Review: 'Midway', Roland Emmerich's WWII Film Gets Torpedoed By Bad Acting, Worse Writing

Midway is exactly the war film you would expect from disaster movie peddler Roland Emmerich. For some, that it's big, dumb, and has more explosions than characters you give a damn about will be seen as a plus, just as many feel the same way about Michael Bay movies. You don't show up to an Emmerich film expecting authenticity, which makes the "Based on True Events" header a joke in itself, but nobody expects it to be quite so dull and badly acted, either.

Badly acted largely due to a cast who are given a cringe-worthy script from Wes Tooke devoid of anything that resembles human emotion. Not even actors the caliber of Patrick Wilson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, and Woody Harrelson can make heads or tails out of the rah-rah speechifying and expository statements they are forced to rattle off. Emmerich's take on the battle of Midway is about as retro as they come, using a scaled-down color palette and a heightened, almost superheroic tone similar to the bombastic war movies of a bygone era. It's an interesting choice to make and might have worked with a better screenplay that truly honored the sacrifices made by these real-life heroes.

In true Emmerich fashion, we're thrown into the action early as the Japanese launch the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor.  The devastation is massive; ships torn asunder, fires raging, as Japanese warplanes launch strafing run after strafing run like something out of Star Wars. In the midst of all this emerges hotshot Navy pilot Dick Best, and no that name isn't a joke. He's a real war hero, worthy of a much better performance than Ed Skrein can give him. Best wants to punch back immediately, but of course, he can't. Instead, he acts like a jerk while the higher-ups come up with a strategy for response.

After the carnage of the opening attack, the film slows down as intelligence is gathered leading up to the battle of Midway. Patrick Wilson plays Intelligence Officer Edwin T. Layton, who figures out early on where the Japanese will attack next, but has to convince his superiors, including Woody Harrelson as Admiral Chester Nimitz, that the divisive code-breaking tech he's using is sound. None of this stuff is compelling in the least. There's a hint of an underdog story as Layton tries to get Washington to support his theories, but it doesn't really go anywhere. Meanwhile, other characters are introduced who serve little purpose. Dennis Quaid's Vice Admiral William "Bull" Halsey is around long enough to bark a few orders before being shuffled off with a case of shingles (!?!?), Nick Jonas plays an easygoing soldier who doesn't really care about anything, and whole lot of other actors with mustaches who fail to make much of an impression. Tooke's screenplay identifies them all by whatever their singular trait might be. "He's the man who tried to warn us!", greets Layton. "He's the best pilot we've got!" is about the only thing good anybody has to say about the appropriately-named Best. Don't go looking for too much from the female characters, either, one of which is played by Mandy Moore. As Best's long-suffering wife, she exists to make sandwiches late at night and worry about his safety.  Moore is given little from Skrein to connect with emotionally and he is especially terrible during their scenes together.

Midway deserves credit for offering an even-handed look at the Japanese, as well. A tremendous amount of time is dedicated to capturing their side of the conflict, and how their code of honor clashes with the overconfidence they bring into every fight. It's not quite Letters from Iwo Jima level, but I found the look at Japanese war culture to be fascinating and deserving of even more time.

But at least the action is good, right? Well, sure, as long as you aren't expecting realistic aerial dogfights or naval combat. This is video game-level stuff, with some slick CGI visuals that you can tell Emmerich squeezed every bit of that $100M budget to get. If this is all you came for, you might be disappointed there isn't more, as two major setpieces are about all you get. Unfortunately, it's all the stuff in-between that torpedoes Midway from being all it could be.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Read More

'Midway' Trailer: Roland Emmerich Enlists Nick Jonas And Ed Skrein As WWII Fighter Pilots

In Roland Emmerich's old school WWII movie Midway, Ed Skrein stars as Navy pilot Dick Best.  It's the kind of name that only works if you're a Pornhub superstar or good ol' American fighter pilot in a movie about one of the great war's most decisive battles.

The battle of Midway has been depicted on the big screen many times, most notably in the 1976 movie aptly-titled Midway. Probably if you added up the budgets of them all they wouldn't come close to Emmerich's $100M behemoth, which looks as if it shares DNA with the aerial battles in Star Wars. I'm not complaining, but also don't expect strict adherence to the historical record.

Joining Skrein in the cast are Woody Harrelson, Mandy Moore, Luke Evans, Patrick Wilson, Aaron Eckhart, and Nick Jonas who looks to be the primary hero as aviator Bruno Gaido. He's also one of the few characters who doesn't appear to be based on a real person. Yep, Dick Best is an actual dude.

Midway opens on November 8th.

Read More

'Angel Of Mine' Trailer: Grief-Stricken Noomi Rapace Believes Another Woman's Child Is Hers

Some advice to parents: naming your daughter "Lizzie" is never a good idea. In the upcoming thriller Angel of Mine, Noomi Rapace plays yet another in a long line of unhinged folks named Lizzie, this one who believes another woman's child really belongs to her.

