This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we discuss one of our favorite categories, our Top 3 Marvel Movie Characters.
Nate
1) Peter Parker – Spider-Man
2) Magneto – X-Men: First Class
3) Tony Stark – Iron Man
JD
1) Peter Parker – Spider-Man
2) Agent Phil Coulson – Avengers
3) Logan, Wolverine – X-Men
For the entire podcast, click here.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, Nate is back and we review Marvel’s latest in The Wolverine as well as discuss our Top 3 Marvel Movie Characters. We also start a brand new movie series on biopics that are based on recent historical figures and this week we review A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe.
– The Wolverine Review
Grades
Nate: C+
JD: B-
– Our Top 3 Marvel Movie Characters
– Movie Series Review – A Beautiful Mind (Recent Historical Figures)
– News
– Rocky spin-off movie
– 47 Ronin trailer
– Avengers 2 gets a name
– Movies We’ve Seen This Week
Nate: The Conjuring, Pacific Rim, Evil Dead, Cloud Atlas, Undefeated, Amber Alert,
JD: The Pianist, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Spring Breakers, Fruitvale Station
– Music
Where To – Marco Beltrami
Ironwing – Nick Phoenix
A Kaleidascope of Mathematics – James Horner
Main Title (Game of Thrones) – Ramin DJawadi
The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson
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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 23
The Wolverine clawed its way to the top.
With an under-projected $55 million opening, the James Mangold-directed and Hugh Jackman-starring comic-book movie took the No. 1 spot at the box office over the weekend. Fox’s movie opened with substantially less than the awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s $85 million four years ago. The Wolverine is certainly better than Origins and Jackman gives another great performance, but the story just isn’t quite up to snuff.
While The Wolverine‘s domestic haul wasn’t exactly impressive, it did do exceptionally well overseas. The movie, which stars many international actors, pulled in an astounding $141 million, which is the best ever for any X-Men movie.
The Conjuring dropped to second but still grossed a solid $22.1 million. The Warner Bros.’ horror hit has totaled $83 million in two weeks and should surpass $100 million sometime over the next week.
Not far behind in third was Universal’s Despicable Me 2, as the animated hit hauled in another $16 million to bring its total to a whopping $306.4 million to date. It’s currently the second-highest grossing movie of the year behind Iron Man 3‘s $407 million.
Another animated movie, DreamWorks’ Turbo, finished in fourth with $13.3 million and just $55.7 million in less than two weeks.
Sony’s Grown Ups 2 earned $11.5 million to round out the top five. The Adam Sandler-starring sequel has now grossed over $101 million.
The Wolverine has a strong chance to finish on top again next weekend as this week’s new releases include Smurfs 2 on Wednesday and 2 Guns on Friday.
This week on the InSession Film poll, as we get prepared for 2 Guns which is set to come out this Friday, we’re asking; which actor would you want as your buddy cop? Who would you want to be by your side? Vote here and let us know!
[yop_poll id=”20″]
A new adaptation of Romeo & Juliet will be coming to theaters this fall, and no this won’t be directed by Baz Luhrmann. Instead, we get the first trailer for the adaptation from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellows.
The trailer looks really beautiful and while I liked Luhrmann’s version of the Shakespeare classic, this one seems to following the story pretty close. And while Fellows wrote this screenplay, it will be directed by Carlo Carlei and will star Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth in the title roles, as well as Paul Giamatti, Stellan Skarsgård, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Natascha McElhone, Damian Lewis and Ed Westwick.
Get More:
Movie Trailers, Movies Blog
Romeo & Juliet opens October 11.
Sof if you know me at all, you’ll know the scores are one of my favorite parts of film. And whenever you mention John Williams, it’s pretty easy to think of Star Wars. Anyway, here’s a pretty cool interview with Mr. Williams as he talks about scoring Episode VII and what we can look forward to. While, he doesn’t mention anything about the movie, it’s still pretty awesome.
Director: Ryan Coogler
Writers: Ryan Coogler
Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer
Synopsis: The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.
