Wichita Eagle: Movies

Latest ‘Star Trek’ may be best Starfleet voyage yet

Rick Bentley — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:36 CDT

Director J.J. Abrams proved with 2009’s “Star Trek” that it is OK to boldly go where others had gone before, as long as the journey is exciting, original, entertaining and respectful to legions of loyal fans. His film, which found the balance between reprising and re-imagining, was a direct hit.

In his second voyage on the Starship Enterprise, Abrams has perfected that approach. “Star Trek Into Darkness” is the best work since Gene Roddenberry brought the franchise to life in the 1960s.

Abrams shows a deep and passionate loyalty for all of the incarnations of “Star Trek” while also bringing a fresh approach that makes the familiar seem all the more fabulous.

More violent ‘Iron Man 3’ full of bombs, bullets and bodies

Roger Moore — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:32 CDT

The third “Iron Man” movie, the finale to this trilogy of Marvel marvels, is the jokiest and cutest of them all. Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) gets a kiddie sidekick, for Pete’s sake.

It’s also far and away the most violent, with a “Die Hard” body count, bombs and bullets, and Stark trash-talks evil henchmen about how he’s going to kill them.

Writer-director Shane Black, who cut his teeth on “Lethal Weapon” movies and directed Downey in one of his best pre-“Iron Man” pictures, “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” brings a more violent, angst-ridden sensibility to the franchise. And a less subtle one.

Emotion divorced from shallow ‘Wedding’

Stephanie Merry — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:46 CDT

Writer-director Justin Zackham has one incredible asset at his disposal for “The Big Wedding”: an exceptional cast, which includes Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried and Robin Williams.

Sadly, superior talent can propel a movie only so far. Bad scripts beget bad movies, even when four Academy Award winners are involved.

The story, based on the 2006 Swiss-French film “Mon Frere Se Marie,” launches just before the wedding of the Griffin family’s youngest son, who is adopted. The fraught, joyous event promises to reunite the whole clan. The problem is that patriarch Don (De Niro) hasn’t seen his ex-wife, Ellie (Keaton), in 10 years, and he’s currently shacked up with her best friend, Bebe (Sarandon). Further complicating things, daughter Lyla (Katherine Heigl) disdains her father, which is clear by the way she calls him by his first name, spitting out the single syllable like a bad grape.

Handsomely compelling ‘Oblivion’ transcends its flaws

Cary Darling — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:38 CDT

“Oblivion” is the Frankenstein of science-fiction movies.

Stitched together from spare bits of other, often better films — “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Mad Max,” “Silent Running,” “WALL-E,” “Moon,” “Solaris,” “Total Recall,” “The Matrix” and “Prometheus,” just to name a few — it stumbles awkwardly in story and plot, shuffling toward the predictable explosions and fireballs of the final act. Yet, despite all that, “Oblivion” is surprisingly well-acted and so beautiful to look at that what at first seems like a cinematic monster is actually a handsomely compelling creation.

That’s a little hard to believe considering that director/co-writer Joseph Kosinski’s only previous feature is the dreadful “TRON: Legacy,” or that star Tom Cruise, who’s in virtually every scene, is at his Cruise-iest here — running, jumping, flexing, showering, inspiring envy from every other 50-year-old man on the planet. But somehow “Oblivion” transcends what could have been fatal flaws.

Boyle has fun with the many twists and turns in ‘Trance’

Rod Pocowatchit — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:03 CDT

Director Danny Boyle has an eclectic body of work, from the ferocious zombies in “28 Days Later” to the fumbling drug addicts of “Trainspotting” to the life-affirming “127 Days” to the buoyant “Slumdog Millionaire” (for which he won a directing Oscar).

But they all share traits of his style: frenetic pacing, stylish visuals, sleek tone and Boyle’s fearlessness in breaking rules.

His latest, “Trance,” which opened in limited release April 5 but opens Friday in Wichita, feels every bit like it’s his film. It’s an enthralling, trippy ride that keeps you guessing as it story unfurls, even if there are more twists than logic in the end. But it’s fun getting there.

