There’s a new trailer for Jon ‘Iron Man’ Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens. It gives us a bit more of an idea of the plot and a better feel for Favreau’s defiantly uncampy approach. I like it. I like it a lot.
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Paul is an affectionate parody of all things geek – comics, skiffy [which is how you pronounce sci-fi if you’ve been reading it forever] and pop culture. Two British nerds/geeks have an alien encounter as they tour America’s UFO hot spots and weirdness – and hilarity – ensue.
Grade: B
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Online via Twitter via Jon Favreau. Thanks, Jon! It looks great!
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It was probably inevitable that Syfy, which produces frequently charming low-budget genre thrillers for its Saturday night programming block would move up to the next weight class and go theatrical. Now, in tandem with Universal Pictures, Syfy Ventures is coming to a theater near you. The newly formed Syfy Films will produce two modestly budgeted films per year beginning in 2012.
Details from the press release follow the jump.
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While millions more movie-goers know Sam Raimi from his three Spider-Man movies, a much smaller – better probably more dedicated – group of Raimi fans have been wondering when the heck he was going to do another horror movie! Now that Drag Me to Hell is finally in theaters, it is time to rejoice. Sam Raimi has come home!
Christine Brown [Alison Lohman] works in a bank, where she’s attempting to buck the system and gain a promotion to assistant manager – ahead of new guy Ray [Reggie Lee], who routinely butters up their boss, Mr. Jacks [David Paymer] with Lakers tickets. We know she’s a nice person – a good-hearted person – from an early sequence where she spends time with her boyfriend, and brand new professor, Clay Dalton. They’re a sweet couple, but not overly so.
When Mrs. Ganush [Lorna Raver] comes into the bank seeking a third extension on her mortgage, Christine is subtly informed by Mr. Jacks that assistant managers have to make the hard decisions – and this is a hard decision. So, Christine ignores her heart and goes for the promotion, placing the elderly woman in the position of having to beg for the first time in her life. What follows is madness…
Although Drag Me to Hell is less quirky than the Evil Dead Trilogy [not that hard to do], it has its quirks and makes them work by giving us characters we can relate to. The script, by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi, is brisk and concise. Sam Raimi translates it to the big screen with brio. The movie zips along at a perfect pace – quickly enough that the glimpses of Something Nasty, and the various physical gags that produce the events that drive Christine nearly to the brink, but not so quickly as to let everything run together.
Raimi pulls us into the movie by giving us characters we can relate to, in Christine and Clay, then takes our investment in the characters and twists it just a bit. Although Christine may be morally wrong to refuse Mrs. Ganush, she’s trying to do something to make her situation – and therefore clay’s as well – better.
Between the subtle CG; the mostly terrific practical effects; the sound effects and music, and several solid performances, Raimi manages something rare – a character driven horror movie. He also realizes that it’s best, sometimes, to let the audience’s imaginations run free, rather than inundating it with gore effects. It’s that movement in the corner of one’s idea that is the scariest. That’s why Drag Me to Hell is the year’s best horror movie.
Final Grade: B+
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When the murders of two men – one because his route to deliver a pizza made him a witness – and the death of a congressman’s assistant turn out to be linked, the congressman’s affair with the dead woman comes to light. This puts his investigation into PrivateCorp, providers of mercenary aid in the War on Terror at risk.
Congressman Stephen Collins’ [Ben Affleck] affair with Sonya Baker [Maria Thayer] is even more ways than just the cheating husband aspect – it pulls his former college roommate, and veteran investigative reporter for the Washington Globe, Cal McAffrey [Russell Crowe] into the mix – and McAffrey will do just about anything for a story. Circumstances dictate that McAffrey is teamed up with Globe political blogger Della Frye [Rachel McAdams] – despite his low regard for blogs in general.
As McAffrey and Frye work the story, they are constantly badgered by their editor-in-chief, Cameron Lynne [the always impressive Helen Mirren]. The paper has new owners and they want to sell papers more than they want quality journalism.
State of Play is adapted from a six-hour British series and, as such, is probably better than it has any right to be. It’s been awhile since I saw the BBC mini-series, so I couldn’t tell you what was pruned for the theatrical film, but even so, it feels like there’s enough material here for at least two movies. There’s so much information in every frame that it’s virtually impossible for anyone [short of Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent] to pick up on some of the most important clues.
For a script that has undergone three rewrites [including a pass by Duplicity’s Tony Gilroy], State of Play really has a singular voice. Chalk that up to director Kevin MacDonald, who propels the film and is very good at creating suspense [a sequence where McAffrey is stalked in an apartment building underground parking lot is particularly well executed]. Somehow MacDonald manages to keep all the various arcs straight and, except for feeling a bit overstuffed, it is a solid, well-crafted thriller. It might even provoke some debate on the necessity for maintaining quality journalism – both in the print and online media.
Final Grade: B+
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The original cast of The Fast and the Furious reunites for this fourth film in the series – and it does exactly what it says on the label. Under the leadership of director Justin Lin, who also directed the Tokyo Drift instalment of the series, we get a car movie that will please fans of the previous movies.
The plot – Paul Walker’s FBI Agent O’Connor and Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretta are after a drug kingpin named Braga for their own reasons – is merely a device to let cars race [and, occasionally crash, smash or blow up]; guys brawl and women to wear skimpy clothing. It’s not Oscar® bait; neither is it indie art. It’s a popcorn movie of the most obvious order.
The races and various other stunts are different enough to feel fresh and get your adrenaline rushing. The stars – Walker, Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster – perform about as woodenly as they ever have, but that doesn’t matter. The villains [John Ortiz’s Campos, and Laz Alonso’s Fenix Rising] get the benefit of being portrayed by able character actors and chew the scenery admirably.
Fast & Furious is one of those movies that are just well enough made to work for its target audience. It’s nothing to write home about, but if you’re looking for a car/brawl/explosion movie with skimpily clad women, this is your movie. It probably won’t matter if you forget it mere seconds after you leave the theater.
Final Grade: C+
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