And this is how it starts – not with a whimper, but a roar. A big giant, slightly digitized, crazily awesome loud roar. When Godzilla Attacks, it can only be time for the latest installment of the BSR! Weekend Movie Previews. This one is for the weekend of May 16, 2014.
As always, before we get started, a quick disclaimer (so I don’t get slammed for copying the majority of the content down below): All of the film information presented here, including the plot summary, has been pulled from the Opening This Week page of IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/nowplaying/). Only the “Thoughts” are my own. I have not seen any of these movies (yet), nor have I researched any of them (well, maybe I have researched Godzilla, but nothing specifically for this post). Join us this week as we preview Godzilla, The Immigrant, Million Dollar Arm and more.
Please hold your comments and trollish remarks for the end.
Godzilla (2014)
PG-13 123 min – Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
Director: Gareth Edwards
Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe
Summary: The world’s most famous monster is pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.
Thoughts: Guys? I am really, really worried. I think my expectations are too high for this movie to sustain. I think I have built it up into this giant rampaging monster of awesomeness that will stomp my heart into a quivering pile of love and Saturday morning matinee nostalgia. I think I have turned it into a beautiful, smart, funny, sexy super model of a monster movie, and deep down in my subconscious I know that she just cannot exist. I am worried that the Asian cut of the movie is going to be better than the US cut, even though there will probably only be a few minutes of footage total difference. I am concerned that the score by Alexandre Desplat will have more Glockenspiels than it actually needs. I am scared that the final shot will be Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch breaking up in the foreground as Godzilla and the Muto walk away mournfully in the deep semi-focused background. I am just worried, guys. And there is nothing I can do but go see the movie and hope that it is every bit as awesome as I suspect. (Also check out the BSR! review here, or BSR’s very own Jeff Michael Vice‘s review for Cinephiled here.)
Million Dollar Arm (2014)
PG Biography | Drama | Sport
Director: Craig Gillespie
Stars: Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Alan Arkin, Suraj Sharma
Summary: A sports agent stages an unconventional recruitment strategy to get talented Indian cricket players to play Major League Baseball.
Thoughts: Where do I start. My first gut impression is that this seems kinda racist. Not racist in the vile, dumb, dismissive Donald Serling or Cliven Bundy way, but racist in that passive do-gooder way in which ‘if we just give these poor other races a chance maybe they can rise up to a level at which we can celebrate them and they can entertain us in slightly depressing knock off movies in which they replace the adorable performing dogs from Air Bud’. If there is a scene in the movie in which they realize that baseball has no rule saying that an Indian can’t play in the MLB, then we riot in the streets. Ok? (Jeff Vice disagrees with me – but he has seen it, so you should probably trust him more than me. His review is here.)
The Immigrant (2013)
R 120 min – Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller
Director: James Gray
Stars: Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner, Dagmara Dominczyk
Summary: On the mean streets of Manhattan, Ewa falls prey to Bruno, a charming but wicked man who takes her in and forces her into prostitution.
Thoughts: This hits right in my soft spot – emotional gritty period piece with a bit of romance, but not too much. It looks beautifully executed. And who doesn’t agree that Marion Cotillard was the only really great thing about The Dark Knight Rises? I am not a big fan of Jeremy Renner as an action or romantic lead, but he was great in American Hustle. I don’t think his role here will live up to that. Did I mention how great Cotillard was in The Dark Knight Rises? Also, Joaquin Phoenix is evil again. Finally, if the title character is the lovely Ms Cotillard, I do kinda take issue. The name is so brusque and unseemly, while she appears to be the complete exact opposite.
Chinese Puzzle (2013) – [Limited]
R 117 min – Comedy | Drama | Romance
Director: Cédric Klapisch
Stars: Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Cécile De France, Kelly Reilly
Summary: A 40-year-old father’s life is complicated when the mother of his two children moves to New York. Since he can’t bear them growing up far away from him, he decides to move there as well.
Thoughts: I have a serious love for French Cinema. Especially comedies. I mean, I don’t watch a lot of it, but I really have a soft spot. And this looks energetic, fun, full of personality, quirky and very, very French. Plus, it has Audrey Tautou. Who looks just every bit as freaking adorable now as she was in Amelie. Separately, while I am thinking about it, do you know what would be cool? A French Action Comedy starring Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Gerard Depardieu, and Marion Cotillard, written and directed by Luc Besson.
Half of a Yellow Sun (2013) – [Limited]
R 111 min – Drama | Romance
Director: Biyi Bandele
Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose, John Boyega
Summary: Sisters Olanna and Kainene return home to 1960s Nigeria, where they soon diverge on different paths. As civil war breaks out, political events loom larger than their differences as they join the fight to establish an independent republic.
Thoughts: Holy cow, this looks fantastic. And, is it me, or does Thandie Newton just keep getting better and better? And Chiwetel Ejiofor is seriously wonderful in everything he does.
Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case (2013) – [Limited]
86 min – Documentary | Drama
Director: Andreas Johnsen
Stars: Lao Ai, Weiwei Ai, Jerome A. Cohen, Wang Fen
Summary: A documentary reflects on artist Ai Weiwei’s battle against the lawsuit thrust upon him by the Chinese government in an effort to silence him.
Thoughts: China scares me, and I’m part Chinese. Ai Weiwei is the real thing. I look at his life and feel kinda disappointed in my own. I don’t know if this documentary is any good, but you don’t need to see it to know more about him, just Wiki or Google him and drink up.
Now, it’s your turn – if you have seen any of these movies, let us know your thoughts in the comments.