"Alien: Covenant"

After a hiccup happens aboard her ship, a fire that kills many including their captain, Katherine Waterson's Daniels leads the crew of a colony ship, bound for a remote planet, to a pit stop on an uncharted planet. Bad idea? Of course. Thus enters the main problem of Ridley Scott latest "Alien" movie: You know where it's going.

I loved "Prometheus," I might be one of the few out there that really bought what Ridley Scott was trying to do there - here was a big budget Hollywood movie with ideas, a philosophical brain! Scott has recently come out and all, but admitted that he too regretted the way he made "Prometheus." That, of course, didn't go well with me, he should have stuck to his guns, "Prometheus" will age well in time whereas "Alien: Covenant" ...

"Alien: Covenant" is a disappointment, it goes back to the narrative structure of the survival games of the first two movies. Scott has decided to feed the masses and say "fuck it" to any kind of artistic statement. Are some scenes scary? Yes, but they're empty thrills, empty calories that don't have the substance of "Prometheus." This "Covenant" just wants to entertain, nothing wrong with that, but we deserved better.

If "Prometheus" was an ambitious film that asked questions about our own existence, this latest film is madly obvious, at times ludicrously pedestrian. It's a greatest hits package. Scott is fighting with himself here, he wants to tell us about the grand ideas he hinted at in "Prometheus," but wants to also please the masses that were disappointed with the previous installment.

If there's a reason to overlook the film's issues that would be Michael Fassbender. Playing dual roles, Walter and David, Fassbender manages to bring scary humanity to a cold-hearted duo of robots. The fireworks that spark between the two are the clear-cut highlights of the movie. Fassbender, now 40 years old, delivers a tour-de-force, one of the highlights of his storied career, managing to give us skin-crawling performances that only hint at the potential that was lurking in Scott's mad-scientist ideas, too bad the venerable director had to resort to conventional tropes for box-office potential [C-]

Darren Aronofsky's 'Mother' Has a Poster! 5 Things We Already Know About The Director's Secret Project

Darren Aronofsky is a filmmaker who's always on the radar for cinephiles as to what he's going to do next. This is after all the director that brought us "Requiem For A Dream," "The Wrestler" and "Black Swan." Most directors would kill to have just one of these films in the span of an entire career.

We don't have an actual title for his latest secret project, but, through actual on-set accounts, the film seems have the working title of "Day 6," although there have also been rumors that it is called "Mother." The film has wrapped up shooting and has been in post-production since August. 

By all accounts it also looks like the film will be a thriller and there was an intriguing tweet earlier last month that stated the cast and crew were shooting in an "apocalyptic house that was upside down" and that the "set was real dirty and needed standby nurses." There were also "150 extras and some were instructed to say "help me." Whatever that means.

Intriguing. Maybe this is, in fact, a horror movie. Who knows. But what we do know are these 5 facts about the untitled project.

1) It stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Domhnall Gleeson and Michelle Pfeiffer. 

2) IMDB says the plot revolves around “a couple whose relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.”

3) The film was shot on 16mm, but only on the last day of shooting did digital cameras get used for effects purposes

4) The film will supposedly continue Aronofsky's dive into "political" themes after his last film "Noah" As the director mentioned at the Reykjavik Film Festival this past week: "My latest project probably has similar political intentions behind it, but first and foremost responsibility as a narrative filmmaker is making something that is emotional and can connect with an audience."

5) Long-time Aronofsky composer Clint Mansell, having scored all of his movies, will step down for Jóhann Jóhannsson a composer I greatly admire whose pulse pounding score in "Sicario" was a real highlight.

For more on Aronofsky's appearance at The Reykjavik Film Festival click HERE for IndieWire's coverage of the event

“Mother!” opens on October 13th

'King Arthur' Bombs At The Weekend Box-Office

Shocking. Mystifying. I mean, who could have seen this coming? Guy Ritchie's "King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword" has completely tanked at the North American Box-Office. Of course, I am kidding. Most experts have predicted that this summer will be the worst in a decade for Hollywood. It seems like they've overbooked, overworked if you will, themselves into sequel oblivion. The problem this summer is just this, too many useless sequels, prequels have been booked. The movies with an only original idea are Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk," and Edgar Wright's "Baby Driver." A fifth Transformers movie is being released ditto a sixth Alien (I'll be talking about that film later today in another post). Why was "King Arthur" greenlit? They didn't know that people would not be interested in that story? People were sure as hell not going to go see the film because Guy Ritchie directed it. The film's budget is $175 million, good luck nabbing even half of that back in worldwide receipts Warner Bros.

