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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Pan is nearly 2 hours of your life you’ll never get back. Not that we needed a Pan origin story but, then again, this was more of an origin story masquerade. This fantasy is a nightmare.

Pan‘s cast (especially Hugh Jackman) sure looked like they had a great time. The writer and director took seriously wacky liberties and a jolly good time with the subject matter. Too bad the audience wasn’t allowed to be in on the fun.

(Usually there’s the avoidance of spoilers but this one isn’t worth preserving…)Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 75/100

Paul Bettany’s directorial début looks to be an excellent fall release. Shelter is likely to be a quality art house view. Starring Bettany’s wife (and former Academy Award winner) Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie who will appear in 8 movies by year’s end.  

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: A Brilliant Young Mind is a beautiful depiction of a teenage math whiz coping with autism. The middle of the film bogs down and the viewer might lose interest but if you make it through that stretch (and don’t get wrapped up in some of the “Hollywood”) and are still hooked, A Brilliant Young Mind is touching and a little bit brilliant in the end.

A Brilliant Young Mind, as a movie, is brilliant. The film centers around the brilliance of Nathan Ellis (Asa Butterfield), a young math prodigy with autism (specifically Asperger’s although the film never mentions the Syndrome by name) who wants to participate in the International Mathematics Olympiad. On the periphery, it deals with Nathan and his relationship with his mother (Sally Hawkins), his teacher (Rafe Spall) and his new acquaintances he meets at the pre-Olympiad math camp.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 75/100

After seeing the trailer for Triple 9, the only concern I have is the release date. Good movies don’t get released in February. Look at the cast here: Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Teresa Palmer (who possibly might be in every movie in February 2016). Something’s off when it comes to the release date. Think Focus with Will Smith.

There was a time Triple 9 was slated for a fall release but then it was moved to March (a slightly more promising month for movie releases) and then moved to February which isn’t as bad as January but still pretty bad unless it’s a Valentine’s Day release.

All things considered, Triple 9 still looks kick ass so I’ll start getting prepared for the disappointment now.

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Hell and Back takes a lot of swings at crude, vulgar and juvenile humor and strikes out frequently. The movie itself is so weak, the audience might feel their experience mirrors the title. It’s not without a few laughs. Although partnering “few” with “and far between” might best describe the funny moments.

Don’t let the voice talent Hell and Back possesses (Nick Swardson, Bob Odenkirk, Rob Riggle, Mila Kunis, Susan Sarandon, Danny McBride, Jennifer Coolidge, David Koechner, J.B. Smoove, Michael Pena and Greg Proops) fool you. The R-rated stop motion animated comedy is a somewhat unoriginal concept (didn’t South Park kind of, sort of do the trapped in hell thing before?) that is noticeably crude which tells you how frequently unfunny (not in the “I’m trying to be serious” unfunny way but the “I’m trying to be funny but I’m not” unfunny way) and often predictable it is. Hey, at least it’s only 84 minutes.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: At the onset, Sicario is unnerving. Throughout, it is tense and brutal. At completion, it is unsettling and thought provoking. One of the must-see films of the year.

There are few movies that establish tension so quickly and manage to maintain the feeling throughout as Sicario does. It’s no surprise the film is directed by Denis Villeneuve who accomplishes similar in 2013’s Prisoners. However, the way it is done in Sicario is much different as it relies on some powerful scenes that catapult the viewer into the losing battle that is the war on drugs. There are four scenes in Sicario that all could vie for “Scene of the Year” if there were such an award.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Ridley Scott’s best since Gladiator. Matt Damon’s best since Good Will Hunting. 2015’s best so far. The Martian has an excellent mix of emotion, tension, humor, action and intelligence and partners it with beautiful visions of Mars. It’s a great experience.

Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left behind after a fierce storm cuts a manned mission to Mars short and Mark’s crew thinks Watney is dead. Not dead (Surprise!), Watney must science the shit out of things to survive long enough for the next manned Mars mission to arrive… in four years, unless NASA can speed up the timeline with a rescue.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Pawn Sacrifice captures all the genius and paranoia of Bobby Fischer without much of the drama. At times, the biopic feels more documentary than movie. Not the worst thing… but it keeps a very good film from being great.

Historically accurate, Pawn Sacrifice tells the story of bigger than life chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer and his ascent to the top of the chess world. Edward Zwick’s biopic about Fischer powers through much of his early life so briskly, once the film hits the meat of the story, the meticulous detail and more lumbering pace throw off the film.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 20/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 40/100

The Forest warns “stay on the path.” For movie goers, staying on the path includes tempering any excitement for a January release.

So, even though The Forest is the feature-length directorial début of Jason Zada who launched a highly successful viral marketing campaign for OfficeMax (“Elf Yourself”) and the acting talents of Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) and Taylor Kinney (Zero Dark Thirty), don’t get your hopes up.

Also, for what it’s worth, horror trailers that have a habit of revealing too much often fall short. The Forest does boast a solid trailer, a “true” back story (Aokigahara Forest is a real place in Japan where people go to commit suicide) and the backing of a re-tooled Gramercy Pictures. Maybe, just maybe, The Forest can break the “dump month” mold.