[Trailer] Foxcatcher
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When Channing Tatum first came onto the scene with Step Up, I wasn't quite sure how I felt. So, okay, the dude could dance and look pretty, but was their any more potential? Since the film, I feel as if he's an actor that has really stepped up his game in the market. As a writer who attempts comedy on the occasion, I have this newfound understanding of how difficult it is to get others to laugh. My respect for Tatum was formed with 21 Jump Street and was even more emphasized with its sequel, 22 Jump Street. (If you're questioning my judgement because of Magic Mike, please keep in mind that Matthew McConaughey still won an Oscar after that terrible film.)
Now, throw in some names like Steve Carrell and Mark Ruffalo alongside Tatum, and my interest in a film may be peaked. Foxcatcher does just that. Based on true events, the film shares the story of two champion wrestlers and their relationship with an oddball millionaire. Wealthy heir John du Pont (Carrell) invites Olympic Gold Medal Winning wrestler Mark Schultz (Tatum) to move onto his estate and work to build a team to train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics in his personal training facility. Schultz immediately seizes this opportunity in the hopes of being able to step out of the shadow of his brother, Dave (Mark Ruffalo). Du Pont sees this opportunity to coach and train a team as one to gain the respect of his peers and his own mother who looks down on him (Vanessa Redgrave).
Directed by Bennett Miller, a man with directing credentials for both Moneyball and Capote, this is a film that for sure looks worth a viewing. It will be in theaters November 14, 2014.
[Trailer] God's Pocket
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Philip Seymour Hoffman was a man of so much talent, and his unexpected death was one that shook not just those involved in Hollywood, but also fans around the world. With a variety of works under his belt ranging from the acclaimed Capote to the successful Hunger Games, he has displayed his large range of capabilities and thus capturing the attention of people everywhere. While the great actor may no longer be here to create new works, he has left a few films behind that have yet to be viewed. He will appear in Anton Corbijn’s thriller A Most Wanted Man later this year, but first he will be featured in John Slattery’s latest drama God’s Pocket along with John Turturro.
Based on the novel by Pete Dexter and including Christina Hendricks, the film features Hoffman as Mickey Scarpato, a man who works to cover up his stepson’s death by claiming it as a “construction accident.” While the cast is excellent and the trailer looks great in my opinion, those who saw the film at Sundance, including RH’s very own Geoff, say it's a film that isn’t quite sure which direction it wants to take. It is still managing to pull a large amount of interest from critics, though, and I hope that it has been improved a bit since its shaky Sundance debut.
Whether you are a fan of Hoffman or not, I think that this would be a film worth checking out. It arrives in theaters on Friday, May 9, 2014.
[Trailer] Palo Alto
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High school is certainly a time full of hormonally driven decisions and rebellious actions. There is this need to be full of angst yet a simultaneous desire to have complete affection. However, this angst can sometimes lead a teen to getting into too much trouble, whereas the need for affection can have one befriending a box of Kleenexes and a tub of Ben & Jerry's. It definitely isn't the easiest time for anyone, even when one seems to be succeeding pretty well. These multiple emotions that many feel throughout four short years are attempted to be captivated in dozens and dozens of films. While my own personal favorites are from the 80's generation, there are countless others made in recent years like Mean Girls, Juno, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower that take a bold stance on the controversial issues that American high schoolers face. Palo Alto is the latest film that will be taking on this challenge, covering the issues of teacher-student scandals and teenage rebellion.
Starring James Franco, Emma Roberts, Val Kilmer, and Nat Wolff, this dark drama covers a the lives of a few teens with the desire to find trouble. Roberts plays April, a 14 year old who just wants to feel love from a significant other who seems consistently disappointed by Kilmer's character Stewart's ignorance. However, Franco's character, Mr. B, sees this in April and is suddenly a bit more interested in being just her soccer coach and teacher. Simultaneously, Stewart is trying to make a better image for himself but is finding it difficult with the poor influence of his friend Fred (Wolff). The story lines appear to intertwine in order to make a film with just about as much complexity as that period in life is for all who experience it.
I must say, it's been awhile since a trailer had me so pumped up to go to the movies, but I'm eagerly anticipating this release. Franco and Roberts are two of my favorite performers, and I hope that it turns out as great as I'm hoping it to be. The latest film written and directed by Gia Coppola will be in theaters May 9, 2014.
[RH Review] The Spectacular Now
I'll admit something: When I saw the first trailer for The Spectacular Now, I said, "The Spectacular Now is indie film bait with the common trope of self-discovery, coming of age themes, but that’s exactly what I’m attracted to." After watching the film, I can confirm that I was only half-right. Spoiler alert: The Spectacular Now wowed me in a way I haven't been wowed in a very long time. Allow me to try to find the words to convey exactly why.
http://youtu.be/0dCfbBwFI2Y
The Spectacular Now
Director: James Ponsoldt
Rating: R
Release Date: August 2nd, 2013 [NY and LA]
Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is the popular class clown that everybody can't help but like. He's the life of the party, has an equally popular and awesome girlfriend, Cassidy (Brie Larson), and truly embraces living for the now. However, when Cassidy breaks up with him, Sutter's life begins to change, although not in the way you'd expect. After a long night of drinking, a girl from his class, Aimee (Shailene Woodley), finds him sprawled across a yard on her newspaper route. What began as a budding friendship becomes something more as Sutter's attempts to essentially mentor and guide Aimee transition into a deeper connection that Sutter might not be able to comprehend.