As seen in the new trailer, Rapace stars as a grieving mother whose pain turns to obsession when she spies the daughter of a neighbor, played by Yvonne Strahovski, and comes to believe the little girl is her own. Luke Evans shows up as Lizzie's ex-husband, who is about to take her other child in a custody battle, helping to trigger the woman's descent into madness.

The film is directed by Kim Farrant with a script co-written by Lion screenwriter Luke Davies and David Regal. Interestingly, Farrant's previous film was 2015's Strangerland starring Nicole Kidman, which dealt with a mother whose two children suddenly vanish. Seems Farrant has found a subject of interest and is sticking close to it.

Angel of Mine will have its premiere at the Melbourne Film Festival, before hitting theaters and VOD on August 30th.

Read More

Review: 'Anna', Luc Besson Keeps Trying To Recapture That 'La Femme Nikita' Magic

I so wanted to like Anna. Really. Luc Besson is among my favorite filmmakers, despite his weaknesses as a storyteller, cultural insensitivity, and fondness for casting supermodels who can't really act. Wait...maybe those are reasons why I like him?  He's been doing the same thing for so many years we're stunned when he does anything different. But Anna is not different. It's the same. The same as numerous hot chick assassin movies Besson has done in an attempt to recapture what he found with 1990's iconic La Femme Nikita, and then momentarily rediscovered with 2014's Lucy.

There is, of course, a visceral reaction to watching a sexy killer mow her way through a bunch of armed goons, always dudes, mind you. But it's fleeting if there isn't more the story grapples with. It's Besson's idea of female empowerment, I guess, although the way his camera leers on his muse du jour, in this case Russian supermodel Sasha Luss, it sticks much closer to objectification. Luss, who Besson discovered and gave a tiny role in his mega-blockbuster flop Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, plays the titular junkie whose analytical skills, calm under pressure, and outright desperation makes her the perfect KGB recruit. These things always start off with the woman in question being either a junkie or a whore, so they can be rescued and turned to a life of murder-for-hire, which seems like an upgrade from their previous predicament.

To the film's benefit, the tables have been turned a little in that Anna is stuck in a war between governmental spy agencies in 1990. Recruited by an intense KGB spook named Alex (Luke Evans), Anna is given a choice to either serve her country or go on living in squalor. She proceeds to slit her own wrists rather than make a choice, followed by a hilariously long-winded conversation while she bleeds out. He wins her over, eventually, and before long she's in Paris posing as a supermodel (stretch those wings!!) while working for a Russian assassin ring led by the cutthroat Olga, played by the great Helen Mirren styled to look like Linda Hunt with much the same ornery attitude.  Of course, this being a Besson film he has a certain dismissive idea of the CIA, led by a bored-looking Cillian Murphy (bored until he's in a tight space with Luss, that is, then he perks up), who show up and make Anna's life very complicated.

So Anna is another in a long line of statuesque beauties with pouty lips and deadly aim. And Anna does kill a lot of men, usually set to whatever track Besson thinks is appropriate for the era, although a murder set to INXS's "Need You Tonight" is a definite odd choice. However, if you want a dose of C&C Music Factory, you'll get it here. There's nothing here that keeps you gripped with suspense, no subtext, nothing. Frequent leaps in chronology to explain major plot twists may seem like a cool idea at first, until you realize it means nothing truly matters because of it. If it were used sparingly, that would be one thing, but quickly it becomes a narrative crutch that Besson leans on for the entire movie.

The action is standard and not up to par in today's John Wick/Atomic Blonde era. Besson hasn't improved on his techniques in the least, and I don't hold Luss responsible for the bland fight choreography. She's actually got a fair amount of charisma, athleticism, and isn't untalented as an actress. But this is a Besson script, and he has never been able to create another female superstar since Milla Jojovich back in the '90s. His lead females are all empty vessels, and sadly he only sees women as either seductresses or objects of desire. Mirren's character explicitly lays this out at one point, calling Anna "useful as a honeytrap" and nothing. It's like Besson is speaking through her. I would say Luss is deserving of better, and maybe in a future movie she'll get it. But if Besson comes calling proposing Anna 2: The Revenge, she should politely refuse.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Read More

Review: 'Murder Mystery', Adam Sandler And Jennifer Aniston's Whodunnit Is No Killer Comedy

     

Netflix has become a haven for films that would fall flat on the big screen. Most comedies on the streaming platform could be categorized as such, though a few have their merits. Murder Mystery,the latest collaboration between Netflix and Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions, definitely can be described as the former. Though parts of the film will get a few laughs, Murder Mystery fails to be a killer comedy. 

