The Plot: Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who hasn’t quite gotten over high school, either.
A father and son. A man and a woman. A tech-savvy boy and the robot he discovered in a junkyard. A washed-up boxer and dreams of grandeur. Oddly enough, not much time is spent on the boy coping with the loss of his mother angle, but pretty much every other blatant attempt to provoke sympathy is somewhere to be found in Real Steel. (Surprise, it’s a Disney film! – Wait, why aren’t you surprised?)
Also not surprising is that like cobbling together an actual robot whose carcass is found in a trash heap, the film is assembled from the spare parts of others that have come before it. Whether it’s shades of almost every Rocky installment, The Iron Giant, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, whatever reluctant parent Lifetime channel film you can think of, or even some musical notes composer Danny Elfman lifted from his own work on Good Will Hunting, the whole production is a hodgepodge of clichés, stereotypes, and oft-repeated cinematic themes.
At the helm of it all is director Shawn Levy, responsible for such cinematic marvels as the Night at the Museum franchise (1 AND 2, don’t get excited), The Pink Panther reboot debacle, and the disappointingly flat Date Night. His ability to hammer home the blatantly obvious is on full display, culminated in this film during the final fight with a series of slow-motion, teary-eyed looks between the major characters that bordered on nauseatingly cheesy (just a warning for the cinematically lactose intolerant).
On the plus side, the robots and their fighting look great. Sugar Ray Leonard helped out on the boxing side of things, giving all of the bouts a sense of strategy and not simply a heap of punch-counterpunch antics. On the visual side of things, animatronics supervisor John Rosengrant, whose team at Legacy Effects had worked on Iron Man and Terminator: Salvation, delivered detailed and exciting mechanical pugilists. Mixing and matching with CGI, what makes Real Steel succeed in regards to its core feature is that the robots feel like they have weight and presence, which if done solely via computers would likely not have come off right (i.e. Yoda in the Star Wars prequels).
The acting is on par with any other generic Disney sports movie. Hugh Jackman plays his role as a mix of Wolverine and his character from Swordfish (never thought I’d mention that movie again). Evangeline Lilly gets to look pretty as she so often does and Dakota Goyo does his best to avoid the full Anakin Skywalker comparison (uncanny resemblance, robot-building expertise, dead mommy issues).
Supporting cast members like Kevin Durand and Anthony Mackie help to inject a little energy into the project. Though others come off as cartoonish, like the lovely Olga Fonda (no relation to Jane, Peter, or Henry) who was born in Russia but plays her Russian character so broadly and with such a noticeable accent, I was expecting her to say “Moose and Squirrel” at every turn. Likewise, Karl Yune imbues his turn as a Japanese robot designer with the subtlety of a kid-friendly anime with its own card game.
Also working against things is a 2-hour-plus runtime. Having so many different themes to address bloats what should be a succinct and simple script that barely crosses the 90-minute mark. Seeing as it’s all completely formulaic and predictable, the tediousness of working through it all seems unnecessary. And bottom line, the target audience is 13-year-old boys or anyone who wants to see the cheesiest cinematic rendition of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.
If that’s you, then I suppose Real Steel is up your alley, and it gets a 2.5 out of 5 (the runtime knocking it down a peg). I was personally hoping for more of a “Robot Jox” vibe, but if they had added a nationalism/post-WWIII theme, it may well have pushed the film towards the 3-hour mark and I had more than enough of what was on the screen as it stands.
GRADE: C
Real Steel hits theaters on October 7, 2011 and is rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language.
Are you glued to cable news channels? Is listening to campaign rhetoric your idea of a good time? Oh, and most importantly, are you a Democrat? If the answer to all three questions isn’t an unmitigated ‘yes,’ then feel free to cross The Ides of March off your To-Do list.
In the film, director/co-writer/co-star/co-producer George Clooney examines some behind-the-scenes political intrigue of a Democratic Presidential Primary fight between a Governor promising hope and change (played by Clooney himself) and an essentially unimportant Senator representing the status quo (so unimportant I won’t even name the actor).
But don’t worry too much about that, the plot is really centered on the campaign managers and their machinations. Paul Giamatti is doing what he can to see the Senator gain the nomination while Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ryan Gosling attempt to work their magic for the Governor. Everything is blunt and predictable, not just in the political propaganda but in how the backstabbing and power brokering play out; Anyone familiar with this story structure will likely see any attempt to create a twist coming like some screenwriting 101 paint-by-number exercise.
On the plus side, the acting overall is fairly good. Clooney does the usual impersonation of his own public persona. Gosling has a way of making any interaction seem intimate and magnetic. And Evan Rachel Wood once again plays a young girl navigating an adult world. The two standout performances come from Giamatti and Hoffman. They’re the only members of the cast that make the constant scheming seem both intelligent and fun. Playing cynics is no stretch for either, but it’s a wonderful job of casting.
