The 94th Academy Award Winners

Well, it was more eventful than last year's show.

They gave eight awards out ahead of time, then edited the acceptance speeches into the show. A little awkward, but I didn't hate it as much as I thought I might. This led the producers to think we had enough time for two musical numbers from Encanto.

The three hostesses (Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, Amy Schumer) juggled comedic duties. I thought Hall's bit about privately testing the singles actors like Bradley Cooper and Tyler Perry backstage for COVID was funny, and Schumer had some good lines in her own monologue. ("Being the Ricardos is like if they did a Michael Jordan biopic but only showed the bus rides between games.") Sykes's pre-recorded detour of the new Hollywood museum should have been cut in half or dropped.

But the one they're going to be talking about is the Will Smith altercation. Chris Rock poked fun at a couple celebs but then joked about Jada Pinkett Smith preparing for G.I. Jane 2. At first Will laughed along but then he saw the look on Jada's face. Some back-story: Jada has alopecia. Smith marched up to Chris Rock and gave him a full slap on the face. American audiences didn't see the next ten seconds but clips from other broadcasts have gone viral to show that Smith stayed upset ("Keep my wife's name out of your f---ing mouth!") Rock then introduced the nominees for Best Documentary.

And then a half-hour later, Will won. It's quite something to behold his speech. He did ultimately apologize to the Academy, but not to Chris Rock. I'll be fascinated to see what tomorrow's headlines are like.

The winners:

BEST PICTURE - CODA

BEST DIRECTOR - Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

BEST ACTOR - Will Smith, King Richard

BEST ACTRESS - Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Troy Kotsur, CODA

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Sian Heder, CODA

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE - Encanto

BEST DOCUMENTARY PICTURE - Summer of Soul

BEST FOREIGN PICTURE - Drive My Car (Japan)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Dune

BEST COSTUNE DESIGN - Cruella

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - Dune

BEST ORIGINAL SONG - "No Time to Die", Billie Eilish

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - Hans Zimmer, Dune

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - Dune

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING - The Eyes of Tammy Faye

BEST EDITING - Dune

BEST SOUND - Dune

BEST ANIMATED SHORT - The Windshield Wiper

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT - The Queen of Basketball

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT - The Long Goodbye

SAG Award Winners

The SAG Awards are on of my favorites. Not too many categories, so it's all done in two hours. In Memorium is only actors, so no agents or attorneys in there. Many shout-outs to Ukraine, whose president is a "fellow actor". Just about every acceptance speech was good; had some real teary-eyed gratitude come from Will Smith, the Squid Game crew, the CODA crew, and most moving was Michael Keaton, who lost his nephew to a drug overdose.

MOVIES

Best Cast - CODA

Best Actor - Will Smith, King Richard

Best Actress - Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Best Supporting Actor - Troy Kotsur, CODA

Best Supporting Actress - Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Best Stunt Ensemble - No Time to Die

TV

Best Cast Drama - Succession

Best Cast Comedy - Ted Lasso

Best Actor Drama - Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game

Best Actress Drama - HoYeon Jung, Squid Game

Best Actor Comedy - Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Best Actress Comedy - Jean Smart, Hacks

Best Actor Miniseries - Michael Keaton, Dopesick

Best Actress Miniseries - Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown

Best Stunt Ensemble - Squid Game

Lifetime Achievement Award - Helen Mirren

The 94th Annual Academy Award Nominations

The full list of Academy Award nominations for 2021.

Best Picture

Belfast

CODA

Don't Look Up

Drive My Car

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

Best Directing

Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)

Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)

Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)

Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)

Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick … Boom!)

Will Smith (King Richard)

Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)

Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)

Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)

Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)

Kristen Stewart (Spencer)

Actor in a Supporting Role

Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)

Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)

J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)

Actress in a Supporting Role

Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)

Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Judi Dench (Belfast)

Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)

Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

CODA (Sian Heder)

Drive My Car (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe)

Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve)

The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)

The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Belfast (Kenneth Branagh)

Don't Look Up (Adam McKay and David Sirota)

Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)

King Richard (Zach Baylin)

The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier)

Animated Feature Film

Encanto

Flee

Luca

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Raya and the Last Dragon

Animated Short Film

Affairs of the Art

Bestia

Boxballet

Robin Robin

The Windshield Wiper

Costume Design

Cruella (Jenny Beavan)

Cyrano (Massimo Cantini Parrini)

Dune (Jacqueline West)

Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira)

West Side Story (Paul Tazewell)

Live Action Short Film

Ala Kachuu - Take and Run

The Dress

The Long Goodbye

On My Mind

Please Hold

Music (Original Score)

