Movies this weekend, SA!
It's another 3-day weekend in South Africa, with tomorrow being our last public holiday in a good long while. If you're struggling to find something to do this weekend there are 4 new movies hitting local cinemas today.
First up, as I'm sure you're well aware, is X-Men Origins: Wolverine, with Hugh Jackman returning as everyone's favourite badass Canadian superhero. Although Wolverine has been the central character in all 3 X-Men movies, now we get to see the events that transformed him into the bitter metal-clawed amnesiac we initially met back in 2000.
Unfortunately buzz about the film hasn't been good. First there was extensive reshoots which suggested that South African director Gavin (Tsotsi) Hood has had creative control wrestled from him by Fox executives. Then there was the controversial leak of the unfinished film on the Net. And there's always been the nagging worry for fans that Wolverine will be another X-Men 3 - a disappointing mess overstuffed with popular characters (Gambit, Deadpool, Emma Frost etc) who don't get as much screen time as they deserve, or even a faithful, respectful treatment.
Wolverine is currently sitting at 41% on Rotten Tomatoes, and unfortunately I'm expecting it to drop in the coming days. Of course I'll be seeing the film but I'll be doing so with low expectations.
For the tweens this weekend there's also Hannah Montana: The Movie, in which Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) is forced to choose between her secret pop star persona and a much simpler, down-to-earth life. This is triggered when Miley's father (Billy Ray Cyrus) decides to give her a dose of reality and take her back to their hometown in rural Tennessee.
Honestly, I'm largely indifferent to this weirdly self-referential sounding film. The recent flood of singing-dancing Disney movies don't interest me at all, but evidently there are millions of Hannah Montana fans the world over who will lap up this stuff. Hannah Montana: The Movie scored 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.
For adults with little patience for comic books and singing teens, your alternative is the romantic drama Two Lovers, which is supposedly Joaquin Phoenix's last film. He plays a depressed bachelor in Brooklyn torn between 2 very different women, troubled, impetuous Gwyneth Paltrow and sweet, supportive Vinessa Shaw.
I'd never heard of Two Lovers before this week, but it screened at the Cannes Festival apparently and is sitting on a solid 83% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Scanning some of the reviews the film's main strengths seem to be its performances and its complex, sobering realism. So if you're a fan of mature films made for mature audiences, Two Lovers is probably ideal for you.
Finally, for a surprising 4th time in 2 months or so, there's another local movie, the roadtrip comedy White Wedding. The film centres on decent guy Elvis (Kenneth Nkosi) who has to journey from Johannesburg to Cape Town for his wedding. Along the way he has to pick up his womanising best man Tumi (Rapulana Seiphemo), and in a bid to make up lost time they take one of Tumi's "short cuts," pushing them way off course and into all kinds of adventures.
I haven't seen any reviews of White Wedding, but this (obviously biased) description comes from the film's official site:
“White Wedding” is an appealing, feel-good movie about love, commitment, intimacy and friendship and the host of maddening obstacles that can get in the way of a happy ending. Uplifting and at times uproarious this is a movie that affirms the dream that romance can overcome any obstacle.
First up, as I'm sure you're well aware, is X-Men Origins: Wolverine, with Hugh Jackman returning as everyone's favourite badass Canadian superhero. Although Wolverine has been the central character in all 3 X-Men movies, now we get to see the events that transformed him into the bitter metal-clawed amnesiac we initially met back in 2000.
Unfortunately buzz about the film hasn't been good. First there was extensive reshoots which suggested that South African director Gavin (Tsotsi) Hood has had creative control wrestled from him by Fox executives. Then there was the controversial leak of the unfinished film on the Net. And there's always been the nagging worry for fans that Wolverine will be another X-Men 3 - a disappointing mess overstuffed with popular characters (Gambit, Deadpool, Emma Frost etc) who don't get as much screen time as they deserve, or even a faithful, respectful treatment.
Wolverine is currently sitting at 41% on Rotten Tomatoes, and unfortunately I'm expecting it to drop in the coming days. Of course I'll be seeing the film but I'll be doing so with low expectations.
For the tweens this weekend there's also Hannah Montana: The Movie, in which Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) is forced to choose between her secret pop star persona and a much simpler, down-to-earth life. This is triggered when Miley's father (Billy Ray Cyrus) decides to give her a dose of reality and take her back to their hometown in rural Tennessee.
Honestly, I'm largely indifferent to this weirdly self-referential sounding film. The recent flood of singing-dancing Disney movies don't interest me at all, but evidently there are millions of Hannah Montana fans the world over who will lap up this stuff. Hannah Montana: The Movie scored 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.
For adults with little patience for comic books and singing teens, your alternative is the romantic drama Two Lovers, which is supposedly Joaquin Phoenix's last film. He plays a depressed bachelor in Brooklyn torn between 2 very different women, troubled, impetuous Gwyneth Paltrow and sweet, supportive Vinessa Shaw.
I'd never heard of Two Lovers before this week, but it screened at the Cannes Festival apparently and is sitting on a solid 83% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Scanning some of the reviews the film's main strengths seem to be its performances and its complex, sobering realism. So if you're a fan of mature films made for mature audiences, Two Lovers is probably ideal for you.
Finally, for a surprising 4th time in 2 months or so, there's another local movie, the roadtrip comedy White Wedding. The film centres on decent guy Elvis (Kenneth Nkosi) who has to journey from Johannesburg to Cape Town for his wedding. Along the way he has to pick up his womanising best man Tumi (Rapulana Seiphemo), and in a bid to make up lost time they take one of Tumi's "short cuts," pushing them way off course and into all kinds of adventures.
I haven't seen any reviews of White Wedding, but this (obviously biased) description comes from the film's official site:
“White Wedding” is an appealing, feel-good movie about love, commitment, intimacy and friendship and the host of maddening obstacles that can get in the way of a happy ending. Uplifting and at times uproarious this is a movie that affirms the dream that romance can overcome any obstacle.
Comments
I suppose we'll just have to go in with low expectations :(
And, why is Gambit so clean-cut? He's supposed to be a filthy swamp rat from Louisiana. I mean, they stole Colossus' gigantic stature and Russian accent from me; are they going to gut my other favorite X-Man now, as well?
I'm expecting it to be as bad as X-Men 3, which is saying a lot as to how awful I'm sure it will be.
The only upswing would be if we could manage to get another X-Men Legends game out of it, which I really enjoyed.
MJenks, having not even seen the film yet, I can already pick up on the various inconsistencies you're talking about. I mean Logan must get one mega bout of amnesia to forget meeting young Cyclops?
Interestingly enough, speaking of X-Men video games, apparently the slash-em-up Wolverine tie-in is actually quite a bit of mindless fun.
I agree Gambit (along with a number of other characters) is nothing like his comicbook counterpart, but is that really surprising after the treatment so many other Xmen characters got in the previous three films?
The biggest standout for me was how little attention had been paid to getting effects and compositing right. If there's one thing that should shine in a movie like this no matter the director, it's the effects, but they were decidedly slapdash.
Overall I found it to be a fun way to spend an hour and a half, provided you can just deal with the fact that it's a film adaptation and is likely to take some serious license on the characters.
The only bad effects that really stand out for me where the CGI-Victor Creed clambering upside down on walls, etc. I don't think we've yet reached a point where we can duplicate a non-costumed person realistically using CGI. They still look (and move) like elastic.