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston star in this caper comedy as the Spitz’s, stuck in marriage rut, looking to spark things up.  Sandler plays Nick, a cop who, out of obligation, takes his wife Audrey (Aniston) on a long over due honeymoon to Europe. He is lying to Audrey about many things, including how this vacation is being paid for and failing his detective’s exam.  While on the plane, Audrey meets Charles Cavendish, an heir with a broken heart and major uncle issues as his ex fiancé left him and married his uncle Malcolm (Terence Stamp) for his fortune. After being invited on Malcolm’s boat by Charles and meeting a whole array of characters, Audrey and Nick are witness to fine food, drink, accommodations and murder.  With millions of dollars on the line and many heirs gunning for their inheritance, everyone on the boat becomes a suspect, including the couple. As they race across the Mediterranean to prove their innocence, people from that fateful night keep getting murdered, forcing the Spitz’s to solve the murders and their marriage. 

Aniston and Sandler are subtly charming with what they are given, with Sandler pulling back from his normally over the top characters into a subdued New York cop. This might be the most “straight man” we have ever seen Sandler, as the cop, as well as a full blown caterpillar mustache, suits him. Aniston plays his tired but sweet wife, who loves murder mysteries and just wants to take an over due vacation with her husband. The subdued and curmudgeonly Sandler has a few good one liners and as usual Aniston bounces off of him pretty well.

The real wasted potential falls with the rag tag team of suspects. Adeel Akhtar (The Big Sick), John Kani (Black Panther), and Luis Gerardo Méndez (Netflix’s Club de Cuervos) are severely underused and play into the borderline offensive racial portrayals of a Happy Madison production. For example, Méndez’s character cannot speak any English and Akhtar’ character has a moment where he can’t “perform.” They could receive a pass because these traits could just be applicable to the characters and not to the cultures they come from, however it doesn’t always sit well given recent strides and demands for better racial representation.  

Luke Evans, who still seems to be looking his star-making performance, falls into the background as the mysterious and scorned nephew of the victim and the ex-fiancé of his uncle’s new wife. Like the rest of the cast, he isn’t given much to work with and seems underused. I normally really gravitate toward Gemma Arterton’s (Their Finest) performances, but as a vapid actress, she fell flat. Her storyline felt strung together at the last minute and parts overacted. 

Despite some solid lines and comedic moments, the film feels sleepy, like its not awakened to its full potential. Like any Happy Madison production, it relies on archetypes of the genre, though not as heavily as its previous films. This means that instead of creating in-depth characters, stereotypes for comedic effect will have to do. None of the suspect’s backstories are really explored in a memorable way, which is a shame as it would pull the audience into the story more than the stale marriage of Sandler’s and Aniston’s characters. That’s really all the emotional depth the film has to offer, but there are a few solid comedic moments anchoring it. As a summer flick it’s pretty mindlessly enjoyable, but that’s what we’ve come to expect from Sandler and Happy Madison. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Read More

Review: ‘Ma’, Octavia Spencer Chomps Scenery Awesomely In Blumhouse's High School Horror

It doesn’t take much to be sold on the idea of Ma.  Blumhouse movie…check.  Dumb teenagers literally going to the monster’s house…check.  A crazy person with loneliness issues that can turn homicidal in a second… check.  On the surface, this seems just like any B-movie grindhouse horror from years ago.  But Ma actually surprises and proves to be a big deal of fun.

Borrowing heavily from Single White Female, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and even A Nightmare on Elm Street in an interesting way, Ma takes us to small-town America where Maggie (Diana Silvers) is moving from the West Coast with her mother (Juliette Lewis) back to her mother’s hometown after a divorce.  New to town, Maggie doesn’t have any friends besides her mother, but that quickly changes when she makes some new friends Haley, Andy, Chaz, and  Darrell (McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, and Dante Brown) who pretty much just want to hang out, drink, and do drugs.  After trying to get an of age person to help them buy liquor (and failing), they run into Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer), on a break from her job as an assistant veterinarian.  Sue Ann at first, refuses them, but then she decides to play ball and help the kids score some booze.  All seems well, right?

Turns out Sue Ann has a Facebook stalking problem, to the point where her boss (Allison Janney also having a bit of fun) has to constantly remind her to get back to work.  Showing why you should always make your profile private, Sue Ann quickly tracks the kids down and gives them a fun offer: come by her house in the middle of nowhere, where they can party in her basement worry-free.  Sue Ann, nicknamed “Ma” has only two rules, no taking the Lord’s name in vain, and never go upstairs to her main house.  Seems fun, right?

Like kids do, they share with friends about all the fun stuff happening at Ma’s, and her home becomes party central for the high school.  Slowly but surely, Ma’s attachment to the core group of kids is turning creepy, especially after a few of them venture upstairs to learn more of her.  This allows us to see a little in Ma’s dark and twisted psyche.  She’s not so much a monster in the sense of being born bad via a Jason, but instead made one through a very unfortunate thing that happened to her in her past a la Francis Dolarhyde.  Even when the kids try and break free from Ma, Ma’s just not ready to let them go.

The story written by director Tate Taylor and Scotty Landes, is somewhat simplistic and you can easily see where everything’s going halfway through the movie leading up to the big reveal.  However, Octavia Spencer elevates the film from just being a standard VOD quality plot to something enticing and compelling through her sheer presence and ability to flip from regular to motherly, to scorned and in pain, to psychotic, to straight up murderous seamlessly with almost no effort.  While the kids in the film go through the motions of a teen horror movie, it’s the adults who play a big role as well as Luke Evans, Missi Pyle, and Juliette Lewis are connected both to the young kids as well as to Ma which helps explain how she is the way she is.  Part of the problem with the film is not deciding if Ma is crazy because of her past, or the rejection of her new teenage friends.  It could probably be both, but the film keeps going back and forth between it being Ma’s past trauma or her present loneliness.

While having black woman lead of color can somewhat remind of 2017’s Blumhouse hit Get Out, race doesn’t really factor in this film except in very minor ways.  It’s almost as though the role of Sue Anne was colorblind and Spencer got it because everyone knew she was perfect for this role.  The real horror is high school and the lasting damage it can have on you.  Either way, Octavia shines as she carries out every emotion available in her surplus of skills.  Director Tate Taylor (who worked with Spencer on The Help ) continues to delve deeper in the thriller territory after The Girl on the Train with Ma shows he can play in this territory, and not just cheap jump scares (although there are a few).  Thanks to some good performances (and one exceptional), Ma is one fun thrill ride that rises above its script and gives you your fill.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Read More

'Anna' Trailer: Luc Besson's New Female Assassin Flick Stars Russian Supermodel Sasha Luss

Few directors know female-led action flicks better than Luc Besson, with films such as The Professional, La Femme Nikita, Lucy, and Colombiana to his credit. Besson took a big gamble on the expensive sci-fi flick Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets which looked gorgeous but bombed at the box office. Hey, they can't all be The Fifth Element.  Perhaps in a bid to recapture the $463M magic of Lucy, Besson is back with the similar-looking and similarly-titled Anna.

In the past Besson has favored casting gorgeous European models of questionable acting ability to be eye candy. He did it all the time with the Transporter movies. For Anna he has cast Russian supermodel Sasha Luss in the title role, and she definitely looks the part of a sexy femme fatale. Doubtful she's actually called on to do much emoting, which makes it fortunate she's surrounded by a cast that includes Helen Mirren, Luke Evans, and Cillian Murphy.

I'll admit to being a sucker for Besson's take on the chick flick, and this is one I'll be there for with bells on. But it's hard to escape how old-fashioned this movie looks in today's culture, and I wouldn't be surprised if this gets crushed stateside but does well in France where Besson is revered. It doesn't help that Besson has been mired in sexual assault allegations, guaranteeing that even fewer women will want to pay for this.

Anna hits theaters on June 21st, when it faces Toy Story 4. Oof.

Read More

'Ma' Trailer: Octavia Spencer Strikes Fear In Blumhouse's Latest Horror

Octavia Spencer and director Tate Taylor are childhood friends, and that friendship has extended into their Hollywood careers, partnering up on both The Help and Get On Up. But who would've predicted their next collaboration would be in Ma, a new horror film from Blumhouse that casts Spencer as a domineering with rules you better not break.

In Ma, Spener plays a lonely woman who invites a group of underage teens into her home so they can drink, but she's got rules for when under her roof. Heaven forbid you break any of them. Looks like Ma enjoys some of the ol' drink herself, and she starts getting way deep into these kids' personal lives. Suddenly, "Welcome to Ma's" doesn't sound so inviting, especially when she starts going all Kathy Bates on her young guests.

I think with any other cast this would be just another movie to see and forget, but we could be talking about Spencer's performance the way people still talk about Toni Collette in Hereditary.

Also in the cast Juliette Lewis, Luke Evans, Missi Pyle, McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, Dante Brown, and supposedly Allison Janney is in here somewhere. Ma lets you into her home on May 31st.

Read More

'State Like Sleep' Trailer: Katherine Waterston And Michael Shannon Behave Badly In A Criminal Underworld

We've still got one more month of 2018 movies to contend with, but 2019 will be here soon, and the first legit flick of the new year has a new trailer. State Like Sleep opens January 1st, and with stars the caliber of Katherine Waterston and Michael Shannon it has the potential to start the year off hot.

Written and directed by Meredith Danluck, best known for her 2010 documentary The Ride, the film is a noir thriller about a widow who finds herself pulled into the criminal underworld while investigating her dead husband's past. We haven't had a ton of opportunity to see Waterston in a true lead role, so this will be a nice change of pace. Besides Shannon she'll be joined by Michael Huisman, Luke Evans, and Mary Kay Place.

There wasn't a ton of buzz after its premiere in Tribeca, but the reviews were solid. Waterston and Shannon may have pumped up my expectations higher than necessary, so here's hoping State Like Sleep impresses when it opens in theaters and VOD on January 1st.

Read More

Review: '10x10' Starring Luke Evans And Kelly Reilly

Luke Evans and Kelly Reilly both star in the thriller 10x10; a movie about a young woman named Cathy (Reilly) who is abducted in broad daylight by a man named Lewis (Evans) who then throws her into a secret 10x10, soundproof room in his home all in an attempt at uncovering a dark secret that she has tried for years to hide.