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DIRECTION
Ryan Coogler’s debut film is a strong one and one that will put you right into the life of Oscar Grant. His camera work is amazing and is used with tons of purpose. Coogler is really intentional about putting you into the Oakland aesthetic showcasing Oscar’s home and the lifestyle he was living. The sense of realism is palpable as you fall right into the shoes of Oscar feeling what he felt and thinking what he thought. There is very little score so you feel every little whisper, car honk and firework that goes off in the background. The long tracking shots Coogler uses again puts you right smack dab in the middle of the story. We see several close ups on Michael B. Jordan, who plays Oscar, to give you a sense of what his last day might of been like. Coogler uses a lot of foreshadowing and sets up the big moment at the end of the movie really well. The actual events at Fruitvale Station seem to go pretty fast and is mostly from the perspective of Oscar. We don’t really get a full sense of the scale that was crazy and chaotic. However, because it’s from Oscars perspective, that’s all we need to see. Coogler does an amazing job in his first feature.
Grade: A-
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SCRIPT
Ryan Coogler’s script is obviously based on real-life events and it’s very much from Oscar’s point of view. The story begins in the morning of the last day of his life and we meet his girlfriend and young daughter who are beginning their day. Oscar and his girlfriend have had their issues in the past but are trying to work through things as their love is there but just a little bit mangled. We find out that Oscar has had issues with the law in the past but he’s trying to redeem his past and move past the issues that got him into trouble in the first place. His love for his girlfriend, daughter, mother and the rest of his family means more to him than the lifestyle of his past. Redemption and grace ore powerful motivators and are the one’s that define who we see Oscar to be in the film. However, with a criminal past and a sketchy background, finding honest jobs are difficult, especially with the recession happening. It’s important to understand that and his decision to rid of his drugs and look to a bright future was a very difficult decision. The story continues to raise the main character up but it doesn’t necessarily praise him at the same time. Coogler realizes that Oscar had issues and explored them to give you the sense of who Oscar was and why he wasn’t a saint. Coogler explores the tragedy of the event and shows that Oscar was a person trying to gain redemption because his past wasn’t the best and in the end, you really feel for him.
Grade: A
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PERFORMANCES
Michael B. Jordan is amazing as Oscar Grant. Jordan really gives you the impression of what his last day was like and really gets you into mindset and feelings of Grant. There are a couple of scenes of foreshadowing where your connection to Jordan’s performance and knowing how the story ends raises your heart levels just a little bit. Melonie Diaz as Oscar’s girlfriend and Octavia Spencer as his mom bring some great performances here too. Spencer especially has some really great moments that bring to life some of the family dynamics we get here. Specifically, in one scene she realized that she couldn’t see him in jail anymore and she just walks out. Coogler places the camera perfectly next to spencer which tracks with her as she walks out and Oscar in the background begging her not to leave. Amazing moment. She has another great scene at the end of the film after the doctors give her the news. The supporting roles that include Oscar’s friends are great and believable as well as Ariana Neal, who plays Oscar’s cute daughter. The film follows his daily routine for the time of life he’s in and the performers give it that realistic aesthetic Coolger was going for. You were a part of the family for a night.
Grade: A
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SCORE
Ludwig Göransson’s score is tough to grade here because Coogler doesn’t use it much and it’s incredibly intentional. The score fits in perfectly well it’s there and the transitions shots need it and it’s the kind of score that this film needs. It’s background noise that lifts up realism and sets the tone of the film. It’s a sad story that has a tragic ending and the music foreshadows that well, again when it’s used.
Grade: B+
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Director: James Mangold
Writers: Mark Bomback (screenplay), Scott Frank (screenplay)
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima
Synopsis: Summoned to Japan by an old acquaintance, Wolverine becomes embroiled in a conflict that forces him to confront his own demons.
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DIRECTION
James Mangold does a pretty good job here minus a few hiccups as we continue Logan’s story as Wolverine. Mangold does a good job of capturing what is a mostly down-to-earth, realistic type setting until we get to some of the later action sequences. There’s a series of flashbacks and dreams used when Logan is dreaming that I thought was used well as Jean Gray comes back to haunt Logan, creating conflict with him and his immortality. In the middle of all of that Mangold captures the Logan-rugged aesthetic really well which brings you right into the character and what he’s doing. At one point, Logan loses his healing ability and the way that was captured, while used before, brought you into the character well so you could understand what he’s seeing and why he’s struggling. There are some elements toward the end of the film that make me question some of the continuity of the X-Men story and was even a little distracting. The action sequences become very comic book-y and you lose the sense of ruggedness and realism the film started out with. The story also seems to have little purpose and while it does come around at the end, Mangold lost the ability to make sense of the lead up to the reveal. Overall, the fun and the journey of this character is much better here than previous films and it will carry momentum into further X-Men films.
