Greetings moviegoers! As I’ve described several times in the past few months, nothing excites readers more than talk of the next James Bond. And the odds are that Daniel Craig is going to be back for the next two outings. That news has been met with some relief and some kerfuffling, because anything good or bad about James Bond movies causes a kerfuffle.
There is a review of Al Gore’s sequel to the Inconvenient Truth movie. It doesn’t really proclaim the film to be good or bad, but simply, as noted by one ardent environmentalist, it’s hard to keep announcing to the media: Well, the climate is still warming! In other words, nothing has changed, and the trends are moving faster than they predicted in the first documentary. So, there’s that.
One review of Atomic Blonde notes the success of John Wick, which may have led to the advent of the Atomic Blonde model. In fact, the prediction was made that without beautiful and photogenic Charlize Theron in the title role, the film would have been a failure. And then there is Wonder Woman. Some had a fit when it was dare suggested (by me) that without the beautiful and statuesque Amazonian model, (Gadot), there is no plot for Wonder Woman.
New Releases: Wind River with Jeremy Renner has been favorably reviewed on the Macguffin film site. Also, Ghost Story with Casey Affleck has gotten good reviews. Both movies are reviewed in 6 Degrees of Film magazine.
Good Idea: If you want to keep a list of good horror flicks for the coming Fall and Halloween season loaded with plenty of ghouls and dark nights, there’s a nice film site that has some good suggestions. It’s awesomebmovies.com, which is a darn good idea for a film blog site. I’ve always been partial to the good and bad B Movie rolls.
The David Bordwell film site has some books on movies that look really good. The books recommended include: “When Movies were Theater” by William Paul. The book looks at the actual architecture of the old art movie theaters that played a key role in developing an idea of what passes as American Films. “Two Cheers for Hollywood” from writer Joseph McBride runs the gamut with reviews on the Coen Brothers and other iconic filmmakers, as well as interviews with famous filmmakers and screenwriters like George Cukor and Billy Wilder. “Awake in the Dark” is a book containing the best reviews of Roger Ebert. We still don’t have great film critics that rival Ebert. There are good film critics working today, but film critiques are becoming something of a lost art. This collection provides a roadmap and a glimpse into our own past, as we see what we are missing. The fourth book was mentioned last week: “Color and Empathy: Essays on Two Aspects of Film”, with essays about the treatment of color in silent films as well as 1950’s Hollywood and Experimental films. If you have an interest in cinema beyond the casual Saturday matinee (an outdated term, to be sure!), you will want to read at least one or all of these books to glean some of the defining elements of a classic movie.
There’s a two part review of Dunkirk in 6 Degrees Magazine from the David Bordwell site. Dunkirk is still one of the best films out there at the moment, so it’s worth the read. The reviews for The Dark Tower have revealed it to be mostly a disappointment bordering on a bomb. This from a review in SF Gate: “Though this movie is based on up to eight novels, there’s enough story here for only a very good one-hour, one-off TV drama…Everything that takes place between is filler, and what’s worse…is that it actually feels like filler” Not so good.
Other films, other reviews: The Glass Castle is reviewed on NPR. There’s an interesting piece, also on NPR, that features several reviewers trying to expand on the best works from Stephen King. King is known for horror, but he also wrote The Shawshank Redemption, and some of his essays and work about writing is mandatory for all who know and love the craft of writing.
Sadly, there’s a timely piece from filmschoolrejects.com on Cinema and the Spectacle of Nuclear War…or as they flippantly add: how the movies taught us to stop worrying and love the fire and fury.
The Best Of: Category that includes the work of Dustin Hoffman. Rolling Stone has an article with 20 of his greatest performances. And in that vein, there’s a post in the magazine with the top 20 greatest movie music moments in film.
In general, the predictions are holding true about what has been summarized and speculated upon for weeks. The Summer of 2017 has been the Summer from Hell for Box Office. The industry is reeling, with AMC suffering huge losses. King Arthur started the summer as a big flop, and films like Baywatch predictably tanked. Ticket sales are down 10%. One analyst, speaking of predictable, said the poor box office was attributable to: “the overreliance on sequels catching up to Hollywood. Everyone save for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 disappointed.” Really?
There are other disappointments. Valerian tanked, and the acclaimed Kathryn Bigelow film Detroit has struggled to break even. And this is without mentioning the threat that China brings to the American film industry. There is panic reported across the studio lots.
There are two schools of thought, with some believing that it’s simply a bump, and that by next summer, people will return to the theater for the Star Wars films and other successful franchises and sequels. But this type of magical thinking has never been correct, as the films have evolved from silent to talkies to glamorous Golden Age to the age of television and blockbusters and independents and on and on into the 21st Century. Where it stops, who knows? But the odds are that the film industry is evolving quickly, and it’s safe to bet on change for the foreseeable future. Read the article in Variety on 6 Degrees: “Time to Panic: Inside the Movie Business’ Summer of Hell” In Esquire, this article is also cited with the final analysis being: “It is tempting to think that this summer will teach Hollywood a lesson, but of course it will not” I agree.
The constant evolving nature of film is something that I wrote about in my book, 6 Degrees of Film. And that has continued as we move from one blockbuster season into another with almost no break in between. We are now gearing up for the Fall Film Season with some releases held out for the Holidays and those that are touted for the major Awards, Oscars and the like. So stay tuned. Winter is Coming! See you at the movies-ML
Six Degrees of Film 