1. “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2” — $63 million ($246.1 mil.)
2. “Snatched” — $17.5 million
3. “King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword” — $14.7 million
4. “The Fate Of The Furious” — $5.3 million ($215 mil.)
5. “The Boss Baby” — $4.6 million ($162.3 mil.)
6. “Beauty And The Beast” — $3.8 million ($493.1 mil.)
7. “How To Be A Latin Lover” — $3.7 million ($26.1 mil.)
8. “Lowriders” — $2.4 million
9. “The Circle” — $1.7 million ($18.9 mil.)
10. “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” — $1.5 million ($18.9 mil.)

[The Playlist]

"Hollywood fearing worst box office summer in a decade; Thanks to too many sequels, franchises, and streaming services"

Hollywood hasn't got an original thought in its entire collective brain. If the only originally conceived blockbuster they can come up with this summer, or for the next four months, is "Dunkirk," then we seriously have a problem here.  If all they can do is regurgitate sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots whilst ripping off everything from comics to TV to games, then this will be the result and it will be all come crashing down like the Hiddenburgh. The scourge of the bean-counter has hit them as much as anywhere else and producers need to start thinking out of the box again and encouraging new writers and fresh, original screenplays.


The Independent:

“Some of the tent poles are just not as strong this year,” 20th Century Fox head of domestic distribution Chris Aronson says. “Pirates of the Caribbean? It's the fifth one. Transformers? It’s the fifth one.” 

'Fox has just released their sixth instalment in the Alien franchise — Alien: Covenant — and are releasing the third in the rebooted Planet of the Apes series, War for the Planet of the Apes."

I always go back to this Steven Spielberg quote, which seems to become more prophetic by the year: 

"There's eventually going to be an implosion — or a big meltdown. There's going to be an implosion where three or four or maybe even a half-dozen megabudget movies are going to go crashing into the ground, and that's going to change the paradigm. We were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western. It doesn't mean there won't be another occasion where the Western comes back and the superhero movie someday returns." - Steven Spielberg to THR

Original 'Blade Runner' Actor Says Cast Felt 'Confused' and 'Bewildered' After First Screening

"We all sat there and it ended. And nothing ... We didn't know what to say or to think or do! We didn't know what in the hell we had done! The only one who seemed to get it was Ridley." 

The quote above is from Emmet Walsh who played Capt. Harry Bryant.

"Blade Runner" must be the film I've tried to give the most repeat chances over the years, but, still, I don't quite believe it is a great movie. I must have seen it 5 or 6 times over the years, including an in-depth post-screening analysis back in my film school days. I don't blame Emmet Walsh here. Yes, the film requires multiple viewings and, yes, its hidden qualities shine through the more you watch it, but my main gripe with the film is that it sets out to answer questions that it doesn't even bother making the audience ask. It's a real oddity of a film. Again, it does work on multiple viewings, but to a certain point. You can appreciate the craft and artistry behind it, but there just isn't that genuine pull that is required to make a film indisputably great in my books. 

[THR]

Diane Lane (Martha Kent) Says 'Justice League' Won't Be Better Than The Avengers

Doh. Miss Lane must be regretting her claim that "The Avengers" is better than her own  "Justice League," in which she stars as Superman's mother Martha Kent. I'm sure this slip-up was well-intentioned, but it only gives more ammo to Marvel enthusiasts and DC haters. Warner Bros. can't be happy about this and neither must Zack Snyder who has constantly defended his own vision for the movies. Here's the exact quote courtesy of Screenrant:

This statement came about during an interview Lane – who plays Martha Kent in the DCEU – had on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen After Show. The interview allowed for fans to call in and when one asked if she had any Justice League spoilers and if she thought it will be a better movie than 2012’s The Avengers, Lane had a quick response that is sure to be divisive saying, “No and no. [laughs] Short but honest. I hate to disappoint.”

