Othello (1995) - Parker's fascinating Shakespeare adaptation debut

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An intimate dramatic trio is promised on this dark and sensual poster for Oliver Parker's Othello

In renaissance Venice, a power struggle breaks out from jealousy from the mighty Iago towards the dark Othello - concerning a woman and other matters.

Othello is written and directed by debuting Oliver Parker (St. Trinian's (2007)), adapting the same-titled 1603-04 play by William Shakespeare (King John (1596)).

It is honestly difficult to comprehend the plot of Othello for this Shakespeare novice, due to the beautiful dialog, which is presumable kept from the play. But this luckily doesn't destroy the experience of watching it. Parker is obviously fully immersed in the play, which is presented cinematically here, not least thanks to the seething performances of Laurence Fishburne (Bobby Z (2007)) and Kenneth Branagh (Celebrity (1998)). The two fascinate here, even when the narrative connections get fuzzy.

 

Related post:

 

Oliver Parker: Johnny English Reborn/Johnny English Returns (2011) - Atkinson will make you laugh till your belly aches

 

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 11 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 2.8 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain but likely a big flop (projected return of 0.54 times its cost)

[Othello was released 15 December (North America) and runs 123 minutes. Shooting took place from June - August 1995 in Italy, including in Rome. The film opened #14 to a 29k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it grossed 2.8 mil. $. The international gross numbers have regrettably not been made public. Projecting a final world gross of 6 mil. $, the film would rank as a big flop. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Parker returned with An Ideal Husband (1999)). Fishburne returned in Fled (1996); Branagh in Hamlet (1996); and Irène Jacob (Rio Sex Comedy (2010)) in Victory (1996). Othello is fresh at 68 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Othello?

Passengers (2016) - Pratt and Lawrence shimmer in high-quality sci-fi entertainer

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+ Best Space Movie of the Year

The two superstars are the one and only attraction on this poster for Morten Tyldum's Passengers

Some time in the future, space ship Avalon is transporting 5,000 passengers to a colony on another planet when a mass of comets interfere with its technology, resulting in the awakening of two passengers 90 years ahead of time.

The actuality of what happens is more complicated but shouldn't be revealed here.
Passengers, written by Jon Spaihts (Doctor Strange (2016)) and directed by Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game (2014)), is a huge star vehicle that works; it is extremely entertaining and beautifully done, both in terms of its prop and set designs, - the Avalon is a very cool spaceship! - CG effects, photography, by Rodrigo Prieto (Argo (2012)), and fine score by Thomas Newman (Mad City (1997)).
Chris Pratt (Jurassic World (2015)) and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook (2012)) are both very easy on the eyes and adept at playing both the fun, romance and drama that fill out their parts here, which tackles basic human needs, resources and weaknesses. Passengers may look somewhat like another Gravity (2013), - two major Hollywood stars are all alone in trouble in space, - but this is another beast, a more intimate, dramatic (and romantic) and less suspense-driven story. Michael Sheen (Kill the Messenger (2014)) is good as the droid bartender, and Laurence Fishburne (Apocalypse Now (1979)) is equally well cast as a crewman.
Sure there are things in the movie that might seem a bit stretched in hindsight, but, pivotally, it all seems to go down without issue during the journey. And Passengers takes us on an entertaining journey with its fair share of wow moments and a pair of lovely lead stars, SPOILER and affords us an uplifting and lovely happy ending that I cherished.

Related posts:

Morten Tyldum: 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]
The Imitation Game (2014) - Great Cumberbatch, good movie  
Headhunters/Hodejegerne (2011) - Norwegian craftsman Tyldum's thriller springboard

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: 110 mil. $
Box office: 237.1 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say
[Passengers premiered in the Fox Theatre, Westwood, LA December 14 and runs 116 minutes. The script was written in 2007, and Emily Blunt and Keanu Reeves were previously in talks to star. In an interesting gender divide - which doesn't cause enraged headlines or nervous chatter - Lawrence was reportedly paid 20 mil. $ and 30 % of the profit if the film breaks even, whereas Pratt reportedly 'only' netted 12 mil. $. Filming took place from September 2015 - February 2016 with additional shooting in September 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. The film opened very soft to #3, behind holdover hit Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and fellow newcomer Sing, and 14.8 mil. $ in North America, where it remained in #3 for 4 consecutive weeks before leaving the top 5 and has to date grossed 90 mil. $. Passengers has just opened #1 in China, which will prove a crucial market for it. Passengers is rotten at 31 % with a 5 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Passengers?

Predators (2010) - Antal, Rodriguez and Brody successfully take the sci-fi-action franchise back

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2 Film Excess nominations:

Best Cinematography: Gyula Pados (lost to Wally Phister for Inception)
Best Practical Effects (lost to Inception)

 

Adrien Brody looks intense and very dirty in front of a predator on the poster for Nimród Antal's Predators

 

A group of some of the toughest hides of this world are parachuted down to the jungle of another planet without knowing why. They soon realize that they are there to be the prey in a hunt.

