F1: THE MOVIE Review

“So, what is it about?” A couple of different characters pose this question to Brad Pitt’s Sonny Hayes - a washed-up Formula One driver who lost his shot at greatness at a young age and never found his way back - to emphasize an absolutely crucial character trait necessary to justify why a 60 year-old might be afforded the biggest stage in racing, but if we apply it to the film itself the answer is pretty straightforward: F1: The Movie is a comeback story, an underdog tale, and a redemption arc that we’ve seen play out a thousand times before cloaked in a world myself and no one I personally know cares anything about. While this might not be true of most viewers around the globe, this lack of insight makes the goals of the film immediately striking to the uninitiated such as myself: immerse viewers in the world to the point they’re invested in the story it’s telling while successfully executing a fresh take on how that story is told. 

From a storytelling standpoint, this is as simple as old school versus new, an old pro coming back into the fold of a young man’s game to show the “soft” rookie how it is done. Director Joseph Kosinski (the king of legacy sequels featuring colons) gives us everything we could want in such a sports drama from flashbacks to the aforementioned turning point in our protagonists life in a hurried, intercut fashion forcing us to piece much of it together ourselves down to the inevitable third act twist that presents an unforeseen challenge to the core team just as they’ve learned to put aside their differences and come together for the greater good. While much of the plotting in F1 can be seen coming from a mile away, what’s most invigorating is that it doesn’t try to upend expectations but in fact, Ehren Kruger’s screenplay wholeheartedly embraces them with Kosinski crafting his film to excel through each and every one of them.

AD ASTRA Review

Ad Astra is a Trojan horse of a movie for as mainstream as a film about space exploration wrapped in mystery and starring Brad Pitt sounds like it would be if one is able to expel such expectations set by the marketing and feast on the fulfillment that Ad Astra ultimately embodies given the aspirations of writer/director James Gray's (Two Lovers, The Immigrant, The Lost City of Z) latest work one would quickly come to realize this is a film filled with ideas and questions bubbling just below the surface despite its apparent facade; questions the movie as well as Gray's screenplay may or may not have answers to. Ad Astra is also, and not coincidentally, a film that is as slick in its storytelling as it is its visual representation meaning there is an immediate confidence to the film that speaks to the idea that it knows exactly what it wants to be and where it's going even if, as we go further into the deepest reaches of our solar system, the philosophical ponderings posed by the film seem to be or at least feel more like questions born out of questions that were born out of the writing process. Moreover, the themes and ideas Ad Astra ultimately come to wrestle with being more the products of streams of consciousness writing than they do necessarily questions that pertain directly to the initial idea Gray was chasing. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, as it in fact makes for a rather rewarding experience given the mysteries the narrative offers. The few, distinct answers the film delivers are slight in both comparison and reward to the number of new questions and ideas one's own mind will generate; the thought of the individual experience and reaction to certain material being such that each individual will respond differently, but with valid interpretations and inquiries is a claim not many films-especially mainstream Hollywood space movies with movie stars on their posters-can claim these days. Yes, there have been a number of films about space starring members of the Ocean's Eleven ensemble lately, but neither of those films approach the topic of the stars with as much of a balance in cynicism and optimism as Ad Astra does. Given the Trojan horse comparison, one might expect the subtleties of the film to outweigh the more blunt aspects general audiences require from a space adventure, but there is a specific moment when, like Pitt's character of Major Roy McBride, we come to realize there are more layers to the picture than the ones being highlighted for us and that we can choose to either dig as deep as we'd like or revel in the surface pleasures-both have their perks-but the true reward comes in finding your own place to land.

