HOSTILES Review

There are opening scenes and then there is the opening scene to Hostiles. Why do people treat one another the way we have for all of history? This is the question the opening sequence within director Scott Cooper's (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace) latest brutally forces us to ponder. The United States, since its inception in 1776, has only not been in conflict with itself or another country for a total of eighteen years. Why are we like this? What is it in our human nature that allows us to always be at odds with others and their inclinations? It's a fascinating and broad mentality to deconstruct, but dammit if Cooper doesn't try his darndest in what is itself a seeming deconstruction of the classic American Western. Maybe it's the fact I haven't seen as many classic Westerns as I should in order to be able to understand where Hostiles goes wrong in its breaking down of the mythos of the old west, but for what it's worth, Cooper's film feels pure in its intent to accurately portray this time period and the dynamics that existed in as honest a fashion as possible-no matter how gruesome and no matter who comes out looking worse. This opening sequence then, which I won't go into detail about here, is an immediate and gut-wrenching reminder of the fact hate is often one in the same no matter where it comes from, but is often not seen as hate from the perspective from which it comes. In Hostiles, Cooper examines all the complexities of war and the purpose of the meanings behind words like honor and courage while stripping them down to not so much the definitions we've come to immediately relate to such words, but more the intent behind them. It's a rather simple suggestion, a simple consensus to come to even, but as history has shown us there is typically a lot of bloodshed and a lot of lives lost in the process of trying to come to such a consensus. And so, Cooper communicates these simple, but resounding themes through a straightforward story that is executed with the scope of that grand American Western. Channeling this idea that somewhere along the lines of history we found war to be the most effective tool of persuasion into a narrative that is able to say much more with the implications of the events it documents rather than serving as an excuse for an adrenaline rush via the shootouts or misplaced pride in whatever side you might genetically fall, but more in being an understanding of the value of life and how much of it has been lost over what comes down to little more than inconsequential details.

SUICIDE SQUAD Review

Don't believe everything you hear. That would be the first thing I would tell people if they were to ask what I thought about the latest entry in the DC Comics extended universe as funded by Warner Brothers. Don't believe everything you hear in that Suicide Squad isn't nearly as terrible as those early reviews have made it out to be, but don't believe everything you saw in those trailers that made you think this might be a new super hero masterpiece either. Suicide Squad has its flaws. Plenty of them in fact-the biggest perpetrator being the convoluted  story that ultimately does so many circles around itself that it becomes a pointless exercise in power for Amanda Waller (as played by the wonderful Viola Davis). Suicide Squad also has its fair share of highlights as well-most of them concerning the effort the cast is putting into making this group of misfits feel like a family when the script gives them little to work with. This is all very disappointing mind you as writer/director David Ayer (who wrote Training Day and who wrote and directed the likes of End of Watch and Fury) clearly has a knack for these types of characters and putting such characters in high-stakes situations that bring out qualities and traits viewers will find endearing and affecting despite potentially being revolting. The issue here is that Ayer seemingly felt the need to include so many characters that he let his storytelling techniques get away from him and instead decided to give us an introductory hour where we are presented with each of the ten (count 'em ten) main characters as well as how they all ended up together and walking into the plot device that is both meant to unite them and that could have also been completely avoided if the idea to bring them together was rejected in the first place. There is interesting ideas aplenty here and the film very well could have explored the difference between bad and evil and how many bad things one has to do or ends up doing before they cross that line. Instead, Ayer uses this opportunity to bring together his comic book version of the Dirty Dozen and expose them at face value, for what they are, and how they work together. Just so we're all on the same page-that would have been fine. I don't have an issue, especially at this stage of the game, with a DC film not leaning too hard on the philosophical stuff and instead focusing more on simply having fun, but even in doing this Ayer's story does itself no favors by making everything interconnected to the point the film renders itself irrelevant when all he really needed to do was give these usual foes a formidable one of their own.

