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Featured: Big movie surprises of 2013

I feel like 2013 has been all over the place for movies so far this year. The box office had an early rough start to the year where we saw films like Bullet to the Head, The Last Stand and Gangster Squad stumble out of the box office. Other films such as Hansel and Gretal, Movie 43, and Parker really brought down the beginning to the year as well.

The year, however, did pick up in the spring time a little bit while we all anticipated what the summer would bring us. It’s debatable on whether summer movies in 2013 were bad or not, but for me it was a mix of disappointment and joy. The blockbusters were a mixed bag, while the indies ruled for sure. Overall, I thought it wasn’t as bad as most people said.

However, throughout all of that, there wasn’t a ton of surprises that caught me off guard. If anything, I was mostly disappointed by the films I looked forward to the most. There were some great one’s though that did live up to expectations, such as World War Z and Pacific Rim. Although for a lot of people, World War Z may have been a big surprise. And most, if not all, indies I saw did live up pretty well. If you haven’t seen any from this summer, I’d highly recommend them.

There have been a few amazing surprises along the way though, that really blew me away from what I was expecting. Sometimes you have zero expectations or even bad expectations and you walk out of the theater with a big smile on your face. For these movies, that’s exactly what happened.

Rush MovieRush
Rush is easily the best, and pretty big, surprise of the year. Formula 1 racing is not very big in the U.S. though and it’s not something people get excited about. I’ve been disappointed over the last week or so as I’ve read articles and listened to many podcasts where I heard people talking about how they are passing this movie over or they just didn’t care. And it’s sad to me because it’s so well made. But I’ll be honest, I was in that boat too going into this movie. As a Ron Howard fan though, I was slightly interested and willing to check it out as we were going to discuss it on our InSession Film Podcast.

Listen to our review of Rush Here:

Don’t let your un-enthusiasm for F1 racing keep you from this movie. As you can hear in our podcast (above), I loved it for many reasons. The performances by Daniel Bruhl and Chris Hemsworth were amazing. The cinematography was incredible and Hans Zimmer score is perhaps my favorite of the whole year. Howard’s sound editing team is incredible here. Perhaps, it doesn’t live up to real-life F1 cars, but for a movie it’s pretty good. Especially for those of us, and that’s most of the U.S., that aren’t F1 fans. Between the visual style, sound editing and score mixed with solid performances and a strong story, you’re missing out big time by skipping on this one.

Spring-BreakersSpring Breakers
Spring Breeeaaaak. C’mon ya’ll, why you actin so ‘spicious? Ok I’ll stop. I could quote this whole thing though. I had zero motivation to see this movie at the beginning of the year. The cast, outside of Franco, didn’t really excite me and while Harmony Korine is a descent director, the story seemed really dumb to me. Honestly, I only saw this because Nate wanted to. To this date, it is in my Top 3 for my favorite films of the year (notice I said favorite and not best…I know that is confusing sometimes). If I had to give away the award for Best Performance, Franco would get my vote for this film. It’s hilarious and he steals the show as a character this is so ridiculous. Franco is hardly recognizable too. Spring Breakers was a really great surprise. It’s hilarious and a lot of fun despite it’s crazy premise. Go see it, you won’t regret it.

Now-You-See-Me-First-TrailerNow You See Me
Now, I know this movie had a really great cast, but everything leading up to the movie seemed kind of corky and cheesy. And with magic, it can be very hit or miss. If you go back and read some of the articles leading up to this film, Now You See Me wasn’t the most strongly hyped movie of the summer. The cast, however, was easily strong enough to give this a shot though. Walking into the movie I had zero expectations but when I walked out, I was blown away. Given what we had to work with, it was really strong. And it made a lot of money so it had good things going for it after it’s initial release. This is a one time watch though. It will never live up on re-watches, but that first watch is incredible.

Stoker MovieStoker
Before you say anything, let me explain this one. Yes, Chan-wook Park has done some really great stuff in the past. But with this being his English debut, I wasn’t quite sure how it would translate. You just never know. And the plot synopsis didn’t exactly thrill me either. The cast was good though and I will see anything Park puts his hands too. The big reason it makes this list though is because of how much I loved it. It’s not that I had bad expectations as much as I was indifferent about the movie. I was curios but not overly excited. However, it was so good, Stoker made my Top 5 for my Best Movies of 2013 So Far list we did half way through the year.

Turbo movieTurbo
People have given me a hard time about this one, and trust me I understand, but this was a HUGE surprise for me. I was dragged to it. Didn’t want to go. We had no plans to do a podcast or review on it. The premise seemed crazy to me, and it was. Turbo turned out to be really charming though and the music was A LOT of fun. Some of it’s cheesy, but it’s a kids movie so what do you expect? The characters were well written and given it’s premise, they were fine. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the music makes this film a lot of fun! It’s clever how they play on the music, the mixes are great and the song choices are solid. And do I even have to explain that this was scored by Henry Jackman? Even if the story is blah to you, I’d find it hard to believe you hate the music.

Other notables surprises:

Dead Man Down, starring Colin Farrell, was a good surprise earlier in the year too. It has it’s fair share of flaws, but it’s not bad at all and the ending was great.

Since I consider The Lone Ranger to be two movies in one, I’ll put the last twenty minutes of The Lone Ranger here too. It was way different and 1000x better than the first two hours.

Well what you think? Do you agree or disagree? Let me know by leaving a comment in the comment section below. If you disagree with me, that’s perfectly okay as I understand some of my tastes are uniquely my own. Either way, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Movie Poll: The best space movie you’ve enjoyed the most?

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Ok, by now if you’re not excited for Gravity then there is something wrong with you. Alfonso Cuaron’s follow up film to Children of Men looks to be really exciting and one to see in IMAX 3D. The visuals look absolutely stunning and reports of the performances seem pretty solid. So in our anticipation for Gravity coming out this weekend, we wanted to know which space movie you’ve enjoyed the most.

Maybe Star Wars runs away easily or is there something else that is perhaps your favorite? Sam Rockwell is Moon may not be as exciting as Star Wars or Star Trek but his performance is outstanding and it’s an amazing choice still. Well whatever your choice is, let us know by voting in the poll below!