MOVIES I WANNA SEE MOST: FALL 2019

Per usual, there are a lot of things to be excited for this fall at the movies. I'd like to state up front that when I say "fall" in terms of movie-going seasons that "fall" will be defined as beginning next week, the first weekend of September, through to the end of the year. This actually makes it more difficult to narrow down my most anticipated releases into a short ten as there are releases the first three weeks of September that I've been looking forward to the majority of the year, but I’ll hold off on those until I actually get to the list. Furthermore, I want to provide some context for this list by stating that the ten movies I’ve picked are the ten movies I would want to see most if I could only see ten more movies for the remainder of the year; if I were only allowed to enter a theater ten more times in 2019 these are the ten I would pick to see on those visits. Sure, there are things like Terminator: Dark Fate, Zombieland: Double Tap, the new Jumanji film and Frozen II that I’m excited for and interested to see for one reason or another, but if I don’t know that any of those would necessarily make the cut if it were an absolute scenario such as the one I'm putting myself in for the sake of widdling down the release schedule to the ten titles I'm actually most anticipating. What I do want to do first though, is go through some of the movies that aren’t going to make my list, but that I think deserve to be highlighted as they have a lot of promise and one can only hope they turn out to be as fantastic as they look.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN...HOLLYWOOD Review

I've been trying for over a week now to figure out exactly why Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood, the latest opus from auteur Quentin Tarantino, hit me the way it did. As someone who's never visited California or more specifically, Hollywood, and as someone who wasn't born until nearly two decades after the year in which the film takes place there were no personal nostalgic ties to what is very clearly a very nostalgic movie for its writer and director. I love the movies as in "the movies", sure, both for their fascinating behind the scenes processes as well as certain aspects of the business and I adore the idea of crafting this love letter to a bygone era that, in many ways, is reoccurring at this very moment even if the players are very different in the similarly circumstanced game. Any piece of work that provides insight into any aspect or era of the movie business is typically something I'm game for, granted, but even my affinity for films and television shows produced in the late fifties through to the end of the sixties is low and wouldn't justify the instinctively adoring reaction these impossibly detailed re-creations of such receive and no doubt deserve. There is plenty to like and appreciate within the massive two hour and forty-minute runtime Tarantino has assembled with his latest, but it is difficult to pinpoint what exactly it is that occurs within those (nearly) three hours that not only made me long once more for days consisting of more innocence, but also genuinely made me love what I was watching and want to remain in this world he was enchanting us with. After a week of mulling over the film though, of continuing to go back to certain scenes, countless performance moments and a hundred other facets I hadn't yet considered day after day the bigger picture came to be that it wasn't necessarily any one thing in what will from now on be referred to as OUaTiH, but more it was the effect each of these elements had on one another; the meticulous re-creation of 1969 informed and enhanced the performances of these fictional characters which were in turn heightened in the context of the film by the real-life events that Tarantino weaved through his narrative so as to create a sense of familiarity while still holding tight to the destination he's driving towards. Ultimately, this stands as one of Tarantino's best, most introspective works as it delivers the feeling one wants to leave the theater with after having experienced a Tarantino flick while the experience in and of itself is something of an unexpected and surprisingly soulful one.

First Trailer for AD ASTRA Starring Brad Pitt

It seems as if I first heard about James Gray's Ad Astra a little over a year ago when it was scheduled for release in May of this year, but the premiere showing at the Cannes film fest was canceled and the rumors were that the opening may be delayed until the fall depending on the Fox/Disney merger and how everything shook out with that. Well, it seems the fall it will be as 20th Century Fox (as now owned by Disney) has released the first trailer for Gray's follow-up to his critically acclaimed, but seemingly little seen The Lost City of Z (you can stream it now for free if you have an Amazon Prime account). The filmmaker has also had good luck with critics in his 2007 and 2008 releases of We Own the Night and Two Lovers, but neither of those lit the box office on fire either and I'm curious as to what it is that might keep the hordes away given Gray tends to attract some pretty big names to his movies. For instance, Pitt has been eager to work with the director for some time as he was originally scheduled to star in The Lost City of Z, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Gray has worked with both Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix multiple times, but not even when he paired those two in that aforementioned 2007 crime thriller was he able to tap into a wider audience. I say all this with the hope that Ad Astra is the turning point for the filmmaker. Gray, who wrote the original screenplay with Ethan Ross (Fringe), has seemed to craft nothing short of a fascinating mystery/sci-fi film that isn't so much going to be leniant on the "fiction" part and instead be more grounded in its approach to discussing extraterrestrial life forms. In the film, Pitt plays an astronaut who travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet; ultimately uncovering secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the universe. This sort of thing is right up my alley. I love when movies really go for it in the vein of something like 2001, The Tree of Life, or Interstellar, and this film seems as if it will fit really well into that line-up. It's also encouraging that films like Gravity, The Martian, and the aforementioned Interstellar have done well financially in a similar release landscape as this film will face. Ad Astra will also star Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland, John Ortiz, Kimberly Elise, and opens on September 20th, 2019.

