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DUNE (2021) – Review

So, even though it’s the season of the big somber serious “award-bait” films, who’s ready for a journey back to “a galaxy far, far away”? Whoa, shut down the “hyper-drive”, I’m not talking about that one, y’know the one we all first visited back in 1977. Although we’ve been, cinematically, in this particular “star system” before. First at the movies in 1984, then on basic cable TV in 2000. It’s based on a book series with a huge fan base, although neither version pleased them (as for the 84 “take”, if you catch it on TV, the director credit is for “Alan Smithee” as the acclaimed filmmaker doesn’t want his real name on it), nor did it attract a throng of new admirers. Perhaps film tech needed to catch up to the tale’s unique requirements. Or maybe it just needs the correct director and cast. Now we can see if all three are needed for the proper screen treatment of Frank Herbert’s DUNE.

As the new film opens, we’re transported to the ocean planet of Caladan, which is ruled by the Atreides family. The young “prince” Paul (Timothee Chalamet) is in the grip of another weird desert-based dream (or nightmare). He’s finally awakened by his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) who insists that he join her for breakfast before the day’s big ceremony. We soon learn that she is training Paul to harness the mystical “persuasion” powers he has inherited from her. After donning their formal attire, they join father Duke Letto (Oscar Isaac) and his aide Gurney (Josh Brolin). Emissaries from the ruling House Harkonnen (under the order of the Emperor) instruct Leto and his family (and military forces) to relocate to the harsh desert planet of Arrakis to supervise the harvesting of melange, AKA “spice” which possesses many amazing properties (it’s essential to space travel). Prior to the move Gurney tutors paul in combat fighting, while “ace’ fighter pilot Duncan (Jason Momoa) regales Paul with stories of his time on his future home. Later Paul undergoes a test of “pain” conducted by Jessica’s trainer, the Reverend Mother Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling). On Arrakis, the Atreides entourage is greeted by the officials, though much of the populace, including the fierce rebel fighters known as Fremen, plot to overthrow their new otherworldly overlords. But while the Atreides try to deal with the deadly gigantic sandworms that wreck the spice mining compounds, the Harkonnen, led by the cruel Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgard), are plotting a surprise attack. Can Paul and his family survive all the deadly threats on their new home world?

A truly stellar cast has been brought together on this, helping to breathe life into the now 56-year-old SF classic. Hey six of them are from the MCU, and another actor swam in from the Justice League. The focus of it all is Chalamet as Paul, who, as in many adventure fables, is the youngster at the start of a “hero’s quest”. Like most teens, Paul has an obstinate streak, but he’s got an enthusiastic spirit, always seeking wisdom, even as dark forces surround him. Chalamet brings a real intensity to Paul, compelling us to be in his “rooting section”. Luckily he’s got the talented Ferguson as Lady Jessica in his corner. She challenges Paul, exhorting him to sharpen his “special skills” while trying to protect him from those said forces. Much of the same can be said of Isaac as Leto who never denies his son of his wisdom or affection, all while balancing the demands of his title. Part of Paul’s extended family is Brolin as Gurney, who puts up a tough front, although he too hopes to keep his surrogate nephew out of harm’s path. Ditto for his “almost” big brother Duncan who’s given a gregarious and snarky edge by Momoa. Lurking in the shadows, Skarsgard makes Baron a stuffed flesh pad of pure malevolence, issuing orders in a guttural growl to the hulking Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista) and craven co-conspirator (think Peter Lorre in MAD LOVE) Piter (David Dastmalchian). They’re almost as scary as Rampling who’s pure intimidation as the Reverend. On Arrakis, Javier Bader is a most charismatic and funny Fremaon rebel leader named Stilgar, while Zendaya is the desert goddess of Paul’s dreams, Chani, in a brief role (guessing we’ll see a lot more of her in follow-ups).

