Boy Erased (2018)

I was very looking forward to seeing Boy Erased as it deals with a very difficult and important subject and has many good actors —Nicole Kidman, Lucas Hedges, Joel Edgerton, who is also directing, and Russell Crowe. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disappointment.

Based on Garrard Conley's memoir of the same name, the story follows Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges), the son of a Baptist preacher (Russell Crowe) and a religious woman (Nicole Kidman) in Arkansas. When he comes out as gay, his parents send him to a church-supported gay conversion camp to cure him of his homosexuality.

This is arguably an important story that needed to be told as people need to be aware of the existence of these camps and what people had to go through because of them —sadly, some people still firmly believe you can cure homosexuality with therapy. The problem with Boy Erased is that the storytelling, although non-linear which should make things more interesting, is dull and not so compelling. In addition, Edgerton doesn't do an excellent job at capturing the horrors of those places —they don't look that bad at times— and the over-dramatization gives you the impression of an Oscar-bait movie.

The characters are a hit and miss too. While Lucas Hedges gives a nice performance as Jared, capturing to perfection the young man's bewilderment but struggling a lot when it comes to delivering the sexual conflict within him —the performance falls a bit flat because of this—, the character of Jared isn't particularly interesting. Actually, he couldn't be any more uninteresting. The father, although he doesn't have a lot of depth nor development and Crowe's performance is forgettable to say the least, is by far a more interesting character. The mother, on the other hand, is compelling as she is the only character that shows some growth —while at the beginning, she hardly does anything to protect her son from her husband, at the end she finally fights for her son and shows how much she loves him, no matter what— and Nicole Kidman's performance is quite extraordinary, especially when it comes to delivering the inner struggle of a woman torn between her husband and her son.

Focus Features

As I mentioned above, Joel Edgerton's direction fails to deliver the horrors of conversion camps, but at least he handles the heavy topic with sensitivity, in a respectful manner. And yet, he failed at making me feel anything, which left me speechless considering the subject. The cinematography is also quite dull and mute, and the score often feels inappropriate and manipulative.

Red Sparrow (2018)

This is basically Jennifer Lawrence's Atomic Blonde, is what I thought after seeing the trailer for Francis Lawrence's Red Sparrow. I also thought that it looked way less exciting than last year's spy movie which by the way I didn't love. As expected, Red Sparrow turned out to be a pretty awful movie.

Set in modern-day Russia, the film follows Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence), a famous prima ballerina whose career is destroyed by a rival and is forced by her uncle, Vanya Egorov (Matthias Schoenaerts), to serve the State and is sent to the State School Four, where she learns to use her body and sexuality as a weapon. Her first mission is to get close to CIA agent Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) to find out the identity of his Russian informant.

Other than the fact that the main character, Dominika, goes to a whore school, literally, there's nothing new, refreshing about Red Sparrow's plot, starting from Dominika's rival putting her out of the game (not a cliché of the spy genre but still pretty common) to every single twist and turn. It's predictable, clichéd, ridiculous, implausible and boring. And it's all over the place. There's not a connection between some scenes and some parts are hard to put together.

The plot, unfortunately, isn't the only problem script-wise. The characters are flat, one-dimensional stereotypes, Dominika being the only exception. She has some depth, the transition from innocent ballerina to ruthless, manipulative whore, oops, I meant, spy, is well done, and I liked that she isn't another fighting machine, like Angelina Jolie in Salt or Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde.

The acting is a whole different story. While she conquered her fear to do nudity, Jennifer Lawrence's performance as Dominika is flat and her Russian accent isn't very strong, not to mention that it drops completely several times. Also, there's no chemistry between her and Joel Edgerton which makes it impossible for us to buy the romance.

20th Century Fox

There are a few highlights in the supporting cast though. The first is Matthias Schoenaerts who really tried to add some layers to his thin character, and managed to give a good performance. Then there's Charlotte Rampling. She plays the Matron of the whore school. Though the character is over-the-top and she doesn't get the screen time she deserves, Rampling does a good job. In spite of the good performances they both delivered, it bothered me a lot not having a single Russian actor playing the Russian characters.

Another of Red Sparrow's problems is the lack of tension and suspense. We know right from the start what's Dominika's ultimate goal is so the final twists aren't that unexpected. The stale atmosphere doesn't help either if anything it brings the movie even lower. There's also too much pointless nudity in this film and the violence isn't always justified.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel like the film would have benefited from a different director because, after all, the story had potential.

New Character Posters For THE GREAT GATSBY

We've got a couple of new character posters for Baz Luhrmann's upcoming take on Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY featuring Myrtle Wilson (played by Isla Fisher) and Tom Buchanan (played by Joel Edgerton).

Clearly dazzling colors and impeccable style will be front and center for the movie and I can't wait to see the visuals in native 3D!

Here's the movie's storyline:
The Great Gatsby follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

THE GREAT GATSBY opens May 10, 2013.

THE GREAT GATSBY Moved To May 2013

I'm disappointed with this move simply because I believe that it's a holiday movie. Especially for the New Years crowd. Oh well, we knew it was happening and I'm sure THE GREAT GATSBY will do well kicking off the summer with a new release date of May 10, 2013.

Despite the new date, I still think it will be nominated for awards just based on marketing materials alone. Baz Luhrmann looks like he has hit another home run.

Here's the storyline for the movie:
THE GREAT GATSBY follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without of the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

For all of our coverage on THE GREAT GATSBY, click here.

THE GREAT GATSBY Moves To Summer 2013 Avoiding The Crowded Christmas Season

In a bit of surprising move, Warner Bros. has picked up it's Christmas Day opener THE GREAT GATSBY and moved it to next summer.

Says the studio: "Based on what we’ve seen, Baz Luhrmann’s incredible work is all we anticipated and so much more. It truly brings Fitzgerald’s American classic to life in a completely immersive, visually stunning and exciting way. We think moviegoers of all ages are going to embrace it, and it makes sense to ensure this unique film reaches the largest audience possible."

I say a bit surprising as the movie is kind of a festive type affair perfect for holiday season parties and New Years Eve and further it removes it from consideration for 2012 awards. That said, there are a number of tentpoles opening in the Christmas timeframe and to best highlight the beauty of the movie it should have a cleaner swath around it at the box office. Time will tell if it was the right move.

Here's the movie's storyline:
THE GREAT GATSBY follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without of the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

Stay tuned for more info and the exact date of release once we receive it. THE GREAT GATSBY is now slated for release in the summer of 2013.