This fantastical French import comes to the Enzian on Friday. “Holy Motors” follows a day in the life of a mysterious figure, Msr. Oscar, whose identity, occupation and reality change repeatedly, in magical, mysterious and dark ways, over the course of that single day. Trippy.
I got a pretty good sized chuckle out of the all-star actioner “RED: Retired, Extremely Dangerous” a couple of falls back.
And there are familiar laughs in this trailer to the sequel. Seriously, I don’t know why anybody using John Malkovich (he’s become a Summit Entertainment favorite) doesn’t look at these films, see the silly possibilities, and come right out and say, “THAT’S what I want.” Because the man can be menacing and sympathetic, but he’s in his glory in over-the-top parts like this.
We tend judge to filmed stories of survival on an epic ordeal scale. How excruciating was what the people went through in this tale endured?
That puts the German production “North Face” on the short list of greatest mountaineering movies ever made, a vivid recreation of an agonizing climb that tested four young men to their very limits in 1936 Switzerland.
You wouldn’t think a film about German soldiers and Austrians competing to be the first to conquer the North Face of the murderous mountain the Swiss named “The Ogre” — Eiger — could be so compelling.
Nazis and Nazi sympathizers struggling against mountain and the elements? Who cares? Alpine settings were a favorite symbol of Nazi iconographers, in particular Nazi filmmaker Leni Reifenstahl. What’s novel about this?
Co-writer/director Philip Stolzl took this true story of a campaign than failed, and crafted a romantic, heroic and tense movie, with great cinematography and nerve-wracking suspense.
Florian Lukas is Andi Hinterstoisser and Benno Furhmann is Toni Kurz, two outdoorsy young Berchtesgarden Bavarians who aren’t quite into Army life — even though that’s what the Fuhrer wants. They tolerate the training their hometown mountain division demands only because it keeps them close to climbing.
It’s the Olympic summer of 1936, and dramatic failures to climb icy, sheer side of the Eiger have inspired German propagandists, including Berlin newspaper editors, to recruit young Aryans to do it as the crowning “gold medal” of that glorious year.
Since newspaper clerk Luise (Johanna Wokalek) has history with the lads, she’s recruited to go talk them into attempting it and get her first scoop as she does.
She has history with Toni climber, which complicates things. And Toni sees that attempt as vain and suicidal, and won’t go for it. But when they hear that French, Italians and Austrians are making their way to the Eiger to have a go, they’re inspired.
All they have to do is quit Hitler’s Army — Wait, was it really that easy? — make their way to Switzerland and gain lasting glory.
Luise is dragged along by her reporter/editor (Ulrich Tukor) to cover the quest, to play up the glorious virtues of the young people of the German Reich.
We count Monday figures, too, when summing up the long and always lucrative Martin Luther King holiday weekend at the movies.
So nothing’s truly official until the last farthing to counted Monday night.
And “Broken City,” the new Mark Walhberg action drama, is at $9 with a fond hope of clearing $10 by Monday night.
“The Last Stand,” a retro Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner with sidekicks, catch phrases, bad acting and decent action — won’t even do that well. It’s sitting just over $6 million, now. No way that movie covers cost, not in this country anyway.
Maybe overseas they’re still into the creaking old action figure.
“Silver Linings Playbook” has ridden an Oscar bounce into the top five.
“The Hobbit” is on the cusp of dropping out of the top ten.
“More men have walked on the moon than have played James Bond,” a wag notes in the terrific History of Bond documentary, “Everything or Nothing.”
And almost to a one, each regarded this as the role of a lifetime, a dream opportunity, an iconic character who would, if nothing else, leave them set for life, financially, thanks to the most successful franchise in film history.
But getting them all together in one movie to talk about their experience of the part, how their interpretation of the role fit their times, was nigh on impossible before “Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of James Bond,” a terrific new “officially sanctioned” Bond history timed to help celebrate 50 years of Big Screen Bond.
Shot “on the fly” without permission at Disney theme parks, “Escape from Tomorrow” is indie drama about “a father’s descent into madness” has a hint of the kinky about it.
