ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD Review

Despite Christopher Plummer’s J.P. Gettty very clearly being the antagonist in director Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World the film also seems aware that this is very much a complex character that holds more substance and conflict than what might otherwise be optioned to be portrayed as the straight-up villain of the piece. That said, Scott will often times play to the dark comedy of how much of a penny-pincher the richest man in the history of the world was. Such is true when the director will set-up a scene with the intention of making the audience think one thing only to pull the rug out from under them a moment later; Getty not actually bargaining on the cost of the ransom, but rather on that of an otherwise invaluable painting for example. This technique emphasizes the relationship, the fondness, the affinity Getty has for his money in a movie that is about his refusal to fork over untold millions for something that might offer a greater relationship or something he has a greater fondness and a greater affinity for: his grandson. This again may make Plummer’s Getty out to sound like the obvious villain of All the Money in the World, but there are lessons to be learned-even from those who might not be the most sincere or honest people in the room. Getty might not have always even been the smartest person in the room at any given time for he himself says that any fool can “get” rich, but there is always a strategy or plan in place with Getty-an ability to read the room and/or any offer that came across his desk-that paints this portrait of a man who isn’t being let off the hook for his misplacement of priorities in life (it’s hard to read if the man might have even had any regrets in his final moments when it came to realizing all he had were things and no one in particular that cared about him that he could leave all of his things to), but rather is being conveyed just as he was which was anything but complicated-the man seemed to have a very strict code of conduct-but is all the more complicated for applying that code to every aspect of life. After all, Getty likely could have cared less what anyone thought of him given the power such wealth afforded him. This all brings the conversation back around to that golden rule of he who has the gold makes the rules and in the case of All the Money in the World and the narrative it encapsulates, Getty never takes his hands off the wheel. Thank God for Christopher Plummer.

First Trailer for ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

Ridley Scott is pushing 80. He will be 80 come the end of November which means by the time his second film of 2017 lands in theaters he will have hit that milestone of a birthday. That's right. Not only is Scott nearly older than most of your grandparents and making gigantic action/sci-fi movies, but he's making and releasing two big studio pictures a year (not to mention serving as a producer on multiple projects including the Blade Runner sequel). This second film, which looks as prestige as anything the filmmaker has produced since 2013's misfire The Counselor, follows the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother Gail (Michelle Williams) to convince his billionaire grandfather (Kevin Spacey) to pay the ransom. When Getty Sr. refuses, Gail attempts to sway him as her son’s captors become increasingly volatile and brutal. With her son’s life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor (Mark Wahlberg) become unlikely allies in the race against time that ultimately reveals the true and lasting value of love over money. The film is based on the true story of the 1973 kidnapping of John Getty III with a screenplay by David Scarpa (2008's The Day the Earth Stood Still). I'm liking all of what I'm seeing here whether it be the fact that Scarpa is the sole screenwriter on the project no matter his previous work, that Scott apparently shot this earlier this year and that it's already ready for release, as well as the fact the cast is rather exceptional with word on the street being Spacey might just give Gary Oldman a run for his money in the Best Actor category as Oldman has been the early favorite for his role as Winston Churchill where he is equally as made-up as Spacey is here. That said, Spacey is hardly the center of attention here, but more the catalyst supporting character as Wahlberg and Williams look to be leading this with solid chemistry to spare. Wahlberg may not be the greatest actor of his generation, but it's hard to argue his versatility based on his output in 2017 alone which will now include this crime thriller, a Transformers movie, and a broad comedy in Daddy's Home 2. Needless to say, I look forward to how this plays and am hoping, as always, for the best. All the Money in the World also stars Romain Duris, Timothy Hutton, Andrew Buchan, Olivia Grant, Teresa Mahoney, Marco Leonardi and opens on on December 8th, 2017.

