First Trailer for Director Jeff Nichols' LOVING

A few weeks back I saw the trailer for Loving, the latest from auteur Jeff Nichols, in front of the screening I attended of The Neon Demon, but if you've seen that film you'll understand why I forgot to comment on the Loving trailer. While I was certainly happy to see the unexpected preview given I'd heard very little about the film since its Cannes debut earlier this year I wondered when it might be making its way to masses via the internet and it seems that day is today-almost two weeks after I saw it playing in theaters. While I won't go into how nice it was to be surprised by a trailer I hadn't seen before playing in front of a movie I was watching in theaters I will say that rush is certainly one of the things I miss about the pre-YouTube days. We're here to discuss the latest from director Jeff Nichols though and the trailer in question marks the directors second feature film this year. Early word out of Cannes declared the film as a strong Academy Award contender and after Focus Features picked up the film and set an early November release date it seems that is certainly the plan. The film tells the story of Mildred and Richard Loving, the Virginia couple who were arrested in 1959 for violating that state's anti-miscegenation law. They pleaded guilty to the charge, but later challenged it in court with the case eventually reaching the Supreme Court as Loving v. Virginia. It is interesting to see Nichols take on a pure love story as most of his films have dealt more with love of the less romantic kind-namely that of the love between parents and children, of the love that creates legacy, and in his other film this year, the fantastic Midnight Special, that of a love between a father and his gifted child. While most of Nichols' films have premiered in the spring only to be forgotten by the Academy by the time awards season rolls around if Loving is indeed as good as the early reviews suggest it will be nice to see Nichols finally get some recognition on a bigger scale. Loving stars Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Marton Csokas, Michael Shannon, Nick Kroll, Bill Camp, Terri Abney, Alano Miller, David Jenson, Jon Bass, Christopher Mann, and opens on November 4th, 2016.

On DVD & Blu-Ray: July 12, 2016

Initial Reaction: Video Review - THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS

In what feels like the first genuine break-out movie of the summer we finally have a non-sequel, wholly original property that didn't even operate on brand recognition and was still able to manage a debut of over $100 million. With The Secret Life of Pets Illumination Animation delivered their sixth film in six years and with the simple idea of doing for pets what Toy Story did for toys the film had an engaging enough premise and funny enough trailer to entice even those who only go to the movies two or three times a year. With Charles out on vacation this week I thought there was no better time than to make my wife face her fear of being on camera to deliver a parents perspective on the latest animated family film (I may be biased, but I thought she did pretty dang good). While we of course thought of numerous things to discuss after the camera stopped rolling the big story here is that The Secret Life of Pets absolutely blew the door off all pre-release expectations with a $103.17 million weekend which was enough to not only be the sixth animated film to ever open with more than $100 million, but also enough to surpass last years Inside Out to be the largest opening for an original, animated property. While The Secret Life of Pets did big business the other animated juggernaut of the summer, Finding Dory, saw its reign atop the box office finally come to an end as it was knocked down to third place with a $20.3 million fourth weekend. Pixar can't complain though, as that total pushes Dory's domestic cume to $422.5 million, making it the highest grossing domestic release of 2016 and the third highest grossing animated release of all-time. The other new weekend release, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, starring Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Adam Devine, and Aubrey Plaza also scored a higher than expected opening weekend with a solid $16.6 million, fourth place debut. As always, hit the jump to watch this week's review and be sure to subscribe to our channel as we have a new review (or reviews) up each week! Appreciate the support.

MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES Review

One might call Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates director Jake Szymanski's feature debut and to a degree I guess that's correct as this is his first film getting a wide theatrical release (and his first that runs over an hour), but Szymanski is no stranger to comedy or the space in which it occupies in Hollywood. In fact, Szymanski turned Andy Samberg's rather thin idea for a 30 for 30 parody, 7 Days in Hell, into a rather entertaining forty-five minutes last summer. All of this doesn't necessarily mean that Mike and Dave is anything more than one might expect it to be (it's not) and despite sounding like one of those straight to VHS American Pie knock-offs where you might find Tara Reid and the chubby kid from The Sandlot working not-so hard to earn a paycheck, Mike and Dave actually delivers on the promises and premise that have been set up in its marketing. Though it might seem obvious that 20th Century Fox would like to make something of a comedic brand out of Mike and Dave (Mike & Dave Go to London, Mike and Dave Take the World) it somewhat feels as if Szymanski and writers Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O'Brien feel the opposite. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is very much a contained story that gives our main cast of characters defined arcs that take them from one clear point in their lives to the next. What is nice about what both the writers and Szymanski do though is that they don't allow this transformative period to completely define these characters. The titular siblings are still very much who they were in the beginning of the movie at the end of the movie save for the fact they've learned a few lessons and earned some perspective. What I'm saying is that Mike and Dave doesn't turn into a fable of some kind where the intent of the film is to teach its characters and audience a lesson, but rather is more about the challenges and obstacles presented in a certain situation and how a specific type of person deals in the messes they've made. This is undoubtedly the films strongest trait in that it doesn't become wholly what we expect though it is mostly the obtrusive and familiar raunchy comedy you hoped it would be if you bought a ticket in the first place. That said, Mike and Dave delivers some modest pleasures for, despite largely adhering to the beats of the genre, it excels in hitting those beats through a likable and appealing cast.

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS Review

One should not approach the latest from Illumination Entertainment with the lofty expectations of the emotional devastation and weight brought on by the Pixar films, but rather set their sights and mood in a different general direction all together. Of course, with the kind of impactful and more substantial stories that Pixar tells they are intending to make something of a lasting impression on viewers, but the folks at Illumination-the same ones who created the Despicable Me and Minions movies-aren't really up for that-at least not yet. Rather, their latest original offering, The Secret Life of Pets, is a complete farce of sorts-a straightforward comedy that has no intent of connecting on some deep, emotional level with the audience, but instead simply hopes to skate by on its absurdity and slapstick. This can only result in good things as far as comedy goes and by virtue of that mentality it is the comedy that is the best thing The Secret Life of Pets has going for it. To push the Pixar comparison further I went in expecting something akin to Toy Story, but with animals. Given the tone and perceived concept that was conveyed in that first, rather stellar trailer it seemed that was what we were getting. Like Toy Story, the idea of what your pets might do all day while you're at work could be a fascinating world to explore (and maybe they'll stick to this premise in the inevitable sequel), but this movie deviates from that idea rather quickly and becomes more an "animals on an adventure" type movie in the vein of something like Homeward Bound, but with much more ludicrously improbable situations. And that's fine. Really, it is. Not every animated movie has to shoot for the stars and bring about a narrative that is designed to capitalize on momentous moments that forever influence the course of our lives and The Secret Life of Pets is a completely acceptable animated family movie that displays the different types of animated family movies that can be made without trying to hue as close to the Pixar brand as possible. I rather enjoyed the entertaining diversion that is The Secret Life of Pets and I laughed: a lot. Granted, the lack of any emotional investment will lead to that subsequent lack of any lasting impression, but somehow that doesn't seem to matter when what's in front of you is as fun as this is.