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From ZERO to 6 ♥s. 100% ad-free. Run on pure love for movies, documentaries and TV-series. December 2024: Updated lists of the best and worst of 2002, 2014 and 2016 - Now with 2,300+ reviews!
Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)
Johnny Depp's Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness (2024)
The popular image of the beastly dark man and the fair, beautiful woman is central on this dark and compelling poster for William Dieterle's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The disfigured hunchback bell ringer of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, Quasimodo is crowned the King of Fools at the city's carnival, but the city's fierce Chief Justice condemns a beautiful gypsy by the name Esmeralda, whom Quasimodo has fallen in love with, to death.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is written by Sonya Levien (Quo Vadis (1951)) and Bruno Frank (A Royal Scandal (1945)), adapting the same-titled 1831 novel by Victor Hugo (Les Misérables (1862)), and directed by great German filmmaker William Dieterle (Der Mensch am Wege (1923)).
Charles Laughton (Young Bess (1953)) creates one of the most pitiful characters of cinema history with his Quasimodo here and is fantastic in the very vivid and still today deeply riveting film. Maureen O'Hara (McLintock! (1963)) is hard to accept as a gypsy, but this can't put much squeeze on the film, which also has other fine performances: Cedric Hardwicke (Sunday Showcase (1960, TV-series)) as Frollo and Walter Hampden (5 Fingers (1952)) as the Archdeacon.
There's also grand effects, brutality and grandeur. SPOILER In the end Quasimodo takes his personal revenge on the unjust world, and - incredibly - gets away with it. There is both mystery and depth to this undying classic.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 1.826 mil. $
Box office: 3.195 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.74 times its cost)
[The Hunchback of Notre Dame premiered 31 August (Cannes Film Festival) and runs 116 minutes. Changes were made to Hugo's plot to make sure the film would comply with the strict Hays Code censorship of the time. Laughton brought O'Hara with him on the plane to America, costing an already cast actress her role as Esmeralda. He then alienated Claude Rains from taking part in the film and also struck up enmity with his makeup artist. Shooting took place from July - October 1939 in Los Angeles, California. The film made 1.549 mil. $ in North America and 1.646 mil. $ internationally. Despite this making the film a 'big flop' by the box office standards of Film Excess, it reportedly did leave a profit of 100k $. It was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Sound, Recording, lost to When Tomorrow Comes, and Best Music, Scoring (Alfred Newman (A Certain Smile (1958))), lost to Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken for Stagecoach. Dieterle returned with Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940). Laughton returned in They Knew What They Wanted (1940). The Hunchback of Notre Dame is fresh at 94 % with a 8.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
The band of funny-looking characters are assembled before a uniquely colorful galactic backdrop on this poster for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
A previously unknown implement in Rocket Raccoon's body, (member of the Guardians of the Galaxy), is threatening to end his life within 48 hours. Star-Lord Peter Quill and the rest of the Guardians will have to go back to Rocket's creator's HQ and steal the component needed to cancel his death.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is written and directed by great Missouri filmmaker James Gunn (Slither (2006)) as the 3rd and last film in his Guardians trilogy (2014; 2017) based on the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy comics.
The long and troubled gestation process for this film has undoubtedly contributed to the fireworks of invention, comedy, narrative and emotion that takes place on screen here in a stunningly spirited piece of mega-movie-making. Incredibly, Vol. 3 revolves around Rocket Raccoon's birth as an experiment animal, locked in with three other lovable animal friends, unaware of their hopeless fates as mere experimental ingredients for a hateful, cynical creator. Bradley Cooper (War Dogs (2016)) and Linda Cardellini (Austin Found (2017)) (voicing Lylla the otter with robotic arms) and the ambitious score by John Murphy (Kick-Ass (2010)), - along with the masterful animated visuals, - help make this at first bizarre storyline work wonders. The film grabs you emotionally with this dark deliverance tale, (I admit to (involuntarily) tearing up no less than 3 times during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.)
There's cheeky fun en masse, - Dave Bautista's (Dune (2021)) Drax is still highly amusing, but also Cosmo the space dog and Will Poulter's (Detroit (2017)) turn as the mean but also dumb golden boy Warlock are humorous. No less fun are the design inventions: Aliens, suits, a record number (23,000 across 1,000 actors) of prosthetics and so on alert your eyeballs to most every second of the film, as you simply have to look at these strange, wild (and often very funny) creations of invention.
Gunn brings back the musical sequences that his films are famous for, sometimes making Vol. 3 seem like a really good-looking, incredible music video. High-points include Beastie Boys' No Sleep till Brooklyn and Florence and the Machine's Dog Days Are Over, which end the film on a very thrilling and movingly positive high note.