Also, be sure to let us know any other thoughts or comments in the comment section below. Or you can email us at [email protected].

Vote now!

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Podcast: Rush, Don Jon, Top 3 JGL Movies – Episode 32

This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we are joined by Arcturus from the MGCTv Podcast as we review the new films Rush, directed by Ron Howard and Don Jon, directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. To bounce off of that, for our top 3 this week, we discussed our Top 3 Joseph Gordon-Levitt Movies. And to finish the show we discussed some of the latest movie news as well as the movies we got to see over the last week.

Check it out and let us know what you think in the comment section below. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for listening!

Rush Movie Review (3:30)
    Grades
    JD: A
    Scott: A+
    Nate: A
    Arcturus: A-

Top 3 Joseph Gordon-Levitt Movies (34:27)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or JGL, is one of better actors out there today and has been acting since he was six-years-old. He’s done some really great movies that include Angels in the Outfield, Inception, (500) Days of Summer and much more. So which of his movies made our Top 3 list? We had a great time discussing it.

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On Episode 31 of our movie podcast, we discussed Prisoners and our Top 3 Movie Dads. Click here to listen now!

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Don Jon Movie Review (1:00:14)
    Grades
    JD: A
    Scott: A+
    Nate: B

– News
(1:20:33)
    – Michael B. Jordan to replace Will Smith in Independence Day 2
    – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles new Sewer Lair
    – Wolf of Wall Street delayed
    – New Harry Potter spin-off movie series Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them
    – New Need for Speed trailer

– Movies We’ve Seen This Week
(1:20:55)
    Nate: None
    JD: Transformers Dark of the Moon, Shame
    Scott: Vertigo, Vivre sa vie, Journey to Italy

– Music

    Lost but Won – Hans Zimmer
    Time – Hans Zimmer
    Good Vibrations – Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
    Battle – Steve Jablonsky
    The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson

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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 32

Podcast: Top 3 Joseph Gordon-Levitt Movies

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This week on the InSession Film Podcast, with Don Jon coming out we decided to look at the career of Mr. Don Jon himself, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. We browsed through all of his movies so far and discussed our Top 3 JGL Movies, which was a lot of fun. And to top it off, we were joined by Arcturus from the MGCTv Podcast, which added a nice touch to our Top 3 this week.

Nate

1) (500) Days of Summer
2) Angels in the Outfield
3) The Dark Knight Rises

JD

1) Inception
2) Looper
3) 50/50

Scott

1) Don Jon
2) (500) Days of Summer/50/50
3) Angels in the Outfield

Arcturus

1) Looper
2) Inception
3) (500) Days of Summer

For the entire podcast, click here.

For more lists done by the InSession Film crew and other guests, be sure see our Top 3 Movie Lists page.

Movie Review: Cloudy 2 serves up the food puns


Director: Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn
Writers: John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein, Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Erica Rivinoja
Stars: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Will Forte, James Caan, Andy Samberg

Synopsis: Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he’s forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids.

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DIRECTION
Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn knew exactly who they were preaching too in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. Not all animated films are built solely for kids, but this is definitely one of those movies. It’s cheesy, in all kinds of pun-y ways, goofy and is going for a kid’s laugh on every scene. The visuals are good and sometimes pretty funny. Cameron and Pearn’s biggest misses is the story, which doesn’t live up to the first one. Everything else is right in line with the first film. Overall though, it’s a film adults may not have as much fun with but your kid’s will love it.

Grade: B+

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SCRIPT
The story literally picks up right after the end of the first film. And I mean literally. We see the final scene of the first Cloudy and the story picks up from there. We find out that Flint Lockwood has an inventor idol, Chester V. and his The Live Corp Company, who has been tasked with the clean up of the island. The infamous food making machine is still alive and making menacing food animals that are destroying the island and trying to swim to the mainland. Lockwood is eventually tasked with going back to the island to destroy his machine once and for all. Every cliche you can think of is here and it lacks the kind of heart that made the first film so likable. Now, this movie does have heart and it takes a turn toward the third act that’s pretty good and says something about your friends’ and what they should mean to you. It also says something about having compassion towards things you may judge at a first glance which I though was done well too. But at some point it just becomes complacent with a cheesy, over-the-top story and relies heavily on puns to make it entertaining.

Grade: B-

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PERFORMANCES
The performances are much like the first one and they don’t give anything new. Bill Hader does a good job of playing Flint once a gain and brings the kind of voice to this character that was fun in the first film. Anna Faris is good as well and even brings a little depth later on in the film. Andy Samberg once again plays the annoying friend who likes to dress up in a chicken soon and Terry Crews plays the tough guy cop who won’t cry. I will say Kristen Schaal plays an ape in this film that eventually has a bigger role and delivers a good performance. She was good here. Given the script, these guys made the film funnny and did what was needed here.

Grade: B+

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SCORE
The music here is far from the best of the year for an animated film but it does deliver on some fronts. Mark Mothersbaugh’s score is okay but mostly forgettable as the soundtrack music cloud’s, all pun-intended, the score. The soundtrack music isn’t the greatest either but does add a nice variety that brings some good touches to the film.

Grade: B

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FINAL THOUGHTS
As an animated film, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 will bring lots of laughs for kids. They hardly wrote this with parents or adults in mind but it still works in many ways. It’s very cliche-driven and the story lacks big time compared to the first film, but it does have some good moments in the third act of the film. I wouldn’t waste money on this in 3D either. If you like food pun though, it’s the one for you.

Overall Grade: B

Movie Review: Don Jon is a provocatively delightful look at Millennials


Release Date: 2012
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Writer: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper, (500) Days of Summer), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, The Avengers, The Prestige), Julianne Moore (Magnolia, The Big Lebowski, Children of Men, Crazy Stupid Love), Tony Danza (Crash, Who’s The Boss?, Taxi, Angels in the Outfield), Brie Larson (21 Jump Street, The Spectacular Now, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World)

Synopsis: A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.

