Tag: Jennifer Lawrence

DIE MY LOVE – Review

Just as the end of the year family holiday preparations are beginning, moviegoers are getting another flick about the dark side of motherhood (something to think about as you await her never-dry turkey). Think of these as the flip-side to those Hallmark cable movie staples. So, last year we saw Amy Adams howling at the moon as NIGHT BITCH. And just a few weeks ago, I endured (that’s right, though many of my fellow critics are embracing it) Rose Byrne careening close to the edge in IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU. Now for the first full weekend of November, an Oscar-winning actress who’s been a movie MIA for the last couple of years is returning in a flick with a mixed-message title (or is it somewhat passive-aggressive) title, DIE MY LOVE (I wonder if they toyed with a title riff on the Everly Brothers classic and called it “Dye, Dye, Love”).

After several seconds of a black screen with ambient sounds, the story begins as longtime couple Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) and Jackson (Robert Pattinson) enter what will be their new home. Actually he’s been there before, since it was owned by his late uncle, but she’s a tad “under-whelmed” by the rickety, weather-beaten shack in the middle of rural Montana. Nonetheless, they soon turn it into their family home with the arrival of a baby boy. Ah, but we then get a flashback as pregnant Grace is hosting a big holiday dinner for her in-law, including Jackson’s doting mother Pam (Sissy Spacek) and his addled papa Harry (Nick Nolte), who somehow connects with Grace. The story springs ahead as Jackson begins taking jobs that keep him away from her and the baby . This sends Grace down a road of despair and delusion. She’s certain Jackson’s cheating on her, since their passion has cooled. Is that why Grace likes to crawl around like a cat in the tall grass? Or is it the reason she joins Pam on her midnight sleepwalking strolls? And is the mysterious man on a motorcycle, Karl (LaKeith Stanfield) real or a “player” in her fevered fantasy dream state? Can Jackson get his own act together to guide Grace away from the abyss of possible madness?

Though the two leads get fairly equal billing in all the marketing, this film serves as a reminder that Ms. Lawrence is one of our most compelling and adventurous actresses. Once again, she’s “without a net” as the complex Grace who elects our sympathy just before showing “her claws” (listen to how she verbally assaults that poor cashier). What a handful, though Lawrence conveys her deep almost fanatical devotion to her child (mama Grizzly, indeed), while seeming to endanger herself frequently (always eyeing Pam’s rifle). Her Grace is sad and scary. Let’s hope it’s not another two years until Lawrence “graces” the big screen. Thankfully, she has chemistry to spare with Pattinson, who brings more humanity to Jackson than’s there in the script. He’s not as complicated as Grace, but Pattinson draws us in to see the shift from the beer-swilling “good ole’ boy” to the husband struggling to understand his spouse. Happily, these current film stars share a few scenes with a couple of veteran actors who made their “mark” nearly fifty years ago. Spacek is a caring and giving “Earth mother”, who is one of the few elders who notices something is “off” with Grace and embraces her as a way of destroying the “demons”. But she’s also “fragile” after the loss of her own love, played by the raspy, often menacing Mr. Nolte. Harry isn’t around for the story’s big catastrophic turns, but Nolte projects a pride that shines through even as he struggles to make it past his mental “fog”, which is parted by the concern and compassion of Grace. He’s not given much dialogue, but Stanfield says so much with his dark, brooding eyes, which is like gasoline to the still smouldering embers of passion in Grace’s libido until he gets tangled in her mania.

This exceptional cast is guided by director/co-screenwriter (joining Alice Birch and Edna Walsh in adapting the book by Ariana Harwicz) Lynne Ramsay, whose 2011 horror/drama WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN is far too relevant. She keeps the characters operating in an almost dream-like state, perhaps to reflect Grace’s slowly cracking psyche. This puts us at a distance as the timeline is shifted haphazardly (that family flashback doesn’t fir with the first act). I was reminded of another “artsy” drama in which Lawrence was a tortured (in all ways) lead, the baffling MOTHER. Like that “experiment” we’re subjected to a near constant feeling of danger as Grace makes bizarre choices that often leave her naked and bloody. In that way, Jackson is seemingly an “after thought”, showing up to try to “clean up the mess”. And it’s so messy, sometimes scuttling any incident into the very real challenges of postpartum depression (Grace juggles that with her cluttered “head space”). This makes for frustration for the folks around the couple along with us. And, once again, good intentions are part of the road to Hell and Hellish cinema. Even though Lawrence is still a most watchable talent, her bravado can’t work its magic on DIE MY LOVE.