This is the passion project of director Denis Villeneuve, one of the more interesting visual filmmakers of recent memory (ARRIVAL, BLADE RUNNER 2049), who worked on the screenplay adaptation with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth. And, as Denis has said in countless interviews, the scope is big, full of endless vistas best viewed on the biggest screen possible (yes, you can stream it on your HDTV, but you won’t be truly “immersed”). It could be called a cosmic LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, especially since most of the action takes place in the sands of Arrakis, where those fearsome worms seem to be more than a mile long (the use of vibrations to attract and distract them is quite engaging). The artists and craftspeople have fashioned a world similar to ours, but with fantastic flourishes. The air transports recall helicopters, though they lift via fluttering side wings like a dragonfly or hummingbird. A wrist device creates a protective blue-tinded force field around its wearer until a weak area gives off a red-tinted warning. Thousands of soldiers march in unison, sporting shell-like battles armor, while others travel the hot sands clad in “moisture suits” that cool with re-circulated sweat. But Villeneuve doesn’t neglect the human drama and family dynamics in favor of these great gizmos and “eye candy”.Unfortunately, the source material was so dense that the film ends abruptly (even at 155 minutes) leaving us wanting (much like the Hobbit trilogy or, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, one of the book’s “spiritual children”). Perhaps it’s best to leave us yearning for more as the booming Hans Zimmer score booms over the speakers, which also sounds great with the sweeping cinematography of Greg Fraser. Yes, this is the superior film treatment, though we’re left feeling that there’s much more to be gleaned from the world of DUNE.

3 Out of 4

DUNE opens in select theatres everywhere and begins streaming for 30 days on HBO Max beginning on Friday, October 22, 2021.

Zendaya, Jason Momoa And Timothée Chalamet Are Among Huge Cast In Amazing New Trailer And Stunning Character Posters For DUNE – In Cinemas, IMAX And HBO Max October 22

Oscar nominee Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival,” “Blade Runner 2049”) directs Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ “Dune,” the big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal bestseller of the same name.

A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, “Dune” tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

The film is slated to be released in select theaters in 2D and 3D and IMAX and on HBO Max on October 22, 2021 and will be available on HBO Max’s Ad-Free plan in 4K UHD, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos (English Only) on supported devices for 31 days from theatrical release.

Check out the brand-new trailer.

DUNE will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival out-of-competition on September 3 and will screen as a World Exclusive IMAX Special Event at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film stars Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name,” “Little Women”), Rebecca Ferguson (“Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep,” “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”), Oscar Isaac (the “Star Wars” franchise) Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (“Milk,” “Avengers: Infinity War”), Stellan Skarsgård (HBO’s “Chernobyl,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”), Dave Bautista (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, “Avengers: Endgame”), Stephen McKinley Henderson (“Fences,” “Lady Bird”), Zendaya (“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” HBO’s “Euphoria”), Chang Chen (“Mr. Long,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), David Dastmalchian (“Blade Runner 2049,” “The Dark Knight”), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Netflix’s “Sex Education”), with Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (“45 Years,” “Assassin’s Creed”), with Jason Momoa (“Aquaman,” HBO’s “Game of Thrones”), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men,” “Skyfall”).

Villeneuve directed “Dune” from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth based on the novel of the same name written by Frank Herbert. Villeneuve also produced the film with Mary Parent, Cale Boyter and Joe Caracciolo, Jr. The executive producers are Tanya Lapointe, Joshua Grode, Herbert W. Gains, Jon Spaihts, Thomas Tull, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert.

Behind the scenes, Villeneuve reteamed with two-time Oscar-nominated production designer Patrice Vermette (“Arrival,” “Sicario,” “The Young Victoria”), two-time Oscar-nominated editor Joe Walker (“Blade Runner 2049,” “Arrival,” “12 Years a Slave”), two-time Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert (“First Man,” “Blade Runner 2049”), and Oscar-winning special effects supervisor Gerd Nefzer (“Blade Runner 2049”). He also collaborated for the first time with Oscar-nominated director of photography Greig Fraser (“Lion,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”); three-time Oscar-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West (“The Revenant,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Quills”) and co-costume designer Bob Morgan; and stunt coordinator Tom Struthers (“The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception”).

Oscar-winning and multiple Oscar-nominated composer Hans Zimmer (“Blade Runner 2049,” “Inception,” “Gladiator,” “The Lion King”) is creating the score.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Present a Legendary Pictures Production, a Film by Denis Villeneuve, “Dune.”