Teaser Trailer for Quentin Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

Quentin Tarantino's latest film is set in the late sixties and focuses on Charles Manson victim Sharon Tate's (Margot Robbie) next door neighbor, fictional TV actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Though both DiCaprio and Pitt have worked with Tarantino before, this will be the first time the two mega-stars will share the screen. While Dalton and Booth's odyssey will undoubtedly serve as the focus of the film, Tarantino has gone on record saying this is the closest thing he's done to Pulp Fiction since that breakout film of his twenty-five years ago. Naturally, this leads one to believe Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood will have the kind of sprawling narrative and ensemble cast of characters that film sported. Set in Hollywood in, more specifically, 1969 this teaser trailer sets up DiCaprio‘s aging Western star as he's trying to find his place in a changing Hollywood landscape alongside his trusty stunt double Booth. The year is critical though as it is the year of Tate's tragic murder at the hands of the Manson Family cult. While early reports said Tarantino's script isn’t focused on the Manson murders, it will remain intriguing to see just how integral Robbie's role as well as Manson's is in the film, but while DiCaprio seems to be having a good 'ole time here, it can't help but feel like Pitt is going to steal this show simply from the minimal amount of footage we get here. Speaking of a sprawling ensemble cast, Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood also stars Al Pacino, Timothy Olyphant, Scoot McNairy, Damian Lewis, Luke Perry, Dakota Fanning, James Marsden, Clifton Collins, Keith Jefferson, Emile Hirsch, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Danny Strong, Sydney Sweeney, Clu Gulager, James Landry Hébert, Mikey Madison, Lena Dunham, Maya Hawke, Nicholas Hammond, and opens in theaters on July 26th, 2019.

MOVIES I WANNA SEE MOST: 2019

With a new year we are brought many a new prospects for our entertainment purposes and in looking forward to 2019 one thing is more than clear and that is the fact audiences will have an abundance of interesting material to choose from. In setting out to make a most anticipated list I actually began with some fifty-something films I found interesting or knew I'd care to see based solely on surface factors such as director, cast members, or synopsis. It pains me that movies like John Crowley's follow-up to Brooklyn, Goldfinch, won't get acknowledged here nor will James Mangold's Ford v. Ferrari, Danny Boyle's Beatles project, or Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window, but that is the way these things work. That is without mentioning the long list of blockbusters that won't appear here-including Glass, Shazam!, Captain Marvel, John Wick: Chapter 3, The Lion King, and the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sequel-as I'm certainly excited to see what each of those deliver, but am not anticipating any with the fervor my top ten bring.

