Say what you will
about Hollywood's supposed lack of originality or “vision,” they
sure know how to hit multiple marks when they need to. This week's
releases are all over the map to the point where seemingly anyone
with any interest can find something to latch onto. There's a sci-fi
heart wrencher, a “who'd'a thunk it” sequel to a prim and proper
old person (literally) movie, and a vulgar comedy from the crown
prince of talking really, really fast.
Chappie
Director: Neill
Blomkamp
Writers: Neill
Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Starring: Sharlto
Copley, Dev Patel, Ninja, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver
In a play on E.T.
and The Iron Giant, Neill Blomkamp (the Oscar-nominated
District 9, the not-Oscar-nominated Elysium) crafts
a sci-fi action flick with heart, about a scientist (Patel) who
creates an artificially intelligent robot named Chappie (Copley, also
of Blomkamp's previous two features). The government, in the form of
Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman's eighties hockey player hair,
doesn't want Chappie around because of “the end of the human race”
and “the machines taking over” and “singularity,” blah, blah,
blah. But Chappie just wants to learn, folks, and watch He-Man
cartoons, and, and, talk with a really irritating speech pattern!
It's stuff like Copley's precious performance – admittedly only seen in the trailers, so grains of salt apply – that make this a possible disaster. Blomkamp went from our newest genre auteur, with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson comparisons tossed around liberally during the 2009 Oscar season, to a guy who (badly) needs a return to form after the poorly received – I haven't seen it, so I'm merely reporting the cultural narrative as I find it – Elysium a couple years later. On-the-nose social commentary seems to be his thing, so he needs to find ways to make the medicine go down, and his little robot buddy movie might just do the trick.
It's stuff like Copley's precious performance – admittedly only seen in the trailers, so grains of salt apply – that make this a possible disaster. Blomkamp went from our newest genre auteur, with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson comparisons tossed around liberally during the 2009 Oscar season, to a guy who (badly) needs a return to form after the poorly received – I haven't seen it, so I'm merely reporting the cultural narrative as I find it – Elysium a couple years later. On-the-nose social commentary seems to be his thing, so he needs to find ways to make the medicine go down, and his little robot buddy movie might just do the trick.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold
Hotel
Director: John
Madden
Writer: Ol Parker
Starring: Dev
Patel, Maggie Smith, David Strathairn, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy,
Richard Gere
This is one of the
unlikelier franchises in recent years, about a hotel full of people
who are close to death. LOLs abound! In this meta sequel, the old
people and their young, must-be-completely-overworked caretaker,
played by Patel – what a busy weekend for him – open a chain of
hotels in the vein of the one from the first movie. This time,
though, sexy gray hair Richard Gere is along for the ride, probably
full of stories about taking hookers from rags to riches. It looks
like a light crowd pleaser, which is what we need after the dreary
post-holidays months.
Unfinished Business
Director: Ken Scott
Writer: Steve
Conrad
Starring: Vince
Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco
This one might
actually be the likeliest culprit for a return to form of the
weekend. Vince Vaughn has been in the wilderness a little bit since
the Wedding Crashers heyday, with plenty of poorly received
comedies with touches of drama or simply comedies that were not
funny. His response? Let his blackhearted freak flag fly in a ribald
road trip comedy with one of our greatest living character actors –
seriously, Wilkinson is coming off playing President Lyndon Johnson
in Selma, and now here he is describing heinous sex acts and
ingesting copious amounts of drugs – and James Franco's goofier
(and funnier) younger brother Dave.
Their startup (it doesn't matter what they sell or service they provide) is in competition for a client with Vaughn's former employers, so they make it a contest to see who can make the client have the most raucous fun. There are no hidden agendas about how Vaughn wants to, say, take care of all of his sperm donated kids or anything, just pure gonzo comedy. That's cause for celebration 'round these parts.
Their startup (it doesn't matter what they sell or service they provide) is in competition for a client with Vaughn's former employers, so they make it a contest to see who can make the client have the most raucous fun. There are no hidden agendas about how Vaughn wants to, say, take care of all of his sperm donated kids or anything, just pure gonzo comedy. That's cause for celebration 'round these parts.
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