A few festivals are certainly going to play Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming Oscar hopeful ‘The Master’, the question is simply…which ones? He only took ‘There Will Be Blood’ to Fantastic Fest a few years back, and The Playlist is reporting here that it’s looking somewhat likely that PTA will be back there again this year. Will it be the only place that the film plays before its release in October? Well, that remains to be be seen, but after the jump we can discuss that a bit more. Either way, audiences will be seeing this film very shortly somewhere, and that’s certainly a good thing. Read on below for more…
In light of the recent tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, the studios have been hesitant to release the box office results from this past weekend. Obviously, there are far greater things to be concerned with than the amount of money a studio has made on their latest release and everyone’s thoughts and prayers remain with those deeply affected by this terrible and senseless act. But alas, it is the nature of this business to report on such things, and so here we are. I’ll keep things brief this week.
We’ve been given a few new clips from Disney’s upcoming family drama, Let it Shine, directed by Paul Hoen, to present to you. Disney’s synopsis for Let it Shine:
Celebrating family and friendship, the story unfolds in Atlanta, Georgia, as Cyrus DeBarge (Tyler James Williams) and his best friend Kris McDuffy (Trevor Jackson) reunite with their childhood friend, teenage singing sensation Roxanne “Roxie” Andrews (Coco Jones), whose music label is sponsoring a songwriting contest at a teen club. Cyrus, who writes music under the name “Truth,” crafts a heartfelt and contest-winning rhyme about Roxie but to his dismay, his work is mistakenly attributed to Kris. Lacking the confidence to step forward, Cyrus stands by while Kris not only takes credit for the lyrics, but ultimately begins to win Roxie’s heart too. Now, it’s up to the true poet to overcome self-doubt, seize the opportunity to reveal his authentic self, and pursue his dreams.
Frank Pierson wrote several memorable screenplays over the span of his life (including my personal favorite of his, Cool Hand Luke), but will most likely always be remembered best for his Oscar-winning script for Dog Day Afternoon. The three-time Academy Award nominee died of natural causes at the age of 87.
Before I even begin diving into my review of the closing chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, it should be made clear to everyone reading that I liked The Dark Knight Riseswell enough for a qualified endorsement. It’s a mostly fun, even rousing action spectacle that contains some truly breathtaking visuals (IMAX is really the only format to experience this in) and builds to a fairly satisfying conclusion; in other words, a good movie.
But it is most definitely not a great one, and I have to admit being astonished at the level of gushingenthusiasmfrommycolleagues. The film suffers from serious story structure and pacing problems, an honorably attempted but ultimately dull main villain, and tries to bring up a number of topical observations of contemporary events that end up being threadbare at best and disturbingly reactionary at worst.* None of these flaws outright sink the movie, but they do bring it down below the level of Batman Begins, far below the level of The Dark Knight and, perhaps most disappointingly, ends up with Nolan ultimately failing to live up to his promise of staking out a truly new form of superhero epic.
As beautiful a film as any that I’ve seen so far in 2012, ‘Ruby Sparks’ is a small miracle of a movie, and for a while my favorite of the year (I’d felt this way since I saw it back in June, but have been under embargo until now and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has since just ever so slightly stolen that mantle, though in another week or so I might change my mind, so stay tuned there). A cross between the Greek myth of Pygmalion and the films ‘Harvey’ and ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, there’s really nothing not to like about this flick, which features one of the most ingenious screenplays in years. Not only does this movie establish writer/star Zoe Kazan a future A-lister both in terms of acting (like I’ve been saying for a couple of years now) and writing, it also showcases filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris escaping the sophomore jinx in spectacular fashion. For my money, this fantastical romantic fantasy is even better than ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ (which I loved). From the stellar direction by Dayton and Faris to the brilliant script by Kazan to the performances by Kazan and Paul Dano, nearly everything about this movie is flawless. Equal parts humorous, heartbreaking, and heartwarming, this has something for everyone. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be moved. I hope Oscar notices this little gem, as it’s worth of a few Academy Awards. I’ll be doing my part to raise awareness on the the film since frankly, it just deserves it.
We finally know what film will start off the Venice Film Festival this year, and go figure…it wasn’t any of the high profile ones that we were expecting. The Playlist is reporting here that Mira Nair’s new movie ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ has been tapped as the Opening Night film. I can’t say this flick was on my radar whatsoever, but that’s certainly changed now. After the jump you can see a pretty detailed summary of the plot, and it sounds pretty interesting, if possibly a little overly political (not that a politics junkie like me is complaining at all). Could it be an awards player? Time will tell, but I’ll definitely have my eyes on it. See below for more…
There’s a decent amount of Oscar buzz surrounding Ang Lee’s forthcoming adaptation of the book ‘Life of Pi’, as there is with any film of his. It’s still somewhat a mystery to a lot of people by and large, but those who have gotten a taste have seemingly been hooked. A new bit of marketing for the film has hit today in the form of a Poster, which you can see in all of its simple yet elegant glory after the jump. I don’t fully know if it’s going to be an awards contender or not just yet, but it’ll likely have some very memorable visuals. I’d pretty much bank on that, if nothing else. Check out the Poster below and see for yourself…
The sequel to the truly dreadful much maligned film X-Men Origins: Wolverine has found it’s villains in Will Yun Lee and Brian Tee – The Hollywood Reporter
A few festivals are certainly going to play Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming Oscar hopeful ‘The Master’, the question is simply…which ones? He only took ‘There Will Be Blood’ to Fantastic Fest a few years back, and The Playlist is reporting here that it’s looking somewhat likely that PTA will be back there again this year. Will it be the only place that the film plays before its release in October? Well, that remains to be be seen, but after the jump we can discuss that a bit more. Either way, audiences will be seeing this film very shortly somewhere, and that’s certainly a good thing. Read on below for more…
