Amy Schumer Rebounds With I Feel Pretty
Amy Schumer has recently dropped out of the long gestating and much debated Barbie movie and has now filled that hole in her schedule with a new comedy titled I Feel Pretty. The film will mark a directing debut for the writing duo behind The Vow, How To Be Single and Never Be Kissed. While plot details are yet to be announced it seems inevitable to be a romantic comedy and given the suggestive title most likely also trading heavily on Schumer’s de facto status as a lightning rod for debates about body image and beauty standards.
Schumer already has mother/daughter kidnap comedy Snatched due for release in May co-starring Goldie Hawn. With a number of other films due for release or in various stages of production the news that Schumer is adding another film to her upcoming schedule may slightly undermine her explanation for why she won’t be playing Barbie after all.
Although Schumer cited scheduling conflicts as the reason she was leaving the high profile project, many quickly suggested that dire one star ratings for her awful Netflix comedy special and the near universally negative reaction of fans to initial news of her casting were the real reasons that the studio and toy makers may have changed their minds. The clear implication being that they allowed Schumer to make the actual announcement to let her save face and avoid further fueling debate about whether she was an appropriate choice for the iconic child’s doll.
Jumping on board a project likely to film at the same time and potentially dealing with similar themes to her proposed Barbie adventure may do nothing to dispel those suspicions.
Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Director Confirmed
Guardians Of The Galaxy Director James Gunn has confirmed that he is definitely gong to direct the third chapter in the trilogy. He made the announcement via Facebook with the soon to be released Vol 2 already riding an impressive wave of early critical buzz and massive Marvel fan anticipation. His statement in full below:
“After many months of ruminations and discussions, I know the answer. I could save this answer for the first, random interviewer to ask me during the press junket but instead I thought I’d share it with the most important people in the Guardiansverse – you, the fans, who have been so incredibly supportive and enthusiastic over the past five years, it has moved me to tears on a regular basis. So, yes, I’m returning to write and direct Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3.
“In the end, my love for Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Star-Lord, Yondu, Mantis, Drax, and Nebula – and some of the other forthcoming heroes – goes deeper than you guys can possibly imagine, and I feel they have more adventures to go on and things to learn about themselves and the wonderful and sometimes terrifying universe we all inhabit. And, like in both Vol1 and Vol. 2, we will work on creating the story that goes beyond what you expect. I can’t fricking wait to get started.
“Much of what’s happened in the MCU for the past ten or so years has been leading, in a big way, to the Avengers’ Infinity War. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 will happen after all that. It will conclude the story of this iteration of the Guardians Of The Galaxy, and help catapult both old and new Marvel characters into the next 10 years and beyond. I will be working side-by-side with Kevin Feige and the gang to help design where these stories go, and make sure the future of the Marvel Cosmic Universe is as special and authentic and magical as what we have created so far.”
Star Wars The Last Jedi Trailer
Audiences are getting their first look at The Last Jedi, as a trailer for the Star Wars film is released online having been unveiled at the Celebration Orlando Fan Event. The next film in the central saga carries on from The Force Awakens and will feature the late Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. The actress features discretely in a brief glimpse in a teaser trailer that gives fans tantalising hints of the direction the new trilogy will take. The brief trailer shows Rey being trained by Luke Skywalker and accompanies dramatic soundbites about the force with flashes of new worlds, vehicles and iconic space battles.
Their Finest Review
The Plot
During the grim realities of World War 2 a small team of British creative talents fight their own battle to produce a moral boosting film capable of lifting the spirits of the embattled nation and maybe even inspiring a reluctant America to finally join the fight
The Good
Their Finest is a sincere homage to a classic era of cinema magic, offset against one of the most cruel and horrific times in human history. This unique juxtaposition of despair and hope allows the film to deliver a satisfying tale of stoic bravery that is both poignantly sombre and frequently amusing. In particular the film serves as a dramatic and timely reminder of the eternal pride that should be felt by the people of Great Britain for their crucial role in saving the world from evil during the darkest of days.
Director Lone Scherfig has assembled a suitably fine British cast including the beautiful talents of Gemma Arterton and a fabulously moustached Sam Claflin. At the heart of the story their frequent bickering as an unlikely writing team is both playful and convincingly tense. Around these two fine young stars a supporting cast littered with familiar faces and copious amounts of talent fleshes out the film’s comedy and tragedy.
Bill Nighy is on typically scene stealing form as an aging egomaniacal thespian. His trademark flair for dry wit and playful melodramatics inject frequent bursts of laughter into the cinema. Likewise his ability to subtly switch gears during more dramatic and poignant scenes is a rare gift and perfectly evidenced during some of the film’s closing stages.
