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If Jeff Goldblum’s character is to be believed, then we aren’t the ones making the resurgence. The aliens have outpaced us in the twenty years after their July 1996 attack, and it looks like that equates to bigger spaceships! Let’s face it, nobody’s going to a Roland Emmerich movie for Shakespeare-esque drama (unless you went to that movie he made about Shakespeare).
Oh boy, we’ve got a montage of grinning stars in this trailer, which means ensemble fun! A litany of familiar faces has always been a selling point for the Barbershop series, and since ten years has passed since the last entry, there’s been a big cast shake-up. Most notable is the steep increase in female roles, with the series welcoming Nicki Minaj, Tia Mowry, and Regina Hall into the shop.
Over fifty years ago, novelist Truman Capote narrowed in on the jewelry company Tiffany as the poster child for what would become one of his most famous pieces. “In Cold Blood” arguably brought him more fame, but “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” has lingered in the cultural zeitgeist longer thanks to its immaculate thematic work. The novella would have dimmed if Tiffany’s had faltered, but the store still stands tall in New York City, a bastion of hope that, perhaps one day, we can all have breakfast there.
Every week Film Inquiry publishes the movies that are opening in cinemas! This week: Hail, Caesar!
As the title suggests, Denmark’s A War (originally titled Krigen) takes on a topic broad enough to play well anywhere in the world. War is messy, decisions must be made in the heat of the moment, and their ramifications are devastating. When a father and company commander makes a questionable call while deployed in Afghanistan, it follows him back home to his already tumultuous family.
Theatrical animated releases have evolved since their early years in the cinema. What started out as intermission filler accompanying news reels, grew to full-length features of fairy tales of classics. Innovative techniques such as rotoscoping, claymation and stop-motion animation gave birth to fare which mature audience members could marvel at as an artistic innovation disguised as light-hearted children’s entertainment.
Jodie Foster’s sporadic directing career continues with Money Monster, and it’s all but guaranteed to be her biggest hit. The leading duo of George Clooney and Julia Roberts alone should generate more than the $25 million Foster’s directorial debut Little Man Tate made back in 1991, and so far the box office totals for her movies have declined with every outing. Money Monster will crush that trend thanks to its leads, a summer release, and a storyline that’s both topical and entertaining.
When men find a world different from their own, their minds race with fanciful thoughts of what it might contain. The legends of the native people seem somehow plausible, and men risk everything to find the magical items squirrelled away in its depths. This narrative has played out innumerable times throughout history, often leading to devastation for the land that the men find so captivating.
Horror is a very particular thing. What brand you prefer says something very intimate about you, about what you value enough to fear losing. The horror I respond to normally involves family and religion and the slow dissolution of the ties that bind people together.
Few things bring a smile to my face faster than the term ‘McConaissance’. For one, it’s really fun to say, but it also reminds me that even in a seemingly jaded industry, there are people willing to use their power to champion quality material. Matthew McConaughey’s career turn in 2011 brought projects like Killer Joe, Mud, and True Detective to a much wider audience, and his post-Oscar career sees him taking on bigger but still interesting films like Free State of Jones.
Every week Film Inquiry publishes the movies that are opening in cinemas! This week: Kung Fu Panda 3, The Finest Hours, Fifty Shades of Black and Jane Got A Gun.
A quick internet search confirmed that I’m not the only one sitting around wondering if 10 Cloverfield Lane is a true sequel to Cloverfield. I would personally lean towards a “no” answer, as the film began life as a standalone script and it shares no writing or directing credits with the original film. What seems to have caused all the confusion is the odd machinations of film financing, wherein a small label owned by Paramount Pictures folded and the project not yet called 10 Cloverfield Lane ended up with the company that made Cloverfield.
Bring your friends, buy some popcorn, and leave your cynicism at the door, because Eddie the Eagle isn’t hiding its feel-good roots. Based on the story of Great Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper (who oddly went to the same Olympics as the guys from Cool Runnings), this looks to have all the clichés of our most beloved sports movies. Eddie’s going to have the world against him, but with a down-on-his-luck coach and a plucky spirit, he’ll fight to make his dreams come true.
The fading of print news and the rise of legal marijuana in the United States meets in the festival documentary Rolling Papers, but this clever intersection might not be its main selling point. The trailer plays up a jaunty, engaging style, and the world it explores looks filled with good-natured, quirky folks. Characters make or break this kind of society-exploring documentary, and it seems that Rolling Papers will deliver on that front.
James Wan returns to horror and one of his most successful series with The Conjuring 2, which also brings back stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. This time the couple hop across the pond to take a case in England, and if the trailer is any indication, it looks like the sequel is sticking close to what made The Conjuring so successful. I anticipate a slow-building haunter with lots of classic horror imagery (like those upside-down crosses) and a big ending.