This week I had the wonderful opportunity to see filmmaker Christopher Nolan in Dialogue with Variety’s Scott Foundas at the Walker Art Center’s film retrospective “Christopher Nolan: Moving Through Time” in Minneapolis.
In conjunction with the event, where all nine of Nolan’s films are playing through May 24, I had the opportunity to write for the Walker a retrospective piece on the director based on the interviews I’ve done with him over the years. Here’s an excerpt:
It’s only appropriate that Christopher Nolan’s May 5 visit to the Walker Art Center came on the heels of the dizzying release of the latest teaser trailer for “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.” Fresh off his own trek to the outer reaches of space with the spectacular sci-fi adventure drama “Interstellar,” Nolan 38 years ago was, like countless moviegoers worldwide, forever impacted by the George Lucas’ 1977 space opera. But unlike most starry-eyed fans, Nolan was inspired to expand the “Star Wars” universe in his own cinematic way, and in doing so, he was inadvertently laying the foundation for a legendary, Lucas-like career of his own as a writer, producer and director.
“I started making Super 8 films when I was 7 years old,” Nolan told me in 2006, in the first of four conversations we would have about his films over the next eight years. “My first few films were little action-figure extravaganzas, and soon, as ‘Star Wars’ came out and changed everything, my movies were ‘Star Wars’ ripoffs for years, with spaceships and action figures. They were little, mini-epics. It was great fun.”
The trail goes cold almost immediately for Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon in “Hot Pursuit,” a dreadfully unfunny road comedy that’s every bit as bad as the film’s excruciating trailer suggested it would be. Following a clever opening title scene that shows younger versions of Witherspoon’s character literally being raised in the back of her policeman father’s squad car, the film takes an immediate nosedive once the actress herself appears on-screen, as she desperately attempts to force humor at every turn.
Witherspoon plays Rose Cooper, a straight-laced, strictly by-the-book Texas police officer inspired by years on the beat with her late father. Tasked with protecting Daniella Riva (Vergara) – the high-maintenance wife of a government informant set to testify against a vicious cartel boss at a Dallas court hearing – Cooper is willing to risk her life to protect the woman, even with would-be assassins and crooked cops only steps behind them.
Given their respective histories on film and television, there’s no question that Witherspoon and Vergara can act given the right material; it’s just that the regurgitated story in “Hot Pursuit” gives them no choice but to force out their lines in the hopes of eliciting a few laughs.
A somewhat baffling choice for a screwball comedy role, Witherspoon is totally out of her depth as the ever-perky Cooper, and comes off as hopelessly annoying as she rapidly rattles off her dialogue. Meanwhile, Vergara, who’s been quite funny on TV’s “Modern Family,” seems nothing but uncomfortable as she plays along with the story’s antics. At least her character is given a bit of a plot twist, but even as that is revealed, “Hot Pursuit” falls lock-step back into its march toward a predictable ending. Somebody needs to get on the case to investigate how such a disastrous project like “Hot Pursuit” got the greenlight in the first place.
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“The D Train” (R) 2 stars (out of four)
Board with caution “The D Train,” a dark comedy starring Jack Black and James Marsden that ultimately ends up feeling more creepy and awkward than funny. On one hand, it’s a relief that the film avoided the cliches and predictability of the class reunion comedy sub-genre; yet on the flip side, the film is hard to warm up to, since neither Black’s nor Marsden’s characters are particularly likeable.
Black stars as Dan Landsman, a socially-inept, lonesome loser on his high school class’ 20th reunion committee, who’s struggling to convince his old classmates to attend the bash in Pittsburgh. Dan’s luck appears to change, though, when he by chance spots Oliver Lawless (Marsden) – the most popular guy in his graduating class – on TV one night in a national television commercial.
Rationalizing that more alumni would attend the reunion if they knew Oliver would be there, Dan becomes obsessive about snagging the “big star” to return home. Fabricating a story for his boss (Jeffrey Tambor) to fund a trip to California to reacquaint himself with the “cool kid”-turned-actor, Dan’s lies begin to pile lies upon lies, and his new bromance with Oliver quickly begins to spin out of control with completely unexpected results.