 

I have to applaud this reboot/sequel to the first two Predators movies (1987 and 1990), which renews the sci-fi-action universe, effectively taking it 'back' after two messy mashup flicks, Aliens vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). 

Predators works due to a suitably meaningful script, effective, digital cinematography (by Gyula Pados (Million Dollar Arm (2014))) and excellent effects, as perfected by producer and special effects supervisor Robert Rodriguez, along with a cool cast united as the tough team: Adrien Brody (Splice (2009)) is not Arnold Schwarzenegger, (the overshadowing, formidable star of the original movie), but he is something else which works here, and the radical change in lead is surely for the best. Laurence Fishburne (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2008-11)) is good in a supporting role as a survivor hermit. And, importantly, the predators look awesome, and we get to really look at them, which is also important.

Predators is written by Alex Litvak (The Three Musketeers (2011)) and Michael Finch (Hitman: Agent 57 (2015)), based on the characters created by Jim and John Thompson (Mission to Mars (2000)), and directed by Nimród Antal (Vacancy (2007)).

 

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]

Hear the main theme for the movie here

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 127.2 mil. $

= Box office success

[Predators was released July 7 and runs 107 minutes. It is based on a script that Rodriguez had written for Fox in 1994, who at the time were not interested. Filming took place in Hawaii (Kolekole mostly) and in Rodriguez's Austin, Texas studio in 53 days, starting in September 2009. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Despicable Me and holdover hit The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, to a 24.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it dropped out of the top 5 (to #8) in its second week and grossed 52 mil. $ (40.8 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 9.8 mil. $ (7.7 %) and the UK with 9.1 mil. $ (7.2 %). A sequel titled The Predator, which is to reinvent the Predator universe, is in the making now with Shane Black as writer-director for a February 2018 release. Predators is fresh at 64 % with a 5.8 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Predators?

Contagion (2011) - Soderbergh's global pandemic creep-out

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2 Time Film Excess Nominee:


Best Screenplay: Scott Z. Burns (lost to Rory Stewart Kinnear, Lynne Ramsay for We Need to Talk About Kevin)
Best Editing: Stephen Mirrione (lost to The Artist)

+ Best Disaster Movie of the Year

The anxiety-provoking, star-studded poster for Steven Soderbergh's Contagion

A woman returns to Minneapolis from a trip to Hong Kong and dies. Symptoms and more deaths follow in rapid succession in many other places around the world. Soon it is certain: A new global pandemic is loose.

- Get ready to get goosebumps and freak out! 
Contagion is an extremely well-oiled catastrophe thriller first and foremost, telling a story that focuses on several auspicious points of impact. It showcases an impressive ensemble cast: Elliott Gould (Ocean's Thirteen (2007)), Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road (2008)), Gwyneth Palthrow (Se7en (1995)), Laurence Fishburne (Apocalypse Now (1979)), Jude Law (A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)) as a pain-in-the-ass protest blogger, and Matt Damon (Interstellar (2014)) is strong in the string that is the heart of the story.
As usual, master filmmaker Steven Soderbergh (Haywire (2011)) is able to serve a deeply modern and starkly realistic tale, (Contagion has received praise from several scientists that are experts in the medical disaster field.) Part of its effectiveness comes from its feeling so eerily credible.
The film is structured as a multi-character presentation of the medical catastrophe with some fine points-of-interest chosen to illuminate the processes at play in such a dire situation. It loses some air, paradoxically, once the panic spreads, but then tightens its suspense again. It is excellently written by Scott Z. Burns (The Informant! (2009)), photographed by Soderbergh himself and edited to perfection. Contagion is a great creeper of a movie.
Soderbergh is still on break as a director, serving at the moment, instead, as executive producer and cinematographer on Magic Mike XXL (2015).


Related posts:
 
Steven Soderbergh: Side Effects (2013) - Modern people screw up in excellent thriller 
Behind the Candelabra (2013) - Restraint and extravagance 
Magic Mike (2012) - Soderbergh and Tatum score big with cheeky male strip romp
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
Che Part One - The Argentine (2008) - Soderbergh's sober depiction of the Cuban revolution 
Solaris (2002) - A suffering space question mark  

Gweneth Palthrow in a scary still from Steven Soderbergh's Contagion

Watch the trailer here

Cost: 60 mil. $
Box office: 135.4 mil. $
= Minor flop
[Soderbergh's style and storytelling seems to often be too sophisticated and serious to attract the huge crowds, and with a big-budgeted feature like Contagion, this became a commercial hindrance: The film premiered #1 in the US with 23.1 mil. $ and ended its domestic run with 75.6 mil. $ (56 % of the total gross). Contagion has made in excess of 12 mil. $ on DVD and Bluray sales.]

What do you think of Contagion?
Other movies about pandemics that are worth seeing?