When Showtime’s hit series, Ray Donovan premiered in 2013, expectations weren’t high. Creator and showrunner Ann Biderman(Southland) wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel with her story about an LA fixer(Liev Schreiber) who cleans up more messes inside his own family than he does for the rich, famous and dangerous people on the West Coast. The low expectations made for a welcome invitation into a new Sunday night entertainment.
The result was a hard hitting simplistic drama that worked well because of a signature cast handpicked by Biderman to escape into this mad souls rotting away on the inside in the face of greed, violence, sickening pasts and everything else that wasn’t nailed to the floor of guilty pleasure vices. Debuting it’s third season on Sunday, July 12th, the series hasn’t skipped a beat and gotten stronger with each hour.
What makes the show tick so perfectly is the brooding, expressive and quietly powerful leading man work from Schreiber. Here is a guy who played the supporting character for decades and waited for his opportunity, just like James Gandolfini did before Tony Soprano, Jon Hamm before Don Draper, and Jeremy Piven before Ari Gold. (more…)
Welcome to the land of trailers. Teases that drive us fucking insane. A tidbit is dropped a year in advance and we spend the next few months breaking down the threads, hints and tiny bits of details that may lead to spoilers. Directors and editors create these 150 second ice cubes of intrigue just to drive us nuts and make us buy the 11 dollar ticket on opening night. Take Suicide Squad, writer/director David Ayer’s latest loaded deck. It comes out in August of 2016, which is over a year away but in the middle of shooting he drops a trailer off for us to dissect and digest over and over again. You see, SS is the third film i the new DC universe of films. It started with Man of Steel and continues with Batman v Superman before Suicide Squad drops next summer. Let’s start with that trailer and roll on from there.
Suicide Squad
What is this about? Well, DC’s band of thieves are rounded up by the government to task missions and take care of the dirty work that they don’t want traced back to their hands. Instead of asking Batman to take out some criminals or a terrorist cell, the suits install baddies like Harley Quinn(Margot Robbie from Wolf of Wall Street), Lloyd aka Deadshot(Will Smith with a shaved head!!!), Captain Boomerang(Jai Courtney) and Rick Flagg(Joel Kinnaman). They do job, eventually turn on each other and the whole trailer is tuned to a Bee Gee’s cover. Sounds swell and the trailer works very well.
Ayer’s magic trick here is reinventing The Joker via Jared Leto’s punk rocker imitation. He had silver teeth, green hair, a deep voice and the tattoos to assure us this is not Heath Ledger’s Joker. Should we cut this new version a free rein of slack? Yes. As much as I adore Ledger’s work, Leto doesn’t do a film because he’s told to. He decides to take it on. It’s a choice thing. From the looks of the trailer I don’t think he is playing around. (more…)
After the initial teaser wet the lips earlier this year, Warner Brothers and Director Zack Snyder have dropped a bigger chunk of their 2016 cinematic blockbuster, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, at our feet. The Comic Con footage has been released. A new trailer that promises all kinds of mayhem next March. Let’s throw on the cape and fire out 5 quick instant reactions.
“20 years in Gotham. How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?”-Bruce Wayne
1. Tying the story right back to Man of Steel. People were mad at the city being destroyed in the huge climax of MOS must know it plays a part here. The damage done to Metropolis is what causes Ben Affleck’s Batman to seek revenge on Superman. One of his buildings was destroyed that day and this kicks off the juiciest part of the plot.
2. I love the older wearier look on Affleck’s Batman.This isn’t your young rich guy crusader. This is an angry man. He’s lost more people than Superman can count and there will be justice. Hate on The Fleck all you want but he’s perfect for this role. A mix of all the previous Batman’s rolled into one good performance. The shot of Affleck’s Wayne running into the building crumbling dust cloud reminded me of 9/11 instantly. It’s a powerful shot that works while making you a bit cold and sending the focus to the world’s new hero…or alien. (more…)
When I first heard about the idea of a stand alone Minions movie, I was skeptical. I was a big fan of the Despicable Me films but I questioned if the little recklessly loyal dudes could scratch out a huge July release date and make a feature film work. The first 15 minutes of Minions puts those worries to rest. This is a funny film and works for a 91 minute feature that can give each member of the family a little something to enjoy.
The story is pre-Gru(No Steve Carell here) and takes the group of adorable little guys all the way back to the Stone Age with the dinosaurs as they struggle to find a proper villain/master to live and die for. Without purpose, each of their masters finds a way to die, from T-Rex to a Caveman to Dracula himself. In search of a real boss, they send three to America to track down the evil Scarlett(Sandra Bullock), a deadly ambitious super villain looking to obtain the crown from the Queen of England. The Minions find her and her sidekick/lover(Jon Hamm) and go to work. Serious hijinks ensue and the necessary plot threads are revealed and nothing truly original occurs.
