Movie Muser

Have your say about cinema

Final San Andreas Trailer Arrives – Dwayne Johnson takes on an earthquake

By


After the terrible Earthquake in Nepal, it was quickly revealed that Warner Bros. was making changes to its marketing for the upcoming San Andreas, and that may be present here, as this new trailer lays on the pathos and horror of the situation far more than earlier promos, which invited us to enjoy the orgy of destruction.

It’ll be interesting to see which of these tones is closet to the actual movie.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘After the infamous San Andreas Fault finally gives, triggering a magnitude 9 earthquake in California, a search and rescue helicopter pilot (Dwayne Johnson) and his estranged wife make their way together from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter. But their treacherous journey north is only the beginning. And when they think the worst may be over…it’s just getting started.’

The movie will his UK cinemas May 28th.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:

Martin Freeman Joins Captain America: Civil War – He enters the Marvel Universe

By

With his trip to the Lonely Mountain in The Hobbit over, Martin Freeman is heading in a different direction by signing up for Captain America: Civil War, according to an announcement by Marvel.

There’s no news though on who he might be playing, although I think it’s safe to say he won’t be a Halfling with hairy feet, or indeed the companion of a super-genius detective. There’s also no hint on whether his deal is just for a single movie, or if this will set up his character for further films, either on the side of good or of evil.

My bet would be the latter, especially with the recent news that Civil War will directly set up the events of Avengers: Infinity War. Another interesting possibility is that he could also appear in Doctor Strange, which would reunite him with his Sherlock co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch.

In the comics, the Civil War storyline centres around the Superhero Registration Act, which demands that those with super-human powers register themselves with and serve the US government. Steve Rogers is unimpressed by this and rebels against it, while Tony Stark (yep Robert Downey Jr. is back) thinks it’s a good idea. As a result the various heroes split into factions that ending up doing battle with one another.

The movie’s due out May 6th, 2016.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:

Independence Day 2 Adds A Female President – Sela Ward takes on the role

By


Hillary Clinton may be bidding to be America’s first female president, but I’d be willing to bet that if she does win, she won’t have to fight any aliens. That’s not true for Sela Ward, who’ll be taking the POTUS role in Independence Day 2, according to Deadline.

We would say President Lanford be in residence at the White House, but seeing as that got blown up in the first movie, who knows if it’s been rebuilt. It’s also not clear how she fits into the story, although as Bill Pullman’s President Thomas J. Whitmore was a major force in Independece Day, she’ll probably have plenty to do in this one, especially as Pullman is returning for the sequel.

She joins fellow newcomers Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Travis Tope and Joey King, alongside returnees such as Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner. The film will see the invading aliens return, with the son of Will Smith’s character playing a major role this time around

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:

Will Poulter Is ‘It’ In A New Take On Stephen King’s Book – He’ll be Pennywise The Clown

By

For a while there’s been talk about a new film version of Stephen King’s It, with Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) attached to direct. Now it’s moved a little closer to the screen as Variety reports the movie has found its villainous Pennywise The Clown in the form of Will Poulter.

Although he’s a lot younger than Tim Curry was when he took on the role in the 80s (initially the new film intended to go older too, looking at the likes of Mark Rylance and Ben Mendelsohn), it’s a potentially smart move as Will has shown he can be funny, as in We’re The Millers, but is also getting buzz for his more dramatic, intense role in The Revenant.

The current plan is to make two movies, based on Kings book which follows, ‘a group of outcast kids who come together over summer break to take on the monster that’s haunting their town, battling their own personal monsters in the process.’

Filming will start this summer.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:

First Pic From Martin Scorsese’s Silence Arrives – Andrew Garfield heads for Japan

By


Martin Scorsese has been attached to Silence for years. However he kept putting it back, to the point where it briefly ended up in court as some of the backers felt he was essentially preventing it from actually getting made.

