The Internship (2013) or, Two Dopes at Google

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Two familiar comedy stars in jeans look lost in a Google-inspired blank page on this neat poster for Shawn Levy's The Internship

Two grown men, who work together for a company which now goes bankrupt, go searching for a new future for themselves through an internship at the search engine giant Google in Silicon Valley.

 

The Internship is written by co-writer/co-producer/co-star Vince Vaughn (The Break-Up (2006)) and Jared Stern (Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)) and directed by co-producer/director Shawn Levy (Address Unknown (1997)).

Nothing much happen to the two men in their new situation, and none of them have anything in their lives of weight, interest or meaning to really pitch in with. This leaves the affair an empty experience, and as an attempt at office situation comedy, The Internship feels like the beginning of a very long TV-series, you absolutely would want to miss, more so than an actual movie. 

Vaughn and Owen Wilson (Marmaduke (2010)) play immature, mind-zapped, endlessly yapping idiots, and they are surrounded by caricature figures in Google land. You will be minimally amused by this stinker, which is also likely to make you tired of the likes of Rose Byrne (Annie (2014)), Max Minghella (Babylon (2022)) and Silicon Valley.

 

Related posts:

 

Shawn Levy: 2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Date Night (2010) - Carell and Fey bring out the big laugh guns 

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) or, Museum Night: Sequel Time 

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

The Pink Panther (2006) - Martin's Sellers imitation is a trial to sit through

Night at the Museum (2006) - Levy and Stiller bring the family fun 

 

  

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 58 mil. $

Box office: 93.4 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.61 times its cost)

[The Internship premiered 29 May (California) and runs 119 minutes. Vaughn got the idea for the film after seeing a 60 Minutes segment on working at Google. Shooting took place from July - September 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia and in California, including in San Francisco. The film opened #4, behind fellow new release The Purge and holdover hits Fast & Furious 6 and Now You See Me, to a 17.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 44.6 mil. $ (47.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 7.1 mil. $ (7.6 %) and the UK with 5.3 mil. $ (5.7 %). The film also made more than 13.3 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. Levy returned with This Is Where I Leave You (2014). Vaughn returned in Delivery Man (2013); Wilson in Drunk History (2013, TV-series) and theatrically in Are You Here (2013). The Internship is rotten at 25 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Internship?

Insidious: The Last Key (2018) - Demon franchise lost in the shadows

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A creepy hand with keys for nails is the motif on this poster for Adam Robitel's Insidious: The Last Key

Demonic medium Elise gets called back to her haunted childhood home and must relive traumatic memories in order to understand the disturbance in the house.

 

Insidious: The Last Key is written by writer/co-producer/actor Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man (2020)) and directed by Adam Robitel (The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)). It is the 4th film in the Insidious franchise (2010; 2013; 2015).

Elise's bad memories never become truly lucid for us in this yawn-worthy entry in the horror series, which feels about ready to be put in its grave here. Lin Shaye (Darkness Falls (2020)) does her best, returning as Elise, but the material is preposterous and superficial. - And not terribly frightening.

 

Related posts:

Insidious franchise: Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) - Whannell debuts with solid creeper sequel

Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) - Whannell and Wan's deflated tormented family sequel

Insidious (2010) - Wan's thrilling, scary ghost horror

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 10 mil. $

Box office: 167.8 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 16.78 times its cost)

[Insidious: The Last Key was released 3 January (France) and runs 103 minutes. Shooting took place from August - September 2016 in California. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, to a 29.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 67.7 mil. $ (40.3 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Indonesia with 9 mil. $ (5.4 %) and Mexico with 8.5 mil. $ (5 %). The franchise returned with Insidious: The Red Door (2023). Robitel returned with Escape Room (2019). Shaye returned in Los Angeles Overnight (2018). Insidious: The Last Key is rotten at 28 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Insidious: The Last Key?

Irma la Douce (1963) - Wilder's overlong prostitution comedy

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Colorful levity and hijinks are promised on this poster for Billy Wilder's Irma la Douce

In Paris' sinful Rue Casanova, a new copper roams, indignant and active in upsetting the obvious prostitution going on there, but only until he falls head over heels for the charming Irma.

 

Irma la Douce is written by I.A.L. Diamond (One, Two, Three (1961)) and Austrian-Hungarian/American master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Billy Wilder (Bad Seed (1934)), whose 19th feature it was. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1956 French stage musical. The title is French and translates to 'Irma the sweet'.

This poorly aged Wilder adaptation beckons you to accept prostitution a an easy and comfortable life, one that is also natural and without any negative sides to it. That proposition is a hard one to swallow, and fatiguing as well. The same can be said of Jack Lemmon's (Some Like It Hot (1959)) policeman character's unexplained 180 turn in the story from a by-the-book stickler to a completely embracing participant in the monkey business goings on of the Rue Casanova. His plan involves him keeping Shirley MacLaine's (Around the World in 80 Days (1956)) Irma from her sidewalk 'career' by dressing up as an English professor with very deep pockets.

Jokes are repeated ad infinitum. Irma la Douce is overlong. Handsome sets and costumes weigh up; and Lemmon's caricature of an Englishman is funny. But Irma la Douce overall is taxing.

 

Related posts:

Billy Wilder:  The Front Page (1974) - Wilder's hilarious Chicago newspaper comedy

Double Indemnity (1944) - Wilder's noir classic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 5 mil. $

Box office: 31.5 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.3 times its cost)

[Irma la Douce premiered 5 June (New York) and runs 147 minutes. The film was envisioned as a repairing of Lemmon with Wilder and Marilyn Monroe as Irma, but the latter's overdose death in 1962 meant the hiring of MacLaine. It seems that Wilder, Lemmon and MacLaine negotiated the same pay deal of 350k $ plus 7.5 % of the profits, a very lucrative deal as it turned out, which reportedly also meant that United Artists only profited 440k $ from the film's stellar theatrical run. Shooting took place from October 1962 - February 1963 in California and Paris, France. The film was a huge hit in North America, where it was the year's 5th highest-grossing with rentals of 12 mil. $/25.2 mil. $ (80 % of the total gross). It also struck huge in Netherlands with 3.6 mil. admissions, becoming the biggest hit in the country for many years. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning for Best Score - Adaptation/Treatment (André Previn (Dead Ringer (1963))). It lost Best Actress (MacLaine) to Patricia Neal in Hud and Cinematography - Color (Joseph LaShelle (A Child Is Waiting (1963))) to Leon Shamroy for Cleopatra. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, won a David di Donatello award and 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. Wilder returned with Kiss Me, Stupid (1964). Lemmon returned in Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963); MacLaine in What a Way to Go! (1964). Irma la Douce is fresh at 75 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Irma la Douce? 

The Iron Giant (1999) - Bird's heavily themed family animation debut

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A stylish and retro-cool poster for Brad Bird's The Iron Giant

1950s Maine, the United States: Boy Hogarth is mad about sci-fi magazines during the atomic scare period, when a giant robot from space lands in the forest near his home ...

 

The Iron Giant is written by Tim McCanlies (North Shore (1987)), Brent Forrester (Love (2016-18)) and great Montanan filmmaker, debuting co-writer/director Brad Bird (Ratatouille (2007)), loosely adapted from Ted Hughes' (The Hawk in the Rain (1957)) The Iron Man (1968).

Wonderful, inspired and deeply colorful and vivid animation, which is endowed with a keen comical eye and excellent voice performances from Eli Marienthal (American Pie (1999)), Jennifer Aniston (We're the Millers (2013)), Harry Connick Jr. (New in Town (2009)), and others.

The story's political angle, - weapon are evil and the state and authorities are deceitful, ignorant and hungry for wars, - is a bit too pregnant for a family film. The Iron Giant is nevertheless still a very special and delightful picture.

 

Related posts:

Brad Bird: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) - Cruise and Bird's phenomenal action spectacle 
The Incredibles (2004) - Unwanted animation action slam-dunk

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 31.7 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.63 times its cost)

[The Iron Giant premiered 31 July (USA) and runs 87 minutes. Bird was inspired by the murder of his sister, shot dead by her estranged husband, because Hughes' novel was a comforting tale for his children following their mother, poet Sylvia Plath's suicide. Production took place in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #9 to a 5.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, steadily declining from there to end with a 23.1 mil. $ (72.9 % of the total gross) gross. The flop was attributed to Warner Bros. lacking marketing campaign, apparently stemming from lack of faith in the film due to their failure with the preceding year's big animation Quest for Camelot (1998). The film won a BAFTA, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. IMDb's users have rated it in at the site's Top 250 at #239, sitting between Network (1976) and The Handmaiden (2016). Bird returned with The Incredibles (2004). Marienthal returned in 3 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in American Pie 2 (2001). The Iron Giant is certified fresh at 96 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Iron Giant?

Top 10: Best horror movies

 

 

1. The Shining (1980) - Stanley Kubrick

 

2. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari/Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920) - Robert Wiene

 

3. Halloween (1978) - John Carpenter

 

4. Altered States (1980) - Ken Russell

 

5. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) - John McNaughton

 

6. Antichrist (2009) - Lars Von Trier  

7. House of Usher/The Fall of the House of Usher/The Mysterious House of Usher (1960) - Roger Corman

 

8. Inferno (1980) - Dario Argento

 

9. The Beyond/ ...E Tu Vivrai nel Terrore! L'Aldilà/7 Doors of Hell (1981) - Lucio Fulci

 

10. Candyman (1992) - Bernard Rose

 

Selected from 168 titles labeled either 'animated horror', 'body horror', 'early horror', 'great horror', 'sex horror', 'war horror', 'horror', 'horror adventure', 'horror anthology', 'J-horror' or 'kids horror'. The following horror label categories are so large that they will get separate Top 10 entries of their own: 'horror comedy', 'psych. horror', 'sci-fi horror', 'teen horror', 'horror action', 'horror drama' and 'religious horror'

Previous Top 10 lists:

Best action movies
Best adapted movies
Best adventure movies
Best 'big flop' movies
Best B/W movies
Best true story movies
Best 'big hit' movies
Best biopic movies
Best 'box office success' movies
Best car chases in movies
Best comedies
Best cop movies       
Best crime movies 
Best debut movies   
Best Danish movies
Best Disney movies 
Best documentaries 
Best dramas
Best drama-thrillers
Best dramedies

Best drug-themed movies

Best UK movies

Best epic movies

Best erotic movies

Best family movies

Best fantasy movies

Best films about filmmaking 

Best first-of-franchise movies 

Best 'flop' rank movies

Best Twentieth Century Fox titles 

Best French movies

Best franchise movies 

Best future-set movies 

Best gangster movies

Best gay-themed titles

Best German movies 

Best ghost horror movies 

Best gore movies

Top 10: Best HBO titles

Best heist movies

Best high school titles 

Best historical titles 

Top 10: Best Hollywood-set movies 

What do you think of the list?
Which horror movies would make your personal Top 10?

No Man's Land/Ничија земља (Ničija zemlja) (2001) - Gimmicky Bosnia War hit

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Two grown men in underpants wave white cloth in the air as UN soldiers look on in this poster for Danis Tanovic's No Man's Land

During the Bosnian War (1992-95) a soldier trips and lands on top of a landmine. Can he now cooperate with an enemy about this matter, and how do the media and UN play a role in the war?

No Man's Land is written and directed by feature-debuting Danis Tanovic (Budjenje (1999, documentary)), who also composed the score. The English title is a literal translation of the original Serbian one. 

Become a bit more knowing about the Bosnia War by watching this Oscar-intended feature that has brutality and high ambitions but no promising core or any greater cinematic qualities. There are no surprises and little insight to gain from this film about unthinking killing in a beautiful landscape by people that the surrounding world take little interest in. The news media need their stories; and the UN are without balls. Spend an hour and a half to learn this here in Tanovic's unremarkable film.

  

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2 mil. €, approximately 1.8 mil. $

Box office: 4.8 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.66 times its cost)

[No Man's Land premiered 12 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 98 minutes. 19 companies and support bodies collaborated in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place in Slovenia. The film opened #53 to a 22k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #39 and in 38 theaters (different weekends), grossing 1 mil. $ (20.8 % of the total gross). The film won the Best Foreign Language Oscar and the Best Screenplay award at Cannes as well as 1/2 César award nominations. It was also nominated for 2 David di Donatello awards, won 1/2 European Film award nominations, a Golden Globe, 2/3 AFI award nominations, a National Board of Review award and many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Tanovic returned with a segment of September 11 (2002) and with a proper feature with L'Enfer (2005). Branko Djuric (Teater Paradiznik (1994, TV-series), director) returned in Kajmak i marmelada (2003); Rene Bitorajac (Minions (2015)) with a voice performance in Cats & Dogs (2001) and a physical performance in 24 sata (2002). No Man's Land is certified fresh at 93 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of No Man's Land?

