Monthly Archives: August 2016

Interviews, Movies

How to Interview: Cast of ‘Pete’s Dragon’ Talk Magic and More

Petes-Dragon

Disney is just on a roll. Period. Their latest effort transforming one of their old-school animated films into a live-action gem is Pete’s Dragon – and it’s a poignant family film for the ages.

Set somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (but actually shot in the lush forests of New Zealand), Pete’s Dragon tells the simple story of Pete (Oakes Fegley), who finds himself stranded in the forest at very young age but finds a big, soft, green furry dragon named Elliott, and the two live peacefully together deep in the forest and away from civilization.

Until, that is, a kindly park ranger, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), discovers Pete and takes him into the local town. Pete doesn’t necessarily want to be “rescued,” insisting he has been well taken care of by his friend, Elliott. Of course, none of the adults believe him, except maybe Grace’s dad, Meacham (Robert Redford), who claims he, too, has seen Elliott a long time ago. Only the daughter, Natalie (Oona Laurence), of a local lumberman, Jack (Wes Bentley), believes Pete’s story. Needless to say, they all end up meeting the sweet dragon, and while some are fearful, it’s Pete and Elliott’s true bond and friendship that prevails and wins them, and us, over.

ScreenPicks attended the press day with the cast and director David Lowery and found out these 8 things about Pete’s Dragon that makes it so special and magical. Continue reading How to Interview: Cast of ‘Pete’s Dragon’ Talk Magic and More →

Movies, Reviews

How to Watch: “Suicide Squad”

Suicide Squad

Poor Suicide Squad, getting all these bad reviews when it’s really just a big bowl of popcorn fun. Sure, it has issues, maybe more than a few of them, but Suicide Squad still delivers the big, bold characters, lots of action, laughs, jumps and a desire to see these folks again.

Step 1: How to handle the material. Writer/director David Ayer, who is best known for his gritty crime drama End of Watch, handles the action chores with aplomb, with a pretty action-packed final climactic scene. Ayer thankfully doesn’t shake his camera around or zoom in so close you can’t see who is fighting who. But Ayer may have bitten off a little more than he could chew in the story department, trying to pack too many details into a two-hour chunk. This #Squad, the “worst of the worst,” are meta-humans, who – if you can control their wayward, criminal behavior – would be ideal to take down even more dangerous super entities, ready to destroy Earth. Really? Seems like a big flaw in logic that even the shady government agent Amanda Waller (the always-good Viola Davis), who brings together these criminals, doesn’t entirely believe in. Half of Suicide Squad is spent watching the bad guys bucking against the authority who want them to be good guys.

Step 2: Create great characters. Ayer does his best, though, to bring these folks to life, and there are a few characters that truly steal the show. Much has been hyped about Margot Robbie’s performance as hot mess Harley Quinn, and thankfully, it’s justified. Robbie has way too fun playing bubble-headed crazy with a bat, but there are moments of pathos that cross her pasty white face – and it’s those moments you notice. Will Smith also does a nice job as Deadshot, the hitman with pinpoint accuracy who is conflicted by his work because he’s also a dad to a precocious 11-year-old daughter. You definitely wish more than once that you could watch movies just about these characters. In fact, the whole cast really delivers, including Jared Leto as the Joker. His take on the iconic character is definitely more gangsta and a tad over the top, but you can’t take your eyes off him and are left wanting more.

Step 3: Damn Marvel. You might have to also chalk up the lackluster critical response for Suicide Squad to bad timing. For the anti-heroes banding together to fight a common enemy, we have the superb Guardians of the Galaxy. For sarcastic, raunchy, sticking-it-to the man mentality, there’s Deadpool. It’s like those Marvel people have a better movie for everything. I mean, if we are to compare Marvel and DC Comics and why Marvel seems to have a better success rate, it comes down to tone. Marvel has found their rhythm with the characters, combining humor with action, but DC Comics is still trying to figure out which way they want to go. DC’s universe seems like it’s inherently darker, broodier than Marvel, which is the way Christopher Nolan went with his Dark Knight trilogy, but now DC seems to be having trouble owning that. Most critics are at least giving Suicide Squad the benefit of being a better film than Batman v Superman, but one wonders if things will trend upwards for DC with the upcoming Wonder Woman and Justice League movies.

Step 4: Just have fun. If you are fan of the comic or a fan of having fun in the theater, then Suicide Squad should be right up your alley.

Movies, Reviews

How to Watch: “Jason Bourne”

Jason Bourne

Step 1: Expect the expected. As the fifth installment in the franchise – and fourth starring Matt Damon – Jason Bourne incorporates all the highly charged action sequences you’ve come to expect, but it seems to lack a bit in the narrative.

Step 2: Feel the retread, to be honest. It starts out with Bourne living off the grid, making cash by street fighting across the globe – and he’s still haunted by his assassin past. He can’t shake it, no matter how many times he fights or tries to disassociate himself from the world. And just when he thinks he’s out, he, of course, gets pulled back in, this time by his former colleague/ally Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles). She seeks him out to tell him the CIA baddies are still pushing through the same programs (worse even) that turned him into an assassin monster – and they should be stopped. He doesn’t really want to get involved anymore, he’s done his part (as in exposing Treadstone in Bourne Ultimatum) – but Nicky tells him she knows even more about his past, especially about his father, which ties into it all.

Step 3: Move on. Gaining more insight into his past lures him back into the spotlight – and into the cross hairs of CIA Director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) and his lackey, the ambitious Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander), who may actually be on Bourne’s side (at least it seems that way). Does this sound in any way familiar? That’s the problem. This is territory already covered in the Bourne trilogy, and covered well. The first Bourne Identity still stands as the best of the three because it brilliantly introduces us to Bourne, a man who doesn’t remember he is a trained assassin until he is forced to use his skills to combat those trying to eliminate him. That scene in which he fights and then kills a guy with a pen is just one of the best fight sequences ever. In Jason Bourne, Damon portrays his reluctant anti-hero with the same steely determination and keen street sense as before, now a little older but wiser, but the tortured part is getting tired. It just seems like with the fourth movie, it’s time to move past the issues and explore a new Bourne.

Step 4: Embrace the action, though. That being said, veteran Bourne director Paul Greengrass has outdone himself in the action-chase sequence department. There are three major set pieces in Jason Bourne, with the third one set in Las Vegas being one of the most thrilling, cover-your-eyes car chases we’ve ever seen. This is one of the main reasons to see a Bourne movie, and Jason does not disappoint in any way.

Step 5: Rank the movie. Even with some spectacular action, if we were to rank Jason Bourne in the franchise, we probably put it second to last. The first three – Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum – remain at top, in that order, with the fifth, The Bourne Legacy with Jeremy Renner, at the bottom. Legacy is actually a well-done addition to the franchise, giving us a different perspective of these “programs” and what they do to the men in them, but it doesn’t have Damon – and he’s really the glue in these films. If they do move forward with the franchise (and every indication says they will), it would be cool to see a Renner/Damon hybrid movie. Let’s see if that happens.