Now You See Me (2013) - Cocky stars trapped in empty construction

[ZERO]

 

+ Worst Movie of the Year

+ Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

 

 

A cast of well-dressed stars walk all over the title on this poster for Louis Leterrier's Now You See Me

An odd quartet of magicians stage big magic shows, in which they inexplicably steal from the rich and let some of their loot fly out to their audiences.

 

Now You See Me is written by Ed Solomon (Super Mario Bros. (1993)), Boaz Yakin (Fresh (1994)) and Edward Ricourt (Jessica Jones (2015, TV-series)) and directed by Louis Leterrier (The Transporter (2002)).

A depressingly bad, completely empty film, it is hard to watch Now You See Me and not lose some measure of respect for its stars, whose glow inevitably dim from this sorry affair: Particularly Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers (2012)) is enormously bad here as one half of the film's insultingly poor romance, in which he commands and yells at Mélanie Laurent (La Rafle (2010)), - until she falls for him! (You try to make sense of it.)

The stars have ego-polishing parts mostly played with the cheekbones and a bit of cocky attitude that are so hollow and toothless that one will afterwards feel like a long break from Jesse Eisenberg (Cursed (2005)) and Woody Harrelson (Rampart (2011)) as the champion sleek fellow magicians of Now You See Me. As part of the plot, Morgan Freeman's (War of the Worlds (2005)) character sells his integrity (to Michael Caine (Peeper (1975))) for 5-10 mil. $, - a situation that isn't very fictitious in this instance, one might ponder, - and he explains at one point in Now You See Me that a new sucker is born every minute here in the world.

Leterrier's movie certainly treats its audience as suckers with a ceaseless barrage of ridiculous, ugly, stressful, frenzied nonsense here, which is never fun, romantic, nor thrilling. Making Now You See Me even worse is that a huge audience actually seemed to like it.

 

Related posts:

Louis Leterrier: 2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]

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  

Clash of the Titans (2010) - Leterrier's CGI-stuffed remake is surprisingly good 

 

 Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 75 mil. $

Box office: 351.7 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.68 times its cost)

[Now You See Me premiered 21 May (New York) and runs 115 minutes. Laurent was paid 571k € for her performance. Shooting took place around January 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana, New York, Chicago, Illinois, Las Vegas, Nevada, and in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #2, behind Fast & Furious 6, to a 29.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#3-#5), grossing 117.7 mil. $ (33.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 25.7 mil. $ (7.3 %) and China with 22.9 mil. $ (6.5 %). Most of the cast but not Leterrier returned for the obligatory Now You See Me 2 (2016). Leterrier returned with The Brothers Grimsby (2016). Eisenberg returned in Night Moves (2013); Ruffalo in Begin Again (2013); and Harrelson with a voice performance in Free Birds (2013) and physically in Out of the Furnace (2013). Now You See Me is rotten at 51 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Now You See Me?

Solitary Man (2009) - Forgettable, undistinguished NY egotist dramedy

♥♥♥

Silver fox Michael Douglas takes center stage with a good handful of supporting stars floating around him on this poster for Brian Koppelman and David Levien's Solitary Man

A swindling, irresponsible, aging womanizer with extremely cold and harsh surroundings winds up a waiter at his only real friend's place, and refuses to end his life's course of running solo.

Solitary Man is written by writer-director Brian Koppelman (Runaway Jury (2003)), who co-directed with David Levien (Knockaraound Guys (2001)).
Michael Douglas (Coma (1978)) stars as the egotistical protagonist in this overly talky drama, which lacks some humor and/or characters that stir up some sympathy.
The film has a strong cast, and there's something weighty in its theme. I just personally enjoyed pals Douglas and co-star Danny DeVito (Wise Guys (1986)) more in their low-brow romantic family adventures of the 1980s, Romancing the Stone (1984) and Jewel of the Nile (1985).

Related post:

Brian Koppelman, David Levien: Runaway Jury (2003) - Gun violence trial as Hollywood show (co-writers)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 5.6 mil. $
= Mega-flop (returned 0.37 times its cost)
[Solitary Man premiered in September (Toronto International Film Festival, Canada) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in New York from November - December 2008. The film opened #34 to a 94k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 177 theaters (different weeks), grossing 4.3 mil. $ (76.8 % of the the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Brazil with 393k $ (7 %) and Argentina with 227k $ (4 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 3½/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. Koppelman and Levien have both stayed from directing since, returning to writing and producing. Douglas returned in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010). Solitary Man is certified fresh at 79 % with a 6.82/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Solitary Man?