That was sorted out and Scorsese has now filmed the movie, based on Shusaku Endo’s novel. Set in the 17th Century, the story follows Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield), a Portuguese Jesuit priest who travels to Japan to confront his mentor, after rumours surface that he has abandoned the church. Ken Watanabe will portray Father Rodrigues’ Japanese interpreter, while Liam Neeson,Issei Ogata and Adam Driver also star.

The first picture from the movie has now arrived courtesy of EW, which shows Garfield getting rather intense. The release of the image marks the completion of filming, with the movie due in cinemas later this year.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:

The Last Five Years (DVD) – Anna Kendrick & Jeremy Jordan have a musical romance

By


Normally movie musicals are set in a heightened reality, not just due to the fact that everyone is singing, but also because the universe itself is shifted to the side. Even something like West Side Story is obviously in a fantasy version of New York, several steps away from reality. However The Last Five Years takes a look at a very real story (indeed it’s based on a tumultuous marriage the musical’s writer, Jason Robert Brown, had when he was in his 20s), and sets in a realistic New York.

Everyone may be singing and it may use play with time in unusual ways, but the world and the characters are extremely grounded, with plenty that everyone will be able to recognise from their own relationships.

The film follows Cathy (Anna Kendrick) and Jamie (Jeremy Jordan) who meet and fall deeply in love while they’re both in their early 20s. They decide to marry and think they’ll be together forever, but things begin to go wrong, particularly as Jamie’s writing career sees huge success while Cathy’s acting career stalls, with an endless series of auditions that don’t go anywhere. As the pressures mount, they eventually split up.

That last sentence would normally be a major spoiler, but The Last Five Years uses the interesting conceit of telling the story from both Cathy and Jamie’s perspective, with James side going from the beginning to the end of the relationship, while Cathy starts at the moment she finds Jamie’s Dear John letter and then goes backwards. The film cuts back and forth, with each of them getting a song, but only singing together at the point of their marriage.

It’s an interesting idea but initially it’s a difficult one for the movie to pull off. In the stage version the two characters only interact at the marriage, making it easy to see you’re getting different perspectives and that one is going backward and the other forwards. However on film it takes longer to get used to, as both characters are constantly on the screen, and the film initially lacks decent signposts to help the audience understand how it’s jumping around.

Once you’ve got into it, it works surprisingly well, helped by the fact that Richard LaGravenese’s direction becomes more assured as it goes along. There’s also the fact that the music is really good, with a smart score that’s tuneful, not too tortuously rocky and contains some great songs. It’s also impressively honest, carefully not painting either of the characters as the bad guy, with both having issues and problems that drive them apart, but also immense passion and love that draws them together. Indeed it’s the most effective aspect of the time jumps, that it constantly leaps from the excitement of new love to the grinding pain of a relationship breaking down in a way that very emotionally involving.

A musical is actually a smart way to deal with it, as one of the limitations of films is that without an overabundance of narration and clunky exposition, it’s difficult to show exactly what it going on in the characters’ minds. However in a musical that’s not an issue, as both Jeremy and Cathy can sing their thoughts and feelings. That’s especially true here as nearly all the songs are solos, showing that moment in the relationship through one of their eyes.

It’s not a complete success, partly due to Richard LaGravenese’s initial hesitation in how to direct the film, and also that in trying to ensure it remains in a real world, it’s sometimes rather flat visually. That’s particularly problematic at the beginning, as it makes the time jumps slightly more difficult to follow.

However both Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan are great, bringing their all too fairly difficult roles, which demand them to be emotionally quite raw, and all in song. They both ensure that they hold the audience’s empathy, despite the fact that it would have been easy for either of them to have gone too far and made their characters seem either too needy or selfish (as most people can be at times). There’s a surprising honesty to what they’re doing, which is the great strength of the musical both on stage and on screen.

Overall Verdict: Due to the time jumps which aren’t set up as well as they should have been, The Last Five Years has been a tougher sell than it ought to have been. However it rewards patience, with great performances and some excellent music.

Special Features:
Cast & Crew Interviews

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES: