American Honey played at the 2016 London Film Festival and was released into UK cinemas in October. My full review of American Honey is at Starburst Magazine here. Here's the synopsis: The film follows Star
who first jumps into a minibus full of carefree scruffy white kids who
love nothing more than blasting out hip hop, having a good time, and
making some money selling magazine subscriptions. Entrepreneur Krystal
runs the show keeping her crew of kids working hard, along with her
sidekick and best seller Jake (Shia Labeouf). Star jumps at the chance
to get in on the action, living the wild life on the road and falling
for Jake along the way.
American Honey’s
motley crew roll around the affluent neighbourhoods of America,
attempting to sell their wares by any means necessary, but the focus is
always on Star and Jake as he trains her in the art of the hard sell.
It's an episodic structure with no real goal in sight. It's telling that
two characters are asked what their dreams are and both reply that they
have never been asked that question before. These kids don't get to
have dreams. Their minibus is a cocoon of angry hip hop, where they all
get to spout repetitive brain-washing capitalist messages about getting
rich. Their chemistry comes from sing-alongs and snatches of clearly
improvised dialogue. Their single-minded little community lives only to
make enough money to buy food, drink and drugs.
I believe the expression is: 'there are no words'. The trailer for Trainspotting 2 has given me 'all the feels'. Finally, the sequel to one of the greatest movies of all time, and probably my favourite British movie ever, is here. And it's pretty much everything I could have hoped for.
T2 Trainspotting will be arriving at your cinematic station on January 27th 2017. Here's the poster and trailer:
So Adam Wingard, what have you been up to down in the woods today? The director of You're Next and The Guest has finally put his cards on the table. His movie The Woods is now officially titled Blair Witch and IS a sequel to the original 1999 found footage horror.
The trailer takes us straight back into what looks like psycho hermit Rustin Parr's house way out in the woods of Burkitsville where the Blair Witch is known to lurk. If you don't know the backstory of the Blair Witch, (what do you live under a rock?) then check out the original film's website and the mythology section here.
The found footage point-of-view shot shows a frantic rush around the old house, before it is revealed that this is footage from YouTube which a guy called James is watching. The footage was uploaded by another guy who found a tape in the Black Hills woods. There is the distorted sound of screaming and at 11 seconds into the trailer, there is a person visible in the footage. That's all I can tell you about that.
But then James states to whoever is now filming him, 'I think that might be my sister'. I'm not the only one who immediately thinks.... 'You're sister???' Heather Donahue? Did Heather have a little brother in the original movie? I don't think it was ever mentioned, but then this girl's voice, who I assume is the off-camera camera operator filming this guy says, 'You really think you're sister could still be out there after all these years?' That's 17 years by the way if we're counting and assuming this sequel takes place in the present day.
So the Wikipedia page for the film states that this guy's name is James Donahue, so it definitely is supposed to be Heather's brother, but I don't know if this is 100% confirmed. It looks like James and his five college buddies head out into the woods to search for Heather after finding this YouTube footage. They know the legends, they know about the curse, they know about Elly Kedward a.k.a. The Blair Witch.
So then shit hits the fan as you would expect. Those creepy stick men; they're back and they're bigger. The kids start walking in circles again. Somebody (probably) kicks a map in the creek.
There is a shot of one of the girls with a camera in hand, suggesting that there must be at least two characters that will be carrying cameras, and in the great words of Cloverfield's Hud 'documenting everything'. I wondered when I first watched this trailer if the film was all going to be found footage. The shot 7 seconds into the trailer suggests that either these college kids have a nice drone for capturing aerial shots (doubt it, though that would be awesome), or the film won't be all found footage, or it's just a nice shot to insert in the trailer but it won't be in the movie. I'm going with that last one.
Well anyway, then the kids start turning on each other and the woods start turning on them as the (hopefully still) invisible witch works her magic on them all. Looks like this film will have a lot more going on in it than the original. I suspect it will be gorier, more graphic and have more than just traipsing around in circles and arguing going on. There's a shot in the trailer that looks as though nature will attack them more than it ever did in the original. I'm talking Evil Dead style trees. And then there's the shots that remind me of The Descent with one of the girls crawling through a whole load of shite to escape from somewhere.
I hope they don't dare show us the Blair Witch and I hope this film keeps up the ambiguity. I'd love it if there was a link back to the original with Heather appearing in some form, but it needs to be ambiguous and it needs to be done well.
