Tim reviews the Disney live-action fairy tale adventure “Maleficent” with Bryan Piatt on KARE 11 TV (NBC) in Minneapolis. See the review of the film, starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning, below, as well as a review of the new Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson comedy “A Million Ways to Die in the West.” You can also read the print version of the reviews on BringMeTheNews.com.
Tim reviews the Marvel superhero adventure “X-Men: Days of Future Past” with Bryan Piatt on KARE 11 TV (NBC) in Minneapolis. See the review of the film, starring Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, below, as well as a review of the new Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore comedy “Blended.” You can also read the print version of the reviews on BringMeTheNews.com. Also, click HERE to read Tim’s interview with Hugh Jackman.
Tim also reviewed the films with John Williams on WCCO AM 830 (Click HERE to listen: audio begins at 3:30) and Rider and Eric Perkins on 96.3 K-TWIN. Listen to the K-TWIN audio below.
Whether he’s sporting adamantium or bone claws, Hugh Jackman is no doubt as sharp as ever as the Logan/Wolverine in “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” But perhaps no performance of the legendary character prior to this new chapter in the “X-Men” and “Wolverine” film series stands out more than his three-word cameo in 2011’s “X-Men: First Class.”
It’s a brief, but memorable scene, where the young Erik Lensherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier/Professor X (James McAvoy) walk into a bar to recruit the grizzled mutant for a new initiative. After briefly introducing themselves, Logan, sitting at the bar and chomping a cigar, says unflinchingly, “Go f–k yourself.”
“I remember (director) Matthew Vaughn pitching the idea to me, and I asked, ‘Is anyone else swearing in the movie?’ and he said, ‘No.’ So I said, ‘I’m in,'” Jackman told me, laughing, in an interview for the theatrical release of the film. “I literally went in for a half a day, and when I left, I hoped that I’d get a chance to work with these guys again. They were awesome. Michael was in the makeup chair, telling jokes the whole time. We got on really well. Both guys are phenomenal actors.”
Of course, at the time, Jackman had no idea at the time that he’d get his wish to work with Fassbender and McAvoy again, much less in an “X-Men” movie — until the director of the first two films in the “X-Men” franchise, Bryan Singer, approached him about the unique idea of playing the central character in a film that showcased mutants in their past and future incarnations for “Days of Future Past.”
“When he sent me a one-pager of the idea, I got about halfway through it, knowing I’d say, ‘Yes’ to the movie. It was such of an awesome idea,” Jackman recalled. “It was such an organic way to bring everyone together.”
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” begins in a dystopian future where Wolverine, Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Storm (Halle Berry) and a host of other mutants are clinging to survival. The world has become overrun by Sentinels — giant robots infused with mutant DNA — which have not only decimated the mutant population, but targeted any humans sympathetic to the mutant cause.
As it turns out, there was a key event involving a mutant 50 years earlier which led to the creation of the Sentinels. In the hope of changing the course of events, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) uses her powers to enable Wolverine’s mind to travel back to 1973, where his consciousness would be implanted in a younger version of himself to find the young Professor X, Magneto and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) in a desperate attempt to avert disaster.
While Jackman has been heavily involved in the X-Men universe since the film franchise kicked off in 2000, the actor admits that he was only vaguely familiar with the fan-heralded “Days of Future Past” storyline from Marvel Comics’ X-Men canon.
“I had heard about it, but had never read the comic book. So the idea of doing it on film never even crossed my mind until I read the one pager, actually,” Jackman explained. “It was really great for all of us. Everyone really loved getting back together again, because we’re all like family now.”
As Jackman found, however, the storyline turned out to be a double-blessing in a sense for the filmmakers: With a narrative that examines the idea of altering the course of history, it gave them the opportunity to right some wrongs in previous “X-Men” movies that raised the ire of the fan base.
“The fact that it came from a part of the X-Men lexicon only helped give this new movie some credibility,” Jackman said. “It’s a brilliant device to clear up some of the inaccuracies we had before, and to make it feel like a fresh beginning. It’s very, very clever and Wolverine feels more complete now. It was great playing him and doing something a little more out of the box for my character. It’s also sort of a wonderful throwback to the first movie, but now it’s a complete reverse of what Professor Xavier was doing for my character. Now I’m doing it for his.”
Secret weapon
There’s no doubt an immeasurable amount of brutal training and commitment for Jackman that went into the creating the incredible physique of Logan/Wolverine for seventh time with “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” But the vital element that’s often overlooked in Jackman’s physical transformation into the character is an unseen weapon that doesn’t necessarily happen while he’s preparing to play the character for a film, but what transpires in the theater.
The actor’s Weapon X, if you will, is called stamina, and it’s all thanks to Jackman’s three turns on Broadway, and he’s soon heading back for a fourth with “The River” (after hosting the Tony Awards for the fourth time, no less) to stay with the flow.