Grade: B+
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SCRIPT
The story is a descent one but it has a few flaws that does detract from the film. As the story picks up, we find Logan who is struggling with himself and the guilt of what happens at the end of X3. He begins to see Jean Gray in his dreams as well as an old friend he once saved during the drop of the atomic bomb on Japan, Yashida. Yashida is now dying and requests to see Logan before he dies and when they meet up, Yashida reveals he can end Logan’s immortality. From there, it’s revealed that Logan is beginning to lose his healing ability and he is keeping Yashida’s granddaughter, Mariko, from being killed by a Japanese mafia. It’s along this journey where the film starts to get away from itself and Logan apparently has the ability to not only heal quickly, but also fall in love pretty quickly. His relationship with Mariko becomes intimate and isn’t well explored. It seems forced, especially since Logan is in the middle of dealing with Jean Gray in his dreams and the hurt that came from that love with her. The antagonist story line isn’t very clear and it becomes clumsy and all over the place. Other story arcs including Mariko’s father, Mariko’s fiancé, and an old boyfriend of Mariko are introduced but mostly just add clutter. The father story arc makes sense and does add to the movie but the rest of them aren’t needed and just waste screen time. Give me more Logan. The reveal at the end doesn’t do anything either and won’t be surprising to many. However, because of the events in the final battle, it raises continuity questions and questions about Logan as the Wolverine. The script saves itself though in the post-credits where it teases X-Men: Days of Future Past which is easily the best part of the whole movie and it’s amazing.
Grade: B-
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PERFORMANCES
Hugh Jackman was born to play this role and he’s incredible with the iconic character once again. He just knows the ins and outs of how to bring Logan to life and Jackman knows what he’s doing here. He loves the character and you can tell every time he’s on screen. What’s important here though, is the fact that he has to carry this film the whole way. We get no other X-Men characters that people know and like, which will hurt this film as well. Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Brian Tee and Svetlana Khodchenkova are great actors and give good performances but, most people will not know these names nor their characters. Other than Jean Gray cameos we are introduced to a completely new environment and aesthetic than what we’ve seen before. However, the performances do stand by themselves and the Japanese, and one Russian, actors in this film are good and fun to watch. While a few of the characters aren’t necessary or done well, the performances are fine. And as the title suggests anyway, this is all about Hugh Jackman and how he carries the story forward, which he does well.
Grade: B+
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SCORE
Marco Beltrami gets the nod to score here and while I like Beltrami, the score is mostly boring and isn’t very fun for a comic book movie. To his credit, the movie is a little bit darker than previous films and needs to be grittier but that could of been done in a not-so-boring way. With a character like The Wolverine, the music could of been a little bit more edgier and perhaps more synthesized than what we get. It’ll be hard for anyone to live up to Henry Jackman’s X-Men First Class score, but you can still come up with something more reachable. Beltrami folded on this one.
Grade: C
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When you find a big wad of cash next to a dead body, just leave it alone.
That’s the pickle Alice Eve’s character gets herself into in Cold Comes the Night, which we got our first look at recently with this trailer via Total Film. In the film, Eve plays a single mother who is struggling to make ends meet until she finds a bag full of money. She thinks everything will be OK until Bryan Cranston’s Russian thug shows up.
This is the first I’ve ever heard of Cold Comes the Night, but I’ll definitely be seeing it once it comes out for the lone reason that Cranston is playing a Russian thug. His accent is just fantastic and he does such a great job of playing a bad guy (don’t mess with Walter White!).
Cold Comes the Night is released in the UK on September 20; a US release date has yet to be announced.
Hugh Jackman is back to play everybody’s favorite X-Man in James Mangold’s The Wolverine, which highlights this weekend’s newest releases. The raunchy, coming-of-age comedy The To List is the other nationwide release.
Here’s the full list of movies that are hitting theaters this weekend:
The Wolverine
The To Do List
Blue Jasmine (Limited)
The Time Being (Limited)
Tiny Times 1.0 (Limited)
Drug War (Limited)
Breaking Girls (Limited)
Pacific Rim has been on of the most anticipated movies of the summer and we’re pretty excited for it. So we decided we would get more familiar with its’ director, Guillermo Del Toro. In this series, we’ll review del Toro’s Hellboy, Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth.