Likewise Rachel Stirling is a very welcome presence, playing a stereotype defying character that most directly contrasts with the unapologetically repressive social and sexual politics of the era. She frequently provides both dry humour and articulates some of the films more poignant insights.
The Bad
Their Finest seeks to strike a careful balance between the truly tragic hardships of war and the whimsical escapist joy of the cinema. While the film does a mostly fine job of this it’s hard for the moments of genuine humour not to end up becoming somewhat overridden by a more pervasive sense of melancholy. The film is admirable in its message but falls short of being the outright comedy which some audiences may have been more optimistically anticipating.
Leading lady Gemma Arterton remains radiantly beautiful and an accomplished stage actress, however her big screen performances persist in being noticeably theatrical. In particular her thick welsh accent in this role is a slightly inconsistent distraction which in truth adds little to either the story or character. It may have been better to merely allow Arterton to use her well suited natural voice and allow her to focus even more fully on the rest of her performance.
Overall the film has many fine qualities and is poignantly inspiring in places; however particularly during its final stages the introduction of both predictable and unexpected plot twists ultimately steer the film in more sombre directions. Audiences my wonder why a film that celebrates the magic of feel good entertainment can’t offer up a little more of joy and a few less tears. But then perhaps that is entirely the point of the film, that cruel distinction between cinematic satisfaction and real life.
The Ugly Truth
Their Finest deals sensitively with an untold side of one the most epic struggle in mankind’s history between the forces of good and evil. Although the story has quintessentially British qualities its core message of the inspiring power of art and cinema is universally entertaining and important.
Review by Russell Nelson
The Fate Of The Furious Review
The Plot
Legendary street racer Dominic Torreto finds his newfound happy existence turned on its head when he’s forced to betray his crew of friends and government agents by a mysterious woman with a powerful hold over him. In order to stop Dom and this new threat the team will need to rely on the usual array of supercars and some unexpected alliances…
The Good
The obscene global box office success of the Fast and Furious franchise is based on an increasingly refined formula of expensive supercars, recognisable multi-national cast, minimal acting and knowingly silly high speed CGI mayhem. Ironically a lack of complex plot and a heavy reliance on big explosions and gravity defying cartoon car action has allowed the franchise to grab huge audiences worldwide. It seems undeniable now that nothing smashes through a language barrier with quite so much success as Vin Diesel repeatedly defying the laws of physics with a car and a few well-placed rockets.
The 8th film in the series boasts the addition of at least a couple of new A-List names in Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron as well as significant roles for Kurt Russell, Scott Eastwood and Jason Statham. Their presence goes at least some way to offsetting the notable absence of some of the franchises more established figures such as Jordana Brewster, Gal Gadot and the most tragically absent Paul Walker. Dwayne Johnson and Statham at least bring some real muscles to a world of largely absurd CGI.
The biggest weakness in previous Fast and the Furious films has always been the at awkward attempts at actual drama in between the copious high octane action set pieces. At times those scenes have proved painful cringe fests that have come dangerously close to stalling any entertaining momentum entirely. Thankfully this latest adventure rarely dwells on attempts at serious acting, instead moving briskly between cheesy one liners and the next far-fetched car chase.
The Bad
The original Fast and The Furious was a thinly veiled Point Break rip off loosely inspired by a Vibe magazine article about a real life Washington Heights street racer. It’s hard to truly express just how strange it is that after 16 years and countless overhauls a modest guilty pleasure has succeeded in becoming a seemingly unstoppable multi-billion dollar franchise on its 8th instalment.
After a couple of predictable sequels of diminishing returns the series has survived this long by clinging onto a grateful core cast and shamelessly reinventing the characters as ridiculous globetrotting super agents. With each passing film the franchise gets increasingly detached from reality though and it’s important to put in some context just how ridiculous this evolution has been.
In the original film this ‘elite team’ were literally stealing stuff off the back of lorries, now they are disarming nuclear bombs and outsmarting cyberterrorists with armies of tanks and helicopters to save the entire planet. Against the backdrop of these ludicrous situations the resulting action sequences have become ever more gravity and logic defying. At least for some there is no doubt a gleeful silliness in watching brightly coloured rocket powered cars leapfrogging tanks, helicopters and submarines. It is still embarrassingly silly and cartoonish behaviour, but that again explains the franchises impressive cross generational appeal. Older and younger audiences are both able to derive pleasure from proceedings, albeit with varying levels of irony.
The Ugly Truth
Fans of the franchise will welcome the latest pit stop on an apparently never ending journey. With another two sequels already confirmed it is increasingly hard to even imagine any more ways Vin Diesel can possibly save the world with fast cars. Though it’s safe to say there are a billion reasons for the studio to unapologetically keep inventing more.
Review by Russell Nelson