New Trailer for Christopher Nolan's INTERSTELLAR

At the screening I attended of Godzilla last night I was almost as excited for the movie as I was the fact the new trailer for Chris Nolan's latest was attached. In that trailer we are taken just further than the teaser that was delivered last December took us. There is plenty of new footage here and the main focus of it is the relationship between Matthew McConaughey's Cooper and his son and daughter. The trailer gives away little in terms of plot, but plays up the idea the poster introduced last week with its tagline that reads "Mankind was born on Earth. But we were never meant to die here.” We get a few shots of Jessica Chastain and Casey Affleck who I'm going to venture to guess are the adult versions of McConaughey's children which already makes the idea of the last line in the trailer all the more engaging and possibly all the more heartbreaking. Beyond that I won't pretend to know more than I actually do as I love how Nolan continues to leave much to the imagination with his trailers. The only other information as far as plot is concerned derives from a synopsis that states the film is about "a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations of human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage." This is easily the film I'm most anticipating this year and if the reason put forward in any of my previous comments doesn't explain why maybe the cast roster will. Besides McConaughey, Chastain and Affleck the film also stars Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, David Oyelowo, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace, David Gyasi, Mackenzie Foy, Bill Irwin, Timothée Chalamet, and Matt Damon. Interstellar opens November 7, 2014.

Teaser Trailer for Christopher Nolan's INTERSTELLAR

There is something so ambitious and so grand about the way Christopher Nolan thinks of his films and like the theme of the trailer re-iterates it seems that is something often forgotten in the world of Hollywood. Things have become such a machine, such a factory with a product line spitting out the same thing over and over that the majority of the time even big, tentpole movies feel like just another cog in the machine rather than something truly special or exceptional. It seems Mr. Nolan is keen on getting this point across and hopefully changing that perception, but on his own terms of course and in this case it concerns a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations of human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage. That is all we've heard in terms of plot synopsis and the trailer does little to give us any further indication of story, but instead relies on the philosophical narration of our assumed protagonist Matthew McConaughey. As with anything Nolan does, I'm more than intrigued and this trailer is specifically designed to elicit the interest of those who don't know anything about the film or that it even existed. This is easily the film I'm most anticipating in the new year and if the reason put forward in any of my previous comments doesn't explain why maybe the cast roster will. Besides McConaughey the film also stars Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Michael Caine, David Oyelowo, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace, David Gyasi, Mackenzie Foy, Bill Irwin, Timothée Chalamet, and Matt Damon. Interstellar opens November 7, 2014.

LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER Review

Though not initially overcome with excitement for this project the good word of mouth and box office success increased my interest in the latest from director Lee Daniels. This lack of excitement doesn't come from anything more than the fact I didn't really enjoy Daniels' last effort, The Paperboy. I completely expected to be intrigued by that film as it seemed a modern film noir with plenty of genre elements at play with solid actors like John Cusack and Nicole Kidman doing interesting work, but instead it was a disjointed mess of a movie that not even the renaissance of Matthew McConaughey could bring out of the gutters. With The Butler Daniels has decided to take on a different beast entirely and tell a historical drama but from the point of view of a quiet perspective, someone who stood in the rafters and saw time pass, decisions be made and did little on his own accord to influence those decisions other than simply be who he was. That he continued to fill a subservient position for such a period of time did more to change the hearts of those he never imagined and seemingly much more than the countless sit-ins and protests that we hear about when schooled on the civil right movement. While Lee Daniels' The Butler is littered with stars, recognizable faces, names and historical events it is first and foremost the story of a man not many knew of before this film shined a light on and Forest Whitaker does a superb job of bringing that mans story to life. Add in the elements of his oldest son taking the opposite route and becoming entangled in those events we now recall with shame as played by up and comer David Oyelowo and an imperfect marriage that is only come to be appreciated in the correct way with the necessary passing of time and perspective as portrayed so effortlessly by Oprah Winfrey and you at the very least have a very engaging, very interesting film. Just because a movie is "based on a true story" (which if you do a little reading, you'll find much of this film has been manufactured) though and concerns an exceptional human being doesn't mean the film based on he or she will come out the same way. Lee Daniels' The Butler is not a great film necessarily, but it is a good one and yes, an important one.  

JACK REACHER Review

I am not a fan of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels, but that is only because I have never been afforded the chance to read one. I am a fan of Christopher McQuarrie though. McQuarrie wrote the script for one of my favorite films of all time, 1995’s The Usual Suspects. So, it is no surprise that I was genuinely excited to hear he was writing and directing a film and that it was an adaptation of a popular book series about a military investigator. Those that have read or are fans of Mr. Child’s book series were likely also very excited to hear One Shot was going to be brought to the big screen but not so much when Tom Cruise was cast in this lead role. Apparently Jack Reacher, our main protagonist, is a 6’5 beefed up ex-military man who is also a womanizer and leaves an unmistakable impression every time he walks into a room. As big a movie star as Tom Cruise is it is still hard to see his much shorter stature make up for all he is lacking physically with the intensity he was sure to bring to the role. Having not read the books this quarrel was something that was less of an issue with me and rather allowed me to be more inclined to enjoy the film rather than constantly holding my breath to see if Cruise could actually do it. While the books seem to be a series of nicely written cop procedural, stories that you might here on an episode of 48 Hours or some such programming both McQuarrie and Cruise are able to elevate this to something fresh on screen by taking notes from those that have come before. Jack Reacher is a very serious, hard edged cop drama that knows it isn’t breaking any boundaries but does what is expected of it very well.