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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Why would you make a biopic about a self-taught mathematical genius whose work is considered inspired, imagined and original by the numbers?

The true story of Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel), a poor Indian man who happens to be a self-taught mathematical genius, and his relationship with G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons) is interesting. It’s easy to see why someone thought this tale deserved it’s moment on the big screen. The Man Who Knew Infinity attempts to give the story it’s moment and does an adequate job of telling the story but lacks the imagination and originality spoken of regarding Ramanujan’s work. Instead, the tale is a measured, dutiful, paint by numbers biopic that informs but not much else.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 30/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 60/100

Was that a tiger? If The Neon Demon is anything like the trailer, it looks like it’s going to be strange. Guess we’ll have to wait until June 1st to see just how strange this is.

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Anticipation (Before Trailer): 80/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 85/100

If you want to make a safe bet this year, betting on Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk as an Oscar nominee for Best Picture might be it. Director Ang Lee has a track record of success, the film releases during Awards season and the topic has Oscar bait written all over it.

Ponder some interesting casting decisions (Steve Martin in a serious role, Vin Diesel in a non-action movie, Kristen Stewart is a risk and the star — Joe Alwyn — is a newcomer) and you might second guess this as a shoe-in but the trailer is compelling and hits all the right spots.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk starts it’s ascension on November 11, 2016.

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Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 55/100

As a baseball fan, this trailer lost me a little bit when the announcer said the rookie threw five wild pitches in one inning. Two or three would have been enough to get the point home and actually be realistic. Heck, even three is unrealistic.

Ethan Hawke as the domineering, emotionally abusive father of the young rookie pitcher has the potential to be a memorable character.

The Phenom hits theaters on June 24, 2016.

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 70/100

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puqEadT824c

Anticipation (After Trailer): 70/100

Tulip Fever has a powerful cast. Alicia Vikander might own the second half of 2016. Christoph Waltz and Judi Dench are always impressive. There are even some names in the supporting cast — Cara Delevingne, Zach Galifianakis, Jack O’Connell, Dane DeHaan, Holliday Grainger — who have either proven to be interesting on screen or are on the rise. Based on a novel and adapted by Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare In Love), this one looks like a winner.

Tulip Fever hits theaters on July 15, 2016.

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Music, youth, hope and dreams. John Carney’s latest will suck you in and have you fully invested. How can a movie be a “feel good” hit yet be so emotional? It’s only May but it’s the best movie of the year so far!

A wave came over me about 30 minutes into Sing Street. I wanted to rewind it back and start over. It’s not a feeling I get much watching a film. I can’t even remember the last time it happened. About an hour in, I felt I could watch this movie 100 times and never grow tired of it. Like an infectious pop song, Sing Street seeped into my brain but unlike that bubble gum pop tune, I didn’t want it to go anywhere. By the end, I was so wrapped up in these characters — 15-year-old Conor Lalor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who started a band to get the phone number of a beautiful 16-year-old girl, Raphina (Lucy Boynton) most of all — I was emotionally invested. To the point where the last 15 minutes or so moved me.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Another pointless, scare-deficient horror flick.

On Friday the 13th, it’s hard not to think about the slasher films of my youth. Every year, you could count on a mindless romp through the woods or a neighborhood or someone’s dreams while a masked or disfigured lunatic would hunt down unsuspecting but typically debaucherous teens until one of them finally found a way to stop them. At some point, we graduated to a different type of mass-produced horror movie. One that promises to be different and unlike your standard horror flick only to be that standard horror flick. Enter The Darkness. (I don’t mean literally enter the darkness. Turn a light on before you go in there, you might trip!)Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Sometimes you have to suspend disbelief for a movie to work. With Money Monster, you have to hold disbelief at gunpoint, put a bomb vest on it and threaten to blow it up and disbelief still won’t stand down.

The late 90s and early 2000s brought us a lot of movies like Money Monster. Remember The Negotiator? Remember John Q? Remember 16 Blocks? Remember The Interpreter? Those all have a lot in common with Money Monster from a sense of tone, pace, tension and also suffer from being ridiculously unbelievable. It’s the downfall of Money Monster. It’s a movie that works if you watch it, enjoy the performances, get wrapped up in the drama and don’t think about the plot.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Ambitious, smart and pure entertainment. You have to marvel at the organic way this many stories are weaved together. Amazing!

Step back for a minute and think about everything the Marvel Cinematic Universe was trying to accomplish with Captain America: Civil War. First and foremost, it applies the loose outline of the Civil War comic miniseries from ’06 and ’07 to the MCU but since secret identities do not exist in the MCU, a new angle must be introduced. Second, there are a number of existing characters from the Iron Man/Captain America/The Avengers films involved. Then the movie must pull in a character from another movie previously not tied in (Ant-Man) and introduce not one but two new characters (Spider-Man and Black Panther) with serious high stakes as both have stand-alone future films. This isn’t easy. If you think it is, see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.Read More →