Author: toddmthatcher

The Last of the Mohicans: Throwback Thursday Reviews

And now for a new feature on the blog which I’ll call my Throwback Thursday reviews where I revisit an older film title or perhaps watch it for the first time and offer my thoughts. Being that I gave this new category the fancy title I did, I’ll do my best to post such reviews on that alliterated day following Wednesday and before Friday.

We begin with Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans, which I hadn’t watched since it came out 22 years ago. Since then, Mann has gone onto to direct such great films as Heat and The Insider, as well as disappointments (in my view) like Ali and Public Enemies. And of course lead actor Daniel Day-Lewis has become one of the greatest actors of his (or all) time and won two Oscars in recent years.

This was actually Day-Lewis’s follow-up feature since winning his first Best Actor Academy Award for 1989’s My Left Foot. It’s based on the James Fenimore Cooper novel and the original 1936 picture of the same name. It is set in 1757 during the French and Indian War with Day-Lewis as Hawkeye, a Caucasian raised by the Mohican Tribe. They are drawn into the British/French conflict when their friends are murdered. Circumstances dictate Nathaniel and his tribal family members escort British Major Heyward (Steven Waddington) and the two daughters (Madeline Stowe, Jodhi May) of a colonel to a fort.

Their journey becomes treacherous when the British’s Huron Tribe guide Magua (Wes Studi) betrays them. Turns out he’s working for the French – sort of. Along the way, Nathaniel and the daughter Cora, played by Stowe, fall in love and that doesn’t sit well with Major Heyward, who plans to marry her.

I must admit that I remembered very little about The Last of the Mohicans before my re-watching of it other than generally liking it over two decades ago. And, today, that statement still holds true. There is much to truly admire. First off, the picture is stunningly gorgeous from its landscapes to terrific art direction and cinematography and set design. The battle sequences are well-choreographed and often thrilling. Day-Lewis, unsurprisingly, makes for a rock solid leading man.

His performance is matched only by Studi’s, whose Magua is a fascinating character. Even though he may be the villain, we can at least understand his perspective on things and it elevates him to more than just your typical bad guy. In fact, if screenwriters Mann and Christopher Crowe had gone even further in exploring Magua’s story, Mohicans would have perhaps been better off for it. They could’ve easily filled that screen time and jettisoned the pic’s main flaw: a boring and uninspiring love story between Hawkeye and Cora.

The fault lies nowhere with either Day-Lewis or Stowe, who’s perfectly adequate in the part. It’s just that their romantic subplot is never interesting and their dialogue together is clichéd. I never fully understood why they fell for one another so quickly and passionately other than movie rules dictate that it be so.

Having said that, there’s more than enough good in Mohicans to outweigh the not so good. And if you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth a look.

*** (out of four)

And that’s my inaugural Throwback Thursday movie review, folks! Look for the next one Saturday… or, wait… how does this work again??

Oscar Watch: The Theory of Everything

From the Venice to Telluride to Cannes to Toronto Film Festivals – we’ve seen a great number of Oscar hopefuls screen already that could easily be contenders at the end of the year. I’ve written about many of them – Foxcatcher. Boyhood. The Imitation Game. Birdman. This evening, I add James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything to the growing list.

This true story is based on Jane Hawking’s book. She is the now ex-wife of noted physicist Stephen Hawking and the film tells the tale of their romance and marriage. The couple is played by Eddie Redmayne (from Les Miserables) and Felicity Jones. Both performers are receiving considerable Oscar buzz for their roles.

Redmayne enters an already highly competitive and crowded field for Best Actor. Already – Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), and Michael Keaton (Birdman) appear shoo-ins for nominations. Based on reviews and festival reaction, so does Mr. Redmayne. The problem is there’s only five nominees and other contenders haven’t even been screened yet. Nevertheless, pencil his work in for a nod.

It isn’t totally clear whether Jones will be touted by the studio in the Actress or Supporting Actress category. The latter seems more probable. Either way- count on her being nominated.

Audience reaction at the Toronto Film Festival indicates it’s a crowd pleaser and, as of now, a Best Picture nomination seems more likely than not. It’s a bit tougher to gage whether Marsh will be recognized and we’ll have to see how the Director race plays out over time.

As always, I’ll be updating Academy Award possibilities as they come!

 

Fruitvale Station Movie Review

Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station doesn’t focus on the true life homicide of Oscar Grant as much as it tells the story of his life. A life that is still forming like any 22 year old man’s is. And yet the end result of Grant’s young existence permeates the whole picture because we know finality is very near.