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DIRECTION

The feature-length directorial debut of one of America’s favorite young Hollywood stars is calculated, intelligent, and will spark a slew of  different conversations from moviegoers and critics alike. For myself, I had been looking forward to this movie all year, and had high hopes for it. Not only do I love a good social commentary, but since Lost in Translation, I’ve thought Scarlett Johansson is one of the more underrated Hollywood actresses and have wished for her to get more challenging, interesting roles. Her beauty overshadows her talent, and she is written off much too quickly by pundits. Unlike earlier this year with my disappointment in Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring, my lofty expectations were not just fulfilled, but built upon. This movie opens up with some shots that immediately tells the viewer to take note of the cultural commentary which this story is about to embark upon. A similar opening this year came from Spring Breakers, although Don Jon is much more softcore and subtle. I’d say that’s a good comparison of Gordon-Levitt and Harmony Korine, too. They both share their experiences in life in vastly different ways, but are able to connect with engaged viewers who are prepared for a satire and can relate to the world he works in. The way Gordon-Levitt directs this film shows he’s been paying very close attention to the talent which has surrounded him during his impressive yet young career. His choices are modern, memorable, and sometimes even innovative. This is a guy who understands American culture beyond the hills of Hollywood. This is a guy who connects with his audience. This is a guy who we have watched grow into his own, and if Don Jon is a preview of what is ahead for him, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not only going to maintain his place in front of the camera, but behind it as well.

Grade: A

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SCRIPT

The story follows Jon, a guy in his late twenties who we might mistake for a cast member of MTV’s Jersey Shore. Fulfilling the “bro’ lifestyle by working out, hitting the clubs, and “smashing”, Jon sees women as little more than a piece of meat. As the dust settles from our introduction to Jon, we realize there is more to him than we expect. His addiction to pornography is as faithful as his addiction to the confession box after every Sunday Mass. His family life is interesting, and the people he’s surrounded by genuinely care about him (all except for his girls, of course). Gordon-Levitt wrote a script that feels current, if not futuristic. It shows the problems of young America through a brutally honest and refreshing lens–what we expect of each other, how we choose partners, and how selfish we can be. He provides caricatures that unfold into people we can identify with, even if we hate to admit it sometimes. This movie isn’t just about porn addiction or stereotypes, but it’s about family dynamics and generational differences. The most impressive thing about this script, though, was Esther (Julianne Moore). This character is not only enormously innovative and surprising, but also integral to the movie’s themes and ideas. The exploration of what millennials want in terms of a partner is tantalizing and after the movie, my date and I had a 2 hour conversation about us–the millennials. This script does what any great movie can do–it entertains, it provokes, and it moves the cultural conversation forward. This is a groundbreaking piece of screenwriting and I can’t wait to see what Gordon-Levitt has up his sleeve next.

Grade: A+

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PERFORMANCES

Joseph-Gordon Levitt completes the hat trick with his performance as Jon (which you know enough about already if you’re still reading). Scarlett Johansson is a consistent, confident, and well-versed actress who flexes her muscle as Barbara, the primary love interest of Jon. When watching Scarlett in this movie, keep in mind what roles she has done in the past and you will gain a clear appreciation of how much skill and range she possesses. Her accent in this film is so enjoyable, and Barbara’s vapid personality traits in some areas of life represent exactly what people might stereotype Scarlett as (so she knows exactly how to act them out). Tony Danza’s performance as Jon Sr. recalls memories of the surprisingly good performance given by Robert DeNiro in Silver Linings Playbook. Here we have a veteran actor who is normally cast as men similar to his role on late-eighties sitcom Who’s The Boss?. Here, he proves he has not lost a step even if his age does show physically. Julianne Moore’s performance might not seem as impressive as the character she is given but at the same time her presence itself in the film lends a great deal of credibility to the theme that Gordon-Levitt focuses on.

Grade: A+

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SCORE

The score/soundtrack to the film was nothing amazing but it did feel current, fresh, hip, and not overbearing. A memorable sing-along featured in the trailer occurs at a perfect time in the film, and even if this strength is the only thing you remember about the musical selections here, that’s not a bad thing.

Grade: B

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Final Thoughts:

Don Jon ranks among my favorite films of 2013 because I am around the same age as Jon and I do face similar challenges. With that said, this is a great piece of work and I believe most audiences around the country will admire its honesty if nothing else. Also, if you don’t discuss this one afterward, it won’t be because you aren’t left with anything to talk about.

Overall Grade: A+

Movie Review: Rush brings intense racing action


Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Peter Morgan (screenplay)
Stars: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde

Synopsis: A re-creation of the merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

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DIRECTION
Ron Howard is amazing. His camera work here is absolutely incredible. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if the cinematography and the sound editing are nominated for Oscars. The engines roaring alongside Hans Zimmer’s score really gets you into the mood. The backdrop is gritty with lots of dark and grey colors giving it a tough 1970’s aesthetic. Howard places is camera so specifically and we get so many different angles that are gripping. Camera work inside the cars giving you the intense look of driving an F1 car as well as camera’s on the grass looking up as they fly by. Howard’s use of slow motion is also perfect and helps build the intensity of the rivalry he is exploring here. The racing is intense and the dangers are shown in some dramatic ways as the suspense keeps building up. The biggest problem is that Formula 1 isn’t the biggest of sports here in the U.S. If people can get past that and go see this, they won’t regret it.

Grade: A

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SCRIPT
The story follows two F1 drivers in the mid 1970’s that don’t always get a long but have a mutual respect for one another. It centers around British driver, James Hunt and the Austrian Niki Lauda. Peter Morgan’s scropt is brilliant and Howard brings it to life in some really great ways. In essence, both characters are the protagonist and the antagonist of the story. The film explores Hunt and his immature ways but at the same time makes him very likable. Then the story switches to Lauda and his quest to live his own life outside the big family business, yet again making him likable. However, at the same time each take their own turn in being the “bad guy” and showing you qualities that make this person flawed and unlikable in some ways. But then the movie brings it back around showing you why these characters are good characters to root for and the mutual respect they have for one another. It’s the competition that drives them in this story. What makes it so great though, is that the audience really gets to choose who they want to root for. They build up and tear down each character so flawlessly. The use of narration at the beginning and at the end was a perfect choice as well. The ending becomes a bit sentimental and hits the buttons that you’d expect from Howard and company.

