If you are reading this article hoping this will be the one page equivalent of what Entertainment Weekly and other monthly movie magazines do every September profiling the next fifty plus movies coming out between now and New Year's Day 2016, you may just have to look to such boring regurgitated periodicals to get all the scoop for such useless trivial information because this latest blog is not it!
Here are nine upcoming films I can justify seeing on the big screen provided I don’t suddenly decide to save my hard-earned money and wait for them to come out on disc or video-on-demand three or four months later.
"The Walk": “Welcome to New York. Anything to declare” asks the inspector. “I am going to hang a high wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center and walk on it,” says French high-wire artist Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). I admit before seeing the trailer the first thing I thought of was the possibility should I see the film was I would be depressed knowing that the World Trade Center is forever gone. I didn’t need to be reminded of what America lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and what continues to be rebroadcast every year by the news networks like CNN and MSNBC on 9/11’s anniversary. That was not the feeling I got seeing the trailer, however, as Oscar winning director Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump" – 1994) takes audiences back to 1974 when construction on the World Trade Center was just completed a year before. Instead of a gloomy pall hanging over the film (no pun intended) knowing what would happen barely thirty years later, we will instead get a front row seat in the theater the way New Yorkers had their eyes glued to the sky 110 stories up that day in August watching a man, who as Gordon-Levitt’s Petit says, “was always searching for the perfect place to hang his wire.” (9/30)
"Steve Jobs": I have yet to read author Walter Isaacson’s 600 plus-page biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs that was published a month after the visionary’s death in 2011. What I have heard over the years since his passing was that Jobs wasn’t exactly the nicest person to be around. If such is true, I won’t be surprised to see some of Jobs’ negative personality jump on the big screen in Aaron Sorkin’s script based on Isaacson’s book. Just don’t expect the same mammoth coverage that was done in print. According to imdb.com, Sorkin has said the film will consist of three 30-minute behind the scenes events involving Apple’s product launches in 1984, 1988 and 1998. The last movie Sorkin wrote the screenplay on based on Ben Mezrich’s book painted Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg into, as one of his lawyers told him at the end of "The Social Network" (2010), “You’re not an asshole, Mark. You’re just trying so hard to be.” I was probably the only one rooting for Jesse Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg who was sued by two Harvard graduates and his own best friend for supposedly stealing their idea. Rest assured I will do the same rooting for Jobs as played by Michael Fassbender. Sometimes you have to be a complete jerk to get what you want accomplished. There is a saying for those who complain about the millions Steve Jobs brought in as a result of his technological creations, “Nice guys finish last”, and the ones who complain are jealous they didn’t think of the idea first which explains why those people are barely living paycheck to paycheck. (10/9)
"Truth": “What we’re talking about is you bringing your politics into your reporting. Where does politics not enter into this,” asks one of the CBS executives grilling producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) on the bungled "60 Minutes" reporting scandal about President George W. Bush’s military record in 2004 that ended long running news anchor Dan Rather’s career. I knew when that story broke that that was nothing more than the liberal “drive-by” media’s biased attempt to sway the 2004 presidential election even if the segment was true. I’ll just have to see if the film is kinder to Dan Rather and again paints Bush as the villain or if it’s just the opposite. There is one thing I am certain of. One of these individuals will not come out smelling like a rose. What I am not certain of is whether I will be able to picture Robert Redford as Dan Rather. (10/16)
"Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension": You won’t get any argument from me if you say that little independent found footage movie that could from 2007 that spawned off what will now be the sixth and supposedly final installment of the franchise should have stopped with the first one. I’ve, however, seen them all with the exception of "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones" (2014) and I’m not worried whether or not the events of that film will tie to the sixth. Perhaps I’m just a masochist who feels compelled to sit through these predictable “found footage” movies knowing that none of them will end well for the individuals involved. Or maybe I’m just hoping all those questions about why Katie (Katie Featherston) was being haunted by whatever demon was going after her since childhood in that 2007 film and what happened to the kid she abducted in the 2010 sequel will all be answered now. Or maybe this is just another big mass marketed tease designed to continue doing another one for next Halloween. (10/23)
"Spotlight": A movie that paints investigative journalists as the ones to root for is a rarity. The film journalism instructors show to want-to-be future reporters, as a means to inspire them to go after the facts, is "All the President’s Men" (1976). Everything else ("Absence of Malice" – 1981, "Broadcast News" – 1987, "Shattered Glass" – 2003, "The Insider" – 1999) are all examples of what NOT to do in broadcast/print journalism. The reporters of the Boston Globe will be the heroes in "Spotlight", which covers their investigation into the Massachusetts Catholic sex abuse scandal. Considering how much “Hollyweird” only embraces Catholicism when a movie bashes it I am sure audiences will not only be reminded why some have left the Catholic church as a result of the scandal but will love seeing the church painted as the villains. (11/6)