On New Year’s Day 2009 at the title train station in Oakland, Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan) was killed when a police officer shot him while he was unarmed and handcuffed. The film opens with actual cell phone footage of the incident. We then move back hours before to New Year’s Eve and watch Oscar’s day and night unfold. There’s a birthday party for his mother (Octavia Spencer). His worries about recently losing his grocery store job and whether or not he’ll fall back into the trap of dealing drugs (he’s been incarcerated before and is on probation). His relationship with his girlfriend (Melonie Diaz) and young daughter (Ahna O’Reilly). And a fateful evening to go see fireworks in San Francisco and a return trip home that never occurs.

Fruitvale Station does not make Oscar Grant out to be a saint. He’s a complicated young man who’s conflicted about his fidelity to his girlfriend and how to earn money to care for his family. In a flashback jail scene, we see a side of rage in Oscar that may sadly be necessary in order for him to survive in that world.

First-time director/writer Coogler is a USC grad just like John Singleton, who made his debut feature Boyz N The Hood over twenty years ago. Both movies are similar in this way – they know their environments and portray them with honesty. Where Coogler’s screenplay succeeds best is its subtlety. He recognizes that by showing us the sometimes mundane activities of Oscar’s last hours, it still packs an emotional punch. Oscar and the people he loves and who love him don’t know what’s coming, but we do.

Michael B. Jordan gives a fantastic performance that is an announcement of quite an actor that we’ll be seeing a lot of. His emotional state, in quiet moments with his daughter to truly frightening ones in that station, varies greatly at times and there’s a never a moment where Jordan’s work isn’t completely believable. Diaz and O’Reilly are quite good and Spencer is outstanding as always, with a wrenching scene after Oscar’s death.

There are only a few occasions where the script veers into unnecessary dramatization, such as when Oscar tries to save a dog from dying on the road. For the vast length of its running time, Station simply shows us Oscar’s day. To him, it’s just another one. To us, we know it’s tragically much more than that. And it shouldn’t have been.

***1/2 (out of four)

Box Office Predictions: September 19-21

Four new titles enter the marketplace this weekend to compete with the current #1 and #2 – No Good Deed and Dolphin Tale 2. They are the YA adaptation The Maze Runner, the Liam Neeson actioner A Walk Among the Tombstones, star-studded comedy This Is Where I Leave You, and Kevin Smith horror flick Tusk.

**In a change from normal practice, let’s get Tusk out of the way first. Kevin Smith, known most from Clerks fame, has directed this low-budget horror pic. It’s unknown at press time how many screens it will open on, though it’s expected to be relatively low compared to the three other new releases. Without knowing a screen count, it’s difficult to post a detailed prediction post on it, so I didn’t. I will say it opens with $2.3 million, well below having the possibility of being in the top five.

As for the other newbies, you can find my detailed prediction posts on them here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/the-maze-runner-box-office-prediction/

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/a-walk-among-the-tombstones-box-office-prediction/

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/this-is-where-i-leave-you-box-office-prediction/

I expect the three newcomers to populate the top three positions this weekend and the possibility exists of a battle between Maze Runner and Tombstones. Current #1 No Good Deed should suffer a far bigger decline than Dolphin Tale 2 and the two could duke it out for the four spot.

And with that, my predictions for the weekend’s top five:

1. The Maze Runner

Predicted Gross: $26.1 million

2. A Walk Among the Tombstones

Predicted Gross: $21.4 million

3. This Is Where I Leave You

Predicted Gross: $12.3 million

4. Dolphin Tale 2

Predicted Gross: $10.8 million (representing a drop of 32%)

5. No Good Deed

Predicted Gross: $10.7 million (representing a drop of 57%)

Box Office Results (September 12-14)

In a bit of a surprise, the Idris Elba/Taraji P. Henson thriller No Good Deed debuted at #1 with a robust $24.2 million, well beyond my meager $13.8M projection. Clearly the marketing campaign worked with 60% of its audience being female. As predicted above, it should drop precipitously in its sophomore frame, but with a low budget, it’s an unqualified hit.

Dolphin Tale 2 had to settle for the #2 spot with $15.8 million, in line with my $16.4M prediction. The sequel couldn’t match the $19.1 million opening gross of its predecessor, though it shouldn’t fall too far in weekend #2.

The rest of the top five was made up of summer holdovers that all didn’t drop quite as far as I expected. Guardians of the Galaxy was third with $8.1 million (my prediction: $6.8M), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fourth with $4.8 million ($3.9M was my estimate), and Let’s Be Cops fifth with $4.3 million (my prediction: $3.4M).

One interesting box office story was the sixth place debut of The Drop, a crime thriller starring Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini. It managed an impressive $4.1 million on only 809 screens, giving it the second highest per screen average of the weekend after Deed. This was certainly above the estimates of most and I didn’t even make a prediction on it.

