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Aaron Eckhart Is Trying to Drive Final Nail into His Own Coffin with I, FRANKENSTEIN Trailer

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Aaron Eckhart has taken a bit of a fall from grace of late. Since The Dark Knight, he’s been wrapped up in such clunkers as The Rum Diary, Olympus Has Fallen, Erased and Battle: Los Angeles. From the production team behind the Underworld series, I, Frankenstein looks exactly like the CGI-clutter you would expect. Apparently aimed towards a younger crowd, considering the PG-13 rating, I, Frankenstein has high hopes of being the low point of Eckhart’s faltering career.

“Frankenstein’s creature finds himself caught in an all-out, centuries old war between two immortal clans,” reads the IMDB description. I don’t know about you but this hardly seems like the movie that’s going to re-invest the mass public in the Frankenstein saga. The true shame is that Eckhart and co-star Bill Nighy are wasting their time on this oblivious clunker. Shame. 

Take a peek at the trailer and see if there’s any chance you’ll be purchasing a ticket come January.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxOSPfUw3qw#t=123

I, Frankenstein is directed by Stuart Beattie and stars Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Jai Courtney, Miranda Otto and Kevin Grevioux. It hits theaters on January 24, 2013.

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Out in Theaters: RUNNER RUNNER

“Runner Runner”
Directed by Brad Furman
Starring Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie, John Heard, Oliver Cooper
Crime, Drama, Thriller
91 Mins
R

 
While not nearly as intelligent or edge-of-your-seat as his last effort, The Lincoln Lawyer, Brad Furman‘s Runner Runner is an easily digestible thriller elevated by a sly performance from Ben Affleck. As a businessman-cum-villain, Affleck is the grinning face of rampant capitalism embodied. His character Ivan Block has harnessed the “greed is good” mantra of Wall Street and etched it up a notch, stopping short of nothing to make another dime… or so the film tells us.

However, upon delivery of the goods, Furman comes up short. Like a poker player holding his cards until the last moment, he never really brings the Block character to full-menace, summoning hearty pangs of disappointment from the thrill-hungry audience. But this is a common trend of the film: a slow-play that ultimately reveals a losing hand.

For all his efforts to turn something as intangible as online poker into a exciting experience, the promising sense of a well-dressed thriller fades quickly and we feel about as duped as the legions of online poker addicts gambling away their life savings. Luckily, we get away only having lost about an hour and a half, as little of Furman’s build up amounts to anything at all. It’s just left to wither away without ever accomplishing much or really saying anything. While it hardly gets down and dirty in the realm of the truly terrible, it’s a forgettable bag of movie mulch, tied-and-tethered to a sinking stone.

Princeton grad student Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) is a gaming junkie. Not the type likely to spend his college tuition on a night of online poker, no, instead Furst tempts other Princetonians to pursue various gambling .coms and gets a cut of their losses. As one of the few people who herd traffic to these gaming sites, Furst knows that he has a better-than-average sense for the game and so hubristically puts his entire college tuition on the line (“Oh no he didn’t”) to make ends meet.

Lo and behold, Furst gets scammed, finds mathematical certainty of his being ripped off, and flies to Costa Rica to confront the man behind the curtain: the illusive Ivan Block. At some beachside vista, he meets Rebecca Sharan (the gorgeous Gemma Arterton) and flirts his way into a party to meet with Block. Right here, we run into our first issue (that is if you’re not counting Timberlake’s opening monologue where he tells you all about himself rather than letting it be revealed over time…but I digress). We’re told how impossible it is to get a meeting with Block from no less than three characters and Furst just waltzes up and bam, it’s meet-and-greet time.

Intellectual inconsistencies like this pepper the rest of the film, revealing the dangerous “tell” that this movie won’t even play by its own rules. With that knowledge, any urgent sense of danger melts away like butter on the popcorn required to digest this caliber of flick. Though these little dollops of stupidity don’t necessarily stand out quite so boldly while you’re in the midst of watching Runner Runner, upon reflection, the lack of foresight is as clear as a fold on a two-seven-split (that’s poker terminology for quit while you’re ahead.) No single moment is so egregious that it’s offensive on its own, but taken in junction with the fact that nothing really comes of anything that’s said or done, the truly frustrating nature of the film is revealed.

