Black Nativity (2013) - Lemmons' wholly awful religious musical drama

[ZERO]

+ 2nd Worst Movie of the Year
+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year

The blissful stars shine under an angelic Mary J. Blige on this poster for Kasi Lemmons' Black Nativity

A young man from Baltimore gets sent by his mother to his alienated grandparents in New York, when the two face eviction just before Christmas.

Black Nativity is the 4th feature from Missourian writer-director Kasi Lemmons (The Caveman's Valentine (2001)), based on the same-titled 1961 play by Langston Hughes (The Negro Mother and Other Dramatic Recitations (1931)).
The casting of the young R&B artist Jacob Latimore (The Maze Runner (2014)) as the protagonist is fatal for the generally spectacularly awful Black Nativity. Latimore, although sexy, cannot act, or at least doesn't betray any gifts in the discipline here. If you disregard the periods where he inexplicably breaks out in song, Latimore interchanges between two looks here, which he sport throughout the film: Either the 'innocent-lion-cub' expression, (which is strained greatly by his being a 16 or 17 year-old boy), or the apathetically tired/nearly zombielike, sedated look. No great musical (or acting) star is born here, I regretfully predict.
Black Nativity is an embarrassing and involuntarily funny musical drama. The cringe-worthy scenes sting more when showbiz veterans like Nas (John Q (2002)), Angela Bassett (Notorious (2009)), Mary J. Blige (Rock of Ages (2012)) and Forest Whitaker (American Gun (2005)) appear in them, and Whitaker, who is the most acclaimed actor in the bunch, is particularly awful as the boy's seriously presented but strikingly phony reverend grandfather.
The film's terribleness doesn't end with its lousy performances; often it is also incomprehensible, as when characters sing of things we have not been introduced to and won't be. - Or when Latimore, (also symptomatically for Black Nativity, I might add), falls asleep in church and wakes up with Jesus in Times Square.
Not one second comes out right or naturally in this film; from the overly smiley, clean and healthy-looking homeless lovebirds, who also dance and sing, SPOILER to the grotesquely hammy, ham-fisted ending, which plays out the Nativity scene as a sort of Jerry Springer show (without the violence) in front of puzzled churchgoers. Black Nativity surely didn't aim for it, but it takes bad taste to new heights.

Related posts:

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 17.5 mil. $
Box office: 7.4 mil. $
= Mega-flop
[Black Nativity premiered November 27 (North America) and runs 93 minutes. Shooting took place in New York around January 2013. The film opened #9 with 3.6 mil. $ in North America and only went plummeting down from there, grossing 7 mil. $ (94.6 % of the total gross.) It had a release in Germany and France in the summer of 2014 with undisclosed, definitely low results. Its biggest foreign market was the UK with 245k $ (3.3 %). Lemmons has directed an episode of Shots Fired (2017, TV-series) since the film but has otherwise left filmmaking and acting alone. Black Nativity is rotten at 51 % with a 5.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Black Nativity?

Blind (2014) - Vogt's artistic debut about blindness makes its audience confused and depressed

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Lead Ellen Dorrit Petersen (Thelma (2017)) exhibits her naked backside on the poster for Eskil Vogt's Blind

A blind woman remembers her boyfriend, when he is away from her, and when he is there, she feels far away from him. Another lonely woman misses her son, when he is not with her, and she seeks a new human connection.

Blind is the feature directing debut for writer-director Eskil Vogt (Oslo, August 31st/Oslo, 31. August (2011), co-writer). It is a depressing Norwegian drama, in which characters are lonely, awkward, disloyal SPOILER and, - as if to make matters worse, - the woman with the son also suddenly and inexplicably becomes blind. The introverted male character guides us thoroughly through his masturbation and porn habits. - But what for? Besides it possibly adding a tangent to the general, grey picture of depressing adult life in Norway, which is projected in Blind.
The blindness that the film deals with certainly makes it more uncomfortable, because audiences unavoidably imagine themselves put in the horrific situation of losing one's vision, and the inevitable everyday results of the handicap: The spots that would go unnoticed, the things we would be walking into; the secrets that might evolve due to our defect, and the distance to the surrounding world. Blind cultivates these issues and in doing so leaves the one-sided impression that life with blindness is only sad, lonely and miserable. The artistic strokes of Vogt's film don't save it from being uncompelling and depressing.