Third Trailer for SUICIDE SQUAD Starring Will Smith

After what will undoubtedly go down in history if not the record books as something of a disappointing run for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice it seems Warner Bros. will not only be "releasing fewer films", but also focusing more on the franchises they already have in motion. The worst thing the studio could do at this point is administer a knee-jerk reaction and completely rethink their DC extended universe plans. So BvS didn't go exactly as they'd hoped critically or commercially-that doesn't mean you scrap your entire slate (which WB would never do, but they might certainly alter it significantly) and it shouldn't mean that you start trying to bend to the whim of every internet comments section, especially when you have something as unique and fantastic seeming as Suicide Squad on the horizon. By the time August comes around BvS will already be on home video outlets everywhere allowing more people to discover the film for the first time and for those who disliked it the first time, a chance to give it another shot and possibly warm up to it more. If Suicide Squad is indeed as good as its trailers have indicated so far Warner Bros. could essentially move the conversation in their favor and have people once again excited for next summer's Wonder Woman and possibly even next November's Justice League Part I. While the issue with director Zack Snyder is one that looms large over the Warner offices, Suicide Squad comes to us courtesy of acclaimed director David Ayer (End of Watch, Fury) so there is no reason to expect less than excellence from what Suicide Squad promises. Only time will tell, but I sincerely hope Warner Bros. doesn't take too much early action a la those "re-shoots" to make the film more "fun" and simply allows their films and the people behind them a little breathing room. Suicide Squad stars Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, Cara Delevingne, Viola Davis, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Adam Beach, Jay Hernandez, Karen Fukahara, and opens on August 5th, 2016.

New Trailer & Posters for SUICIDE SQUAD

It seems strange that after last summers Comic-Con fiasco where Warner Bros. attempted to have the first footage of Suicide Squad taken down after it was pirated and leaked that they would already be releasing another trailer for the film. Given they were unsuccessful in having the footage removed and ultimately decided to release the high-quality version and because the movie doesn't come out for another six more months one would imagine another trailer would be held at least until the release Batman v Superman, but here we are. The CW aired a special tonight titled The Dawn of the Justice League hosted by Kevin Smith and Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer at DC Entertainment, and in lieu of simply giving another thirty second TV spot for Bats vs. Supes DC and WB opted for this two and a half minute peek at the second film in their cinematic universe that runs the risk of feeling old by the time the movie arrives in August. That said, the trailer is pretty fantastic and it's clear director David Ayer (End of Watch, Fury) is really in tune with this band of anti-heroes whose story he is conveying. While I would have kept more of Jared Leto's Joker in the shadows as the first trailer revealed just enough I won't say I wasn't excited to see the footage I just know I'd have been more pleased if I hadn't seen it until I saw it in the context of the film. Suicide Squad also stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Will Smith as Deadshot, Jai Courney as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, Jay Hernandez as El Diablo, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, as well as Jim Parrack, Adam Beach, Scott Eastwood, Common, David Harbour, Ike Barinholtz and opens on August 5, 2016.

Comic-Con Trailer for SUICIDE SQUAD

While many seemed to doubt the organizational skills of Warner Bros. when it came to their own comic book universe, their showing at Comic-Con this past weekend has certainly silenced many. With the one-two punch of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice and now the first look at director David Ayer's (Fury, End of Watch, Training Day) Suicide Squad the DC comics universe is more than ready to stake their claim in todays cinematic landscape. The integration of both Batman and Superman into this world is already very much apparent as there are allusions to The Joker in the BvS trailer while we explicitly see that Ben Affleck's Batman is present in this footage. While I was concerned over how quickly WB seemed to put their plans for a rival comics universe in motion they also seem to have hired people who are very much in tune with the material and who share a common vision for the universe as a whole. It should be noted that WB attempted to have this footage taken down after it was pirated and leaked from Comic-Con on Saturday, but after being unsuccessful have decided to release the high-quality version. This move is defended by President of Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution for WB, Sue Kroll, who says they, "cannot continue to allow the film to be represented by the poor quality of the pirated footage stolen from our presentation.”  Suicide Squad also stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Will Smith as Deadshot, Jai Courney as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, as well as Jim Parrack, Adam Beach, Ike Barinholtz and opens on August 5, 2016.