"Spectre": What was the longest James Bond movie made? Expect that question to maybe come in a future Trivia Pursuit game. (Do they even make that game anymore)? Up until now, all the Bond movies have run the usual 130 minutes with the exception of "Quantum of Solace" (2008) at 106 minutes. The installment's running time is reportedly going to run close to 160 minutes (slightly over three hours if you count the 30 minutes of repeated trailers). What kind of villain two-time Oscar winner Christophe Waltz plays is as cryptic as the exact plot of "Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens.: Of all the actors who’ve played 007 since "Dr. No" (1962) Daniel Craig is the one I like best. Forget about how since Craig took over the role with "Casino Royale" (2006) these films have been mostly humorless. I prefer a James Bond who does things one wouldn’t expect to see. Craig’s 007 had me the moment that bartender asked him if he wanted his Vodka-martini shaken or stirred in "Casino Royale" and Bond angrily replies back, “Do I look like I give a damn?” Now that’s a 007 I am on board with. (11/6)
"Creed": Upon first hearing Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa would return again for a seventh installment I was immediately reminded of that early scene in "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982) where a poster in the bookstore now features the boxer as a small aging Asian character after 25 plus movies. This time, the former World Heavyweight Champion is completely alone now. Bum brother son-in-law Paulie, who was played by Burt Young in the previous six films, has joined Adrian (Talia Shire) in that great big boxing ring in the sky. The story has Rocky training the son of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan – fresh off the summer’s box office disaster "Fantastic Four") for an upcoming boxing match. My interest is not seeing how Creed’s son does in the ring but whether or not this is really Rocky Balboa’s swan song. Word has it his character isn’t doing well and given that information comes off the Internet, well gee, the rumors must be true! (11/25)
"I Saw the Light": If you ask me what songs I have heard from country singer Hank Williams (1923-1953) I will not be able to answer you because as of right now, I don’t believe I have heard any of his music in my lifetime. I have a feeling; however, I will be wrong when I see the biography of his life on the big screen and hear some of his hits played and I’ll go “yeah, I’ve heard that one.” The one reason for my wanting to see the film is the chance to see Tom Hiddleston stretch his acting legs doing something completely different as up until I now, the only movies I associated him with are his role as the villain, Loki, in the Thor sequels (2011-2013) and "The Avengers" (2012). (11/27)
"In the Heart of the Sea": Usually when a film’s original release date is moved up to another time of year it’s an indication the studio doesn’t have much faith in the film’s box office success. Warner Brothers moved director Ron Howard’s adaptation of Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2000 best seller about an American whaling ship’s deadly encounter with a sperm whale in 1820 feeling the film was good enough to qualify for the 2016 Oscar nominations. (12/11)
©9/30/15
Here are nine upcoming films I can justify seeing on the big screen provided I don’t suddenly decide to save my hard-earned money and wait for them to come out on disc or video-on-demand three or four months later.
"The Walk": “Welcome to New York. Anything to declare” asks the inspector. “I am going to hang a high wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center and walk on it,” says French high-wire artist Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). I admit before seeing the trailer the first thing I thought of was the possibility should I see the film was I would be depressed knowing that the World Trade Center is forever gone. I didn’t need to be reminded of what America lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and what continues to be rebroadcast every year by the news networks like CNN and MSNBC on 9/11’s anniversary. That was not the feeling I got seeing the trailer, however, as Oscar winning director Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump" – 1994) takes audiences back to 1974 when construction on the World Trade Center was just completed a year before. Instead of a gloomy pall hanging over the film (no pun intended) knowing what would happen barely thirty years later, we will instead get a front row seat in the theater the way New Yorkers had their eyes glued to the sky 110 stories up that day in August watching a man, who as Gordon-Levitt’s Petit says, “was always searching for the perfect place to hang his wire.” (9/30)
"Steve Jobs": I have yet to read author Walter Isaacson’s 600 plus-page biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs that was published a month after the visionary’s death in 2011. What I have heard over the years since his passing was that Jobs wasn’t exactly the nicest person to be around. If such is true, I won’t be surprised to see some of Jobs’ negative personality jump on the big screen in Aaron Sorkin’s script based on Isaacson’s book. Just don’t expect the same mammoth coverage that was done in print. According to imdb.com, Sorkin has said the film will consist of three 30-minute behind the scenes events involving Apple’s product launches in 1984, 1988 and 1998. The last movie Sorkin wrote the screenplay on based on Ben Mezrich’s book painted Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg into, as one of his lawyers told him at the end of "The Social Network" (2010), “You’re not an asshole, Mark. You’re just trying so hard to be.” I was probably the only one rooting for Jesse Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg who was sued by two Harvard graduates and his own best friend for supposedly stealing their idea. Rest assured I will do the same rooting for Jobs as played by Michael Fassbender. Sometimes you have to be a complete jerk to get what you want accomplished. There is a saying for those who complain about the millions Steve Jobs brought in as a result of his technological creations, “Nice guys finish last”, and the ones who complain are jealous they didn’t think of the idea first which explains why those people are barely living paycheck to paycheck. (10/9)