Related posts:

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

Vogt gave en interview at the London Film Festival about Blind that you can watch here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown (likely at least a huge flop)
[Blind premiered 17 January (Sundance) and runs 96 minutes. Shooting took place in Oslo, Norway. The film won festival and some critical acclaim but has no box office performances released and is likely to have made very little money and become a huge flop theatrically. This article indicates that it was also a box office disappointment in Norway, where it had sold some 6k tickets after two weeks. The film was nominated for two Sundance awards, winning Vogt a screenwriting prize, nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize, won a distribution prize at Berlin International Film Festival, an AFI Fest nomination and 4 out of 7 nominations at the Norwegian Amanda Awards. Vogt has focused on screenwriting since the film; he has written for countryman Joachim Trier's latest two films, Louder Than Bombs (2015) and Thelma (2017). Blind is fresh at 94 % with a 7.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Blind?

The Bourne Legacy (2012) or, Bourne 4: Hokum

♥

A dynamically designed poster for Tony Gilroy's The Bourne Legacy

A governmentally employed assassin, who had previously been much used by a cynical retired Air Force colonel, now gets hunted by him, as he gets in connection with a skilled chemical engineer.

Edward Norton (The Invention of Lying (2009)) is a dreary heavy as the commanding, tight-assed colonel, but also the more sympathetic parts played by Jeremy Renner (Ingenious (2009)), - who at one point in the film is battered something awful, - and Rachel Weisz (Death Machine (1994)) can't alter the fact that this the 4th film in the Bourne franchise, - for the first time without Matt Damon as the now absent Jason Bourne, - is cryptic bordering on incomprehensible.
Without any introduction to the film's new elements, such as color-coded 'chems', parts of its dialog come across as advanced theatrical exercises. This is fatal, and it makes The Bourne Legacy seem incredibly long. The impressive cast here are gathered for what is essentially an audience-hostile fart in a can. 
The Bourne Legacy is written by twins Dan Gilroy (The Fall (2006)) and co-writer-director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton (2007)), based loosely on the Bourne book series by Robert Ludlum (The Chancellor Manuscript (1977)). It has two successful suspense scenes in it: One is a shooting scene that takes place in a laboratory with a mad Zeljko Ivanek (The West Wing (2003), TV-series), and the other is a high-speed car-motorcycle chase in Manila.

Related posts:

Tony Gilroy: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) or, Ginny's Fate: A Star Wars Calculation (co-writer)
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 125 mil. $
Box office: 276.1 mil. $
= Flop
[The Bourne Legacy premiered 30 July (New York) and runs 135 minutes. Matt Damon would not do a Bourne film without Paul Greengrass, who directed the 2nd and 3rd film and decided against doing the 4th. Tony Gilroy had written scripts for the first 3 films and was promoted to also direct the film, which takes place partially during the events of the preceding The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Shooting took place in the Philippines, including in Manila, in Seoul, South Korea, Alberta, Canada, New York and Chicago, Illinois from September 2011 - ?. The film opened #1 to a 38.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 3 weeks (#2-#2-#4) and grossed 113.2 mil. $ (41 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 17.4 mil. $ (6.3 %) and China with 16 mil. $ (5.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, equal to two notches better than this review. Greengrass and Damon were lured back for a 5th Bourne movie, Jason Bourne (2016), which did not feature Renner and was a box office success. Tony Gilroy has stayed away from directing since the film; instead he has returned as producer of the great Nightcrawler (2014), consulting producer on House of Cards (2015-16) and co-writer of The Great Wall (2016) and Rogue One (2016). The Bourne Legacy is rotten at 56 % with a 5.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Bourne Legacy?

Before I Go to Sleep (2014) - No one wins with Joffe's lacklustre amnesia thriller

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The film's three stars cut through by vertical lines on the simple poster for Rowan Joffe's Before I Go to Sleep

Our protagonist is a middle-aged woman, whose amnesia dictates that she every night forgets the day that went before. - But why does she suffer from this condition, and is she really living with her husband?