At the beginning of this movie I had hope. The filmmakers did a pretty good job of building suspense. From the background sounds to the visuals where we were able to see the danger that was lurking closely behind it all helped to create a sense of dread, fear, and helplessness within the viewer in knowing that harm is about to come to Cathy.

However, once she was kidnapped things took turn for the not so good. The movie after a certain point seemed to be more focused on showcasing incredibly frustrating fight scenes than actually having something meaningful to say/show. Cathy on more than one occasion was able to take control of the situation at hand, but because of stupid decisions that every thriller movie has to fall victim to her attempts are for nothing, if, but to further the plot. I understand that continuing the story is priority number one, but nothing grinds my gears more than when watching characters make stupid decisions especially on more than one occasion. It just seems really lazy to me and actually takes me out the experience of the movie.

Once it seemed as though the filmmakers realized that the fight scenes could only get them but so far and that what they had created up until that point was a movie that was void of any real purpose that that is when they said "ok, let's try to make this meaningful." Near the end of the film the filmmakers attempted to add in some kind of commentary on morality and the idea of right and wrong. The movie never explores this theme up until this point, so when it comes up it'll more than likely leave you more confused than provoking any kind of real thought.

By the end of the film you'll end up feeling pretty detached from the entire experience and I think that that can be chalked up to the fact that you won't be rooting for anyone when it's all said and done. I'm not the kind of person that believes that movies have to always follow a certain guideline when it come to its characters. Movies are (generally) based on individual stories which are based on, or at the least inspired by, real life and sometimes people in the real world are not good people; therefore, the stories aren't always going to be and shouldn't always be based on do-gooders.

With that being said, when it comes to characters, though you may not like them, agree with them, sympathize and/or connect with them one still needs to, at the least, be able to empathize with them; it's that empathy that helps the audience feel some kind of investment in their story to the point where you would like to see how it all ends. However, by the end of this movie you will not care for either Cathy or Lewis because you'll see that neither of them are honestly worth saving. Though, we find out their motivations through their sad background stories that brought them to this point because these characters are so foolish, selfish, stupid, and downright psychotic those character traits essentially undo any kind of empathy or remorse that could have been mustered up for them.

 This was a movie that had me fooled. It seemed like maybe, just maybe, I was getting something more than your run of the mill, predictable thriller, but that sadly was not the case. The filmmakers really dropped the ball on this one.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Read More

Josh Gad Recruits Daisy Ridley And Luke Evans For Superhero Comedy 'Super-Normal'

Josh Gad is making the most of the connections he's made in his most recent movies by recruiting them to star in his next one. Gad has sold to Netflix the rights to Super-Normal, a superhero comedy that promises to be different from what we normally get from the genre. Joining him in it will be his Murder On the Orient Express co-star Daisy Ridley, and Luke Evans, who he got to horse around with in Beauty and the Beast.

Gad wrote the film along with Aaron and Jordan Kandell, with THR describing it as " a character-driven subversive take on the genre that Hollywood and the rest of the world loves too much.”

Know what that sounds like? Kick-Ass. Or Super. I'm not sure this is the right time to go down that road again, but apparently the idea was strong enough to start a bidding war to obtain it. Even Disney got in on it. I'm surprised they didn't make more of an effort considering how much money they've made off Gad, Ridley, and Evans already.

Read More

Review: ‘Professor Marston And The Wonder Women’ Is Thought-Provoking And Scintillating, But Not Illuminating

It is honestly kind of a marvel that DC Comics is letting Professor Marston and the Wonder Women be released. In this year, when Wonder Woman is one of the only bona fide smashes at the box office, has dominated cultural conversation for months, and has proved once and for all that Chris Pine is the No. 1 Chris, it’s shocking that DC Comics is allowing Professor Marston and the Wonder Women to make its way to theaters. With all of its scintillating sexual content, context about the battled past of the Wonder Woman character, and positive presentation of polyamorous love, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is certainly a thought-provoking film experience—but it sure isn’t family-friendly.

Most glaring is the underdone character development, and it must be mentioned that writer and director Angela Robinson has said in interviews that there was no explicit documentation regarding a romantic relationship between Elizabeth Marston and Olive Byrne, who in the film are presented as being lovers for years. This is Robinson’s interpretation of the relationship between Wonder Woman creator Dr. William Mouton Marston and Elizabeth and Olive, and while it provides much of the film’s eyebrow-raising sexual content, if you want 100% historical accuracy, you won’t find it here. And anyway, that's not really the point. 

The film focuses primarily on the Marstons: William (Luke Evans) is a psychology professor at Harvard Radcliffe College, the women’s sister school to Harvard University that existed because the Ivy League at the time wouldn’t admit anyone but men, and Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) is his wife and research partner. She has a law degree and a master’s degree but Harvard University refuses to accept her into their PhD program, so she applies her deep intelligence and acerbic wit to her husband’s work.

