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Paratroopers dropping from a plane mirror blood splatters on this otherwise starkly white poster for Julius Avery's Overlord
American paratroopers are dropped across a French countryside in a jumble of death and fire on the eve of D-Day (6th June 1944, WWII), and once safely on the ground they are tasked with blowing up a tower, - but a grim Nazi secret is awaiting them...
Overlord is written by Billy Ray (Volcano (1997)) and Mark L. Smith (Martyrs (2015)) and directed by Julius Avery (Son of a Gun (2014)).
It presents a graphic novel and video game reminiscent version of WWII with 'attitude'-prone soldiers, (anachronistically for the period their behavior curiously resemble 2010s age teenagers), who feel no visible consequences of any of the insane intimate experiences with death that they go through here.
Aside from these dubious character issues, the film is polished stylishly and bloody, with Nazi experiment monsters and a (politically correct for today) black hero. Overlord is a very basic, 'what-are-you-gonna-do-with-it' type of tiresome ultra-violence product.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 38 mil. $
Box office: 41.6 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 1.09 times its cost)
[Overlord premiered 22 September (Fantastic Fest, USA) and runs 110 minutes. Shooting took place around May 2017 in England. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release The Grinch and holdover hit Bohemian Rhapsody, to a 10.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell out of the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 21.7 mil. $ (52.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 2 mil. $ (4.8 %) and the UK with 1.6 mil. $ (3.8 %). Avery returned with Samaritan (2022). Jovan Adepo (Fences (2016)) returned in 6 TV and voice performances prior to his theatrical return in The Violent Heart (2020). Overlord is certified fresh at 82 % with a 6.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
+ Best Action-Adventure of the Year + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Villain of the Year: Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)
A large collection of characters and visuals are brought together on this primary-colored poster for J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The Rebellion are forced to a final reckoning with an enemy thought dead; Emperor Palpatine. Meanwhile last Jedi Rey's roots are explored, and her strong relation to Kylo Ren comes to a conclusion.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is written by Chris Terrio (Argo (2012)) and great New-Yorker co-writer/co-producer/director J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III (2006)), with Derek Connolly (Monster Trucks (2016)) and Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World (2015)) contributing story elements. It is the concluding third film in the reboot Star Wars trilogy and the concluding ninth film in the overall Skywalker saga, which began with Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). The script has been compiled with the added difficulty of key cast member Carrie Fisher's (Heartbreakers (2001)) 2016 demise; her Princess Leia hasn't been written out of the new film, and her scenes have not been completed with a CGI-created performance, apparently: Rather, footage that was left over from Abrams' great first Star Wars film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) has been used, and the story is designed to match. The film begins with an exciting space chase and goes on at a break-neck pace, but some fun moments are afforded droid favorite C-3PO (Anthony Daniels (Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980))), (less for other droid favorites R2D2 and BB8 this time around); John Boyega (24: Live Another Day (2014, miniseries)) also gets some amusing situations, and a cute new mechanic character named Babu Frik is adorable and fun. SPOILER The film sends Leia off, (after we think it sent Chewbacca off, but that was a red herring), and dashing pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac (X-Men: Apocalypse (2016))) gets the command. The main focus is on Rey; Daisy Ridley (Scrawl (2015)) continues to be a vibrant, commanding presence as the diminutive heroine, - and on evil Kylo Ren aka. Ben Solo, SPOILER who undergoes the most profound change in the film: Adam Driver (Logan Lucky (2017)) takes his Star Wars star to the next level here; after Rey saves him, he finally casts away darkness for the light. There's also an amazing planet with tall dancing creatures and cute baby aliens. The film's villain is a reanimation of the greatest foe in the Star Wars pantheon, if you ask me: Not Darth Vader but, of course, Emperor Palpatine, in the harrowing, still in the iconic guise of Ian McDiarmid (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)). His intonations and the corpse-like makeup and prosthetics add tremendous fuel to the film, as it reveals Rey to be his granddaughter. His lair and the sound design are also truly magnificent. Richard E. Grant (Jackie (2016)) is well-cast as a new secondary villain of the First Order. The film uses ghosts of siblings Leia and Luke Skywalker to guide Rey, (and, more than a bit confusingly, seemingly pose as her adoptive parents), but the latter's power as a character arguably played out in the saga's best film to date, masterpiece Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and his inclusion here is questionable. Rise of Skywalker also re-earths another old character in Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams (The Ladies Man (2000))), whose reappearance will be either hammy or satisfying to you according to your individual perspective.
The story is something about a dagger, that has inscription that needs to be translated, because it will lead to a 'Pathfinder', which will lead to the location of the secret Exegol planet (...); it's also about light-sabers and the Force. The plot can feel a bit secondary to the technical wonders in this film, John Williams' (The Killers (1964)) fabulous score and Dan Mindel's (Spy Game (2001)) ravishing photography, as well as the great performances. But mostly the considerable pot of emotional investment that is at play here, which drives the adventure through thrills, tears and to rousing optimism, when the universe finally answers the call to stand with the Rebellion. As a devoted Star Wars fan, The Rise of Skywalker is a thrilling and satisfying end to the saga, if not exactly to be counted among the best in the 9-picture series. Related posts:
Cost: Estimated 250-300 mil. $ Box office: 59.1 mil. $ and counting (just released) = Uncertain [Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered 16 December (Los Angeles, California) and runs 142 minutes. Trevorrow was hired to direct but withdrew after failing to deliver a script that producer Kathleen Kennedy thought acceptable. Abrams decided to keep Fisher in the film, using the leftover Force Awakens footage. Shooting took place in England, Jordan and in New York and Los Angeles from August 2018 - February 2019. The box office performance is followed with some trepidation, following the first real flop of a Star Wars movie with the preceding Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), though not part of the saga. Rise of Skywalker shows poor reception in China and a smaller North-American initial reception than Force Awakens and Last Jedi. It has two announced markets left to open in: Vietnam and the Philippines in January. Abrams does not have an announced next directing gig. Ridley returns in Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2020); Driver in Annette (2020); and McDiarmid does not have an announced next gig. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is rotten at 58 % with a 6.22/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker?
Allowing sneak peaks out to the infinity of space, the over-sized, excited letters of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek seem fitting on this simple, great poster
Star Fleet Captain James Kirk's father dies to save his pregnant wife. Kirk grows up to become a rebel who carries his feelings on his sleeve. Now he has to unify his talents with half-human/half-Vulcan rational brain Mr. Spock to save the universe from a madman with red matter and direction towards Earth.
Star Trek is written by Alex Kurtzman (The Island (2005)) and Roberto Orci (Hawaii Five-O (2010-19)) and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III (2006)). It is a prequel reboot of the Star Trek film franchise, its 11th film, based on the original Star Trek TV-series (1966-69). I was not a Star Trek fan when this came out, (I later have watched most of the original series and come to love its equal parts idealistic, ambitious sci-fi and campy 1960s silliness), and I found Zachary Quinto's (Margin Call (2011)) Spock to be involuntarily comedic throughout. I also fail to see any reason why Zoe Saldana's (The Skeptic (2009)) Uhura should fall for him as she does. The scenes of Kirk and Spock as boys in the beginning of the film don't work: Kirk is a brat, who wrecks a beautiful car; and Spock is a king of nerds. But when the Enterprise (Star Trek's central spaceship) finally gets into space, the film captures me. Eric Bana (The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)) is unrecognizable as the nefarious Nero, and Abrams and cinematographer David Mindel's (Enemy of the State (1998)) use of lens flares get the best of them. But Chris Pine (Just My Luck (2006)) is surprisingly good as adult Kirk; the effects are terrific, and Michael Giacchino's (This Is Where I Leave You (2014)) score is especially grand and great. Simon Pegg (Diary of the Dead (2007)) is a joy to have here as Scotty, and although his Russian accent is somewhat jarring to me, Anton Yelchin (Charlie Bartlett (2007)) as the starship's Russian cadre Chekov is also neat to have in the ensemble. Pivotally, the fascinating endlessness of space is communicated in the worthwhile Star Trek.
Cost: 150 mil. $ Box office: 385.6 mil. $ = Box office success (returned 2.57 times its cost) [Star Trek premiered 6 April (Austin, Texas) and runs 127 minutes. Paramount chief Gail Berman convinced CBS to allow them to make a new Star Trek film in 2005. Shooting took place in Vermont, Utah, Alaska and in California, including Los Angeles, from November 2007 - March 2008. A 2008 Christmas release was pushed out to summer 2009 as the dailies impressed Paramount execs. The film opened #1 to a 75.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, the biggest Star Trek movie launch - also adjusted for inflation - ever. It spent another 4 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5-#5) and grossed 257.7 mil. $ (66.8 % of the total gross), becoming the year's 7th highest-grossing film in North America. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 35.3 mil. $ (9.2 %) and Germany with 12.7 mil. $ (3.3 %). The film was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning for Best Makeup. It lost Sound Mixing and Sound Editing to The Hurt Locker and Best Visual Effects to Avatar. It became the first Star Trek movie to win an Oscar. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs, a Grammy, won a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2½/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The rebooted franchise continued with Star Trek Into Darkness (2013, also by Abrams) and Star Trek Beyond (2016). A fourth film in the new saga was projected but shelved after disappointing B.O. performance of Beyond; Quentin Tarantino has written an R-rated Star Trek script that he wishes to film, but its fruition is highly doubtful. Abrams returned with a video game, a TV movie and a TV-series pilot before his next theatrical feature Super 8 (2011). Pine returned in Carriers (2009); Quinto in 5 short, video game and TV-series credits before his return to big screens in Margin Call (2011). Star Trek is certified fresh at 94 % with a 8.13/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Star Trek?
Best Supporting Actor: Harrison Ford (lost to John C. Reilly for The Extra Man)
A classy, upbeat poster for Roger Michell's Morning Glory that pushes its lovely stars
A young female workaholic loses her job in Jersey but then gains a new one as executive producer on New York's worst morning TV show. She now has to secure better ratings as well as her own romantic life. - Pheew...!
Morning Glory is a lot less of a romcom than I had expected; instead it is more a story about a young woman on the job market. The romance with Patrick Wilson (The A-Team (2010)) is tame: SPOILER Whether or not he is actually a womanizer gets dropped on the floor, and his being alternately for and against her work madness is also inopportune. But Rachel McAdams (Southpaw (2015)) is sweet and credible in the lead, and Diane Keaton (Something's Gotta Give (2003)) shimmers. The film also have talents like Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson and Morley Safer in amusing cameos. But it is Harrison Ford (The Mosquito Coast (1988)) who is the movie's crowning jewel, splendid as a pompous and quite isolated character. Morning Glory is written by Aline Brosh McKenna (We Bought a Zoo (2011)) and directed by great South-African filmmaker Roger Michell (Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)). It's a funny comedy. Related posts: 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]
Watch an official trailer for the film here
Cost: 40 mil. $ Box office: 60 mil. $ = Big flop [Morning Glory was released November 10 and runs 107 minutes. It was partially inspired by Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. It is the first film with Keaton and Ford and the second with McAdams and Keaton, following The Family Stone (2005). Michell had to convince McAdams to star in the film, because she didn't think of herself as funny. Filming took place in New York and New Jersey from May - August 2009. The film opened #5 to a 9.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, (behind Megamind, Unstoppable, Due Date and Skyline), where it grossed 31 mil. $ (51.7 % of the total gross). It fell out of the top 5 (to #6) in its second week. The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 5.8 mil. $ (9.7 %) and Russia with 3.1 mil. $ (5.2 %). Morning Glory is rotten at 56 % with a 6 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Morning Glory?
One of the beautiful, strong-colored posters for Justin Lin's Star Trek Beyond
Star Trek Beyond is the 3rd film in the rebooted Star Trek film franchise and the 13th Star Trek film overall. It is written by Doug Jung (Banshee (2014), TV-series) and Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz (2007)), who also returns as Scotty, based on Gene Roddenberry's (West Point (1956-57)) original 1966-86 series, and directed by Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 6 (2013)). The spaceship Enterprise is three years into its 5-year mission, and Captain Kirk is having doubts as to the point of the exploration of space. A search for an allegedly stranded ship on a strange planet turns deadly, as the Enterprise gets shot down by a malicious army led by the bitter leader Krall. Beyond keeps the pedal to the metal in terms of keeping the high quality of the two previous chapters in the new film series, despite the cast beginning to look older and less energetic. Chris Pine (This Means War (2012)) is still an ideal Kirk, who communicates knowingly with involuntarily funny Spock (Zachary Quinto (I Am Michael (2015)), who shares quite a lot of pleasant banter with earthbound, skeptic Doc Bones (Karl Urban (The Price of Milk (2000))) in the new film. SPOILER Many headlines have been spun on the controversy regarding John Cho's (That Burning Feeling (2013)) character Sulu's very discreet coming out as gay in Beyond, mostly because George Takei, who used to play Sulu and has since come out as a gay LGBT rights activist, has opposed the turn. In reality the element is very small in the film. It is there, but underplayed (don't expect a kiss) so as to not alienate potentially important, LGBT-hostile markets.
Anton Yelchin (Burying the Ex (2014)) is back as Chekov in one of the actor's last performances following his tragic, accidental death earlier this year, and the film is appropriately dedicated to both him and Leonard Nimoy, (who played Spock through most of the franchise's now 50 year history), who also passed away recently. Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)) is new as the tough, likable Jaylah, and Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation (2015)) adds yet another villain credit to his name as Krall. - He is unrecognizable, (and is he even really, in fact, under there, under that heavy mask?), for much of the film, which I think is a shame, SPOILER because the character grows immensely more interesting once we get to see the recognizable Elba and know the character's backstory. As an ex-soldier who is too dedicated to fighting and a permanent combat-reality, Krall has got quite a strong resonance with some of the problems we see in our actual world today, which is only a strength and nicely in line with the villain of the previous film, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), whose terrorist agenda was also potent. This is one clear mark of good sci-fi. The film plays much like an adventure story with strong visuals both on the mysterious planet and especially on the Starbase Yorktown, which is an amazingly detailed, fascinating place. There's fun, (SPOILER including something of a Deux ex machina moment of true silliness, as Beastie Boys' Sabotage turns out to be a formidable weapon against the 'bee' army), excitement and a firm foundation in the original Star Trek universe: Strangely recognizable sounds from the series are used, (only fans will notice), and the feeling throughout is very much in line with Roddenberry's visionary show. Shohreh Aghdashloo (Twenty Bucks (1993)) with her distinctive, raspy voice and natural integrity gives a fine performance that's a neat bookend to the film, which rounds off with a nice quotation from all the regular cast members of the legendary intro speech of the show. It is a great, exciting end, - before a stunning end credit animation sequence that will make you keep your 3D glasses on for a while longer. Beyond relishes in the celebration of diversity, humanity and exploratory thrill that is the heart of Star Trek.
Cost: 185 mil. $ Box office: Unknown yet = Unknown yet [Star Trek Beyond premiered July 7 (Sydney) and runs 122 minutes. Producer Robert Orci was replaced as director in 2014, before Lin was chosen. Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, LA, Seoul and Dubai from June - October 2015 with reshoots in March 2016, including Aghdashloo's scenes. The film is getting great reviews, and audiences love it, but it is regrettably projected to make less money than the two previous installments. Star Trek Beyond is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Star Trek Beyond?
An amazing image of the SS Enterprise about to crash-land makes up this poster for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness
Captain
Kirk's disciplinary difficulties are landing him in trouble. But with deadly attacks from an ex Starfleet officer with
superhuman capabilities, Kirk and his spaceship Enterprise team are sent to seek
out and kill the renegade Harrison on the enemy planet Kronos.
Complications ensue.
Star Trek Into Darkness is written and co-produced by Alex Kurtzman (The Mummy (2017)), Damon Lindelof (World War Z (2013)) and Roberto Orci (People Like Us (2012)) and co-produced and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III (2006)). It is the sequel to Abrams' Star Trek (2009) reboot of the Star Trek franchise and the 12th film in the franchise. With the for many familiar core characters firmly re-established in the first film, the sequel has room to play around with them some more, and especially the scenes between Kirk and Mr. Spock are enjoyable. Chris Pine (Poolman (2023))is still dead-on right as the face of humanity. Zachary Quinto's (Margin Call (2011)) head may have grown a bit fatter in the four years since the last Star Trek, but his Spock hasn't grown a millimeter in any direction. - Still the dorky, cerebral ol' Spockerino, quite amusing at times. I didn't object any longer to Zoe Saldana's (Avatar (2009)) Uhura loving him here, and overall I enjoyed her performance more in this film, especially when she spoke Klingon. Anton Yelchin's (Fierce People (2005)) strained Russian-accented Tintin-like freshman of the crew Chekov has had his role reduced in Into Darkness (thank God), and instead we have more time with the likeable, funny characters played by Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)) and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead (2004)). SPOILER Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game (2014)) plays the Harrison character that is later revealed to actually be the major Star Trek mythology villain Khan. Cumberbatch makes a bland substitute for Ricardo Montalban's colorful, campy, sexually magnetic performance in the original series and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). SPOILER Peter Weller (Naked Lunch (1991)) plays a character you first think is good, but then... - Unless you guess by seeing Weller's very face that this is a no-good son-of-a-bitch. He is a welcome addition in Into Darkness to be sure. Into Darkness does go for a darker, almost oppressive tone that I don't think it succeeds with, which is a shame after the very promising, more adventure-focused first Abrams Star Trek venture. Michael Giacchino (Up (2009)) has again made a fine, thundering score. The special effects are beautiful and exciting to look at, as in the first film. The adventure and action of deep space exploration are some of the main attractions of the films, - not so much the super-dark villains, - but Into Darkness has both, and is over-all a fairly suspenseful film experience. Whereas the previous Abrams' Star Trek took its time getting started but then turned out highly satisfying, Into Darkness begins to wobble in its third act: SPOILER Bruce Greenwood's (The Sweet Hereafter (1997)) character Pike dies at the beginning, which I thought was a shame. He and Kirk had good scenes together, and he would have been a great actor to keep in the films. Kirk later gives Pegg's Scotty the responsibility to watch over Khan, a man he has just acknowledged is a kind of super-man. This seems too stupid for any good captain, no matter how upstanding Scotty appears. Later, the self same Khan, who is at least two or three steps ahead of everyone else for the entire film, could not have imagined that the torpedoes carrying his people also could be armed torpedoes. Again, it seems like a flawed, easy writing solution, instead of a likely mistake made by the character.
SPOILER
- At the very last climax, Kirk fixes the 'warp core' by kicking it a
few times. This is both anticlimactic and a little silly. On the plus side, Spock gets the last fight against Khan, instead of the macho Kirk, which I rather liked.
Cost: 185-190 mil. $ (different sources) Box office: 467.3 mil. $ = Even
[Star Trek Into Darkness premiered 2 May (London) and runs 132 minutes. Pine was paid 1.5 mil. $ plus a 500k $ "if the film proved profitable" for his performance. Shooting took place from January - May 2012 in Iceland and California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 70.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained in the top 5 another 2 weekends (#3-#4), grossing 228.7 mil. $ (48.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 57 mil. $ (12.2 %) and the UK with 39.2 mil. $ (8.4 %). The film was nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar, lost to Gravity. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs, among other honors. The film additionally made an estimated 80.8 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. The Star Trek franchise returned with Justin Lin's Star Trek Beyond (2016). Abrams returned with Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). Pine returned in Paul McCartney: Queenie Eye (2013, music video) and theatrically in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014); Quinto in We'll Never Have Paris (2014); and Cumberbatch in 12 Years a Slave (2013). Star Trek Into Darkness is certified fresh at 84 % with a 7.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