2 Out of 4

DIE MY LOVE is now playing in select theatres

NO HARD FEELINGS (2023) – Review

Cinema roll-call! Alright, it’s the Summer movie season, and what stalwarts have already taken over the multiplex? Big superhero epic? Check and double-check! Action blockbuster franchises? Check? Family-friendly animated features? Check! Raunchy slapstick comedy? Hello…Anyone there? Oh yes, finally it’s here just as Summer officially begins. And this is indeed rated “R” as in raunchy, ribald, and risque. much in the same vein as THE HANGOVER trilogy and the AMERICAN PIE dynasty of flicks (theatres and straight-to-video). Oh, for those of you that think these flicks are too “low brow” and “classless”, well the “above the title” star is an Oscar winner, so there! And if you think such a genre is “beneath her”, I’m sure she hopes you’ll laugh and that there will be NO HARD FEELINGS.


The star in question is Jennifer Lawrence, who plays the “barely making ends meet” Maddie Barker. She’s in the “gig economy” as an Uber driver and a bartender in order to hang on to her family home in the now pricey burg of Montauk in Long Island, NY. It seems that the houses there are desired by Big Apple dwellers wanting a getaway residence making the property taxes skyrocket. This story begins on an early morning when Maddie’s fiscal luck runs out and the “repo-man” (an ex-beau, naturally) hauls away her vehicle (thus ending her Uber “side hustle”). She’s gonna’ lose her place! What to do? Then, like an answer to her prayers, she spots an ad on “that online job mart”. A pair of those rich NYC parents are looking for a young woman to “date” their shy, introverted nineteen-year-old-son before he heads to Princeton in the Fall. And they’re offering the title to a nearly brand-new Buick-Regal! Maddie meets with the “helicopter parents” (Laura Benaanti and Matthew Broderick), who clumsily define the “date” agreement and set down some guidelines along with a way for her to “run into” him at the local animal shelter where he volunteers. Donning her tightest lil’ red dress Maddie approaches nervous, nerdy Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). Her botched seduction tactics somehow lead to a date, revealing that Percy is a lovely soul. Can Maddie go through with the “deal”? What if she begins to like him? And what if he somehow falls for her?

After several years of very amusing talk show interviews, the talented Ms. Lawrence finally gets the opportunity to flex those impressive ‘comedy chops”. Sure, she’s had funny moments in films like AMERICAN HUSTLE and DON’T LOOK UP, but she’s never been given a role that’s the comedy “full monty”. Lawrence gives us a terrific comic heroine in Maddie, a woman that’s often a bit dim-witted, yet is a plucky survivor of life, plunging ahead even if she ends up face down in the muck and mire (yes, she’s a slapstick athlete). Yet somehow she retains that star glamour and charisma making us root for Maddie even at her most devious. Plus Lawrence is a generous “team player’ giving ample support to relative screen newcomer Feldman, who makes Percy more than the typical virginal dweeb of some many movie sex farces. He’s too smart to be wowed by Maddie’s over-the-top vamping, yet he wants to make a personal connection with this “free spirit”. And he’s also a gifted comic (I’m still chuckling over his panic at the sound from a pool table). The story gets a great lift from two very different duos. Broadway royalty Benanti and Broderick are nearly pitch-perfect as the overbearing parents of Percy, who aren’t quite “in sync” with the scheme (she’s a tad mortified by his delight over their boy getting some “experience”). The other married couple is best buddies with Maddie cheering her on while still being stunned by the whole “deal”. Natalie Morales is the very pregnant Sara who shares Maddie’s ire at the rich “invaders’ while trying to keep her often clueless hubby, Jim (Scott MacArthur) focused . It’s a playful teasing rather than nasty bickering, as they’re “in it for the long haul”.Oh, and Ebon Moss-Bachras scores several laughs as the indecisive repo guy still pining for Maddie.