Stepping behind the camera, Clooney’s direction once again favors the actors, relying on frequent close-ups to ensure that if people take one thing away from it all, it’s how gosh darn good the performances were. And while that’s true for the most part, the heavy-handedness of the project as a whole never really allows us to settle down and become invested in the proceedings. It’s more like a teleplay with some slick production value.
There’s nothing glaringly wrong with the film, but in the current landscape of political gridlock and finger-pointing, the ability of audiences to leave the real world behind is lost. Normally, it wouldn’t seem important to harp on that point, but the wheeling and dealing aspects are so overwrought and obvious that being something purely entertaining would have been a preferred alternative. What passes for cleverness in the script is overshadowed by politics and if there’s one thing people don’t believe in these days, it’s politicians.
So although the underlying message fluctuates between ‘Power Corrupts’ and ‘Hell Hath No Fury Like a Campaign Manager Scorned,’ the overt images and sound bytes hit the political nail on the Donkey’s head far too squarely. The Ides of March showcases a bevy of talented actors, but like the elected officials it illustrates, much of the flash and panache is merely a facade and it eventually comes crumbling down.
GRADE: C
The Ides of March hits theaters on October 7, 2011 and is rated R for pervasive language.
Kiefer Sutherland’s returning to TV with a starring role in Fox’s dramatic series Touch from writer/creator Tim Kring (Heroes) and executive producers Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope. And while the debut of Touch is still months away (Fox says it’ll be on their spring 2012 schedule), the network has the first trailer to show off – and it’s pretty intriguing.
Watch the trailer:
The Playboy Club was just axed and if misery does in fact love company, then those involved with that show can take heart in knowing theirs isn’t the only show to be the recipient of bad news this week. NBC has pulled the plug on Free Agents, the half hour workplace comedy starring Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn. Free Agents didn’t find an audience, drawing in only 3.3 million viewers this week and finishing in fourth place. The network has decided to fill Free Agent‘s Wednesday 8:30pm slot with repeats of the recently picked up new comedy, Whitney.
Reacting to the news, Azaria tweeted:
Thanks to NBC for giving us a shot, thanks to all who watched Free Agents, and thanks to all who worked on the show- we had so much fun!!
CW also scratched H8R from its schedule, opting to air repeats of Ringer – which hasn’t exactly been a ratings winner for the network – in its spot. H8R was hosted by Mario Lopez and featured celebrities attempting to win over people who hate them.
“I’ve worked on more campaigns than most people have by the time their 40. He’s the only one who’s actually going to make a difference in people’s lives.” That’s young, idealistic press secretary Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling) telling jaded, opportunistic reporter Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei) what he truly believes about his boss Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) in the dramatic film The Ides of March.
It’s the last few frantic days of the heavily contested Ohio Democratic presidential primary and Myers is the golden boy. He’s the right-hand man of Morris’ campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), he’s got the ear of the Governor who trusts his insight, and he’s being pursued by Molly (Evan Rachel Wood), the most attractive intern on the campaign trail.
Life and politics however become convoluted and confusing for Myers when the campaign manager for the Democratic candidate opposing Morris, Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), reaches out and offers Myers a job while dropping a bomb on Myers that a key political ally, Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright), is about to endorse Morris’ opponent and bury any hope for Morris to win the presidency.
Surprised but not trusting Duffy, Myers turns down the offer and decides to not bother Zara about the secret meeting. During the next few days, Myers gets a crash course in the real dirty world of politics including lies, deception, betrayal, sex, and a political scandal that will alter the fate of the presidential race permanently.
The Ides of March is an engrossing political drama with an A-list cast and an intriguing plot. Ryan Gosling delivers a solid performance as Myers, the up-and-coming political strategist whose moral and ethical beliefs begin to falter once the campaign race becomes dirty, difficult, and dangerous. Paul Giamatti steals every scene he’s in as Paul, the seasoned, ruthless campaign manager out to destroy Morris no matter what it takes.
Evan Rachel Wood delivers what should be considered her best performance to date as Molly, the sexy, ambitious but ultimately fragile intern who doesn’t realize until way too late she’s barely treading water in the political sea full of amoral sharks. George Clooney is very effective as Governor Morris, the presidential candidate who might just be too good to be true. He brings to the screen the right amount of charm and confidence that an aspiring president needs to win votes.