They’re working on many things—a theory about human behavior that links together dominance and submission; an early version of the lie-detector test—but their married dynamic is mostly centered around William’s respect for his wife and Elizabeth’s resentment of social norms at the time. It’s a push-pull that is mostly defined by Elizabeth’s mercurial moods, and things only seem to get more intense when they meet Olive (Bella Heatcoate), a 22-year-old taking William’s psychology course. She applies to be the Marstons’s research assistant, and Elizabeth is immediately threatened, driving Olive to tears with her brusque “If you fuck my husband, I’ll kill you.”

Still, the attraction William feels for Olive is obvious to anyone, and as the three pursue their research together, a sort of kinship develops between them all. But Olive doesn’t return William’s lustful gazes—she’s doing some longing of her own toward Elizabeth. And through a series of events and altercations, including a spanking incident during a sorority pledging ceremony and an early version of the lie-detector test, there are admissions between the three that shape their lives to come, for better and for worse.

“What we want can never happen because the world won’t let it,” Elizabeth says, and that statement is underlined throughout the film when numerous parties, from Olive’s fiancé to suburban neighbors to family values groups, object to how William, Elizabeth, and Olive choose to live, and how their polyamory informs the creation of the Wonder Woman character. But while the film very effectively portrays the uphill battle the three of them faced when living their lives together, it is less successful in actually developing these characters fully on an individual basis and then growing them together as a romantic unit.

The film uses William’s defense of the Wonder Woman character before a review board as a framing device, and Evans is clearly the protagonist here; his research is the couple’s primary motivation, he’s the breadwinner in his marriage to Elizabeth, and he pursues Olive first. Practically everything centers around William, and it becomes repetitively disappointing that he is so often the one urging the women together. They can’t be honest with what they want unless he encourages them; they don’t tap into their sexual desires until he provides them with an outlet; they don’t realize their lifelong devotion to each other until he almost commands it. While the script solidly reiterates how the Wonder Woman character was born out of a desire to condition children into accepting and respecting strong women, it also focuses so much on William to the detriment of Elizabeth and Olive.

Does Olive have a defining characteristic aside from being submissive? If there is something, this film doesn’t uncover it. Heathcote is a striking figure in the corset, thigh-high boots, cuff bracelets, and coil of rope that would inform the Wonder Woman character design, but she’s given too little to do. She loves Elizabeth despite the woman’s constant undermining and belittling, and is defined only by her devotion to others, not herself. And the flip side of that is Elizabeth, who Hall excellently performs as a “grade-A bitch,” as William describes, but who is similarly problematically presented. She goes from being a foul-mouthed shit-stirrer and female warrior to a resentful and disgruntled secretary attacking everyone and everything around her, and while the movie makes clear how the patriarchy drove her to that point, that doesn’t legitimize her cruelty to her husband or to her lover. You can understand why someone would admire her, but not why they would love her.

The character shortcomings are most disappointing because the film is intentional in other ways that are impossible to ignore: the sex scenes are sensual without being exploitative; no character is objectified because of their gender; and the matter-of-fact handling of pornography and BDSM-inspired kink ensures that the movie isn’t titillating for the wrong reasons. But ultimately, it feels like Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is trying to do too much without quite enough; it is, by the filmmaker’s own admission, creating a narrative for which little historical data exists. And although the movie does a good job contextualizing Wonder Woman’s iconography and presenting a different kind of love story onscreen, it also cuts too many corners in its formulation to feel like the origin story this story truly deserves.  

RATING: 3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

Read More

Helen Mirren, Luke Evans, & Cillian Murphy Join Luc Besson's 'Anna' Cast

Luc Besson may be ready to forget the flop that was Valerian and move on to Lucy 2, but he's got a different action flick to get to first. At the same time as news of the Lucy sequel hit, we also learned of a $30M English-language film that was gearing up to shoot soon as part of Europacorp's new action/sci-fi mandate. And now we know the title will be Anna, and that it will reunite two castmembers from The Fate of the Furious.

Variety reports Helen Mirren, Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, and newcomer Sasha Luss will star in Anna, an action film produced by Besson's Europacorp and Lionsgate. Mirren played mama Shaw to Evans' Owen Shaw in The Fate of the Furious, and may do so again in future movies. The report isn't clear whether Besson will direct, but it's implied. That said, Besson is just as likely to simply oversee the project and hand it off to one of the stable of filmmakers under the Europacorp banner. 

Details on Anna remain a mystery but we know Luss will take on the title role.  The film is based on an original idea by Besson, who knows a thing or two about female-led action movies. Besides Lucy he also directed The Professional, La Femme Nikita, and The Fifth Element. The plan going forward is for Besson to have more creative control over Europacorp projects, although to be honest that has never been an issue. He either wrote or directed most of the company's biggest hits anyway, including Taken and The Transporter.

Read More

'Professor Marston & The Wonder Women' Trailer Teases Wonder Woman's Feminist Origins

Annapurna has launched a really smart marketing campaign for biopic Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. While it's been playing the festival circuit, they've also made the move to appeal to the comic book fans at San Diego and New York Comic-Con, which makes sense considering the film centers on William Moulton Marston, the man who created Wonder Woman. And this couldn't be a better time to push the campaign a bit further, with Gal Gadot hosting SNL and a new Justice League trailer out there.