Right from the opening titles the movie has a “go for broke” comic mania, thanks to director Gene Stupnitsky, a TV vet who’s following up his modest coming-of-age comedy of 2019, GOOD BOYS. Maddie’s desperation coupled with the quiet awkward behavior of Percy makes for some amusing set pieces (ditto for the “interview” with the parents). Lawrence as Maddie is a great satiric riff on the sultry “maneaters” of late-night cable TV (y’know, “Skin-a-max”), while Feldman holds the screen with her. Unfortunately, this film succumbs to the dreaded midpoint “lull” in which the laughs are sparse and the pace begins to drag. Sadly it never really recovers despite a couple of ill-conceived roles for a vet of SNL and a Daily Show alum. Then the main characters behave in ways that don’t really make sense and the filmmakers begin to morph the racy giggle-fest into a more mature afterschool special in which everybody “learns something” and “grows emotionally” by escaping past traumas. Yeesh, that’s a big detour from the notion of Lawrence doing a female spin on the familiar “man-child” vehicles in the “wheelhouse” of Sandler and Ferrell. It all builds to a “feel good” upbeat finale that seems too convoluted and more than a touch “pat”. Putting the talented Ms. Lawrence in a zany comedy was an inspired idea, but this script needed at least a couple more “passes”. Hey, at least all the gags aren’t in the trailers, so …um… NO HARD FEELINGS, right?

2 Out of 4

NO HARD FEELINGS is now playing in theaters everywhere.

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of NO HARD FEELINGS

Jennifer Lawrence produces and stars in No Hard Feelings, a laugh-out-loud, R-rated comedy from director Gene Stupnitsky (Good Boys) and the co-writer of Bad Teacher. Maddie (Lawrence) thinks she’s found the answer to her financial troubles when she discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking for someone to “date” their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy, and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college. But awkward Percy proves to be more of a challenge than she expected, and time is running out. She has one summer to make him a man or lose it all.

The film also stars Andrew Feldman, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales and Matthew Broderick.

See the movie in theaters on June 23.

https://www.nohardfeelingsmovie.com/

Advance Screening is Tuesday, June 20th at AMC Esquire at 7PM.

Note: We suggest a 5:30PM – 6PM arrival to secure seats.

Seats will not be guaranteed.

Enter at the link below.

link: https://events.sonypictures.com/screenings/unsecured/main/screeningInfo.jsf?code=WEAREMOVIEGEEKSS

Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) and Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) in Columbia Pictures’ NO HARD FEELINGS.

CAUSEWAY – Review

Jennifer Lawrence in CAUSEWAY. Courtesy of AppleTV+

Jennifer Lawrence gives a heart-rending performance as a wounded Afghan war veteran healing from injuries, obvious and not, in Lila Neugebauer’s drama CAUSEWAY. CAUSEWAY, about a friendship that grows between two people still healing from injuries, has a contemplative pace but it is a fine showcase for Jennifer Lawrence, too long absent from this kind of in-depth role, and reminding us how very talented she is. The film played at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and now is opening in theaters as well as streaming.

Lynsey (Lawrence) was an Army engineer serving in Afghanistan when an IED blew up her truck and sent her home to recover from extensive neurological trauma, but we meet her while she is still very disabled and slowly recovering. In tender, touching scenes, we see her character’s helplessness and frustration at the need, as she receives treatment at an rehab center, then in the home of a caring older woman. Lynsey’s injuries effected her brain as well as her body but both are making progress. When she is deemed well enough to be discharged to her mother’s home, where Lynsey grew up, in New Orleans, she clearly has doubts. But she is reassured arrangements have been made for her mother to meet her bus when it arrives in NOLA. She doesn’t.

Nonetheless, Lynsey finds her way there, where she is greeted affectionately by her mother Gloria (an excellent Linda Emond), who has been busy drinking and dancing at home with a boyfriend that she doesn’t bother to introduce to her daughter. With a sigh, Lynsey settles in to her childhood home, keeping her unreliable mother at arm’s length.

The mother is played splendidly by Linda Emond, who portrays her as a woman who seems to want to have a warmer relationship with her daughter but can’t quite follow-through. As Lynsey regains more strength and mobility, she sets up regular doctor’s appoints with Dr. Lucas (Stephen McKinley Henderson, in another of the fine smaller performances that dot this heart-felt drama). She used a borrowed truck, to get about but when the truck breaks down, a kindly mechanic named James (Brian Tyree Henry) offers her a lift and encourages her to get the truck fixed, even if it is not hers. The two strike up a tentative friendship, which grows slowly over time and picks up when Lynsey notices his prosthetic leg.

It is not romance but shared trauma that draws these two broken people together, but the feeling is deep. Plot-wise, there is not much to CAUSEWAY but as a showcase for Jennifer Lawrence, it is outstanding, and the same can be said for co-star Brian Tyree Henry.

