The last time Nicolas Cage and director Dominic Sena hooked up, we were treated to Gone in Sixty Seconds. Not a bad film, but hardly a great one set around the time when Cage seemed to be attached to every mid-level action flick out there. Season of the Witch is a January movie if there ever was one. It looks like a Lord of the Rings knock off; feels like a Lord of the Rings knock off; but will probably be best compared to something like
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
. Here's hoping this is just the first of many terrible, money grabbing flicks from Mr. Cage this year. My review of Season of the Witch can be found
here.
The female Crazy Heart? Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't seem like the ideal candidate to play a hard drinkin', hard lovin' country singer trying to make her big comeback. But if anybody has the versatility to pull it off, it's her, and we've heard her sing a few times before and homegirl can carry a tune. The ones to look out for are the young cats, Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund fresh from his blockbusting turn in Tron Legacy. Hopefully he found it easier to communicate with real people and not a green screen. My review of Country Strong is now up
here.
The MPAA showed their idiot colors by trying to slap a deathly NC-17 rating on this film, which would've deprived people the chance to see two of today's best all around actors, Ryan Goslng and Michelle Williams, at the absolute peak of their game. It's not as if there's sexual activity to the level we haven't seen in other, more mainstream movies. I think there's another reason. I think they were so caught off guard by the raw, painful emotion on display that they weren't quite sure how to treat it. Blue Valentine you to the crumbling marriage of Dean and Cindy, held together in the most fragile way by a desire to provide a stable home for their young daughter. Even that may not be enough. Director Derek Cianfrance focuses on this troubled relationship like a laser, taking us through their blissful first dates when the future was so promising. I'll put it out there now, this is a phenomenal film. Do whatever you have to do to make sure you see it. My review of Blue Valentine can be read
here.
