First US Trailer for “Legend” Focuses on Tom Hardy’s Portrayal of Kray Twins

If you’ll recall, a couple of weeks ago The Martian was moved up over two months for an October 2nd release. There, it will compete with the Robert Zemekis film The Walk and Brian Helgeland’s Legend, starring Tom Hardy (twice). And, while we’ve had a couple of different looks at The Walk (which I always … Read more

First US Trailer for “Dragon Blade” is a Confusing, Quick-Cutting Nightmare

What the Hell is this Dragon Blade trailer? When was the last time that a swords and sandal epic was actually worth anything? Well, here we get a major film produced in China starring Adrien Brody, John Cusack, and Jackie Chan.  The film was originally titled, “Tian jiang xiong shi”; literally, “Celestial General, Heroic Army” … Read more

Biopic “Love & Mercy” Applies Musical Genius of Brian Wilson to Cinematic Storytelling

There is a moment late in the second act of the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy where everyone is celebrating the success of the Good Vibrations single and lyricist Van Dyke Parks is tasked with describing the next project, which Brian wants to call SMiLE. Parks describes it as a mixture of various artists … Read more

The Fantastic Journey of Gaspar Noé’s “Enter the Void”

Enter the Void is not an easy movie to watch, and that isn’t simply because it contains a startling killing, gratuitous sex, and a horrific car accident which routinely interjects the narrative. When you watch the most recent film from Gaspar Noé (at least until Love is released later this year), you are cast into … Read more

“Jenny’s Wedding” Acquired by IFC, Set for July 31st Release

In a Variety Exclusive it was announced that IFC has acquired the rights to Jenny’s Wedding, an indie dramedy (which is apparently a word we’re going forward with) starring Katherine Heigl, Alexis Bledel, Linda Emond, and Tom Wilkinson. The film was written, directed, and produced by Mary Agnes Donoghue, who has a number of writing … Read more

No Man Born of Woman Shall Miss the “Macbeth” Trailer

All you c-section babies can bail, though. I’ve already written about the new adaptation of The Scottish Play with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in my Cannes Film Festival piece, but today they released the first trailer for Macbeth. It is bleak and gorgeous, offering an aesthetic more similar to the grime of Braveheart than … Read more

Vampire Film “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” Excels

In this century, properties like Twilight, Vampire Academy, and even things like Underworld and Blade have infantilized the vampire genre. These films are overtly focused on either relationship drama for the girls or supernatural action for the boys, leaving very few recent vampire movies capable of approaching these creatures of the night and their mythology … Read more

Fassbender Disappears in Steve McQueen’s “Hunger”

Who wants to have exactly zero fun watching Michael Fassbender starve himself to death? If there are any takers, I’d love to point you to Steve McQueen’s Hunger, a dramatization of the 1981 Irish hunger strike. McQueen burst onto the scene with this sobering tale of a five-year-long protest by incarcerated members of the Provisional … Read more

“Black Mass” First Trailer Reaction: Here’s Johnny!

When was the last time you were legitimately excited about a Johnny Depp movie? Be honest. Maybe you thought he and Tim Burton would pay appropriate homage to Alice in Wonderland (and were wrong). Or, before that, perhaps you thought a more faithful take on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was warranted (also … Read more

“Batkid Begins” Trailer Reaction

I made sure to write this trailer reaction a good three hours after I first saw the trailer to Batkid Begins this morning, otherwise it would have basically been three paragraphs of teary-eyed blubbering. The story was vaguely familiar to me from various news articles, but I didn’t really know too much about it. Presented … Read more