Grades
Nate: B+
JD: B+
Review
Hellboy is one of the most underrated comic book stories ever as a film that focuses on character and love, not just action. Click here to read the full review.
Listen to our review of Hellboy below.
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Grades
Nate: B
JD: B+
Review
Cronos is one of the most interesting vampire films you’ll ever see that isn’t necessary full of plot, but has tons of character. Click here to read the full review.
Listen to our review of Cronos below.
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Grades
Nate: B+
JD: A-
Jon: A
Review
The Devil’s Backbone is thrilling with great performances and characters that thrive in a tough situation. Click here to read the full review.
Listen to our review of The Devil’s Backbone below.
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Grades
Brent: B
JD: A-
Review
Pan’s Labyrinth is an amazing fantasy that is lived in a realistic setting by an incredible young female protagonist. Click here to read the full review.
Listen to our review of Pan’s Labyrinth below.
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Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Guillermo del Toro
Stars: Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
Synopsis: In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
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DIRECTION
Guillermo del Toro is at his best in Pan’s Labyrinth giving us a world of realism mixed with a world of fantasy in a gorgeous and stunning world that brings to life our main characters. His visuals are amazing and mixed really well within a realistic setting. The parallels he uses here with his 2001 film, The Devil’s Backbone, are pretty prominent and forthcoming which sets the tone right away. His camera work is amazing as always and it’s very del Toro with how he uses objects to obscure his pans and showcasing the fantasy elements. He gets amazing performances out of his actors once again and the characters are very intriguing. He weaves in and out of what feels like two stories combined magnificently and becomes something magical.
Grade: A
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SCRIPT
Del Toro’s story here is also amazing but does have one minor flaw. The story of our little girl protagonist, Ofelia, is pretty amazing and one similair to The Devil’s Backbone, as someone who’s looking for something more and living in her fantasy world gives her so much more. The setting is 1944, five years after the events of The Devil’s Backbone, in post Spain Civil War at an army camp who is run by Ofelia’s new stepfather. Ofelia finds a labyrinth where she meets a Faun creature who is tasked in bringing back the princess of the underworld, a little girl to escaped into the human world and now the Faun believes it is Ofelia. However, before she can be brought back into the underworld, she must prove herself as the princess. The main problem with the story here is the fact that it takes place in the realistic setting of this post-war camp where there are still “war” things going on. Rebels are attacking the camp leaving del Toro to explore what’s going on in the reality around Ofelia and her pregnant mother. While both stories are great, they almost feel like two different stories that are happening at the same time and never emerge. It’s not until the final scene of the movie where everything is brought together and if you look beneath the surface, it makes sense and it’s appropriate given who our protagonist is. The stories are both amazing though leaving you with plenty of emotion to be spent as well as the fun you’ll have along the way.
Grade: A-
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PERFORMANCES
Ivana Baquero who plays Ofelia is incredible and has to play many emotions and roles in the film. Her mother is pregnant and relying on her at the camp, yet she is infatuated with the fantasy elements going on around her. Baquero does an incredible job and stands out in this movie. Sergi López also stands out as the army General at this camp and his performance makes you hate him for the person he is and what he does throughout the film. The fact that you are rooting for him to die at the end means his performance is amazing, and it is. You have to love Doug Jones as the Faun who has some amazing dialogue moments and brings to life this fantasy creature that has some very human characteristics. He’s pushy at times and goes off of Ofelia in one scene for not doing what she was supposed to which makes him more relatable even though he’s a fantasy element. The other performances are also great and you fall right into the story and the environment that you’re in.
Grade: A-
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SCORE
Javier Navarrete once again gets to score for del Toro and it’s the best one he’s done yet. His main themes are amazing and fun to listen to while giving you the right, soothing score needed for the smaller moments of the film. The transition music is done well and it’s the right score for this environment.
Grade: B+
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Rocky is back!
According to Deadline, the Fruitvale Station duo of director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan will team-up once again for Creed, a Rocky spin-off featuring Apollo Creed’s grandson. Sylvester Stallone will reprise his iconic role as Rocky Balboa, this time as a trainer.
Coogler referred to Creed being his “dream project” and pitched the idea to Stallone, who loved it. Jordan will play the grandson of Creed, who was Rocky’s greatest foe and later friend and was played by Carl Weathers. Rocky, who has appeared in six films, will be his mentor.