Jennifer Lawrence does an outstanding job drawing us into Lynsey’s inner life. Lynsey is adrift, staying in a home to which she never expected to return and missing the camaraderie of the service, to which she still hopes to return. Her awkward relationship with her less-than-reliable mother does not help and while there is talk about a brother, he is notably absent. To pass the time, Lynsey takes a job cleaning pools, something she did as a teen, saying to her new employer that she just “likes water.” Cleaning pools on her own seems to settle her, going about it in an almost meditative way, and enjoying the occasional solitary swim. Periodically she encounters the mechanic, and they share a drink in a bar or an ice cream at a street-side stand, and just hang out. Sometimes she needles him to swim in one of the pools she is maintaining for out-of-town owners. He is happy to hang out at the pools with her, but is wary of the water.

Visually, this New Orleans has a quiet, languid beauty, with people living a simple life far removed from the French Quarter party. Nothing much happens for long stretches but the effect is more relaxing, even hypnotic, than one expects. We see a lot of graceful, greenery-encircled pools that invite a swim, something Lawrence does from time to time.

That same quietness marks the scenes between Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry too, scenes that are touching and warm, as the two share secrets and experiences. Both actors are at the top of their game, and work superbly together. There is a sense of loss that is often palpable in the air, and heartrendingly so when James recounts how he lost his leg.

As a showcase for the actors, CAUSEWAY shines. It is a treat to see Lawrence put through her acting paces her, and hopefully this will spark a return to bigger serious roles. Brian Tyree Henry is a revelation in his role, and it is hoped this signals bigger things for him as well.

CAUSEWAY opens Friday, Nov. 4, in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV+.

The Hunger Games Collection Arrives March 22nd on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray and Digital SteelBook

“May the odds be ever in your favor.”

The blockbuster phenomenon The Hunger Games  saga arrives March 22 on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital SteelBook from Lionsgate, exclusively at Best Buy.

The Collection features artwork from top artists Flore Maquin, Ise Ananphada, Alice X. Zhang, Tula Lotay, Paige Reynolds, Aracely Muñoz, Gemma O’Brien, Lauren Hom, Meni Chatzipanagiotou and Gia Graham. Starring Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence (2012, Actress in a Leading Role, Silver Linings Playbook), the Collection includes all four films: The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2.  The Hunger Games Collection will be available on 4K Ultra HD™ + Blu-ray™ + Digital SteelBook for the suggested retail price of $119.99. 

THE HUNGER GAMES
Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her younger sister’s place and must rely upon her sharp instincts when she’s pitted against highly trained Tributes who have prepared their entire lives. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
 


THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
Academy Award® winner Jennifer Lawrence (2012, Actress in a Leading Role, Silver Linings Playbook)  returns as Katniss Everdeen in this thrilling second adventure from The Hunger Games saga. Against all odds, Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta have returned home after surviving the Hunger Games. Winning means they must leave loved ones behind and embark on a Victory Tour through the districts. Along the way, Katniss senses a rebellion simmering – one that she and Peeta may have sparked. At the end of the tour, President Snow announces a deadly 75th Hunger Games that could change Panem forever.
 


THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY — PART 1
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived. She awakens from the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell deep inside the bunkered catacombs of District 13. Separated from some of her closest allies and fearing for their safety in the Capitol, Katniss finally agrees to be the Mockingjay, the symbolic leader of the rebellion. Still uncertain as to whom she can trust, Katniss must help 13 rise from the shadows, all the while knowing that President Snow has focused his hatred into a personal vendetta against her—and her loved ones.

 
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY — PART 2
One of the most celebrated movie series of all time comes to its thrilling conclusion in the last chapter of The Hunger Games. Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, who began her journey fighting to survive the brutal Hunger Games, and rose to lead the rebellion against Panem’s tyrannical president (Donald Sutherland). Now, Katniss and a team of rebels from District 13 prepare for the final epic battle that will decide Panem’s future.