BABY DRIVER Review

On the DVD for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace there is an extended making-of feature titled "The Beginning" and in it George Lucas talked about his screenwriting process. At the tender age of twelve, when I first caught a glimpse of the film business via this featurette, I was not only enraptured in all that this world contained, but I was also struck by something the writer/director said concerning his action scenes. Lucas commented that rather than having a detailed description of the lightsaber battle he desired to create on screen it would simply say, “they fight,” on the page. This always struck me as odd considering the amount of planning that would seemingly have to go into such an involved sequence. It was too easy. I could understood Lucas’ idea of leaving the choreography and blocking to professionals who could better bring to life the style and aura of the battle he imagined, but to not even give an indication of what might have been in his brain always seemed a strange decision even if there would be countless meetings about it before the start of production. Even if it proved to be nothing more than a place to preserve those original ideas and remind himself, if no one else, of what inspired the sequence in the first place it would at least be that. This isn’t to say such an approach doesn’t work as I still believe that final lightsaber battle in The Phantom Menace to be the best the series has ever produced, but I bring this up to say that I’m pretty sure writer and director Edgar Wright didn’t simply insert, “they drive,” when he was penning the screenplay for his latest, Baby Driver. Rather, it would seem Wright, who is known for his ferocious energy and encouragement of innovative editing techniques, put on the paper every detail of what he wanted to happen in his action sequences as not only do they present a personality trait of the titular Baby as played by Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars), but they too are choreographed both in direction and motion. Motion meaning they not only hit the beats of an action sequence, but the beats of the soundtrack Wright has written the film to and integrated so intricately it would be impossible not to describe how exactly they went down if he wanted anyone else outside himself to understand his vision. This is all to say that Baby Driver is yet another unique and wholly original creative endeavor from a filmmaker who not only continues to push himself to come up with different ways to bring our similarly diverse world to the screen, but who captures an essence of cool in his work that we all aspire to have. Wright crafts the ideal out of situations that are not and Baby Driver is no exception to the standard he holds himself, and movies in general, to.

First Trailer for Edgar Wright's BABY DRIVER

After dropping out of directing Ant-Man at the seeming behest of Marvel many were disappointed it would be even longer before we received a new film from director Edgar Wright, the guy who made the marvelous Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy as well as the phenomenal Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Having written and directed the film, which follows a talented, young getaway driver who, in a very Wright touch, relies on his own personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. It is after this driver is coerced into working for a crime boss that he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love, and freedom. Featuring a cast led by Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) that also includes Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Jon Bernthal, and Lily James (Cinderella) Wright certainly has set the tone for a different flavor of ice cream this time around, but with his singular style and vision it's always clear that what we're watching is very much a piece from an artist who keeps a coherent throughline with all of his work, but at the same time isn't afraid to try something new and daring. This became especially clear when he broke away from regular collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for Scott Pilgrim (which may arguably be his best film), but with Baby Driver it seems the auteur has pushed himself even further to both still operate in the cinematic world he has created while also coming up with something new rather than simply relying on his same old tricks. In short, I'm liking what I'm seeing here-Elgort is a more than capable lead and seems to have handled the weight of this original and uniquely conveyed picture with ease while that stellar supporting cast seem to be having nothing short of a blast; Hamm, Foxx, and Spacey especially seem to have been inspired by the refreshing take on movie-making and while I feel like was rather late to step onto the Wright train this is certainly one of my most anticipated of the year and can't wait to see what the film in its entirety holds. Baby Driver also stars Eiza González, Flea, Sky Ferreira, Jeff Chase, and opens on August 11th, 2017 after premiering at the SXSW festival in Austin, TX tonight.

ELVIS & NIXON Review

In December 1970 Elvis Presley apparently wasn't feeling too great about the direction America was headed in. If one wasn't aware, Presley was largely a conservative; a man who feared communists, the general tone around the Vietnam War, and the seeming lack of respect for the office of the President. And so, being the King, he assumed he could take such matters into his own hands and indeed planned on doing as much by taking his concerns straight to the White House. In December 1970 Presley's career was as big as it had ever been. The iconic one-piece jumpsuits debuted earlier in the year and the signature karate moves were now an even bigger part of his stage show. His shows at the Las Vegas International Hotel had sold out, set, and broke records throughout the year, but by the end of 1970 it seemed Presley's head was in a very different place. This brings us to the new film from director Liza Johnson, Elvis & Nixon, which discusses little to nothing about the music career of Elvis Presley, but more offers insight into the man Presley was outside of his well-known (and well-worn) persona. It's an interesting take and the film overall is a slight 86-minute excursion that strictly covers the how and why of this infamous meeting offering little to no commentary on the actual events leaving plenty of room for audience interpretation. This lack of any real angle, but rather pure intent to tell the story of a rather strange and unexpected set of events is admirable given today's highly peremptory society and especially considering the topic, but Johnson seems to care little for her characters actual beliefs or motivations, but simply accepts such feelings as fact and follows them with her camera to where such impulses led these actual men. Does this provide a compelling or complex film? No, not really, but it would have been next to impossible to make a film of this meeting not interesting and at the very least Elvis & Nixon is an interesting and straightforward history lesson if not being as necessarily notable as its main characters.

First Trailer for NINE LIVES Starring Kevin Spacey

Well, this may be the first contender for the worst trailer/idea/movie of the new year. Sure, it's January so we've had some stinkers already, but nothing has looked as outright terrible or as bad a decision as this does. In what is essentially The Shaggy Dog, but with a cat Kevin Spacey (yes, Kevin Spacey) teams up with the guy who made the Men in Black movies and Wild Wild West to play a titan of industry that has ignored his family and by some twist of fate gets turned into the cat he bought for his daughter for her birthday to further serve as a distraction for his absence. But, get this, the guy hates cats, so it's really quite humorous. How this thing was greenlit is beyond me, but I guess I could see how it might be a fine enough time for the whole family given it's a tired premise that has shown promising results before, but the final product that seems to have come out of that intention looks like something that wouldn't even appeal to the lowest common denominator of any single person's brain. Oh well, given its August release date it seems distributor Europa is looking to slide this one under the radar and make a few quick bucks off its family-friendly premise and attractive to older demographic big names. Spacey is still something of a draw, especially given his current run in House of Cards and while it would be nice to see the actor play something a little lighter than the politically sadistic Frank Underwood I would have much rather seen him put his time into something closer to Horrible Bosses than Nine Lives. Oh well, if you're intrigued at all-hit the the jump to check out the first trailer. Nine Lives also stars Jennifer Garner, Christopher Walken, Malina Weissman, Cheryl Hines, Robbie Amell and opens on August 5th, 2016.

HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 Review

What do you get when you take an outlandish premise that every middle class American can relate to, mix it with a cast chock full of more diverse talent than any other comedy in recent memory and let them both free to wander where the wind takes them? That would be the original Horrible Bosses which, back in 2011, stuck out to me as one of my favorite comedies so far that year. It was just effortless. And that is saying a lot in a summer that also counted Bridesmaids among its hits. The film was immediately funny and fast paced with a cleverly written script that gave the summer season a feeling the raunchy R-rated comedy was here to stay. Naturally, after this type of high came the downslide with the less broad, but not as bad as everyone says Bad Teacher and the truly terrible Change-Up in which Jason Bateman also starred. Every year we get this slew of raunchy summer comedies intended for the masses that studios have thought we craved since Wedding Crashers truly revitalized their appeal, but only a couple, if any, ever break out to become genuinely funny over time or command real staying power. I liked Horrible Bosses the first time I saw it and probably watched it two or three more times once I bought it on blu-ray, but did it have the staying power of such recent classics that have also commanded sequels such as 21 Jump Street or Ted? Maybe not, but much like with the fellas from the Hangover series I simply like having the opportunity to hang out with these characters so a sequel seeing Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), Nick (Bateman) and Dale (Charlie Day) get into more mischief was completely acceptable and more than justified if not really necessary. At all.

New Trailer for HORRIBLE BOSSES 2

I was pretty taken in the dead of summer 2011 when Horrible Bosses showed up and gave us an original comedy that delivered moreso than the comedy sequel we'd been waiting on that year, The Hangover Part II. There was just something about the ensemble cast, the films carefree tone and slapstick roots that meshed brilliantly with the chemistry the three leads were able to pull together. In short, it became one of those comedies I could watch over and over again once it hit home video. In the days of short attention spans and legacies that never last though, if one wants to remain relevant they must continue to deliver and so this year, when we've already had both a successful original comedy (Neighbors) and a successful sequel to a comedy (22 Jump Street) it feels we're a bit spoiled by the fact we get another high profile comedy sequel, but unfortunately it also feels (at least on first impression) totally unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, like The Hangover trilogy, I wouldn't mind watching another one of these movies simply as an excuse to hang out with the leads, but the first film was such a solid single entry it seemed making a follow-up with the same characters having just as wild an experience would do nothing but devalue the memory of the first film. As is typically the case though, this new trailer for the film makes our boys look qualified for a comeback as kidnappers rather than murderers in pretty funny fashion. Horrible Bosses 2 stars Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Chris Pine, Kevin Spacey and opens November 26th. Check out both the new trailer and poster after the jump.