Blog Archives
Alien Arrival with Amy Adams
2016 may see a thrilling movie about aliens arriving on Earth yet.
Arrival is the amalgamation of Independence Day, Contact and Gravity.
This new movie trailer (released just hours ago) previews intense action sequences involving a new kind of alien, while ultimately leading to a dramatic third-act revelation for Amy Adams’s character that will transcend the relationship between humans and aliens. That’s a sign of savvy writing with consideration for audiences yearning to see a new, creative take in an established film genre.
Arrival’s storytelling may reveal a close encounter we haven’t seen before.
Whether you believe in aliens or not, this movie is projecting a degree of realism with face-to-face interactions with aliens. That, in and of itself, is a fascinating and inclusive dynamic. Moreover, the potential for strong personal relationships, especially between the mother and daughter seen in the trailer, could be the defining quality that elevates Arrival to a must-see science-fiction thriller.
Independence Day: Resurgence didn’t deliver anything close to its 1996 original twenty years later (the writing cough cough), but cinema goers may be treated to a film with aliens that meets high expectations.
Making the release date of something supernatural arriving on the wish-worthy 11/11?
Seeing aliens is a wish for many people around the world, so well played Arrival marketing team.
P.S. Were you also expecting Amy Adams’s character to ask the alien about the letter “S”?
The Ghost of Busters Past
There was a time when people didn’t have Ghostbusters in their lives.
And they had no idea who to call.
For today’s history lesson, June 8, 1984 was the day when the science-fiction comedy starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis and Ernie Hudson changed the real movie world by saving a fictional one with proton packs, sharp wit and the courage to cross streams. With a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (that’s pretty good), Ghostbusters is uniquely beloved by fans and critics alike. This is important to note because part of the intense backlash against the new all-female reboot this summer is not a reaction to an all-female cast, but more to do with the caricature nature of the new cast and their characters. The original film and its superb cast was smart, clever and never tried hard to be funny.
They were naturally funny, endearing and (ironically) real.
As odd as it sounds, the 1984 classic doesn’t appear like actors playing parts, but instead felt like a genuine group of misfit friends chasing and capturing ghosts throughout NYC in the coolest ways imaginable within the parameters of a major motion picture. The film has an escapism quality that transcends far beyond the cinema and culture of the mid-1980s.
Thus far, the reboot isn’t generating that same reaction.
For the record, this is how you make a Ghostbusters trailer that kicks some–
History thanks you (in more ways than one), Ghostbusters.
RIP Leonard Nimoy
Famed actor and science-fiction icon Leonard Nimoy passed away today at the age of 83. Known primarily for his role as Spock in the popular television series Star Trek, Nimoy also did many other media ventures, including sitting in the director’s chair for the 1987 classic Three Men and a Baby. While I’m not a Star Trek fan/Trekkie, I do know that he’s an important figure in science-fiction popular culture. Surprisingly, his best “cameo” in television’s #1 comedy The Big Bang Theory was in name/DNA only.
Sheldon’s reaction encapsulates how many people viewed Mr. Nimoy.
Leonard Nimoy: Live Long and Happily in Our Memories.
A Stellar Experience
(The Hollywood Reporter)
“Wow…just, wow.”
That was my initial reaction while walking out of an IMAX theater in Columbus, Ohio on November 7th following a nearly 3-hour space journey that, like many of the great artists of the modern era, requires only a single name: Interstellar. The director and co-writer, (we could go with one name, but since brothers are involved) Christopher Nolan is famous for his incredible physical sets/playgrounds, realism and grit, amazing, star-studded casting and complex stories that have more satisfying twists and turns than one can ever hope to imagine.
Interstellar fulfills all these “Nolan prerequisites” and manages to take it one step higher…if not two.
The science in this science fiction epic is based on work by renowned theoretical physicist Kip Thorne of Caltech, who also served as an executive producer. The science and intergalactic travel juxtaposed with the emotional relationship of farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and his two children Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and his relentlessly inquisitive daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) will pull and tug at your heart strings.
FYI – I firmly believe in maintaining movie plot secrets, so, therefore, the intent of this review of sorts is not to reveal any spoilers, but to attempt to put this film into some concise perspective, which for anyone who has seen it, is no easy task.
Interstellar is a movie about exploration, desperation, family, the unknown, love, adventure, solitude, scientific theory, hope, the dynamics of space travel, heartache and pushing oneself to a myriad of limits. Plus, a perfectly placed surprise here and there…Set in the near future, the broad-ranging inspiration for the story and main character Cooper is something he says while sitting alongside his father in-law Donald (John Lithgow) on their dust covered porch late one night: “We used to look at up at the sky and wonder about our place in the stars…now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt.”
From the metaphorical curtain rise to the curtain close, this movie is a cinematic labyrinth that will launch its audience through a wormhole of expected and unexpected visuals and circumstances that ultimately gels into an unforgettable experience that is genuinely out of this world, yet deeply rooted in this one. It will hit seemingly every nerve you’ve got for 3 hours for something that feels real and surreal at the same time.
And bridging the real and surreal on the silver screen is, in essence, Christopher Nolan. He does this with the help of his superb wife and business partner Emma Thomas, their production company team (Syncopy Films Inc.) and we cannot forget about Nolan’s screenwriting partner and television producing brother Jonah Nolan. Interstellar was a Nolan family film through and through. Add in a brilliant, cosmically pulsating musical score from good friend and composing partner Hans Zimmer and you quickly realize you are part of something supremely grand.
Quick takeaways: Interstellar is an epic journey, every actor and actress’ performance is the real deal, Mackenzie Foy will damn near bring you to tears and this is a visual and audible experience that showcases what making and seeing movies is all about.
After processing everything featured on Earth and in the film’s multiple galaxies, my verdict (after two IMAX viewings) is simply this:
Wow…I love it.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 