Behind the jokes and public facade, Sutter has a dark side to his life that can serve as a bit of a warning to audiences. Despite being only 17, Sutter is a budding alcoholic always seen with a flask full of whiskey. The characteristic defines his actions, sure, but the point doesn't come heavy-handed by director James Ponsoldt (Shamed) or screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber ([500] Days of Summer). The Spectacular Now can be seen as a warning against underage drinking or alcohol dependency, but it never feels like an outright propaganda-filled activist statement. Rather, it's understated and subtle, or as subtle as it can be every time Sutter takes a drink out of his super-sized "big gulp" or flask.
When Sutter and Aimee get together, and she begins to pick up on his habit, I kept worrying about where it would lead. The tension was never overbearing, but I had the chilling feeling that something would happen, and it wouldn't be good. It wasn't too dissimilar from the suspense in horror films, but at least in those films, you know for a fact something's coming; in an independent drama, you don't know when, if, or how that "something" would come. This foreboding notion not only helped humanize Sutter and Aimee, but it also makes you actually care for these characters, and what's more important for a film than an audience empathizing and connecting with them?
There are some common tropes in the film, such as father-son dynamics, popular boy falling for a not-so-popular girl, relationship drama as a narrative crux, and the obvious "coming-of-age" epiphany that characterizes the genre. However, such tropes and cliches are tropes and cliches because they're taken from real life, and sometimes I forget that. The Spectacular Now featured real characters who, for better or worse, find themselves in these situations because they're real situations that we have or will find ourselves in.
As I walked out of the theater and reflected over the film, all I could think about was just how right it felt. Sure, I'm biased, because it truly played to my film interests, but it did everything right and what I love in independent dramas. Ponsoldt, Neustadter, and Weber wanted to create a high school film that was devoid of everything that "high school films" have become, reintroducing a level of reality to a film that isn't reliant on an overbearingly dark drama or sophomoric shenanigans. Honestly, Films like The Spectacular Now truly affirm why I've dedicated an extensive period of my life towards covering films.
[Trailer] Cold Comes the Night
While Bryan Cranston's magnificent turn in Breaking Bad is set to end later this year, his newfound badassness will continue in Cold Comes the Night. When a motel owner (Alice Eve) comes across a bag of money, a Russian gangster (Cranston) threatens her and her daughter if the money isn't returned. The seemingly cliched/generic film might find some traction with Cranston's name attached... as well as his Russian accent. Seriously, the highlight of the trailer is Cranston saying, in his evil supervillain Russian accent, "I will put bullet in your little girl's ear."
There's no confirmed US release date, but Cold Comes the Night will hit UK theaters on September 20th.
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[via Total Film]
[Trailer] A Single Shot
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Sam Rockwell (Moon) stars in the upcoming drama/thriller A Single Shot, directed by David M. Rosenthal. Rockwell stars as a hunter who accidentally shoots a woman in the woods. However, when he checks on her, he finds a box filled with money. He then uses the money for selfish reasons, such as hiring a crooked lawyer to help with a divorce suit against his wife. Of course, it turns out the money's dirty as a group of criminals come after him for the stash of cash.
The mood is tense, which should be a good return to his Moon form. A Single Shot will be in theaters September 20th, but preceded by a VOD release on August 20th.
David M. Rosenthal’s neo-noir thriller starts with a bang: a single shot, aimed at a lone deer, that hits and kills a young woman. The hunter, John Moon (Sam Rockwell, SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS), watches her die before discovering a box of money near her body. In a desperate panic, he takes the cash — hiring a low-rent lawyer (William H. Macy, FARGO) to fight his wife’s (Kelly Reilly, FLIGHT) divorce suit — and attempts to cover up the killing. But when he discovers that the money belonged to a group of hardened criminals, the hunter becomes the hunted in this tense cat-and-mouse struggle in the backwoods of West Virginia.
[Trailer] Prince Avalanche
http://youtu.be/ewpjHDZzT7A
Prince Avalanche serves as writer/director David Gordon Green's return to the independent comedy drama genre. Following his last directed film, The Sitter, Prince Avalanche stars Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man) and Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) as Alvin and his girlfriend's brother, Lance, respectively, during a summer spent painting traffic lines on a highway. While the two don't initially get together, they begin to warm up to one another as time passes. It's definitely a character-driven film that balances drama with comedy.
Don't let Green's recent films fool you: his dramatic films (Undertow, Snow Angels) are a lot better than his comedy films(Pineapple Express, The Sitter). And while Rudd is primarily known as a comedy actor, he definitely has the chops for drama; on the same hand, Hirsch's best role to date was in his award-winning film, Into the Wild.
Prince Avalanche should definitely be on your "to-watch" lists when it hits theaters on August 9th.
[Trailer] Jobs
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Last year, when Ashton Kutcher was announced to portray the late Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, many met the news with mixed reactions. After all, with Kutcher best known as a wayward ladies man in That 70's Show, it's no surprise that his attachment to the film wouldn't be well-received. With this first trailer released, Jobs is looking a bit iffy. Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, the film covers a four decade span of Jobs' life with a focus on some of the landmark achievements during his illustrious career.
Its Sundance premiere earlier didn't receive a great response, but there should still be appeal for the Apple crowd. I feel mixed about the film myself, especially given the mixed tone of the trailer that is desperate to leave an emotional mark on viewers. And while I have nothing against Kutcher, I just can't dive into this without being able to separate him from Steve Jobs, which is never a good sign for a film, biopic or otherwise.
We can all take a bite out of Jobs when it hits theaters on August 16th.
[via Yahoo]