And the Dopey and Goofy. Because Disney characters — landmarks, costumed characters — pop up in the background of some scenes. It’s showing at Sundance, would be a fascinating addition to the Florida Film Festival.
But will the filmmakers EVER be able to sell it so that larger audiences will see writer-director Randy Moore’s (“genre defying (deadline.com) and “surreal” film?
No way Disney will allow that. Not happening. Interesting that he was able to get away with shooting it, though. I’ve seen docs where Disney Police were on the filmmakers’ case in a flash — or half a flash.
You never even seem to see Disney family comedies set in/shot in the theme parks. When I first moved to Orlando, an indie film titled “Characters” popped up on my radar — a sort of R-rated “American Graffiti” set amongst the people who wear the big plush costumes at a fictional theme park. They used Universal locations, if memory serves. But they had to change names, etc. , because of ownership/copywright/intellectual property issues.
J.J. Abrams wants to tell the sordid tale of Lance Armstrong, Just Another Cheater From Texas.
OK, that’s MY title. Abrams (“Super 8/”Star Trek”) could do a film based on Armstrong’s sullen early years racing, his battle with cancer, his miraculous comeback and ascent to the podium — winning all those Tour de France titles.
Interestingly, all the TV and radio (NPR) newscasts interviewed the British journalist who spent so much effort and took so much heat — direct abuse from Armstrong — in trying to expose him over the years, is NOT the person whose work Abrams has optioned. David Walsh was his name. He picked a New York Times writer with enough — but not nearly as many — years on the beat.
BIG Friday and early Saturday for “Mama,” the better-than-average horror film starring Jessica Chastain, a couple of pitiful little girls and the “thing” they would rather call Mama than Jessica Chastain.
Some $10 million Friday alone.
That suggests Jessica will beat her own Oscar contender at the box office — “Zero Dark Thirty” will do better Sat. and Sunday, but it looks like “Mama” will clear $20 and “Zero” will be mid-teens.
“The Last Stand” did a measly $2 million — hey Arnie — those are Streisand “Guilt Trip” numbers.
Funny thing, when I posted my review of “Last Stand,” I was the first to slap down this retro actioner down. It had a 100% rating from assorted critics — early posters. I got a bit of snarky hate mail. Now? Not so much. Beaten down to “Rotten” territory.
Pity that didn’t happen with “Django,” but hey — some people’s kids.
“Broken City” will be lucky to pull in $10 million. Mark Wahlberg’s quest to “own” (my word) MLK Weekend at the movies –– year over year — fails.
“Django,” “Les Miz,” still doing decent business in the middle of the box office pack.
Surprise is a rare thing in the movies in the Internet age. So far be it for me to spoil the one at the heart of “Catfish,” an indie documentary that’s being promoted as a sort of “Blair Witch” style thriller — maybe without the witch. Seriously, the trailers and ads for this Sundance darling would have you think there are shocks, jolts and moments where characters fear for their lives.
That’s a come-on, and if you go in expecting that, you’ll be bitterly disappointed. But what New York filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost have cut together is a mildly suspenseful documentary, a game of Facebook Liar’s Poker that amounts to a cautionary tale for the No Privacy generation.
Schulman’s younger brother, Yaniv, strikes up a friendship with a kid who is sending him colorful paintings based on his photographs. The painter’s name is Abby. She’s eight years old and she has talent. They exchange emails, and more emails. Yaniv — he goes by “Nev” — is just a young professional being nice to and encouraging a fellow artist, a child living in a remote corner of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Nev chats, online, with Abby’s mom. And then he Facebook “friends” Abby’s hot-teenage sister, Megan, and things get complicated.
Catherine Hardwicke tries to transfer her panting pretty young things”Twilight” style to “Red Riding Hood,” a werewolf WITHOUT the vampires fantasy aimed at that magical PG-13 audience.
And for all the heaving bosoms, the big-eyed flirtation and the cool Medieval fairytale hair products, it doesn’t work.