The film has been rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing images and suggestive material.

https://www.dunemovie.com/

THE LITTLE STRANGER – Review

*Domhnall Gleeson stars as “Dr. Faraday” in director Lenny Abrahamson’s THE LITTLE*
*STRANGER, a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Nicola Dove / Focus Features ©*

The title of the historical drama THE LITTLE STRANGER is the same as an old-fashioned way to reference a baby, as in “awaiting the arrival of a little stranger.” But there are no babies or ones on the way in this dark moody film, although there are some spooky goings-on about children in the dim, misty past, particularly the childhood remembrances of a visitor now returned as a doctor to care for the members of the aristocratic Ayers family in their dark crumbling mansion.

Abrahamson’s previous film was ROOM, an acclaimed drama that was a scary, taut thriller and a deep psychological drive into the experience of a woman and child held captive for years by an abuser. That drama was so riveting, it is no surprise expectations were high for this one.

However, anyone expecting either another ROOM, or even THE OTHERS or JANE EYRE, will be disappointed with director Lenny Abrahamson’s THE LITTLE STRANGER. A moody, brooding historic drama set in 1930s England, the film is filled with foreboding but leaves the viewer in suspense.

Doctor Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson) is called to Hundreds Hall, the once-grand mansion of the aristocratic Ayres family mansion in rural England to tend to an illness. When the doctor arrives at the home of the old aristocratic family, he is shocked by the state of the house. He is greeted at the door by Caroline Ayres (Ruth Wilson), who scoffs at the doctor’s surprise that it is not one of the servants opening the door. The only servant the once-wealthy family now employs is a young girl, who works as maid and cook, and who, it turns out, is the patient. Having dealt kindly with the servant girl, who was suffering from nervousness and home-sick more than anything, the doctor offers to treat the family heir, Roderick Ayres (Will Poulter), a World War I veteran badly burned and disfigured, and still battling a painful leg injury. The family is reluctant at first to accept Dr. Faraday’s offer but finally agrees when the doctor tells them there would be no charge as it would help with some research he is doing on a particular treatment.

How the mighty have fallen and the shifting fate of the British upper class between the wars is a theme in this drama but not the only one. That change in social structure has been touched on in GOSFORD PARK and the BBS series “Downton Abbey” but this is a much darker version. But a major focus is not on the fall of the house of Ayres, a proud family still regarded warmly by the locals, but on the psychological goings-on with the doctor. His mother had been a servant in the grand house in its heyday, and a childhood visit to the house for a grand garden party instilled in him a fascination with the Ayres and a longing for the house. As Dr. Faraday becomes a part of the Ayres family’s lives, strange tensions arrives and strange occurrences begin to unfold.

THE LITTLE STRANGER certainly has the goods as far as cast, with Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Charlotte Rampling, and Will Poulter in the lead roles. There are disturbing things and creepy occurrences. If only the film had a more focused script and director Abrahamson had a better sense of what he wanted his film to be. As it is, it wavers between ghost story, Gothic thriller, moody historic commentary on the fall of the British class system. Because it keeps hinting it is one or the others of these genres, it fails to gel around anything and leaves the audience feeling unsatisfied and somehow cheated of a promised emotional payoff. It is tense, moody, edgy throughout until it ends with no real resolution or even a big scare.

What’s more, the gripping trailer suggests an eerie ghost story or tale of buried secrets in a family of British aristocrats sinking into decay and financial ruin in the 1930s. The arrival of a local doctor into this closed, musty world hinted at scary, disturbing things. The film is based on the novel by Sarah Waters, adapted for the screen by Lucinda Coxon, who wrote THE DANISH GIRL. Why all this talent didn’t produce a more successful suspense film is the real mystery.

Cinematographer Ole Bratt Birkeland also delivers the goods, as does the excellent cast. Domhnall Gleeson is chilling and intriguing as the restrained yet charming doctor. Charlotte Rampling gives a fine performance as the chilly aristocrat, still vividly aware of the class difference between her family and the doctor, but unfailingly polite as she drops comments to remind him of his “place,” no matter how kind he has been to them. Ruth Wilson’s Caroline, on the other hand, comprehends how the world and their circumstances have changed, in a way neither her mother nor her brother do. Will Poulter is all pent-up frustration as her brother Roderick, the lord of the manor by inheritance, struggling to live up to family obligations while battling physical and mental pain from his war injuries, PTSD, and a growing madness.