Also in the trailer: we have a person standing in the corner facing the wall, hand prints all over the spooky house and the voice of someone apologising. It sounds more like a bloody remake than a sequel when you put it like that.
More than anything, I hope this honours the original by limiting the gore, having no CGI whatsoever and being bloody scary. I don't want to see the witch, I don't want to know exactly what happens at the end and I don't want this to turn into a franchise that goes on and on and on with new batches of disposable teens. I'm already concerned that some of the six characters in the film are simply there to allow for a bigger body count.
I loved Adam Wingard's The Guest so I'm optimistic that this will have some good stuff in it. But I suspect that Wingard probably didn't go into original directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick's 'method directing' techniques and I think that is a huge shame. It will show in the performances, the cinematography and the dialogue and it will make Blair Witch a hell of a lot less believable than The Blair Witch Project is.
Blair Witch fans... it's here! After waiting 17 years and ignoring a pretty poor sequel (Book of Shadows) that already came and went, The Blair Witch Project looks like it might be finally getting the sequel it deserves. Formally titles The Woods, it's now been made official. This is a Blair Witch sequel, and frankly it looks wicked!
This film is so far up my street, it f**king hurts. Green Room is from Jeremy Saulnier, director of the excellent Blue Ruin, and stars Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots and Alia Shawkat (from Arrested Development). A punk rock band witness a murder at a dingy backwoods venue, and the Neo-Nazi psychos that did it won't let them leave, leading to a tense stand-off with the band trapped inside the venue's green room for most of the film.
Patrick Stewart, as you've never seen him before, is the calm, softly spoken leader of the Nazi thugs who are determined to make sure all this mess gets cleaned up before the police get a sniff of the crime.
Red Army is finally in selected UK cinemas. If you're in London, it's on at the Picturehouse Cinema until Wednesday. It's brilliant and well worth a watch, even if you're not an ice hockey fan!
Here's a snippet of my review from Cannes 2014:
Like an infinitely superior version of Rocky IV, Red Army intertwines
politics and sport with the Cold War being fought in the ice rink
instead of the boxing ring. This incredibly heartfelt and occasionally
hilarious documentary tells the story of the Soviet Union’s awe
inspiring national ice hockey team as team captain Slava Fetisov turns
from national hero to endangered traitor.
The Red Army hockey team
are legendary for their incredible skill on the ice, competing in the
Olympic Games in the late 70s and through the 80s. As the USSR went
through turbulent years of Communism, KGB repression and gradual
political change, its most notable sports stars and national heroes were
finding success in the arenas but difficulties in dealing with their
over bearing coach and the dictatorial control others had over their
lives.
Goddamit I just know that The Revenant isn't going to get Leonardo DiCaprio his long overdue Oscar. Doesn't matter how bloody epic the film looks, somebody in some plain old, possibly very boring biopic is going to come along and snatch it away from him.
To be fair, judging from this teaser, Leo's going to be doing a lot of screaming his lungs out and running and fighting for his life, but this doesn't even look like it's his film.
Firstly he's joined by Tom Hardy, Will Poulter and Domnhall Gleeson so this could be just as much their time to shine as it is little old Leo's.
More importantly, from the look of this footage, this is another chance to see what director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki can come up with together after the wonderfully shot Birdman. You just know we're going to be immersed right in the middle of those stunningly harsh landscapes, as well as the bloodshed and chaos of all that fighting. If anyone is getting Oscars, it will be one of those two.
This is too cool for words. I was just checking out the trailer for one on my favourite films of Cannes 2014, when my jaw dropped to discover that I had been quoted in the trailer.
I wish I could say that it was because of some of my dazzling wordplay, but it's actually because I managed to put two nice words together about the film.
My review of the ice hockey documentary Red Army is at Tastic Film here. I absolutely loved this film and it is a great honour to be mentioned in the trailer.
Here is the trailer in full:
It is not just a film about ice hockey either. It's a film about Russia, America, capitalism, communism, and the past, the present and the future of Russia. But most of all, it does have some of the most beautiful ice hockey playing you will ever see. Find it and watch it!
Can somebody make sure that Suicide Squad gets rated 18 please?
I haven't got anything against kids, but I'd just like to make sure the bad guys are reeeeally bad in this. No redemption. No corny Will Smith jokes. More Jared Leto hurting people really badly please.
He's got a tough job ahead, trying to get us all to forget about Heath Ledger as the Joker. If anyone can do it, I have faith that Leto might be our guy.
This trailer shows that Batman gets mixed up in the affairs of the Suicide Squad, which is a good sign, both for DC's world building and for the action stakes.