In the Realm of the Senses/愛のコリーダ (Ai no Korīda) (1976) - Ôshima's psycho-sexual shocker

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A tense and intimate moment between a man and a woman in old-fashioned Japanese garbs make up most of this exceedingly text-littered poster for Nagisa Ôshima's In the Realm of the Senses

In Japan in the 1930s, the young woman Sada is increasingly obsessed with her lover Kichizo, despite his married status, and her urge to possess him only increases.

 

In the Realm of the Senses is written and directed by Nagisa Ôshima (Ai to kibô no machi (1959)). The original Japanese title translates to, 'bullfight of love'. It is a fictionalized account of the real-life sensational murder of her lover by Sada Abe in 1936.

Ôshima's film is a blindingly strange and uncompromising one with sexual malaise, a psycho-sexual relationship in which the sexuality becomes all-encompassing and fatal. Shockingly explicit, - SPOILER including a scene in which Sada pinches a naked boy's penis, - In the Realm of the Senses is hard to watch, heavy as well, and inauspicious as a date movie. It is nevertheless a remarkable film.

 

 

Watch a scene from the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: In excess of 7.65 mil. $ (France and West Germany alone)

= Uncertain but likely at least a huge hit

[In the Realm of the Senses premiered 15 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 108 minutes (original cut)/102 minutes (producers' cut). The film's explicit sexual content meant that it would not pass Japan's censorship: Ôshima planned to get around this by making it as a French production in Japan, and shipping the film to France for post production. Shooting took place in Kyoto, Japan. Despite optically censoring, reframing and blurring his film to appease the censors, Ôshima was nevertheless sued with obscenity along with a man responsible for a book release based on the film. Both were found not guilty in 1979 and again in 1982. The film was met with outrage, longer or shorter bans and extraordinary interest in most countries it was released in. In France and Germany alone it sold 2.4 mil. tickets, grossing 7.65 mil. $. It also grossed 1.4 mil. SEK in Sweden. The film's cost and world gross is regrettably unknown, but it was likely a huge hit. Ôshima returned with 3 TV credits prior to his theatrical return Empire of the Senses/Ai no bôrei (1978). Eiko Matsuda (Jack no irezumi (1970)) returned in Ôoku ukiyo-buro (1977); Tatsuya Fuji (Radiance/Hikari (2017)) in Empire of Passion. In the Realm of the Senses is fresh at 84 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of In the Realm of the Senses? 

The Invisible War (2012, documentary) - Harrowing exposure of a mammoth problem in the US Defense

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A female soldier with a stern look in her face makes up this sparse poster for Kirby Dick's The Invisible War

The American military has a colossal problem with rapes inside its institutions, which are not addressed appropriately.

 

The Invisible War is written and directed by great Arizonian filmmaker Kirby Dick (Men Who Are Men (1981)), with additional writing by Douglas Blush (The S Word (2017, documentary)) and Amy Ziering (The Hunting Ground (2015, documentary)).

Strongly focused on the many victims of rape in the US military, The Invisible War is a truly horrible experience. Strong subjects show how idealistic young women may suffer hard fates in the officer-dictated system of hush hush and male privilege. Male victims and the perpetrators are almost completely missing.

The Invisible War is an instructive, activist documentary, which managed to inspire a real legislative change for the benefit of millions of privates after it. 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 450k $

Box office: 71k $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.15 times its cost)

[The Invisible War premiered 20 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 97 minutes. The film opened #55 to a 16k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it did not achieve a higher rank although it widened to 7 theaters, grossing 71k $. The film did not get general releases in other markets. It was nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar, lost to Searching for Sugar Man. The film also won an Independent Spirit award and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. It inspired changes in the American defense in how it deals with rape charges. Dick returned with The Hunting Ground (2015, documentary). The Invisible War is certified fresh at 99 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Invisible War? 