4K ULTRA HD / BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURE

  • THE HUNGER GAMES
    • Audio Commentary with Editor Stephen Mirrione, Visual Effects Supervisor Sheena Duggal, and Supervising Sound Editor Lon Bender
    • Game Maker: Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games Phenomenon
    • The World Is Watching: Making The Hunger Games
    • Letters from the Rose Garden
  • THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
    • Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
    • “Surviving the Game: Making The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” Documentary
    • Deleted Scenes
  • THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY — PART 1
    • Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
    • “The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of MJ1” Documentary
    • Straight from the Heart: A Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman
    • Songs of Rebellion: Lorde on Curating the Soundtrack
    • Lorde “Yellow Flicker Beat” Music Video
    • Deleted Scenes
  • THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY — PART 2
    • “Pawns No More: Making The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2” — An 8-Part Documentary with an in-Depth Look at All Aspects of the Making of the Final Movie Including the Acting Ensemble, Visual and Costume Design, Special Effects, Post-Production, and More!
    • The Hunger Games: A Photographic Journey
    • Cinna’s Sketchbook: Secrets of the Mockingjay Armor
    • Panem on Display: The Hunger Games: The Exhibition
    • Jet to the Set (Blu-ray Only)
    • Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson

 
CAST
Jennifer Lawrence                  Oscar® winner for Silver Linings Playbook, X-Men trilogy 
Josh Hutcherson                     TV’s “Ultraman,” TV’s “Future Man”
Liam Hemsworth                     Independence Day: Resurgence, Isn’t It Romantic 
Woody Harrelson                    Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Midway 
Elizabeth Banks                      Pitch Perfect franchise, TV’s “Mrs. America” 
Julianne Moore                       Crazy, Stupid, Love., The Kids Are All Right  
with Stanley Tucci                  Spotlight, Transformers: Age of Extinction 
and Donald Sutherland           The Italian Job, TV’s “Crossing Lines” 

DON’T LOOK UP – Review

(L to R) JENNIFER LAWRENCE as KATE DIBIASKY, LEONARDO DICAPRIO as DR. RANDALL MINDY, in DON’T LOOK UP. Photo credit: NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX © 2021

What if the world did not respond the way it always does in every disaster movie to an impending doomsday invasion, meteor or – comet? What if the real world faced a giant “planet-killer” comet on a collision course with Earth? Would they come together to save the planet, like they always do in the movies? That is the question Oscar-winning director/writer Adam McKay (THE BIG SHORT) asks in his satiric comedy DON’T LOOK UP.

The comedy features a top-tier cast, with Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy, an astronomy professor at a Midwestern university, whose graduate student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers the giant comet. When Dr. Mindy figures out the comet’s terrifying trajectory, a deadly collision course with Earth, the pair set out to alert the federal government about the threat. The cast includes Meryl Streep as President Orleans, Jonah Hill as her Chief of Staff/son, Cate Blanchett as the co-host of a TV talk show with Tyler Perry as her co-host, Mark Rylance as a quirky tech billionaire who seems to have Asperger’s, Ron Perlman as a gung-ho former military hero, plus Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande and more.

DON’T LOOK UP is humor in the vein of DR. STRANGELOVE with a side of IDIOCRACY and a modern media slant, but with a bigger cast of idiots and hence more potential for things to go wrong. This satire is an equal opportunity ridiculer, taking swipes at all targets with range, from inarticulate scientists who can’t make a dire situation clear, to politicians wanting to use impending disaster to improve their party’s chances in the mid-term elections, to media talkers more enamored with the “hot” scientist’s good looks than his heated message, to political forces just denying facts and urging people to “don’t look up.” In DR STRANGELOVE, at least they could agree on the problem (well, mostly). In DON’T LOOK UP, as the title implies, denial abounds.

There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in this satiric comedy. Both DiCaprio and Lawrence are excellent as the alarmed scientists, increasingly frustrated that they message is not being taken seriously. The pair find a key ally in their effort to get something done to avert worldwide destruction in Rob Morgan’s Dr. Oglethorpe, a scientist at the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, a real NASA agency tasked with watching out for extra-terrestrial threats like this comet, as the film notes. Oglethorpe quickly arranges a meeting with the President for the two scientists, who are then sworn to secrecy and whisked away on a military transport jet to D.C. But once in the White House, they find themselves stuck waiting in a hallway, while President Orleans (Meryl Streep) deals with “more pressing” problems. After all, the comet isn’t going to hit the Earth for another six months.

Once the astronomers meet with the President and her Chief of Staff, (a very funny Jonah Hill), who also happens to be her son and occasionally slips up by calling her “mom,” things do not go well. Their “sky is falling” message is met with eye-rolling, and pressure to say the chance of a planet-killing direct hit by the enormous comet is less than the 100% the scientist insist on. The President’s focus is more on making the threat look less certain for PR reasons than finding a way to deflect the comet and avoid the planet’s destruction. No action is decided on, the White House will assess, and the scientists are instructed to keep their discovery secret in the meanwhile.

