Opening Weekend: $47,149 (from only 4 theaters)
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Review: Character actor Brendan Gleeson is best known to modern audiences as Maddy-Eye Moody, from the Harry Potter films, but from Braveheart to In Bruges (and so many more fantastic roles before, in-between, and after), few have accomplished as eclectic a career. And few have found themselves in such a profound and engaging film as Gleeson in Calvary. An engrossing exploration into the moral heart of a small Irish town, as seen through the eyes of a seasoned priest, one who has been threatened with murder during a secret confession, the film carries all the emotional weight of the best dramas in recent years. You truly feel a priest's struggle to stand faithfully for good among so much doubt and pointed cynicism. Bolstered by a strong supporting cast, but carried largely by the presence of Gleeson and a sharp, well-written script from writer/director John Michael McDonagh (Ned Kelly), Calvary is an obvious top tier film of the year.
The Final Word: 4/4 - Go buy a ticket, the poster, & the DVD.
Opening Weekend: $13.6 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Review: This biopic about James Brown begins with his infamous police chase in the 80s, before looping back to Brown's adolescence and budding stardom to examine how The Godfather of Soul came to be. When people in the future wondering about a current blockbuster headliner similarly look back at the career of now-rising-star Chadwick Boseman, they'll see 42 as the movie that introduced him to the world and Get On Up as the film that revealed his genuine and maturing talents. With impeccable performances from Boseman and Nelsan Ellis as Bobby Byrd, Get On Up still gets weighed down by the inevitability of biopics; we know how the story goes and no amount of dramatic gravitas relieves us of that burden. The film does very well at celebrating the music of Brown - much better than the recent Jersey Boys celebrated (or didn't) the songs of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons - though having Boseman lipsync to Brown's hits was distracting at points. Overall, Get On Up is a solid tribute to James Brown, boosted by award-worthy performances, but held back by an age-old plot structure.
The Final Word: 3/4 - Go buy a matinee ticket.
Opening Weekend: $94.3 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Review: Can I say anything that has not already been said about the Guardians of the Galaxy? Probably not, considering the tardiness of this review! But here in December it is still clear that the superhero space-opera from writer/director James Gunn (Super) is some of the most fun you can have watching a movie and deserved all the attention it received as one of the premiere blockbusters of the year. A quirky third-removed cousin to Marvel's Avengers, the Guardians are more goofy, more sarcastic, more in your face than their Earth counterparts, but in a way that totally works and endears you to a thief, an assassin, a revenge-bent alien, a raccoon, and a tree. The film's unique character helps make it feel less obvious than the typical superhero movie, even if it really may not be working with all that dissimilar a plot from other movies, and it is surely the home-run Marvel wanted it to be (no, I very much doubt the studio thought it was the underdog they tried to cast it as; the true long-shot for success will be next-year's Ant-Man). If you want to have fun, you can find few better sources of unbridled adventure than Guardians of the Galaxy.
The Final Word: 4/4 - Go buy a ticket, the poster, & the DVD.
August 8th
Opening Weekend: $11 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Review: From Oscar-nominated writer Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things) and thrice-Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules), and starring Oscar-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen) as a severe French restauranter who butts heads with a brazen rival while training his son, The Hundred Foot Journey would seem to be the sort of film both audiences and the Academy would love. There's a mouth-watering love of food, culture-clashing drama, and unrequited romance. Yet somewhere in it all, the movie begins to fall flat. Much of the film's tension is relieved too effortlessly, as though the filmmakers wanted to rush towards a happy ending without acknowledging the potential character growth which could be borne from conflict. It's a convenient and easily-forecasted conclusion, unperturbed by a third-act shift in plot that seemed more forced in the movie than it likely was in the book by Richard C. Morais upon which the movie is based. Ultimately, The Hundred Foot Journey really is a nice enough film, delightful to watch if you're in a feel-good, could-have-been-produced-by-Disney sort of mood, but disappointing when recognizing its untapped potential for greater dramatic turns of plot and character.
The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to rent it.
Opening Weekend: $65.6 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 20%
Review: Stemming from the creative greatness of renowned producer Michael Bay, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, starring acting legend Megan Fox, is clearly the penultimate film of the year, worthy of many great accolades and rich box office returns... Actually, that sentence wasn't too hard to write. But I can't image trying to say it out-loud without an interrupting laugh sarcastically breaking through. Sorry not sorry; TMNT isn't very good at all. An undeveloped plot supplemented by immature dialogue provides a classic showcase of flash over form. But, like some may say of the Bay-directed Transformers, it can be fun. Adapted from the popular children's series, the turtles mirror the robots by offering whiz-bang graphics that put butts in theater seats regardless of any critical sense of quality. If you can turn your brain off for a couple hours, you may not hate TMNT, you may even appreciate time removed from sensible considerations, but I cannot find any justification to give any greater recommendation than...
The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to rent it.
