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Something frightening covered under tied together leather (or skin) pieces make up this eerie poster for Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers
A brother and sister drive through rural America together, when an old, rusty truck smashes aggressively past them. SPOILER This leads them to discover an underground mass grave, and soon a flying, man-eating monster is after them.
Jeepers Creepers is written and directed by Victor Salva (Clownhouse (1989)).
It is a really good horror movie with a strongStephen King vibe. The first half of the film, - that is, until the monster is revealed, - is to most audiences the more scary half.
Gina Philips (Love and Debate (2006)) and Justin Long (Dear David (2023)) are good as the terrorized siblings, and the last image of Long (minus eyes) is pretty cool (in a horrific, evil way of course.) If you didn't know any more about convicted pedophile Salva, this film might earn him your respect.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 59.3 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.93 times its cost)
[Jeepers Creepers premiered 20 July (München Fantasy Filmfest) and runs 91 minutes. The film came about due to American Zoetrope founder, master filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola's continued support for Salva, despite his having molested a boy actor on his debut Clownhouse, (Coppola, at whose house some of the abuse took place, subsequently attempted to sue the boy for breach of contract, when the arrest of Salva impeded the film's chance of success.) But also a studio craze for horror was spurred by the incredible success of Blair Witch Project (1999), and UA and MGM bought the distribution rights for 2.5 mil. $. Shooting took place from July - September 2000 in Florida. A million was reportedly cut from the budget during production, forcing Salva to change the ending. The film opened #1 to a 13.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#3), grossing 37.9 mil. $ (63.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 8.7 mil. $ (14.7 %) and Mexico with 2.4 mil. $ (4 %). Salva returned with Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003). Philips returned in The Anarchist Cookbook (2002); Long in Crossroads (2002). Jeepers Creepers is rotten at 44 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]
+ Best Florida Movie of the Year + Best Independent Movie of the Year + Best Social Realism Movie of the Year
A brightly colored, semi-psychedelic poster for Sean Baker's The Florida Project with its lead mother-daughter duo at its center
At a motel in Kissimmee, Florida, near Walt Disney World, 6 year-old Moonee lives with her mother Halley, whose life is a constant battle to secure next week's rent and providing the basics for the two. The Florida Project is the 6th theatrical feature from great New-Yorker filmmaker Sean Baker (Tangerine (2015)), who co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Bergoch (Starlet (2012)). The Florida Project was an early name for the Orlando, Florida Disney park. The downright psychedelic quality of Florida in general and Orlando in particular are highlighted in the film, which begs the question of how that style affects the mentality of the permanent inhabitants there. - I certainly was not inspired to throw my hard-earned holiday money towards a stay in Florida from the presentation of the state given here. Watching The Florida Project reminded me of Andrea Arnold's recent, great American Honey (2016), which deals with youths that also reside in shady motels, however not for long, in their hustling journeys and uncertain lives across America. That film is more enjoyable to sit through, simply because it has a lighter, compelling story and an air of youth and survival and unity to it. The Florida Project is an equally accomplished piece of independent filmmaking but a more oppressive and tough watch, because it deals with the mother of a little girl, and the other kids around who grow up in similarly under-stimulating circumstances. - Is