You don’t go to a Minions movie to be blown away. You take the wife and kid to it and hope to laugh a decent amount and take a load off your mind. This isn’t Inception. It’s candy for the soul. The various group of actors who perform the voice work for the minions deserves praise, because their voices and various ways of speaking can’t be easy. Their language is unique and weird, and never tires. Whether it’s one of them being stranded in a mall watching an old game show or climbing on top of each other to help save the day, the dudes are fun to watch. The kid in you takes over and the adult is put at ease and can take a couple hours off the clock. (more…)
Let’s be honest. Most of us won’t be hanging off an exploding car or engaging in a gun battle when we are 69 years old. We will be suffering through a lawn mow or making coffee before we digest the paper and make a 56th attempt to fight the computer keyboard. On Monday, Sylvester Stallone, one of the best action stars who ever lived and the owner of an Academy Award, turns 69 years old. He’s the king of blow it up and talk about it later but probably most remarkably known for Rocky Balboa, the ultimate underdog.
In the spirit of recommending, I am going to provide 6(serious number territory) underrated movies of Sly’s for you to watch.
6. Cliffhanger
A tense nerve racking thriller to this day. Renny Harlin’s “Sly on a mountain” action adventure pitted our 5 foot 10 inch hero against the ruthless criminal John Lithgow and more importantly, ice cold temperatures up in the Rocky Mountains(really, Rocky?). From the unsettling opening death scene to the ending fight off a cliff with a plunging helicopter as their base, this movie never lets up and works all of the action hero’s strong suits to perfection. For a movie that’s 22 years old, it still holds up well. (more…)
There’s a scene in the latest Terminator adventure, the 5th entry called Genisys, where Arnold Schwarzenegger’s original T-800 tells Kyle Reese, “I am old, yet not obsolete.” I wish the same could be said for the latest sequel/reboot/reimagining. I grew up on these films and I still think the entire thing could have ended with James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day. While the third Terminator film wasn’t bad and featured an unexpected ending, Terminator Salvation was weak and didn’t feature Arnold at all and this summer blockbuster pretender is all flash and has zero originality.
I’m sorry, but reshaping the entire storyline to fit the requirements for making a 5th film doesn’t count as being original. Sure, Arnold is back in full bad to the bone mode as the ultimate protector. Game of Thrones darling Emilia Clarke is Sarah Connor and the blank slate Jai Courtney tries his best to not mess up Kyle Reese, but it’s not enough to make this reboot required. Jason Clarke is a skilled actor, but has little to do here as John Connor, the man who sent Reese back to save his mom, or something like that. Around an hour into the film, the plot gets very complicated and grows more tedious by the moment. What was simple turns into a constant changing of the timeline. Summer action films shouldn’t be this complicated, heavy and recycled. (more…)
When I picture Tom Cruise watching these younger pups in the Fast and Furious franchise running and gunning, I see a guy who constantly tells himself, “I need to up my game.” With the latest Mission Impossible, Rogue Nation, Cruise is simply heading back out to the tee, grabbing his driver and blasting another ball down the fairway. Nothing stops Cruise from being a man of action and that includes death defying stunts. Bigger, crazier and more “holy smokes” styled.
No actor in Hollywood does stunts like Tom Cruise. When 99 percent of actors call for their stunt double or check with agent for clearance, Tom just does it. Why? He is his own entity. Cruise produces, backs, thinks up and generates every movie he is in. He’s the ship and not just the engine. Hate the man for his religious choices, personal values or the way he lives his life, but he’s very very good at his job and that’s making quality entertaining movies.
In the latest Mission flick, Cruise and his team of spies(Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Jeremy Renner) are catching flak from their superior(Alec Baldwin) for being too exposed or sloppy. Things worsen when a rival agency called the Syndicate takes aim at Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, and that essentially turns his crew into outsiders looking in. This of course cues the theme music, “one last time” anthem and outrageous stunts.
While the supporting cast is stellar and newcomer beauty Rebecca Ferguson will make the screen smolder, Cruise is the draw here. He always has been with all of his films. The trailer starts off with him hanging onto the side of a plane as it takes off. Next, he leaps off a pole that was holding him hostage to deliver some bone crunching blows. Midway through, he is racing a motorcycle between semi trucks on a narrow road above a canyon while being chased. Next, he pulls a U-turn on a thin street and takes out two cars before capping it all off by diving deep into a body of water to defuse or steal something without an oxygen tank. Just another day at the office for our rogue hero.