A final trailer for Professor Marston and the Wonder Women continues to play up the story's sexy, unconventional, and feminist origins. Luke evans plays Moulton, a Harvard psychology professor who was inspired by the polyamorous relationship with his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) and their lover Olive (Bella Heathcote) to create Diana Prince, who would become one of the greatest heroes in comic book history. He took the best qualities of both women to create his ideal vision for the character. Marston is also credited with creating the lie detector test, so to say his life was unusual is an understatement. You can also imagine how controversial Marston's lifestyle was in the 1940s and '50s.

I'm really looking forward to this, as someone who has always felt Marston short-changed for his contribution to DC Comics. He should be mentioned in the same breath as Jerry Siegel, Joe Schuster, and Bob Kane, and maybe this film will help that to happen. Directed by Angela Robinson, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women opens October 27th.

Read More

Chadwick Boseman Is On A Mission In New Trailer For 'Message From The King'

When I look at Chadwick Boseman's career right now, I see a young Wesley Snipes. And I mean that in the best way possible. Like Snipes, he's already at the head of his own superhero franchise with the flat-out awesome looking Black Panther, making him the rare African-American to lead such a big studio project. But he's also filled out his resume with roles that show his range, like playing the most kick ass Supreme Court justice ever in Thurgood, and for a bit more there's Message from the King, which finds Boseman in revenge mode.

A new trailer for Message from the King has arrived, and while it didn't make much noise out of TIFF last year, Netflix saw enough in it to scoop it up. Perhaps they've been reading Black Panther's press clippings, too. The film stars Boseman as a simple man from South Africa, who arrives in the United States to find his missing sister. And that turns out not to be a simple thing at all.  Teresa Palmer, Alfred Molina, and Luke Evans co-star in what looks like a handy little noir-thriller, with Boseman looking particularly good here.

Netflix will debut Message from the King on August 4th.

Read More

Another Perfectly-Timed Trailer For 'Professor Marston & The Wonder Women'

Annapurna has not been shy about their marketing for biopic Professor Marston & the Wonder Women. The first teaser hit just as Wonder Woman was storming theaters, on the way to becoming DC Films' highest-grosser ever. And now this week as Comic-Con looms near, with expectations of more news about the Amazonian goddess, they've dropped a brand new trailer. Given the story's real-life ties to Wonder Woman's origins it's tough to blame them for this approach.

Directed by Angela Robinson (D.E.B.S.) the film stars Luke Evans as unconventional Harvard psychologist  Dr. William Moulton Marston, who is inspired by the women in his polyamorous relationship to create Wonder Woman. That's right. He also invented the lie detector. Homeboy led a life.  Bella Heathcote and Rebecca Hall play Marston's muses, whose traits he combined to create a hero that young girls could look up to. Connie Britton and Oliver Platt co-star.

Professor Marston & The Wonder Women opens October 27th, and I believe it will have some kind of presence at Comic-Con.  

Read More

Wonder Woman's Racy Origin In Teaser For Biopic 'Professor Marston & The Wonder Women'

This is how you make the best of another company's success. Following on the heels of Wonder Woman's stellar debut, Annapurna has debuted a brief teaser for a biopic you've probably never heard of, but tells the rather unusual true story of the comic book character's origin: Professor Marston & the Wonder Women.

Directed by Angela Robinson (The L Word) and starring Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote, Connie Britton, and Oliver Platt, the film centers on the remarkable life and career of William Moulton Marston. Marston was a Harvard psychologist who invented the lie detector and also created the Wonder Woman character, who he based on his wife Elizabeth and the other woman in his life, Olive, who was part of a polyamorous relationship before such things were cool. Trend-setter!!

The film opens later this year, but you can bet A24 is going to want to capitalize on Wonder Woman's success as much as possible.

Read More

Chadwick Boseman Delivers A Vengeful 'Message From The King' In New Trailer

Chadwick Boseman's going to be plenty busy with Avengers: Infinity War and a Black Panther solo film for the next few years, so it's good to see him in something else that doesn't involve superheroes, but gives him a chance to bone up on his African accent.

A new trailer for the neo-noir Message from the King has arrived, a revenge movie in which Boseman plays Jacob King. King arrives in Los Angeles from South Africa to locate his missing sister, only to learn that she's been killed. That leaves him with only a week to get revenge for her death. Teresa Palmer, Tom Felton, Natalie Martinez, Luke Evans, Alfred Molina, and Dale Dickey round out an excellent cast for Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz.

So far there's no U.S. release date but I imagine that will change soon because this looks pretty good.

