Category Archives: Movies

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

FANTASY COME TRUE:  Filmmaker Luc Besson took more than a decade to realize his vision

Luc Besson hired 10 designers and then had them prepare separate visions of space without really knowing what the goal was.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Opens July 21.

French filmmaker Luc Besson usually gets things done quickly. But it took him more than a decade of care and attention to realize his cinematic dream Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

The movie is based on the French comic books Valerian and Laureline by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières. The series enthralled Besson as a child growing up in Paris. As a 58-yearold, he’s finally promoting the English language version of the sci-fi fantasy.

The Besson movie features Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Cara Delevingne as Laureline. They are a squabbling but in-love couple who are also space detectives assigned to uncover a lethal menace at the gigantic space station named City of a Thousand Planets. If they don’t find the device, it might destroy the city and maybe the universe.

But some of the city’s inhabitants — made up of separate spheres for humanoids, robots, methane aliens and marine extraterrestrials — aren’t in the mood to co-operate with the investigators.

Co-stars include Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Rutger Hauer, Kris Wu and singer Rihanna, who stands out as a shape-shifting entertainer.

Continue reading Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

FANTASIA FESTIVAL TOP PICKS

FANTASIA FESTIVAL TOP PICKS

Action, comedy, horror — it’s all here

Chinese director Geng Jun’s Free and Easy: a gorgeous tragi-comedy.

ARIEL ESTEBAN CAYER Director of the Camera Lucida section

1. Free and Easy (July 17 at 9:45, July 20 at 5:30, Concordia’s de Sève Cinema, 1400 de Maisonneuve St. W.)

From independent Chinese filmmaker Geng Jun comes a gorgeous tragi-comedy which finds humour and absurdity in petty crime, bureaucracy and futile displays of power. Imagine a cross between early Jim Jarmusch, Jia Zhang-ke and the Coen Brothers, with the deadpan factor turned up to 12.

2. The Honor Farm (July 15 at 8 p.m. and July 17 at 3:30 p.m., de Sève Cinema)

A trippy coming-of-age tale from Texas filmmaker Karen Skloss offering a touching vision of female adolescence with just the right balance of horror, psychedelia and tartness to make the typical prom night/teen movie feel fresh again.

3. Animals (July 16 at 4:45 p.m. and July 18 at 3 p.m., de Sève)

Greg Zglinski’s story of a failing marriage is marked by a complete mastery of form — as the relationship disintegrates, so does the film’s sense of reality. A brilliant surrealism takes over, setting up a gripping central mystery: what is going on? Fans of David Lynch’s dream logic and Andrzej Zulawski’s apocalyptic passion will be delighted.

NICOLAS ARCHAMBAULT

Co-director of Asian programming

4. A Taxi Driver (Aug. 2 at 8:45 p.m., Concordia’s Alumni Auditorium, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.)

With the legendary Song Kangho (The Host) in the title role, a director of the calibre of Jang Hoon (Secret Reunion) at the helm and an absorbing script based on tragic events little-known in the west, A Taxi Driver calls upon the cinephile and the citizen in each of us. I’m extremely proud to present such a powerful, important film to the Fantasia audience.

5. A Day (July 22 at 7:25 p.m., Alumni Auditorium)

In South Korean director Cho Sun-ho’s debut feature, a surgeon is stuck continually reliving the day his daughter died. He can never change anything, but it turns out he is not the only prisoner of this infernal time loop. An enthralling dramatic thriller, full of ingenious twists cleverly reimagining the premise of Groundhog Day.

ÉRIC BOISVERT

Director of the Action section

6. Jailbreak (July 21 at 6:45 p.m., Alumni Auditorium; July 29 at 7:30 p.m., de Sève Cinema)

Hand-to-hand combat reigns as a special police unit must stop a prison riot. Italian director Jimmy Henderson opens the door to an extremely promising potential franchise while revealing the immense cinematic talent hiding in Cambodia.

7. Savage Dog (July 15 at 7:30 p.m., Alumni Auditorium)

After spending time in a Cambodian jail where he is forced to compete in organized fights, a former IRA member (Scott Adkins of The Expendables 2) gets pulled back into the ring. Jesse V. Johnson’s ’80s-’90s throwback rewinds to a time when TV screens sweated testosterone.

8. Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D (July 24 at 6:30 p.m., Alumni Auditorium)

Two and a half decades after revolutionizing action cinema, James Cameron presents a restored, 3D version of his classic film.