A suspenseful trailer doesn't naturally make for a good film, as Before I Go to Sleep proves.
Nicole Kidman's (Dogville (2003)) intense, uneasy eyes tell us for much of the film that something isn't right and, in fact, is wrong in a dangerous way. But the characters are too thinly sketched, and the plot too basic to make us react with much more than slightly diverted yawns.
No one distinguishes themselves well or unwell here, and the production seems thin, a little cheep and without too many chords to play on.
Before I Go to Sleep is written and directed by Rowan Joffe (Brighton Rock (2010)), based on the same-titled 2011 bestseller by S.J. Watson (Second Life (2015)). It is hard to get involved in and easily forgotten.

Related posts:

Rowan Joffe: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
The American (2010) - Corbijn and Clooney's paper-thin, boring, pretentious hitman outing (screenplay) 
28 Weeks Later (2007) or, Fast Zombies in England 2 (co-writer)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 22 mil. $
Box office: 17.6 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Before I Go to Sleep premiered 4 September (New Zealand) and runs 92 minutes. Ridley Scott bought the film rights for Watson's novel and hired Joffe for adapting and directing the film. Shooting took place in England, including London, from February 2013 - ?. The film opened #15 to a weak 1.8 mil. $ first weekend in 1,902 cinemas in North America, where it only played 2 more weeks and grossed a measly 3.2 mil. $ (18.2 % of the total gross). The biggest market was the UK with 5.3 mil. $ (30.1 %). North America was the 2nd biggest market, and the 3rd biggest was Russia with 1.3 mil. $ (7.4 %). Joffe returned with executive producing, writing for and directing an episode of Tin Star (2017, TV-series), and is set to write Disney's The Graveyard Book. Before I Go to Sleep is rotten at 36 % with a 5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Before I Go to Sleep?

Boardwalk Empire - season 2 (2011) - Winter's gritty show reaches towering heights

♥♥♥♥♥♥

2 Time Film Excess Award Winner:

Best Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon 
Best Production Design: Bill Groom, Charley Beal, Adam Scher, Carol Silverman

7 Time Film Excess Nominee:

Best Actor: Steve Buscemi (lost to Jack Black for Bernie)
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Pitt (lost to Michael Shannon for Boardwalk Empire S2)
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon (won)
Best Supporting Actress: Kelly Macdonald (lost to Agnieszka Grochowska for In Darkness)
Best Costumes: John Dunn, Lisa Padovani (lost to Mildred Pierce)
Best Make-up and Hair: Mary Aaron, Christine Cantrell and others (lost to J. Edgar) 
Best Production Design: Bill Groom, Charley Beal, Adam Scher, Carol Silverman (won)

+ Best Adaptation of the Year 
+ Best Gangster Movie/TV-series of the Year

Several of the major characters are lumped together, all eying each other with caution on the Atlantic City boardwalk on this poster for the second season of TerenceWinter's Boardwalk Empire

The following episode summary will contain SPOILERS:

1. February 1921: Atlantic County's corrupt treasurer Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson's young protege Jimmy Darmody finds himself at a crossroad, as his father, the Commodore, the gambling and resort town's former leader, and Nucky's brother, the town's sheriff Eli Thompson are scheming to remove Nucky from power, which Jimmy could gain tremendously from. Prohibition agent Van Alden, who is targeting Nucky, enjoys a visit from his wife through 13 years, whom he impresses with a liquor raid on a restaurant. Nucky's stepson with his mistress Margaret Schroeder plays with matches at his school and is bribed to behave, before Nucky is arrested for election fraud. Nucky's liquor-making partner in the city, African-American Chalky White, has his headquarter violently attacked by the Ku Klux Klan.
2. White is for a short while imprisoned with Enoch before he is put in with fellow Negroes: One among them, who doesn't know White, makes the mistake of insulting him in a cool scene. Nucky is bailed out and learns of his brother's betrayal, as his wise, beautiful wife saves evidence and money from their suite, which is being ransacked. He donates some to the Irish nationalist cause. Jimmy is visiting New York, which goes awry: The metropolis' mob boss Philip Rothman doesn't believe his stories from Atlantic City, and he is assaulted by goons, whom he dexterously offs.
3. Margaret learns of her estranged relatives and diverts with her servants. Meanwhile problems go on for Nucky. New York wiseguys Lucky Luciano and his partner are forced by Rothstein to pay for a killing by Jimmy, when he was in the city. Back in Atlantic City, Jimmy is visited by his old pal Al Capone and is once again torn between his loyalties to Nucky and his ailing father. Nucky's former mistress Lucy is pregnant and miserable, and following an affair with Van Alden, she is locked inside by him.
4. The Commodore is indirectly disabled by Jimmy's mother Gillian, who later beats him up for his having raped her in the past. Jimmy's artist wife portrays Richard, the sad, one-eyed WWI veteran, Richard, who is their tormented friend. Jimmy strikes an important deal with Jewish butcher Manny, while Nucky makes a liquor distribution deal with Arnold Rothstein of New York. Margaret and Van Alden struggle with their respective marriages, and Chalky White is released back into the black community, who look up to him. But he is unable to give them the revenge that they seek and instead causes a scandal in his own home.
5. Jimmy gives an address at Memorial Day, introduced by Nucky, as knowledge of the Commodore's fatal disability spreads. Eli attempts to win back his brother's favor - but too late: They end up in a serious fight, which Margaret ends with a riffle. Eli goes on to murder a curious financier with a wrench in this bloody episode. Richard goes to the woods to commit suicide but meets people there, and instead returns to help Jimmy get rid of a proud, old war profiteer in brutal, Indian style.
6. Margaret's son goes to his first confession, and Margaret herself confesses that she is attracted to Nucky's IRA-volunteer muscle Owen Sleater. Jimmy and Manny's criminal ties strengthen, and Lucy gives birth alone and in pain. Van Alden is upset after having seen his badly burned colleague, who seems to have understood Van Alden's own corruption, and in a lapse of character calls his wife, who arrives to find Lucy and her baby in her husband's apartment.
7. Margaret visits her brother, his daughters, and her little sister in New York, but it is a sad reunion. Sleater kills an old enemy and makes love to the returning lady of the house, Margaret. Van Alden cannot live up to his monetary promise to Lucy and receives an offer from Nucky, his sworn enemy, but instead sees the newly appointed federal investigator with his proofs. Meanwhile the atmosphere in Darmody's camp is boiling, as Luciano screws his mother, and he authorizes an attempt at Nucky's life but then regrets. It results only in a shot through Nucky's hand.
8. Pressed from all sides following the attempt on his life, Nucky has a new idea, which involves Ireland. He and Eli's father dies, and they quarrel bitterly at his deathbed. Nuck resigns as treasurer to keep his life, and Jimmy celebrates his seeming success - but with more than a drop of vinegar to it. His wife indulges in an affair with a female writer after having heard some truths about Darmody's work. Van Alden hires a Norwegian woman to care for Lucy's baby.
9. Margaret's daughter with her deceased husband takes ill with polio, as Nucky has left for Ireland in a bold move, smuggling Tommy guns in his "father's" coffin to the IRA. He meets resistance from Father MacGarrigle, who wants to "give peace a chance", - but his own kill him and make the deal: guns for whiskey. Jimmy wants to cover up his failed assassination and decides to off Manny, but it is easier said than done. Legendary boxing match 'Battle of the Century' (Jack Dempsey v. Georges Carpentier) takes place.
10. Margaret is in a turmoil due to her daughter's illness; filled with guilt due to her own infidelity, she donates a fortune to the Catholic church. Darmody's charge of Atlantic City comes to look toothless, as the town's blacks - on Nucky's request - start a riot that has violence breaking out in public. Sheriff Eli is jailed, and Manny returns to AC and takes revenge for Darmody's failed attempt on his life by shooting both his wife and her mistress.
11. Following the tragic double murder, Darmody's past at Princeton University is revealed, where his intense mother disrupted his studies and - horrifically - screwed him, - which made him enlist in the military. Margaret is beside herself, sees sin everywhere and refuses to face the possible outcome of Nucky's legal case, which sees him frying in the electric chair. Instead she threatens him with turning witness herself, - keeping her own untruthfulness a secret, - and is set straight. The case takes a new turn as Van Alden, after having signed his divorce, is accused of the murder of his colleague, which took place in season 1, shoots a new colleague and escapes! Darmody returns with a vengeance, throwing himself furiously at his mother but ending up instead killing his father. Gasp.
12. Darmody gives up running the perilous city on his own and comes back to Nucky, - against everyone's advice. He is put to work just before Nucky's case may end him for good, spoiling a key testimony with a 'suicide' in a phenomenal montage, as Margaret helps Nucky by marrying him, which means she cannot be forced to testify against him. Nucky even arranges a 1½ year sentence for his brother, who is drinking himself to an early grave, and the Assistant US Attorney Esther Randolph, who is assigned to the electoral fraud and murder case is left with nothing. Nucky finds Manny and promises Jimmy revenge on a rainy, thunderous night, - but it turns out to be a trap, and Nucky shoots him as an unforgiving, Old-Testament God. Wrapping up the season, Nucky celebrates newly allocated funds for a new road to the city, as Margaret, unbeknownst to him, donates all the land away to her church.