Grade: A

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PERFORMANCES
Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth are amazing. This is perhaps Hemsworth’s best as he portray’s James Hunt in some incredible ways. He’s the dangerous driver that has Tony Stark mentalities in terms of partying, women and being extremely likable. Yet Hemsworth shows some depth and some emotion here as well which this character calls for in some ways. Brühl, who you may know from Inglorious Basterds, almost steals the show. He’s the Austrian car genius who becomes famous for knowing how to make the cars lighter and faster, thus making him part of the Ferrari team. One can argue he’s the bigger lead here as he narrates a good chunk of the story and brings in some great perspectives. Brühl’s performance is spot on though and brings life to this character even when Lauda is more deadpanned. Olivia Wilde is good here although her character is a small role. This is about Brühl and Hemsworth and they carry the movie extremely well.

Grade: A+

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SCORE
Freakin Hans Zimmer. The dude is on fire lately. A lot of people like to criticize Zimmer for having score’s that are similar or nothing new but they work. His score for Man of Steel added a lot to that film and his score for The Lone Ranger was about the only good part of that movie. And his score for Rush was really great, again. It added a lot of intensity to the racing moments and has become something he’s perfected. The score here is more laid back and in the backdrop though many moments but when the action ramped up, so did his score as well as your emotion.

Grade: A-

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FINAL THOUGHTS
Rush was an unexpected pleasant surprise. Given the sports stature of F1 in the U.S., I didn’t have much expectations but Ron Howard usually delivers and he does once again. The cinematography is gorgeous and makes it visually very exciting. The performances are stand outs which makes the story feel so alive in many places.

Overall Grade: A

Featured: Best movie music of 2013 (so far)

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Everyone knows that some of the best parts of any film is the music. In 2013, there’s been some really great movie music and scores that have made this year fun in terms of sound at the cinemas. So I decided to compile a list of some of the best music used so far this year in film. There’s several different genre’s and every one has so many strong contenders. These are in no particular order but I will start out with some of my personal favorites.

We Own It – 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa

This song by itself is really great. If you’re not a fan of rap, then maybe you’ll be turned off, but even if you’re not I still think you can like this. It’s mostly clean and the way it was used in Fast 6 was amazing. The movie opened with footage from all the previous movies while this song played over top of it and it was a ton of fun. It really set the tone for the film. T

Summer Wine – Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazlewood

Stoker is absoultely one of my favorite movies of the year so far, and it was definitely in my Top 5 at the mid-way point. Summer Wine is a great song that really made the film fun for me too. While the movie had a lot of great music, this song is the best for me.

That Snail is Fast

Ok, so maybe this one is a bit cheesy but it’s still a lot of fun. Turbo is the most underrated movie of the year so far and it’s one nobody saw. And the music makes this movie. Have you ever seen popular videos on YouTube and then someone takes that video and makes a funny song based off that video? Well that’s the basis for this song. So yeah it’s perhaps cheesy but it’s still fun.

Here’s more context for it:

Spring-BreakersGoin In – Birdy Nam Nam and Skrillex

If you haven’t seen Spring Breakers, then what are you waiting for? This movie is full of great music that is scored heavily by Skrillex and this song is definitely one of the better one’s for sure. Now, you need to understand that it’s Spring Break we’re talking about. So a heavily influenced dubstep mix with heavy party beats is necessary. This may not be for everyone, but it’s still really great.

Finale (William Tell Overture) – Hans Zimmer

It’s time for a little change of pace. And by pace, I mean ten minutes of non-stop intense on-the-go score from Hans Zimmer. The only good part of The Lone Ranger was the last 20 minutes and it was heavily influenced by Zimmer’s amazing Finale track which is his version of the William Tell Overture. It’s perhaps the best score of the year in my mind and this is a great stamp on it. It’s so good.

Backstreet’s Back – Backstreet Boys

Anyone else able to go back into the 90’s during This is the End? Love em’ or hate em’, this was an amazing use of this song.

There’s Only One Gary King – Osymyso’s Remix

I think it’s safe to say that The World’s End is one of the better films of the summer, and while the music was the biggest stand out worthy piece about the movie, it dad have one track that’s amazing. And this remix is really great. It features lines from the movie and really puts you back in the seat when you watched in the first time.

The Way, Way Back – Rob Simonsen

Rob Simonsen’s score and music for The Way, Way Back was incredible. It’s amazing light rock music that is soothing and was perfect for that film. I’d highly recommend giving it a listen whether you saw the film or not.

Pain and GainPain & Gain Score – Steve Jablonsky

It’s my boy! Steve Jablonsky is perhaps my favorite composer out there and for good reason. I think Pain & Gain is a movie that was hated on mostly because people hate Michael Bay, but Jablonsky’s score makes this film incredibly recognizable. The low-key guitar strings stand out and it’s really freakin good.

Ok, well I could discuss a lot more than what’s here. There’s been some really good stuff that I haven’t mentioned but this is definitely some of the best one’s of the year so far. However, there are more scores and songs that need to be mentioned.

– The score to Iron Man 3 was perhaps the best for any Iron Man movie.

– Hans Zimmer score was amazing in Man of Steel. While I didn’t care for the movie and a lot of people criticize him for his perhaps predicable scores, they work. And they work well. It’s really good stuff.

Ramin Djawadi’s score to Pacific Rim was incredible and added a great touch to a really fun film. This was very electric guitar heavy and it was very good.

– Everything Henry Jackman touches now-a-days is amazing. People may not have liked Kick-Ass 2 but his score is hard to argue with.

– And we can’t forget M83 doing the score to Oblivion. It may not have gone the way he wanted, but it still turned out great if you ask me. It’s what you’d expect from him and it’s very good, especially the closing title track.

– Cliff Martinez’s score for Only God Forgives was the only thing redeeming about that movie.

Well I’m sure I missed some, so let me know your thoughts. What’s your favorite song or score from this year?

Podcast: Football Movie Series

Football season is among us and what a better time to discuss some of the better football movies that are out there that we’ve seen and a few we haven’t. In this series, we’re going to discuss Remember the Titans, Brian’s Song, Any Given Sunday, Rudy and Friday Night Lights.

