Volume 41: Edgar
Wright, Aliens & Alcohol
The World’s End
Dir: Edgar Wright – Planned release date: August 23
With his first two films—and
the first two installments in the so-called Cornetto Trilogy—Edgar Wright was
able to take the comedic genre homage and turn it into high art. Or at the very
least he was able to turn it into compelling filmmaking. Shaun of the Dead and Hot
Fuzz, the latter of which is probably one the best action comedies in
recent memory, are terrific because Wright puts making a good movie above
everything else. Hilarious gags are important and all, but if we don’t give a crap
about the movie itself it likely has no chance of longevity. After drifting
outside Cornetto land with the underachieving Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Wright once again teams up with old
pals Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and more for a tale of pub-crawling and
extraterrestrial invasion.
Besides Pegg and Frost, The World’s End has put together a
wonderfully British cast featuring Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, and the newly
Hobbit-ized Martin Freeman. There’s
no denying that this film is treading the same water of Shaun and Fuzz before it,
but all evidence suggests it should be just as fun as it ever was to hop in.
Even when throwing in some insane plot twists, Wright has a habit of pulling
them off as assuredly and hilariously as possible. It hits US theaters in
August, but the Brits are getting it one month earlier on July 19. I’m thinking
of moving.
Captain Phillips
Dir: Paul Greengrass – Planned release date: October
11
It’s been a while since we
last heard from Paul Greengrass, the man who gave us the second two Bourne movies as well as the immensely
powerful United 93. His last film was
the disappointing Green Zone, but he
looks to return to glory with his latest docudrama Captain Phillips. Starring Tom Hanks as the captain of a ship
famously taken over by Somali pirates in 2009. This is the kind of story that
would seem to be right up Greengrass’ alley, and the trailer only backs that
up. He has a history of taking real events and making them mind-bogglingly
tense while also refusing to sensationalize anything. The aforementioned United 93 is an example of that, and it
still stands as one of the great tightrope walks in cinematic history. The
material for Captain Phillips isn’t
quite as fragile, but Greengrass still seems intent on honoring history while
making a truly gripping film. Not many people can pull this off like he can.
Ender’s Game
Dir: Gavin Hood – Planned release date: November 1
How do you make a film
adaptation of Ender’s Game? By
turning it into a broadly accessible sci-fi blockbuster, that’s how! This
trailer hit with a collective thud this past week, and while I’m open to the
final product being much more interesting than what is advertised here, this is
pretty much what I expected all along. Also, the trailer gives away the book’s
climax, so hooray for that. I, like most, certainly consider myself a fan of
Orson Scott Card’s book, but I’m not quite the devotee that many seem to be.
Even so, devotees and non-devotees alike can’t exactly look at this preview and
think it’s advertising an adaptation that stays true to all that made the novel
great. This was probably inevitable, but I will continue to be at least mildly
optimistic. Heck, I’m just thrilled to see Hailee Steinfeld back onscreen after
the awesomeness of her work in True Grit.
The Bling Ring
Dir: Sofia Coppola – Planned release date: June 14
It feels like ages ago that
Sofia Coppola became all the rage after the release of Lost in Translation. Since then it’s been a steady stream of people
decided they were no longer all that interested. Her last film was Somewhere, which was divisive even for
one of her projects. Her next shot at a comeback is The Bling Ring, in which she casts Emma Watson as one of a group of
Hollywood teens who decide to start robbing celebrities’ homes. Because why
not? This certainly seems like it could be just the material and cast to get
Coppola right back where she wants to be, and it seems like the kind of story
that could generate buzz just through various profiles of the real-life
teenagers in the press. (Oh, it’s based on a true story. Should have said that
earlier.) I’m certainly interested in what The
Bling Ring has up its sleeve, and it looks like it can continue Emma
Watson’s upward post-Potter
trajectory. On that note, Rupert Grint needs to get with the program. You can’t
just sit around waiting
for the Thunderpants 2 offer.
Prince Avalanche
Dir: David Gordon Green – Planned release date:
August 9
People have spent the better
part of the last few years wondering whether David Gordon Green was ever going
to return to non-stoner comedy filmmaking. Just five years back he was an indie
“darling.” Now he’s the director of Pineapple
Express, Your Highness and The Sitter. Perhaps no other filmmaker
has caused so many critics to go down on their knees and shout “why?!?!?!” at
the sky. His next movie Prince Avalanche
looks to be a step back toward directing actual, you know, content. He wrote the screenplay himself, and it looks to be a rather
intimate comedy about Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch frustrating each other out in
the country. It’s low-stakes and it’s silly, certainly, but it’s not as
insultingly dumb as his last two ventures. I’m just glad that Green at least
seems to be recognizing the problem. He’s got too much talent to spend all his
time directing The Sitter. At least Your Highness had some ambition.
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