Films of 2014: Summer

S.D. wrote:

I went and caught Her at the Arclight in Hollywood yesterday afternoon.  Spike Jonze continually makes strange and interesting films and Her is no different.  Her is probably one of the least commercial of the major awards contendors, probably a little too quiet and contemplative to break into the mainstream but definitely worthwhile for those inclined toward more artistic fare.  

The film is set in a near-future Los Angeles (you can tell it's the future because of all the extra skyscrapers and the subway actually goes all the way to the beach).  Joaquin Phoenix drops the overtly crazy here instead creating an introverted loner who during his post-divorce depression purchases an "operating system" (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) that listens, learns and adapts to him.  The majority of the film takes place directly with these two characters though there are a few small, well-drawn performances from Olivia Wilde, Amy Adams and Rooney Mara. Scarlett does a brilliant job bringing the character of the virtual Samantha to life, her breathy voice that cracks charmingly having to carry the entire character (she is never seen on screen).  

While I suppose you could classify the film as sci-fi it is really about loneliness and the loss of human interaction in a social media world.  

 

When I first heard about this, I thought it sounded ridiculous (and it was sort of already done on the Big Bang Theory). However, the more and more positive word of mouth I'm hearing about this has really piqued my interest in it.

S.D. wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Well, I guess inane is the wrong word. It just was a weird concept to throw out there. From what I've been reading, the Jack Ryan name is boilerplate. The characters are only loosely connected and the script isn't based on any Clancy writings.

In other words it's exactly the same as the James Bond series.  They use the book title, a few character names and then throw out the rest of the novel.  Then when they ran out of novels they started creating titles that "sounded" like Ian Fleming titles.

A review by James Berardinelli came out today of Shadow Recruit (three stars, pretty decent) and his opening paragraph completely echoes what you said:

"Probably the best way to approach a Jack Ryan movie is to look at it like a James Bond film. The lead actor keeps changing, the supporting actors are rarely the same, and the time period varies. Bond is Bond, whether he's played by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, or Daniel Craig. In the same way, Jack Ryan is Jack Ryan, whether he's played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, or Chris Pine. And, just as the Bond filmmakers moved beyond Ian Fleming's written material, so the Ryan movie-makers have now taken the character away from Tom Clancy's novels. The core essentials that made the previous Jack Ryan movies accessible and enjoyable remain intact in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, even if many of the individual pieces have changed. What remains undecided at this point is whether or not this fifth Ryan production will represent a Casino Royale-style reboot for the franchise. Is this it for Clancy's hero or does he have more cinematic adventures ahead of him?"

By the way, this is in fact an origin story. Not Clancy's version, of course, but at least they're giving the franchise more weight by not just writing up some random story. I may actually see this.

EDIT: Finished reading the review; it's a good read [http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2712]. I will definitely be seeing this (I have more in common--cinematically--with Berardenelli than any other critic or even anyone else). It looks like Branagh really outdoes himself with this one and the direction is very smooth, tense, and coherent--the only way I take my action movies.

Okay, so February is looking pretty bleak as far as interesting movies are concerned (at least those opening nationally). I won't be going to the the theater to see any of these but there are a couple I'll probably check out once they come to home video.

Feb 7th

Vampire Academy - it's a "boarding school for vampires" comedy from the director of Mean Girls.

The LEGO Movie - Grab yer brats and head to the theater….

The Monument's Men - This one looks good, true story about protecting art treasures from the the Nazis starring (and directed by) George Clooney, also featuring Bill Murray and John Goodman. It was originally scheduled for December but the special effects couldn't be completed in time.

Feb 12

Robocop - Hey look, it's that PG-13 remake of Robocop that nobody wanted.

Feb. 14th

Endless Love - Hey look, it's that remake of the 1981 Brooke Shields movie that nobody wanted.

Winter's Tale - Watching the trailer gave me a sugar overdose, this one looks like an instant turkey.

About Last Night - Kevin Hart vehicle aimed at the same audience who went and saw Ride Along.

Feb. 21st

Pompeii - Epic 3D telling of the famous eruption, yet another entry in the swords & sandals sweepstakes. I have a feeling this one is going to flop just like Hercules did last month.

Welcome To Yesterday - A group of teens find the plans for a time machine and things go awry once they assemble it.

Feb 28th.

The Son of God - Jesus, not another Jesus movie. The midwest will eat this one up.

Non-Stop - Liam Neeson continues the action star portion of his film career, could be fun, could be terrible.