The cast are all back with an excitement and wish to be here in this specific film that is palpable, as they pulled together with multitudes of fans to make Gunn's Vol. 3 happen. Also a major asset is Chukwudi Iwuji's (Dynasty (2019, TV-series)) villain The High Evolutionary, the creator scientist who creates and destroys with equal cool, never satisfied or affectionate about his creations. Iwudi's chilling character is among the strongest villains in comics adaptations and another majorly important leg for the film's success.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as created by Gunn, - it wouldn't have been like this with anyone else at the helm, - is a wild and expansive work of creative energy. It's a little much, yes, and it could definitely be argued to be too much. But then the awesome power of another sequence leaves the criticism void, and anyway it is perhaps a point in itself in this series of being member of a team, a band of friends and colleagues, something greater than one's own abilities and faults, - and in this way it is different from all the other much more individually focused superhero movies, - that it has to be too much. But Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is too much in the greatest way imaginable.
= Box office success (has returned 2.89 times its cost to date)
[Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 premiered 22 April (Disneyland Paris) and runs 150 minutes. Gunn helming a third Guardians film was announced around the release of the 2017 2nd film. But in July 2018, Disney fired Gunn for some old tweets with inauspicious jokes concerning rape and pedophilia. Gunn explained and took responsibility for the tweets but was fired nonetheless. Within days 300,000 fans had signed a petition to hire him back, and the cast of the first two films also came forward in strong support of rehiring him. In October 2018 Disney rehired him without announcing it publicly yet. Gunn in the meantime became involved with several other projects that demanded his attention, meaning that the Guardians film was delayed around 3 years due to the firing. Shooting took place from November 2021 - May 2022 in London, England and in Georgia. The film opened #1 to a 118.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and the next 3 still in the top 5 (#2-#3-#3-?), grossing so far 304.7 mil. $ (42.1 % of the total gross to date). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are China with 72.3 mil. $ (10 %) and the UK with 36 mil. $ (5 %). IMDb's users have rated the film in at #153 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between The Thing (1982) and Finding Nemo (2003). Gunn has been hired to head Marvel's competitor DC Comics coming movies and is set to return as director with Superman: Legacy (2025). Chris Pratt (Onward (2020)) returns in Garfield (2024); Cooper in Maestro (2023). Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?
Three women of color tower as formidable heroines on this poster for Theodore Melfi's Hidden Figures
The 'space race' in 1960s America: The Soviets have succeeded in being the first to send a human into space, and NASA is under tremendous pressure to attain the upper hand on the new frontier. A group of black American women also work towards reaching this goal.
Hidden Figures is written by Allison Schroeder (Mean Girls 2 (2011, TV movie)) and co-writer/co-producer/director Theodore Melfi (Winding Roads (1999)), based on the non-fiction book Hidden Figures (2016) by Margot Lee Shetterly.
Segregation falls by the wayside in favor of reaching a common goal in the course of the work described in the plot outline above, - eyes are opened to the fact that brainpower has no skin color. But the sympathetic narrative lacks opposition; the villain here is 'the times', and that gets boring. The funky score (made with help from Pharrell Williams (Despicable Me 3 (2017))) and the honest performances from all help this polished, safe product (it feels more as such than as a film) go down without fail.
[Hidden Figures premiered 1 December (Virginia) and runs 127 minutes. Shooting took place from March - May 2016 in Georgia. Although based on real people, several aspects of the segregation and racism shown in the film are entirely fictional constructs. The film opened #18 to a 515k $ first weekend in 25 theaters in North America, where it peaked some weeks later at #1 with a 22.8 mil. $ weekend before grossing finally 169.6 mil. $ (71.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 13.3 mil. $ (5.6 %) and the UK with 7.9 mil. $ (3.3 %). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars: It lost Best Picture to Moonlight, Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer (The Witches (2020)) to Viola Davis in Fences and Adapted Screenplay to Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for Moonlight. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, 2 Grammys, 2 Golden Globes, won 2 National Board of Review awards, among many other honors. Melfi returned with The Black Ghiandola (2017, short), Daughter (2020, short) and theatrically with The Starling (2021). Taraji P. Henson (Empire (2015-20)) returned in The Simpsons (2017, TV-series) and theatrically in Proud Mary (2018); Spencer in The Shack (2017); and Janelle Monáe (Harriet (2019)) in 8 music videos and a TV-series prior to her theatrical return in Welcome to Marwen (2018). Hidden Figures is certified fresh at 93 % with a 7.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
+ Most Expensive Flop of the Year: 28.6 mil. $ range + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.33 times the cost
A woman caught in a red sea of apparent internal conflict and strong emotions make up this fine poster for Oliver Stone's Heaven & Earth
An idyllic country life in Vietnam is ruined first by Frenchmen and later by the American invasion, so that the woman Le becomes a prostitute. She later moves with her American soldier husband to the US to raise a family, but he suffers from PTSD.
