So I’ve found myself falling behind in my efforts to highlight some of the very best movie posters. I’m a sucker for these things and I had to take a moment to share the brand new poster for the upcoming film “Alien: Romulus”. This long awaited seventh installment in the beloved Alien franchise is directed by Fede Álvarez, known best for his 2013 “Evil Dead” remake and 2016’s “Don’t Breathe”. Ridley Scott produces the film which is said to take place between “Alien” (1979) and “Aliens” (1986). How connected “Romulus” is to either of those movie’s remains to be seen. Either way I’m excited.
“Alien: Romulus” was originally slated to release on Hulu but will now be getting the full theatrical treatment on August 16th. The film stars Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”), David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu. Check out the killer new poster and let me know what you think…
Director and co-writer Atlee makes his Hindi film debut with Jawan, a high-energy big-budget action thriller starring fan favorite Shah Rukh Khan. The film was a box office smash, emerging as the highest grossing Indian film of the year (topping King Khan’s other big 2023 hit “Pathaan”). Atlee’s ambitious first feature is a wildly entertaining blend of violence, romance, and music, all built around the endless charisma of one of Bollywood’s biggest stars.
“Jawan” proudly embraces many of the trademarks of Indian action cinema including outrageous plot twists, lavishly produced musical numbers, and of course the thrilling stylized set pieces. The story itself features as many wild narrative flourishes as eye-popping action. It shrewdly interweaves both past and present day storylines, evolving its characters along the way. Not everything clicks into place as it should and certain elements of the story feel rushed. Yet Atlee keeps us hooked for the entire 170 minutes.
SRK gets to stretch himself in all kinds of directions starting in the film’s opening scene. A man (Khan) is shown floating in the river high in the mountains near the Indian border. Bloodied, wounded and near death, the man is found by a young woman who takes him back to her village. As the villagers are nursing him back to health, soldiers from a brutal military regime attack the village and begin slaughtering the people. The man suddenly rises up and slays the invaders, saving the people like a mythical hero.
Jump ahead thirty years where a strikingly similar man has hijacked a metro train in Mumbai with the assistance of his six highly skilled female accomplices. He threatens to kill the passengers if a hefty ransom isn’t paid. Government agent Narmada Rai (an excellent Nayanthara) is called in to negotiate. Kalee Gaikwad (Vijay Sethupathi), a notorious arms dealer, learns that his daughter is aboard the train and agrees to pay the ransom.
“Jawan” has so many twists and turns that I hesitate to say much more about the story. Suffice it to say Shah Rukh Khan is given a “multifaceted” role that he tackles with his signature charm and panache. Nayanthara is fabulous in a supporting turn that lets her flex her emotional intensity and physicality. As for Sethupathi, it takes time, but he eventually evolves into a solid villain – devious, cold-hearted, and fueled by his own self interests.
The action is spectacular and ranges from entertainingly cartoonish to absolutely jaw-dropping. The sequences can amaze you with their insane creativity and sometimes jolt you with their bursts of brutality. Outstanding cinematography (G. K. Vishnu), editing (Ruben), and stunt choreography (Anal Arasu) help Atlee put his wild and stylish vision to screen.
Narratively the movie is fun and diverting, but it does ask a lot of its audience. It challenges our ability to suspend disbelief and needs us to go along with some pretty far-fetched ideas. But to be honest that’s a big part of the fun. “Jawan” is such a wild ride, playfully blending genres while also making serious statements on government corruption, greed, class discrimination, and healthcare scandals among other things. It has a little bit of something for everyone, and Atlee’s ability to corral it all together is pretty impressive.
Zack Snyder’s two-part space epic “Rebel Moon” kicked off a few months ago with “A Child of Fire”. Well, it kicked off in part. What we actually got was a shortened and toned-down PG-13 version of the film (Snyder’s fully realized vision for Part One will be in his extended director’s cut due out soon). Most critics teed off on the film with many lighting their torches just from hearing Zack Snyder’s name. “A Child of Fire” wasn’t nearly as bad as it was received despite only being a taste of the finished product.
Now we’ve been given our first proper look at “Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver”, an equally epic-sized streaming blockbuster that picks up right where the first film left off. The first trailer is loaded with eye-popping action and striking imagery which are Snyder staples. It also reintroduces us to the terrific ensemble that includes Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Anthony Hopkins, Michiel Huisman, and Doona Bae among others. It all culminates in a movie that should be catnip for Snyder fans and fuel for Snyder haters. I’m onboard.
“Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver” premieres April 19th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
There are a plethora of things that fascinate me about the movies. Among them is the way our impressions of a particular movie can change so dramatically over a fairly long period of time. Such is the case with “The Sting”, a beloved Tinsel Town caper which last year turned 50 years-old.
Rarely has my opinion of a film changed after a rewatch quite like it has with “The Sting”. For clarity, it’s not that I ever openly disliked the movie. It just never left much of an impression. In fact my apathy towards it was such that I had no real urge to revisit it in the thirty or so years since my first viewing. Boy what a difference a few decades can make.
Recently I sat down to rewatch and reevaluate “The Sting” and to my surprise it felt like a different experience altogether. For reasons I still can’t quite put my finger on, the movie clicked with me in ways I wasn’t expecting. The stylish Saturday Evening Post inspired title cards by artist Jaroslav “Jerry” Gebr. Its use of Scott Joplin’s iconic ragtime piano tune “The Entertainer”. George Roy Hill’s steller direction and David Ward’s snappy screenplay. The award winning production design and costumes. And of course the cool and charismatic duo of Paul Newman and Robert Redford. This time they all came together like it didn’t before.
Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Releasing on Christmas Day in 1973, “The Sting” was a smash-hit at the box office earning $160 million against a $5.5 million budget (quite the contrast from today’s model). It was also a hit with critics and at the 46th Academy Awards. The film earned a total of ten Oscar nominations, winning seven including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. It even spawned a sequel (of sorts) some ten years later that starred Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, and Teri Garr. Most people (wisely) choose not to talk about it.
Coming into “The Sting”, George Roy Hill was just a couple of years removed from directing Newman and Redford in the highly acclaimed “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. The three reunite in another period film, this one taking place in 1936. It was a time when big cities were full of gangsters and hustlers; dirty cops and dirtier politicians; speakeasies and underground gambling halls. It’s an era Hill has a ton of fun exploring.
Redford plays Johnny Hooker, a good-looking but reckless grifter from Joliet, Illinois who gets himself in a bind after he and his hustling partner Luther (Robert Earl Jones) swindle $11,000 in cash from a poor sap. The problem is, that ‘poor sap’ is actually a numbers runner for a powerful mob boss named Doyle Lonnegan (a fantastic Robert Shaw).
Hooker is approached by William Snyder (Charles Durning), a crooked police detective on Lonnegan’s payroll, who demands he pay back what he stole. Hooker pays him off in counterfeit bills which understandably provokes the ire of Lonnegan even more. His goons kill Luther which sends Hooker fleeing to Chicago.
Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures
After arriving in Chicago Hooker seeks out Henry Gondorff (Newman). Gondorff was an old friend of Luther’s and a big-time conman. But lately he’s been laying low, trying to avoid the pesky FBI. Hooker tells Gondorff about Luther’s murder and persuades him to help pull “the big con” on Lonnegan.
Gondorff puts together a crack team of hustlers played by a terrific collection of actors including Ray Walston, Harold Gould, and James Sloyan. But pulling one over on a tough guy like Lonnegan proves to have its challenges and consequences.
“The Sting” plays a lot differently than many of the gangster pictures of its time and ours. There’s a playful allure that permeates much of the film and it has a cool retro style that calls back to the classic mob movies of Raoul Walsh and Lloyd Bacon. But it also has a touch of 1970s grit which helps sets it apart.
Things do get a bit far-fetched in the third act, but it’s hard not to be hooked by the quirky mix of old-fashioned playfulness and gritty violence. That’s a big part of what gives the movie its unusual charm. And to George Hill’s credit, it might be a bigger sleight-of-hand than anything we actually see on screen.