Don't Look Up (Nicholas Britell)

Dune (Hans Zimmer)

Encanto (Germaine Franco)

Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)

The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood)

Sound

Belfast

Dune

No Time to Die

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

Cinematography

Dune (Greig Fraser)

Nightmare Alley (Dan Lausten)

The Power of the Dog (Ari Wegner)

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Bruno Delbonnel)

West Side Story (Janusz Kaminski)

Documentary Feature

Ascension

Attica

Flee

Summer of Soul

Writing With Fire

Documentary Short Subject

Audible

Lead Me Home

The Queen of Basketball

Three Songs for Benazir

When We Were Bullies

Film Editing

Don't Look Up (Hank Corwin)

Dune (Joe Walker)

King Richard (Pamela Martin)

The Power of the Dog (Peter Sciberras)

Tick, Tick... Boom! (Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum)

International Feature Film

Drive My Car (Japan)

Flee (Denmark)

The Hand of God (Italy)

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)

The Worst Person in the World (Norway)

Makeup and Hairstyling

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

House of Gucci

Coming 2 America

Cruella

Dune

Music (Original Song)

Be Alive -- Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Darius Scott (King Richard)

Dos Oruguitas -- Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto)

Down to Joy -- Van Morrison (Belfast)

No Time to Die -- Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (No Time to Die)

Somehow You Do -- Diane Warren (Four Good Days)

Production Design

Dune (Zsuzsanna Sipos and Patrice Vermette)

Nightmare Alley (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau)

The Power of the Dog (Grant Major and Amber Richards)

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Stefan Dechant and Nancy Haigh)

West Side Story (Rena DeAngelo and Adam Stockhausen)

Visual Effects

Dune

Free Guy

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

No Time to Die

Spider-Man: No Way Home

2021 Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations

==FILM==

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

“Belfast” (Focus Features)  

“CODA” (Apple Original Films) 

“Don’t Look Up” (Netflix)  

“House of Gucci” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)  

“King Richard” (Warner Bros)  

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”)  

Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”) 

Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick … Boom!”) 

Will Smith (“King Richard”)  

Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”) 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”)  

Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”)  

Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”) 

Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”)  

Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”)  

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Ben Affleck (“The Tender Bar”)  

Bradley Cooper (“Licorice Pizza”)  

Troy Kotsur (“CODA”)  

Jared Leto (“House of Gucci”)  

Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Caitríona Balfe (“Belfast”)  

Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley”)  

Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”)

Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”)  

Ruth Negga (“Passing) 

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

“Black Widow”

“Dune”

“The Matrix Resurrections”

“No Time to Die”

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”

==TELEVISION==

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu) 

“The Morning Show” (Apple TV Plus) 

“Squid Game” (Netflix) 

“Succession” (HBO) 

“Yellowstone” (Paramount Network) 

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

“The Great” (Hulu)  

“Hacks” (HBO Max)  

“The Kominsky Method” (Netflix)

“Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)  

“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV Plus) 

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Brian Cox (“Succession”) 

Billy Crudup (“The Morning Show”) 

Kieran Culkin (“Succession”)  

Lee Jung-Jae (“Squid Game”)  

Jeremy Strong (“Succession”)  

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”) 

Jung Ho-yeon (“Squid Game”)

Elizabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)  

Sarah Snook (“Succession”) 

Reese Witherspoon (“The Morning Show”) 

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Michael Douglas (“The Kominsky Method”)  

Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”) 

Steve Martin (“Only Murders in the Building”)  

Martin Short (“Only Murders in the Building”)  

Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”)  

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Elle Fanning (“The Great”)

Sandra Oh (“The Chair”)

Jean Smart (“Hacks”

Juno Temple (“Ted Lasso”)

Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Murray Bartlett (“The White Lotus”)  

Oscar Isaac (“Scenes From a Marriage”)  

Michael Keaton (“Dopesick”) 

Ewan McGregor (“Halston”)  

Evan Peters (“Mare of Easttown”) 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Jennifer Coolidge (“The White Lotus”)  

Cynthia Erivo (“Genius: Aretha”)  

Margaret Qualley (“Maid”)  

Jean Smart (“Mare of Easttown”)  

Kate Winslet (“Mare of Easttown”)  

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

“Cobra Kai”

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”

“Loki”

“Mare of Easttown”

“Squid Game”

2021 Golden Globe Nominations

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

BELFAST

CODA

DUNE

KING RICHARD

THE POWER OF THE DOG

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

CYRANO

DON’T LOOK UP

LICORICE PIZZA

TICK, TICK…BOOM!