The film has all the authentic period detail and perfect locations one could wish. Events unfold in a decaying manor house that was clearly once grand, grandeur we see in periodic flashbacks as Dr. Faraday returns time and again to memories of his childhood visit to the mansion where his mother worked as a servant, a visit none of the family recalls.

Through atmospheric photography, fine acting and taut pacing, THE LITTLE STRANGER successfully builds suspense to a fever pitch yet never pulls the trigger on all that build-up. It raises questions throughout yet never answers them, leaving at most hints about possible answers. The film feels like it wants to be Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House” but can’t figure out how to get there, leaving the audience lost as well.

So many things are right about this eerie film, including the outstanding cast, that it is doubly frustrating when the film appears to just end without real resolution. As a fan of both historical dramas and Gothic ghost stories, I should be the right audience for this film. Yet, the film felt disappointing by its end. After building up a nail-biting suspense and hinting a hidden horrors, psychological or supernatural, it fails to commit to either of those paths, wavering between them until it merely rolls to an unsatisfying conclusion. There is death but no catharsis. Secrets remain hidden and no questions are answered.

THE LITTLE STRANGER opens Friday, August 31 at the Tivoli Theater.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

THE LITTLE STRANGER Domhnall Gleeson Reads Passage From Novel And New Clip Of Charlotte Rampling

Focus Features has released a new clip from the upcoming thriller based on Sarah Waters’ novel THE LITTLE STRANGER starring Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Will Poulter, and Charlotte Rampling.

Listen as Gleeson reads a passage from the first chapter of the novel and watch an eerie clip of Rampling from the film.

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson (“Room”), don’t miss this disturbing tale when it haunts into theaters on Friday August 31st.

In case you missed the trailer, check it out below.

THE LITTLE STRANGER tells the story of Dr. Faraday, the son of a housemaid, who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country doctor. During the long hot summer of 1948, he is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall, where his mother once worked. The Hall has been home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries. But it is now in decline and its inhabitants – mother, son and daughter – are haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life. When he takes on his new patient, Faraday has no idea how closely, and how disturbingly, the family’s story is about to become entwined with his own.

Visit the official site: http://www.focusfeatures.com/the-little-stranger

Win Passes To Thursday’s Advance Screening Of RED SPARROW In St. Louis

Dominika Egorova is many things.

A devoted daughter determined to protect her mother at all costs.

A prima ballerina whose ferocity has pushed her body and mind to the absolute limit.

A master of seductive and manipulative combat.

When she suffers a career-ending injury, Dominika and her mother are facing a bleak and uncertain future. That is why she finds herself manipulated into becoming the newest recruit for Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people like her to use their bodies and minds as weapons. After enduring the perverse and sadistic training process, she emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow the program has ever produced. Dominika must now reconcile the person she was with the power she now commands, with her own life and everyone she cares about at risk, including an American CIA agent who tries to convince her he is the only person she can trust.

Directed by Francis Lawrence, RED SPARROW stars Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons.

RED SPARROW hits theaters everywhere on March 2nd!

Enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of RED SPARROW this Thursday, February 22nd, at 7:00 pm in St. Louis.

ENTER YOUR NAME AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.

OFFICIAL RULES:

1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.

2. No purchase necessary. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house.

THE FILM IS RATED R for strong violence, torture, sexual content, language and some graphic nudity.

https://www.foxmovies.com/movies/red-sparrow

Jennifer Lawrence Stars In New Poster And Trailer For RED SPARROW

20th Century Fox has released a new trailer and poster for the upcoming spy thriller RED SPARROW. Directed by Francis Lawrence, the film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons.

Watch it now.

Dominika Egorova is many things.
A devoted daughter determined to protect her mother at all costs.
A prima ballerina whose ferocity has pushed her body and mind to the absolute limit.
A master of seductive and manipulative combat.

RED SPARROW hits theaters everywhere on March 2nd.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: RedSparrowMovie.com

Watch The First Trailer For RED SPARROW Starring Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence is starring alongside “javier bardem, ed harris and michelle pfeiffer in mother!, directed by darren aronofsky.” Due in theaters this Friday, it has been called “one of the most audacious and flat-out bizarre movies that a major studio has released in years.” (review)

Lawrence can next be seen in 20th Century Fox’s upcoming spy thriller RED SPARROW.

Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons, the film hits theaters March 2nd, 2018.