‘42’ isn’t a home run, but the Jackie Robinson bio-pic does score some points

Roger Moore — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:09 CDT

Earnest, righteous, historically accurate and often entertaining, writer-director Brian Helgeland’s “42” is pretty much all you could hope for in a Jackie Robinson film biography.

Minus the excitement, which given how well-known Robinson’s story is to baseball fans, is no cardinal sin. And the cast is more adequate than thrilling.

It’s the sort of story you find yourself hoping they don’t screw up – that the baseball will be convincing, that the racism isn’t watered down, that the actor playing Jackie (Chadwick Boseman) comes off as a human being, not an icon. And in those regards, “42” scores.

When it comes to Hollywood remakes, nothing is sacred

Rod Pocowatchit — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 08:18 CDT

I think the new “Evil Dead” (which opened Friday) is the scariest movie ever — not because of the horror or the gore, but because it’s further proof that Hollywood is going to remake everything.

Apparently nothing is sacred, either. Take a look at some of the remakes that are in the works:

• “Carrie” — Sissy Spacek received her first Oscar nomination for her portrayal of bloody and abused teen Carrie White in the 1976 original. Pretty big shoes to fill, but this remake does have some inspired casting: Chloe Grace Moretz will play Carrie and has shown remarkable range for someone her age, between comedy (“Kick-Ass”) and moody horror (“Let Me In”). She’s a great choice, as is Julianne Moore as her loony mama. I’m actually looking forward to this. (Will be released Oct. 18.)

No need to resurrect ‘Evil Dead’

Cary Darling — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:36 CDT

Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult indie-horror classic “The Evil Dead” and its smarter, cooler follow-up, “Evil Dead II” from 1987, are the Rosetta Stone for the hack-and-splatter crowd.

If you want to know how to make a movie about a bunch of young idiots who think it’s a good idea to camp out in a creepy cabin in an even creepier part of the woods and release some soul-swallowing spirit – and do it all with a biting (pun intended) sense of humor – these are your go-to guides. On top of that, these movies – along with the third film in the series, “Army of Darkness” – acted as blood-drenched calling cards for a director who would go on to make the first three “Spider-Man” films.

But, except for those just looking at the bottom line, there was no need for a remake. Yet that’s exactly what we get in “Evil Dead,” a bigger-budget “re-imagining” with Raimi as producer and upstart Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez (whose short, “Panic Attack,” became something of an underground sensation) directing and co-writing. (Diablo Cody of “Juno” fame also is listed as a writer.)

'G.I. Joe' nothing more than child's play

Peter Hartlaub — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:38 CDT

History says there are two ways for Hollywood to handle something like a G.I. Joe movie: Take a completely straight-forward approach, or make fun of the franchise with tongue-in-cheek satire.

“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” instead goes for option three: The filmmakers appear to have handed a dozen or so G.I. Joe dolls to a 9-year-old, watched him play for 110 minutes and then shot a scene-for-scene remake.

How else to explain a motorcycle that fires machine guns, gets launched into the air and breaks apart into missiles while the driver parachutes to safety? How else to explain a Joe who finds a box of old computer parts in an abandoned community center and in a few hours starts hacking military databases? How else to explain 20 or so ninjas dressed in red leather catsuits fighting while rappelling on the side of an ice mountain?

Spring movie preview: Great expectations

Rod Pocowatchit — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:42 CDT

The lines between Hollywood’s seasonal calendar are getting more blurred every year as summer blockbuster season starts earlier and earlier.

The heavy-hitter titles, which include the anxiously anticipated “Iron Man 3” and “Star Trek Into Darkness,” won’t arrive until May. But we’ve still got some interesting offerings before then that may boost box office returns after a lackluster winter.