Creator Terence Winter's (Vinyl (2016), TV-series) Boardwalk Empire, based on Nelson Johnson's book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City, goes on black as tar in its second season, which is even better and grander storytelling than the first one.
The series gains from several great characters and formidable performances: Steve Buscemi (The Chosen One (2010)) is still terrific in the role of a lifetime as Nucky Thompson, a character whose political turncoat ways are showcased in all their splendor in the very first episode, as he gives radically different speeches to his city's blacks and clansmen.
Kelly Macdonald (Anna Karenina (2012)) portrayal of her character's ups and downs, and especially the frightening predicament of her daughter, is outstanding. Michael Pitt's (The Dreamers (2003)) Jimmy Darmody is an anchor for the season, and his dramatic development, torn between different flawed role-models, has many highlights, and Pitt's performance is incredibly well-played.
But the most fascinating and complex character in the second season is prohibition agent Nelson Van Alden, whom Michael Shannon (My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009)) inhabits with intense sparkle. The series also has a long row of compelling smaller characters, and among those who deserve singling out are Michael Kenneth Williams (When We Rise (2017), TV-series) who is moving as Chalky White, Charlie Cox (Hello Carter (2013)) as Owen Sleater, Jack Huston (Hail, Caesar! (2016)) as disfigured war veteran Richard, Gretchen Mol (The Deli (1997)) as Jimmy's mother Gillian, Julianne Nicholson (Masters of Sex (2013-14)) as the Assistant DA and William Forsythe (Infected (2013)) as the statuesque butcher Manny.
Season two has several outstanding episodes and only one that feels a little stalling and lesser (episode 10: Georgia Peaches). It is brilliant craftsmanship and storytelling of the finest grain, and it finishes off with an ingenious cliffhanger.

Best episodes:

3: A Dangerous Maid: written by Winter and Itamar Moses (Men of a Certain Age (2010-11)) with staff writer Bathsheba Doran (Bruiser (2000), TV-series), directed by Susanna White (Masters of Sex (2015), TV-series)
Nucky's Irish muscle Owen steps to the plate. Van Alden is hiding his pregnant mistress. Jimmy's loyalties are torn. With a magnificent dinner scene.

9. Battle of the Century: written by Winter and Steve Kornacki (Bates Motel (2015-17)) with Moses and Doran contributing, directed by Brad Anderson (Stonehearst Asylum (2014))
Margaret's daughter takes seriously ill with polio, as Nucky has left for a daring mission to Ireland. Legendary boxing match Battle of the Century takes place.

Related posts:

Terence Winter: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Boardwalk Empire - season 1 (2010) - Luxurious 1920's ensemble gangster treats

Watch a preview for the Battle of the Century episode of Boardwalk Empire's season 2 here

Cost: Reportedly 5 mil. $ per episode, which comes to 60 mil. $
Box office: None - TV-series
= Unknown - but probably a solid hit
[Boardwalk Empire - season 2 was first broadcast 25 September - 11 December 2011 on HBO. It runs 12 episodes of approximately 55 minutes each, totaling around 660 minutes. The season takes place between February and August 1921. Shooting took place in New York. The ratings were generally a bit under the first season's, with the Martin Scorsese-directed pilot ranking high above every following episode with nearly 5 mil. viewers. Season 2 averaged between 2.5-3 mil. viewers on its first showing. It was nominated for 12 Emmys and won 4. IMDb's users have made Boardwalk Empire the #145 best TV-series ever on their Top 250 list, sitting between The Newsroom (2012-14) and the reiteration of Twin Peaks (2017). Together with its season 3, season 2 is the series' lowest-rated in its 5-season history on Rotten Tomatoes: It is still certified fresh at 88 % with an 8.26/10 critical average there.]