[Screenrant] 

Martin Scorsese says Mafia drama 'The Irishman' is tonally different from 'Goodfellas'

The whole interview he gives to The Independent's Christopher Hooton is worth a read, but here's the quote on "The Irishman" that really piques my fancy:
"I think this is different, I think it is," he insists. "I admit that there are - you know, Goodfellas and Casino have a certain style that I created for them - it's on the page in the script actually.  Putting Goodfellas together was almost like an afterthought, at times I was kind of rushing, I felt I'd already done it because I'd played it all out in terms of the camera moves and the editing and that sort of thing. The style of the picture, the cuts, the freeze-frames, all of this was planned way in advance, but here it's a little different."

"The people are also older in The Irishman, it's certainly more about looking back, a retrospective so to speak of a man's life and the choices that he's had to make."

Thoughts? I'm glad to hear that he won't be doing the whole "rise and fall"  genre trope that comes with the gangster movie, didn't he already do that anyway in "Goodfellas," "Casino," and "The Wolf of Wall Street"? In fact, Casino, a film which I very much love, was greeted by critics at the time as almost a parody of his own work. "Goodfellas 2" they were titling it. It had music blaring through every conversation, characters coming in, rising and then falling, tracking shots for the sake of tracking shots and a ridiculous length. Still loved it, but just saying.

[The Independent]

"Nocturama"

I really liked Bertrand Bonello's "Nocturama." It carefully treaded that thin line between the political and exploitative. My colleagues in France have had a much more divisive and anger-ridden response to the film.

Hyper-realized, the film can sometimes make the viewer a little uneasy, especially in its finale, which refuses to condemn the actions of the film's terrorists. The visually masterful film, think Jacques Rivette, seems to take sides with the marxist terrorists at the forefront of the story, even though Bonnello has been quite outspoken about his film NOT being political.  "Nocturama" seems to be saying that these are not really terrorists, but "troubled youth" that have been hampered down by a flawed social and economical system. Yes, the ending is ideologically dubious, which is what has irritated French critics the most. Bonnello has talent, his views are complex and the film also raises interesting questions. He should be taken seriously and I'm looking forward to the response from American critics.

Here's what Matthew Wilder, friend and screenwriter, had to say about the movie:

"The new film by Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent, House of Pleasures) is a terrorism thriller like no other, recalling Robert Bresson’s The Devil, Probably as much as it does George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. We first follow a group of tense, shifty adolescents as they prowl the streets and subways of Paris, learning through carefully delineated sequences that they’re already well underway with a bombing plot. And then it becomes something familiar, yet altogether different, as these subversives tuck away inside a shopping mall and lose themselves in consumer culture — clothes, televisions, toys, and a stirring soundtrack that includes Blondie, Chief Keef, Shirley Bassey, Bonello’s menacing electronic score, and Willow Smith. Will they survive the unseen, encroaching authorities? Or, as the walls close in, will they even survive each other? Nocturama presents no easy answers; what it does offer is one of the 21st century’s most stirring cinematic experiences."

“Nocturama” opens on August 11th in New York City.

The Rock Says He Could Actually Run For President

Want to know the cold, hard truth about the chances of The Rock wining a Presidential election? It is very likely that we could, one day, have a President Dwayne Johnson. If Donald Trump happened, then why not The Rock? At the very least, he's more popular and more well liked than Trump ever was and ever will be.  As the GQ article states "If Trump's election proved that celebrities can just dive right in—they don't even have to make a pit stop as governor of California before the presidency." Now, question is, will he run as a Democrat or Repubican?

"Johnson doesn't hesitate when I ask him whether he honestly might one day give up his life as the highest-paid movie star on earth to run for president. "I think that it's a real possibility." 

Last year, both presidential campaigns reached out to him for his endorsement, he says. “Which I did not give. I felt like…and give me a second, because I've never said this publicly, so…” He stops to gather his thoughts. He's sitting now in a cabana on the set of Ballers while crew members wheel around towering lights. “I feel like I'm in a position now where my word carries a lot of weight and influence, which of course is why they want the endorsement. But I also have a tremendous amount of respect for the process and felt like if I did share my political views publicly, a few things would happen—and these are all conversations I have with myself, in the gym at four o'clock in the morning—I felt like it would either (a) make people unhappy with the thought of whatever my political view was. And, also, it might sway an opinion, which I didn't want to do.” He says he told both the Trump and Clinton camps that he wasn't making an endorsement, that he preferred to see Americans make up their own minds.

“Personally, I feel that if I were president, poise would be important. Leadership would be important. Taking responsibility for everybody. [If I didn't agree with someone] on something, I wouldn't shut them out. I would actually include them. The first thing we'd do is we'd come and sit down and we'd talk about it. It's hard to categorize right now how I think he's doing, other than to tell you how I would operate, what I would like to see.”

[GQ]

Ridley Scott Says He Got 'Prometheus' "Wrong" ...

Scott told Yahoo:

“The fans, in a funny kind of way – they’re not the final word – but they are the reflection of your doubts about something,” he added, “and then you realize ‘I was wrong’ or ‘I was right.’ I think that’s where it comes in. I think you’re not sensible if you don’t actually take [the fans’ reaction] into account.”

“I don’t know. [I’ll make] maybe two more [films], or maybe one more, I don’t know,” he said. At some point, either the threads to the original will need to be closed or, Scott will need to determine that this prequel series will go off in its own direction.

Oh, come on Ridley! "Prometheus" was just fine, don't let the divisive reaction deter your own opinion of the film. 

Ok, sure, there were holes in Prometheus, its 124 minute running time was overbaked and YET, its claustrophobic atmosphere was palpably intense. A mix of rich visuals, a thinking man's movie! The questions asked in the film were not answered and that clearly struck an infuriating chord in its viewers. It's the ambition of Prometheus that makes it work so well. There aren't many studio system films out there that are willing to contemplate such themes as the purpose of human existence and creation of life. 

I'm watching "Alien: Covenant" today, let's hope it exceeds expectations.

'The Baddest Mothafucka That Ever Lived'

While shooting a pivotal scene the Lord of the Rings films, Christopher Lee (who served as a spy/assassin in WW2) schools Peter Jackson during a scene.

"When I was shooting the stabbing shot with Christopher, as a director would I was explaining to him what he should do"... "And he says, 'Peter, have you ever heard the sound a man makes when he’s stabbed in the back?' And I said, 'Um, no.' And he says 'Well, I have, and I know what to do.' "

According to The Guardian, "Lee is said to have assisted the UN's War Crimes Commission and Allied governments in tracing those suspected of Nazi war crimes. He joined the RAAF at the beginning of the war, and also worked for British Intelligence."

He also recorded a heavy metal album at the age of 86:

"Lee's musical career took a metal turn. He released a "symphonic metal" album, Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross in 2010. It won him a spirit of metal award at the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods ceremony. He claimed to be descended from Charlemagne."

Cannes Prep

People have been asking me why I'm not covering the Cannes films ahead of my appearance at the fest next Monday, it's simple: I usually try to not look or hear details about the movies ahead of the fest and just let the screening surprise me as the movie unfolds before my very eyes, For now, I know absolutely NOTHING about the plot for any of the movies in the official competition.  Isn't that how moviegoing was meant to be in the first place? An experience filled with surprise?

Oren Moverman talks "The Dinner," his chance encounter with Kurt Vonnegut and a Bruce Springsteen biopic [Interview]

Interview originally published on The Playlist

Martin Scorsese's 'The Irishman' greenlit by Netflix, starts shooting in the fall

Indiewire has confirmed that Martin Scorsese's much anticipated "The Irishman" will start shooting this year and that Netflix has officially greenlit the project for a tentative 2019 release.

Scorsese's "The Irishman" hasn't even finalized a cast yet and it's already skyrocketed to the top of most cinephiles "most anticipated" films list. Why? Well, because it's a reunion of sorts for Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, one of the great actor/director partnerships in cinematic history, whom haven't made a film together since 1995's "Casino." If that isn't enough to wet your appetites, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and Al Pacino are all rumored to take part as well.

Steve Zaillian (“Gangs Of New York,” “Schindler’s List,” “Moneyball,“ “The Night Of“), is helming the screenplay for this one, which is based on the book “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt. Zaillian is a hot commodity these days after writing and directing the best TV series of 2016, HBO's brilliant dissection of the justice system "The Night Of."

"The Irishman"  tells the story of Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran — a hitman tied to the Bufalino crime family that was a high ranking officer in the international brotherhood of teamsters, was tied to a possible plot in the JFK assassination and who claimed, on his deathbed, to have murdered Teamster leader and iconic cold case Jimmy Hoffa.

David Lynch: "Art-House Cinema Is Gone"

“Feature films are suffering a kind of bad time right now, in my opinion, because the feature films that play in theaters are blockbusters. That seems to fill the theaters, but the art-house cinema is gone. If I made a feature film, it might play in L.A. and New York, a couple of other places, for a week in a little part of a cineplex, and then it would go who knows where,” Lynch said. “I built [‘Twin Peaks’] to be on the big screen. It will be on a smaller screen, but it’s built for the big screen,” he continued. “You want a feature film to play on a big screen with big sound, utilizing all the best technology to make a world. It’s really tough after all that work to not get it in the theater. So I say that cable television is a new art house, and it’s good that it’s here.”

[The Playlist]

‘Edge of Tomorrow 2’ Title Revealed

Live Die Repeat and Repeat.

Horrible title. Here's hoping they change it. The first "Edge of Tomorrow" didn't do so well at the domestic box-office, that same year Cruise was coming off a total bust of a sci-fi movie (Oblivion) so people didn't know show up. I must admit, I had my own hesistations about the film, but boy did it deliver. Safe for its covoluted climax, I thought Doug Liman's film was tremendously exciting. 

“We have an amazing story! It’s incredible! Way better than the first film, and I obviously loved the first film. It will be called Live Die Repeat and Repeat. Tom [Cruise] is excited about it, and Emily Blunt is excited about it. The big question is just when we’ll do it. But it’s not an if, it’s a when.”

[Collider]

'Blade Runner 2049' Official Trailer is HERE!

"Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society in chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years."

The good news is not only Villeneuve behind the camera - Hampton Fancher, who wrote the original Blade Runner, and Michael Green (Logan), have collaborated on the screenplay. But, that's not the best part. Quite possibly the greatest cinematographer of my time, Roger Deakins, is photographing the film. Can the anticipation get any greater?

“Blade Runner 2049” will be released on October 6th.

On a more personal note, I lived through the Montreal film scene when Villeneuve, Jean-Marc Vallee, and an 18-year-old Xavier Dolan among others, revolutionized French-Canadian cinema for the 21st century, and in the process paved their way to the Hollywood studio system. It was a very exciting time, but it was always Villeneuve that I kept an especially close eye on. It was the images Villeneuve conveyed with his camera, the powerful impact they had on me, especially in his three Quebecois opuses "Maesltrom," "Polytechnique" and "Incendies." It's been incredible seeing his ascension to the American filmmaking elite. You don't know how many film fans in they twenties have told me he is their favorite filmmaker, in a way, he's surpassed Nolan with that age group, the 18-29. Just look at the IMDB ratings of "Prisoners," "Sicario" and "Arrival" for further proof. 

In Guillermo del Toro's 'Crimson Peak', the ghosts were actors in full makeup, enhanced by CGI (not other way around)

Dave Bautista Says "Blade Runner 2049" is Better Than The Original Film

"I think it’s going to be - and this is hard to say because I know I’m going to get some grief for this - I think it’s going to be better than the first film. And I’m saying that because I think the script is better, it’s deeper. I think it’s a better story, I think it’s told in a better way, and I think it just answers a lot of questions. It’s going to be great."

[Link]

'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' Floors Competition at Weekend Box-Office

So, no surprise, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has put a dent in the weekend box office. $145 million in its first North American weekend. It's almost universally accepted that this film is not as good as the 2014 original, but do we care that much as long as the formula works, especially the soundtrack! and Baby Groot! Ok, ok, I got suckered into liking the second volume, but it does have its fair share of flaws. For one, the plot is just an excuse for our band of brothers, and sisters, to reunite for this second volume. There are also way too many characters, here's hoping the third volume cuts it down. Also, the tone of the film, hell the whole structure, is a mess. Did we really need a 134 minute film? 

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — $145,049,000
2. The Fate of the Furious— $8,528,965 ($207,136,495)
3. The Boss Baby — $6,175,000 ($156,735)
4. How to be a Latin Lover — $5,250,000 ($20,653,320)
5. Beauty and the Beast — $4,943,000 ($487,594,615)
6. The Circle — $4,020,000 ($15,715,113)
7. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion —$3,242,532 ($16,175,528)
8. Gifted —$2,055,000 ($19,240,331)
9. Going in Style —$1,900,000 ($40,600,918)
10. Smurfs: The Lost Village — $1,820,000 ($40,570,574)