Despite The Presence of Danny Boyle and Lily James, Yesterday Is Let Down By A Lackluster Script

You know Summer 2019 is coming up short on quality cinema when even Danny Boyle is delivering average fare. Whereas fusing Danny Boyle’s direction with the writing of Aaron Sorkin turned out to be a match made in heaven in 2015s Steve Jobs, merging his directorial skills with the writing of Richard Curtis (of Love, Actually fame) in the new feature Yesterday turns out to be a match made in…certainly not Hell, but somewhere in between (Milwaukee, maybe?) Though Yesterday has one of the more unique premises for a mainstream movie in a blue moon, the execution of that premise leaves much to be desired.

Long Shot Is More Agreeable Than Memorable But At Least It's Frequently Funny

Though they usually have enough gross-out gags to fill out an army of Seann William Scott starring vehicles, comedic vehicles for Seth Rogen and his fellow cohorts like Judd Apatow have always had a penchant for treating romantic subplots with surprising levels of seriousness. Starting with The 40-Year-Old Virgin back in 2005, these types of films seemed to make a promise to viewers to keep the jokes about male genitalia coming at a steady rate but also to treat romance as something with actual weight and heart. Trying to balance raunch with heart has had varying degrees of success, but it is an element that separates it from, say, Happy Madison or recent Will Ferrell vehicles where heartfelt moments feel obligatory rather than affecting.

Gene Kelly And George Gershwin's Music Shine In The Terrific Musical An American In Paris

Whenever we talk about modern actors, us film critics tend to have a habit of comparing newer movie stars to prolific actors of the past. I'm not exempting myself from this trend for sure, I totally did that with Michael Fassbender in my Steve Jobs review. It's not an inherently bad thing, but I do have to ponder if this tactic (which, again, I'm as guilty of as anyone else) when used so ubiquitously does tend to damper newer movie starts chances to establish their own identity while also reducing the uniqueness of the legendary older actors they're being compared to.

How Did The Circle End Up Being This Poorly-Made?

Every director has their misfires in their filmography, with even one of the all-time greats like Steven Spielberg having films like Hook or The Lost World: Jurassic Park in their filmography. But it's always a disappointment when a director I seriously like manages to craft a dud, kinda like when a parent realizes their kid has committed some kind of crime, y'know? You know they're better than this, how could this have happened? In the case of The Circle, it's director James Ponsoldt, the filmmaker behind The End Of The Tour and the particularly excellent 2013 drama The Spectacular Now, that stumbles here when he tackles the world of cyber-security and internet privacy.

Steve Jobs Review

Now that I'm juuust old enough to put my younger years into a larger context, it strikes me that 2010 may have been one of the most formative cinematic years of my entire life. That specific period of 365 days brought out a number of important films that shaped me, including Toy Story 3, The Other Guys and the first Coen Brothers, Christopher Nolan and Edgar Wright films I saw on the big screen (hell, I could ramble on for hours on the personal importance of just Scott Pilgrim vs. The World!). Another film from that year that has cemented itself in my subconscious? The Social Network.

Goosebumps Sends Shivers Across The Box Office. Also; Crimson Peak? More Like Crimson Meek (Box Office)

Goosebumps was numero uno at the box office this weekend, grossing a decent $23.5 million in its opening weekend. That's a solid number for the book adaptation, though putting it below the opening weekends of other movies of its ilk (Ender's Game opened to $27 million for instance and this opening was about on the same level as the $23.2 million debut of Eragon from ten years ago). This one should perform well over the next two weeks considering how well timed it is to Halloween, though The Peanuts Movie will likely demolish it in its fourth weekend.

The Martian Remains In Orbit At The Top Of The Box Office While Pan Gets Hooked Off The Box Office Stage

Mark Watney (Matt Damon) has become a botanist, grown potatoes on Mars and now has starred in the biggest movie in America for two straight weeks. Yep, The Martian led the box office again, grossing an impressive $37 million for the frame, which is the sixth best second weekend for a 2015 feature. That's only a 32% dip from last weekend, a larger drop than the 22% dip experienced by Gravity in its second frame, but much better than the 40% drop Interstellar had in its second go-around.

You Want Trailers? We Got Trailers! Check Out The New Trailers For New Films From, Among Other Directors, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard And Danny Boyle

There's tons and tons of new movies coming out over the next few months, a welcome reprieve from the past few weeks where new cinematic offerings were slim pickings. Four of the new movies coming out over the next three months, as well as one feature set for release in the Spring, have released new trailers, so I've decided to condense all of them into one post. Below, you can see the trailers for five forthcoming major features as well as my brief thoughts on them.

Aaron Sorkin Written Steve Jobs Movie Loses Home At Sony, But All Hope Is Not Lost

It's been a rough road for the Steve Jobs biopic written by Aaron Sorkin. David Fincher was supposed to direct it, make it a nice Social Network reunion, but he passed. Then, Danny Boyle came on as director, only for lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio to pass. Christian Bale, who had been floated around as a lead for the project when Fincher was directing, reattached himself to the project, and then left it. Michael Fassbender was in talks to play the lead of Steve Jobs, while Seth Rogen, Jessica Chastain and Scarlett Johnansson were in discussions for roles in the feature.

Christian Bale Will Be The Steve Jobs We Deserve And Need

You can call me crazy, but I think the newest Steve Jobs biopics casting for the role of the famed icon is a bit of an upgrade on Ashton Kutcher. This new Jobs movie has been in development for ages now, with Aaron Sorkin writing and directors like David Fincher passing on it. But Danny Boyle is confirmed to direct and now we have an actor confirmed to play Steve Jobs himself!