“I often feel after being on stage and going to fill that I feel sharper. It’s a great discipline,” Jackman enthused. “You have to do eight performances a week and hit it 100 percent. You have to be there at the top of your game. Nothing’s harder than eight shows a week. There’s performing, dancing, singing. I think the hardest I ever worked was doing ‘The Boy from Oz’ (which earned him a Best Actor Tony in 2004). I can still tell you the finish date of the production, which was the 16th of September, because it was kind of like crossing a marathon finish line.”
Giving it his all, after all, isn’t a choice for the Tony winner and Oscar nominee – it’s a way of life, and he’s committed to being all there all the time. He’s keenly aware of the fact that people spend their hard-earned money to see him, and he never, ever, wants to disappoint.
“For any member of the audience, it could only be the once-a-year thing for them. The theater could be a special outing for somebody, as is the movies. Hey, I know. I have two young kids, so getting to the movies is not so easy,” Jackman added.
With any luck, Jackman will continue his trek as Wolverine and entertain audiences for years to come. Of course, in the age of franchise reboots, the fact that role will go to another actor someday is inevitable. At age 45, Jackman admits the idea is definitely weighing on his mind, but he’s not going to preoccupy himself with it.
“There’s got to be an end date, but I think I can do 21 or 22 more movies, something like that,” Jackman told me, laughing. “I just want see the party finishing before someone pushes me out the door. You need to help me out there. Just call me up and say, ‘Buddy, this should be our last interview for this character.'”
Sixteen years after the smash romantic comedy “The Wedding Singer” charmed moviegoers, the film’s stars and director are blending seamlessly once again in three-part harmony.
The stars, of course, are Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, who have reunited with director Frank Coraci for the family comedy “Blended.” In a recent interview, Coraci, who went on to direct Sandler in “The Waterboy” and “Click” after “The Wedding Singer,” said he was thrilled to finally get both Sandler and Barrymore together in one film again because the three click so well.
“It was such of a great feeling. We stayed friends over the years, but sometimes you don’t see each other as much as you’d like to,” Coraci said. “It was not only a great chance to all hang out again, but do what we do well when we’re all together.”
Opening in theaters nationwide Friday, “Blended” stars Sandler and Barrymore as Jim and Lauren, a pair of single parents who briefly meet on a disastrous blind date, only to be serendipitously thrown together with their kids on a vacation at an African resort.
Coraci said the timing of “Blended” couldn’t have been any more perfect, because Sandler and Barrymore, who ended “The Wedding Singer” as a new couple, have each grown into important phases in their personal lives.
“Adam and Drew both have kids, so it really helped the storyline in every way because they understand what it’s like to be parents,” Coraci said.
Naturally, there are some romantic sparks that fly between Sandler and Barrymore in “Blended,” but the movie also addresses how important it is for parents to put their kids first in their personal lives.
“The movie does not fall into the typical cliches of a romantic comedy. They don’t fall in love over the typical things you see in movies, they fall in love because each realizes how great the other one is as a parent,” Coraci said. “They really need each other because Drew’s character has two boys and they really need a father figure, and Adam’s character has three girls. But when you see the way the girls dress and have bad haircuts, yet are trying to grow up into women, they need some guidance and Drew is a great person they need in their lives.”
Coraci said for the preview audience members who have seen the movie already, the “kids first” narrative has resonated the most.
“That’s the core that people really love the most, that it was a whole different way for two people to appreciate and fall in love with each other,” Coraci said.
While the chemistry between Barrymore and Sandler was instant, Coraci said what really added to the magic of the production was the fact that the cast and crew filmed the bulk of the movie on location in South Africa.
“We were all there together and it really felt like we were a family. We’d doing things on the weekends like go on safaris with the kids. It was great,” Coraci said. “There was something really special about being on location there. Africa has such an amazing rawness as a backdrop. There’s not only the nature, but a spiritual thing there. We put a lot of great African music in the movie. We really went beyond the next level of what we did in ‘The Wedding Singer.'”
Fans of “The Wedding Singer,” Coraci added, will notice a big change in the dynamic between Sandler and Barrymore, and the director couldn’t be any more thrilled about it.
“For Drew, I have to say, when we did ‘The Wedding Singer,’ comedy was a newer thing to her,” Coraci recalled. “But with ‘Blended,’ she is the total champ. The comedy stuff she does in this is unbelievable. She does a lot of the heavy lifting with the physical comedy. It’s so great to see her and Adam together because they know each other so well. There’s a confidence and fearlessness between them when they’re together. There’s a section of the movie where they don’t like each other so they get to make fun of each other, and because they’re such good friends they were really able to go for it.”
The release of “Blended” comes on the heels of the debut of Coraci’s new Travel Channel series “Chow Masters.” Each week on the show, which airs Tuesday nights, the director and his longtime friend/celebrity chef Sammy D. pit three chefs in different cities across the U.S. to come up with the tastiest and most creatively cooked comfort foods.
In Tuesday night’s episode, which travels to Los Angeles, the production promises Coraci and Sammy D. will chow down with a “major Hollywood superstar” and “another celebrity pal.”
Could it be that Sandler and Barrymore are the ones who will be added to the “Chow Masters” mix? Coraci is tight-lipped about that idea and any other celebrity appearances planned for the show, but the prospect for some delicious cameos are certainly looking good.
