The 33 is an upcoming film about the 2010 Chilean mine accident. For those who may have somehow forgotten, 33 Chilean miners were trapped underground for 69 days. For those 69 days, the entire world was watching Chile and, when the miners were finally rescued, we were all briefly united in our happiness.
(Needless to say, that didn’t last long.)
Personally, I like the trailer for The 33 but I do kind of wish that the film’s producers had just had the guts to have everyone in the film speak Spanish, as opposed to going the heavily accented English route.
Here’s the trailer for the upcoming film, Spotlight. Spotlight is obviously being set up to be a potential Oscar contender but, to be honest, I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those “well-intentioned” misfires that will be familiar to anyone who follows the ups and downs of the annual Oscar race.
(Remember when everyone thought that Unbroken was going to win it all?)
That said, some would argue that Michael Keaton is owed an Oscar to make up for losing to Eddie Redmayne earlier this year.
Check out this trailer for the upcoming psychological thriller, Queen of Earth!
Speaking as someone who loves old school grindhouse and exploitation films, I really love the retro feel of this trailer. Consider me to be definitely intrigued.
Sherman Hemsley (The Jeffersons, Amen, The Hughleys)
Luis Avalos (E/R, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper)
Jennifer Rhodes: (Nightingales, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Director: Alan Smithee (credited*) Actually Lee Madden
Writer: Oscar Brodney
Plot:
Two African American cops are sent to a run down Southern plantation to evict the residents so a freeway can be built in its place. The catch? The “residents” are all Civil War ghost. The hijinx ensue.
Summary:
After playing the iconic George Jefferson on “The Jefferson”, Sherman Hemsley tried his hand at the big screen in what turned out to be a huge flop. Hemsley mostly funded this movie himself which, literally, left him in financial ruin.
As much as I wanted to like this movie, Brodney’s writing made this feel like a left-over ’80s era slap-stick comedy, without the comedy.
*Director Lee Madden was so unhappy with the way the film turned out that he credited himself as “Alan Smithee” , the Directors Guild of America’s approved pseudonym for directors who do not want their name attached to a film.
If you actually made it through the movie, which I doubt you did, Hemsley also sang the theme song. And just for proof-
Here’s the trailer for the second installment in The Maze Runner franchise. Did I like the first Maze Runner? According to the review that I posted on this site, I thought it was above average but I think it’s definitely telling that I can barely remember a thing about it.
Hopefully, The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials will be a little bit more memorable.
Watching this trailer for Experimenter reminded me that I still need to watch The Stanford Prison Experiment. As for Experimenter itself, I’ll watch Peter Sarsgaard in anything.
If nothing else, it’ll probably be better than The Tenth Level.
Southpaw features Jake Gyllenhaal as a boxer who loses his wife, his daughter, his career, his self-respect, his car, his house, his manager, his friends, and nearly his life. But then, about 70 minutes into the film, he gets a chance to get it all back. Well, almost all of it. His wife is dead so he can’t get her back but there are hints that he might get together with a helpful social worker after the end credits role.
There was really only one reason why I was interested in seeing Southpaw and that’s because it starred Jake Gyllenhaal. Last year, Gyllenhaal gave the performance of his career in Nighcrawler. Gyllenhaal was so brilliant that you just knew the Academy was going to prove itself clueless by not nominating him. And that’s exactly what happened. Gyllenhaal was snubbed and, as a result, the Academy now owes him a nomination. When the trailer for Southpaw first appeared and we saw Gyllenhaal as muscular and bloody, a lot of us assumed that Southpaw would be the film that would get him that nomination.
And Jake Gyllenhaal does do a pretty good job in Southpaw. He’s one of the main reasons for seeing the film. It’s interesting to compare Gyllenhaal’s hyperactive performance and sickly appearance in Nightcrawler with his work as boxer Billy Hope in Southpaw. Billy is a professional brawler and you believe it when you look at him. Not only is he huge and muscular but he’s got a face that has obviously been punched more than a few times. When he speaks, he isn’t the hyper articulate con man of Nightcrawlerand Love and Other Drugs. Instead, he stares at the ground as he mumbles and struggles to put together the simplest of thoughts. It’s a good performance but, at the same time, it lacks the element of surprise that Gyllenhaal has brought to his best roles in the past. You watched both Donnie Darko and Nightcrawler and you knew that only Gyllenhaal could have brought those roles to life. Billy Hope, however, is a far less interesting character and you could imagine any number of actors playing the role. (Reportedly, Southpaw was actually written with Eminem in mind and you really can see him playing the role.)
And really, the entire film is a lot like Billy Hope. It does its job but there’s nothing all that interesting about it. Southpaw‘s biggest surprise comes about 20 minutes into the film when Billy’s loving wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), is shot and killed and you already knew that was going to happen from the film’s trailer. After Maureen’s death, Billy starts using alcohol and drugs and, as a result, he loses custody of his daughter, Leila (12 year-old Oona Laurence, giving a great performance). Because this is a sports film, Billy has to hit rock bottom before, with the help of a grizzled and haunted trainer (Forest Whitaker), he can get a chance to win back both the championship and his daughter. Director Antoine Fuqua obviously know how to tell these type of testosterone-drenched stories but there’s not a single moment in Southpaw that you won’t see coming from miles away.
And don’t get me wrong. Unlike some other films that I was less than overwhelmed by, I can actually understand why some people in the theater applauded at the end of Southpaw. It’s an effective film, even if it does run on for a little bit too long. It tells a heartfelt story. It’s a crowd pleaser and I’m sure that a lot of people will enjoy it. But, for me, it was just too predictable. I like it when movies catch me off guard and that’s something that Southpaw never came close to doing.
A quick sidenote: Southpaw features the final score composed by the late James Horner and the film is dedicated to his memory. If you see the movie, be sure to stick around for the dedication so that you can put your hands together for a cinematic and musical legend.
Below, you’ll find the last Hunger Games trailer ever!
The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 comes to theaters on November 20th and I can tell you already that tears will flow from my mismatched, heterochromatic eyes when it’s all over. Much like Sharknado, The Hunger Games has truly become a part of our shared culture and it’s hard to imagine a world with no new installments on the horizon.
So, here we are. Nearly halfway through the year and we’re still waiting for a major Oscar contender to emerge. There’s been a lot of speculation about films such as Carol, Bridge of Spies, and Suffragette. However, this month, two new contenders have emerged.
The other contender is Freeheld, which is based on a true story about lesbian homicide detective (Julianne Moore) who, after being diagnosed with cancer, fought a legal battle to allow her pension benefits to be left to her domestic partner (played by Ellen Page, who is due another Oscar nomination and probably should have won for both Juno and Super). Along with Page, both Julianne Moore and Steve Carell have been mentioned as possible nominees.
Let’s just be honest — Zipper is terrible title. But this upcoming film looks like it might be interesting, largely because it features Patrick Wilson playing a a man dealing with an ethical and political conflict.