Coogler’s recent Fruitvale Station has been a hit critically, winning both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Awards at Sundance along with the Prize Of The Future at Cannes. Jordan’s portrayal of the real-life Oscar Grant has also been praised.
I haven’t seen Fruitvale Station, but from everything I’ve read, it seems great. And I’m a huge fan of Jordan, as his character was my favorite in Friday Night Lights. So the news of a Rocky spin-off with these two along with the return of Stallone has me intrigued.
Sandra Bullock is in trouble in Gravity.
Earlier today we got a trailer that showed Bullock’s character getting knocked out into space. Hours later, we got this trailer of her drifting in space all alone. Both trailers are visually stunning, as is expected considering Alfonso Cuaron is involved. And both trailers do a great job of selling this aloneness and dread that Bullock’s character will be facing.
Gravity hits on October 4.
At long last we finally get the trailer for 47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves and it’s an interesting one. The trailer had me for the first minute or so and then I quickly fell off the that train.
47 Ronin has been layered with production and post-production issues. Collider reported nearly a year ago that Universal fired director Carl Rinsch due to conflicts of the footage, which caused re-shoots and apparently went way over budget too.
Usually when studios interfere it’s not for the best interest of the movie and while they are the revenue source for film, they are not filmmakers. And the fact that they were at the helm for a lot of the final cut scares me.
However, Rinsch had some amazing design and aesthetic in this film and the visuals look great. We’ll never know which parts Universal actually had a hand in but it seems they added more screen time for Reeves, which will make sense for the American audience.
The rest of the cast includes great Japanese actors Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Kô Shibasaki, and Rinko Kikuchi. Kikuchi was recently a star in the amazing Pacific Rim that came out a couple of weeks ago.
Anyway, take a glance and let us know what you think!
Gravity is one of my most-anticipated films of the year, and this latest trailer is one reason why.
Today, we got the second trailer for director Alfonso Cuaron’s latest about two astronauts (played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) who get stranded in space. The trailer is stunning, one continuous shot (which I hear is how most of the film is shot) with no sound effects for the debris hitting and explosions (as it should be in space).
Gravity will be a visual masterpiece (and one I’ll actually probably want to see in 3D), but we still don’t get a real good sense about the plot. However, with two Academy Award-winning actors leading the way, it should all work out.
Gravity hits on October 4.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast: Extra Film segment, we review Dreamworks’ latest movie, Turbo, as well as Red 2 which stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and many others.
– Turbo Review
Grades
Brent: A-
JD: B+
– Red 2 Review
Grades
Brent: B+
JD: B-
– Music
That Snail is Fast – V12 and Nomadik
Main Theme – Alan Silvestri
The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson
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Keanu Reeves plays in samurai warrior in 47 Ronin. Huh?
Yes, Reeves will be in a big-budget samurai film, and today we got a character poster of him and a few others via IGN. Reeves will be playing Kai in the film set in the 18th century and focusing on a band of samurai who are out to avenge the death of their master.
Rinko Kikuchi, who was recently seen in Pacific Rim, and Hiroyuki Sanada, who can be seen in The Wolverine, are also starring. 47 Ronin is Carl Rinsch’s directorial debut.
I know absolutely nothing about 47 Ronin, but I’m a fan of samurai films. And based on these posters (particularly the middle two), this could end up being pretty good. The Reeves’s casting is a bit weird though.
47 Ronin will be released on December 25.
X-Men: Days of Future Past has the potential to be something special.
We recently got two new character posters for Professor X and Magneto (via Entertainment Weekly), highlighting the time travel element that will bring together characters from the original X-Men trilogy along with the ones from First Class. The posters feature Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy as Professor X and Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender as Magneto.
I absolutely loved First Class, particularly the performance by Fassbender. It will be amazing to see both old and new come together for one film, and with the introduction of the Sentinels, Days of Future Past could be one of the best comic-book films ever made. Hopes are very high for this one.
X-Men: Days of Future Past will hit theaters on May 23, 2014.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we get outside our comfort zones a little bit and discuss our Top 3 horror/thriller movies that are based off a “true story”. And you’ll hear why these films keep JD up at night.
Brent
1) Paranormal Activity
2) Cloverfield
3) The Conjuring
JD
1) Psycho
2) Jaws
3) Compliance
For the entire podcast, click here.