What do you think of Boardwalk Empire - season 2?

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Waititi injects franchise with a colorful, 1980s-infatuated, fun-filled blast

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Crowd-pleaser of the Year + Best Big Hit Movie of the Year

One of the colorful and quite simply amazing-looking posters for Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok

The god of thunder learns that he has a sister, that she is the goddess of death, - and that she is on her way to Asgard to wreak the mythic havoc called Ragnarok, before beginning her plans to conquer more planets.

Thor returns in his third movie, which is written by Eric Pearson (Agent Carter (2015-16)), Craig Kyle (Planet Hulk (2010, video)) and Christopher Yost (Thor: The Dark World (2013)), based on Marvel comics by Stan Lee (Silver Surfer (1982)), Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby (Super Powers (1984)) and directed by Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)). It marks a radical shift for the Marvel character, as the media giant has gone with a new director, unproven in the mega-movie business; Waititi is a Maori New-Zealander known for some fairly low-budgeted comedies, especially his break-through vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows (2014).
The wedding is blessed in this instance, as Thor: Ragnarok leaves the murky nonsense of the terrible Thor: The Dark World (2013) behind and gushes forth with a new-found purpose. The Ragnarok title could have indicated another dark, probing chapter, - but the film (thankfully) is anything but. The franchise seems to have taken obvious note of the popular and critical enthusiasm for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and its colorful, fun-filled space escapism and takes Thor in a similar direction that's almost entirely set in space, full of adventure, a buddy-comedy element and a nostalgic throwback style that is light-years away from the gloomy, mostly Earth-set previous Thor movies. The uninteresting Natalie Portman romance is also thrown out the window without any explanation.
The style is one that embraces the campier, brightly colored looks of Flash Gordon (1980), which Waititi indeed made his department heads watch for the development of Thor: Ragnarok. As a result, it sure is fun to look at, and the film's first class effects are often also somehow enlivened with a quality that makes the well-versed movie buff think of lively 1980s genre fare. The film is definitely worth watching in 3D, if you can.
The story is set up solidly: Chris Hemsworth (Ghostbusters (2016)) is again impressively buff (there's naturally a bare chest scene to prove it) and much more engaging and likable here than in the previous films in my opinion. Cate Blanchett (Little Fish (2005)) gives an electric, forceful performance as Hela, the film's villain. The film's fun factor really thrives as Thor arrives to the planet Sakaar, where Jeff Goldblum (The Switch (2010)) is the Grand Master, an eccentric, capricious, sexually ambiguous ruler in hilarious garbs and hair and makeup. Goldblum, who himself was something of an 1980s icon, especially due to his incredible starring turn in David Cronenberg's great The Fly (1986), seems just perfect in the film's arguably funniest part. Thor here also reunites with his Avengers colleague, the Hulk/Bruce Banner, and more fun ensues. Tessa Thompson (Selma (2014)) is good as another new character, the capable Valkyrie.
My only real qualm with Thor: Ragnarok is that it unfortunately gets a bit overlong. There's many characters, and the Sakaar section, though fun, maybe is just a bit too long. Karl Urban's (Star Trek Beyond (2016)) part as Blanchett's uneasy henchman isn't that important yet fills quite a bit. Just before the final battle, the film had already filled me up, and that isn't supposed to happen. Idris Elba's (The Take (2016)) Heimdall character pops up a few times but doesn't really have much to do here. On the other hand Tom Hiddleston's (Exhibition (2013)) Loki gets plenty of screen time, - and perhaps his and Thor's dynamic has about run its course now, I'm thinking.
A few more great things about Thor: Ragnarok needs highlighting yet:
Mark Mothersbaugh's (The Lego Movie (2014)) score is infused with the same 1980s vigor that the visual side reflects, and it's a joy to listen to. The film (wisely) doesn't copy the Guardians of the Galaxy recipe of a huge, hit-filled soundtrack, which makes Mothersbaugh's job so much more vital. - One song does play a few times in the film, though, - as well as in its trailer, - and it's the one Waititi infused his original video pitch with, to strike the film's tone; it is Led Zeppelin's great 1970 Immigrant Song.
The film also has a really funny cameo scene with Matt Damon (The Martian (2015)), Sam Neill (In Her Skin (2009)) and Luke Hemsworth (Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms (2012), TV-series), - Chris Hemsworth's lesser known brother. And finally you can look forward to director Waititi's motion-capture and voice performance as Korg, - a huge stone creature that the playful filmmaker lends a very funny voice performance.