Anthony Mackie in an over-sized suit makes a run at Furst, threatening him with banishment from the US if he doesn’t come forward with proof of Block’s ill-doings, but he’s about as intimidating as a schnauzer in a clown costume. That is, he’s all bark and no bite. But that seems to be the point of all this: a lot of talk backed up by very little walk.

Behind the camera, Furman doesn’t accomplish anything that hasn’t been done before but he admittedly didn’t have much to work with, coming off a pipe bomb of a script from longtime duo Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Rounders, Runaway Jury). It’s about as paint-by-numbers as it comes, borrowing from the thrillers of the 70s, 80s, and 90s that we’ve seen so many times before. The romantic subplot, thrown in there for kicks and focus-group ratings, is about as hot as a winter morning in Maine. Both Timberlake and Arterton may be fine specimens of nature but their whimsy flirtation provides a trainer-bra level of support for any of the emotional gravity that’s supposed to come from them. We just know exactly how everything is going to shape up before it gets there, making the journey along the way as familiar as the morning commute.

Furman’s last, The Lincoln Lawyer, was a surprisingly rousing success, however, it seems he learned little from that triumph. Where that provided edge-of-your-seat suspense, this falls behind in the first leg of the race and never manages to catch up. Even the name of the film, a tip-of-the-hat to a poker play where the turn and the river (the final two cards in play) end up significantly improving your hand, is unintentionally ironic. Where a runner-runner depends on the end of play bettering things, in Runner, Runner the finale peters out and flips no trump cards.

It’s not quite bad enough to stand too firmly against but it’s far too soft to inspire any level of recommendation. Ultimately, Runner Runner is best left for a lazy Sunday when you’re half-watching but mostly invested in your smartphone or a periphery conversation.

C-

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Documentary Dossier: THE SUMMIT

“The Summit”
Directed by Nick Ryan
Starring Christine Barnes, Hoselito Bite, Marco Confortola, Pat Falvey, Niall Foley, Stefan Grossniklaus
Documentary
95 Mins
R

K2 is the second highest peak on Earth (after Mount Everest) and by far the most difficult to summit. It has a staggering casualty rate of one in four. Nick Ryan’s The Summit tells the story of an infamous 2008 expedition where 11 of 24 climbers were lost. Ryan makes the audience aware of these statistics early on in the documentary, helping to shape an acute sense of foreboding as we hear virginal tales of these excited climbers over sinister music. Unfortunately the film’s strong start is spoiled by haphazard editing that trumps its initial sense of excitement and leaves the viewer in disbelief that the run time is only 95 minutes.

 

As far as educational value goes, the film certainly doesn’t skimp. Grand in scope, it lays out every detail about what makes this the hardest climb in the world as well as the history of the mountain, and what exactly has gone wrong to result in so many deaths. If the goal is to learn as much as possible about K2, this is a good starting place. Outdoor enthusiasts and adventure seekers will be pleased, as this film is clearly aimed towards those who can relate to these methodical adrenaline junkies.

There are many methods of scaling a mountain, Ryan tells us. Some (such as a group of Korean climbers) move in large teams, while some move only in pairs. Many rely on oxygen and a Sherpa, while others use neither. What they all have in common is that they are extremely experienced climbers, contradictory to some early news reports on the underlying tragedy.

Ryan uses documentary footage to show the camaraderie between nations at base camp, the competition between hopeful climbers trying to ascend, and the ultimate moral problem that faces climbers: whether to save yourself or try to save an endangered climber. We are told that an unspoken climber’s code is that you save yourself, and you cut your rope if you are endangering your fellow climbers. Just as climbing methods differ between nations, the approach to this moral question differs, showing some to be unapologetic in saving themselves at all costs, as well as those who will wait around, at great risk, to save a friend. Through this lens, the film gives a very three-dimensional look at a great deal of climbers.

Real footage from the event blends seamlessly with the occasional reenactment, to set the record straight on an event that became a real-life Rashomon. Multiple conflicting stories from the survivors saturate the media for months. This, of course, begs the audience to question the authenticity of The Summit’s account. If it was so chaotic up there, how is the film’s chosen account any different? However, this aspect of the story isn’t brought out until very late in the film, and it feels rushed. In fact, pacing is the film’s greatest weakness. Much like a climber looking to tackle the K2, this film has the most difficulty on the way down.