My kids have been begging me to take them to the Lego movie.... so I will be seeing that one. I'm not expecting Pixar good, but hopefully it will be fun.

Quote :

About Last Night - Kevin Hart vehicle aimed at the same audience who went and saw Ride Along.

I just saw a billboard for this one on my way into work. The first thing that popped into my head was "Good Lord, now they are remaking 80's romantic comedies with all black casts?"

Please tell me I'm wrong.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Quote :

About Last Night - Kevin Hart vehicle aimed at the same audience who went and saw Ride Along.

I just saw a billboard for this one on my way into work. The first thing that popped into my head was "Good Lord, now they are remaking 80's romantic comedies with all black casts?"

Please tell me I'm wrong.

These movies are inexpensive to produce and make a TON of money.  Ride Along made double what the studio thought it would make in the first week of release.  As long as their is a substantial market for these films (and let's be honest, there aren't many films primarily targeted to that audience) they will continue to make them.

The Monument's Men looks to be awesome. Great cast in it.

In limited release (if you don't live in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or San Francisco you probably won't get to see it) is the new Simon Pegg comedy A Fantastic Fear Of Everything which looks a lot more interesting than any of the major studio films.

S.D. wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Quote :

About Last Night - Kevin Hart vehicle aimed at the same audience who went and saw Ride Along.

I just saw a billboard for this one on my way into work. The first thing that popped into my head was "Good Lord, now they are remaking 80's romantic comedies with all black casts?"

Please tell me I'm wrong.

These movies are inexpensive to produce and make a TON of money.  Ride Along made double what the studio thought it would make in the first week of release.  As long as their is a substantial market for these films (and let's be honest, there aren't many films primarily targeted to that audience) they will continue to make them.

Oh yea, I'm familiar with the Tyler Perry money-making phenominon. But that didn't answer my question. Is replacing 80's movies with all-black casts the latest trend in Hollywood? Can we look forward to urban re-makes of 'The Breakfast Club', 'When Harry Met Sally' or 'Weird Science' in the near future?

There is an all-black version of the musical Annie coming to theaters later in the year. Romantic comedies with all-black casts have been doing well for several years now (The Best Man's Holiday, etc) so it wouldn't surprise me if more remakes of 80s movies were on the horizon, lots of films in that genre in the late 80s.

Hell, if I worked at a major studio I'd green light all-black remakes of St. Elmos Fire, Pretty In Pink, etc. The studio already owns the rights to the material and you've got a target market for it, keep the costs low and they would probably all be profitable.

An all black cast version of The Sound of Music would be awesome!   

Stargate SG-1:  Season 7, disc 2.

I'm really tired of Osiris; let's get back to Anubis and Baal.

There were two I wanted to see: Monuments Men and Winter's Tale. Winter's Tale was not as awful as people say but you have to know what you are getting which is essentially a fairy tale movie. I found it equally charming and weak in different places which is a shame considering the cast (did I mention we need more Jennifer Connelly? Because we do). Now I need to see Monuments Men, maybe next week..

If you want more Jennifer Connelly I recommend Stuck In Love (2013), it's available on Netflix.

Okay, now that we've gotten past the Jan/Feb leftover dumping ground some of the bigger films will start coming out in the yearly wind-up to the summer movie season (which now starts in May).  

Here's a look at some of the multiplex titles and smaller fare coming out in March.  

March 7

300: Rise Of An Empire.  Another CGI-laden, testosterone-fueled sword & sandal fest, enjoy.  

Mr Peabody & Sherman.  Big-budget animated reimagining of the classic cartoon.  

The Grand Budapest Hotel (limited release).  A new Wes Anderson film?  Sign me up immediately. 

March 14

Need For Speed.  Yep, just what the world needed, a movie adaptation of the long-running video game series.  Somebody is hoping for Fast & Furious level business with this one.  Gear-heads should come out in droves. 

Bad Words.  Directorial debut of star Jason Bateman.  A firmly R-rated comedy, I'm looking forward the break from PG-13.

Tyler Perry's Single Mom's Club - no description necessary. 

Veronica Mars - This feature-film reboot of the beloved, canceled-too-soon TV series debuts exactly 1 year after they raised over $5 million on Kickstarter to get it produced.  I'll be at the theater on opening night for this one.  