Adventureland (2009) - Mottola's personally inspired, funny coming-of-age romance

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Coming-of-Age Movie of the Year

Jesse Eisenberg appears to look into the distance with a daydreaming glare on this nostalgia-styled, neat poster for Greg Mottola's Adventureland

It is 1987, and James is going to Europe and then on to Columbia University. That is, until his parents' economy changes, and he instead has to take a job at the local amusement park, which becomes the beginning of an eventful summer.

Adventureland is the 3rd theatrical feature for great New-Yorker writer-director Greg Mottola (Superbad (2007)). It is an assured coming-of-age romcom that has more to it than most probably expect; both in terms of laughs, sharp observations, lines, situations and scenes, which feel real. Adventureland is a lot like a fun removed cousin to Stephen Chbosky's masterpiece The Perks of Being A Wallflower (2012).
Jesse Eisenberg (Camp Hell (2010)) and Kristen Stewart (Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)) are charming together; Ryan Reynolds (Chaos Theory (2008)) is good as a park hustler, and Kristen Wiig (Sausage Party (2016)) and Bill Hader (The To Do List (2013)) are hilarious as the park owner couple.
Adventureland also boasts good music. It is a mature and solidly great movie, simply a fine time.

Related posts:

Greg Mottola: Paul (2011) - Pegg, Frost and Mottola delve into SF with mixed results

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 9.8 mil. $
Box office: 17.1 mil. $
= Big flop
[Adventureland premiered 19 January (Sundance) and runs 107 minutes. The script is based on Mottola's own experiences of working at the Farmingdale, New York amusement park Adventureland in the 1980s. Shooting took place in New York and Pennsylvania, including in the Kennywood Amusement Park, from October - November 2007, effectively hiding cold weather and sometimes even snowfall to achieve the narrative's summer setting. The film opened #6 to 5.7 mil. $ in North America, its peak there where it grossed 16 mil. $ (93.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 796k $ (4.7 %) and Australia with 95k $ (0.5 %).  The film was nominated for the Best Screenplay Independent Spirit Award. Adventureland is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Adventureland?

Café Society (2016) - Allen revisits old turf in okay romcom

♥♥♥

 

+ Best Romcom of the Year

 

A classy poster for Woody Allen's Café Society

 

When a young man from New York comes to Hollywood to work for his bigshot agent uncle, who is entangled in an extra-marital affair with his much younger secretary, complications arise.  

 

Café Society is New-Yorker master writer-director Woody Allen's (Broadway Danny Rose (1984)) 47th film.

Café Society is set mostly in New York and navigates familiar thematic waters for Allen: The capriciousness and complications of the heart, the realities of crime and enterprise, Los Angeles versus New York, - and religious speculations. It does so with the marvelous intellect and dexterity which we have grown accustomed to expect from him, though it can feel like scraps from familiar, great films of his fixed together and given a fresh coat of paint.

The casting: Steve Carell (Freeheld (2015)) brings such a sincerity to his bigshot agent character, who might easily have looked like a pig in a lesser actor's interpretation, that we like him, - and he successfully couples it with realistic, to-the-point showbiz vernacular. Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland (2009)) inhabits the 'Allen-part', but doesn't play Allen, but the response to his performance will be individual. Kristen Stewart (Panic Room (2002)) is incredibly erotic as the secretary. The depth and length of Eisenberg and Stewart's fickle relation here is stretched thin, though, and becomes hard to believe in. Blake Lively (The Shallows (2016)) is tremendously sweet, and Corey Stoll (Ant-Man (2015)) as the gangster brother and Jeannie Berlin (Bone (1972)) and Ken Stott (One Day (2011)) as the parents are all terrific.

Allen narrates the film himself. It is good-looking and fun and charming mostly, but of little import.

 

Related posts:
 
Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

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

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement

2014 in films - according to Film Excess

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - Allen's irresistible French Riviera romance
Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute  (as actor)
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date  
Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser  

2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy  

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date   
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans 
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York 
Celebrity (1998) or, Beautiful Celebrities Talk About Sex (guest review) 
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work 
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart   
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer   
Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen's South American misadventure is still a barrel of laughs   
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (as actor)   

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 30 mil. $

Box office:  35 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say

[Café Society premiered May 11 (opening the Cannes Film Festival) and runs 96 minutes. Bruce Willis was supposed to play the uncle character but bowed out due to his involvement in the Misery stage adaptation on Broadway and was replaced by Carell, who is almost certainly a better fit for the part. Filming took place in California and New York from August 2015. It is Allen's first film shot digitally, using the Sony CineAlta F65 camera. The budget was originally 18 mil. $ but ballooned during production to become the largest in Allen's career, (and a major reason why the film will have a hard time making its money back.) Amazon Studios handled the North American distribution with Lionsgate. The film opened #18 in 5 theaters to a 359k $ first weekend, - the then-biggest theater average of the year, - widening to 631 theaters and #12 in North America, where it has grossed 11.1 mil. $. Café Society is fresh at 69 % with a 6.1 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Café Society?

