TOP MOVIE OF THE SUMMER
“IT” has been one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year. Seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine, are about to face their worst nightmare -- an ancient, shape-shifting evil that emerges from the sewer every 27 years to prey on the town's children. Banding together over the course of one horrifying summer, the friends must overcome their own personal fears to battle the murderous, bloodthirsty clown known as Pennywise. The movies portrayal of the book has landed outstanding ratings and has landed silver screens top movie of the month. In theaters: September 8, 2017 Director: Andres Muschietti Studio: New Line Cinema Genre: Horror Topics: Book characters, Monsters, C lowns, Death, F riends Run time: 135 minutes MPAA rating: R MPAA explanation: violence/horror, b loody images, a nd for language
Out of 4 4,000 r eviews on rotten tomato it scored a 87% and a 4.2 out of 5 Scored 8 7% on G oogle Box Office: $218,813,729 usd Budget: 35 million usd Reviews It is [a] study in trauma to match the best of them. -The New Republic I'm writing this not so m uch as a c ritic but as an ordinary moviegoer, experiencing P roustian t ransport via an old-fashioned scary movie executed by a team of f ilmmakers and actors at the top of their game. -Salon Well-acted and fiendishly frightening with an emotionally affecting story at its core, It amplifies the horror in Stephen King's classic story without losing touch with its heart. -Rotten Tomato Critics “The new movie, a skillful blend of nostalgic sentiment and hair-raising effects, with the visual punch of big-screen digital hocus-pocus and the liberties of the R rating, still has the soothing charm of familiarity.” -New York Times “And after its final confrontation, It ends exactly the way movies like this should and so rarely do: With a satisfied sense that this story has been fully and completely told. And, yet, with the growing conviction that you just can’t wait to see where the filmmakers take it next.” -Star Ledger
MEET THE CAST
Jaeden Lieberher as William "Bill" Denbrough: The leader of the Losers' Club, who, with the help of his friends, vows to get revenge on the monster for the death of his young brother, Georgie.[20][21] Denbrough losing his brother makes the battle against It a more personal crusade for him than any of the others. Bill Skarsgård as It / Pennywise the Dancing Clown[N 1]: On portraying Pennywise, Skarsgård stated, "It's such an extreme character. Inhumane, It's beyond even a sociopath, because he's not even human. He's not even a clown. I'm playing just one of the beings It creates."[39] Skarsgård described the character further, saying, "It truly enjoys the shape of the clown Pennywise, and enjoys the game and the hunt." Wyatt Oleff as Stanley "Stan" Uris: A Jewish mysophobe who is the son of a rabbi. He is studying for his bar mitzvah but isn't interested i n religion, which is
upsetting to h is father. On the character of Uris, Muschietti spoke of him k nowing a situation of despair, Sophia Lillis as Beverly "Bev" Marsh: The only female member of the Losers' Club, she is bullied at school, particularly concerning false rumors that she is promiscuous. Her home life is also dismal, as her violent father is sexually abusive to her.[58] Finn Wolfhard as Richard "Richie" Tozier: The bespectacled best friend of Bill Denbrough, also known as 'Trashmouth Tozier' due to his foul language and loud mouth, that often get him into trouble.[22][56] Jack Dylan Grazer as Edward "Eddie" Kaspbrak: Kaspbrak is the epitome of the hypochondriac, overly exaggerated by the immense amount of objects in his medicine cabinet; a sickly boy who only feels truly well when he is with his friends. His overbearing mother is the true source of his hypochondria, however; she has convinced him that he is seriously ill and must stay close to her because only she can protect him. Chosen Jacobs as Michael "Mike" Hanlon: An African American autodidact of history, who relays the incidents of Derry's past to his friends – The fire at the Black Spot, the Bradley Gang shoot-out, and the mass-murder at the Silver Dollar. He was orphaned in a fire, and is being raised on his grandfather Leroy's farm, where he works and is homeschooled. Nicholas Hamilton a s Henry Bowers: A young sociopath w ho leads the Bowers Gang, a gang of high school thugs, and t errorizes the Losers' Club.
SUMMER 2017 HALL OF SHAME Birth of the Dragon: Birth of the Dragon completely disgraces the legacy of Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee movies played a big part in my childhood. He was larger than life, he was a superhero to me. Birth of the Dragon presents i tself as a biography o f the dragon himself and his fight with t he legendary martial a rtist, Wong Jack-Man. This is misleading t o say the least. The only true part from Birth of the Dragon, is that Lee did in fact fight Man. The movie isn’t even about Lee, let alone the fight. The main character is a fictional man by the name of Steve Mckee, who is basically a glorified stalker of Lee’s. McKee is easily one of the most useless characters in film history. Yet for some reason he is the focus of the whole story. Not only is Bruce Lee not the main character, he is villain. Lee is portrayed as an insufferable, hot headed The story is as follows: Steve McKee is a pupil of Bruce McKee meets a Chinese girl at his job. He falls in love. girl is in a bad situation, and McKee gets Wong Jack-Man fight Lee, which somehow frees her. It makes no sense.
the jerk. Lee’s. The to
The only positive I can find about Birth o f the Dragon is the casting. They nailed the casting for both B ruce Lee (Philip Ng) and Wong Jack-Man (Yu Xia)
It’s a shame that they were given such a terrible script, and poor fight choreography to work with. With both of those actors, the film had great potential.