March 21

Divergent - The big question right now is will this film become the next Hunger Games, or will it be yet another wannabe YA series that flops right out of the gate (just like last years Beautiful Creatures, The Host and The Mortal Instruments)?  Shailene Woodley is a star-in-the-making and will be the main reason to check this one out.

Muppets Most Wanted - Let's hope this one is better than the last.  

March 28

Noah - Director Darren Aronofsky and studio Paramount have been fighting over this film for almost half a year.  The studio kept making cuts without Aronofsky's input for screenings, Aronofsky fought back and the studio relented.  Now, they are fighting again over the marketing.  Aronofsky wants the film to stand on its own merit, Paramount is bending over backwards to kiss the ass of the Christian community (whose dollars they need to keep this one from flopping).  Aronofsky wanted to make a film inspired by the story of Noah, Paramount could care less about that, they just want the same people that paid to see Son Of God to fork over their money.  My prediction?  It's going to flop spectacularly, I think the Christian community will stay away because it's not a straight re-telling of the Biblical tale and I don't think anyone outside the Christian community could care less about it. 

Sabotage - Strap in for another Geri-Action film starring Ahnold.  Will this one be a hit like The Expendables or a flop like every other movie he's starred in for the past couple years?  I vote flop.

What was wrong with the last Muppets movie??

On the subject of Noah, I've been curious as to why Aronofsky didn't decide to take it independent after the whole Fountain debacle. Did he want too much budget that wasn't feasible with alternative financing?

corplhicks wrote:

What was wrong with the last Muppets movie??

On the subject of Noah, I've been curious as to why Aronofsky didn't decide to take it independent after the whole Fountain debacle. Did he want too much budget that wasn't feasible with alternative financing?

I thought the last Muppets movie was incredibly tired, it had moments here and there but I was really disappointed, especially considering the cast.  

Black Swan cost $13 million to produce.  Noah cost $130 million.  Very few people could get that kind of independent financing, Scorsese had to go that route for Wolf Of Wall Street and that one was $40 million cheaper to produce than Noah.  

If the Christian community turns out for Noah it will make a killing, if they don't, I think it will crash and burn spectacularly.

S.D. wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

What was wrong with the last Muppets movie??

On the subject of Noah, I've been curious as to why Aronofsky didn't decide to take it independent after the whole Fountain debacle. Did he want too much budget that wasn't feasible with alternative financing?

I thought the last Muppets movie was incredibly tired, it had moments here and there but I was really disappointed, especially considering the cast.  

Black Swan cost $13 million to produce.  Noah cost $130 million.  Very few people could get that kind of independent financing, Scorsese had to go that route for Wolf Of Wall Street and that one was $40 million cheaper to produce than Noah.  

If the Christian community turns out for Noah it will make a killing, if they don't, I think it will crash and burn spectacularly.

I'm curious what he's planning to spend all that money on, like does he really need it. Sure, it's somewhat of an end-of-the-world movie but there are ways he could be minimalist with the visuals and still arrive. Also is the cast A-list. Sounds like this is sort of a bad idea in the first place though. The atheist community will have no interest in this (the whole theory of Noah and the Ark is some of the most fictional mythology in the bible according to many) and if Aronofsky has his way, as you say, then fundies will throw rotten fruit at it.

Then again, build a bible movie and fundies will come.

I'm confused about people's opinions on Noah. I think a lot of people like Aronofsky and will be interested in seeing what he does with a bigger budget. How many people who have absolutely no interest in wrestling or ballet went to see The Wrestler and Black Swan, I think that if the reviews are good, the people will come, if only to answer that age old question of which animals were brave enough to sit next to the crocodiles!   

^^You know, you made me think about it, and I bet a big chunk of this movie is going toward the animals, whether they be (hopefully convincing) CG or actual animals with wranglers that need to be paid.

[Fun fact: the maggots in Hellraiser had their own wrangler]

S.D. wrote:

Okay, now that we've gotten past the Jan/Feb leftover dumping ground some of the bigger films will start coming out in the yearly wind-up to the summer movie season (which now starts in May).  

Here's a look at some of the multiplex titles and smaller fare coming out in March.  

March 7

300: Rise Of An Empire.  Another CGI-laden, testosterone-fueled sword & sandal fest, enjoy.  

Mr Peabody & Sherman.  Big-budget animated reimagining of the classic cartoon.  

The Grand Budapest Hotel (limited release).  A new Wes Anderson film?  Sign me up immediately. 