Remember the Titans, 2000

Grades
Nate: A+
JD: A+
Scott: A+

Review
Remember the Titans is perhaps the best football movie ever made and explores both football and social issues in the best way possible. Click here to read the full review.

Listen to our review of Remember the Titans below.

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Brian’s Song, 1971

Grades
Nate: C-
JD: C
Scott: C

Review
Brian’s Song is a great story but suffers from a lack of depth and misses some of the bigger focal points. Click here to read the full review.

Listen to our review of Brian’s Song below.

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Rudy, 1993

Grades
Nate: A
JD: A+
Scott: A
Fox: A+

Review
Rudy is a moving, powerful football movie that is the standard for underdog stories and persevering through enormous odds. Click here to read the full review.

Listen to our review of Rudy below.

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Any Given Sunday, 1999

Grades
Nate: Incomplete
JD: A-
Scott: A

Review
Any Given Sunday is an intense and hard look at professional football and the real consequences that can come from it. Click here to read the full review.

Listen to our review of Any Given Sunday below.

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Friday Night Lights, 2004

Grades
Nate: A
JD: A+
Scott: B

Review
Friday Night Lights is an amazing film that tells us the story of a high school football team in Texas and the relationships that made that team what it was. Click here to read the full review.

Listen to our review of Friday Night Lights below.

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Movie Poll: What’s the best Ron Howard movie?

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This week in anticipation for Rush, directed by Ron Howard, we want to know what you think is the best Ron Howard film. He’s directed a lot of great films so it may be hard to choose from but perhaps one stands above the rest for you. For me, it’s Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind. However, there are plenty of other great movies to choose from.

So what about you? What do you think is the best Ron Howard movie?

Vote here!
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Podcast: Top 3 Movie Dads

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This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we discussed our Top 3 Movie Dads. Yeah we know it’s not Father’s Day, but after seeing Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard’s characters in Prisoners and the kind of depth they have, we figured it’s as good as any time to discuss it. Take a listen above and check out our list below of our Top 3 Movie Dads.

Nate

1) Liam Neeson – Taken
2) Denzel Washing – John Q
3) Robin Williams – Mrs. Doubtfire

JD

1) Viggo Mortensen – The Road
2) Russell Crow – Gladiator
3) God

Scott

1) Chevy Chase – Christmas Vacation
2) Will Smith – The Pursuit of Happyness
3) Mufasa – The Lion King

For the entire podcast, click here.

For more lists done by the InSession Film crew and other guests, be sure see our Top 3 Lists page.

Podcast: Prisoners, Top 3 Movie Dads, Friday Night Lights – Episode 31

This week on the InSession Film movie podcast, we review the new film Prisoners starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. With Prisoners surrounding two highly motivated fathers, we decided to discuss our Top 3 Movie Dads. We also finish off our Football Movie Series with our reviews of both Any Given Sunday (since we missed last week) and Friday Night Lights. And as usuall we finish of the show with some awesome movie news and movies we saw over the last week.

Prisoners Review (4:52)
    Grades
    JD: B+
    Scott: A
    Nate: B+

Top 3 Top 3 Movie Dads (30:13)
Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard play two dads, who are dynamically different, but offer great depth in Prisoners. Despite it not being Fathers Day, we still thought it was fitting to discuss the best movie dads in film, and while it was a touch choice, we came up with some pretty great dads we’ve seen in film.

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Listen to episode 30 of the InSession Film movie podcast where we discuss the best and worst summer movies of 2013.

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– Movie Series Review – Football Movie Series (53:12)
    – Any Given Sunday
    – Friday Night Lights

– News
(1:11:32)
    – 12 Years A Slave wins Audience Choice Award at TIFF
    – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles new Sewer Lair
    – Arnold Schwarzennegger as bad guy in Avatar 2
    – Lucas Black in Fast 7, 8 and 9
    – Roland Emerich says Independence Day sequels will be just one sequel for now

– Movies We’ve Seen This Week
(1:20:55)
    Nate: You’re Next
    JD: The Canyons, Life of Pi, This is the End
    Scott: Girl Model

– Music

    Prisoners – Johann Johannsson
    Homecoming – Hans Zimmer
    Inside It All Feels The Same – Explosions in the Sky
    We Own It – 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa
    The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson

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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 31

Movie Review: Prisoners is a dark, haunting, suspenseful thriller

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Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Aaron Guzikowski
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Mario Bello, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano

Synopsis: When Keller Dover’s daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?

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DIRECTION
After receiving a Best Foreign Film nomination in 2011 for Incendies, French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve makes his American debut with Prisoners — and what a debut it is. Villeneuve crafts a taut, grim, suspenseful thriller that is very atypical Hollywood. He gets great performances out of his cast and the script never lets up, always keeping you guessing and raising plenty of questions of morality. And with the help of acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins, Prisoners is a beautiful movie to look at, a look that definitely sells the grim nature and despair that’s going on. Just an all-around excellent American debut for Villeneuve.

Grade: A

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SCRIPT
After making his writing debut with last year’s Contraband, Aaron Guzikowski certainly takes a step up with Prisoners. Right from the start the feeling of dread sets in as two daughters are kidnapped and from there it never lets up. Everything in the movie slowly unravels, always keeping you guessing as to what’s going on, even when the mystery of who’s behind it is pretty easy to figure out. Questions of morality, of “how far would you go?”, definitely are there and will be the topic of discussion after seeing it. But while the script is pretty good overall, there’s still some things that aren’t. The ending is very Hollywood and doesn’t fit the overall feel of the movie, there is very little character development, and there’s a religious subtext that never hits the mark or is explored very much.

Grade: B

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PERFORMANCES
Prisoners is filled with fantastic performance after fantastic performance. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal are the leads here, as a father of a missing girl and the detective in charge of finding that said girl, respectively. Jackman’s performance as Keller Dover is one of his best and you can definitely sense the dread and fear that he’s facing. And Gyllenhaal is equally as good as Detective Loki (yes, Loki!), who leads the investigation, as he becomes more than what we first expect. Terrence Howard is also good as the other father of the kidnapped girls, as are Viola Davis and Maria Bello (although they don’t get much to do). To cap the great performances off are Paul Dano as Alex Jones, who doesn’t say much as the creepy suspect who Jackman’s character has his way with, and Melissa Leo as Jones’ aunt.