And Then We Danced/და ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ (Da chven vitsek'vet) (2019) - Swede strikes for LGBT rights in Georgia

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The fantastical emotion of unhindered freedom found in folk dance is encapsulated beautifully on this elegant poster for Levan Akin's And Then We Danced

Merab is a passionate dancer in the tradition of Georgian folk dance, who falls for a new, male dance colleague and competitor during a period leading up to a pivotal audition in the traditional and Conservative country.

And Then We Danced is written, directed and co-edited by Levan Akin (Katinkas Kalas (2011)). The original Georgian title translates to, 'and we danced'.

With a dedicated and strong performance by debuting Levan Gelbakhiani as Merab and a thrilling insight into a rarely seen nation and culture, And Then We Danced attracts its viewers.  But its secret taboo romance is seen many times before and is related in a very leisurely pace, which dramatically slows our investment in the film, which is lifted by the finishing audition dance scene.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 625k $

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop (projected return of 0.625 times its cost)

[And Then We Danced premiered 16 May (Cannes Film Festival, Director's Fortnight section) and runs 105 minutes. Akin, born in Sweden with Georgian ex-pat parents, decided to make the film after seeing footage of a Gay Pride parade in Georgia getting attacked by homophobes. 10 companies and support bodies collaborated in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place in Georgia, including in Tbilisi. The film was met with death threats, protests, dismissals and a refusal for support by official Georgia, including the Culture Ministry, the Church and the National Ballet, due to the country's homophobic culture. Hundreds protested the films cinema screenings in Georgia, with the police forcefully enforcing the peace and safety of cinema-goers. The Georgian gross is regrettably not reported online. The film opened #48 to a 13k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #43 and in 23 theaters (different weekends), grossing 177k $ (28.3 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 2nd biggest market. The biggest was Spain with 182k $ (29.1 %); 3rd biggest was the Netherlands with 142k $ (22.7 %). The cost of the film is unknown but is here projected to have been a low 1 mil. $. The film was nominated for a European Film award and won 4/7 Guldbagge award nominations, among other honors. It was chosen as Sweden's film for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar but did not get nominated. Akin returned with Deg (2021, TV-series) and theatrically with Crossing (2024). Gelbakhiani has not returned in a film yet but is slated to return in two films in post production, Don't Let the Sun (Catch You Crying) and Youri. And Then We Danced is certified fresh at 93 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of And Then We Danced?

I Am Not Your Negro (2016, documentary) or, America's Race Problems

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A huge-sized title and James Baldwin's human stare resting atop makes up this poster for Raoul Peck's I Am Not Your Negro

African-American activist and writer James Baldwin was a sensitive, intelligent, enormously eloquent man, whose expressions on racism in America still resound today.

 

I Am Not Your Negro is written, co-produced and directed by Raoul Peck (Haitian Corner (1987)). It is based on Baldwin's unfinished, 30-page novel manuscript entitled Remember This House.

Presented as a documentary essay, the film shows us three central friends of Baldwin; Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers, who were all assassinated for their racial and civil rights activism. Sharply and with a ripe sense of grief their time is portrayed, and straight lines are drawn from this era to the current police murders and Black Lives Matter movement. It is a bitter, bordering on hatefully poisonous image of the US as a morally bankrupt wonderland of the white, which is painted here. 

Many aspects are missing in the personal perspective on Baldwin, due to racism being the defining trait in everything in I Am Not Your Negro. 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 1 mil. $

Box office: 9.6 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 9.6 times its cost)

[I Am Not Your Negro premiered 10 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 95 minutes. The film opened #24 to a 686k $ first weekend in 43 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #15 and in 313 theaters (different weekends), grossing 7.1 mil. $ (74 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 480k $ (5 %) and the Netherlands with 214k $ (2.2 %). The film was nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar, lost to O.J.: Made in America. It also won a BAFTA, a César award and was nominated for an Independent Spirit award, among many other honors. The-Numbers.com assert that the film additionally made in excess of 2.6 mil. $ on the domestic home video market alone. Peck returned with The Young Karl Marx (2017). I Am Not Your Negro is certified fresh at 99 % with an 8.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of I Am Not Your Negro?