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Cars 3 Review

Very Good

It's been six years since the last Cars movie (there were two Planes movies in that time), and the filmmakers have wisely decided to go back to basics for this one. After the sequel's foray into global spy mayhem, this movie keeps its focus on the race track. There's still that nagging lack of logic in the premise: a world of cars living like people, except that there are no people. But the oddest thing about this movie is that its themes are aimed at grown-ups, not children.

It opens as Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is at the top of his career, winning every race and celebrated as a rock star. Then young upstart Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) beats him, using high-tech training methods. To boost his speed, McQueen's sponsor (Nathan Fillion) sets him up with hot new trainer Cruz (Cristela Alonzo). But the old-school McQueen doesn't like simulators; he wants to feel sand in is tyres. So he takes Cruz on a cross-country trip to tap into his roots and show her the purity of racing on a dirt track. This involves seeking out salty old trainer Smokey (Chris Cooper) as McQueen prepares for a make-or-break race. Meanwhile, a TV pundit (Kerry Washington) drastically cuts McQueen's odds of winning any more races at all.

It's unlikely that kids in the audience will be able to identify with the central idea that you need to recognise when it's time to step aside for the younger generation. But then, they're mainly watching these movies for the vroom-vroom action, then buying the merchandise and recreating the races at home. The plot is for the adults, really, and this film provides a very nice story arc for McQueen (and Cruz as well). There is also, of course, a non-stop barrage of automotive puns and sight gags, silly side characters and wacky action. The stand-out scene is a riotous demolition derby in the mud.

Continue reading: Cars 3 Review

Demolition Trailer


Davis Mitchell is very successful in what he does for a living, though he's not as productive when it comes to his marriage. He's an investment banker stuck in the same old daily routine and he tends not to ever think about anything else. However, he is forced to re-evaluate himself and the way he lives his life when his wife Julia dies suddenly in a car accident. His father-in-law and boss Phil doesn't think much of Davis, but encourages him to pick himself up off the ground and start appreciating the world around him. After deciding to file a complaint to a vending machine company, Davis ends up writing numerous letters about his personal struggles and confessions. When they are discovered by a woman named Karen whose struggling to overcome problems of her own, they start a friendship that will encourage Davis to take apart his life, and re-build.

Continue: Demolition Trailer

The Amazing Spider-man 2 Review


Good

As with the too-early franchise reboot in 2012, this sequel struggles to balance the demands of a teen romance with a superhero blockbuster. The interpersonal storylines are sharply written and skilfully played by the gifted cast, but the eye-catching effects sequences feel like little more than a shiny distraction. Action fans will love the way digitally animated Spidey swings more realistically than ever down the streets of New York, but the fact remains that these scenes are cartoons. And a new template is badly needed for this genre.

It kicks off as Peter (Andrew Garfield) nearly misses his high school graduation to save the city from another crazed nutcase. His girlfriend Gwen (Emma Stone) is fed up, and then crushed when Peter breaks up with her because he's worried about her safety. So she considers taking a place at Oxford University to get away. Meanwhile, Peter is also trying to understand the truth about why his parents (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz) left him to be raised by his Aunt May (Sally Field). But he's interrupted from all of this by the arrival of old pal Harry (Dane DeHaan), back in town to inherit the family business from his dying dad (Chris Cooper) and in need of moral support from Peter.

In each of these three plot strands, Peter faces a significant dilemma that's beautifully played by Garfield as a cheeky, good guy who worries about the darkness all around him. And there's also a nefarious side-plot trying to take over the movie, as nerdy technician Max (Jamie Foxx) is transformed by an electric shock from Spider-man's biggest fan to a spark-emitting villain called Electro. This shift doesn't make sense on any level, and Harry also has a sudden personality change that's badly under-explained, forcing the film into a series of huge action showdowns along with a completely irrelevant aside about two colliding airplanes that feels tacked on to up the human stakes.

Continue reading: The Amazing Spider-man 2 Review

The Amazing Spiderman 2 - Clips Trailer


Peter Parker is facing a period of deep confusion in every aspect of his life. No longer is everything black and white, nor is it easy to know what the right thing to do is anymore. He's struggling to cope with the death of his dear Uncle Ben, while still feeling unfamiliar with his past in regards to his parents. He's also trying to hold down a relationship with Gwen Stacy, but she ultimately adds to his troubles when she finds herself in a dilemma of her own. Meanwhile in his professional capacity as Spider-Man, he's not finding it easy to differentiate between the villains, the heroes and the just plain hard-done by. He faces deadly battles with the formidable Rhino and the rage-filled Electro; the latter of who it turns out is just as frightened of his own power as everybody else is. It turns out that there is a darker force happening elsewhere, and when his friend Harry Osborn returns, he starts to see OsCorp's sinister involvement.