MITCH DAVIS

General director, director of international programming 9. Lowlife (July 21 at 9:25 p.m., Alumni Auditorium)

American filmmaker Ryan Prows’ debut feature is one of the most exhilarating discoveries we’ve come across in years. A thriller, crime film, comedy and deeply empathetic drama with beautifully scripted, atypical characters and shock value to spare, this one-of-a-kind blast of eccentricity will have you sweating, screaming, laughing and

crying as it surprises at virtually every turn.

10. Spoor (July 30 at 9 p.m. at D.B. Clarke Theatre, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.; Aug. 1 at 2:45 p.m. at de Sève Cinema)

Polish cinema legend Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa, The Secret Garden) makes her first foray into genre storytelling at nearly 70 years of age. A retired teacher struggles to defend the animals of her area against cruel-hearted hunters — who begin turning up dead with paw tracks by their bodies. A beguiling and eccentric film of paralyzing beauty and emotion that plays like a cry against fundamental disrespect for living things while also speaking to patriarchal systems of violence. Genuinely radical.

11. Mayhem (July 30 at 9:15 p.m., Alumni Auditorium).

From American director Joe Lynch (Everly) comes an absurdist, blood-soaked comedy-action-horror hand-grenade thrown in the face of cutthroat corporate culture, starring The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun. A legal firm is under siege by its own employees, who are contaminated by a virus that temporarily renders them unable to control their impulses. A bonkers-crazy film full of gonzo wit and gore, Mayhem is also sharp, calculated and subversive to the extreme.

KING-WEI CHU

Co-director of Asian programming

12. Bastard Swordsman (July 23 at 2:45 p.m., July 29 at 3 p.m. at de Sève Cinema).

Can the infamous silkworm technique — involving web spins, lots of flying and cocoon combat — bring balance to the martial world in old China? From director Tony Liu, one of the directors who redefined martial arts cinema over 30 years ago. Get ready to be blasted with an avalanche of unfettered lunacy in this phantasmagorical, 1983 kung fu classic.

13. Bad Genius (July 16 at 4:30 p.m., D.B. Clarke; July 21 at 5:15 p.m. at de Sève Cinema).

Two super-smart students concoct elaborate schemes to help others cheat on exams. It’s Mission Impossible meets The Breakfast Club in Nattawut Poonpiriya’s exciting coming-of-age thriller, which opened the New York Asian Film Festival and aced the Thailand box office.

14. Wu Kong (July 18 at 7 p.m., Alumni Auditorium).

Award-winning director Derek Kwok (Gallants, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons) reboots the famous Monkey King legend from the popular internet novel, with fresh vigour of epic proportions. You’ll love it for 10,000 years.

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Geostorm Trailers and Teasers

Geostorm Trailers and Teasers (Is there a difference between trailer and teaser?)

There was an article in today’s Montreal Gazette about the movie industry putting out too many trailers and teasers and ultimately, too many spoilers.

I had a look on Youtube when I saw the release of the second trailer for Geostorm–there are nine trailers posted, one of which is likely a duplicate in HD. After seeing all these, is there any point in watching the movie? It doesn’t appear in cinemas until October 20th, so lots of time for more trailer releases!!

After an unprecedented series of natural disasters threatened the planet, the world’s leaders came together to create an intricate network of satellites to control the global climate and keep everyone safe. But now, something has gone wrong—the system built to protect the Earth is attacking it, and it’s a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide geostorm wipes out everything…and everyone along with it.

Regardless you are a teen or the parent Taught sildenafil tablets australia Driver Ed course allows the parents to keep track of their children, whether they are the right choice for them or not. Libido problems occurring cheap levitra india http://amerikabulteni.com/2018/01/15/her-seyi-herkesten-iyi-bilen-bir-devlet-baskani/ among diabetic patients can be cured. Research reveals that it also contains citrulline that has the ability to relax blood vessels, improves blood supply and causes rock hard erection. tadalafil viagra This is the group of people who will tell you about how well viagra italy works and how it relates to their needs.
Oh, golly gee– I’ve never seen anything like that before!!!  Have you?

–CPL

Gerard Butler playing a stubborn but charming satellite designer who, when the world’s climate-controlling satellites malfunction, has to work together with his estranged brother to save the world from a man-made storm of epic proportions. A trip into space follows, while on Earth a plot to assassinate the president begins to unfold.

 

 

Spider-Man reboot scores

WELCOME HOMECOMING

Spider-Man reboot scores

COLUMBIA PICTURES
There is plenty to like in Marvel’s reboot of Spider-Man, writes Chris Knight, including lead actor Tom Holland, villain Michael Keaton and Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May.