Grade: A

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SCORE
Johann Johannsson’s score for Prisoners is simple yet totally effective. It definitely adds to the overall eeriness and despair found in the movie.

Grade: B+

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FINAL THOUGHTS
Prisoners isn’t for the faint of heart; it’s dark, grim and violent. But with some incredible performances, particularly from Jackman and Gyllenhaal, and a script that keeps you on your toes the entire way, Prisoners is a haunting, suspenseful thriller worth checking out.

Overall Grade: B+

Featured: 5 Movie Podcasts You Should Listen To

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Since we’re a film blog that has our own movie podcast, it makes sense that we’ll listen to other podcasts that are there to enjoy as well. And we do. We love film and we love discussing and talking about them as well. Recording our podcast is one of my favorite moments of the whole week and I love our podcast, but there are plenty of other film podcasts that are also really good that you should check out.

Now, I could sit here and write a blog post that would be 8,000 pages long on movie podcasts and the good one’s that are out there. But it wouldn’t be conducive to do that so I’m only going to talk about five today. But you can expect more posts like this in the future where we’ll discuss more podcasts that you need to check out since there’s so many good ones.

There is no particular order for these but just five podcasts that I would recommend that you check out. So that being said, let’s get into it.

GeekScholarsGeekScholars Movie News

GeekScholars is hosted by Fox, Chris, Jill and Lauren and they live up to their name in so many ways. The conversations they have sometimes will just blow your mind with the amount of information they have. They geek out in great ways but it’s incredibly entertaining and it’s a podcast you need to listen to. One thing that makes their podcast so great is the fact that they are a “movie news” podcast. While they do review films, the main thing they do is news which is incredibly helpful given the amount of info they have on hand. They do a great job of making it fun and creative and sometimes I can’t keep up. Their dynamics is also unique because they have two female voices that most movie podcasts lack in, including ours. Now don’t get me wrong, there are podcasts that have female voices, but there’s not a ton. Jill and Lauren add a lot to this show and are just as fun to listen to as the boys are.

We’ve also had the joy of having Fox on our show a couple of weeks ago where we reviewed Riddick on our podcast and he was fantastic.

Find GeekScholars on iTunes.

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MGCTVMGCTv

The MGCTv podcast is an assortment of London based voices bringing you funny conversations of whatever is topical in the world of entertainment. They are occasionally joined by their allies in the USA and whoever makes it on to their shows is always great. What I love about the MGCTv podcast is that they have weekly reviews, like us, but they are short and sweet. If you’re looking for a great podcast that is short and will review the films you want to see, this is the podcast for you. The length of their show doesn’t take away from this podcast at all. If anything, it enhances it. They also have a somewhat weekly or bi-weekly box office show that is really great as well.

These guys are hilarious. Their clever and the reviews are always spot on. This is a podcast that is funny, incredibly entertaining and one worth downloading. Plus, they have sexy English accents that we lack on so many levels. #SadFace

Find MGCTv on iTunes.

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Long And Late Movie PodcastThe Long and Late Movie Show

Russell Hainline, Leighton Gordon, and Shira Selkovits host The Long and Late Movie Show who usually host some sort of comedian guest as they review the latest films and more. I love the way these guys banter back and fort. It’s funny and very entertaining. These are guys that know film though and will discuss it in a really engaging way.

Did I mention they know film? They see a lot of it too. They review a ton of films every week and it’s a great podcast to get the latest on everything out there right now. They have a lot of creative and unique segments too that are really fun and it’s one I’d recommend.

Find The Long and Late Movie Show on iTunes.

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HHP&P POdcastHH&P Podcast

The HH&P Movie Podcast is really fun and unique podcast that is a little different than most other podcasts. The show is done by two long time friends, Shawn and Mike, who have divided their show into two separate segments: Nostalgic and Current. For the nostalgic part of the show, they review a movie they loved as a kid and review it from that kid perspective they remember from the first time they watched it. They then re-watch the movie and review it again and discuss the differences they found in the re-watch. It works really great. Then they also review current movies and films which is also really fun and entertaining to listen to.

The show is really great and one I’d recommend. It’s is usually around and hour, which is a great length for the podcast. If you love movies from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s then this is the perfect film podcast for you.

Find HH&P Movie Podcast on iTunes.

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FilmspottingFilmspotting

Okay, so Filmspotting is a little bigger than all these other podcasts listed here but I have to mention them. Many people consider Filmspotting to be the best movie podcast out there, and they are really great, but it depends on what you’re looking for. These guys won’t necessarily make you laugh a lot or be entertaining in the traditional way but these guys are in another league. They are incredibly intelligent and discuss movies in a way that blows my mind. I’ll never be able to articulate the way these guys do. They aren’t arrogant or anything like that, they simply know film and discuss film in a unique and intelligent way. It’s entertaining and extremely valauble in it’s own right and it’s a highly respected podcast in the film industry. I’d highly recommend this movie podcast.

Filmspotting is hosted by Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larson who are amazing film critics and have a vast knowledge of film. The best part for me is the way Adam and Josh are able to banter back and forth and create an extremely engaging conversation while it only being two people. Good stuff.

Find Filmspotting on iTunes.

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I hope you enjoy this list and again, I’d recommend all of these movie podcasts for sure. And as I said earlier, there are more that I will have to talk about in the future. If you have a film podcast, send it to me as I’d love to check them all out.

InSession Film LogoAnd of course we’d love for you to check out our podcast. You can find the InSession Film Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher. You can also find our podcast on Tunein, Soundcloud and other places. Check out our subscribe page to find these links.

Let us know what you think of these podcasts and send me yours! We’d love to check them out.