March 14

Need For Speed.  Yep, just what the world needed, a movie adaptation of the long-running video game series.  Somebody is hoping for Fast & Furious level business with this one.  Gear-heads should come out in droves. 

Bad Words.  Directorial debut of star Jason Bateman.  A firmly R-rated comedy, I'm looking forward the break from PG-13.

Tyler Perry's Single Mom's Club - no description necessary. 

Veronica Mars - This feature-film reboot of the beloved, canceled-too-soon TV series debuts exactly 1 year after they raised over $5 million on Kickstarter to get it produced.  I'll be at the theater on opening night for this one.  

March 21

Divergent - The big question right now is will this film become the next Hunger Games, or will it be yet another wannabe YA series that flops right out of the gate (just like last years Beautiful Creatures, The Host and The Mortal Instruments)?  Shailene Woodley is a star-in-the-making and will be the main reason to check this one out.

Muppets Most Wanted - Let's hope this one is better than the last.  

March 28

Noah - Director Darren Aronofsky and studio Paramount have been fighting over this film for almost half a year.  The studio kept making cuts without Aronofsky's input for screenings, Aronofsky fought back and the studio relented.  Now, they are fighting again over the marketing.  Aronofsky wants the film to stand on its own merit, Paramount is bending over backwards to kiss the ass of the Christian community (whose dollars they need to keep this one from flopping).  Aronofsky wanted to make a film inspired by the story of Noah, Paramount could care less about that, they just want the same people that paid to see Son Of God to fork over their money.  My prediction?  It's going to flop spectacularly, I think the Christian community will stay away because it's not a straight re-telling of the Biblical tale and I don't think anyone outside the Christian community could care less about it. 

Sabotage - Strap in for another Geri-Action film starring Ahnold.  Will this one be a hit like The Expendables or a flop like every other movie he's starred in for the past couple years?  I vote flop.

Wow. There is not one film on that list that interests me at all. I guess I'm just that out of touch with today's movie scene.

007 wrote:

Wow. There is not one film on that list that interests me at all. I guess I'm just that out of touch with today's movie scene.

The only two films on the list that I plan on seeing in the theater are the limited release titles; Grand Budapest Hotel and Veronica Mars.  The big-budget fare I have no interest in.  I've seen enough sword and sandal epics, video game movies and dumb action fare to last me a lifetime.  

I plan on spending a lot less money watching movies this year, only a few of the upcoming summer blockbusters interest me.  With each passing year independent films are becoming just about the only ones I look forward to.

The Grand Budapest Hotel was EXCELLENT, very funny, visually stunning and highly recommended.

Will be catching Veronica Mars on Sunday this week.

If anybody goes and sees any of the big budget fare feel free to leave a review, there hasn't been a single major studio release yet in 2014 that I've wanted to see.

Took the kids to see Mr. Peabody and Sherman and it was better than expected - for the most part, it looked like a CGI version of the old shorts....

April is upon us which means the summer movie season is about to kick into high gear.  This month starts the flood of CGI-laden superhero epics, horror films and family-friendly CGI-animated films.  

I'm not even going to bother mentioning the independent films in this list any longer, unless you live in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco or Boston they probably won't play in a theater near you anyway.  

April 4th


Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  The second installment finds Captain American in present day and at odds with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tactics.  Black Widow tags along for the ride and series newcomers Robert Redford and Emily VanCamp (TV show Revenge) join the proceedings.  Advance reviews and word of mouth are excellent.  

April 11th


Oculus - hey, it's an R-Rated horror film!  I'm excited about this one, the trailer is uber-creepy and the film stars Doctor Who hottie Karen Gillan (Amy Pond).  Advance reviews are good.  



Rio 2 - sequel to the animated family hit. 


Draft Day - Kevin Costner stars as the manager of the Cleveland Browns in this football dramedy from director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), also starring Jennifer Garner. 

April 16:

Heaven Is For Real - 2014 seems to be the year Hollywood aggressively goes after the Christian box office dollar.

April 17:

Transcendence - The first big budget sci-fi feature of 2014 starring Johnny Depp and Rebecca Hall.  This one looks interesting enough that I'll probably catch a matinee showing  



April 18


Haunted House 2 - just what the world needed, another Wayans-produced schlock comedy.  

April 25th


The Other Woman - R-Rated female comedy starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton. 

The Quiet Ones - British supernatural film from legendary Hammer Pictures, starring Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel).  



Brick Mansions - Action film starring the late Paul Walker (his last completed role).