While trying to balance interviews with survivors, documentary footage, and footage from a much earlier climb by the first group to conquer K2, The Summit loses steam fast. As soon as you feel yourself becoming invested in a story, before the payoff, the film shifts gears. It does this repeatedly, and while it can be a good technique, the documentary fails to build enough sympathy for the characters to achieve the intended goal. It jumps around far too much, as the audience waits for everything to connect in a way that justifies the film’s tangential wanderings.

As The Summit pays homage to each fallen climber in a still frame of their picture, birth date, and death date, after each death occurs on screen, it seem like more of a memorial service than a film. The entire thing felt like its intended audience was the bereaved. On this very particular level, it was a success, but it doesn’t offer very much for your average film goer. Here it breaks from Kevin Macdonald’s excellent Touching the Void, which managed to maintain a fantastic sense of tension and character investment. Some of The Summit’s most heavy-hitting moments, such as a grieving widow breaking down in tears, recounting the death of her husband, come well after the film has lost all momentum, completely obliterating the potential of such a scene.

It seems insensitive to trash this film because it was not “entertaining” enough, as it is thoroughly devoted to the facts of a relatively recent tragedy. But when a story such as this doesn’t make you grieve for innocent lives lost, it is a failure. It is a problem of severed impact, something that was apparently lost on the editing room floor.

The footage is there, it just needs coherence, which proper editing could provide. An argument can be made, that the editing style was supposed to make the audience feel the confusion of the climbers, but a documentary needs to document clearly and The Summit does not. Climbing fanatics and family members of lost hikers will probably enjoy this film regardless of its faults, since it is packed with detail, but the rest of us will be left cold.

C-

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Out in Theaters: PARKLAND

“Parkland”
Directed by Peter Landesman
Starring Zac Efron, Paul Giamatti, Jackie Weaver, Marcia Gay Harden, James Badge Dale, Colin Hanks, Mark Duplass, Ron Livingstone, Billy Bob Thornton, Jeremy Strong
Drama
93 Mins
PG-13

Everything that holds Parkland back is cemented right into its very foundation due to the fact that it’s a story with an airplane hanger’s breadth of anecdotal perspective. Following the journey of no less than six central characters during the days of and following JFK’s assassination, this mostly true biopic is so frequently shifting gears that it never manages to achieve a degree of focus or narrative intent. Leapfrogging from story to story, the focal point is so consistently fleeting that we never feel tethered to a single narrative. Instead, we’re lost in a jumble of self-importance and historical whodunnits with actual characters cast to the side. In attempting to capture everything about a historic day, director/screenwriter Peter Landesman has captured almost nothing.

Partially based on Vincent Bugliosi‘s novel Four Days In November, Parkland is exactly the type of historical drama that allows the importance of a true-life event to supersede the actual narrative within the film. Characters are painted in broad strokes, making their varied reaction to the assassination feel plastic, like action figures trying to sing, dance, and cry. Every story beat is so uptight and self-aggrandizing that it’s impossible to sort this mish-mash of events into whatever framework the film is supposed to achieve.

Even worse, Parkland is tin-eared to the very message it sings. This singular event was of such substantial importance that it affected each and every American person, Landesman’s film says. So why does the film itself feel so very unimportant?

By focusing on those outside the innermost circle of JFK’s life, the “facts” onscreen seem like a history lesson in the benign. One of the accounts on its own could have made for an interesting singular narrative but in trying to sardine-can the whole collection into one over-arching narrative, the whole dish ends up smelling fishy and is destined for the garbage bin.

Had Landesman pitched the idea of a miniseries to HBO, this may have been an effective study into the various avenues by which JFK’s demise affected US citizens but as it is, it’s so tightly crammed that none of the components have any room to breathe. The result is narrative asphyxiation.

Almost more noticeable than the tightly crammed tidbits of story is the slacking drive behind the project. There is nothing packed in here with a need to burst into the public arena – no missing bit of knowledge destined to be known by all. Rather, any sense of urgency is left stewing on the back burner. If anything, you could say that the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination is the impetus behind the film but that is slim inspiration. With lack of purpose comes lack of power, as is the case with Parkland, a film without purpose and power.

Even the lackluster casting by Lindsay Graham and Mary Vernieu is off-kilter. The performers filling up these various character sketches are an incoherent grab-bag of talent. Spanning from ex-Disney king Zac Efron to Oscar nominees Paul Giamatti and Jacki Weaver to 24‘s James Badge Dale, there is no consistency of artistic capacity. Sure, Efron works with what he has and is hardly the problem in a film filled with so many issues but his presence alongside heavy-hitters like Giamatti and Weaver simply serves to confuse the audience. I wonder, what is the intention behind this bit of casting and/or was there any at all?

Further down this line of questioning: who is this film for at all? It’s very clear it’s not intended for a young audience – with the constant lack of excitement helpless to capture the short-lived attention span of the youth – and yet it’s not quite for an older audience either. Again, it just seems like a case where Landesman has no idea what he’s doing.

Landesman’s overly cautious approach to the inherently sensitive material just ends up giving everything a vanilla coating that is almost more offensive than a mishandling. While he tries his damnedest to honor the legacy of JFK in every way possible, everything is so sterilized that it might as well be a Hallmark special. Like those “films,” it’s all very slight, very mild, and mostly tasteless. A mere forty minutes into the film, I thought everything was just about over. Checking my phone (which is something I never, ever do), I realized that it wasn’t even halfway through yet. For a film a smidgen over an hour and a half, this felt like a three-hour docudrama, a testament to the short-lived staying power of this borefest of a history lesson.

And while there is nothing staggeringly bad about it, it’s just that there is so little good about it. Sure, some audience members may experience a sharply visceral reaction, depending on their personal association with said events, but none of that response comes ingrained within the fibers of the film itself. It all basically amounts to a variety of people crying over the President dying. If you cried back in 1963, I’m sure this will affect you now. Otherwise, you probably won’t feel much at all. And while no one here is arguing that the event at the center of the film are not important pieces of American history, that fact hardly legitimizes the existence of this particular film.

Often told with the wandering panache of a drunkard on Funny or Die’s Drunk History, Parkland has neither foresight into what makes a film interesting nor any captivating power over its audience. Where Drunk History mocks, Parkland tries to educate in the same capacity. Calling it exhaustively ineffective is perhaps the easiest way to sum up the misfire at hand. Try though he may have, Landesman has assassinated his own movie with a magical bullet, a bullet dosed with an extremely effective audience-tranquilizer.

D

 

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First Trailer for JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT

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Hot on the heels of yesterday’s release of the first poster poster for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Paramount has issued the first trailer for the newest iteration of the weathered character. With Tom Clancy passing away yesterday, it certainly seems like Paramount has found a golden spot to market their film, however sketchy that may be.

As I noted yesterday, the Jack Ryan character has already been performed by Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck and, most famously, Harrison Ford. Chris Pine (Star Trek) is the latest to step into the Jack Ryan shoes. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b4Azjn9lfI

Directed by Kenneth Branagh (who also plays the villain in the film), Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit will also feature Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, and David Paymer. For now, the film is slated for a Christmas release but, considering the many turning tides of films lately, it’s been rumored to be moving back into January territory. The fact that we’ve yet to see a trailer lends credence to that rumor.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is directed by Kenneth Branagh and stars Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, and David Paymer. It’s currently set up for a Christmas, 2013 release.

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Out in Theaters: GRAVITY

“Gravity”
Directed by
Alfonso Cuarón
Starring Sandra Bullock
, George Clooney, Ed Harris
Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
90 Mins
PG-13

The true star of Gravity is not Sandra Bullock but director Alfonso Cuarón and his crew of special effects wizards. Starting off with a bang, Cuarón opens with a mind-blowing 13-minutes long uncut shot. The dance of Cuarón’s camera quickly establishes the level of head-scratching wonder that will go on to define the film. Floating from on high into tight zooms before zipping into wide pans with a solitary shot, Cuarón’s camera is one of mystifying eloquence, a whodunnit of CGI effects. His uninterrupted camera work displays an immeasurable degree of invisible precision, whether it’s drifting amongst the black canvas of space or capturing cacophonous yet silent explosions. For the miles-from-simple technological feats he has achieved here alone, Cuarón proves he is an undeniable modern master of cinema.

But that fact, in and of itself, doesn’t mean that Gravity is not without its missteps. At times, the script from Cuarón, and son Jonás feels clunky and a bit unnatural. How much this stems from English not being the Cuaróns’ native language is debatable but it at times serves to take us out of the moment, a tragic reminder that this is indeed still a film with people reading their lines. Thankfully, the film is predominantly a silent one and these tell-all bits of dialogue serve more as a relic to the disaster movies of the golden age than lofty, award-seeking self-indulgences. From that limited prowess within the script comes simplicity of storytelling that both elevates Gravity and holds it back from being truly wonderful.