Most of all, I worry that Will Smith might be the key to wrecking this. The character looks cool, but I want to see less world saving, and more villains doing what they do best.
Has anyone who has read the comics got any inside information for me on this? Do all the bad guys turn good? I bloody hope not.
Katniss is back for the fourth and final time in the brand new trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. It's time for the people of Panem to rise up and overthrow that mean old bastard President Snow. But at what cost will victory come?
Those who have read the books will know all too well just how dark this final chapter goes. Author Suzanne Collins was not kidding when she decided to write her stories based on the sickening shit she saw on the news in wars around the world (and reality TV shows).
Mockingjay Part 2 should be the most adult of all Katniss' adventures and that's really saying something after the firebombings, genocide and kids killing each other ruthlessly for the entertainment of the rich of the previous installments.
We also finally get to see Brienne (Gwendoline Christie: future Star Wars star) from Game of Thrones in this trailer and she manages to look pretty terrifying just with one sideways glance.
I wasn't a massive fan of the final book in the trilogy but I think they've done a great job of adapting it so far, so I'm hoping the final film is going to end this franchise on a high note.
This franchise has grossed more than $2.2 billion at the
global box office, so it's pretty safe to say that this final chapter will be a huge smash at the box office in November.
Poor old Matt Daaaaaaaaaamon. You'd think somebody in Hollywood had it in for him. First he got stuck out in the far reaches of space in Interstallar and now he's all on his lonesome again in the new trailer for sci-fi thriller The Martian.
Don't feel too sorry for him though. First, Christopher Nolan. Now, Ridley Scott. Matt Damon is getting his pick of the great directors in Hollywood. Maybe all this solitary stuff on faraway planets is Damon just trying to get away from all these other Hollywood actors and their spoiled behaviour on sets. Have you seen the cast list on this one?
Kristen Wiig, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Donald Glover, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena and Chiwetel Ejiofor. That all adds up to a lot of talent and just maybe a lot of tantrums that Damon got to mostly avoid.
This looks great so far but as it's not out till November, I hope this is the one and only trailer we'll get. It's already over 3 minutes long so we really need to see nothing more of this until we sit down to watch the film in cinemas thank you very much.
I'm glad the trailer for Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation didn't self-destruct as soon as I'd finished watching it for the first time. I've now watched this trailer four or five times and each time I just can't wait for it to get to those final few seconds of Tom Cruise doing what he does best and hanging off a jet that is taking off at god knows what speed.
I'm no big fan of the first three Mission Impossible films. The first had some great (and iconic) moments, the second was completely forgettable crap and the third was ok. But the fourth film, Ghost Protocol blew my socks off. Cruise is a born entertainer and even with all his money and success, just keeps trying to up the ante, especially with this franchise. The Burj Khalifa scrambling scene was a dizzying stand out in an otherwise excellent action film.
I'm not sure if they can hold on to that magic, particularly with Brad Bird departing as director after just one outing, but from the look of this trailer, I think they may have come pretty close. The more Simon Pegg in these films the better and this jet stunt looks like another level of insanity from Tom Cruise; the guy with the most exciting job in the world.
Everywhere I turn people are hating on the Terminator:
Genisys trailer, so I’m here to provide a little bit of cautious and quiet
optimism with this analysis of the first trailer. Watch it here:
Unfortunately my CG fatigue kicks in immediately with the
opening shot. I hate it when every single thing on screen is completely
computer generated. Give me Cameron’s old vision of the dystopian future any day.
However, it’s a nice touch having the decaying Hollywood sign visible in the
corner of the screen though. I’m guessing it’s not a deliberate comment on the
state of the moviemaking capital of the world but it would be nice if it was.
Three flying craft enter and head for a destroyed LA skyline.
Cut to Jason Clarke’s nastily scarred John Connor preaching
to his fellow war survivors as Jai Courtenay’s Kyle Reese looks on. Was Jason
Clarke just picked for his initials? Only Jesus Christ and James Cameron can
answer that, but hopefully Clarke will prove himself worthy, though I doubt he’ll
ever take the title of coolest Connor from Edward Furlong. On a side note
though, imagine if they’d got Furlong back for the role. Have you seen him
recently?
The future looks suitably bleak and it’s nice to see Connor
and Reese fighting side by side because no matter how many times I’ve tried to
watch Terminator: Salvation, it just never feels like I’m watching the version
of the future that Cameron intended. So Genisys looks like it has gotten it a
bit better but still not nearly as bleak as the vision offered up in the dreams
of Reese in the first Terminator film.
There is what seems to be a quick flashback to the best bit
of Terminator: Rise of the Machines as Skynet sets off the global destruction
of the human race as missiles strike targets all over our silly little planet.
There are also a whole bunch of Terminators ready to be dropped off the
production line at any minute, suggesting Connor and Reese are going to have
their hands very full getting into Skynet in order to use the time machine.
And this is the point where it gets very interesting to me.
What Genisys is going to have to do, is fill in a whole lot of little details
that were glossed over in the original films. We finally get to see the time
machine and Reese being transported back to the 80s (if indeed it will still be
the 80s). After an incredibly homoerotic handshake between the naked Reese and
clothed Connor, it’s all lightning and those familiar sphere things
transporting Reese.
I will be interested to see how they explain how the
resistance found out about the machines’ time travel scheme and if they attempt
to justify why the machines decided to target Sarah Connor just before she
becomes pregnant with John and why they didn’t just try to kill her when she
was a child.
My favourite bit of the trailer is the recreation of those
few shots in the alley from the original Terminator film of Reese emerging from
his time travel sphere to immediately start being chased by the cops. It’s an interesting
touch to have the Figueroa Lounge sign in the background featured quite
prominently. I don’t remember that in the original film, but Don Figueroa is a
guy who provided artwork for the Terminator: Salvation prequel comic so I
suppose it could be a nod to him possibly.
And then we get the biggest shock of all! Sarah Connor comes
crashing in, the cop is revealed to be another T-1000 and the roles are
reversed as Connor demands that Reese comes with her if he wants to live. Now
she is the Mother of Dragons, Sarah Connor is not so scared and weak and in
need of saving as her future son thought she would be.
Basically I’m a sucker for any part of the trailer where
they seem to be delving into the first film’s scenes. So when we get the shot
of the Griffith Observatory (which by the way I went on a pilgrimage to when I
was in LA) and old 80s Arnie facing off against new (really old) Arnie, it gets me very excited. The fact new Arnie has
been waiting for his other self and only thought to bring a shotgun doesn’t
make a lot of sense but we’ll see how that goes.
As Sarah says, everything’s changed but why the future hasn’t
changed is a mystery to me. I don’t even want to get into the time travel
paradoxes of these films as I’m sure they never made any sense in the first
place but the films were just so damn good that it never really mattered.
There’s a quick shot of the T-800 saving a young Sarah
Connor and a few tidy action beats but by the time Connor says ‘we can stop
Judgement Day from happening’, you’re starting to think ‘yeah right, heard that
before’.
And finally, the less said about the school bus flip and Arnie
dive bombing a helicopter, the better. Let’s hope some of the action scenes have
some vaguely practical effects and a real sense of threat instead of this OTT
madness.
All in all, I’m quietly optimistic that this will at least
have a really interesting new take. I’ve got to say I love the new even more
badass Sarah Connor and the return of a liquid metal Terminator is very
welcome. It’s never going to live up to James Cameron’s original pair but it
sort of reminds me of Days of Future Past which can only be a good thing.
Here's my breakdown of the Jurassic World Trailer.
There's going to be kids and they are going to be back in jeopardy. The funny Mummy dishes out some sage advice to teen Zach and that kid from Iron Man 3 who is playing what I assume is Zach's younger brother Gray.
It seems that tourists are now heading to Isla Nublar by the boatload and the tour now includes driving, canoeing and strange bubble vehicle looking things to get right up close and personal with a range of dinosaurs.
There is also the nice nod to executive producer Steven Spielberg's past form with predators of the sea as one of the big attractions on the island seems to be feeding time of the huge underwater creatures lurking in the depths and chomping on sharks. That's quite a splash!
Bryce Dallas Howard is doing the silly scientist bit by playing God and genetically modifying dinosaurs. She's not just making them all female or anything like that. This time, they are really messing with nature and making all new hybrid dinosaurs.
Chris Pratt is the down to Earth voice of reason suggesting that cooking up dinosaurs probably wasn't the best idea in the world. He's quickly proved right as the markings on the wall suggest something has broken free. It's a bit of a shame really as I could quite happily spend two hours watching this functioning futuristic theme park at work and not need everybody to start getting ripped up by rampaging dinos.
Everything from helmets to those bubble vehicles suddenly seems to be getting smashed and then there's a lot of talk about how 'she' will kill anything that moves. I guess they aren't talking about Bryce Dallas Howard. Chris Pratt is running from big dino feet and calling for the island to be evacuated but hopefully it's all too late and mayhem ensues as those kids from the start of the trailer (and everyone else) start running for their lives and Pratt rides a motorbike through a herd of what look like they could be nasty velociraptors. Game on!
Annoyingly, there is still no sign of Jake Johnson. He is still in the film isn't he?
What do you think of the trailer? Notice anything beyond my obvious breakdown here?
Jurassic World has a tiny little teaser! UPDATE: AND NOW HERE IS THE REAL TEASER!
The teaser for the teaser was the first bit of footage to come from the brand new futuristic dinosaur theme park. Love 'em or hate 'em, the studios think these silly little teaser sting things are here to stay. Trailers for trailers, teasers for teasers; it's all becoming the norm for mega blockbusters with money to throw around and franchise fans chomping at the bit for their first real taste of the films.
As we enter the new Jurassic World gates, it is clear visitors are on tracks, almost like the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios. The park is up and running, the dinosaurs are roaming and the guests are floating around in futuristic bubble vehicles. Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt are clearly in love with each other but also looking a bit moody. She's in front of computers in a white coat and he's in park ranger type clothes. Shame there is no sign of Jake Johnson yet to cheer them both up a bit.
Even the teensy weensy bit of the piano theme is a giant tease. So until Friday here it is...
Decent vampire movies are making a serious comeback after nearly being staked right through the heart by the bloody Twilight franchise. First up this year there was Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive, then I got to see a little gem at the London Film Festival called A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night and then tonight I get to see mock-documentary What We Do in the Shadows.
It just goes to show that even after the moping, preening, sparkling vampires of that unholy tween franchise, films featuring bloodsuckers will really never die. This horror sub-genre is as immortal as ever and enjoying a witty and original renaissance.
What We Do in the Shadows is from the guys who brought us Flight of the Conchords and Eagle Vs Shark so expect much hilarity to ensue. The trailer looks brilliant, with its last line being a particularly funny look at what I imagine David Brent from The Office would be like if he joined the legions of the undead.
Waaaaaaiiiiiiiittt a minute, come back it's not really a Short Circuit reboot! But it does have a robot who looks a bit like Johnny Five and he is most definitely alive! He may not have a wonderful Wall-eeeeeeeeeee catchphrase but he definitely looks like he'll be tugging at the heart strings no less than any other little robotic critter on the big screen.
Chappie is going to be Neil Blomkamp's chance to bounce back after the relatively (compared to District 9) disappointing Elysium. He's also sort of going back to his roots as this is based on Blomkamp's own short Tetra Vaal which is brilliant and I have also embedded below. It's set in South Africa again, features Sharlto Copley doing voice (and a bit of mo-cap) for the robot and also has big Hollywood stars Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver to help with the international market!
Knowing Blomkamp, this is bound to have plenty of subtext going for it but even without that, this story of a robot outcast looks like it will be axction packed and emotional!
Little yellow bastards. The Minions from Despicable Me 1 and 2 have taken the world by storm so it was inevitable they would be given their very own spin-off film. They spout gibberish, they look cute and they are about to become the biggest selling toy at Christmas no doubt and that will be at least six months before this film even comes out.
I'm sorry but I'm fairly unmoved by the Minions. Much of the trailer seems to brush through a quick history of the minions from dinosaur days to almost present day New York. They are always looking for their very own despicable master to serve which has taken them through T-Rex to Dracula and will eventually lead them to Gru.
Despite my lack of love for the minions, it all looks pretty funny in an oh-so-cute and charming way. More importantly, Michael Keaton, Jon Hamm, Sandra Bullock and Steve Coogan have all signed on for quick and easy pay cheques so here's hoping there is something more for the cynical old farts like me.
Last week, I got invited to attend a special early screening of Interstellar for the wonderful folk at Starburst Magazine. I've been a big, big fan of Christopher Nolan since Memento but for some reason I wasn't overly excited about Interstellar.
With that in mind, my expectations were sensible for the film (which is always a good place to start) so I really enjoyed it. Here is my review of Interstellar for Starburst Magazine. It's a hard film to talk about without spoiling some of its secrets but I have not given anything away in my review. In fact I've given a lot less away than many other reviews I've seen!
It's out on Friday and with the name Christopher Nolan and the face of Matthew McConaughey attached, I have no doubt that Interstellar will be absolutely massive at the box office. Here is the trailer:
Here's a featurette on building a Black Hole for the movie:
