This week on the InSession Film Podcast, in honor of Tonto, we had to discuss our Top 3 Movie Sidekicks and it turned out to be pretty fun.
Nate
1) Chewbacca – Star Wars
2) Samwise Gamgee – The Lord of the Rings
3) Short Round – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
JD
1) Samwise Gamgee – The Lord of the Rings
2) Chewbacca – Star Wars
3) Goose – Top Gun
For the entire podcast, click here.
Would you do a ride along in Atlanta to get approval to marry the love of your life? Kevin Hart would.
That’s the premise for Ride Along, the new film featuring Hart and Ice Cube (who Hart’s character is trying to get approval from). And after seeing the recently-released teaser trailer, it looks like it could be pretty funny.
But Ride Along is directed Tim Story, best (worst?) known for the Fantastic Four films, and written by a virtual newcomer in Greg Coolidge, so that doesn’t do a lot to boost the excitement level much.
Ride Along rolls into theaters on January 17, 2014.
Park Chan-wook’s 2003 Korean thriller Oldboy is one incredible film. Unfortunately, most people haven’t seen it (after all, there’s subtitles).
Well, that’s about to change, as Oldboy is getting an American remake thanks to Spike Lee and FilmDistrict. And today, we got a new poster for the film, which revolves around a man mysteriously being imprisoned and isolated for 20 years before suddenly being set free. The poster, which is reportedly an actual frame from the film, looks nice (certainly better than all the recent photoshopped ones) and definitely gives a sense of the wild ride people are in for.
With Lee directing and a cast that includes Josh Brolin (who’s climbing out of the box), Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, Michael Imperioli and Sharlto Copley, Oldboy is certainly a remake to get excited about. Whether the brutal violence and crazy twist and turns from the original will remain is another matter.
Oldboy hits theaters on October 25.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we discuss the ridiculousness that is The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, discuss our Top 3 Movie Sidekicks, and continue our Guillermo Del Toro series with our review of Cronos. Then we top off the show with our July preview, some weekly movie news, and movies we saw last week.
– The Lone Ranger Review
Grades
Nate: C
JD: C+
– Movie Series Review – Cronos (Guillermo del Toro)
– Latest News
– July Movie Preview
– New trailer for Delivery Man
– Steven Seagal and Mel Gibson join Expendables 3
– What We’ve Seen This Week
– Music
Finale – Hans Zimmer
Danger Zone – Kenny Loggins
Cronos – Throwing Snow
Expendables Theme – Movie Sounds
The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson
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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 20
In what is one of the craziest teenage girl fights I’ve ever seen from “professional” movie studios, Warner Brothers has sued The Weinstein Company and won an initial ruling over the movie title of The Butler.
According to reports, Warner Brothers won a ruling last week against The Weinstein Company for the movie title The Butler, which they claim was an infringement over the Warner Brothers 1916 silent short film, The Butler. The Weinstein Company is now forced to change all of their current marketing materials to a different name, which will be a huge pain considering the movie is supposed to come out in about a month. They have appealed and hired attorney David Boies who will likely file an anti-trust lawsuit in response. He also issued this statement:
The suggestion that there is a danger of confusion between TWC’s 2013 feature movie and a 1917 short that has not been shown in theaters, television, DVDs, or in any other way for almost a century makes no sense. The award has no purpose except to restrict competition and is contrary to public policy.
All of this is a little ridiculous given the fact that most (and I mean like 98% of the general public) people will not know of the 1916 silent film and even if they do it’s highly unlikely they’ll be confused on which movie is out in theaters. Rumors are speculating that part of this is in response to TWC’s objection to Warner Brothers film, The Good Lie, in which TWC claimed it was too similar to their film, The Good Life. Warner Brothers’ attorney has also released letters recently claiming The Weinsteins have abused the title registry to use it to their advantage.
All of this seems like incredibly petty fighting like two teenage girls over a boy who winked at one girl even though the other girl liked him and the she knew it. See how dumb that sentence reads? Someone please get WB and TWC together so they can kiss and make up? While this is probably good (and free) publicity for The Weinsteins, The Butler, it’s all an unnecessary exercise in stupidity.
The Minions helped Despicable Me 2 to a big weekend at the box office for the Fourth of July holiday.
The sequel from Universal claimed the top spot with a massive $82.5 million for the weekend and $142.1 million for the five-day holiday period. Despicable Me 2 isn’t quite as good as the first film, but everybody’s favorite Minions take front and center making the sequel very enjoyable.
While Despicable Me 2 had a huge weekend, last weekend’s other big release, Disney’s The Lone Ranger, bombed. The crew behind the Pirates of the Caribbean films (director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp) couldn’t do it again, as their western took in only $29.4 million for the weekend and $48.9 million since Wednesday. The Lone Ranger is long, too inconsistent, but does feature an amazing final sequence.
The only other new release last weekend was Summit Entertainment’s stand-up comedian Kevin Hart’s documentary Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, which debuted $10.1 million for the weekend and $17.5 million over the five days.
With July now under way, it will be interesting to see if it can continue the box office’s record-setting ways. May set a new record and June became the highest-grossing month ever outside of July and the fifth-biggest of all-time with its $1.25 billion haul.
Rounding out the top five for the weekend was The Heat ($25 million), Monsters University ($19.6 million) and World War Z ($18.2 million).
This weekend’s major releases include Guillermo del Toro’s giant-robots-vs.-giant-monsters epic Pacific Rim and the Adam Sandler-starring Grown Ups 2.
With the anticipation of Pacific Rim this week (it’s killing me!), we thought we’d ask, what’s your favorite robot movie? There’s a ton of them out there so vote and let us know what you think. We’ll announce the results on next week’s podcast.
Vote now!
[yop_poll id=”17″]
Korean director Bong Joon Ho, known for Memories of Murder and The Host and Mother, is taking his turn at making an English laungauge film with his movie Snowpiecer. The movie is an adaptation of the French comic book, Le Transperceneige, which centers around a future where Earth is all frozen and what is left of humanity is on a train with the poor in the back and the rich up front.
While that may not sound exciting on the surface, it actually looks pretty great. The cast includes amazing Korean actor, Kang-Ho Song as well as Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton and more. Or in other words, actors that are amazing and that will make this film great.
Here is the first movie trailer we get from this film. Check it out, have fun, and let us know what you think!
Snowpiecer opens up in Korea in August and in these Unites States later this year.
According to ExBlog, it’s been reported that unnamed sources in Bulgaria, where the third film will be filmed, have confirmed that Mel Gibson and Steven Seagal will join the cast of Expendables 3. According to those sources, Gibson will be the main villain, while Seagal will join the new cast members, Jackie Chan, Nicolas Cage, Wesley Snipes and Milla Jovavich. Mickey Rourke is also set to come back after being absent in the second film. The reports also mentioned that Sylvester Stallone is frantically rewriting the script to give each cast member their moment to shine in the film. As we’ve discussed before in other franchises, it’s hard to fit many big names and characters in a film and give them the right amount of screen time they need. The second Expendables did a descent job of giving each actor their screen time but had to be very specific with the direction of how they went. I particularly loved it.
Having Gibson and Seagal in this film is pretty appropriate given the direction of the franchise and how big they were in the 80’s and 90’s. They’re pretty much the only big names that have been left out by this point so this should be a great thing. While Gibson has had his issues over the last 10 years or so, he’s still a great actor and someone always interesting to see on screen. Hopefully this film, will help him get back on fans’ radar in a good way. The fact that he’s playing the villain is a little bit ironic but I think he’ll do a fantastic job.
As for Seagal, this is a pretty big surprise given the fact that he had issues with some of the producers but that seems to be put on hold for now since he’s in the franchise. And given his reign as one of the top action actors in the 80’s and 90’s, he’ll be very appropriate. With these two guys and the new cast, I’m going to be pretty excited. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two film so consider me on board until these guys start to lose it.
The Patrick Hughes-directed Expendables 3 comes our way on August 15, 2014.
The Lone Ranger, which reunites Pirates of the Caribbean’s Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp, and the animated Despicable Me 2 lead the movies hitting theaters this Fourth of July weekend. But if those releases don’t interest you, there’s plenty of others that may.
Here’s the full list of movies that are hitting theaters this weekend:
The Lone Ranger — Our Full Review
Despicable Me 2Â — Our Full Review
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain
The Way, Way Back (Limited)
The Look of Love (Limited)
Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (Limited)
Hammer of the Gods (Limited)
Just Like a Woman (Limited)
Want to know more about Linda Lovelace, the star of the adult film Deep Throat? Now’s your chance.
We recently got the first trailer for Lovelace, about the rise and fall of the porn star with Amanda Seyfried playing the titular character. Seyfried, who has really never gotten a chance to shine, really seems to be giving it her all her and I can’t wait to see what kind of performance she can muster.
And Seyfried is just the start of what is a stellar cast. You got Peter Sarsgaard, Juno Temple, Hank Azaria, Bobby Cannavale, Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick, Adam Brody, Eric Roberts, Chris Noth, Sarah Jessica Parker, Chloe Sevigny and, of course, James Franco as Hugh Hefner. Franco playing Hefner is reason enough to check Lovelace out.
Lovelace opens on August 9.
A few weeks ago, we got a chance to see Bumblebee in Transformers 4 going old school, and now it seems we’ll also see him in some awesome new school.
Via Michael Bay’s website, we also get to see Bumblebee’s new 2014 Concept Camaro version that I’m assuming we’ll also see in the film. I love it and it looks pretty bad-ass to me. What do you think?
Transformers 4 comes to us next summer.
Director:Â Steven Knight
Writers:Â Steven Knight
Stars: Jason Statham, Agata Buzek, Vicky McClure
Synopsis:Â Homeless and on the run from a military court martial, a damaged ex-special forces soldier navigating London’s criminal underworld seizes an opportunity to assume another man’s identity — transforming into an avenging angel in the process.
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DIRECTION
First of all, it’s weird seeing Jason Statham with long hair, or any hair at all really, and that threw me off. That being said, Steven Knight’s directorial debut isn’t too bad. The cinematography used in London is really well shot and edited really well. There are several great swooping cameral shots that make for some fun transitions in this film. Knight’s script is a little dry at times but the way he pieces it is intriguing at times. The best win for Knight, outside of his cinematography, is how he utilizes Statham and get’s a little bit more out of him than what we normally see. Not a bad debut at all.
Grade: B+
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SCRIPT
The story centers around a ex-British soldier (Statham) and how he is now homeless and on the run as he fled the military after being blamed for a terrible tragedy while he was serving. He steal another man’s identity temporarily and is using a nun to help him get a few things in order. In the middle of that he begins working in the city’s criminal underground. The story becomes a little dry in places but we see Statham in some action, which is what we expect to see. However, this isn’t an action-driven movie. He’s motivated by the nun who is encouraging him to do the right thing and restore his life. While it has it’s flaws, it’s not terrible by any means.
Grade: B
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PERFORMANCES
Statham’s performance is a little surprising to me as his character isn’t the same butt-kicker we’re used to seeing. Umm, don’t get wrong, he has those moments of beating people up that we’ve seen before, but he goes a little deeper than that. As a man seeking revenge and not happy with where his life is, he shows a little emotion and has a little more than what we’ve seen before. While it’s not terribly outside his zone, it’s enough for me to enjoy it and see the potential he has to do something else. The other actors in this film are just background and barely deliver but Statham stands out for sure.
Grade: B+
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SCORE
Dario Marianelli has done some great work before but the score his doesn’t really add a lot to the film. The second act of the film gets some great score music and that part lifted it up a little but the music here only serves as background noise and it does its intended purpose.
Grade: B-
[divider]
Director:Â Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
Writers:Â Ken Daurio (screenplay), Cinco Paul (screenplay)
Stars: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove
Synopsis:Â Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help deal with a powerful new super criminal.
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DIRECTION
Despicable Me 2Â brings back the same directing duo from the 2010 film in Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud. Like that film, they do an admirable job here, putting together a decent story with impressive visuals and a talent voice cast. The story is a little disjointed at times, focusing on one aspect when it probably should be focusing on another, but having the Minions play a bigger role this time around was a good idea on their part. The visuals are quite good and sequences are shot well and it appeared as if seeing it in 3D would actually be worth it. And the voice cast is just as strong as the first film, giving solid performances all-around.
Grade: B
[divider]
SCRIPT
The first Despicable Me centered around Gru getting out of the villainy business and learning it’s okay to be a good guy, something that comes about because of three adorable kids he ends up adopting at the end. So Despicable 2 follows right off of that, exploring his parenting and his search for a woman to complete the family. During all of that, Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help them find, well, a villain. And in doing this, they team him up with Lucy. At this point, you can kind of see where this is going to end up. It’s all done well and is sweet for the most part, but certain areas (Gru’s relationship with his three kids and Lucy) are explored enough to make it tug on the heartstrings like the first film did. But what this film does do better is give us more of the Minions, Gru’s weird-looking yellow workers. Instead of being in the background, there front and center this time around and play an integral part in the story. They are funny and provide the best moments (particularly at the end), and it makes sense that they’re getting their own film as they are what everybody loves.