Here’s what’s in store for the next couple of months (release dates are subject to change):

‘Admission’ focuses on honest, human comedy

Colin Covert — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:11 CDT

Many comic film actors specialize in larger-than-life characters. Tina Fey has made her mark in roles that are agreeably human-scaled.

In “Admission,” she’s well-cast as buttoned-up, overachieving college admissions officer Portia Nathan. She guards the entrance to notoriously choosy Princeton University, firmly and politely informing 99 percent of applicants that they don’t measure up. Since she holds herself to equally strict standards, when her life goes off the rails, she loses it big-time. But she freaks like a stressed-out control queen, not a berserk comedian grasping for laughs.

Portia’s life is a mix of small victories (she’s in the running to replace department head Wallace Shawn following his retirement next year) and petty disappointments (her academic boyfriend, Michael Sheen, treats her with the same affection he would show a fine golden retriever). While Portia’s routine is usually as meticulous as her office bonsai, she finds her life capsizing through a quadruple whammy. There’s backstabbery from her smiling-shark office rival Corinne (Gloria Reuben). Infidelity threatens the domestic front. John Pressman (Paul Rudd), the nonconformist do-gooder heading a crunchy-granola alternative high school, makes sincere but rabidly unprofessional overtures. And most crucially, Portia discovers a relationship to ultra-smart, uber-awkward applicant Jeremiah (Nat Wolff) jeopardizing her reputation for strict impartiality.

‘Wonderstone’ lacks comic magic

Roger Moore — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:34 CDT

An all-star comedy that leans on its stars to conjure laughs out of thin air, “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” is about veteran magicians who find themselves suddenly less relevant when Mr. New and Edgy shows up and upstages them on the Vegas Strip.

An art-imitating-artist moment for Steve Carell and Jim Carrey? Maybe. But when you’ve got those two, Oscar winner Alan Arkin, Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi and James Gandolfini in your cast, the four guys you paid to write this thing should have no trouble finding a laugh a minute.

We meet Anthony and Albert as bullied 10-year olds who find escape, and purpose, in a “Become a Magician” kit – VHS instruction tape included – featuring veteran prestidigitator Rance Holloway (Arkin). Thirty years later, Burt Wonderstone (Carell) and partner Anton Marvelton (Buscemi) have their own theater at Bally’s, a steady fan base, gullible groupies (for Burt) and a boss (Gandolfini) who puts up with Burt’s diva demands and lifestyle.

Lucas says ‘Star Wars’ cast will be back in new film

Rod Pocowatchit — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:04 CST

There was a strange disturbance in the Force this week, as more rumors swirled around the new “Star Wars” film that has the genius temporary title of “Episode VII.”

First, Carrie Fisher told Palm Beach Illustrated that she has signed on to reprise her role as Princess Leia, joking that “she’s in an intergalactic old folks’ home.”

Then her publicist told CNN that Fisher “was joking. Nothing has been announced.”

There’s no place like ‘Oz’ – although Raimi’s prequel comes close

Roger Moore — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:58 CST

In the movies’ version of March Madness, Sam Raimi turns out to be a much better Tim Burton than Bryan Singer. Unlike “Giant Slayer” Singer, Raimi’s got a sense of humor. Taking on a prequel to the fairy tale that frightened generations, Raimi does scary. And does it well.

“Oz the Great and Powerful” is a winning back-engineering of the Oz fantasy, a “how the wizard got to be wonderful” romp that is a stunning update of “The Wizard of Oz’s” effects and the most gorgeous use of 3-D since “Alice in Wonderland.”

Screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire manage just enough whimsy to make the movie’s two hours pass without irritation. Raimi, having cut his teeth on horror and brought “Spider-Man” to life, was the right guy to make this emerald-tinted world pop off the 3-D screen.

No-fuss ‘Phantom’ showcases great cast in modest thriller

Roger Moore — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:29 CST

In sports and the military, “professionalism” describes people who go about their work with a calm, dispassionate efficiency – no fuss, no panic when things go wrong, few mistakes, little attention paid to the odds or the chance for glory.