The plot is simple and yet grand. On a routine procedure to install new hardware in the Hubble telescope, Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) and seasoned astro-pilot Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are informed that a Russian missile designed to take out a defunct Cold War-era satellite has triggered a domino effect of hazardous space debris racing towards their vessel. Not only does this mean that everyone on Earth is losing their Wi-Fi at an alarming rate but the Explorer ship on which they arrived soon loses communications with NASA’s Houston. In moments, their ride, along with the lives of its other three crew members (who we never meet), is destroyed and Stone and Kowalski are left stranded in the inhospitality of space.

The disaster movie that follows is somewhat standard in procedure, with the hero constantly getting snagged in one ill-fated coincidence after another. At least in this case, the events surrounding the space rubble accident legitimize much of the unhappy accidents occurring left and right. Coms going down and broken mechanical pieces actually make sense in the context of thousands of shards of satellite debris orbiting like razor blades, faster than speeding bullets.

From the very opening moment of the film to the final slow pan, Cuarón has us hooked. Caught up in an onslaught of cringing tension, the audience is captive to his cinematic ride and, in many ways, it is the tired cliché used to describe lesser action films. This is the definitive movie equivalent of a roller coaster. The immersive set pieces, dexterous camera work, and a foreboding sense of disorientation prevail, making this a film that requires the biggest screen possible and actually legitimizes the 3D surcharge and the trip to the IMAX theater.

But having all the elements of larger-than-life grandeur allows Cuarón to step back at moments and let a sense of claustrophobic isolation slide in and take hold. Ironically enough, this current of claustrophobia is widely prevalent throughout the film. Considering  we’re caught in the endlessness space, it seems counter-intuitive to experience such a weighty feeling of constriction but there’s something about the tight spaces, the constantly dwindling air supply, and the hard-pressed confines of a space suit that make every moment feel trapped, like a snake worming out of its own skin. A moment of silent serenity, reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick‘s 2001, in which Bullock strips off her suit in zero gravity and hovers like a peaceful fetus, suggests more than just a nod to Kubrick. It takes aim at something deep without our psyche, supplanting the rapture of humanity’s natural state. “Is there anything more unnatural than being in space?” Cuarón asks. His fear realized, space stands in stark contrast to the human womb; it’s the anti-life.

As far as its chances go for this year’s Oscars, I count no less than seven Academy Award nominations for Gravity. First and foremost, the award for Best Visual Effects is in the bag. There’s no need to even compete at this point, as an upset in this category is about as impossible as living in space without a spacesuit. It will most certainly be nominated for both Sound categories, Mixing and Editing, and stands a good chance to take home either or both. Cuarón is also highly likely to have his name amongst the Best Directors and for great reason, what he has done here may not quite be an emotional powerhouse but its the movie magic that the Academy, critics, and movie fans love.

Bullock is sure to get a Best Actress nomination, even though it is most likely the least deserving of the bunch and she doesn’t stand much of a chance at actually winning. Best Picture is, again, surely a lock but an unlikely victory. Cinematography from Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men) is another likely nomination as the film is spectacularly lit even amongst such a bulk of CGI. Going even deeper, Best Score and Film Editing both hover in the cross hairs and could easily sneak in, especially if one of the above is omitted. 

Gravity is pure entertainment done right and it’s achieved with transcendent technical mastery. Seamlessly blending nail-biting moments of suspense with quiet character moments in the vacuum of space, Cuarón has achieved a rare technical feat that sometimes overwhelms its lingering emotional subplot. But more than anything, it is a staggering success and one that will be appreciated by all. Cuarón has definitely chartered a new course here, setting the effects bar higher still than films like Inception or Avatar. Gravity is simply a game changer.

A-

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AMERICAN HUSTLE's Stacked Cast Gets Character Posters

Anyone invested in this year’s Oscar season already has their eye on David O. Russell‘s American Hustle. Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jeremy Renner, American Hustle tells the somewhat true story of ABSCAM and is poised to be an Oscar frontrunner. While it’s chances at nabbing the biggest slice of the pie are largely unknown (since no one has actually seen it yet), O. Russell’s track record with getting his actors nominated are inimitably high.