The Social Network (2010) - Fincher's a-hole biopic leaves me cold (and more anti-Facebook than ever)

♥♥♥

 

Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg behind the huge tagline for David Fincher's The Social Network

 

The Social Network tells the story of how a group of assholes created the platform that made the rest of the world a bit more socially distanced, unsympathetic, frat-boy-like assholes like themselves: Facebook.

The film is written by Aaron Sorkin (Moneyball (2011)), based on (but apparently more accurately; written around the same time as) Ben Mezrich's (Reaper (1998)) The Accidental Billionaires (2009), and directed by Coloradoan master filmmaker David Fincher (Se7en (1995)). Like many of Fincher's films, The Social Network is deeply competently made and phallocentric. He brandishes a peanut-sized heart here with a film that doesn't really awaken any emotions, despite dislike for several of its characters. It races towards the finish line and in doing so feels pretty shallow, not unlike the invention it portrays.

The actors do fine jobs, although it is sad to watch Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale (2005)) as alienated and humanly blunted as we get him here. Armie Hammer (J. Edgar (2011)) plays a pair of twins, which are the film's most sympathetic and funniest characters.

The Social Network is without a doubt among the most overrated films of the year.

 

Related reviews:

 

David Fincher: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - Fincher's Nordic noir is technically astute but overlong and redundant

Alien 3 (1992) or, The Monsters Go to Jail!

Watch a teaser trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 224.9 mil. $

= Huge hit

[The Social Network premiered September 24 (New York Film Festival) and runs 120 minutes. Sorkin began writing and researching based on a 14-page book proposal, while Mezrin was also writing his book. Filming took place in Massachusetts, Maryland, California and England, beginning in October 2009. The film opened #1 to a 22.4 mil. $ first weekend, staying atop for another week and spending a total of four weeks in the top 5 in North America, where it grossed 96.9 mil. $ (43.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 16.9 mil. $ (7.5 %) and the UK with 16.8 mil. $ (7.5 %). Several people portrayed in the film, including Zuckerberg, found that it was historically inaccurate, especially in upping the drama of the lives of the main characters. The film got nominated for 8 Oscars: It won for Best Adapted Screenplay, Score and Editing. It lost Best Picture to The King's Speech, Actor (Eisenberg) to King's Speech (Colin Firth), Directing to King's Speech (Tom Hooper), Cinematography to Inception and Sound Mixing also to Inception. It was also nominated for 6 Golden Globes, winning 4, and for 6 BAFTAs, winning 3. It was on at least 78 critics' top 10 list of the year, topping 22 (including Roger Ebert's), reportedly the most for any film of the year. In its first week out on DVD and Blu-ray, it made an additional 13.4 mil. $ on that. The Social Network is certified fresh at 96 % with a 9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Social Network?

To Rome With Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date

♥♥

Stars on the poster of Woody Allen's To Rome With Love

Americans in Rome fall for the wrong people; Italians in Rome fall for the wrong people.
Everything is wholly gaga in Rome, which initially serves laughter here and there, but after roughly 45 minutes, it is clear that the film has nothing left to offer.
Alec Baldwin has a bizarre character, who just follows Jesse Eisenberg around without really being there, (the film is described as magical realism, but it never succeeds with anything resembling 'real' magic, unfortunately.)
A few other actors charm accidentally, Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha (2012)) mostly. Penélope Cruz has been made into a tawdry tramp here, which is a little hard to take. Judy Greer (Deconstructing Harry (1997)) is OK but doesn't compare to great writer-director Woody Allen's (Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)) earlier, charming, full-bodied female characters.
Allen also plays in the film, battling a young, local rough-neck communist. Rome is a hired, rushed job full of compromises and left-hand work. It is an almost completely ludicrous movie, and probably the weakest that Allen has ever completed.
Allen is at the moment finishing his Magic in the Moonlight (2014) and preparing his next film, as is the prodigious master's modus operandi.  

