47 Ronin | Grudge Match | The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | The Wolf of Wall Street
A mix of legitimate releases and a studio dumping this week, along with one that looks like a Funny or Die parody trailer accidentally got greenlit.
47 Ronin
"Based" on the real-life story for 47 samurai in 18th century Japan, this one adds the character played by Keanu Reeves: Kai, a half-Japanese outcast who joins the group. Lord knows, anytime you can shoehorn a white guy into other cultures' fables, you should definitely take the chance. Thanks, but if I wanted that, I'd just throw in Last Samurai. At least that doesn't have a crappy-looking CGI dragon. P.S. The original release date for this one was way back in 2012, and the studio kept pushing it back. Never a good sign.
Grudge Match
I get how, on paper, Rocky vs. Raging Bull sounded like a good idea. Making a comedy out of it doesn't seem smart though. The CGI that must've been required to make DeNiro look at all threatening to Stallone had to be the vast majority of this film's budget. I must be part of an older generation, because Kevin Hart is rarely funny to me, and usually just obnoxious. I'll be passing on this one as well.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
At last, we get to one that I at least want to see if I get the chance. Apparently a remake, the initial teaser looked pretty forgettable, but the newest full length trailers make it look like it could be interesting. It's directed by Ben Stiller, but I'd actually be more interested in this if comedy takes a backseat to the mid-life crisis story it looks like it revolves around. The dark humor should take care of itself, so if Stiller can avoid the urge to force comedy into the plot, it could wind up being pretty good.
The Wolf of Wall Street
This week, alphabetically listing the movies also nicely correlated with their watchability. So far, Scorsese has paired with DiCaprio to bring us Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, and Shutter Island. There's not a single entry in there getting less than 4 stars! "Black Skinhead" by Kanye West was an absolutely awful choice for the trailer, but I'm going to try to not hold that against it. Based on the true story (but the white guy was already in it!), it will also mark the third time Scorsese has collaborated with DiCaprio on a period piece, so this is hardly new territory for them.
47 Ronin
"Based" on the real-life story for 47 samurai in 18th century Japan, this one adds the character played by Keanu Reeves: Kai, a half-Japanese outcast who joins the group. Lord knows, anytime you can shoehorn a white guy into other cultures' fables, you should definitely take the chance. Thanks, but if I wanted that, I'd just throw in Last Samurai. At least that doesn't have a crappy-looking CGI dragon. P.S. The original release date for this one was way back in 2012, and the studio kept pushing it back. Never a good sign.
Grudge Match
I get how, on paper, Rocky vs. Raging Bull sounded like a good idea. Making a comedy out of it doesn't seem smart though. The CGI that must've been required to make DeNiro look at all threatening to Stallone had to be the vast majority of this film's budget. I must be part of an older generation, because Kevin Hart is rarely funny to me, and usually just obnoxious. I'll be passing on this one as well.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
At last, we get to one that I at least want to see if I get the chance. Apparently a remake, the initial teaser looked pretty forgettable, but the newest full length trailers make it look like it could be interesting. It's directed by Ben Stiller, but I'd actually be more interested in this if comedy takes a backseat to the mid-life crisis story it looks like it revolves around. The dark humor should take care of itself, so if Stiller can avoid the urge to force comedy into the plot, it could wind up being pretty good.
The Wolf of Wall Street
This week, alphabetically listing the movies also nicely correlated with their watchability. So far, Scorsese has paired with DiCaprio to bring us Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, and Shutter Island. There's not a single entry in there getting less than 4 stars! "Black Skinhead" by Kanye West was an absolutely awful choice for the trailer, but I'm going to try to not hold that against it. Based on the true story (but the white guy was already in it!), it will also mark the third time Scorsese has collaborated with DiCaprio on a period piece, so this is hardly new territory for them.