I honestly didn’t think I was ready for another Spider-Man. After the Tobey Maguire trilogy (2002-2007) and the truncated Andrew Garfield years (20122014), not to mention Tom Holland’s appearance in the climactic scene of last year’s Captain America: Civil War, I was awaiting this one with all the anticipation of a new iPhone iOS. “SM v. 3.1b” was my private name for Homecoming.

And yet darned if Holland’s Spidey doesn’t breathe new life into the old web-slinger, who officially turns 55 this year and doesn’t look a day over 15 in the movie. How’d they do it?

First and foremost, no backstory.

As written by a six-man consortium headed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Horrible Bosses), this Spider-Man doesn’t bother introducing Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben just to bump him off and teach the kid a lesson. (Though it does include Marisa Tomei as the hottest Aunt May to grace the screen.) Even the radioactive spider bite is mentioned only in passing, after Peter’s pal (Jacob Batalon in a fine bit of comic relief ) learns his secret identity.

Continue reading Spider-Man reboot scores

A video roundup

Gleefully snitched from File 770: Video Roundup:  Unexpected Encounters

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Curated by Carl Slaughter: (1) Morticia, Vampira, and Elvira.

(2) Screen Prism explains the meaning of the Golden Mean in Game of Thrones.

(3) Screen Prism explains the ending of Donnie Darko.

(4) Watch Mojo says these 10 video games should NEVER be made into movies.  Too late.  Some are already in the works.  For example, Paul Anderson of the Resident Evil franchise is already adapting Monster Hunter.

(5) War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves will direct the next Batman movie.  In an interview with New Trailer Buzz, Reeves compares Caesar and Batman.

(6) Batman and Bruce Wayne have a conversation

A Round up of videos explaining movies

For movie fans

A round up of 9 videos to round out your critical knowledge of filmdom.

How The Matrix uses screen transitions to chronicle Neo’s gradual transition from the Matrix to the real world

How Steven Spielberg and several other directors were successful as blockbuster directors because they transitioned from horror directors and continued to use horror tools in other genres.
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HyperDrive’s choice of 8 best dystopian films.

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Trailers: TV and Movies

 

And fans of Howard Lovecraft and GRRM might want to also see:

In which HPL and GRRM talk shop.
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Summer movies

Today’s Gazette had a couple of articles that would interest MonSFFen. There was  a review of the Mummy that was a little more positive than most, and a look at the summer offerings. I’ve copied the movies that looked most appealing to our membership.  The review of the Mummy movie follows.  There are trailers on Youtube, I linked to the most recent ones.

SUMMER MOVIE SAMPLER

We give you the elevator pitches

SONY Young British actor Tom Holland stars in the latest superhero remake in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Beyond a rebooted (again) webslinger, this summer is lighter than usual on superhero fare. But as usual there are lively animated movies, some crime stories and a few R-rated ladies-night-out parties. Also in the mix are some sequels, remakes, comedies and an epic escape yarn. Release dates are subject to change:

CARS 3 (JUNE 16)

The pitch: Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) gears up for a new challenge with encouragement from slickster sponsor Mr. Sterling (Canadian Nathan Fillion).

Hit or miss: More animated fun for fans of the anthropomorphic speedy riders.

TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT (JUNE 23)

The pitch: More of the same — meaning another special effects clatter and clash of the robot titans once best known as toys.

Hit or miss: The fifth in the Michael Bay series confirms that nothing succeeds like another international success.

DESPICABLE ME 3 (JUNE 30)

The pitch: Gru (Steve Carell) discovers long-lost brother Dru (also voiced by Carell) as new villain Balthazar Bratt (South Park’s Trey Parker) tries to overshadow Minions everywhere.

Hit or miss: Surrender to the cute.

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (JULY 7)

The pitch: Tom Holland impressed with his Spider-Man introduction in Captain America: Civil War. Now he’s a standalone with able assistance from Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)

Hit or miss: Spidey’s slinging for the fences.

A GHOST STORY (JULY 7)

The pitch: Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara play a couple getting by in a secluded home when spooky things start going bump in the night.

Hit or miss: Most enjoy a good “Boo!”

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (JULY 14)

The pitch: As special effects get better, the story veers as Caesar (Andy Serkis) is on a path of revenge. Hit or miss: The appeal continues.

VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS (JULY 21)

The pitch: Based on the French sci-fi comic series Valérian and Laureline, the film version stars Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Cara Delevingne as Laureline. They are operatives trying save the City of a Thousand Planets, and the universe, from a dark force.

Hit or miss: Director Luc Besson happily returns to sci-fi fantasy after the success of 1997’s The Fifth Element.