Related posts:

Taika Waititi: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
Eagle vs Shark (2007) - Waititi's witty if flawed debut 
Mentioned franchise: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) - Gunn returns Marvel's top franchise in fine shape
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - Get giddy with this pretty awesome, the silliest summer blockbuster of the 2014 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 180 mil. $
Box office: 739.2 mil. $ and counting
= Still uncertain - but already a big hit
[Thor: Ragnarok premiered 10 October (Los Angeles) and runs 130 minutes. Alan Taylor, the director of the previous Thor movie, slammed the door to Marvel in his exit, stating that his film was turned into a different film in post production by the company. Star Hemsworth requested Marvel that shooting for Ragnarok take place in his native Australia, and with the choice of Waititi, the shot was planned there: Shooting took place in Australia and Atlanta, Georgia from July - October 2016 with additional scenes shot in July 2017. The film opened #1 to a huge 122.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it has so far grossed a hefty 247.2 mil. $. The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are China with 107.9 mil. $ so far and the UK with 34 mil. $ so far. The film's gross already far exceeds the Thor (2011, 449.3 mil. $) and Thor: The Dark World (2013, 644.6 mil. $) grosses. Audiences love the film; it has already entered IMDb's Top 250 at #189, between The Wages of Fear (1953) and Hotel Rwanda (2004). Waititi is not yet engaged for another Thor movie. Thor: Ragnarok is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Thor: Ragnarok?

Blue Ruin (2013) - Gun madness and circular violence fuels Saulnier's dark indie thriller

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A strikingly designed, chilling poster for Jeremy Saulnier's Blue Ruin

When a convicted double murderer is released from jail, our protagonist decides to leave his life as a drifter with a steely determination: To kill the man he is convinced killed his own parents.

From this basic premise, Blue Ruin weaves a messy situation, and the title seems to point to the collective hole of hatred, thirst for vengeance and bitterness that draws many of the characters here into its abyss, - while also being a reference to the Pontiac that serves as the home for the protagonist.
The film is written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room (2015)). It is fascinatingly simple and well shot (also by Saulnier), so that landscapes at first seem to have been pressed flat just to later attain a certain depth.
SPOILER The story seems like it may have been inspired by a real story of a family massacre. Just as in Saulnier's following film Green Room, guns and talk of them takes up significant space, while character information and sympathetic insights into the egotistical, bloodthirsty protagonist remain scarce. This inhibits Blue Ruin from becoming truly suspenseful, and despite its admirable qualities, it ultimately becomes forgettable to me because I feel like an intruder in its universe.

Related post:

Jeremy Saulnier: Green Room (2015) or, I Was a Punk Band Nazi Killer!

Saulnier and Blair give an interview about the film at the Locarno Film Festival in 2013 here

Cost: 420k $ - 1 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: 0.9 mil. $
= Somwhere between minor flop and huge flop
[Blue Ruin premiered 17 May (Cannes) and runs 90 minutes. Saulnier and producer-star-composer Macon Blair (The Florida Projects (2017)) were getting disillusioned with their possible futures as filmmakers and wanted to make Blue Ruin as a last film together. Funding came together partly through a crowdfunding campaign asking for 35k $ and Saulnier's savings. The film was inspired by revenge movies and current, upsetting violent crimes that Saulnier has stated "made me miserable." Shooting took place in Virginia and Delaware. The film opened #52 in 7 cinemas in North America, where it peaked at #37 and in 61 cinemas different weeks) and grossed 258k $ (26 % of the total gross). The biggest market was the UK with 527k $ (53.1 %). North America was the 2nd biggest market, and France was the 3rd biggest with 169k $ (17 %). The different budget accounts leave the film's theatrical performance difficult to ascertain: At best a minor flop, - at worst a huge flop. Roger Ebert gave the filma 3.5/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. The film won a prize in Cannes, was nominated for an award at the AFI Fest, a British Independent Film Award and an Independent Spirit Award; it also won a National Board of Review award and was on many critics' top 10 lists of the year. Saulnier returned with Green Room (2015). Blue Ruin is certified fresh at 96 % with a 8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Blue Ruin?