from any of them. All we know about Whit is that he has a pregnant wife and he must get back to her, as is the case with crew member Harris Menzies (Harry Pavlidis), he has a daughter. I think there was a relationship between two of the crew members, but it was so intermittent that I couldn't tell for sure. The rest of the crew isn't at all expanded on, despite that Chester Huntington (Luke Ford) is one of three characters who share in the majority of screen time. Also there is a character called Rex Mannings! (Go watch Empire Records to discover why Rex Manning Day is so important).

Despite the fact that these characters are all severely underdeveloped, the main performances are top notch. Daniel MacPherson does show an incredible amount of fear and does share a fantastic scene with Luke Ford where I am pretty sure they shared a joint beforehand. Ford is channeling Adam Baldwin in Firefly, but still makes the character his own. Harry Pavlidis gives the only endearing performance. I'm surprised that Grace Huang and Luke Hemsworth (older brother of Chris and Luke) got such high credit in the film because they are barely in it.

The film has done one thing well though. For a movie with a low budget, Abbess has made a great looking film. The shots are all expertly done and the CGI backgrounds are impressive considering most budget sci-fi flicks look pretty poor. Also Brian Cachia's score is impressive and it does give the film a sound that wouldn't be out of place in a big Hollywood blockbuster.

This debut from Aussie writer/director Abbess aims a little high to differentiate itself from other legends in the genre of sci-fi horror, but it feels a little ambitious for a first feature film. Despite settling into it's rhythm in the second act, the over the top science fiction elements and poor writing take away any enjoyment of the film.

Clouds of Sils Maria

Olivier Assayas is a highly intelligent filmmaker, and often draws on his roots as a critic for Cahiers du Cinéma in his highly structured stories. His latest film, Clouds of Sils Maria stars Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart.

Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is a successful actor, who began her career in the play Maloja Snake by Wilhelm Melchior. Enders and Melchior have a difficult past relationship and as Enders is travelling to Zurich to accept an award on his behalf, she hears the troubling news that he has passed away. Maria has a loyal assistant, Valentine (Kristen Stewart), and the two are very close; she helps Maria with the news. Soon Maria is offered a role in the latest version of the play, however she'll be playing an older woman.

This is a very French film. It revels in the revival of an artistic era that doesn't necessarily exist any more, subtly poking fun at the ways of Hollywood, superhero movies and celebrity gossip. These are starkly contrasted against the passion that the characters put into the play; in trying to understand the production's characters with long conversations detailing their various attributes. One of the key elements of Clouds of Sils Maria is the relationship between Maria and Valentine, and more specifically, how this is played on when they do the script read-throughs. These scenes are sometimes a bit tedious and difficult to follow - as the lines between the play's characters and the two women are quite blurred - but they are managed with a lot of finesse from Binoche and Stewart. There's certainly an element of art imitating life in the film; between the play, the film and also real life. However there are certain details that are not followed through, which at times can be slightly confusing. For instance, I would have liked to understand a bit more about what Maria thought of her past career. She's constantly focusing on her previous role in the play but doesn't really vocalise any of her other roles. 

Clouds of Sils Maria has a very dislocated structure, with scenes fading in and out with little to no actual transitions. It's a stylised choice and I understand the reasoning behind it but I'm not sure how effective it really is, at times it's certainly distracting. The grief that Maria feels at the playwrights passing (they had a very personal relationship) and the way that she deals with it through the reboot of the play, was one interesting element of the story that they probably could have brought out a bit more. However the subtlety in character development is certainly indicative of the intelligent writing behind Assayas's script. The mountainous backdrop almost becomes another character in Clouds of Sils Maria, it has an importance in contextualising the story and makes for some incredibly beautiful shots - particularly a time-lapse sequence where the fog rolls in - however I think they may have overindulged in the scenery just a little too much.

