Loving (2016) - Edgerton and Negga own the screen in Nichols' powerful period drama

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+ Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Historical Movie of the Year + Best Virginia Movie of the Year

A warm and love-filled embrace between its two stars functions as the focus of this pleasant poster for Jeff Nichols' Loving

When Richard Loving marries his soulmate Mildred in 1958 on a trip to Washington DC, where their interracial bond is allowed, it provokes a judicial interference upon their return home, which forces them apart for years. But the couple won't stand for it, and by their example, they change things for themselves and for couples to come.

Loving is written and directed by great Arkansan filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Mud (2012)) based on the true story of the Lovings of Virginia, and Nichols has arguably made his best film to date with it. It is a thoroughly tender, humanistic and moreover enormously authentic retelling of an important break and hugely affecting chapter of US history on the wrongs of race-based marriage laws.
Both Ruth Negga (Noble (2014)) and Joel Edgerton (Warrior (2011)) give formidable performances as the Lovings, and they get strong support from Michael Shannon (Jonah Hex (2010)) as a photographer and Jon Bass (Jane Wants a Boyfriend (2015)) and Nick Kroll (Vacation (2015)) as the attorneys, who support and encourage their appeal case.
The purity and simplicity of the story stands out and is backed by a handsome score from David Wingo (Joe (2013)). Loving is a splendid work.

Related posts:


Jeff Nichols: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Exces [UPDATED I]
Mud (2012) - Career-defining, electric Americana
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]    
Take Shelter (2011) or, Madness in Ohio

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 9 mil. $
Box office: 12.9 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.43 times the cost)
[Loving premiered 16 May (Cannes Film Festival, France, in competition) and runs 123 minutes. Co-producer Colin Firth stumbled upon the Loving story in 2009, and the film was later inspired by the documentary The Loving Story (2011). Shooting took place from September - November 2015 in Virginia and Washington DC. The film opened #27 to a 159k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #11 and in 572 theaters (different weeks), grossing 7.7 mil. $ (59.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 2.1 mil. $ (16.3 %) and the UK with 1.1 mil. $ (8.5 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Actress (Negga), lost to Emma Stone for La La Land. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, won 2 Independent Spirit awards and many other honors. Nichols returned with Long Way Back Home (2018, short) and hasn't made a feature since yet. Edgerton returned in It Comes at Night (2017), Negga in Warcraft: The Beginning (2016). Loving is certified fresh at 90 % with a 7.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Loving?

The Limits of Control (2009) - Jarmusch hits career low with idea-bereft embarrassment

♥

+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year

A 1970's styled poster for Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control

A suit-wearing foreign man lands in Madrid, Spain. Always well-dressed, day by day, he meets mysterious people and does mysterious things, following an inscrutable agenda.

The Limits of Control is the 10th feature from Ohioan master writer/director Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man (1995)). As an admirer of Jarmusch's body of work, one goes along for a while here with cool Isaach De Bankolé (The Fifth Patient (2007)) to a Madrid café, to zen atmosphere and hipster-philosophizing strangers.
The film becomes involuntarily comical, as Jarmusch introduces Paz de la Huerta (Nail Polish (2006)) as an eternally nude sex kitten, - whatever is he going with this element? And from there The Limits of Control walks into deeper and deeper waters of embarrassment and the mindnumbingly boring. Small fragments of ideas are drawn out under a guitar-milling soundscape, as an abundance of stars appear for someone they greatly admire despite his project lacking any real structure or backbone here.
Stagnant shots that idolize Madrid fill out repetitive scenes, which promote Jarmusch's musician-ishly thin, existential philosophies. The Limits of Control is a very vaguely spun, pretentious double espresso of sleep-inducing hipster porridge, which hurts to watch for Jarmusch fans, as it is his worst film up to its release.

Related posts:

Jim Jarmusch: 2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - Pleasant, precious vignette sit-down with some wonderful people    
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) - Whitaker serves ancient samurai justice in Jarmusch's cool treat   
Dead Man (1995) - Jarmusch's bold, poetic, rich Americana masterpiece 
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Down by Law (1986) - Jarmusch's jailbreak movie is an independent character gem

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 1.9 mil. $
= Uncertain - but almost certainly a flop, and likely a mega-flop
[The Limits of Control was released 1 May (USA) and runs 116 minutes. Shooting took place in Spain, including Madrid. The film opened #41 to an 18k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, its 3rd biggest market, where it widened to 27 cinemas but never attained a higher rank, grossing 426k $ (22.4 % of the total gross). The biggest and 2nd biggest markets were Germany with 812k $ (42.7 %) and France with 302k $ (15.9 %). If the film was made on a small 5 mil. $ budget, it only returned 0.38 times its cost, making it a mega-flop. Roger Ebert gave the film a ½/4 star review, equal to its rating here. Jarmusch returned with Only Lovers Left Alive (2013). Bankolé returned in White Material (2009). The Limits of Control is rotten at 42 % with a 5.2/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Limits of Control?

Lion (2016) - An incredible true story brought to vivid, touching life

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Australian Movie of the Year + Best Debut of the Year: Garth Davis

The young, fresh-faced stars cut through by en evocative photo of a rail track and a search engine bar adorn this poster for Garth Davis' Lion

Saroo is just a small boy, when he in 1986 gets lost from his family in India and winds up in a place he doesn't know and later gets adopted from there to Australia.

Lion is written by Luke Davies (Life (2015)), based on real-life Saroo Brierley's 2013 autobiography about his life, A Long Way Home, and directed by debuting great Australian filmmaker Garth Davis (Top of the Lake (2013, TV-series).
The first approximately 50 minutes of the film, which follows Saroo as a boy, are enormously captivating. Sunny Pawar (Love Sonia (2018)) is formidable as Saroo, and his brother and mother are also played convincingly. The momentum dives shortly, as we jump forward in time to Saroo as an adult, but it is soon picked up again, thanks to Dev Patel's (Slumdog Millionaire (2008)) deep-felt, strong performance. Rooney Mara (The Social Network (2010)) gives fine support, and Nicole Kidman (The Others (2001)) makes a statuesque mother figure here, SPOILER even in the somewhat strange scenes, in which she confesses to have had a vision as a 12 year-old, which told her that she would be adopting a brown child.
The score by Volker Bertelmann (Hotel Mumbai (2018)) and Dustin O'Halloran (Equals (2015)) is fantastic and adds to the simple force that drives the film. Was all of this not a true story, Lion might have been rejected. But it is a true and amazing story: Lion beats the more successful and comparable Slumdog Millionaire in quality and is perhaps the year's most touching film.

Related post:

Garth Davis: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 12 mil. $
Box office: 140.3 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 11.69 times the cost)
[Lion premiered 10 September (Toronto International Film Festival, Ontario) and runs 118 minutes. Shooting took place in India and Australia from January - May 2015. The film opened #32 to a 123k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 1,802 cinemas (different weeks) and grossed 51.7 mil. $ (36.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 22.3 mil. $ (15.9 %) and the UK with 15.4 mil. $ (11 %). It became the 6th highest-grossing Australian film ever in Australia. The film was nominated for 6 Oscars: It lost Best Picture to Moonlight, Supporting Actor (Patel) to Mahershala Ali in Moonlight, Supporting Actress (Kidman) to Viola Davis in Fences, Adapted Screenplay to Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for Moonlight, Cinematography (Greig Fraser) to Linus Sandgren for La La Land, and Score to Justin Hurwitz also for La La Land. It was also nominated for 4 Golden Globes, won 2/5 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for a Grammy and several other honors. Novelist and critic Salman Rushdie publicly lauded the film. Davis returned with Mary Magdalene (2018). Patel returned in Hotel Mumbai (2018), Mara in The Discovery (2017), Kidman in How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017), and David Wenham (Oranges and Sunshine (2010)) in Iron Fist (2017, TV-series) and theatrically in Beyond the Known World (2017). Lion is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Lion?

The Love Guru (2008) - Schnabel and Myers' vulgar belly flop is actually hilarious

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+ Silliest Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Most Expensive Flop of the Year: 45.68 mil. $ range + Most Under-appreciated Movie of the Year

Colorful, kooky antics from five beloved stars are promised on this chuckle-inducing poster for Marco Schnabel's The Love Guru

Guru Sitka is the world's second greatest guru. A Canadian hockey team now wants to use his wisdom to win the Stanley Cup, all the while the guru falls in love.

The Love Guru is written by Graham Gordy (Rectify (2013, TV-series) and co-writer/co-producer/star Mike Myers (Wayne's World 2 (1993)) and directed by debuting Marco Schnabel (Brain Trust (2011, TV movie), writer). It is an outrageously silly film, which can be enjoyed (or not) according to personal humor and taste. If you are a Myers fan, you should be able to jump headlong into the embrace of this comedy, one of the nuttiest film to date.
The tomfoolery reaches previously unknown heights, (some would argue, lows), and although there are repetitive and uncool jokes and gags, I for one still find them fairly irresistible.
Ben Kingsley (Hugo (2011)) is funny as another guru, a part that also makes fun of his demure legacy as Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's masterpiece Gandhi (1982). Justin Timberlake (Black Snake Moan (2006)) is energetic and funny; Jessica Alba (Machete Kills (2013)) is sweet and lovely; the late Verne Troyer (Here Lies Lonely (1999)) is incredibly funny as the hockey team leader; and Romany Malco (The Duff (2015)) is charismatic and funny. Myers heads the pack and is incredible, infectious, fearless and visibly in love with performing here. A consistently happy, daffy energy runs through The Love Guru, which I personally favor over Myers' infinitely more successful Austin Powers sequels, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002).

Related post:

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  

 2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 62 mil. $
Box office: 40.8 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.65 times the cost)
[The Love Guru was released 20 June (USA, Croatia) and runs 87 minutes. Shooting took place in Canada, including Toronto, and in Los Angeles from September - November 2007. The film opened #4, behind fellow new major comedy release Get Smart and holdover hits The Incredible Hulk and Kung Fu Panda, to a 13.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 32.2 mil. $ (78.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.5 mil. $ (6.1 %) and Australia with 2.1 mil. $ (5.1 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 3 notches harder than this one. IMDb's users have currently placed the film at #74 on IMDb's Bottom 100 list, sitting between 2001: A Space Travesty (2000) and Turkish youtuber comedy Enes Batur Hayal mi Gerçek mi? (2018). Schnabel never returned to directing; instead he has slowly returned to writing and producing for TV. Myers returned in Inglorious Basterds (2009) but has not led a movie since The Love Guru, (an announced Austin Powers 4 could change that fact.) The Love Guru is rotten at 14 % with a 3.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Love Guru?

The Lunchbox (2013) - The withheld, sad, overrated Mumbai correspondence romance

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An information-packed modern specialty release poster for Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox

An unfulfilled housewife in Mumbai one day gets her husband's lunchbox delivered to the wrong man, an equally unfulfilled accountant. Her husband doesn't notice the mix-up and doesn't appreciate his wife, who ventures forth on a correspondence with the accountant stranger, who values her.

The Lunchbox is written and directed by debuting Ritesh Batra (Our Souls at Night (2017)) with Vasan Bala (Peddlers (2012)) supplying some dialog. Despite the marketing, which indicates a bubbly romance, The Lunchbox is mostly quite sad SPOILER and actually never really develops into a regular romance, - only perhaps after its ending, - because the accountant decides to hold back, when he meets the younger woman who has been sending him lunchboxes and letters.
Despite fine observations and humanity, the film stands a bit too still and appears somewhat as an overlong short film more than a full-bodied feature. Weighing up are keen insights into social and societal dynamics in Batra's birth city Mumbai and in India on the whole, as well as some amusing episodes.

Related post:

Ritesh Batra: 2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3.1 mil. $
Box office: 17.24 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.56 times its cost)
[The Lunchbox premiered 19 May (Cannes Film Festival, France, critics' week section) and runs 105 minutes. Batra started the project in 2007. 15 companies were involved with the funding and creating of the film. The actors reportedly rehearsed together prior to filming for 6 months, which seems a dubious fact. Shooting took place in 29 days in 2012 in Mumbai, India. The film opened #53 to a 44k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #18 and in 165 cinemas, grossing 4.2 mil. $ (24.4 % of the total gross) during its long 29-week release there. It was the year's 3rd highest-grossing Indian film outside of India. It was nominated for a BAFTA, won 2/3 Asian Film award nominations and several other honors. Controversy arose when the Film Federation of India chose another film as its Oscar entry of the year over The Lunchbox, namely The Good Road. Batra returned with Masterchef (2014, short) and theatrically with The Sense of an Ending (2017). Irrfan Khan (Jurassic World (2015)) returned in Meridian Lines (2013), Nimrat Kaur (Peddlers (2012)) in 3 shorts, Homeland (2014, TV-series) and theatrically in Airlift (2016). The Lunchbox is certified fresh at 96 % with a 7.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Lunchbox?

Shoplifters/万引き家族 (Manbiki kazoku, 2018) - Kore-eda gives another poignant family tale

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Japanese Movie of the Year + Best Tokyo Movie of the Year

This happy poster for Hirokazu Kore-eda's Shoplifters seems to show an ideal family, but the film's title tells us that there is more to their story than meets the eye here

In a small house in Tokyo lives a ragtag 'family' of individuals who are not biologically connected but share each others' limited means, as they discover a little neglected and abused girl in the neighborhood, whom they decide to take in.

Shoplifters is the 13th film from Japanese master writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Like Father, Like Son/Soshite chichi ni naru (2013)). It is a film which, like previous films from his hands, probes the fabrics that make a family a family. It also delves into some of the strategies that underclass people employ in order to make ends meet:
Lily Franky (After the Storm/Umi yori mo mada fukaku (2016))  is poignant as the 'father', who teaches his 'son' and new 'daughter' how to shoplift successfully. The young woman does striptease shows. The 'grandmother' (the late Kirin Kiki (Rage/Ikari (2016)) is a natural as the tough old bird) collects an indemnity and receives pity donations. And so on. But the sadness of their low plight is countered by the fact that they cling together and act as something like a real family. But as crises hit them that fabric is tested. SPOILER In the film's moving ending, we are shown how abandonment and neglect are poison to family relations, and how family breaks create wounds that run deep. SPOILER On the more optimistic side, Shoplifters leaves the little girl back with her poorly equipped biological mother but implicitly shows us that the time spent in an actual, loving environment stays with the girl, who is tough and will likely make it.
Kore-eda's humdrum pace is laced with moments of intimacy, humor, confusion and pain, as he brings several complex relationships together in this fine, intelligent, compassionate, humanistic film. 

Related posts:
 
Hirokazu Koreeda: 2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
After the Storm/海よりもまだ深く (Umi yori mo Mada Fukaku) (2016) - Koreeda's striking portrayal of a disappointing man
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Like Father, Like Son/そして父になる (Soshite Chichi ni Naru) (2013) - Koreeda's magnificent reflection on upbringing and family  

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: In excess of 55.1 mil. $
= Uncertain, but most likely a huge hit
[Shoplifters premiered 13 May (Cannes Film Festival, France, in competition) and runs 121 minutes. Kore-eda developed the story during his making of masterpiece Like Father, Like Son (2013). Shooting took place in Japan, including Tokyo, from December 2017 - ?. The film won the main prize, the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival under jury president Cate Blanchett. Its biggest markets have been its production country Japan with 37.8 mil. $ (68.6 % of the total gross), making it one of the highest-grossing domestic releases there for the year, China with 14 mil. $ (25.4 %) and South Korea with 1.2 mil. $ (2.2 %). Several markets' grosses are not listed on the film's Box Office Mojo sheet yet, and it has yet to open in several markets: 22 Nov. (Portugal), 23 Nov. (UK, Ireland, US), 12 Dec. (France), 13 Dec. (Holland), 21 Dec. (Sweden), 27 Dec. (Germany), 3 Jan. (Brazil), 10 Jan. (Hungary), 18 Jan. (Turkey) and 7 Feb. (Argentina). More countries may be added. If made on a realistic 7 mil. $ budget, which may be set too high, the film would have made back already 7.87 times its cost. It has been chosen as Japan's official Oscar entry for the year. Kore-eda returns with The Truth (2019), his first non-Japanese film, starring Ethan Hawke, Juliette Binoche and Catherine Deneuve. Franky returned in The Gun/Jû (2018). Shoplifters is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Shoplifters?

The Lost (2006) - Marc Senter stands out in unpleasant serial killer indie

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Star Marc Senter lights up in a skull-shaped plume of smoke above a female corpse on this ominous poster for Chris Sivertson's The Lost

Ray Pye is a young man who attracts some weak friends who also fear him, after he murders two random women and continues his life of being a psychopath in the following years.

The Lost is written and directed by feature-debuting Chris Sivertson (Brawler (2011)), adapting the same-titled 2001 novel by Jack Ketchum (Right to Life (1998), novella). It is a small indie serial killer thriller loosely based on real-life serial killer Charles Schmid, 'the Pied Piper of Tucson', who killed several women in 1964 and was killed by fellow prisoners in 1975. Unfortunately the story is fairly uninteresting, since there is no one to attach any sympathy on. - What makes the youngsters follow - and refrain from report - Ray Pye is unfathomable, and the man himself; he is like a lit stick of dynamite, a cannon of unchecked masculine rage and psychopathy.
Ray is portrayed with impressive energy and credibility by Marc Senter (Dementia (2015)), who may have accidentally scared himself away from gaining future parts in this constantly unpleasant drama-thriller.
Sivertson shows obvious affection for the films of David Lynch with The Lost, but what the impetus behind the picture is feels unclear.

Watch a clip from the movie with Senter here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain
[The Lost premiered 12 March (South by Southwest Film Festival, Austin, Texas) and runs 119 minutes. Production details as well as details on the theatrical performance of the film are not reported online to my knowledge. Sivertson returned with The Best of Robbers (2006). Senter returned in I Know Who Killed Me (2007). 2,443 IMDb users have given The Lost a 6/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Lost?

The Lords of Salem (2012) - Zombie's disturbing satanic radio witch horror lacks a compelling center

♥♥

+ Most Sinister Movie of the Year

Sheri Moon Zombie in satanic goth emo getup on this decay-tinted poster for Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem

A woman rock radio host in Salem, Massachusetts receives a record with a mysterious melody, which awakens something sinister in her and other women, which hails from the witches of Salem's past...

The Lords of Salem is written and directed by Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses (2003)). Zombie denies us conventionality in the form of murders and relatable characters here: Instead Bruce Davison (Return of the Killer Shrews (2012)) researches around, (he is a Salem witch trial expert), while Sheri Moon Zombie (Halloween (2007)), the filmmaker's wife, gabbles with her maybe-boyfriend with occult stuff in her surroundings.
It never becomes really exciting or scary; the plot is simply too feeble-minded for that. It is a shame, because The Lords of Salem features strong and highly unpleasant imagery; the sabbath in the beginning is enormously hideous; the mystical melody does sound like something straight out of hell, and there is no shortage of strange and disturbing images overall, springing from a concert hall of a religious variety. The Lords of Salem is blasphemous or more accurately satanical, which makes it especially tough diet for Christians. 

Related posts:

Rob Zombie: 2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
Halloween (2007) - Zombie's remake is a bloody stinker
The Devil's Rejects (2005) - Zombie's crazy serial killer Americana

Watch an interview with Rob Zombie about the film here

Cost: 1.5 mil. $
Box office: 1.5 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 1 time the cost)
[The Lords of Salem premiered 10 September (Toronto International Film Festival, Ontario) and runs 101 minutes. Zombie was given free reins with a low budget from horror producer maestro Jason Blum to do something supernatural. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, and in Salem, Massachusetts from October - December 2011. Zombie toured with his band, while the film was edited. It opened #16 to a 642k $ first weekend in 354 theaters in North America, where it decreased from there, playing a total of 4 weeks, grossing 1.1 mil. $ (73.3 % of the total gross). The only 2 foreign markets accounted for are Italy with 373k $ (24.9 %) and Spain with 5k $ (0.3 %). Rob Zombie returned with a video promo, a concert film of his own metal band Rob Zombie and theatrically with 31 (2016). Sheri Moon Zombie returned in said promo and theatrically in 31. The Lords of Salem is rotten at 46 % with a 5.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Lords of Salem?