Inarritu’s ‘The Revenant’ with Leonardo DiCaprio

We’ve got the first images from the set of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s next film, The Revenant. The main star in this new movie will be the terrific Leonardo DiCaprio. Could this finally be his chance to snag a Best Actor trophy? It would be about time. Inarritu is well known for his movies snagging lots of nominations. His movies, Amores Perros, Babel, Biutiful, and Birdman were all nominated for either Best Foreign Film or Best Picture in their respective years. And the one movie that didn’t get nominated, 21 Grams, netted plenty of acting nominations. This is great news for the supporting roles too, filled by Tom Hardy and Domhnall Gleeson. His first three films came out three years apart and his next two came out four years apart. So it is a very welcome change to see his next film only a year after Birdman. Birdman was one of the most innovative and bold films of the year, probably only second to Boyhood. Inarritu has been pushing the boundaries for 15 years now and his films are always events to clear your calendar for. The Revenant is a western thriller that takes place in the 1820s world where a fur trapper is attacked and left for dead, only to survive and go back looking for those who had forsaken him.

The movie won’t have any such bold single takes that last over many scenes, but cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (who lensed Birdman) is back to collaborate again. The film will be shot with only natural light and entirely in remote locations, giving them few hours a day. He’s almost more of a reason to show up than DiCaprio and Inarritu. All of his work is perfection. The Birdcage, Meet Joe Black, Sleepy Hollow, Ali, Y tu Mama Tambien, The New World, Children of Men, Burn After Reading, The Tree of Life, To the Wonder, and Gravity are all very different films, but all incredibly visually interesting. In 2015 he has not only The Revenant coming out, but also Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups (who’s trailer I featured on the blog) and Rodrigo Garcia’s Last Days in the Desert where Ewan McGregor plays both Jesus and the Devil during his time in the wilderness. All three of these films would have the potential to be the Best Cinematography of the year and they’re all done by one man. The Revenant will be out on December 25th, 2015, in New York and L.A., the rest of us peasants will have to wait for a wide release on January 8th, 2016. A year is too long to wait.

Bond 24 is now SPECTRE

The 24th Bond film now has a title, Spectre. Spectre is the name of a terrorist organization that was headed by Blofeld in earlier Bond films (the bald guy with a cat, the one that Dr. Evil is modeled after in the Austin Powers movies). I think this is a cool one word title much in the same vein as Skyfall.  Also confirmed were previously rumored cast members, Dave Bautista (from Guardians of the Galaxy) as new hitman Hinx and Lea Seydoux as new Bond girl Madeliene Swann.  Freshly revealed now are another Bond girl Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra (how has she not been in a Bond movie before? She’s absolutely perfect for them), Andrew Scott (the big baddie Moriarty from BBC’s excellent Sherlock) as Denbigh, and the biggest get is incomparable Christoph Waltz as a character called Oberhauser. I’m not buying for a second that Waltz is playing anyone but Blofeld. This must just be a cover. And of course Daniel Craig returns as Bond, Ralph Fiennes as M (after Dame Judi Dench’s ultimate sacrifice in Skyfall) and Ben Whishaw as the gadget master Q. Sam Mendes who directed the previous installment returns for this one as well.

Get excited everyone! This hits screens sooner than you might think on November 6th, 2015.

Terminator: Genisys – How to Save a Billion Dollar Franchise

My answer to that question, “How to save a billion dollar franchise” would be a resounding, “Not like this.”

My first question was is Terminator even a billion dollar franchise to begin with? Box Office Mojo quickly put me into my place. The four released Terminator films have grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide since 1984 unadjusted for inflation. Here in the U.S. the series made just $518 million unadjusted for inflation, but since money in 1984 and 1991 isn’t what it is today when inflation is taken into account the take is over $826 million. So yes, it is a billion dollar franchise worldwide.

Next I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the images that were chosen to first show off this film. Apparently it’s really bright in the Terminator world because every is squinting. Squinting very hard. Everything looks so uninspired. I love the Terminator saga. The original The Terminator in 1984 announced James Cameron to the world. He is the most bankable filmmaker there is. And speaking of which I personally cannot wait to see what he has for his Avatar follow ups, the first of which should be in cinemas by December 2016, with another film each Christmastime until 2018 as they would be filming three films back to back to back. The man has a great track record with sequels both with Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. And as good as The Terminator was Terminator 2: Judgment Day upped the ante that much more. It was the first in the great visual effects revolution of the early and mid ’90s.  The stories were exciting and Arnold was a true star.  Then after a long 12 year hiatus came Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Clearly there was a drop in quality but what made the series special was still there and I recall rather enjoying the film despite thinking it was the swan song and was happy that at the very least it reminded people to watch the first two films.  But then in 2009 a fourth film was made, Terminator Salvation. It had an amazing promising cast, Christian Bale, Sam Worthington (of Avatar fame), Anton Yelchin (who put in an admirable effort as Kyle Reese), Moon Bloodgood, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, and Helena Bonham Carter (in a god-awful performance, please stick to Tim Burton films), but the execution was just horrific. This film was one of the worst summer blockbusters in recent memory. The plot was very simplistic but with a convoluted twist that turned the understanding of the series on its ear and not in a good way but undermining it completely. I think the problem of this film was that it was entirely set in the future, 2018, whereas previous films had shuffled into the past in 1984 and the future.

This new film, Terminator: Genisys (yes, that is the spelling) is set in 2029 but also back in familiar 1984. There is no word how much this would connect to the previous films but I wouldn’t be surprised if they gloss over events in the third and fourth entries. Supposedly John Connor (played by Jason Clarke most recently in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which is a series that’s been rebooted very, very well) sends Kyle Reese (his father only he doesn’t know that at the time) played by Jai Courtney (I don’t know who that actor is, supposedly he is in Divergent) back to save Connor’s mother, Sarah Connor (played by the lovely Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones) from assassination by a Terminator. Only to find that a Terminator had come and killed her family when she was 9 and she has been cared for by an older Terminator model, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (maybe this is how they would explain his aging … I don’t know … hopefully they use digital technology to make him look like early 90’s Arnie instead like was used on Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy). If that plot reveal isn’t enough to make you recoil then the look of the characters will. The top image shows Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese looking like cosplay versions of their characters in the original movie. But even worse is John Connor and an unknown character played by Matt Smith (the eleventh version of The Doctor from Doctor Who). I don’t know if they’re supposed to look tough or like they’re about to go trick or treating. And they should also be concerned about the T-800 photobombing them. I would say we should wait for the trailer to give us a real idea of the movie, but the trailer for the 2009 iteration was pretty good and that film was truly abysmal. All that said I’ll be in the seat to watch this on the big screen on July 1, 2015, because despite all this I’m hopeful they get something right. I’m not ready to give up on this series yet. This film is supposed to launch a new trilogy with new entries coming again in 2017 and 2018. Hopefully the films are actually worthwhile, but as of right now there are serious doubts.