You can apply that word to movie actors, too. The great cast of character actors in “Phantom,” a solid Cold War-era submarine thriller of modest ambitions, never reveals that this isn’t “The Hunt for Red October” or “K-19: The Widowmaker.” Ed Harris, William Fichtner, David Duchovny and Co. show up, hit their marks, give their lines some punch and play the heck out of this B-picture, which could easily have been just a prop (a submarine) in search of a movie.

Writer-director Todd Robinson (“White Squall”) has cooked up an alternative bit of Cold War mythology. In 1968, a tense time when U.S. and Soviet subs were tangling and occasionally sinking, a Soviet sub went missing. The film gives a far-fetched explanation of why.

‘21 and Over’ is crude, rude, sometimes funny

Roger Moore — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:29 CST

Oh, for those innocent days of yore, when “The Hangover” was a malady and not a movie.

It seems like millennia since the binge comedy became the new normal. But here comes “21 and Over,” taking rude to a new level of crude, a postracial romp through one epic night on one Asian-American collegian’s 21st birthday.

“Hangover” scribes Scott Moore and Jon Lucas co-wrote and directed this sometimes inspired, often funny and occasionally psychotic pub crawl through the long dark night of Jeff Chang’s soul.

‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ not worth a hill of beans

Roger Moore — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:45 CST

One thing this current run of blockbuster fairytales inspired by Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” has taught us is how very hard it is to be Tim Burton. Multiple versions of “Snow White,” a comic splatter film “Hansel & Gretel” – some have attempted Burton’s visual whimsy, all have failed to find his tone.

Bryan Singer (“X-Men,” “Usual Suspects”) takes his shot with “Jack the Giant Slayer,” a genial, watchable and somewhat violent version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” that lacks much in the way of magic, romance or wit.

The best two jokes are in the opening credits, with Singer’s “Usual Suspects”-inspired production company logo rendered into a police lineup – of giants – and at the final curtain, suggesting the story’s connection to modern “Englishmen” whose blood those rhyming giants smell after they’ve started their “fee, fie, foe” and “fum.”

Oscar: From ‘Argo’ to ‘Zero’

Rod Pocowatchit — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 11:20 CST

Ready to be entertained?

That’s what producers of this year’s Oscars are promising – a show that will feature more production numbers and musical performances.

It will be edgier, that’s for sure. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron hired funny, irreverent Seth MacFarlane (TV’s “Family Guy,” “Ted”) to be the host for Sunday’s show.

Actor takes on bit more than he can handle in ‘Snitch’

Roger Moore — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:11 CST

As a businessman scrambling to find a way to get his son’s federal prison sentence overturned, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has to play fear, tough love, pity and panic – and he’s in a bit over his head.

But that’s the point of “Snitch,” a straight-no-chaser thriller “inspired by a true story.” The pacing is off, and too many scenes lack dramatic punch and play like filler. But Johnson is pretty good at being a guy in over his head, sharing scenes with flinty pros Susan Sarandon, Benjamin Bratt and Barry Pepper.

It’s the tale of a civilian who gets mixed up in the feds-vs.-Mexican drug cartels war, whose “mandatory minimum sentencing” has snared John Matthews’ naive 18-year-old son. The prosecutor (Sarandon) is a hard case, readying a run for Congress. So John makes a deal: He’ll get “an introduction” into that world through his construction supply business. He’ll use his Jefferson City, Mo., trucks for transport, and they’ll nail big players from the cartel.

Enter The Eagle's 2013 Oscar contest

Lori O’Toole Buselt — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:26 CST

Oscar buzz is heightening as the Feb. 24 awards show approaches.

That means it’s time for us to invite Kansas movie buffs to predict who will take home an Oscar in our annual contest.

Click to enter The Wichita Eagle’s Oscar contest, which challenges you to make the correct pick in 10 categories, including Best Picture, actor and actress in leading and supporting roles and Animated Feature Film.