ALLIED Review

There is much to be said for Allied-a film that desperately wants to pay proper respects to its influences of yesteryear, but there is an equal amount with this most prestige of all prestige pictures (at least based on its credentials and story, if not the awards attention it will never receive) that goes unsaid in ways that leave the viewer hoping for more, but receiving very little. The costume drama/wartime romance that is Allied is a film that should, by definition of those involved, be something of a rejuvenation of the genre rather than one that follows the rules of it for mediocre results. With the likes of Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Cast Away, The Polar Express) directing one would expect the film to take the preconceptions of the time period and the genre and apply them to a unique or at least more interesting way of capturing this material, but if anything Zemeckis actually plays things as straight as possible delivering not necessarily a bad movie, but a safe if not masterfully made one. If there is one thing Allied excels at it is letting the viewer know how good looking its two stars are in multiple, era-appropriate fashions while also seeming to overly focus on just how young Brad Pitt is still capable of looking. Granted, there is clearly some type of digital touching up to Pitt's face, but why bother outside of keeping in step with the overall glossy aesthetic of the picture is unclear. Moreover, the dazzling aesthetic, impressive set designs, and elegant costumes would all still be just as appreciated and impressive if not more so if they weren't so much of what the film has going for it. Instead, they are the prime focus of positives as the narrative feels somewhat lacking despite being a genuinely intriguing premise from which certain, very specific tensions can be spurned. In essence, Allied is a missed opportunity to make an old school war drama through the lens of modern filmmaking, but as the key element that is the story doesn't remain consistent in the high stakes of the drama it seems to so thoughtlessly spin Allied never manages to feel substantial in any way, shape, or form thus leaving the viewer with a decent movie-going experience, but certainly not a memorable one. 

Movies I Wanna See Most: Fall 2016

So far, 2016 has felt like something of a lackluster year for film when compared to what felt like a rather stellar 2015. Maybe it is the hurt of summer '16 and the many disappointments it carried that is still making me feel worse about the year than it actually has been, but if the summer of '16 was a let down the latter half of the year certainly seems like it has a shot of righting the ship and offering plenty of interesting films that could fill the majority of my year end list that I'm beginning to get concerned about. In fact, the rest of the year is so jam-packed with highly anticipated stuff I think I could make a top twenty and be legitimately excited for each and every one of the movies on that list. As I did last year, I'm basically including a top fifteen with more of a focus on why my top ten are indeed my top ten, but hard choices had to be made.

I'm interested to see what Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks have to offer with Sully and the fact it was shot 100% on IMAX cameras. I'm equally as intrigued by what Oliver Stone and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have up their sleeves in Snowden, but while interested I can't say I'm necessarily excited for the possibilities these features hold. I kind of feel I know what to expect and if they fulfill those expectations, great-if they surpass them-even better. This could very much describe the way I feel about the likes of The Girl on the Train and The Accountant as well. I'm very much interested to see if either of these can rise above their genre trappings to be more than what their trailers promise or if they'll simply be solid exercises in those genres-which isn't a bad thing either. I expect Birth of a Nation may be a great film, but am I excited to watch another harsh account concerning slavery? Not really. If I knew or had seen a little more about Denzel Washington's Fences adaptation or Miss Sloane starring Jessica Chastain I might be more inclined to include them on my list. Speaking of Washington, I'm certainly eager to see such mainstream films as Magnificent Seven, When a Monster Calls, Deepwater Horizon, Moana, and Assassins Creed, but not more than what is currently on my list. Monster and Moana would definitely make that top twenty though.

I've excluded Martin Scorsese's Silence from this list as I've put it on the last four or five lists I've made of this nature and it seems and it still doesn't have a firm release date. If we were to get some kind of confirmation it would certainly be near the top, but as of right now I'm treating this thing as if it won't come out until 2017. Same for the Will Smith/Kate Winslet/Keira Knightley/Helen Mirren/ Edward Norton/Naomie Harris/Michael Peña starrer Collateral Beauty. We could get a trailer any day now given the December 16th release date, but as we haven't seen so much as a still yet there is nothing to go on. The one landing just outside this top fifteen is Ewan McGregor's directorial debut in American Pastoral which I unfortunately feel will take a while to get to my neck of the woods. And so, without further adieu, let's dig in...