Grade: B-
[divider]
PERFORMANCES
The voice acting in Despicable Me 2 is one of its highlights. Steve Carell shines as Gru, the villain-turned-domesticated-parent, using that deadpan Eastern European accent to somehow bring a likability to the character. And his chemistry with Lucy, voiced wonderfully by Kristen Wiig, is enjoyable to watch, especially since the two characters are big-time contrasts of one another. The three kids are extremely cute, especially Agnes, the youngest who is voiced by Elsie Fisher. Benjamin Bratt is solid as Eduardo, although his character is mostly stereotype. But the real stars of the film are the Minions, voiced by directors Coffin and Renaud. They speak in their only little gibberish language and are just extremely fun to watch.
Grade: A-
[divider]
SCORE
Heitor Pereira’s score for Despicable 2 isn’t very memorable and really doesn’t add a ton to the film; it’s just kind of there. But Pharrell Williams, who seems to be everywhere right now, brings some original songs to the mix and they are pretty memorable. He not only sings the title track “Despicable Me,” but he also sings “Happy,” which is kind of a dance-happy song that is used perfectly in the film.
Grade: B-
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This last week on the InSession Film Podcast, Nate and I reviewed White House Down and we couldn’t help but compare it to Olympus Has Fallen. They literally has the same premise but take two very different approaches to it so we had to pick a winner. But Nate absolutely hated both of them and had a hard time deciding. As for me, the comparison is easily won by White House Down.
The chemistry between Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum was funny and a lot more fun to see than Gerard Butler who was mostly by himself running through the White House. As a side note, Butler was good and one of the few things I enjoyed about OHF. However, Tatum brought his fun personality into the role and was able to bring the same (for the most part) fighter spirit which made WHD more fun overall. Both stories were absurd but the actual takeover in WHD is way more “plausible”, again I use that very loosely, and James Woods and Jason Clarke were a way better villain duo. The visuals in WHD are much better as well and it should as that is Roland Emmerich’s thing. The one shot of Washington D.C. in OHF after the plane crashes on the front lawn of the White House is so bad it looks like graphics from 1994 video games. The only thing I’d give OHF is the violence that Butler brings is pretty awesome. Both films are just average action films at best but if you’re going to pick one, White House Down has much more to offer in my opinion.
Take a listen to Nate and I discuss it in detail and let us know if you agree or disagree with our takes in the comment section below.
Happy Fourth of July!
InSession Film Podcast – Episode 19
Bonus Content – Episode 19 – (SPOILERS)
Director:Â Gore Verbinksi
Writers: Justin Haythe (screenplay), Ted Elliott (screenplay)
Stars: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson
Synopsis:Â Native American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice.
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DIRECTION
Gore Verbinski once again teamed up with Johnny Depp to create an extremely long, action-filled (sort of) movie that is inconsistent at best. The script is pretty poor but Verbinski adds some great transition shots that include some beautiful visuals. While they aren’t all necessary and sometimes felt like Verbinski was caught up in the landscape, they were beautifully shot and edited. The action sequences aren’t as many as you’d think and they go way over the top. Realism was not a factor here but more like trying to have fun in a video game. You’ll always regenerate, right? For those that didn’t, it was a little violent for a Disney film that may throw off some folks but may make it more fun for others. The film was edited to be way too long and included an old Tonto (Depp) that was completely unnecessary. That being said, Verbinski is saved by an amazing ending sequence that includes an unbelievable score by Hans Zimmer that makes this film much better than it actually is. The final 20 minutes is crazily absurd but a lot of fun and extremely energetic. It’s easily the best part of the movie.
Grade: B
[divider]
SCRIPT
The film opens with Tonto recalling his tales with John Reid (Armie Hammer) to a young kid who is dressed up as the Lone Ranger. All of that was unnecessary and should of been cut out of the film altogether. The story is all over the place and adds dialogue to characters that didn’t need it. Once the story starts to come together, it takes itself out and is forced to come back again. By the time Reid figures out who he’s supposed to be and what to do, it’s two hours into the movie and it becomes cluttered and clunky. There’s not tons of action here which means the movie rely’s heavily on the story and the characters to take it further. Speaking of, the characters aren’t well written and the Lone Ranger is more of a pacifist, who doesn’t feel like a hero but rather someone who doesn’t belong there at all. But there are pockets here and there throughout the movie that are great and well written which gets you into the story and what’s going on; and then they take you back out with scenes and stories that don’t need to be there. The ending sequence is fun though and it finishes off well which saves the movie. If the whole movie had been more tightened and focused like the final 30 minutes, the movie could have been really good.
