This week, we've got two new flicks that could hardly be more different in style, subject matter or personnel. The first is a Michael Bay-directed action thriller starring The Rock, the second a family comedy about a middle-aged divorced couple starring Diane Keaton. Take your pick!
I watch a lot of 'Project Runway.' My wife likes it -- and, yeah, I like it too. A show dedicated to fashion design that features creative and powerful women is a weird thing to think about while watching a Michael Bay movie but that's exactly what I did during 'Pain and Gain.' Bay could learn a thing or two from that show about editing. Not in the cinematic, cutting shots together sense; that he's got. This is a different kind of editing.
It's the kind that is often called out by the 'Runway' judges when they tell the contestants (I'm paraphrasing), "This is too busy. You need to edit. That blue fuzzy hat that looks like a tribble distracts from the gorgeous, ornately sequined dress. The dress is enough. You don't need the tribble hat. Edit."
A Michael Bay movie -- particularly 'Pain & Gain' -- is a sequined dress with a blue tribble hat.
April 23, 2013
The developmental process in Hollywood can be slow and arduous, something Martin Scorsese is well aware of. 'Gangs of New York' was a film he wanted to make in 1979, but it took twenty-three years to finally get it to the big screen. It seems that he's going through a similar struggle to adapt 'Silence,' based on the novel by Shusaku Endo, as he has been attached to it since 1991. But now there's light at the end of this tunnel.
Tom Cruise and science fiction are a powerful combination. Although the opening weekend of 'Oblivion' didn't break any records big or small, it's a more than solid start for a non-franchise, non-sequel, non-reboot. That's a sad statement on the current state of Hollywood, but that's another topic for another day.
After last year's 'Men in Black 3' and this year's 'After Earth,' it looks like America's favorite superstar, AKA, Will Smith, may leap back into "serious" acting for a bit, putting aside blockbusters in favor of something a little meatier. Currently under his consideration are the Hurricane Katrina story 'American Can' and the action drama 'The Accountant.'
It's been almost a decade since Keanu Reeves wrapped up 'The Matrix' trilogy, and over five years since his 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' remake, and in the interim Reeves has kept quiet. Sure, he's done some indie films, and produced a documentary, but he's been off the big screen for a while. But now he's signed on to star in 'Passengers,' which will return him to science fiction.