Podcast: Blackfish – Extra Film

This week on the InSession Film Podcast: Extra Film segment, we look at the highly touted Orca documentary Blackfish, which details the behind-the-scenes at Sea World and the possible causes for Orca attacks on Sea World trainers. It’s an amazing film and ended up being JD’s favorite summer film. Take a listen and let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Blackfish Review (0:44)
    Grades
    Scott: A
    JD: A+

– Music

    Blackfish – Jeff Beal
    The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson

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Blackfish – Extra Film

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Movie Review: The Colony is a frozen mess


Director: Jeff Renfroe
Writers: Jeff Renfroe (screenplay), Svet Rouskov (additional writer)
Stars: Kevin Zegers, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Paxton

Synopsis: Forced underground by the next ice age, a struggling outpost of survivors must fight to preserve humanity against a threat even more savage than nature.

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DIRECTION
Jeff Renfroe’s The Colony is something like The Day After Tomorrow meets The Road but with bad visuals and some bad acting outside Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton. What’s disappointing about The Colony is that is started off really well but Renfroe lost something early on and then he drops it off an icy cliff. Like I said, the visuals are pretty bad for the most part and it feels literally like he merged two movies together. Renfroe does have some nice touches and has something to say about human endurance that is endearing.

Grade: C+

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SCRIPT
As I mentioned this story is like a crossover of The Day After Tomorrow and The Road. Imagine a group of people needing to survive right after the events of The Day After Tomorrow. People in a frozen apocalyptic earth are forced to live in groups called “colony’s”. Well this story follows Colony 7 where they do everything they can to survive including giving sick people the option to be shot and killed on the spot or to run out into the frozen wilderness to die. What a fun decision, right? Well once Colony 5 sends stress signals, a group decides to go and investigate to see if they need help. But what they discover is something awful and a premise I shouldn’t say since it may spoil it. It’s at that point, the story falls into a stereotypical, been-done-before apocalyptic movie. I’m okay with elements that have been done before but make it fun and appealing. The Colony isn’t that. A few characters are interesting but you don’t care for much of them, thus making the ending irrelevant. However, the story does say something about fighting till the end and keeping hope, which many of these type movies tend to do. But I think The Colony does do that part well.

Grade: C+

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PERFORMANCES
Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton are strong here. Fishburne is the leader you want with the voice that gives you hope of survival in an awful situation. He’s really good and gives the film a great lift. However his character takes a turn that isn’t surprising but lowers the movie a bit when it happens. Paxton is the bad guy you hate and you want to punch him in the face throughout the whole thing, thus meaning his performance is solid. The rest of the cast is dry and uninteresting. Kevin Zegers is okay but isn’t enough to carry the movie.

Grade: B+

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SCORE
Jeff Danna gets the nod to score here and it’s not bad. For a low budget B-movie, this is a score that’s fitting and has a nice element to it. It’s the dramatic, end-of-the-world score that we’d expect here but it’s not over-the-top or adding any melodrama. Danna knows the type of film he’s dealing with and does what he needs to.

Grade: B+

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FINAL THOUGHTS
The Colony starts off strong but ultimately falls flat due to bad visuals, lower-than-average acting outside Fishburne and Paxton and the story isn’t new and doesn’t add excitement for me to care. This is one you can skip or wait for it to come on TNT when it comes to TV.

Overall Grade: C+

Podcast: Top 3 2013 Best/Worst Summer Movies

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This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we dive deep into the best and worst summer films of 2013. Our summer movie discussion was a lenthy, in-depth, and fun look at why this summer wasn’t as bad as you may think when it comes to film. Our Top 3 this week was more conversational than a list since there was so much to talk about. But here are some of the movies that Scott and JD discussed as they wrapped up the summer of 2013 and why it wasn’t as bad as most people thought. JD broke these films down even further in a featured blog post from last week that you can read here.

Worst Movies:
JD
R.I.P.D.
White House Down
After Earth

Scott

The Grandmaster
The Lone Ranger
Star Trek: Into Darkness

Other Notable Worst Movies

The Internship, 2 Guns, and The Hangover III were movies that you could skip and you wouldn’t miss a whole lot.

Big Disappointments
Man of Steel
Iron Man 3
Kick-Ass 2
Elysium
The Wolverine (for JD only)
Lee Daniels’ The Butler

To note for these films, they are NOT bad movies. All of these films are enjoyable on some level but for some reason didn’t live up to expectations for whatever reason and we explain on the podcast. And we realize that a lot of people sit on the fence with these movies. To some people, they were good so we’d love your feedback whether you agree or disagree with our picks.

Special Awards

Best and Worst Movie of the summer: The Lone Ranger (It’s explained on the podcast)

Biggest Surprise: Turbo

One People Didn’t Get: Pain & Gain (Again, it’s explained on the podcast)

Best Movies
JD
Pacific Rim
Star Trek: Into Darkness
World War Z
Fast 6
This is the End
The World’s End

Scott

Pacific Rim
World War Z
Fast 6
The Wolverine
The Spectacular Now
This is the End

Other notables are Monsters University, Despicable Me 2 and The Heat (which was a bit surprising). While Monsters University and Despicable Me 2 don’t live up to their predecessors, they are effective for what they are trying to do.

The other big winners, that we collectively agree on, that make this a strong summer are the indie movies that came out.

Blackfish – The documentary so far this year.
The Spectacular Now
The Way, Way Back
Fruitvale Station – Michael B. Jordan better be nominated for an Oscar.
Blue Jasmine
Drinking Buddies – Jake Johnson is awesome.
Prince Avalanche

For the entire podcast, click here.

For more lists done by the InSession Film crew and other guests, be sure see our Top 3 Lists page.

Podcast: Insidious Chapter 2, Best and Worst Summer Movies 2013 – Episode 30

This week on the InSession Film movie podcast, we review James Wan’s latest paranormal horror movie, Insidious: Chapter 2. We also dive deep into the best and worst summer movies of 2013 which was a lot of fun. And we finish of the show this week with a look at Bad Boys 3, new Star Wars movie details and other movies we saw this week.

Insidious: Chapter 2 Review (4:30)
    Grades
    JD: B-
    Scott: B

Top 3 2013 Best/Worst Summer Movies (24:25)
This was more conversational than a “list” per se, but it was a lot of fun re-visiting all the movies we’ve discussed over the summer, even if they weren’t the great or they were disappointing. But the summer as a whole may not have been as bad as you would think.