Heaven & Earth is written, co-produced and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Oliver Stone (Seizure (1974)). It is based on the auto-biographical books When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (1989) and Child of War, Woman of Peace by Le Huy Hayslip, Jay Wurts and James Hayslip.
Stone wants to complete his Vietnam War portrayal on film, following Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) with a female, Vietnamese perspective on the war, but the width between the filmmaker and his subject here is too broad for the outcome to seem credible. Stone simply can't portray this meaningfully.
The film has powerful scenes, not least due Tommy Lee Jones' (Hope Springs (2012)) natural and devastating performance as a wrecked veteran, but it is over-all unfocused and over-loaded with narration. Unfortunately it belongs on the list of the weaker films by Stone.
= Uncertain but likely a mega-flop (projected return of 0.33 times its cost)
[Heaven & Earth premiered 25 December (USA, Japan) and runs 140 minutes. Shooting took place from October 1992 - January 1993 in Vietnam, Bangkok, Thailand and in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #17 to a 379k $ first weekend in 63 theaters in North America, where it peaked a couple of weeks later at #12 with a 1.7 mil. $ weekend, grossing 5.8 mil. $ domestically. The foreign market numbers are regrettably kept under wraps. The film sold 14k tickets in Denmark, coming to approximately 124k $. A tentative projected world gross of 11 mil. $ isn't unlikely. It would make the film a mega-flop. It won a Golden Globe. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Stone returned with Natural Born Killers (1994). Jones returned in Blown Away (1994); Hiep Thi Le (Julia (2008)) in Bugis Street (1995); and Joan Chen (Wonderland (2017)) in On Deadly Ground (1994). Heaven & Earth is rotten at 43 % with a 5.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
A joyless family gathering in the dark makes up this interest-building poster for Ari Aster's Hereditary
When the grandmother of the Graham family passes away, it brings disturbances to especially her adult daughter, artist Annie, which is worsened by a tragedy.
Hereditary is written and directed by debuting New-Yorker master filmmaker Ari Aster (Herman's Cure-All Tonic (2008, short)).
It is a heady, dark horror that establishes its oppressive mood fast, which is then enlarged by the Graham family dynamics, a family that's characterized by different diagnoses, traumas and a widespread lack of happiness.
The film is kept interesting by the cut rate performances: Toni Collette (Velvet Buzzsaw (2019, VoD)) wears a heavy cloak with this character; Gabriel Byrne (Carrie Pilby (2016)) is great as could be expected as her skeptical husband; and Alex Wolff (Dude (2018)) is excellent as their teenage son who goes through heavy trials. The film is stylistically coolly, elegantly observed to raise parallels to the bizarre dollhouse aesthetic of Annie's artworks. SPOILER It helps make Hereditary a mysteriously oriented horror about Satanism, - with enough nightmarish scenes to ruin several nights' sleep.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 82.8 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 8.28 times its cost)
[Hereditary premiered 21 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 127 minutes. Shooting took place from September - November 2017 in Utah. The film opened #4, behind fellow new release Ocean's 8 and holdover hits Solo: A Star Wars Story and Deadpool 2, to a 13.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 44 mil. $ (53.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.3 mil. $ (8.8 %) and Mexico with 3 mil. $ (3.6 %). The film was nominated for 2 Independent Spirit awards, among other honors. Aster returned with Midsommar (2019). Collette returned in Hearts Beat Loud (2018); Byrne in In the Cloud (2018); and Wolff in Dude (2018). Hereditary is certified fresh at 90 % with an 8.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
An assortment of pictures of the same man against his iconic bunny icons and a dark background make up this poster for Brigitte Berman's Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel
The son in a puritanical family, Hefner early in life began stirring the limitations for publication in America, and with his Playboy magazine became a central, liberating force in the country and in the world in general.
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel is written, co-produced, directed and co-edited by Brigitte Berman (Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet (1981, documentary)).
Hefner is himself so intelligent, warm and inspiring as a person that he alone makes this mostly chronological, backwards-gazing documentary an exciting and worthwhile work. The film glorifies him, but it also underlines his controversial nature by including testimony from a series of critics; feminists and Pat Boone, among others. But it is ultimately Hefner's liberal mindset that has succeeded in the West.
Watch a short snippet from the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: Reportedly 10k $
= Uncertain but most likely a box office disaster (projected return of 0.01 times its cost)
[Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel premiered 12 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 124 minutes. Shooting took place from January - August 2008 in Ontario. The film had a 4-theatre release in Los Angeles, grossing 10k $. If made on a 1 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a box office disaster. - However, it is possible that it has been profitable as a TV rights property. Berman returned with The River of My Dreams (2016, documentary). Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel is fresh at 60 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel?
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