Related posts:

Woody Allen: 2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy
Celebrity (1998) or, Beautiful Celebrities Talk About Sex (guest review)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep your Heart
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship With Alvie Singer 

Allen wanted to call the film Bop Decameron, then Nero Fiddles, but was eventually forced to accept the title (which he reportedly hates); To Rome With Love

Here's the trailer for the film

Budget: Est. 17 mil. euros, equal to approximately 18.37 mil. $
Box office: 73.2 mil. $
= Big hit

What do you think of To Rome With Love?
Do you agree that it is Woody Allen's poorest film to date?

30 Minutes or Less (2011) or, Idiots and Lesser Idiots

♥♥♥

The stupid-looking cast of Ruben Fleischer's 30 Minutes or Less are on display on its explosion-lined poster

A pizza delivery guy with a talent for racing has a fallout with his best friend about boning his friend's sister many years ago. Meanwhile, two unemployed idiots, who are just waiting for the one's US marine major dad (who is also a lottery winner) to die, so he can inherit his approximately 1 million $, get the idea to get rid of the healthy geezer before his time to speed things up. A hitman will cost them 100,000 $, they learn, so to get that, they kidnap the pizza guy, strap a bomb to his chest and force him to rob a bank. - What could go wrong?

 
30 Minutes or Less is written by Michael Diliberti (Stop-Loss (2008, associate producer)) and Matthew Sullivan (The Comedy Garage (2011)) and directed by great Washingtonian filmmaker Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland (2009)). 

There are several problems with 30 Minutes or Less. One is its title, which is merely the motto of the pizza company, and doesn't really play any active part in the film. It is a bad sign, when movie-writers get their title from a pretty unrelated pizza motto.
Another problem is that the two groups of main characters should have been more different from each other. As it is, the two scheming idiots are really idiots, (one indication is that they are continually working on understanding how to use the 'that's what she said'-joke), and the two other guys, who I guess we should relate more to as audiences, (this would have been a good idea at least), are nevertheless also pretty idiotic. We don't get to know them, before they start arguing and fighting, and that continues pretty much throughout the film. It only lasts about 80 minutes, so there would have been plenty of room for at least 10-15 minutes of getting to know and like these characters, before they go clawing at each other. But no. None of that here.
Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale (2005)) plays the pizza delivery guy, the protagonist of the film, but I didn't relate to him at all. SPOILER: The most important part of this character's development is that he decides to confront his falling in love with his best friend's sister after they had sex at graduation 8 years prior, and now decides to go for her. What important procrastination had taken his attention off from this for 8 years is never delved into. - Delivering pizzas, it seems. Eisenberg gets annoying a few times here by being brainy and stupid at the same time. Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation (2009-2013)) plays his best friend, and he is unfortunately not as funny as could have been hoped. Danny McBride (Pineapple Express (2008)) and Nick Swardson (Bolt (2008)) are the giant idiots, and they are funny most of the time. There's a good many laughable lines in 30 Minutes, and together with the cast which do what they can, they save the  poorly conceived film from total ruin. It ends very abruptly, confirming that it is a small, goofy, and somewhat confused potluck of a movie. It will appeal mostly to younger, male audiences.

 

Related posts:

Ruben Fleischer: Gangster Squad (2013) or, Good Men vs. Bad Men!
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
30 Minutes or Less (2011) or, Idiots and Lesser Idiots
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]   

Zombieland (2009) - Reese/Wernick and Fleischer hit the post-modern bull's eye with undead escapade

 

 

Watch a 3-minute clip from the movie here

Cost: 28 mil. $
Box office: 40.6 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.45 times its cost)

[30 Minutes or Less was released 11 August (Antilles and Aruba) and runs 83 minutes. Shooting took place from July - September 2010 in Michigan. The plot bears strong resemblance to the strange case of Brian Wells, a Pennsylvania pizza delivery guy who died from an explosive tied to his neck after robbing a bank in order to get funds to hire a hitman. The film opened #5, behind holdover hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes, fellow new releases The Help and Final Destination 5 and holdover hit The Smurfs, to a 13.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 37 mil. $ (91.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 1.3 mil. $ (3.2 %) and the UK with 872k $ (2.2 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Fleischer returned with Escape My Life (2012, TV-series) and theatrically with Gangster Squad (2013). Eisenberg returned in Why Stop Now? (2012); McBride in Good Vibes (2011, TV-series), The Roadie (2012, short) and theatrically in As I Lay Dying (2013). 30 Minutes or Less is rotten at 44 % with a 5.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of 30 Minutes or Less?