The film has a sophisticated look and feel to it, with sharp dialogue and a behind-the-scenes take on the urgency and at times ugly world of politics. It captures realistically the game-playing, whirlwind, and paranoia of the political arena. And it’s reminiscent of two earlier political films: The Best Man starring Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson, and Robert Redford’s The Candidate.
The only flaw in the film is its director’s choice of camera shots and angles. Clooney’s need to have an extreme close-up whenever two characters are having a private and intimate moment is both distracting and annoying. When the audience can actually see the actors’ makeup and facial flaws it takes them out of the drama of the story and reminds everyone it’s only a movie.
Clooney the director has also not yet learned when to cut a scene. There are far too many scenes in the film that continue on with a character either standing or looking out after the point and action of the scene has concluded. Instead of creating tension or interest, it merely feels that the film is unsure which scene to go to next. This causes the film to feel at times slow and oddly paced.
Still, with strong performances from a great ensemble cast and a surprising, engaging plot that will keep the audience wondering who’ll end up the front-runner for the White House, The Ides of March should not be missed.
GRADE B-
The Ides of March hits theaters on October 7, 2011 and is rated R for pervasive language.
Hill’s return to the CMA Awards stage will mark the debut of her new single from her next album coming out in 2012.
Hill joins previously announced performers Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift, and Keith Urban, plus Paisley and Underwood in their first live televised-performance of their No. 1 song “Remind Me.”
More on Faith Hill [Courtesy of CMA]:
Faith Hill has won three CMA Awards, including Female Vocalist (2000), Music Video (1998 for “This Kiss”), and Vocal Event of the Year (1997 for “It’s Your Love” with husband Tim McGraw). Her last performance on the CMA Awards was in 2006. Her last appearance at the event was in 2009, when she co-presented the Entertainer of the Year Award with McGraw.
Source: Country Music Association – October 6, 2011
Cinemax/HBO confirmed the action series Strike Back will return to Cinemax’s schedule in 2012. 10 new episodes have been ordered, with filming expected to begin early next year in South Africa. The first season will end on October 21st.
Bill Eagles, director of episodes 3 and 4, will return to direct four more episodes. Also set to direct are Paul Wilmshurst (director of episodes 7 and 8), and Tony Saint (writer of episodes 9 and 10). Saint will pen episodes for season two and co-executive produce.
Per Cinemax/HBO, no casting announcements for season two are being made yet “due to plot spoilers in upcoming episodes.” Season one featured Sullivan Stapleton, Philip Winchester, Amanda Mealing, Eva Birthistle, Jimi Mistry, Rhashan Stone, Michelle Lukes and Richard Armitage. The show’s guest stars included Liam Cunningham, Iain Glen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and David Haig.
Season One – The Plot:
“The current season of Strike Back tells the suspenseful story of a charismatic former U.S. Special Forces operative who joins with a stealth British military unit when a resourceful international terrorist group plots a major attack. Their covert efforts are never publicly acknowledged, their leads are few, the choices are difficult and results often come at a steep cost.
Researched by the creators of the series and aided by consultants, the action-packed drama is rooted in the field of counter-terrorism, and set against the backdrop of timely global issues such as human and drug trafficking, conflict among nations, poverty, danger for international aid workers and child soldiers.”
Source: Cinemax/HBO – October 6, 2011
TNT announced they’re paying tribute to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs by airing a special presentation of their original film, Pirates of Silicon Valley, tonight at 8pm and 10pm (ET/PT). The critically acclaimed made-for-TV film first aired in 1999 and earned five primetime Emmy nominations including Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie.
Written and directed by Martyn Burke and based on the bestseller Fire in the Valley, Pirates of Silicon Valley stars Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs, Anthony Michael Hall as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Joey Slotnick as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The film explores the “fascinating and unforgettable race between technology rivals Apple Computers and Microsoft. From nights of dorm-room tinkering to days of boardroom scheming, their fierce and often humorous battle to rule the fledgling computer empire literally changed the world.” [per TNT]
Steve Jobs, 56, passed away on October 5, 2011 after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.
Source: TNT – October 6, 2011
Hank Williams Jr’s interview on Fox comparing President Obama to Hitler caused ESPN to pull Williams’ opening number from the broadcast on October 3, 2011. William Jr’s song had kicked off Monday night football games since 1991, and now word officially comes from ESPN that he’ll no longer be a part of the show:
“We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams, Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of Monday Night Football has always been about the games and that will continue.”
Following Williams Jr’s interview on Fox News’ Fox and Friends on the morning of October 3, ESPN decided not to air his performance of “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night” that night, stating, “While Hank Williams Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”
Ultimately, the network decided to end the relationship, although on Hank Williams Jr’s blog he says it was his decision:
“After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision. By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It’s been a great run.” — Hank Williams Jr