For his last film, Silver Linings Playbook, he earned nominations for Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, and Jennifer Lawrence – with Lawrence taking the win. His film prior to that, The Fighter, got four nominations. That pack included Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Mellisa Leo – with Leo and Bale both taking home gold.

Considering his gilded track record and the caliber of talent on this project, it’s safe to say that we can expect a high number of Oscar-qualifying performances from American Hustle.

For now, take a look at these character posters and let me know who you think is most likely to get nominated out of these five. Personally, I give the edge to Bale and Adams because both seem to have juicy character roles, but all five are potential contenders.

 

 

 

 

American Hustle is directed by David O. Russell and stars Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Robert De Niro, Michael Peña, Louis C.K. and Amy Adams. It opens in limited theaters on December 13 and opens wide on December 25.

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Trailer for Judi Dench's Oscar Contender PHILOMENA

http://www.flicksandbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/PHILOMENA_UK_POSTER_STEVE_COOGAN_JUDI_DENCH_QUAD.jpg

Another one of the many film to come out of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews is Stephen Frears’ (The Queen, High Fidelity) Philomena. In Philomena, “a world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman’s search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.”

Judi Dench stars as the titular Philomena Lee searching for long lost son Martin Sixsmith, played by Steve Coogan (who also helped write the story). Lots has been said about Dench’s performance, making it an almost guaranteed Oscar lock and putting her in strong contention with current frontrunner Cate Blanchett. While the film itself isn’t too likely to grab any of the big Oscar categories, it has a chance in the screenplay department and Dench is all but a guarantee.

Take a look and see if this small British drama is the one for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvIytgxq8QI

Philomena is directed by Stephen Frier and stars Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Michelle Fairley, Mare Winningham, Simone Lahbib, and Charles Edwards. It hits theaters in limited release on January 10, 2014.

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Jared Leto Looks Like an Oscar Winner in New DALLAS BUYERS CLUB Picture

 

All signs at this point are pointing to Jared Leto (Requiem for a Dream) for year’s Best Supporting Actor. Playing Rayon, a real-life transvestite with AIDS, Leto has undergone a serious physical transformation. Having shed 40 plus pounds (he reportedly stopped counting after forty) for the role, Leto has done very little in his acting career for the past ten years, with his last role four years ago.

After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews, much of the love for Dallas Buyers Club was targeted at Leto and his heartbreaking performance. While early prognosticators had Matthew McConaughey secured as a serious contender, many overlooked Leto… until they saw him on screen.

Personally, I’m keeping Leto at my top spot in an otherwise lacking field. Competition is sure to ramp up in the coming Oscar-y months but, for now, that Oscar pretty much belongs to Leto.

Dallas Buyers Club is directed Jean-Marc Vallée and stars Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Gardner, Steve Zahn, and Kevin Rankin. It hits theaters November 1, 2013.

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JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT Poster Comes As Tom Clancy Goes

 

 

If you haven’t yet heard, Tom Clancy, best-selling American espionage author, has passed away at the age of 66. While I wouldn’t call myself a “huge Clancy fan,” I’ve read a few of his novels (“Rainbow Six” was my favorite) and took a stab at a couple of the many, many games that he’s lent his name to. His most famous character though, Jack Ryan, lives on.

Having already been depicted on screen by Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck and, most famously, Harrison Ford, Chris Pine is now stepping into the role to hopefully launch a new franchise. Following in the footsteps of Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games, The Hunt for Red October, and The Sum of All Fears, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit will take the ex-marine back to his roots, wrapping him up with a Russian terrorist plot.

The fact that this poster is being released directly on the heels of Clancy’s passing is a little unsettling and, at least, suggests that perhaps the studio is trying to capitalize on his death. Hopefully the intent is not so nefarious, as a man as influential as Clancy deserves more respect than that. 

 

Directed by Kenneth Branagh (who also plays the villain in the film), Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit will also feature Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, and David Paymer. For now, the film is slated for a Christmas release but, considering the many turning tides of films lately, it’s been rumored to be moving back into January territory. The fact that we’ve yet to see a trailer lends credence to that rumor.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is directed by Kenneth Branagh and stars Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, and David Paymer. It’s currently set up for a Christmas, 2013 release.

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