American Honey's Star (played soulfully by Sasha Lane) going to end up like Halley here, I wonder? The possibility certainly exists. Halley is a terrible mother. She doesn't reach the level of Precious' mother Mary, (played chillingly by Mo'Nique back in Lee Daniels' great Precious (2009)), because she is available for her daughter and loves her. But her own lifestyle, - and no-doubt also her personal experiences growing up and becoming a woman, - have left her as a multi-tattooed, blue-haired young woman in the skimpiest outfits and with the trashiest mouth. Her rudeness and physical affront seems to be a self-enforcing bad circle for her, as it makes her unemployable and hard to befriend for just about everyone around her. The situation is only made more complicated from the fact that Moonee lives with her and naturally takes influence from her mother's behavior. Baker gets dauntingly realistic, naturalistic performances from his cast of mostly amateurs: Bria Vinaite's (Adultland (2019)) Halley is a provocative character to say the least, but she is somehow also hard to completely reject, and this is a serious feat; she is undeniably a mother, no matter how we feel about what she passes on. Brooklynn Prince (Monsters at Large (2018)) is a true find as Moonee, a true star and a fierce and incredible emotional center for the film. She is helped by two other fine child performances, from Christopher Rivera and Valeria Cotto (Backup Plan (2018, short), who together share some childhood fun, adventure and misbehavior that most will be able to relate to. The film also has a master turn from Willem Dafoe (Fireflies in the Garden (2008)), the cast's only veteran and star actor. Dafoe plays the motel's upstanding manager, who is both a policing and care-giving social presence on the premises, and does it to a T, adding a layer of humanity to the otherwise somewhat grim social realism. One scene in particular, in which Dafoe's alert eye spots an elderly man who has wandered into the children's grounds and goes to handle the man, who has definite ill intentions, is a standout and a riveting scene in The Florida Project, in which one good man protects his turf and the children on it. This and other scenes in The Florida Project graze the crimes, ugliness and debasement that is inherent in these high-risk living conditions with equal subtlety. This makes the film easier to take, but the images and what could so easily have happened haunt our imaginations as adult audiences nonetheless, which is part of its agenda. But what could be done about a situation such as Halley and Moonee's portrayed here is no easy question. Baker and The Florida Project deserve high praise for inviting us to experience lives such as theirs so skillfully rendered for a while regardless of this.
Cost: 2 mil. $ Box office: 10.8 mil. $ and counting = Big hit [The Florida Project premiered 22 May (Cannes Film Festival) and runs 111 minutes. Baker and Bergoch interviewed people in the area as research for the screenplay to achieve its authenticity. Shooting took place on location. The many helicopters in the film are in it, because the production could not afford to pay them not to operate by the motel. The film is shot on 35mm film, except for its last scene: SPOILER Moonee running from the motel to the Walt Disney Land was shot without getting permission from Disney with an iPhone 6S Plus. The film opened #27 in 4 theaters to a strong 157k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #16 and in 229 theaters (different weeks), grossing 5.9 mil. $ (54.6 % of the gross to date). The 2nd and 3rd markets so far have been France with 1.2 mil. $ (11.1 %) and the UK with 807k $ (7.5 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Supporting Actor (Dafoe), lost to Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, won an AFI award, nominated for 2 Independent Spirit Awards, won 2 National Board of Review awards, among many other honors. The Florida Project is certified fresh at 96 % with a 8.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of The Florida Project?