Visit the official site: foxmovies.com/movies/red-sparrow

THE SENSE OF AN ENDING Arrives on Digital HD May 23rd and DVD and On Demand June 6th

Unravel the truth when the suspenseful drama, based on the acclaimed novel, The Sense of an Ending, arrives on Digital HD May 23 and DVD and On Demand June 6 from Lionsgate.

“The Sense of an Ending maintains intrigue and emotional magnetism as its mystery unfolds.” – Glenn Kenny, The New York Times

Unravel the truth when the suspenseful drama, based on the acclaimed novel, The Sense of an Ending, arrives on Digital HD May 23 and DVD and On Demand June 6 from Lionsgate. Academy Award^®winner Jim Broadbent (Best Supporting Actor, Iris, 2001) shines in “an outstanding performance” (Vanity Fair) as a man who becomes haunted by his past when given a mysterious legacy. The all-star cast also includes Academy Award^® nominee Charlotte Rampling (Best Actress, 45 Years, 2015), Golden Globe^® (Best Actress, Television – Drama, “Downton Abbey”, 2013) and Emmy^®nominee Michelle Dockery, as well as Emily Mortimer and Harriet Walter. Adapted for the screen by the award-winning playwright, Nick Payne, and directed by Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox), The Sense of an Ending DVD includes two behind-the-scenes featurettes and will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
Tony Webster (Broadbent) leads a reclusive and quiet existence until long-buried secrets from his past force him to face the flawed recollections of his younger self, the truth about his first love (Rampling), and the devastating consequences of decisions made a lifetime ago. Based on the acclaimed novel by Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending elegantly weaves mystery and suspense into a gripping and captivating movie experience.

DVD/DIGITAL HD SPECIAL FEATURES

“Doing Right by a Great Book” Featurette
“Power of Memory: Making The Sense of an Ending” Featurette

CAST
Jim Broadbent Iris, Cloud Atlas, Gangs of New York

Harriet Walter TV’s “The Crown,” Babel, Atonement

Michelle Dockery TV’s “Downton Abbey”, Anna Karenina

Emily Mortimer Shutter Island, Hugo

And Charlotte Rampling 45 Years, The Duchess, Night Train to Lisbon

ASSASSIN’S CREED – Review

In the last remaining days of 2016, Hollywood turns, once more, to a popular source for another box office blockbuster. This isn’t a prequel, sequel, spin-off, or reboot. And this new release isn’t an adaptation of a stage show like FENCES, or a TV show, nor a comic book (or a prose best seller). Once again the studios roll the dice on another try at launching a big franchise based on a video game (or in this case a series of games). This past summer, movie audiences were largely indifferent to THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE (based on an “app” game) and WARCRAFT (except in China, where it was a massive hit). Like the latter, this new flick’s inspiration as been on the gaming shelves for a good long time, nearly ten years. But unlike that earlier movie, this sports a very prestigious international cast. Oddly enough, the leading lady and man teamed with this director last year at this time for a new big screen version of the classic stage work MAC… (whoops, guess I’d better be cautious and say “the Scottish play”). It’s a big jump from Shakespeare to ASSASSIN’S CREED.

The story starts with a flashback (way, way back) to the end of the 15th century, in Spain, as a new member joins the society of assassins. We follow an eagle soaring from there all the way to California in the late 1980’s (and boy, are his wings tired). Eight year-old Cal Lynch pedals his bike to his home in a dusty desert town, just in time to find his mortally wounded mother. Oh, and his pop is in this weird hooded outfit, just like the assassins from the opening. It looks like a dagger from a strange glove/gauntlet he’s wearing took her out. No time for explanations as the sound of helicopters and several cars and trucks interrupt the silence. Little Cal escapes into the desert, and thirty years later the adult Cal (Michael Fassbender) is on death row in a Texas prison. It’s his birthday…and his last day. Cal is strapped down and administered a lethal injection. He blacks out as the poison makes its way through the tube leading to his vein. And then he wakes up in a lab/hospital. Hovering over him is the woman in charge, Sofia (Marion Cotillard). Cal’s death was faked in order to help in the scientific research begun by her father Rikkin (Jeremy Irons). They are searching for a baseball-size orb called the “apple of Eden” which will enable them to end violence around the globe for all time. Since Cal is a direct descendant of those 15th century assassins who last had the Eden orb, Sofia hooks him up to a memory exploration device called the Animus. As his ancestor Aguilar, Cal will find the orb when his brain is jacked into the Animus (the ultimate simulator) system. But Cal is not the only ancestor, a group of descendants are already there plotting an escape from the complex. But will this thwart the mission and finally end Cal’s new chance at life?

Well, that’s about all that sinks in from this rambling, incoherent mess. We’re in the modern day, now we’re back in 1492, but we’re still really in both. And so on to the point of delirium. What a waste of an incredibly talented cast. Many of his fans will be pleased that Mr. Fassbender is sans shirt for most of the film (just interferes with the tech I guess), but he’s got little to do dramatically as either Cal or Aguilar (his eyes are nearly always in shadow because of that #*%# hood!). He does get to bellow and howl the lyrics to Patsy’s Cline classic “Crazy” for no real reason. His considerable charisma can’t jump start this story. The recent ALLIED reminded us that Cotillard can be charming and compelling in an action thriller, but her role of Sofia exists mostly to explain the techno-babble to Cal, then have quiet, moral discussions with her papa (she gets to scream “I’ve got this!” to her over-zealous security team a couple a’ times). Her psuedo-Brit accent makes many of her lines difficult to grasp, maybe to heighten her connection to Irons, who has done this “noble intellectual hiding sinister intentions” role far too often. Two other wonderful actors, Brendan Gleeson and Charlotte Rampling, are underused in mere cameos.

Now I’m sure most of the “gamers” are just interested in the action sequences, but director Justin Kurzel shoots them in the dullest, most confusing way possible. Of course, there’s the “Matrix-inspired” changes in speed from kinetic fast to “super slo-mo” and back again, augmented by rapid-fire cuts, editing in a way that disconnects us from the main protagonists (that’s Cal, no that’s the lady assassin, no that’s…). There are far too many sweeping , soaring overhead shots with that omnipresent eagle (or is it a falcon?). One big rescue sequence with two wagons rumbling toward a cliff is near unwatchable thanks to the constant dust and dirt paired with headache-inducing sun flares. An escape from a fiery fate leads to an absurd rooftop battle that seems to be right from a ninja arcade game. All the fights come to abrupt conclusions when there’s a connection glitch and Cal is out cold. When things are working well, the flow of the action sequences is disrupted by cut aways to the modern Cal fighting “ghost images” of what’s playing in his head. Frustrating? You bet! And at nearly two hours, it’s truly a mind-numbing chore. I’m sure the studio hopes that this will be that start of a film franchise similar to the game series (nearly twenty incarnations for different systems and platforms), but it’s a sure bet that ASSASSIN’S CREED will return and stay on the small home screens rather than returning to the big screens at the multiplex. Okay, I’m ready for the fan fury, because this barely merits…

1 Out of 5

Charlotte Rampling And Jim Broadbent Star In First Trailer For THE SENSE OF AN ENDING

CBS Films has released a powerful first trailer for the upcoming drama THE SENSE OF AN ENDING, directed by Ritesh Batra (THE LUNCHBOX).

The film stars Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent (Iris, Gangs of New York, Moulin Rouge!), HarrietWalter (Babel, Atonement, Sense and Sensibility), Michelle Dockery (Babel, Atonement, Sense and Sensibility), EmilyMortimer (Shutter Island, Hugo, Lars and the Real Girl), BillyHowle (The Witness for the Prosecution, Cider with Rosie, Glue), Joe Alwyn (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Higher Education, Keepers), Freya Mavor (The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun, Sunshine on Leith, Skins), Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game, Belle) and Charlotte Rampling (45 Years, Melancholia).

Tony Webster (Broadbent) leads a reclusive and quiet existence until long buried secrets from his past force him to face the flawed recollections of his younger self, the truth about his first love (Rampling) and the devastating consequences of decisions made a lifetime ago.

Adapted for the screen by award-winning playwright Nick Payne and produced by David Thompson and Ed Rubin (Woman In Gold).

Variety recently listed the Indian director (English-language debut) on its 10 Directors to Watch for 2016.

http://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/10-directors-to-watch-2017-variety-barry-jenkins-1201929407/

THE SENSE OF AN ENDING will open in select cheaters March 10.

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