Black and Marsden are great at bringing creepy and smarmy vibes, respectively, to “The D Train,” but the film will likely find audiences shifting in their seats rather than laughing out loud. There are funny moments in the movie to be sure, it’s just that without a clear protagonist in the piece, the film has a hard time gaining any momentum. We know something significant is bound to happen as Dan spins his yarns and Oliver plays along, and that unpredictability is part of the appeal. In the end, “The D Train” is a risky comedy that seems to have all the right elements, but just can’t find the right tone.
Tim Lammers is a veteran entertainment reporter and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and annually votes on the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Locally, he reviews films for “KARE 11 News at 11”and various Minnesota radio stations.
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“Avengers: Age of Ultron” (PG-13) 3 1/2 stars (out of four)
Earth’s mightiest heroes are disassembled and reconfigured in an exciting new way in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” a thrilling, complex and action-packed sequel to the overrated 2012 original.
Once again written and directed by Joss Whedon, the hotly anticipated follow-up to “The Avengers” delves deeper into the fragile psyches of the seemingly unstoppable band of superheroes. It also skillfully blends a new villain and additional super-powered characters to the mix, thereby distancing it from any potential threats of sequelitis. The progression of the narrative feels natural and doesn’t try to rest in any way on its laurels, even though the film is a sure-fire box office blockbuster.
“Age of Ultron” picks up in the fictional Eastern European country of Sokovia, where the villainous organization HYDRA holds Loki’s scepter from the first “Avengers” film in their bid to develop weapons of mass destruction. The team recaptures it, but thanks to the wicked, mind-altering powers of Wanda Maximoff (Elisabeth Olson) and hyper-speed of her twin brother, Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a trap is set by Hydra when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) uses the scepter’s power to jumpstart his dormant global peacekeeping “Ultron” program. Stark has the support of Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), but the rest of the team – Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) feel left out in the dark.
The final execution of the program, which helps Stark finally realizes his goal of artificial intelligence, ultimately manifests itself in a super robot named Ultron (voice of James Spader), who not only wants to kill his creator, but rule the Earth after he realizes his plan of global annihilation. And that’s especially a big problem when the Avengers as a team find themselves at breaking point, where loyalties are questioned and trust becomes a big issue, since members of the group have different ideas on how to proceed with stopping the enemy and creating a peaceful future.
Click image to pre-order the 12-inch (1:6 scale) figure of Gamora from “Guardians of the Galaxy” from Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles.
Coming in at just over 2 hours and 20 minutes, “Avengers: Age of Ultron” doesn’t feel too long, but rather a complete story because Whedon wisely uses his time to weave in the darker, complex vignettes of each team member in between all the action. For this reason, the film has more of a Christopher Nolan “Dark Knight” sort of edge to it, making the narrative that much more satisfying. While there are plenty of gags and laughs in the “Age of Ultron,” to be sure (a burgeoning romance between Hulk and Black Widow spurs some saucy humor, and there are also running jokes about Cap’s clean-cut demeanor and Thor’s hammer), it’s just refreshing to see that Whedon has adapted to the darker path of the Marvel movie series, where life for its superheroes moves onto shakier ground.
Of course, “Age of Ultron” is packed to the hilt with action, and the special visual effects are about as good as it gets. Particularly impressive is how the fluidness of the metal-based Ultron allows for some expressiveness, and you can really feel Spader’s smarmy characterization flowing through it. The hotly anticipated Hulkbuster scene is also hugely entertaining and diehard fans will definitely not be disappointed.
While the core cast of “Age of Ultron” delivers as expected, it’s exciting to see the introduction of new Marvel Universe characters to the mix like Vision (Paul Bettany) — who is a particularly thrilling addition — and the Maximoffs, who are finely realized by Olsen and Taylor-Johnson. And, without revealing too much, it’s great to see a hint of how the Avengers team is undergoing changes as the film series heads into the two part “Avengers: Infinity War” chapters coming in 2018 and 2019. There will be more in between, though, with “Ant-Man” (in July) and more “Captain America” and “Thor,” because the Marvel Universe is an expansive one – and we can’t get enough of it.
Tim Lammers is a veteran entertainment reporter and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and annually votes on the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Locally, he reviews films for “KARE 11 News at 11”and various Minnesota radio stations.
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