Teaser Trailer for ALLIED Starring Brad Pitt

After releasing the first still from the film earlier in the week Paramount Pictures has now released a first look at the new film from director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Cast Away) starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. While that list of credentials is more than impressive and enough to make me want to see this original World War II spy thriller what is really enticing is the fact Steven Knight (Locke, Eastern Promises) has penned the screenplay from a story that was told to him at the age of twenty-one and that he has carried around with him ever since. Per Collider, Knight said regarding the story, "This is a very odd story. I was in Texas working as a dishwasher and doing all sorts of weird things. I was going out with an English girl at the time and her auntie lived in Texas, and she got talking about her brother who had been in the S.O.E., the British Secret Service if you like, and she told me this story that just stayed with me. I’ve always known it would be a film, and now it’s gonna be the ultimate.” The idea of a wholly original story not based in any documented fact with a time period setting, starring one of this generations most iconic leading men and directed by one of our most diverse filmmakers is nothing to scoff at. In a time when movies are greenlit based on franchise potential and brand recognition to have a movie such as this come to us from a major studio with major stars no matter if it's in the midst of Oscar season or not, is beyond enticing. Personally, this just shot to the top of my most anticipated list as, even though Pitt has starred in a string of WWII films at this point, anything the guy does is inherently intriguing given he tends to work with both prominent and interesting directors that like to push the boundaries of where narrative filmmaking has been before starting with the most important element: the story. Allied also stars Lizzy Caplan, Matthew Goode, Jared Harris, Charlotte Hope, Raffey Cassidy, Raphael Acloque, and opens on November 23rd, 2016.

THE BIG SHORT Review

In the context of the film it makes perfect sense, but to audiences smothered in cinematic choices this holiday season The Big Short is unfortunately one of the more forgettable titles. It helps marginally that the faces on the poster are four of Hollywood's heaviest hitters with Brad Pitt bringing in the biggest pull (and ironically putting in the least amount of screen time), but even this won't be enough to distract moviegoers from what might be a saturated market made worse by a complicated story that has been relayed in sardonic terms by the director of Anchorman. Of course, if you've payed attention to any of Adam McKay's work you'd know the director of Anchorman and other such Will Ferrell comedies including Talladega Nights and The Other Guys is actually the perfect choice for a film that desires to tell of the housing market crash that occurred in America in 2008. It is a story in need of sharp social commentary, of a mind that might give the boring numbers game an insightful twist and McKay is able to deliver on all fronts by crafting a final product that is as funny and stinging as it is heartbreaking and tragic-a detriment, almost, to the American spirit. And yet, throughout the over two hour runtime the film never ceases to be breathlessly entertaining. There is so much going on, so many words being spoken, so many deals being made, and so many new characters being introduced at such rapid rates that we never have time to settle in, but rather stay perched on the edge of our seats. With its hands in so many different pots it would be easy for the The Big Short to go off the rails, but somewhat unexpectedly the film finds a certain groove in its latter half that, while not matching the frenetic speed of the first two acts, brings in the necessary levity that strikes the perfect balance between both the ridiculousness of the situation and the dire real world consequences. McKay, working from his and Charles Randolph's screenplay that is based on the book by Michael Lewis (The Blind Side, Moneyball), is able to remain so laser focused on what makes these characters so interesting in their own right that the fact they exist in this compelling real world situation is only icing on the cake.

BY THE SEA Review

It's clear there is a driving force of sorts behind Angelina Jolie Pitt's (who I'll simply refer to as Jolie throughout this review because I'm not typing Jolie Pitt three hundred times) writing and direction, it's just not clear what that force is. While I never saw her debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, last year's insanely promising but ultimately disappointing Unbroken more or less set the prospects for any future Jolie pictures to that of being hopeful, but not necessarily optimistic. While the less than enthusiastic response to Unbroken must have been a blow to not only the writer/directors ego, but to the faith she has in herself and her abilities it seems her reaction has been to return to the forum with a much lower-key project, inspired by the films of yesteryear and containing only a select number of characters. Jolie sets her film in the seventies and then isolates her characters to a French Riviera where this character study is almost forced into existence. Taking the idea of a strained marriage and somewhat bravely allowing such a dysfunctional portrait to be painted with herself and real life husband Brad Pitt in the roles Jolie goes for a restrained and bleakly artistic look at two people at the end of their ropes for reasons we're not exactly clear on. In fact, while I can appreciate a good slow burn, By the Sea is such a staggering epic of quietness and indulgence that the boredom overtakes the measured emotions by the time the twenty minute mark hits. The problem is the quiet characters and their inability to communicate make it difficult for the viewer to find anything interesting or worth investing in about them and thus the patience wears thin before the film ever glimpses it's portions that might seem interesting. There is a good movie in here somewhere, no doubt, a wholly engaging film about the natural dynamics of a seasoned couple and how the dealings of going through something unbelievably difficult while initially testing their bond might eventually lead to an even stronger one. Unfortunately, By the Sea is too generous with the amount of time we spend with this couple and too tedious in the events it depicts to be that film.