They don’t, thanks to the quick work by their ally Oglethorpe, who gets them on a morning talk show, The Daily Rip. But the happy-talk co-hosts, played marvelously by Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry, are focused on finding the lighter side of this impending doom and on the good-looking professor. When Jennifer Lawrence’s the graduate student loses patience with them, her outburst does not play well on social media.

With the information revealed, the White House decides doing something about the comet might play well in the mid-term elections and the whole media/political circus gets rolling. Eventually, the President brings in a retired military hero, played by a blustering Ron Perlman, to head an mission to address the problem, and later a quirky tech billionaire, played with chilling style and the world’s whitest smile by Mark Rylance, who has another, profitable idea. Forces line up on either side of an “issue” that isn’t one.

Rylance’s performance is one of the stand-outs in this comedy, particularly in a tense scene with DiCaprio, where the astronomer tries to persuade the businessman to accept the input of expert scientists in finding a solution, only to be buried in a recital of the chillingly detailed personal information on the scientist that the ego-driven billionaire has collected on him, although it is irrelevant to the situation.

While the laugh-out-loud moments are plentiful, some might find its broad swipes on all sides too obvious, no matter how true they may be. The comedy draws parallels to some issues and takes aim at even more, and it is that broad focus that is a bit of a problem. While DR STRANGELOVE is focused on a single topic, nuclear war, DON’T LOOK UP can’t always maintain a single focus as it takes aim at host of problems that prevent the world coming together to solve a global threat. Bouncing from one example of self-destructive idiocy to another as it lands comic bombs, it diffuses its central focus. It is a flaw that makes this well-intentioned, talent-packed satire less the direct mocking hit it should be, despite its moments of gold and strong comic performances.

DON’T LOOK UP opens Friday, Dec. 10, in theaters, and debuts on Netflix on Dec. 25.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande And Meryl Streep Star In Trailer For Adam McKay’s DON’T LOOK UP

DON’T LOOK UP tells the story of two low-level astronomers, who must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet earth. In select theaters December 10, on Netflix December 24, watch the brand-new trailer starring

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem — it’s on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate. With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry).

DON’T LOOK UP (L to R) CATE BLANCHETT as BRIE EVANTEE, TYLER PERRY as JACK BREMMER, LEONARDO DICAPRIO as DR. RANDALL MINDY, JENNIFER LAWRENCE as KATE DIBIASKY, Cr. NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX © 2021

With only six months until the comet makes impact, managing the 24-hour news cycle and gaining the attention of the social media obsessed public before it’s too late proves shockingly comical — what will it take to get the world to just look up?!

DON’T LOOK UP is written and directed by Academy Award winner Adam McKay (The Big Short) and also stars Mark Rylance, Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Chiklis and Tomer Sisley.

DON’T LOOK UP (L to R) LEONARDO DICAPRIO as DR. RANDALL MINDY, JENNIFER LAWRENCE as KATE DIBIASKY. Cr. NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX © 2021

When asked about how each prepared for the film, Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio and Adam McKay said:

Lawrence: I spoke to a brilliant astronomer named Amy Mainzer. I was mostly curious about what the world for a female astronomer looks like since they’re so outnumbered. That helped shape Kate’s personality, how she dresses, how she carries herself. I tried to learn about astronomy as well, but I don’t know how much of it I retained. Leo, of course, learned all of it.

DiCaprio: Amy Mainzer is our consultant and astronomer whom I had hundreds of conversations with. She helped me incredibly in playing Dr. Randall Mindy just to be able to articulate this science and basically almost gave me a Carl Sagan-like download on what astronomy is, what it means to be an astronomer, what you look for and the importance of what that means for my character. She was probably one of the most helpful elements to my character that I could’ve imagined. 

McKay: Amy was incredible. She was really a major ingredient in this movie. She was constantly fact-checking the script. Honestly, I can’t imagine us being able to pull it off without her. And, and on top of it all, she had a great sense of humor. I just heard the other day she saw the movie, and she was so excited by it. And in a way, that may be the reaction I value the most. Because scientists these days have been under such attack. And the idea that she felt heard seeing the movie was really exciting for me.