Grade: C+
[divider]
PERFORMANCES
Armie Hammer doesn’t really deliver as the Lone Ranger and he made the character very unbelievable. Part of the problem is the script, but Hammer does things and says things that don’t say Ranger or hero in any way and it becomes very distracting. He brings some emotion to the character but overall he missed out on bringing our old hero back to life. Depp, or Captain Jack Sparrow, is back on the scene as Tonto who has his moments but overall falls mostly flat. However, Depp is very good in certain parts. He’s actually more serious in the role than you’d think and doesn’t bring a big comedic tone but rather is more the driver of the story. He brings little emotion as usual but has the right amount of presence to carry the movie, especially when it’s really dragging. William Fichtner stands out as the main villain here and is incredible. He’s one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood and he brings it here. It’s not an original character but for how it’s written, he’s incredibly engaging and believable. The rest of the cast is fine, while some of the characters don’t add anything, and they do enough to get you through two and half hours of inconsistency.
Grade: B-
[divider]
SCORE
OK, finally. The best part of the film. Hans Zimmer’s score is absolutely amazing. He uses a lot of brass instruments and brings a fair amount of western tones that fit the movie naturally. From beginning to end, the music is a carrier, especially through a couple of long transitional shots that are used as filler. The action sequences are incredibly lifted by Zimmer’s score and they add a lot to the environment and aesthetic of the film. But what lifts Zimmer’s score above all else is the final battle sequence that is his spin on the classic’s famous theme. It’s ten minutes of pure energy that goes on and one without slowing down and brings that action sequence to life. It’s fun, extremely engaging and it pulls you in to what’s going on and you forget that the action is a little absurd. The high energy pace along with the iconic theme screams The Lone Ranger and it absolutely saves this film from being complete misery. Amazing, amazing work here by Hans Zimmer.
Grade: A+
[divider]
Get ready because Alfonso Cuaron is about to blow our minds with another out-of-this-world, amazing film.
Cuaron’s first film since 2006’s sci-fi masterpiece Children of Men, Gravity, will make its world premiere at the 70th Venice Film Festival on August 28. It’s the director’s third film to premiere there after Children of Men and 2001’s Y tu Mama Tambien.
Gravity, which is one of my most anticipated films of the year, stars George Clooney (who has brought a film to Venice in all but one of the last six years) and Sandra Bullock as astronauts who are adrift in orbit after debris crashes into their shuttle. The film will be visually stunning as evident by the teaser trailer and was reportedly shot in mostly real time with very few cuts.
Gravity will open nationwide on October 4.
Nearly two years after his death, Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs is getting a film based on his life.
We recently got the first trailer for the film and it looks like it could be good. The film and story remind me a lot of 2010’s The Social Network, about Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. But with a relatively new filmmaker in Joshua Michael Stern and Ashton Kutcher (who definitely looks the part but I’m not sure if he has the acting chops) playing the title role, my excitement level isn’t quite as high. The cast surrounding Kutcher is quite good, however, with James Woods, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Matthew Modine and J.K. Simmons.
Jobs hits theaters on August 16.
It’s been quite some time since Vince Vaughn was actually good in a film (2005’s Wedding Crashers being that film).
But we recently got a trailer for his latest film, Delivery Man, and he actually appears to be acting. Vaughn plays a forty-something who learns that the sperm he donated nearly 20 years ago has led to him fathering over 530 kids. When some of the kids file a lawsuit to find out who their biological father, Vaughn takes it into his own hands to find these kids and bring some joy to their lives.
Delivery Man, which also stars Chris Pratt and Cobie Smulders, looks funny and heartwarming and I’m curious to see if it can sort of resurrect Vaughn’s career after a couple of duds.
Delivery Man arrives in theaters on November 22.
The third Pacific Rim trailer has got me even more excited for this film. I haven’t been this excited for a movie in a long time but if this film lives up to it’s expectations it could really move up my favorite sci-film film list really quickly.
Check it out and get ready!
Pacific Rim comes to us next week (June 12)!