+ Best Mega-hit of the Year + Best LGBT Movie of the Year + Best Poster of the Year + Best Coming-of-Age Movie of the Year
A rarely seen but striking poster based on a water color painting for Barry Jenkins' Moonlight
Chiron is a kid growing up in a hard neighborhood in Miami, Florida where his coming into his own is made very difficult by bad parenting, drugs and macho violence. Moonlight is the second feature from great Miamian co-writer/director Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy (2008)). He co-wrote the screenply with Tarell Alvin McCraney (Day N Night Out (2010), short), based on McCraney's semi-autobiographical, unpublished play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue (2003). If the short caption of the plot above sounds dour, that's because this is a dour story. It calls to mind films such as the great Precious (2009), which I liked better immediately, due to its humor and snappy pacing, and another sad gay romance, Brokeback Mountain (2005), but also David Gordon Green's masterpiece George Washington (2000). Moonlight is, like that film, a very sensory-stimulating experience. - At one point in it when a sugary juice is removed from the frame, I thought I could actually smell it, which is a sure sign of vibrant, compelling filmmaking. James Laxton's (Yoga Hosers (2016)) elegant photography contributes to this quality. If you were led on by the severe 2015/16 hype surrounding the film, you might have expected it to have much more in it; but Moonlight is a small, intimate story, rather like an adapted short story, igniting us with three points in its protagonist's life. To say it is slow would be wrong, I think, but Moonlight sure takes its sweet time with some of its scenes and moments, which will inevitably attract some and alienate others. It expands moments of import from Chiron's life, and heightens them through stylish techniques and Nicholas Britell's (The Big Short (2015)) fabulous score to art. The film is esteemed also by remarkably fine casting of the child, teen and adult actors who portray Chiron especially and also his buddy Kevin and truly feel like they could be the two persons with about two decades dividing them from each other. They all play well: Oscar-nominated Naomie Harris (Trauma (2004)) is impressive as Chiron's flawed mother. Mahershala Ali (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)) won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his fine portrayal of Chiron's older mentor Juan, but I think lesser known actors Ashton Sanders (The Retrieval (2013)) and Trevante Rhodes (If Loving You Is Wrong (2015-16)) as Chiron as a teenager and an adult, respectively, give even more remarkable performances. Chiron goes from a visibly frail, tension-fraught teenager into a grown man whose buff, drug-dealing appearance puts a guard down between himself and the world around him, while his person inside hasn't really grown much. The change and development he goes through is part of the oppressively circular society the film portrays. The film also has Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures (2016)) and André Holland (42 (2013)), who stands out in the film's very sexy last scenes. This cautious but intense romance between Chiron and Kevin is the best part of the film for me. Moonlight is a very quiet film. It doesn't go for the noisy-busy approach of, say, Precious, but resides a lot in the uninformative communication of Chiron and the looks passed between the characters, which adds to the poetic quality of the film. It also treats its plot points with the ritualistic importance known from many other coming-of-age films, which this essentially is. If it has a sin it is that it hides away the voracious and animal aspect of male sexuality, as it essentially pretties it up or makes it less carnal than it naturally is.
While it is specifically an African-American story, it also deals with such universal issues as learning and dealing with one's own homosexuality, identity, bullying and traumatic roots, - which all help it transcend race as any great film must. Moonlight is its own and I look forward to seeing it again some day.
Cost: 1.5 mil. $ Box office: 55.8 mil. $ and counting = Mega-hit [Moonlight premiered 2 September (Telluride Film Festival) and runs 111 minutes. McCraney wrote the play in 2003 as a way of coping with his mother's dying of AIDS. Both McCraney and Jenkins grew up in Miami's Liberty Square neighborhood where the film plays out. Shooting took place on location in Florida for 25 days from October - November 2015. Harris shot her scenes in 3 days, Holland his in 5. The actors portraying Chiron at three different stages were kept away from each other, never meeting before after shooting. The film opened #19 in 4 theaters to a 402k $ first weekend (the year's best per-theater average) in North America, where it peaked in 1,564 theaters and #11 (different weeks), grossing 27.7 mil. $. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars: Best Picture (won), Supporting Actor (Ali, won), Adapted Screenplay (won), Supporting Actress (Harris, lost to Viola Davis for Fences), Director (lost to Damien Chazelle for La La Land), Cinematography (lost to Linus Sandgren for La La Land), Editing (lost to Hacksaw Ridge) and Score (lost to Justin Hurwitz for La La Land). It was also nominated for 6 Golden Globes, winning one, nominated for 4 BAFTAs; it has won AFI's Movie of the Year award, won 5 out of 6 Independent Spirit Film nominations, won 3 National Board of Review awards, as well as several more awards and nominations and placements on countless top 10 lists of the year. Moonlight is certified fresh at 97 % with a 9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Moonlight?
A ridiculously overstuffed tornado threatens the White House on the poster for Anthony C. Ferrante's Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Our hero Fin (Ian Ziering (Lava Storm (2008, TV movie) is getting honored by the US president in Washington, D.C., as a new sharknado looms. Then the journey goes to his family back in Florida, - and into space! Sharknado 3 is definitely the best of the first three films in SyFy's TV movie franchise. - It is (naturally) still bad, but this time also heavily entertaining and downright funny pretty often. Mark Cuban (Entourage (2010-11)) is funny as the president; Lou Ferrigno (I Love You, Man (2009)) is another funny, new addition, - and then the movie takes us to such exciting locations as the Universal Orlando Resort, the Daytona 500 race and the ultimate exciting location: Space. Furthermore, it is funnier in its genre transgressions than its predecessors. Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! is, as the first two, written by Thunder Levin (Sharknado (2013)) and directed by Anthony C. Ferrante (Hansel & Gretel (2013, video). It is a totally outrageous, uncompromisingly crazy movie. - Not bad.
Here's a behind the scenes video of the section shot at the Universal Orlando Resort
Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - only TV
= Unknown
[Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! premiered July 22 on SyFy and runs 90 minutes. It was shot in Florida, - including at Universal Orlando Resort, - Washington, D.C., California, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and Sao Paolo, Brazil. An ad campaign was sparked upon the film's premiere in which audience tweets were to decide the fate of April (Tara Reid's recurring character) in the next film. The film clocked 2.8 mil. viewers, significantly down from the highly successful second film. Whether this rocks its commercial viability is tough to assess. Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (2016) is also a fact. Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! is rotten at 36 % with a 3.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!?
If you've seen the 4th movie in the franchise, let us know in a comment what it's like
The colorful, in-your-face youthfully brash poster for Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers
Four young college girls must get away for their spring break; away from their depressing dorms to sunny Florida, even if their vacation is only made possible through a violent robbery. During their time there, they wallow in drink and drugs and send reassuring messages home to their families.
Spring Breakers, by writer-director Harmony Korine (Gummo (1997)), is a visually persuasive and impressive argument. - But for, or against, what? It seems too sophisticatedly made to be just a trite scare story about the dangers of guns, crime, drugs, uncontrolled partying and Miami spring breaks. One can easily project a lot of oneself into an analysis of the film, which doesn't stand out as strongly as related predecessors like Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Irréversible (2002).
The visually sensory-based, light-stressing universe is reminiscent of a Nicki Minaj music video (with cinematography by Benoît Debie (Get the Gringo (2012))) and, - together with the almost constant, wavy music (score by Cliff Martinez (Drive (2011)) and Skrillex (Smog City (2012, documentary))), - weigh up for the fact that the story moves slowly and at times feels secondary to the stunning visuals. It is incredible that Korine has managed to get the four promising young actresses to join him in this wild movie. SPOILER Their characters are mostly deeply unlikable, but so are the people that they kill, so any major reaction to these misdeeds remains absent. James Franco (Howl (2010)) is great and gives perhaps his career's most transformative performance as the silly-idiotic drug dealer Alien.
[Spring Breakers premiered September 4 (Venice International Film Festival) and runs 94 minutes. Korine has said he wanted to make the film to make up for his own missed spring breaks, which he used on skateboarding instead of pursuing hedonism. Emma Roberts was in talks to star in the film. Filming took place in Florida in and around March 2012. The film opened #27 in just 3 theaters to a huge 263k $ first weekend, peaking at #6 in 1,104 theaters in the US, where it grossed 14.1 mil. $ (44.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 4.6 mil. $ (14.5 %) and Canada with 1.7 mil. $ (5.4 %). Rapper Riff Raff has announced that he would sue the producers for "sampling" his life in Franco's character, but the suit doesn't seem to have materialized, perhaps unsurprisingly. Many critics included the film on their top 10 of the year lists, and Franco campaigned unsuccessfully for Oscar attention for his performance. Spring Breakers is fresh at 67 % with a 6.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
A neatly drawn poster featuring Bub the zombie for George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
QUICK REVIEW:
In this the last film in master writer-director George A. Romero's (Night of the Living Dead (1968)) first Dead trilogy, the plot plays out deep below ground in a military compound, where a group of soldiers protect and despise some scientists, who are trying to find out how to tame the walking dead. Day is nearly as good as its predecessor, the masterpieceDawn of the Dead (1978). Unlike that film, which is lighter, more action-packed and satirical, Day is intensely unpleasant, scary and disgusting, with some exceptional makeup and prosthetic effects. - It has actually made me nauseous to watch on one occasion. The film does have a couple of scenes which are quite obviously too long. The conflict between the ignorant, racist soldiers and the good-hearted scientists is a bit over-the-top and contrived, but it somehow works great anyway, thanks in part to the actors giving serious characterizations and giving the film their all. The music (by John Harrison (Creepshow (1982))) and conflict-heavy dialog is very 80s typical, which I love. Day has scenes and one character in particular (lab 'animal' Bub (Sherman Howard (Jumanji (1996-97))) that sticks in your mind years after you've seen it. Shiver!
Sherman Howard as Bub in George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah in George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
Watch the trailer for the movie here
Cost: 3.5 mil. $ Box office: 34 mil. $ = Huge hit [Day was made on a budget half the size hoped for, which forced Romero to alter his script drastically, effectively making a smaller and different zombie movie. It was filmed on locations in Florida, including in a mine. Extras were paid 1 $ plus a cap that read 'I was a Zombie in Day of the Dead.' The film had a small American release but still grossed 5.8 mil. $ (17 % of the total gross) in North America. It also became a lucrative VHS and later DVD and Bluray item.] What do you think of Day of the Dead? How do you rate it against Romero's other Dead movies?
The endearing minions have gotten their own movie now, with Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin's Minions
After the runaway success of the good Despicable Me (2010) and the even better Despicable Me 2 (2013) about the life of super-villain Gru and his family, this spin-off prequel has been devised, about the origins of Gru's yellow minion helpers.
The minions have been around much longer than man, but have always have a hard time finding a master to serve. In 1968, they come to attend a 'Villain-Con' in Florida and discover the evil Scarlet Overkill, whom they begin to serve. Sandra Bullock (Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men (2007-15)) are Mrs. and Mr. Overkill, two characters who are generally a lot less fun than the ones seen earlier, especially in Despicable Me 2. And none of the other voice actors stand out in any way, good or bad. The film is plenty loud though... (A warning to adults with burgeoning head-aches!) Minions manages to produce other laughs from the minions' use and misuse of weapons and other props, the depiction of times, cultural icons and the satirizing of one nation in particular, (England.)
The details:
Still, Minions is a cup of thin soup, and it is obvious that the job of making an engaging story out of the small fellows, who all look nearly totally alike and speak gibberish, has been a nut that's been too hard to crack for screenwriter Brian Lynch (Hop (2011)). The film is a lot more childish than the Despicable Me movies, which are good entertainment for the whole family. Minions is mainly a kids movie. The animation is fine, if nothing revolutionary, but the 3D is not really worth purchasing for this film, (unless your kids absolutely MUST have it.) There's something about the emotive faces and eyes of the minions that is extremely recognizable, sometimes in a childish way, and sometimes simply in a human way. This is probably what has made them the surprisingly pervasive mass-cultural success that they are, one of the top-selling, global merchandises of these years. Minions is directed by Kyle Balda (The Lorax (2012)) and Pierre Coffin (Despicable Me 2), who also voices the minions. Unsurprisingly, a Despicable Me 3 (2017) is already announced. Whether there will also be a Minions 2 is too early to say yet.
Cost: 74 mil. $ Box office: 141.7 mil. $ and counting = Too early to say [But there's no doubt that Minions, which has garnered good reviews, will be a huge moneymaker, both theatrically and in terms of auxiliary products (games, clothes, toys, foods etc.), which may very well make more money than the actual film.] What do you think of Minions?