That’s all for now, friends! Until next time.

This Is Where I Leave You Box Office Prediction

It’s got all-star cast and a director who’s had his share of successful comedies, but I have my doubts as to whether This Is Where I Leave You will have much of an impact with audiences. Shawn Levy, the man behind the Pink Panther reboot, the Night at the Museum franchise and Date Night, is behind the camera. The family comedy’s cast includes Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Corey Stoll, Dax Shepard, Connie Britton, Kathryn Hahn, Timothy Olyphant, and Abigail Spencer.

Yet my take is that the TV spots and trailers haven’t made this look like a must-see and reviews are mixed. This is the exact type of flick that audiences might wait to watch at home in a few months. The high-profile cast could theoretically push it to a bigger opening that I’m imagining, but my gut says it won’t even reach the mid teens and be a box office disappointment like Levy’s last outing, The Internship.

This Is Where I Leave You opening weekend prediction: $12.3 million

For my prediction on The Maze Runner, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/the-maze-runner-box-office-prediction/

For my prediction on A Walk Among the Tombstones, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/a-walk-among-the-tombstones-box-office-prediction/

The Maze Runner Box Office Prediction

20th Century Fox is putting its faith in The Maze Runner, out Friday. The YA pic, based on a bestselling 2009 novel by James Dashner, is looking to appeal to the Hunger Games/Divergent crowd and the studio has already began pre-production on a sequel.

I’m not so sure the sci-fi flick will reach the numbers that Fox is hoping for. However, there is a significant bright side: the film only cost a reported $30 million to produce and it’ll certainly sail well past that in its domestic run alone. Some prognosticators have it grossing its budget in the first weekend, but I’m not willing to go that far. The book is well-known, though not to the level of Hunger Games or Divergent. The latter pic grossed a terrific $54 million earlier this year and that seems out of the question here.

The Maze Runner‘s trailers and TV spots might make it look like a poor man’s Hunger Games to those not familiar with the source material. Still, I’ll predict it debuts north of $25M for what should be a #1 opening, unless Liam Neeson’s A Walk Among the Tombstones eclipses it.

The Maze Runner opening weekend prediction: $26.1 million

For my prediction on A Walk Among the Tombstones, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/a-walk-among-the-tombstones-box-office-prediction/

For my This Is Where I Leave You prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/this-is-where-i-leave-you-box-office-prediction/

A Walk Among the Tombstones Box Office Prediction

Liam Neeson is back in vengeance mode in A Walk Among the Tombstones, out Friday. The actor has surprisingly turned into a major action star over the past few years since the unexpected success of Taken in 2008. Since then, all of Neeson’s genre pics has debuted to around $20 million or over. His previous outing, this February’s Non-Stop, opened to $28 million on its way to an impressive $91M domestic haul.

Tombstones finds Neeson as a private investigator searching for a kidnapped woman in New York City. Sounds right up his alley, doesn’t it? The picture is directed by Scott Frank in his directorial debut and he’s best known as a screenwriter for films such as Out of Sight and Minority Report. If Tombstones reaches the $28M gross of Neeson’s predecessor, it certainly wouldn’t shock me.

However, my gut tells me a premiere in the range of 2011’s Unknown seems more likely. That movie opened to nearly $22M and that seems about right for this one.

A Walk Among the Tombstones opening weekend prediction: $21.4 million

For my prediction on The Maze Runner, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/the-maze-runner-box-office-prediction/

For my This Is Where I Leave You prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/this-is-where-i-leave-you-box-office-prediction/

Oscar History: 2007

Tonight on the blog – we review the Oscars from 2007, continuing with my series of Oscar History posts. 2007 was a year in which the brilliant Coen Brothers finally received some Academy love. Their critically lauded No Country for Old Men won Best Picture and earned the twosome the Best Director prize. It’s hard to argue with the Academy’s choice of this terrific pic for the top prize.

In my view, There Will Be Blood would’ve been another deserving recipient and it was nominated for Best Picture, along with Joe Wright’s Atonement, Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton, and Jason Reitman’s Juno. I likely would’ve left Atonement and Juno off the list and considered David Fincher’s meticulously crafted Zodiac and/or Ridley Scott’s American Gangster.

A running theme of my Oscar posts has been the Academy’s consistent lack of comedy inclusion and, for me, the genre’s 2007 highlight was Superbad, one of the finest raunch-fests in quite some time.

I was also a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s ode to B movies, Grindhouse.

There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson was included in the Best Director race along with Gilroy and Reitman. Atonement director Joe Wright was the lone director left out whose film was nominated and Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was a bit of a surprise nominee. As mentioned, they all lost to the Coens. I would have certainly included Fincher’s work in Zodiac.