Read More

Review: 'Beauty And The Beast' Starring Emma Watson And Dan Stevens

If your expectation for Disney's live-action remakes is that they be better than their animated predecessors, then disappointment will always surely follow. Cinderella, Maleficent, The Jungle Book, they all added modern sensibilities and of course pumped the CGI effects to new levels, but were they better than what we already knew? Yet somehow that expectation has been heaped on Beauty and the Beast, an almost unattainable goal considering the 1991 film was the first animated movie ever nominated for Best Picture.  Bill Condon, who has always been a director whose talents lean towards the decadent, nevertheless captures enough of the magic and enchantment of the original that millions of newcomers will fall in love with it. And that's really the point, isn't it?

Beauty and the Beast is practically a straight-up, word-for-word retelling of the tale most of us are already familiar with. It hasn't been moved into contemporary times, or given a modern spin, none of that. It's still set in an 18th-century provincial French town where the hard-working people look sideways (and sing entire songs about) the odd bookworm Belle (Emma Watson), who dreams of leaving her boring, sheltered life. She gets that opportunity when her father (Kevin Kline, still a treasure) is kidnapped by a Beast (Dan Stevens) living in a cursed castle deep in the forests, so deep it's an entirely different season there. When Belle goes to rescue him, she agrees to stay so her father can be freed.

"Never trust a book by its cover" is the fertile ground upon which this love story is built. Nobody is as they seem, with the exception of oafish, pig-headed brute Gaston (Luke Evans), who will stop at nothing to marry Belle. As for the Beast, turns out he's not such a bad guy despite being big, hairy, fangy, and occasionally screamy. He and Belle connect over their mutual love of books, and for being misfits to the outside world.  And when that outside world begins interfering in their developing love, it brings hatred and fear of "the other", with Gaston literally leading a crowd of torch-bearers to destroy that which they haven't tried to understand. Perhaps there's a modern metaphor to be found in all of this, after all, considering our current political climate.

It's the story you know with only a few changes, some minor and some that have a huge impact on the narrative. A lot has been made of Gaston's loyal sidekick Lefou (Josh Gad) being revealed as gay, but other than a few tweaks he's essentially played the same way. The biggest turn out to also be the darkest. A greater emphasis is put on the Beast's former household staff transformed into talking knick-knacks: Lumière (Ewan McGregor), Cogsworth (Ian McKellen), Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson), Maestro Cadenza (Stanley Tucci), Madame Garderobe (Audra McDonald), Plumette (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and Chip (Nathan Mack). If the Beast's curse isn't broken, not only will he be stuck as a creature forever, but they will essentially die. It raises the bar and there are some truly heart-wrenching scenes where they confront a bleak future as old rubbish, but it does seem unnecessarily gloomy for an overall hopeful story. We also see quite a bit more of the Beast's childhood, which includes an abusive, resentful father; and also learn more of Belle and what caused her to be the child of a single parent. Gaston, while still a source of egotistical comic relief early on, is also more deadly here than he ever was before, especially toward's Belle's father. That's how a screenplay that is basically lifted direct from Linda Woolverton's 1991 script somehow equals a 2-hour+ movie when it didn't before.

Every emotional beat, every sparkling romantic moment is as you remember it, brought to life with astonishingly beautiful production values that spring from the screen. If you thought everything in Cinderella looked like it was made out of wedding cake, or like it was lifted straight from a storybook, Beauty and the Beast is even better. The visuals are an almost slavish recreation of what came before, right down to the choreography on the many musical numbers. Every song works in the same way they did before, although some of the new ones leave much to be desired. It might've been a good idea to stick to the script in those cases. But the numbers work, and Kondon deserves credit for staging them in a way that doesn't have you missing the freedom animation offers. In particular, "Gaston" proves to be a lot of fun and allows Gad and Evans the opportunity to showoff their skills, honed for years on the theatre stage. Kline, too, is right at home, while Watson and Stevens don't measure up to their more-experienced counterparts.  It almost isn't fair to have ANYBODY else singing when you've got Audra McDonald cutting loose, and thankfully we get to hear a lot from her toward's the conclusion.

Where Watson and Stevens really shine is in the romance itself. Watson's Belle is smart, plucky, and capable of standing up for herself, and she can waltz with the best (or beast) of them. There's no attempt to recreate Belle or make her more contemporary and they don't really need to. Her qualities, and the transformative love she finds with the Beast, are and always will be timeless, just as Beauty and the Beast will remain timeless whether you think this remake needs to exist or not.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read More

Emma Watson and Dan Stevens Bring 'Beauty And The Beast' To Life In New Trailer

Of all the animated films Disney has fashioned into live-action remakes, Beauty and the Beast may be the most beloved. The 1991 movie was a smash hit, earning over $400M and becoming the first animated film to earn a Best Picture nomination, going along with its two wins. Can Emma Watson and Dan Stevens help lead this new version to similar heights? The latest gorgeous trailer suggests they may have a pretty good shot.

Watson's the Beauty and Stevens is the Beast in Bill Condon's film, and they're joined by Luke Evans, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, and Ian McKellen. The cast alone is among the best Disney has ever put together, but it looks tremendous, too. Here's the synopsis:

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic which refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within.

Beauty and the Beast opens March 17th 2017.

Read More