First Trailer for THE BIG SHORT Starring Brad Pitt

It was with an unexpected twist that Paramount decided to unveil the first look at director Adam McKay's (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, The Other Guys) first foray into more dramatic territory, The Big Short. With Paramount having a somewhat tepid year when it comes to any possible awards contenders it looks like the studio will be banking big on McKay's latest. The film certainly has the star power to be a contender as the likes of Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell head this thing up with a plethora of solid character actors filling in the supporting roles. While this is good news for those of us that love movies one has to wonder if it was a wise choice to place another film in an already crowded market. With Star Wars: The Force Awakens clearing out the majority of December all of the late awards bait is either opening on Christmas Day or in platform style in the following weeks after the major holiday. This will make movie-going a little less horrible for those who don't live in major cities through January, but now the question will be who will rise to the top? Given neither The Revenant, Joy, Concussion, or The Hateful Eight are likely to budge from their Christmas day spot, one has to assume Paramount has some pretty positive feelings about their product. Following four outsiders who saw the impending global economy collapse coming in 2008 the film tracks them as the housing market crashes. The Big Short also stars Melissa Leo, Tracy Letts, Finn Wittrock, Hamish Linklater and opens on December 11th before expanding wide on December 23rd.

FURY Review

Ernest Hemingway said, "Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." Hemingway means to inform us of the repercussions of getting carried away with violence as power, but director David Ayer asks us to contemplate not the repercussions but the mentality it takes to execute such acts of war. Is the ruthlessness with which these men approach their actions acceptable? Is their matter-of-fact attitude towards taking a life understandable within the confines of the circumstances? There is never a moment in Ayer's latest effort, Fury, where we let ourselves become distracted by the action sequences or the curiosity of where the story is going because we know exactly where it's taking us and that, in many ways, is the only let-up the film offers as it's otherwise a consistently tense and mentally exhausting experience. In order to deliver this disjointed, but outwardly insightful look Ayer has combined a typical plot-driven narrative with large elements of a pure character study. The director clearly wants to depict the type of men and personalities it took to win World War II, but further than this it is about how they became these beings free of any kind of moral compass yet trapped in a mindset that left nearly every other human an enemy. When we look at history we see what we are taught in textbooks and reference what we learn in lectures, but the little details escape us, the unimaginable is left at that and the countless lives sacrificed are best forgotten as their bodies are lost in a sea of limbs. Carnage is a disgusting act of man that seems to settle little more than who has more men fighting for them and Fury gets to the heart of this ugly method that sees men, people just like you and I, transformed into these conditioned warriors that see things in nothing but black and white, all or nothing, live or die. It is in these hands governments put as much power as they can muster which naturally translates to the indestructible mentality of soldiers thinking of themselves as an exception while the talkers, the leaders sit back and hope for the best possible outcome. Fury commentates on the ugliness of war by laying waste to the idea those we call heroes couldn't feel less like one.

Movies I Wanna See Most: Fall 2014

I never much consider it, but I don't know that I could make a list of ten of my favorite films at this point in the year yet. I don't know if there have been enough, but I imagine I could pull some of those I really enjoyed but didn't necessarily come to think of as exceptional onto the list and be satisfied. I say this because as I began to put together my most anticipated list for this fall and winter I began to realize that if my hopes and excitement for each of these films pays off in the way I hope it does, this could just as well be a list of my favorite films of the year. That may seem a simple conclusion to draw given these are the ten films I'm most excited to see the remainder of the year, but what I mean to say is that I think the following films I'm most excited about have the potential to surpass anything I've already seen this year. Having done this a few years now though it becomes apparent there will always be a few of these films that ultimately don't move you or live up to the ambition their early marketing suggested. It always feels like a good majority of these films are still largely mysteries despite the fact the longest length of time between now and the last release on the list is four months.

First Trailer for FURY

I have to admit I am a little underwhelmed by this first trailer for David Ayer's Fury. Ayer's second release of the year after the disappointing Sabotage in March is easily one of my most anticipated films of the year. I highly doubt the film will turn out to be that way given Pitt has become the kind of actor very choosy of his projects and only investing his time and talent in projects he considers worthwhile and transcendent of cinema, but if a trailer is meant to elicit interest from people who aren't familiar with the project all this spot has going for it is the star power. Yes, Pitt is in it and it is a war movie and we are served that premise throughout while also getting highlights of Pitt's crew that includes Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman (Perks of Being A Wallflower, Noah), Michael Pena (Crash, End of Watch) and Jon Bernthal (Walking Dead, Wolf of Wall Street). The cast is strong and while Sabotage wasn't all it could have been Ayer's previous writing and directing effort, End of Watch, was one of my favorite films of 2012 and that being on his resume alone means I will reserve judgement on this WWII tank film. While the trailer overall tries to do too much in divulging one too many plot points it does wash us over with the gorgeous photography from cinematographer Roman Vasyanov (End of Watch, Charlie Countryman) . I worry only about the story as this is from an original screenplay by Ayer in that it might fall into convention, but again Pitt and his impressive supporting cast clearly had enough faith to sign on and so my excitement level will remain high until Fury opens on November 14th.

Movies I Wanna See Most: 2014

2013 was a great year for film. When looking back on the list of my top ten films I wanted to see for the year there were a few that ended up being some of my favorite films of the year which speaks to anticipation vs. expectation in many ways. I was indeed more excited to see some of the films I put on my most anticipated list last year despite the fact I knew their eventual quality would not measure up to what would be necessary to make them one of my favorite pictures of the year. Even that type of list is ridiculous in many ways, but it is easier to make when you have ten solid films that year (and most of the time a few more than that) that you wouldn't mind watching over and over. That is the main ingredient I look for when I narrow down every movie I've seen in the previous year to what I would consider the ten best and that is which ones would I like to watch again? Which ones am I eager to experience one more time? I hope that many of the films I've placed on this list will end up making me feel this way and of course the main reason they are on here is because I can't wait to see them the first time, but the true test is if they deliver on that anticipation and live up to the expectations myself and plenty others will be holding for them. This year, as Marvel Studios and others who own Marvel properties (Sony & Fox) have decided to release a combined four films and I've placed them all in a single slot as I'm excited to see each (some more than others) but more than anything I'm excited to see how they continue to allow the genre to thrive. Other than that I have three other sequels on the list while the remaining six have a particular director or assembled cast that cannot be ignored which means their films will no doubt demand our attention. Here we go...

12 YEARS A SLAVE Review

As Brad Pitt's character Bass states after hearing Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) recount the story of how he was wrongly kidnapped and sold into slavery, this is an amazing story, but in no good way. There has been much made of director Steve McQueen's third feature that adapts the autobiography of Solomon Northup and takes an unflinching look at how slavery and ownership dominated the south and was inflicted upon the unfortunate souls born into that time period. Northup's tale is one of emotional and physical devastation and the success of the film hinges on being able to convey both of those impressions with equal weight. If there is an ideal director to take on this stark subject matter it would be the fresh pair of eyes and mind that is McQueen who, after his previous two films (Hunger and Shame) has focused on the downsides of humanity enough to understand where he needed to go to reach the emotional depths that the subject of slavery needs to take on. It is a subject that deserves this unflinching look illustrating how slaves were treated, how they were perceived, and how some plantation owners saw them and treated them as employees while others saw them as little more than property they could with what they please. 12 Years A Slave doesn't dive into the politics of what started slavery, why these white owners saw these people as they did, or how our main characters might put a stop to the tragedy, but instead we are forced to accept the facts that define our history and that is the true story of Solomon. Neither Solomon nor any of the slaves he comes to meet along the way knew why there were some slavers like William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) and others like Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), why it all began or how it was going to come to an end, but they simply had to accept the idea that this was their life and that they were meant to deal with it and that harsh reality is what McQueen forces his audience to accept as well with the only glimmer of hope being implied by the title. This is a film both so involving and at the same time so draining that you feel exhausted after having experienced it. It is a damn tough film to watch, but a necessary lesson in perspective that ultimately makes you appreciate what you've seen if not for the unflinching history lesson, but for the craft in which it is conveyed.