Comfortably seated within that small group of actors who I’ll watch in anything is Michael Keaton. From his early comedies of the 1980s to his time as Gotham City’s Caped Crusader to the more character driven dramas of the last ten years, I’ve always been drawn to Keaton’s wit, charm, and versatility. So naturally I was going to check out his latest film, “Knox Goes Away” which sees him not only starring but also in the director’s chair.
“Knox Goes Away” is the kind of low-key thriller that’s much more into studying its main character than delivering anything that resembles nail-biting tension. It’s deliberately paced and stealthily hypnotic – a result of Keaton’s sure-handed direction. It’s also emotionally layered, resonating in a number of unexpected ways – a testament to Keaton’s shrewd and well-modulated performance. Then add an intriguing supporting cast that includes Al Pacino, James Marsden, Marcia Gay Harden, and one of my very favorite character actors Ray McKinnon.
Image Courtesy of Saban Films
The script is written by Gregory Poirier who pens a story as much about one man’s mental conflict as the crimes that unfold on screen. Keaton plays John Knox, a seasoned contract killer who has his world shaken when he is diagnosed with a rapidly progressing and incurable form of dementia. Given only weeks before his mind completely fails him, John meets up with his partner and fellow hitman Tommy (McKinnon) to carry out a final contract. They’re tasked with taking out a human trafficker, but the job goes south and Tommy ends up dead.
The botched job convinces John that his days as a hitman are over and it’s time to “cash out”. But then he’s paid a visit by his estranged son Miles (Marsden) who he hasn’t spoken to in years. Panicked, covered in blood, and in big trouble, Miles tells his father how he just stabbed to death a racist scumbag (Charles Bisset) who got his 16-year-old daughter Kaylee (Morgan Bastin) pregnant. Knowing his father’s line of work (but not knowing his deteriorating mind), Miles begs for his help. “I’ve never asked you for anything in my life.”
John immediately goes to work, instructing his son to go home and say nothing while he visits the blood-drenched crime scene. It’ll take a meticulous plan with attention given to every single detail to cover up the grisly murder. But can he pull off a plan so precise with his failing mind? That becomes a key conflict in the film. John begins writing down each step of the plan in a pocket notebook as reminders. And he contacts a trusted old friend, Xavier Crane (Pacino), to help him stay on point. But hot on his heels is the stiff and overly grumpy Detective Emily Ikari (Suzy Nakamura) who begins investigating both murder scenes.
Image Courtesy of Saban Films
Using weeks like chapters, Poirier’s story follows John as he races against two clocks. One sees him trying to pull the ultimate cover-up in an effort to protect his son before the dogged detective can put the pieces together. The other sees him personally facing his cognitive decline, something Keaton captures realistically and with empathy. He truly is the film’s anchor, bringing strength, vulnerability, and nuance to the central character.
Not all of the stellar supporting cast get much to do, most notably Al Pacino and Marcia Gay Harden. But they do fill in some important story gaps. And you could also make the case that the film’s ending isn’t the most plausible. Yet I found it to be clever, satisfying, and unexpectedly moving. Either way, “Knox Goes Away” works thanks to the savvy Michael Keaton who shines in what is an absorbing character study masquerading as a hitman movie. “Knox Goes Away” hit theaters on Friday, March 15th.
The dark and gritty 1994 film “The Crow” was equal part supernatural superhero movie and classic revenge thriller. Based on James O’Barr’s 1989 limited comic book series of the same name, the film gained a strong cult following in addition to being well reviewed by critics. But the movie was struck by tragedy following the on-set death of its star Brandon Lee, son of famed martial artist Bruce Lee, who was fatally wounded by a prop gun during filming.
After several not-so-great sequels, this year we’re getting a remake of “The Crow” from director Rupert Sanders. The film sees Bill Skarsgård playing murdered musician Eric Draven who is resurrected from the dead to avenge not only his death but also of his beloved fiancé (played by FKA twigs). The first trailer certainly embraces the violence of the 1994 film but lacks the dark stylish allure that was essential to the original movie’s success. I don’t know. I’m intrigued enough to give it a shot. Hopefully it delivers.
“The Crow” soars into theaters on June 7th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
Keith & the Movies 