Clouds of Sils Maria is lead by two outstanding performances from Binoche and Stewart. Juliette Binoche is a veteran actress, and is just as talented here. She brings depth and no doubt, personal experiences to Maria, who is a much more memorable character than Dina in Words and Pictures, the last major role that I saw her in. Kristen Stewart, who many people like to mock for her seemingly expressionless delivery - I actually think she's had some great performances - really shines here. Her understated mode of acting works well for Valentine, whose calm and collected manner perfectly dichotomises Maria's emotional and vibrant personality. Maria and Valentine are two very memorable characters, an absolute requirement for this complex story to work.

Clouds of Sils Maria is a well-written and intelligent movie, with plenty of inspiration from French New Wave films. The palatable story is sometimes difficult to follow and won't necessarily please everybody, but the two leading ladies sustain the interest throughout. However I do feel like it's been written for critics, and I don't know how I feel about that narrowing down of audience.

Will Poulter to play Pennywise the Clown

So we finally have some news about the latest adaptation of Stephen King. His terrifying novel It has been floating around for a while now as something that is in the works and now we have some solid news as to who will be in the hopefully terrifying film.

Will Poulter (of We're The Millers fame) is apparently in talks to play the pants-shittingly scary clown Pennywise, who has already been played to perfection by Tim Curry in the 1990 TV miniseries adaptation.

Apparently this adaptation will follow the 1,138 page novel closer than the previous adaptation and will be darker and scarier as well. It is about a group of adults who come back to their hometown for a reunion and are followed by the same supernatural that haunted them as children. It is a truly scary monster and the main form it takes is that of Pennywise the Clown, because nothing is scarier than a clown.

Here's a gif of Pennywise laughing at your terror.

One Eyed Girl

Director Nick Matthews' debut feature is an incoherent mess of a film. This is sad for a first time director because you want to make a splash with your first film, but if this is the best he can do it's all downhill from here. Matthews tries to take on the subject of cults in rural Australia but ends up missing the mark by a long shot.

Travis (Mark Leonard Winter) is a hospital psychologist whose world is coming about after the suicide of one of his patients, Rachel (Katy Cheel). What makes her death particularly hard for Travis is that he was having an unorthodox sexual relationship with her. One day on the train, he is approached by Grace (Tilda Cobhem-Hervey) who belongs to a cult and she offers him a way out of his pain. Without too many options, Travis ends up joining the cult, led by the charismatic Father Jay (Steve Le Marquand), only to find not everything is what it seems.

Except that we never find out that anything bad is at play. The poor writing of this film leaves you confused about what is going on. There is no explicit explanation about what Father Jay really wants from his followers, although we do see him having sex with one of the young men in the cult, but that does not mean that he has nefarious designs on anyone else. The film's plot elements, especially early on, play out like a delirious fever dream, leaving the audience confused. There is no ultimate goal to any of the action and only the loosest of threads connect each scene to the one after it.

The characters are also extremely poorly written. I felt no sympathy for any of them, especially Travis, who is supposed to be the emotional centre. The character of Grace may have been intended as a glimmer of hope, but ends up fading into the background. Father Jay is given the most backstory, but no motivation over the course of the story. I only felt any emotion toward the character of Tom (played by co-writer Craig Behenna), Father Jay's second-in-command and that was just because he seemed like a nice enough guy or maybe because he was played by the person who wrote the film and therefore he'd know where that character is coming from.

Nick Matthews background as a cinematographer has definitely given this film a specific look, but that sometimes just adds to the confusion. The entire first thirty minutes is comprised almost completely of close ups and is quite disconcerting. I'm guessing that a large chunk of the budget also went to the aerial shots and while these are stunning, that money could have been better spent elsewhere.

A disappointing and lacklustre debut that will leave everyone confounded to the point of the whole endeavour. Matthews aims to make a film that is somewhere between the films Red State and The Master, but fails spectacularly.

Trailers Week 43: 03/05/15

Legend

This biopic from L.A. Confidential writer Brian Helgeland is about the notorious East End nightclub owners and gangsters the Kray twins. It looks like it is going to be one of those gritty crime dramas that hopefully portray London as it actually was. Tom Hardy will play the twins Ronnie and Reginald and will be supported by Emily Browning, Taron Egerton and Paul Bettany.

Demonic

Aussie director James Wan has been behind some of the biggest horror films of the last decade (Saw, The Conjuring and Insidious are all his), so it comes as no surprise that his latest flick looks just as terrifying. A group of ghost hunters go to a house where a mass murder happened and attempt to contact the spirits there. We can all guess what happens.

Irrational Man

It would seem that Emma Stone is Woody Allen's latest female muse, she joins a long list of ladies who have had the privilege. This new movie is about a philosophy professor who joins a new school and shakes things up, whilst dealing with his own sexual inabilities. This time Joaquin Phoenix takes up the mantle of Allen, with Stone, Parker Posey and Jamie Blackley.

Strangerland

This Aussie movie stars Nicole Kidman as a mother whose teenage daughter has gone missing and the strain this has on the relationships with the people around her. Also starring Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving and Maddison Brown.

Wild Horses

Robert Duvall has written and directed this film that looks like it is about a man who has done something in the past and is going to finally pay for it. Starring Duvall, James Franco, Josh Hartnett, Adriana Barraza and Jim Parrack.

The Last Witch Hunter

Vin Diesel stars as the eponymous witch hunter as he battle modern day witches in New York City. Of course he is. Also starring Rose "You Know Nothing, Jon Snow" Leslie, Elijah Wood, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Michael Caine.

Beyond The Brick: A Brickumentary

Jason Bateman narrates this doco about Lego. What more can I say?

Elsa & Fred

After a very delayed release, Michael Radford's romantic comedy Elsa & Fred has made it here to Australia. The film stars two giants of cinema, Shirley Maclaine and Christopher Plummer in the titular roles. But with a cheesy love-story about an elderly couple, this may be a case of wasted talent.

Set in New Orleans (although you'd never know it), Elsa & Fred follows Elsa (Shirley Maclaine) and Fred (Christopher Plummer), two elderly residents in an apartment building that are opposites in every possible way. Fred is a recent widow and has been forced to move by his daughter, Lydia (Marcia Gay Harden), he's bitter and takes a morbid view on life. Elsa, who's next door, often seems to live in her own dreamy romantic state. She consistently lies to paint a better picture of herself, and dreams of Rome, taking the persona of Anita Ekberg in the film La Dolce Vita. After what seems like an incredibly short period of time, these two opposites attract (*spoiler alert* if you haven't seen the poster.)

This is one of the corniest movies I've ever had to sit through. It tells a story that's been told a thousand times before, the elderly couple hitting it off, opposites attracting etc, and it's been told better before. Clearly I'm not the intended audience, but similar films like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel series manage to pitch down to a broader audience. The film is a remake of a Spanish-Argentine film of the same name, perhaps it's better, I don't know. They try to draw attention away from the clichés by subverting the stereotypes to make it more interesting. Look at Elsa, she's an eccentric elderly woman who listens to rap music, how original! Give me a break, you can feel the manipulation. The climax of Elsa & Fred I actually quite liked, but it's still extremely corny. The romantic story is a sweet premise but the delivery is appalling. At one point in the film, Elsa's artistic son unveils a painting that he calls "explosion of pain". Watching the film is not far off.

There are a lot of well-established actors attached to this feature. Not the least of whom, Shirley Maclaine and Christopher Plummer. I must say, they do extraordinarily well for the content they're provided with. But this pales in comparison to many of the memorable films they've starred in over the years. Marcia Gay Harden is one of those incredible talents who sadly gets underused in a lot of films, and once again she is here. Chris Noth, Scott Bakula and James Brolin are all similarly talented but they bring about as much to the story as their equivalent cardboard cut-outs would. All of the great talent here push it as far as the material will allow, unfortunately it's just not very much.

The message of Elsa and Fred is that 'It's never too late'. Unfortunately, if you've entered the cinema for this one, it already is.