THE COUNSELOR Review

Everything in director Ridley Scott's latest is so perfectly put together one would think it difficult to find any fault in it's composition as a complete package. Instead, these exceptional pieces of casting, beautiful photography, and impeccable costume designs add up to little more than a meditation on the decisions and eventual repercussions and how those actions affect the  people around us through the extreme example of a man accustomed to leisure that must become a player in the business of illegal narcotics in order to keep up appearances. Little more than this has been highlighted in the unexpectedly low-key marketing campaign for a film that seemingly has all the right individual parts to make up a grand film except for the one element that makes all movies worth watching: an intriguing story, a reason to exist in the first place. Whether it be the legendary director, the fact this script comes from Pulitzer Prize winning author Cormac McCarthy in his first gig as a screenwriter, or the well-pedigreed cast that has both credible "movie stars" in Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz while also featuring the likes of critical darlings Javier Bardem, the typically underrated Penelope Cruz, and the man of the moment, Michael Fassbender this film somehow fails to ever take off and falls completely flat while remaining nothing if not forgettable a mere few hours after leaving the theater. I won't lie in saying I held out high hopes for the film. While there are elements that stand out, performances that deserve recognition and aspects of the script that are interesting in individual scenes they, for one reason or another, are unable to build upon one another or contribute constructively to the larger narrative McCarthy is trying to accomplish. We understand the overlapping relationships and how the storylines tie in to one another, but none of it adds tension to the proceedings or even a small hint of interest into how these short vignettes will ultimately pay off for the characters taking part in them. The Counselor is an interesting case of a movie as I would never refer to it as a necessarily "good" movie or one worth watching for its entertainment value, but it is oddly intriguing for its dedication to style and subtlety of theme that at least keeps us curious as to what exactly this beautiful disaster was trying to say.

Movies I Wanna See Most: Fall 2013

It has been somewhat of a rough year for film. Though at the time of this writing I've found two or three films I absolutely loved this year and left a lasting impression on me with several others being great, but not necessarily anything exceptional. Exceptional is what we are always looking for as we head into the latter part of the year and studios begin to offer up their Oscar bait. 2013 will be no exception, but the surprise this year is just how many blockbusters have been saved for the final quarter. There are usually one or two December releases that stand to be critical and box office champions, but most are more adult fare that do well with critics and have long legs when it comes to box office numbers. While there will be plenty of these kinds of films still vying for a place on the ballot come next February there are also a fair amount of well-made films that are part of franchises that studios are looking to make a pretty penny on. Whether it be Marvel, young adult adaptations, or re-makes there is something for just about everyone on the docket for the remainder of this year. It was a tough task, to narrow down four months of releases to just ten films, so I've naturally included a quick briefing on five extra flicks that almost made the list at the end of this article. As for the big ten, I can tell you that I'm seriously anxious and optimistic for each and every one of them. Also, just because a film didn't make any part of this list doesn't mean I don't think it will be good; it could mean I'm just not as excited for it as the films that did make the list and it could also be due to the fact I haven't seen much from it at this point. Both guaranteed blockbusters such as the next Hobbit film and smaller fare that has received great festival buzz like J.C. Chandor's All is Lost didn't make any part of this list, but that isn't because I don't want to see them. There promotional material just didn't get me as excited for as the films listed below did. The way I look at it, the following ten films are what I would choose to see were I limited to only that amount for the rest of the year. So here we go...