The Best Actor race was over as soon as Daniel Day-Lewis’s work in There Will Be Blood was seen and it would mark his second win after being honored for My Left Foot eighteen years earlier. Other nominees (who truly can say it was just an honor to be nominated after Day-Lewis’s tour de force): George Clooney in Michael Clayton, Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd, Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah, and Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises.

Nobody plays a calculating bad guy better than Denzel Washington and I probably would have found room for him with his turn in American Gangster.

In the Best Actress race, Marion Cotillard would win for La Vie En Rose – beating out Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Julie Christie (Away from Her), Laura Linney (The Savages), and Ellen Page (Juno).

Leaving out Keira Knightley’s work in Atonement was a surprise. For my dark horse contender, Christina Ricci’s fearless work in Black Snake Moan might’ve made my cut.

Like the Best Actor category, the Supporting Actor race was over when audiences and critics saw Javier Bardem’s amazing performance in No Country for Old Men. Other nominees: Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson’s War, Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild, and Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton.

Paul Dano’s performance in There Will Be Blood certainly should’ve been acknowledged here. Two others to consider: Robert Downey Jr.’s work as a boozy reporter in Zodiac and Kurt Russell’s hilarious and sadistic role in Grindhouse.

The Supporting Actress race belonged to Tilda Swinton as a ruthless attorney in Michael Clayton. She would win over double nominee Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There, Ruby Dee for American Gangster, Saoirse Ronan in Atonement, and Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone.

I would’ve included Kelly MacDonald as Josh Brolin’s wife in No Country for Old Men.

And there’s my take on the ’07 Oscars, my friends! I’ll have 2008 posted soon.

Box Office Predictions: September 12-14

The month long reign of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ruling the top two spots at the box office should come to an end this weekend with two new releases: family sequel Dolphin Tale 2 and thriller No Good Deed. You can review my detailed posts on each of them here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/07/dolphin-tale-2-box-office-prediction/

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/07/no-good-deed-box-office-prediction/

I’ll give Dolphin Tale 2 the edge to top the charts, but only because it’s scheduled to open on approximately 1500 more screens than Deed, which still has an outside shot at #1. Holdovers Guardians, Turtles, and Let’s Be Cops should round out the top five in a rather lackluster weekend before heavy hitters such as A Walk Among the Tombstones, The Equalizer, and Gone Girl arrive soon.

And with that, my top five predictions for the weekend:

1. Dolphin Tale 2

Predicted Gross: $16.4 million

2. No Good Deed

Predicted Gross: $13.8 million

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

Predicted Gross: $6.8 million (representing a drop of 34%)

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Predicted Gross: $3.9 million (representing a drop of 41%)

5. Let’s Be Cops

Predicted Gross: $3.4 million (representing a drop of 37%)

Box Office Results (September 5-7)

In what was the weakest box office frame in 13 years, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was #1 with $10.3 million, right in line with my $10.9M projection. The superhero megahit has amassed $294 million and should blast past $300M this week.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was second with $6.5 million, on pace with my $6.6M estimate. It’s earned an impressive $174M so far and should top out around $190M.

Sleeper comedy hit Let’s Be Cops was third with my $5.5 million, above my $4.5M projection. Its total stands at $66M.

YA romance If I Stay was fourth as it also made $5.5 million, right in line with my $5.3M prediction and its haul is at an OK $39M.

Pierce Brosnan’s dud The November Man rounded out the top five with $4.3 million in weekend two, once again on pace with my $4.1M estimate. Its two week total is a weak $17M and it might reach $30M total domestically.

Finally, the faith based musical drama The Identical (the weekend’s only newbie) tanked with only $1.5 million for a pathetic 12th place debut, under my generous $3.9M projection.

And that’s all for now, folks! Until next time.

Dolphin Tale 2 Box Office Prediction

Three years after its predecessor was a sleeper hit, Dolphin Tale 2 swims into theaters this Friday and will attempt a #1 opening. It’s got a very good shot. Actor turned director Charles Martin Smith is behind the camera once again and stars of Dolphin Tale Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson, and Morgan Freeman all return.

In September of 2011, the original debuted to $19.1 million on its way to a $72 million domestic gross. Those earnings were enough for Warner Bros. to green light a sequel. The big question is whether or not Dolphin Tale 2 grosses more than its predecessor and on that one, I’m skeptical. I simply don’t believe the first is beloved enough for audiences to flock to it. That being said, Dolphin Tale 2 should earn enough to get it to the #1 spot in a currently weak marketplace.

Dolphin Tale 2 opening weekend prediction: $16.4 million

For my No Good Deed prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/07/no-good-deed-box-office-prediction/