Continue: The Amazing Spiderman 2 - Clips Trailer

August: Osage County Review


Extraordinary

Tracy Letts adapts his own prize-winning play into a blistering depiction of one of cinema's most dysfunctional families ever. It's still rather theatrical, throwing a mob of top actors into a room for what feels like a fight to the death, but it's so well written and so beautifully observed by the actors that we can't look away. And of course Meryl Streep walks off with the show.

Everything kicks off when Beverly Weston (Shepard) goes missing, leaving his ruthlessly straight-talking, pill-popping wife Violet (Streep) to assemble the family in their rambling Oklahoma home. They have three equally feisty daughters: Barbara (Roberts) is a tightly wound bundle of anger with an estranged husband (McGregor) and surly teen daughter (Breslin) in tow; Karen (Lewis) is a free-spirited floater with yet another random boyfriend (Mulroney); and Ivy (Nicholson) is fed up with being the dutiful daughter who stayed close to home. Also on hand is Violet's sister Mattie Fae (Martindale), whose husband (Cooper) is the family patriarch now that Beverly is gone, which means their son (Cumberbatch) feels even more useless than normal.

What plot there is centres on skeletons rattling out of closets and relationships imploding spectacularly. The film is a series of brutally intense encounters between people who probably still love each other in vaguely undefined ways and express it through bitter bursts of witty cruelty. Streep has the meatiest role as the imperious Violet, who knows a lot more than she's letting on. And her chief rival is Barbara, played with unnerving intensity by Roberts. The only person we even remotely like is Mattie Fae, and the always-superb Martindale finds all kinds of layers in the character.

Continue reading: August: Osage County Review

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Trailer


Peter Parker has always had difficulty trying to prioritise his life. There's the personal side of it; the ordinary teenage angst, trying to hold down a relationship with the lovely Gwen Stacy and mourning the death of his Uncle Ben; then there's the side about saving the world from supervillains and general criminals terrorising the street as Spider-Man. While more often than not successful, he is about to face his biggest challenge yet as he is swamped by enemies such as the formidable Rhino and the quick as lightning Electro. Not only that but, as his friend Harry Osborn returns, he begins to realise that weapons manufacturer OsCorp is cropping up in all situations regarding his foes - just what is Osborn's father plotting?

Continue: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Trailer

Jamie Foxx Has Got The Blues As Electro In 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'


Jamie Foxx Andrew Garfield Emma Stone Chris Cooper Dane DeHaan Paul Giamatti Felicity Jones

Everyone got a glimpse of Jamie Foxx as Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in some newly released pictures from the set of the movie.

In the stills, Foxx is seen wearing creepy blue makeup and a grey hood. This means that the movie will significantly deviate from the original version of the villain, which was portrayed wearing a bright green suit with a yellow lightning mask. According to the LA Times, this portrayal of Electro will more closely resemble his Ultimate incarnation, which also has a different backstory – being the result of genetic experimentation, instead of a power line accident. It isn’t clear yet how much of the back story the producers plan to keep, but Foxx did give the reasons behind the choice of costume in an interview with Blackfilm back in December: “They want to have it more grounded and not as comic book-y, so it won’t be green and yellow,” he said. “They want to try new things, like a liquid rubber and things like that, and there are all these bolts and stuff in my arms when they are hanging me upside down and trying to figure out what happen [sic]. How did he become this way? So, it will be some new stuff.”

Sounds pretty cool to us. The sequel to the 2012 film is due in May of next year and, as previously announced, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone will be reprising their roles. Additionally, Shailene Woodley will join the cast as Mary Jane Watson, Chris Cooper and Dane DeHaan as Norman Osborn and his son Harry, Paul Giamatti reportedly as villain the Rhino, and Colm Feore and Felicity Jones in roles yet to be announced.

Continue reading: Jamie Foxx Has Got The Blues As Electro In 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'

The Company You Keep Trailer


Ben Shepard is a young and ambitious reporter determined to make a name for himself in the media world. When Sharon Solarz, a member of the radical left organisation Weather Underground, is arrested for her involvement in a bank robbery and subsequent murder 30 years ago, Ben smells an important story that could be his big break. Meanwhile, attorney Jim Grant, a single father of an 11-year-old daughter named Isabel who was also involved in the crime, is forced on the run from the FBI as Ben sparks a new manhunt, but on the way he changes course in an effort to expose the truth and prove his innocence. Ben discovers that the whole story is more complicated than he initially thought, particularly as not everyone appears to be who they say they are.