Opening Weekend: $854,364
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Review: The former Harry Potter protagonist, Daniel Radcliffe, has yet to truly catch the attention of broad audiences following his turn as the world-renown wizard with indie films like Kill Your Darlings and Horns. This does, of course, allow him time to establish himself as a "serious" actor, who can earn roles based on acting prowess and not on his history of wand waving. How What If, based on the play Toothpaste and Cigars, fits into his filmography is somewhat unclear. It's not the type of film which will garner widespread consideration, nor do romantic comedies typically provide very challenging roles. He frankly must have simply looked forward to working with writer Elan Mastai, or director Michael Dowse, or co-star Zoe Kazan. I'm personally assuming it was Kazan who drew him to the film. Neither Mastai or Dowse have accomplished much, at least in terms of rom-coms (though perhaps in other terms as well). Kazan, meanwhile, is from a family of Hollywood mainstays and herself wrote and starred in a brilliant little movie, Ruby Sparks. But regardless of his reasoning for joining this rather classic tale of friends who fall for one another, Radcliffe finds himself in a film that succeeds despite its cliches. Driven by the earnestness expressed by its two leads, What If is nice enough to warrant a view.
The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to rent it.
Let's Be Cops: Two struggling pals (Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr.) dress as police officers for a costume party and become neighborhood sensations. But when these newly-minted "heroes" get tangled in a real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives, they must put their fake badges on the line.
Opening Weekend: $17.8 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 21%
Review: As a big fan of the stars of Let's Be Cops, as well as of the film's premise (almost the opposite of undercover cop drama - think of all the potential parody/critique there!), it pains me to say that I found this film from writer/director Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door) to be the epitome of the unfortunate phrase, "all the funny parts were in the trailers." Oddly lacking the big gags such a plot would suggest possessing, the movie stumbles along, highlighted by the comedic chemistry of its leads but bogged down by underdeveloped ambitions. It has a few laughs, certainly, but lacks the momentum developed by, for example, the recent cop comedy 22 Jump Street.
The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to rent it.
The Expendables 3: The infamous team is infused with new blood for a personal battle: to take down Conrad Stonebanks, their co-founder and notorious arms trader who is hell bent on wiping out Barney and every single one of the Expendables. Starring an insane number of classic action stars; I refuse to do all that hyperlinking.
Opening Weekend: $15.9 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 34%
Review: The first was fun, and to an extent so was the second, but the third film in the Expendables franchise is clearly beginning to demonstrate a unique flaw. In paying homage to - and in many ways parodying - the classic action flicks of decades past, the current tribute series has no more ability to think up inventive plots than those it attempts to honor. In a meandering story-line, which gives too little time to its characters, especially a delightfully fiendish Mel Gibson, the Expendables leave audiences with heads jarred a few times too often with gunfire and explosions. Apparently, creator/star Sylvester Stallone says he recognizes problems with the movies, and wants to fix them for a potential fourth outing. The third film still has some elements of fun that make it worthy of a watch sometime if you want some silly action-adventure, but diminishing returns both critically and financially made bode that its too little too late for the Expendables for any further attempts.
The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to rent it.
The One I Love: Struggling with a marriage on the brink of falling apart, a couple (Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss) escapes for a weekend in pursuit of their better selves, only to discover an unusual dilemma that awaits them.
Opening Weekend: $48,059 (from only 8 theaters)
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Review: Hero of the indie film world, Mark Duplass (Safety Not Guaranteed) may just deserve the title, as his attachment to a film from a first time writer and a first time director must have been the reason for a production green-light, as far as I can tell. The novice of The One I Love's creators makes it all the more impressive that the film achieves such a successful level of interest. It's a unique idea the film explores, one I won't spoil here, and one which in its current form exists a a curious simplicity. The narrative austerity works within the current stylings of the movie, but I could not help feeling as though a deeper, darker, more complex exploration of the film's plot and themes was within reach, unnoticed by the filmmakers. A defense of simplicity is a theme of the film, but so is a call for complexity, and though the film was perhaps contained by budgetary concerns, I think a bigger, more involved, tenser take would offer a different, complementary version of the story. Still an interesting little movie though.
The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to rent it.
Opening Weekend: n/a
Rotten Tomatoes: 38%
Review: When one of your best friends is named Michael King, you absolutely have to watch this movie with him, so matter how obscure the film itself. I actually like the initial premise; its definitely a dark and creepy idea to willfully object oneself to the occult. But, as with many horror movies, Possession falls into familiar exorcism tropes, rather than letting viewers get as uncomfortable as the pagan exploration could have made them. There are a few moments of suspense, especially watched in the dark at night, but the movie just can't help but feel as though it's simply trying to ride the coattails of Paranormal Activity rather than forging its own path.
The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to rent it.
The November Man: An ex-CIA operative (Pierce Brosnan) is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil (Luke Bracey) in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect. Also starring Olga Kurylenko.
Opening Weekend: $7.9 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 34%
Review: I actually really kind of enjoyed The November Man, even if I was one of the only ones to give it a view. The story is interesting, the plot twisting and turning with every scene, and Pierce Brosnan reminds us why he got that other spy role years ago; whether he's a number or a month, Brosnan is a badass. It's not the most inventive film ever, but its a fun ride that was sadly undervalued.
The Final Word: 3/4 - Go buy a matinee ticket.
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