+ Best Dance Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year (Donald Glover)
The five recurring stars of Gregory Jacobs' Magic Mike XXL
So this is gonna sound silly... Here's a plot outline for Magic Mike XXL:
Mike is trying to run his carpenter business, but when he hears the song he used to dance for, he decides it's time to go with the decimated 'Kings of Tampa' on a trip to make his dent at the stripper convention in Florida. No doubt XXL is a worthy follow-up to Steven Soderbergh's stripper hit Magic Mike (2012). - Audiences love it, and it is an extremely light, good time at any cinema this overheated summer. The inferences coming are minor, - I certainly didn't miss either Matthew McConaughey or Alex Pettyfer from the previous film, - and I am in fact very close to awarding the film its fourth ♥. Soderbergh serves only as cinematographer and editor of XXL, as he has left the director's chair for his long-time first assistant director Gregory Jacobs (Wind Chill (2007)). Reid Carolin (Magic Mike) is back as writer and producer, and the tone is similar to the first film, though the hint of seriousness in the first film, - McConaughey's douchey character, the drug issue theme, - is totally gone in XXL. This Magic Mike is pretty much all fun and games, - and some spectacular male stripping! - What's not to love?
Young Donald Glover is my favorite added value in Gregory Jacobs' Magic Mike XXL - look out for him in the future!
A rundown of the most enjoyable actors in the new movie: Channing Tatum (Jupiter Ascending (2015)) is back in top shape and can still move like you wouldn't believe. Joe Manganiello (Sabotage (2014)) gets a more prominent part in the new film; he is a welcome enhancement, funny and sexy. Adam Rodriguez (About Last Night (2014)) is also a looker, and his final performance is probably the best of all of them. Of fresh faces, we get Stephen 'tWitch' Boss (Step Up 4: Miami Heat (2012)), an amazing dancer giving another of the film's best dances in the club owned (in the film) by Jada Pinkett Smith (The Nutty Professor (1996)), who acts out her cool character with flair and gusto aplenty. Andie McDowell (Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)) is another stop on the way for the guys; she has a memorable role, - and still looks great, - in XXL. Finally there's Donald Glover (Community (2009-14)), my favorite addition, a very promising young actor. OK so here are the small problems with Jacobs' male stripper romp: First of all, the team behind it have teased that the sequel would have something in it especially for the gay audiences, which, besides a short stop at a drag bar in the beginning, it really doesn't have at all. - Major disappointment. Secondly, Matt Bomer's (The Normal Heart (2014)) character is really pissed at Tatum's for something that is never really clear. Perhaps those two should have had the gay storyline that apparently couldn't be apart of something as pristine as the sequel to a movie about male strippers... - Let me know your opinion in a comment, if you have one. Lastly, the skimpy plot grinds around in at least two clichés: The guys visit the black strip club, which is a paradise of lush, no-holds-barred passion; then they visit a house full of middle-aged, wealthy, white women, who are (of course) sexually neglected and a bit sad. But there's still some fun characters, game actors, many amusing scenes and crazy male stripping, which makes up a really big chunk of the film, just as it should be.
Stephen 'tWitch' Boss lets you enjoy his formidable body and moves in Gregory Jacobs' Magic Mike XXL
Adam Rodriguez is back for Gregory Jacobs' Magic Mike XXL
Here's the awesome trailer for the movie -- now go and have an awesome time at the movies with Magic Mike XXL
Cost: 14.8 mil. $ Box office: 21.3 mil. $ and counting = Too early to say [XXL only opened July 1st, and so the first weekend's gross is not even in yet, but it looks like a sure bet that it's gonna make a lot of dough, especially because it has a surprisingly low reported cost. - Probably key people in and behind it are taking profit percentages instead of salaries.] What do you think of Magic Mike XXL?