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Listen to episode 29 of the InSession Film movie podcast.

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– Movie Series Review – Our review of Any Given Sunday was pushed back to next week’s show.

– News
(1:24:38)
    – Jerry Bruckheimer being pushed towards Bad Boys 3 and Top Gun 2
    – News that Star Wars side movies will be origin stories
    – New name and poster for Jurassic Park 4

– Movies We’ve Seen This Week
(1:35:55)
    Nate: N/A
    JD: Blackfish, Super
    Scott: BLackfish, This is the End

– Music

    Ghost Photographs – Joseph Bishara
    Summer Wine – Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazlewood
    Goin’ In (Skrillex Remix) – Birdy Nam Nam
    The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson

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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 30

Movie Poll: What is your favorite Hugh Jackman performance?

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This week on the InSession Film blog movie poll, we are asking about Hugh Jackman. Jackman’s performance in Prisoners has been highly talked about and is one that we are anticipating very much this weekend. So in preparation for Prisoners we want to know; what is your favorite Hugh Jackman’s performance? Vote here and let us know!

Email us your thoughts at [email protected] or commment below. We’ll use these comments on our InSession Film podcast this weekend when we discuss the poll.

[yop_poll id=”27″]

Movie Series Review: Any Given Sunday is a gutsy blitz of intensity


Release Date: 1999
Director: Oliver Stone (Platoon, JFK, Natural Born Killers)
Writer: John Logan (Gladiator, Skyfall, The Last Samurai), Oliver Stone
Stars: Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, James Woods, Jamie Foxx

Synopsis: A behind the scenes look at the life and death struggles of modern day gladiators and those who lead them.

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DIRECTION

Having not seen this film since around the time of its release, I was surprised to realize that I had forgotten what an adult tone and aesthetic that it possesses. From the opening scene until the credits roll, Any Given Sunday sports a famously intense script with hard-hitting action scenes that rival any football movie that I am aware of. The reality of the sport is realized by the use of shaky cam and marvelous sound editing as well as using professional football players instead of trained actors. Oliver Stone was the perfect director to be tapped for this gritty capture of America’s most popular sport. He is able to manage a lot of egos on top of leading a great crew in making great decisions on what to keep in the frame and what can be left out, as well as assisting in the editing process where over 3000 cuts were made. The length and breadth of this story had to be a challenge to actually put on the screen, and while it did seem a bit long for audiences who might not like football, it certainly delivers on epic scenes (mostly involving Pacino) and an unforgettable experience. I can only imagine what it might have been like in 1999 to go to the theater and see something this risky and forward-looking. This is as honest as it gets, and Stone definitely deserves praise for his efforts.

Grade: A+

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SCRIPT

The script could have been written on a typewriter in the middle of an NFL locker room for all I know, because not only is it crude, vulgar, and hyper-masculine at times but also seemed authentic and heartfelt. Exploring a barrage of themes and ideas in which sports movies rarely approach, Any Given Sunday dares to include such topics as how media encroachment affects pro sports and asking questions about why African-Americans represent a large majority of players yet are absent in management and ownership. Most interestingly, the movie explores the idea that American football is the bloodsport of our day, comparing it directly to chariot racing and gladiatorial sports of old, even cross-cutting between our movie and Ben-Hur at one point. Another big idea relates to how age affects us all, and especially in sports where careers are highly volatile depending on not just age but injuries that can happen at any moment. Overall, this is a solid screenplay that Stone put to great use.

Grade: A

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PERFORMANCES

Al Pacino and Jamie Foxx shine especially bright in this film, but that is not to say that others aren’t magnificent as well. Pacino’s Tony D’Amato character could have easily been out of place as a veteran football coach since we know Pacino so well as that gangster Tony Montana or countless other mafia character illustrations that he has given us. That was not the case, though, as Pacino seemed full of energy and looked refreshed even as a character that was written to be worn down by a career that became his life. I love seeing older actors bring something new to the table. Jamie Foxx plays a third-string quarterback who becomes an overnight celebrity and even a rapper, showing how sports players’ personal branding has become somewhat as important as their performance in the game. Another great performance came from a young Cameron Diaz, who straddled the line between arrogant heiress to a football empire and eager businesswoman desperately trying to rise above her abilities to manage the fading Miami Sharks franchise. Diaz reminds me a lot of Margaret Whitton’s Rachel Phelps from Major League, a former showgirl who becomes owner of the Cleveland Indians after her rich husband passes away. The difference here is that Diaz and the screenwriter take the role one step further and provide more depth to Christina Pagniacci so that we may empathize with her much more than we ever understood similar characters in film history.  Other performances that bear mention are NFL superstars Lawrence Taylor and Jim Brown who provided connections with modern-day NFL even though it was frowned upon by the league to participate. Terrell Owens also plays himself and makes big catches in the final game in the film. This is a huge cast and I felt that everyone seemed on the same page and delivered performances that are among their best of their careers.

Grade: A+

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SCORE

Wow, what is there to say about the music in this movie? There is so much that I can hardly imagine it not costing a small fortune to license. From Nina Simone to DMX, from Ella Fitzgerald to Black Sabbath, from Billie Holiday to Trick Daddy, and from Swizz Beatz to Hole, every genre and time period in modern American music history seems included. This added a great deal of authenticity to the film likening it to going to an NFL game. Not enough can be said of the incredible use of music here and this is also another area where Stone was not afraid to be risky. Perhaps the Swizz Beats ft. DMX track “My Niggas” relates the tone of the film overall, as it feels futuristic for a movie in 1999 while also portraying a sense of eternal strength.

Grade: A+

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Final Thoughts:

This movie is quite a wild ride, and one that I do not remember being as risque as it seems today. Perhaps that is an indictment of myself rather than the times, as I surely didn’t appreciate what this film was doing as a teen. Watch this for Pacino’s speeches, as they are some of the best of all-time. I think non-fans will either come out disgusted by the reality of pro sports or educated on the sport as a whole, understanding why sports and life present very similar challenges, and how we overcome them aren’t so different either. Inch by inch, Any Given Sunday is a definite touchdown.

Overall Grade: A