DON’T LOOK UP, RON PERLMAN as COLONEL DRASK Cr. NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX © 2021
DON’T LOOK UP (L to R) SCOTT MESCUDI (KID CUDI) as DJ CHELLO, ARIANA GRANDE as RILEY BINA. Cr. NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX © 2021
DON’T LOOK UP, Meryl Streep as President Janie Orlean. Cr. Niko Tavernise / Netflix © 2021
DON’T LOOK UP (L to R). Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky, Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy, and Timothée Chalamet as Yule. Cr. Niko Tavernise / Netflix © 2021

DARK PHOENIX – Review

Finally caught your breath from the epic superhero showdown from six weeks ago? Well, you’d better be since another big batch of Marvel characters is battling it out at the multiplex this weekend. So, what’s the big difference? For one thing, many of them are barely out of their teens. Oh, and their powers are due to genetic mutations. Yes, after a three-year hiatus the Marvel mutants return to the big screen, but they’re not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe…yet. Twentieth Century Fox snapped up the screen rights in the last century(!), so this is the seventh entry in a film franchise that began way back in 2000 (along the way there’s been two spin-off series, with Wolverine and Deadpool, five more flicks). Plus this is really a prequel with many younger actors taking over the roles from that 19-year-old initial adventure. Hopefully, any confusion will be cleared up as we dive deep into what may be the finale of the franchise, based on the acclaimed comic story arc that introduced DARK PHOENIX.

At the story’s start, we’re bopping through a couple of decades. First, a childhood trauma brings grade schooler Jean Grey to the attention of scientist/school founder Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). A quick cut and we’re in 1991 as the space shuttle Endeavor is launched into orbit. Charles is monitoring the flight with NASA back at his School for Gifted Youngsters. When the shuttle comes in contact with a swirling cosmic energy cloud that begins to tear it apart, Charles sends out a rescue team: Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and the now-grown Jean (Sophie Turner), all supervised by Raven AKA Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). Things turn deadly when the X-Jet (now really a rocket) arrives for the rescue of the crew. Jean is engulfed by the cloud, yet she somehow survives. Back at the school, she’s examined by Hank McCoy AKA Beast (Nicholas Hoult), who gives her a clean bill of health though he notices some odd energy pulses. But it’s Charles who is most alarmed as he detects that this force is revealing too many of Jean’s childhood memories and amplifying her rage. When she lashes out at a post-mission party and flees, the X-team are in pursuit. The encounter ends tragically and eventually brings Erik AKA Magneto (Michael Fassbender) out of hiding at his island commune/sanctuary he shares with other outcast mutants. Also tracking down Jean is the mysterious Vuk (Jessica Chastain), who may be part of another group wanting to possess the power now residing in the young woman (now dubbed Phoenix). The big question is: will she be the planet Earth’s defender or its destroyer?

Without the constraints of a time travel plot, nor a big baddie (Apocolypse), or even a role (lead or cameo) from fan-favorite Wolverine (this being the first completely Hugh J-free X flick), the young cast gets to explore the drama that springs from these complex relationships. Straight from the finale of that cable TV dragon show, Turner expertly portrays both sides of the conflicted Jean Grey, going from unpredictable unstoppable monster to a fragile teen trying to cope with a past filled with tragedy and deceit. Much of the latter comes from McAvoy as the controlling mentor who twists the truth for his ideas of justice. His foe (and brother who “takes the p*#s out of him”) is the always compelling Fassbender who brings a touch of nobility and passion to the comics supervillain. Lawrence conveys a sense of sad frustration as reformed baddie now pseudo-co-parent Raven. Sheridan is a stoic, devoted beau as Cyclops Scott. Although they’re under tons of makeup, Hoult and Smit-McPhee are excellent as the more outwardly odd mutants, Beast and Nightcrawler. Unfortunately, the guy who seems to be having the most fun with his abilities, Peters as Quicksilver (a scene stealer in the last two installments) is side-lined much too early (now he needs a spin-off). And the incredibly gifted Chastain is wasted as a one-note ethereal baddie who spends much of her limited screentime as the whispering demon to Turner, all while glaring under a white “fright wig”.