 THE DARK TOWER (AUG. 4)

The pitch: Stephen King’s horror fantasy makes it to the big screen with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey surrounded by fancy scare tactics.

Hit or miss: How can it miss?

THE MUMMY’S BAD RAP HAS BEEN UNDESERVED

 Dark Universe saga looks to be off to a solid start

THE MUMMY

★★★ 1/2 out of five Cast: Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Russell Crowe Director: Alex Kurtzman Duration: 1 h 50 m

UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Sofia Boutella, left, stars with Tom Cruise in The Mummy. As Princess Ahmanet, she has powers others can barely understand, including the ability to learn English and figure out 21st-century technology.

Already, The Mummy is getting a bad rap. As soon as the studio embargo dropped, the critics’ gloves came off: By Thursday morning the score at rottentomatoes.com was 23 per cent and falling.

But I’m here to tell you it’s not all bad. The Mummy is more coherent than Suicide Squad, less grim than Batman v Superman, and easily 16 times better than Fantastic Four.

That may sound like faint praise, but Universal’s first chapter in its so-called Dark Universe franchise of gods and monsters is off to a fair start. Whether it can better the DC or Marvel series remains to be seen.

The movie opens on a dour note, with an ancient prayer of resurrection, followed by a lengthy Egyptology lesson from Russell Crowe, who plays Henry, a doctor with some severe angermanagement issues. Among the information he doles out: Several thousand years ago Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) made a pact with the god of death and was mummified alive for her troubles. Pay attention: There may be a test later.

Cut (at last!) to the present day, where Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) are hoping to relieve Iraq of some of her valuable antiquities. There’s more than a little Raiders of the Lost Ark in their escapades — even Brian Tyler’s score nods to it — but if you recall that franchise you’ll realize that Cruise’s character is more Belloq than Indy.

When the lads uncover a mummy, scientist Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) shows up to study it. But this is where things start to go bad. First, the plane transporting the sarcophagus — “the chick in the box,” according to the decidedly lowbrow Nick — crashes in England.

Nick goes down with the aircraft, mysteriously surviving but suddenly able to see and even converse with Chris’s chatty ghost. In another throwback moment, their interactions have a very American Werewolf in London vibe.

He’s now in a race against time to figure out why he’s still alive, whether Ahmanet has something to do with it, and what she might want from him. Henry, who looks like he might become the Nick Fury of this franchise, has managed to capture the mummy in his underground lair, but she has powers he can barely understand, including a remarkably quick ability to learn English and figure out 21st-century technology.

One of the complaints critics have with The Mummy is that it’s not nearly as terrifying as a monster movie could (or should) be. This is true — there are jump scares and a few scenes of mummies face-sucking the life out of others, but it’s all pretty bloodless. On the plus side, while Cruise continues to do his own falling-aircraft and underwater stunts, at no point does he jump on a motorcycle.

Boutella, meanwhile, is creepy and intense as Princess Ahmanet, with extra irises (don’t call her “four eyes”) and a plethora of facial markings, as if she’d walked into a New Kingdom tattoo parlour and told them to give her the Heliopolis phone book. Though I have to wonder which of The Mummy’s six writers thought it would be a good idea to have Cruise “dump” her with an it’snot-me-it’s-you speech? And wouldn’t a better line have been: “You had me at hello, but you lost me at hell”?

One of those writers is director Alex Kurtzman, whose only previous movie was 2012’s People Like Us, though he does have producing credits on everything from Star Trek to Spider-Man. He manages the pacing of this one nicely, keeping the whole thing down to a manageable hour and 50 minutes so you won’t feel you’ve been buried for millennia.

Mind you, things get a little wonky at the end, when the screenplay scrambles to set up its endless sequels. There’s a quick glimpse of a skull that would seem to suggest the Wolfman, or maybe Dracula, while another character lopes off into the sunset all but promising to return. There may even have been an Invisible Man reference, but I didn’t see it.

And to all those reviewers warning you away, I ask: How are you going to follow this franchise if you don’t sit through the compulsory Mummies 101?

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Trailers: GoT, Valerian, Spiderman

Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres 7.16.17 on HBO

Luc Besson’s new film arrives in theatres July 21.

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VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS is the visually spectacular new adventure film from Luc Besson, the legendary director of The Professional, The Fifth Element and Lucy, based on the ground-breaking comic book series which inspired a generation of artists, writers and filmmakers.

Spider-Man: Homecoming – Trailer 3

Next mission: figuring out how all web shooter combinations work. Watch the new “Spider-Man: Homecoming” trailer now – in theatres July 7. ► Subscribe to Marvel: http://bit.ly/WeO3YJ