The Möbius strip: ‘Hidden Figures’ repeats easily as a whole batch of new releases flops

Posted on January 17, 2017 by reelentropy

Image courtesy 20th Century Fox.

Hidden Figures reigned again over Martin Luther King Day weekend, with Golden Globe champion and Oscar favorite La La Land storming up the charts behind it. Of the new releases, it was cheap-looking STX horror flick The Bye Bye Man that performed way over industry expectations, finishing fifth behind Sing and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story with an expected $15 million over the four-day weekend, about $6 million ahead of where industry analysts expected. Other new and expanding releases Patriot’s Day, Monster Trucks and Sleepless all flopped hard, with favorite directors Ben Affleck and Martin Scorsese’s expanding efforts, Live by Night and Silence, not even breaking the top 10- Box Office Mojo

The problem with these outings could have to do with too much adult content on the market and a lack of interest in 1920s rum-running or 17th century persecution, according to box office pundits- The Hollywood Reporter

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Scorsese passion project ‘Silence’ finally hits theaters

Posted on January 14, 2017 by reelentropy

Images courtesy Paramount Pictures.

Martin Scorsese has wanted to tell this story for more than 25 years.

Silence begins with two 17th century Portuguese priests, Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver) learning that their mentor, Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson), was captured by authorities while on mission to Japan and publicly renounced Christ. The film takes place during Kakure Kirishitan — “hidden Christians” — a period of Japanese history in which Catholicism was outlawed after a violent revolt of primarily Christian peasants in the 1630s. Presuming Ferreira was and still is under duress, Rodrigues and Garupe demand to go to Japan and search for him.

Eventually, they are separated, and Rodrigues is captured and taken before inquisitor Inoue Masashige (Issey Ogata), who forces him to watch Japanese Christians tortured until he, too, renounces the faith.

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Free popcorn! Go see ‘Sleepless!’

Posted on January 13, 2017 by reelentropy

Jamie Foxx is so fucking cool. It’s a shame his career hasn’t taken off after Django Unchained the way it should have. Images courtesy Open Road Films.

Hey! Hey, you! Go see Sleepless!

Undercover Las Vegas police detective Vincent Downs (Jamie Foxx) gets in hot water when he steals too much cocaine from the wrong mob boss. Police-issue rounds are found at the scene of the heist, drawing the attention of Jennifer Bryant (Michelle Monaghan), an internal affairs agent with a chip on her shoulder. Casino owner and neophyte drug mover Stanley Rubino (Dermot Mulroney) kidnaps Downs’ son, Thomas (Octavius J. Johnson), and demands his merchandise returned that night. Rubino is himself pressured by a much more powerful drug lord, Rob Novak (Scoot McNairy), to whom the coke is promised.

Downs brings the snow to Rubino’s club as instructed, but Bryant follows him, confiscates it and stashes it in the women’s spa. The four leads and their partners and/or goons spend the rest of the night running around the casino trying to kill each other and find the snuff.

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‘Live by Night’ is a joke, right?

Posted on January 13, 2017 by reelentropy

Images courtesy Warner Bros., because when they saw all the scorn the Batfleck casting announcement received, executives’ first thought was that this is a popular filmmaker and they needed to get in on the ground for his future projects. Oh Warner Bros., never change.

After three weeks in a four-theater limited release intended to generate excitement but only achieving a tepid indifference, it’s finally going wide! Ben Affleck’s latest vanity picture, Oscar… maybe a pity nomination? Live by Night!

Here’s the thing about the plot of this movie — there isn’t one. It documents several years in the life of Irish World War I veteran-turned mobster Joe Coughlin (Affleck, who also produces, writes, directs and shows the whole world what he thinks passes as an Irish accent). There’s no clear reason for Live by Night to begin or end where it does and no overarching conflict to tie the various parts of his life together. There’s no chain of cause and effect. Things just kind of happen, and they mostly have nothing to do with each other.

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‘Hidden Figures’ is an inspirational treat

Posted on January 10, 2017 by reelentropy

Photos courtesy 20th Century Fox.

Steven James
@StevenLeeJames

Hidden Figures is a biopic that actually honors the true story it’s based on.

The Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1 has launched, and NASA is struggling to keep up. NASA research mathematician Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) is promoted to reviewing the trajectory and navigation calculations for Project Mercury, the goal of which was to launch the first human into space. She is disrespected because of her race and gender. Her friends, Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), two other brilliant black women working at NASA, are looking to become the organization’s first black supervisor and first black female engineer, respectively. They jump over hurdles the height of rocket ships to accomplish these goals.

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