First-time director, though a long-time producer and writer on this series, Simon Kinberg captures much of the emotional power of the original comics saga by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and the sorely-missed Dave Cockrum (Simon wrote the adaptation), much more than in the previous screen treatment in the much-reviled X-MEN: THE LAST STAND. And though it’s one of the better flicks in the series (miles above the last dreary, dismal slog from 3 years ago), it still lacks a real coherent plot path, veering off for some alien menace, then stopping dead to denounce the bigoted, evil world at large just before the next big action set piece. Most of these are very involving, making great use of top of the line CGI, but edited with a “jerky’ pace, speeding up then slowing to a crawl, with the camera spinning around so fast we have a tough time figuring out who’s who, and who’s where. The biggest fault with the flick may be that of timing (something out of Kinsberg’s hands) because its original release date was last November. Since then we’ve seen a horrific 1970s car crash in the prologue of another superhero flick (SHAZAM), and just six weeks ago we were treated with a superhero battle finale capped with a noble hero making the ultimate sacrifice. Plus it was packed with charm and humor, elements sorely lacking in this X-adventure. But if this is indeed the end of the series (Disney’s purchase of Fox went through, so the folks at Marvel Studios could relaunch the “mutant movies” soon, which may have prompted a clever “inside joke” during a big battle), it’s going out on a fairly high note (though it lacks the giddy fun of X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and the “grand opera” of X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST), while even tossing in the first movie appearance of a truly obscure character who epitomizes the tacky 70s (hint, the initials are DD, but it’s not Daredevil nor Devil Dinosaur). So we wave goodbye to that “fancy-schmancy” elite school in the last frames of DARK PHOENIX with a strong feeling we may return once more.


3.5 out of 5

Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Nicholas Hoult, Kodi Smit-McPhee And James McAvoy Talk X-Men Movies In New DARK PHOENIX Celebration Video

It all leads to this moment.

20th Century Fox has released a new video in celebration of the upcoming release of DARK PHOENIX. The film stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain, and is scored by composer Hans Zimmer.

Watch the celebration video now.

DARK PHOENIX arrives in theaters everywhere this Friday, June 7.

This is the story of one of the X-Men’s most beloved characters, Jean Grey, as she evolves into the iconic DARK PHOENIX.

During a life-threatening rescue mission in space, Jean is hit by a cosmic force that transforms her into one of the most powerful mutants of all. Wrestling with this increasingly unstable power as well as her own personal demons, Jean spirals out of control, tearing the X-Men family apart and threatening to destroy the very fabric of our planet.

Sophie Turner stars as Jean Grey in Twentieth Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

The film is the most intense and emotional X-Men movie ever made. It is the culmination of 20 years of X-Men movies, as the family of mutants that we’ve come to know and love must face their most devastating enemy yet — one of their own.

And where is Wolverine in all of this?

Rolling Stone spoke with Director Simon Kinberg for the answer:

“Beginning with the original X-Men movie, back in the pre-superhero-industrial-complex year of 2000, every non-Deadpool entry in the franchise has had one thing in common: Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Dark Phoenix, due in theaters on June 7th, is the exception, and it’s not just because Jackman bid farewell to the character in James Mangold’s superb 2017 film Logan.

“Jackman could still have fit into the timeline, Kinberg notes, in keeping with his small role in 2016’s X-Men Apocalypse.  But there was another issue: In the original Dark Phoenix saga in the comic books — and even in the botched previous adaptation in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand — the love triangle between Cyclops, Jean Grey (the X-Men member who becomes Dark Phoenix, and Wolverine is key to the narrative.  “If you know the Dark Phoenix story, you’d want to really service the love story between Logan and Jean,” says Kinberg. “And I think the notion of Hugh Jackman, as great as he looks for his age, and Sophie Turner — it didn’t sit well with me. Or anyone else!”

“Plus, Kinberg wanted to keep the focus on the title character. “There was an element of this being Jean’s story,” he says. “And I was committing so fully to it that I didn’t want to run the risk of pulling away from Jean by going to the well of a fan-favorite character in these movies. I wanted this to be a very different experience of seeing an X-Men movie.”

For more on The Dark Phoenix, head over to the comic book section of Marvel
https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/the-definitive-dark-phoenix-reading-guide-part-one-the-beginning

https://www.foxmovies.com/movies/dark-phoenix

New DARK PHOENIX Trailer Adds Emma Frost To X-Men Movie Universe

This summer, the world will go dark.

20th Century Fox has released the new trailer and poster for DARK PHOENIX. The film stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain. DARK PHOENIX is scored by composer Hans Zimmer.

Watch the new trailer now.

In DARK PHOENIX, the X-MEN face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiraling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.

DARK PHOENIX arrives in theaters everywhere on June 7, 2019.

Sophie Turner and Jessica Chastain in Twentieth Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

Sophie Turner stars as Jean Grey in Twentieth Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

Director Simon Kinberg and Michael Fassbender on the set of Twentieth Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

Sophie Turner stars as Jean Grey in Twentieth Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

 Jennifer Lawrence stars as Raven/Mystique in Twentieth Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.