Critics are calling this a quick cheap effort. LUCKY:
TOP INDEPENDENT FILM OF THE SUMMER
Harry Dean Stanton does not go gentle into that good night in John Carroll Lynch's outstanding dramedy. Everything Harry Dean Stanton has done in his career, and his life, has brought him to his moment of triumph in “Lucky,” an unassumingly wonderful little film about nothing in particular and everything that’s important. Scripters Logan Sparks and Drago Sumonja wrote their screenplay (a scenario that is arrestingly allusive and rigorously precise, in the manner of an exceptionally well-crafted short story) with Stanton in mind as the title character, and they embellished their handiwork with Stanton-specific biographical detail. Long-time admirers of the iconic character actor would likely embrace this indie dramedy if it were nothing more than a hand-tooled star vehicle for a living legend. But “Lucky” is something a good deal more substantial than the cinematic equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. It’s also a stealthily affecting and unpretentiously thoughtful meditation on community and mortality, and existential dread and transcendence, in the form
of a richly amusing shaggy-dog story that features Stanton’s finest performance since “Paris, Texas.” By turns taciturn and loquacious, Lucky is an insistently self-sufficient loner who nonetheless seems to enjoy — or at least not resent — his interactions with other residents in an off-the-grid desert town. As he goes about his daily regimen both at home (yoga in the morning, TV game shows in the afternoon) and outside of it (breakfast at the local diner, evening drinks at his customary watering hole), his stride is brisk and purposeful in the manner of a man who believes unwavering adherence to routine is the secret to a long life. And, hey, maybe the guy is on to something: His doctor (a splendid one-scene cameo by Ed Begley Jr.) is amazed by his longevity and, despite his pack-a-day smoking habit, his enduring good health (Stanton was 89 during the 18-day shoot, and Lucky evidently is in the same ballpark). Indeed, there are moments when the character himself appears surprised that he remains alive, ambulatory, and reasonably sentient. A resolute and lifelong atheist, Lucky believes that nothing but nothingness awaits him once he shuffles off his mortal coil. But as he edges near that inevitable time, he is ill-prepared to make his leap into the void. Deep down, he’s scared — though, of course, he’d never admit that to anyone. Well, not anyone except Loretta (Yvonne Huff), a waitress from the aforementioned diner, who drops by to check up on him, and sticks around to share her stash so they can get high while watching a rerun of a classic Liberace concert. No, really. “Lucky” is the first feature directed by veteran actor John Carroll Lynch, and like many others who have made the move to the other side of the camera, Lynch places a greater premium on performances than on plot momentum, allowing almost every member of his cast a chance to strut his or her stuff. Far too often, such an approach leads to lethargic pacing, self-indulgence, and scenes in which dialogue sounds more like monologue. “Lucky,” however, is the exception to the rule.
FILM PRODUCTION: “Kingsman: The Gold Circle” Kingsman: The Golden Circle is opening on September 22nd. This is a sequel of Kingsman: The Secret Service which came out in 2014. The story is about a young spy agent in the U.K. and based on a graphic novel by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar. The prequel got attention especially for its stylish action scenes. As you can see from the trailer, we can expect great action sequence for the new upcoming sequel too.
Eddie Hamilton and Jon Harris, the editors of the film, got many cuts of action sequence together to make it seem as if it was taken as one long cut. Also, Matthew Vaughn, the director, successfully made a great harmony between live action stunts and CGIs. For example, in the church scene from the last film, there are more than 10 cuts in the long sequence and most of the fire, bullets, and gadgets are added through CGI afterward. Before even the last movie came out, Matthew Vaughn had mentioned a possibility of the sequel. Although it was reported that Colin Firth would not be in the sequel, on July 1st of 2016, his return was confirmed. The filming began on 15 May 2016
in Birmingham. The car chase scene we can watch in the trailer was actually shot on the street in the city. Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, and Mark Strong played the same characters as the prequel. Besides the characters from the last film, Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, and Halle Berry played new characters in the film.
Compared to the prequel, as far as we know about the new film from the trailer, speed controlling techniques are used really effectively. How to use slow motion and high speed is the key to successful action movies. We all remember how George Miller used those techniques to make the intense atmosphere in MAD MAX: Fury Road. Matthew Vaughn has introduced new techniques and effects into his past movies each time. As one of the audience, I am sure we can expect something brand-new in Kingsman: The Golden Circle too.
UP AND COMING “Loving Vincent” addresses its subject, the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, with two what-ifs — one marvelous and fantastical, the other empirical and pedestrian. What if his paintings, with their wild colors and vibrant brush strokes, had been able to move? And what if the bullet that killed him had been fired by someone else? Art lovers everywhere- g et excited for this one. “Loving Vincent” hits theaters S eptember 29, 2017.