Throughout the Mission films, Cruise is the fresh ingredient and that’s because he cares about his work. Look right or left in Hollywood and actors take the easy way out or phone in a performance for a paycheck. Cruise only makes money off the back end of his films. If they do well, he gets paid well. If not, it’s on to the next adventure. He makes it work. People said he couldn’t play Jack Reacher because the novel version embodied a man of the Rock’s size? Well, he knocked that role out of the park. Last year, Edge of Tomorrow tried to combine Groundhog Day with Aliens and the D-Day invasion and he not only made it work but churned some comedy out of the ordeal.
When the world isn’t knocking Cruise, they are seeing his movies all over the world. Few movie stars make films that gross as much as Cruise’s films do overseas. He constantly challenges himself and that makes his flicks watchable. Usually, when a franchise cranks out its fifth entry, a few head shakes are in order. Not with the Mission films. Cruise never lets it go stale and yes it’s his baby, his ship and his way. Without that, it doesn’t work. Oh, I’m sorry, were you wanting to go watch Adam Sandler in Pixels first?
If you respect entertaining cinema that can be sustained over many years, you’ll appreciate Tom Cruise. He may be a little unhinged in real life or he could merely represented that way. Instead of drawing a conclusion from an US Weekly article, wash away the negative thoughts and just watch this trailer. Cruise is 53 years old and still treats show business like a playground.
A talking bear can only get so many laughs right before moviegoers wise up and shove their hard earned dollars elsewhere? Seth McFarlane’s hard partying pot smoking profanity spewing protagonist manages to flip that ideal on its head and produce not only a funny flick, but one that is more hilarious than the original Ted. Behold, the return of the talking bear from Boston(voiced by McFarlane himself) and his friend, John Bennett( a show stopping Mark Wahlberg).
What makes the sequel funny? Fresh jokes that weren’t all spoiled in the film’s two minute plus trailer, which is where most comedy sophomore efforts go to die. Shove all the funny bone material into the tease and when the folks pile into the seats they play countdown until the last moment from the trailer has played itself out. McFarlane(who directs as well) and his two writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild spread out the action like a good old fashioned New England Patriots two minute drill towards the end zone. Yes, Tom Brady makes a cameo and he isn’t that bad. (more…)
Oliver Stone doesn’t do anything halfway. The controversial filmmaker always takes a full swing inside the cinematic ring of fire. Here, he tells the story of the most wanted man in America, Edward Snowden, who was an army recruit, member of the CIA and NSA data leaker before his 30th birthday.
The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Snowden and has an esteemed supporting cast which includes Shailene Woodley, Tom Wilkinson, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Rhys Ifans and Nicolas Cage. It arrives on Christmas Day. Get your sneak peek below.
When I left this movie, the first thing I wanted to do was go home and hug my son. The second thing I wanted and needed to do was inform everyone within a ten mile radius how important it is for this movie, Prisoners, to be seen. Easily one of the year’s best films, French Canadian director Denis Villenueve’s spellbinding tale will get inside your bones and stay there a while. Few movies have the power to be present you with a moral dilemma and take the necessary time to lay out their story while inserting every scene with authentic tension. Never mind the trailer that some believe gives away too much. What you get there is a basic setup that covers a third of the film’s running time. Prisoners is full of juicy compelling moral questions and features the best ensemble cast of 2013. Let’s dig in.
Hugh Jackman’s work as Keller Dover deserves Oscar attention. It goes without saying that the actor is as versatile a talent in Hollywood as one can find, but here he puts on display his best screen work to date. He turns it all up a notch. Forget his Oscar nominated work in Les Miserables last year. That is surface imitational work compared to what he does here as Dover, a father who won’t be stopped until he finds out where his daughter is. A survival specialist who keeps natural selection close to heart, Dover won’t be stopped and Jackman electrifies with his portrayal. This is the same man who grows claws out of his hands as Marvel’s Wolverine and dances on Broadway. Jackman is astounding and the emotional glue that holds the film together. (more…)
When Showtime’s hit series, Ray Donovan premiered in 2013, expectations weren’t high. Creator and showrunner Ann Biderman(Southland) wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel with her story about an LA fixer(Liev Schreiber) who cleans up more messes inside his own family than he does for the rich, famous and dangerous people on the West Coast. The low expectations made for a welcome invitation into a new Sunday night entertainment.
Dose of Buffa 