Continue: The Company You Keep Trailer

Chris Cooper's Green Goblin Casting Confirmed For The Amazing Spider-Man 2


Chris Cooper

The makers of the new Spider-Man film have revealed another cast member ahead of the second of the Andrew Garfield-starring reboot of the Marvel Comics series. It’s been confirmed that Chris Cooper will be turning out as the Green Goblin in the film, meaning that the cast can now boast two Oscars winners in their line-up, with Jamie Foxx already announced as another nemesis, Electro.

USA Today reports that Cooper will be joining Emma Stone, who will be reprising her role as Gwen Stacy, whilst Shailene Woodley of The Descendants will be playing Mary-Jane Watson. You might recall that the previous Green Goblin was played the mighty Willem Dafoe, so there’s certainly pressure there to try and better what was a fine performance. However, if anyone can do it, Cooper can; he won an Oscar back in 2002 for his performance in Adaptation and can point to strong performances in American Beauty and Capote in a glittering career.

Chris Cooper

Continue reading: Chris Cooper's Green Goblin Casting Confirmed For The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God Review


Excellent

There's a reason this expertly shot and edited documentary is skimming under the radar: no one wants you to see it. The hugely skilled Gibney is taking on the world's biggest corporation, the Vatican, with a lucid, personal exploration of child abuse in the Catholic church. And while a first-person approach draws us in, it's the wide-ranging evidence against the top echelons of the church that takes us aback. This film is exposing one of the biggest ever conspiracies without ever shouting about it.

The main focus here is four men (Kohut, Smith, Kuehn and Budzinski) who were abused by a priest while they were students at a school for the deaf in Milwaukee. One of them blew the whistle in a 1972 letter, but the priest was never brought to justice for his crimes. It seemed like the local diocese was covering up his actions, but an investigation showed that the orders to stay silent came right from the Holy See in Rome. And as years passed, similar stories emerged from Boston, Ireland and Italy itself. In each case, the Vatican ordered the churches not to report the abuse to the police. 

Yes, this conspiracy goes all the way to the top, although Pope Benedict has tried to remain outside the fray even though his previous job was to investigate these cases.  And in looking at this careful outline of the events, it's clear that the real problem stems from the Catholic church's insistence that priests should never answer to earthly powers, which is why parents are so reluctant to believe their children's accusations against a holy man. In other words, the church is more concerned for the office of the priesthood than the victims of abuse.

Continue reading: Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God Review

Chris Cooper Monday 31st March 2008 First Readings: A Benefit for Studio Dante at the Rubin Museum of Art New York City, USA

Chris Cooper

Chris Cooper Quick Links

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Chris Cooper Movies

Cars 3 Movie Review

Cars 3 Movie Review

It's been six years since the last Cars movie (there were two Planes movies in...

Cars 3 Trailer

Cars 3 Trailer

Former Piston Cup Champion Lightning McQueen was a hero in his day, but it seems...

Live By Night Movie Review

Live By Night Movie Review

Ben Affleck launched his directing career 10 years ago with his film of Dennis Lehane's...

Live By Night Trailer

Live By Night Trailer

Joe Coughlin was born and raised in a good family, his father was the police...

Demolition Movie Review

Demolition Movie Review

With its darkly emotive themes and brittle humour, this well-made drama by Jean-Marc Vallee (Dallas...

Demolition Trailer

Demolition Trailer

Davis Mitchell is very successful in what he does for a living, though he's not...

The Amazing Spider-man 2 Movie Review

The Amazing Spider-man 2 Movie Review

As with the too-early franchise reboot in 2012, this sequel struggles to balance the demands...

The Amazing Spiderman 2 - Clips Trailer

The Amazing Spiderman 2 - Clips Trailer

Peter Parker is facing a period of deep confusion in every aspect of his life....

August: Osage County Movie Review

August: Osage County Movie Review

Tracy Letts adapts his own prize-winning play into a blistering depiction of one of cinema's...

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Trailer

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Trailer

Peter Parker has always had difficulty trying to prioritise his life. There's the personal side...

August: Osage County Trailer

August: Osage County Trailer

The Weston family know they are probably one of the most dysfunctional families around, but...

The Company You Keep Trailer

The Company You Keep Trailer

Ben Shepard is a young and ambitious reporter determined to make a name for himself...

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