"Truth": “What we’re talking about is you bringing your politics into your reporting. Where does politics not enter into this,” asks one of the CBS executives grilling producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) on the bungled "60 Minutes" reporting scandal about President George W. Bush’s military record in 2004 that ended long running news anchor Dan Rather’s career. I knew when that story broke that that was nothing more than the liberal “drive-by” media’s biased attempt to sway the 2004 presidential election even if the segment was true. I’ll just have to see if the film is kinder to Dan Rather and again paints Bush as the villain or if it’s just the opposite. There is one thing I am certain of. One of these individuals will not come out smelling like a rose. What I am not certain of is whether I will be able to picture Robert Redford as Dan Rather. (10/16)
"Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension": You won’t get any argument from me if you say that little independent found footage movie that could from 2007 that spawned off what will now be the sixth and supposedly final installment of the franchise should have stopped with the first one. I’ve, however, seen them all with the exception of "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones" (2014) and I’m not worried whether or not the events of that film will tie to the sixth. Perhaps I’m just a masochist who feels compelled to sit through these predictable “found footage” movies knowing that none of them will end well for the individuals involved. Or maybe I’m just hoping all those questions about why Katie (Katie Featherston) was being haunted by whatever demon was going after her since childhood in that 2007 film and what happened to the kid she abducted in the 2010 sequel will all be answered now. Or maybe this is just another big mass marketed tease designed to continue doing another one for next Halloween. (10/23)
"Spotlight": A movie that paints investigative journalists as the ones to root for is a rarity. The film journalism instructors show to want-to-be future reporters, as a means to inspire them to go after the facts, is "All the President’s Men" (1976). Everything else ("Absence of Malice" – 1981, "Broadcast News" – 1987, "Shattered Glass" – 2003, "The Insider" – 1999) are all examples of what NOT to do in broadcast/print journalism. The reporters of the Boston Globe will be the heroes in "Spotlight", which covers their investigation into the Massachusetts Catholic sex abuse scandal. Considering how much “Hollyweird” only embraces Catholicism when a movie bashes it I am sure audiences will not only be reminded why some have left the Catholic church as a result of the scandal but will love seeing the church painted as the villains. (11/6)
"Spectre": What was the longest James Bond movie made? Expect that question to maybe come in a future Trivia Pursuit game. (Do they even make that game anymore)? Up until now, all the Bond movies have run the usual 130 minutes with the exception of "Quantum of Solace" (2008) at 106 minutes. The installment's running time is reportedly going to run close to 160 minutes (slightly over three hours if you count the 30 minutes of repeated trailers). What kind of villain two-time Oscar winner Christophe Waltz plays is as cryptic as the exact plot of "Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens.: Of all the actors who’ve played 007 since "Dr. No" (1962) Daniel Craig is the one I like best. Forget about how since Craig took over the role with "Casino Royale" (2006) these films have been mostly humorless. I prefer a James Bond who does things one wouldn’t expect to see. Craig’s 007 had me the moment that bartender asked him if he wanted his Vodka-martini shaken or stirred in "Casino Royale" and Bond angrily replies back, “Do I look like I give a damn?” Now that’s a 007 I am on board with. (11/6)
"Creed": Upon first hearing Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa would return again for a seventh installment I was immediately reminded of that early scene in "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982) where a poster in the bookstore now features the boxer as a small aging Asian character after 25 plus movies. This time, the former World Heavyweight Champion is completely alone now. Bum brother son-in-law Paulie, who was played by Burt Young in the previous six films, has joined Adrian (Talia Shire) in that great big boxing ring in the sky. The story has Rocky training the son of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan – fresh off the summer’s box office disaster "Fantastic Four") for an upcoming boxing match. My interest is not seeing how Creed’s son does in the ring but whether or not this is really Rocky Balboa’s swan song. Word has it his character isn’t doing well and given that information comes off the Internet, well gee, the rumors must be true! (11/25)
"I Saw the Light": If you ask me what songs I have heard from country singer Hank Williams (1923-1953) I will not be able to answer you because as of right now, I don’t believe I have heard any of his music in my lifetime. I have a feeling; however, I will be wrong when I see the biography of his life on the big screen and hear some of his hits played and I’ll go “yeah, I’ve heard that one.” The one reason for my wanting to see the film is the chance to see Tom Hiddleston stretch his acting legs doing something completely different as up until I now, the only movies I associated him with are his role as the villain, Loki, in the Thor sequels (2011-2013) and "The Avengers" (2012). (11/27)
"In the Heart of the Sea": Usually when a film’s original release date is moved up to another time of year it’s an indication the studio doesn’t have much faith in the film’s box office success. Warner Brothers moved director Ron Howard’s adaptation of Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2000 best seller about an American whaling ship’s deadly encounter with a sperm whale in 1820 feeling the film was good enough to qualify for the 2016 Oscar nominations. (12/11)
©9/30/15
