Home Again (2017) - Good-looking, LA-set, girly-cute romcom

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Shades of red surround good-looking, popular star Reese Witherspoon on this poster for Hallie Meyers-Shyer's Home Again

 

A recently separated mother of two leaves her affluent home situation on a bender for her birthday and then decides to open her home to three attractive young male filmmakers, who are in need of housing...

Home Again is written and directed by debuting Hallie Meyers-Shyer (The Parent Trap (1998, actress)).

It is a first effort that's a matter of taste; Home Again is enormously girly, enormously cute, and you really better also be a Reese Witherspoon (Sing (2016)) fan to appreciate it, - but if you are then it is also quite rewarding.

The world of film and Hollywood are presented as an environment in a partially loving and partially an exposing way, (Meyers-Shyers has plenty of inside knowledge as the daughter of the great romcom filmmaker Nancy Meyers.) Lake Bell (Drunk History (2019, TV-series)) is good as the 'Hollywood nightmare woman', and Pico Alexander (Hot Air (2018)), Nat Wolff (Stella's Last Weekend (2018)) and Jon Rudnitsky (Set It Up (2018)) work well as the three young men, - despite their characters being something of a woman's dream multiplied by three, because no three guy friends in Hollywood chasing a break are really this good., I am willing to bet.

The fantasy is appealing nonetheless, Lola Flanery (The Mist (2017, TV-series)) is good as the elder daughter, and Michael Sheen (Doolittle (2020)) is ideal as the separated husband, who shows up some time into the story, and (of course) Witherspoon is good and lovely in the middle, rich and naturally never with a word verbalizing the source of her (genre-typical)  wealth. Meyers-Shyer really traces her mother's foot steps here.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 37.2 mil. $

= Minor flop (returned 2.48 times its cost)

[Home Again was released 7 September (Israel, Ukraine) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place from October - December 2016 in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #2, behind It, to an 8.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#4), grossing 27 mil. $ (72.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 1.6 mil. $ (4.3 %) and the UK with 1.2 mil. $ (3.2 %). Meyers-Shyer is set to return as writer/director with Goodrich, which is in pre-production. Witherspoon returned in The Mindy Project (2017, TV-series) and theatrically in A Wrinkle in Time (2018). Home Again is rotten at 33 % with a 4.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Home Again?

Frost/Nixon (2008) - Howard's political drama is gripping, superiorly acted

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+ Most Undeserved Flop of the Year

An eclectic, well-composed poster for Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon that highlights its two leads' faces

3 years after the Watergate scandal let to his resignation in 1974, ex-President Richard Nixon decides to break his silence and elects British talk show host David Frost to conduct the tell-all interview, hoping for an easy, face-saving win. But Frost has his own plan.

Frost/Nixon is written by Peter Morgan (Rush (2013)), based on his own same-titled 2006 play, and directed by great Oklahoman filmmaker Ron Howard (Gung Ho (1986)). It is a suspenseful political period drama with great acting, particularly from the two title leads, who were both in the play in West End and Broadway, and especially from an award-worthy Frank Langella (Breaking the Fifth (2004)) as Nixon; and terrific staging. The film works as a kind of verbal boxing match and is a really fine watch.

Related posts:

Ron Howard: Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject)

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
The Da Vinci Code (2006) - Howard's first Brown adaptation is a popcorn thriller hoot  
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
A Beautiful Mind (2001) - John Nash given the Epic Treatment  
EDtv (1999) - Phenomenal cast shine in Howard's witty mega-flop
Backdraft (1991) - Howard's giant, stupid Chicago-set firefighter movie 
American Graffiti (1973) or, Cruisin' Modesto '62 (actor)  

Watch a clip from the early part of the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 27.4 mil. $
= Huge flop (1.09 times the cost)
[Frost/Nixon premiered 15 October (London Film Festival) and runs 122 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from August 2007 - ?. The film opened #22 to a 180k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #16 and in 1,105 cinemas (different weeks) and grossed 18.6 mil. $ (67.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.7 mil. $ (9.9 %) and Australia with 1.3 mil. $ (4.7 %). Frost/Nixon takes dramatic license to add, leave out and change some points in the actual history of the interview. The film was nominated for 5 Oscars: It lost Best Picture to Slumdog Millionaire, Actor (Langella) to Sean Penn in Milk, Director to Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire, Adapted Screenplay and Editing also to Slumdog Millionaire. It was also nominated for 5 Golden Globes, 6 BAFTAs, won an AFI award, a National Board of Review award and many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. Howard returned with Angels & Demons (2008). Langella returned with a voice performance in The Tale of Despereaux (2008) and with a physical part in The Box (2009). Michael Sheen (Nocturnal Animals (2016)) returned in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009). Frost/Nixon is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Frost/Nixon?

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?

Tron: Legacy (2010) - Feast your eyes on Garrett Hedlund in dazzling sci-fi sequel

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1 Film Excess nomination:

Best Digital Effects (lost to Alice in Wonderland)

 

One of the exciting, neon-heavy posters for Joseph Kosinsk's Tron: Legacy

 

The son of a media mogul, who vanishes in his childhood, finds as a young man a way into an alternate, digital reality, where is father has been the whole time.

Tron: Legacy is the sequel to Steven Lisberger's TRON (1982), the first computer-animated feature film, a Disney release that flopped at the time but has since become a cult item among some. Lisberger returned to produce the second film, which is written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (Once Upon a Time (2011-16), creators, both) and directed by debuting Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion (2013)).

The film starts really well. It has an incredible look; super-polished, futuristic, beautifully designed and part-animated. Somewhere around half way into Tron: Legacy, I zoned out of it for a bit, because the story turns very abstract. - There is also something about almost totally animated action scenes that can often (as here) only be exciting and wow us up to a certain point. 

Michael Sheen (Heartlands (2002)) channels David Bowie in his performance, which is a little strange, (take that as a recommendation or a warning.) Garrett Hedlund (Pan (2015)) is good as the protagonist. Despite flaws, Tron: Legacy is a fascinating film.

 

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 a trailer for the film here

Cost: 170 mil. $

Box office: 400 mil. $

= Flop

[Tron: Legacy premiered November 30 (Tokyo) and runs 125 minutes. Development of the film began in 2005. Filming took place from April - July 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and in LA and lasted 67 days. The film was shot partially in 3D and required massive visual effects work, including a computer-generated, 30 years younger version of returning star Jeff Bridges. Its score is by Daft Punk and subsequently sold more than 500k copies in North America.The film opened #1 to a 44 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell to #3 in its second week and stayed in the top 5 for a total of 4 weeks, grossing 172 mil. $ (43 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 25.1 mil. $ (6.3 %) and Russia with 21.3 mil. $ (5.3 %). The film was nominated for the sound editing Oscar, which it lost to Inception. Talk of a sequel has been steady since its release, but it seems unlikely that Disney will pursue it. Tron: Legacy is rotten at 51 % with a 5.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Tron: Legacy?

Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowdpleaser

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+ Best Paris Movie of the Year

Owen Wilson walks around in Vincent Van Gogh's classic Paris painting Starry Night on the poster for Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris

An American couple are in Paris, where the woman's father is finishing a business deal. Her husband is working on his first novel, although she wants him back at Hollywood screenwriting. But every night by midnight, he gets transported back to the bohemian Paris of the 1920s!

Owen Wilson (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)) is surprisingly reliable and efficient here, leading a strong ensemble cast with Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose (2007)) and Adrian Brody (The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)) as Salvador Dalí as other luminous stars here in master writer-director Woody Allen's (Anything Else (2003)) beloved fantasy romcom.
The philosophical point of the film; that life is fundamentally unsatisfying, and that other places in time and other physical locations than the ones that we inhabit are always idealized,-  is classic Allen.
Midnight in Paris is an enthusiastic and beautiful Paris-set movie, (cinematography by Darius Khondji (Irrational Man (2015)).) It's a sweet, charming story, reminiscent of Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), although that's less sweet, and I prefer that film slightly.
One reservation: Why does the present have to be so intensely awful and depressing?

Related posts:

Woody Allen: 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  
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 
Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy    
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) 

Woody Allen with Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson during shooting of Midnight in Paris

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 17 mil. $
Box office: 151.1
= Huge hit
[Allen scored one of his career's biggest commercial hits with Midnight in Paris, which critics and audiences alike welcomed eagerly: Allen won his 4th Oscar yet for his original screenplay, and the film was also nominated for Best Picture, Director and Art Direction. It made 56.8 mil. $ (38 % of the total gross) in the US, and was a particularly huge hit abroad in Italy (8.9 mil. €) and France (8.4 mil. €).]

What do you think of Midnight in Paris?

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) - Vinterberg's plush but grating English adaptation

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A romantically swooning poster for Thomas Vinterberg's Far from the Madding Crowd

Far from the Madding Crowd is the fourth adaptation of Thomas Hardy's (Jude the Obscure (1895)) 1874 novel of the same name. It is written by David Nicholls (Great Expectations (2012)) and directed by Danish master filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg (The Celebration/Festen (1998)).

Bathsheba is an attractive, eligible woman in 1870s England, where she inherits a farm and throws herself eagerly into attending it. She becomes courted by three very different men and has trouble finding the right one.

The film has a fine cast led by the enchanting Carey Mulligan (An Education (2009)) and Matthias Schoenaerts (Bullhead (2011)). Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon (2008)) is great in the film's most touching part as Mr. Boldwood, and Tom Sturridge (On the Road (2012)) makes a strong characterization of the loutish soldier.
There are neat costumes (by Janet Patterson (The Piano (1993))) and lovely countryside locales. - The film is shot on location in the part of England, where the story is actually set.

The details:

Far from the Madding Crowd is, in Vinterberg's hands here, a melodrama that has replaced, in its audiences, the heartache that usually accompanies the genre with knuckle-clenching frustration. This stems from Mulligan's character, SPOILER who has the answer to all of her problems literally right in front of her from the first shots of the film onwards, but simply can't seem to wrap her head around to seeing him. This is fatally annoying for the film, which also seems to drag out, though its story is mostly pretty predictable.
Fine performances, production values and respectability doesn't make a great film, if it feels as long as Far from the Madding Crowd, essentially because it spends its nearly two hours running time before it gives us what we want.
It is solid and meticulously made, but not exactly artistic. It does not become the film to break Vinterberg's not too formidable history of English-language movies (It's All About Love (2003) and Dear Wendy (2004) precedes it) that have not yet been good per se. He is soon releasing his second film this year, the Danish-language The Collective/Kollektivet (2015).

Related review:

Thomas Vinterberg: The Hunt/Jagten (2012) - Vinterberg's strongest film since 1998 is a reversed Celebration  
Dear Wendy (2004) - Vinterberg and Von Trier's unpopular, gun-themed mega-flop 

Watch the trailer here, - with the song Let No Man Steal Thy Thyme sung by Carey Mulligan and Michael Sheen

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 18.5 mil. $ and counting
= Uncertainty
[Without the film's budget released, it is impossible to know if Far from the Madding Crowd is close to breaking even yet. - But I think it has far to go yet, and probably will end up a minor flop. It has made 8.3 mil. $ (45 % of the total gross) in North America and a handsome 7.3 mil. $ in the UK (39 %).]

What do you think of Far from the Madding Crowd?
How does it compare to the novel and the earlier screen versions, if you have read or seen any of these?