WEST SIDE STORY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

JESSICA CHASTAIN, THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

OLIVIA COLMAN, THE LOST DAUGHTER

NICOLE KIDMAN, BEING THE RICARDOS

LADY GAGA, HOUSE OF GUCCI

KRISTEN STEWART, SPENCER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

MAHERSHALA ALI, SWAN SONG

JAVIER BARDEM, BEING THE RICARDOS

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, THE POWER OF THE DOG

WILL SMITH, KING RICHARD

DENZEL WASHINGTON, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

MARION COTILLARD, ANNETTE

ALANA HAIM, LICORICE PIZZA

JENNIFER LAWRENCE, DON’T LOOK UP

EMMA STONE, CRUELLA

RACHEL ZEGLER, WEST SIDE STORY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

LEONARDO DICAPRIO, DON’T LOOK UP

PETER DINKLAGE, CYRANO

ANDREW GARFIELD, TICK, TICK…BOOM!

COOPER HOFFMAN, LICORICE PIZZA

ANTHONY RAMOS, IN THE HEIGHTS

BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED

ENCANTO

FLEE

LUCA

MY SUNNY MAAD

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

BEST MOTION PICTURE – NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE (FORMERLY FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COMPARTMENT NO. 6 (FINLAND / RUSSIA / GERMANY)

DRIVE MY CAR (JAPAN)

THE HAND OF GOD (ITALY)

A HERO (FRANCE / IRAN)

PARALLEL MOTHERS (SPAIN)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

CAITRIONA BALFE, BELFAST

ARIANA DEBOSE, WEST SIDE STORY

KIRSTEN DUNST, THE POWER OF THE DOG

AUNJANUE ELLIS, KING RICHARD

RUTH NEGGA, PASSING

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

BEN AFFLECK, THE TENDER BAR

JAMIE DORNAN, BELFAST

CIARÁN HINDS, BELFAST

TROY KOTSUR, CODA

KODI SMIT-MCPHEE, THE POWER OF THE DOG

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

KENNETH BRANAGH, BELFAST

JANE CAMPION, THE POWER OF THE DOG

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, THE LOST DAUGHTER

STEVEN SPIELBERG, WEST SIDE STORY

DENIS VILLENEUVE, DUNE

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON, LICORICE PIZZA

KENNETH BRANAGH, BELFAST

JANE CAMPION, THE POWER OF THE DOG

ADAM MCKAY, DON’T LOOK UP

AARON SORKIN, BEING THE RICARDOS

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, THE FRENCH DISPATCH

GERMAINE FRANCO, ENCANTO

JONNY GREENWOOD, THE POWER OF THE DOG

ALBERTO IGLESIAS, PARALLEL MOTHERS

HANS ZIMMER, DUNE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE

“BE ALIVE” — KING RICHARD

Music by: Dixson, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter; Lyrics by: Dixson, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

“DOS ORUGUITAS” — ENCANTO

Music by Lin-Manuel Miranda; Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda

“DOWN TO JOY” — BELFAST

Music by Van Morrison; Lyrics by Van Morrison

“HERE I AM (SINGING MY WAY HOME)” — RESPECT

Music by Carole King, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Hartman; Lyrics by Carole King, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Hartman

“NO TIME TO DIE” — NO TIME TO DIE

Music by Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell; Lyrics by Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

LUPIN

THE MORNING SHOW

POSE

SQUID GAME

SUCCESSION

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

UZO ADUBA, IN TREATMENT

JENNIFER ANISTON, THE MORNING SHOW

CHRISTINE BARANSKI, THE GOOD FIGHT

ELISABETH MOSS, THE HANDMAID’S TALE

MICHAELA JAÉ RODRIGUEZ, POSE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

BRIAN COX, SUCCESSION

LEE JUNG-JAE, SQUID GAME

BILLY PORTER, POSE

JEREMY STRONG, SUCCESSION

OMAR SY, LUPIN

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

THE GREAT

HACKS

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

RESERVATION DOGS

TED LASSO

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

HANNAH EINBINDER, HACKS

ELLE FANNING, THE GREAT

ISSA RAE, INSECURE

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, BLACK-ISH

JEAN SMART, HACKS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

ANTHONY ANDERSON, BLACK-ISH

NICHOLAS HOULT, THE GREAT

STEVE MARTIN, ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

MARTIN SHORT, ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

JASON SUDEIKIS, TED LASSO

BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

DOPESICK

IMPEACHMENT: AMERICAN CRIME STORY

MAID

MARE OF EASTTOWN

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES, OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

JESSICA CHASTAIN, SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE

CYNTHIA ERIVO, GENIUS: ARETHA

ELIZABETH OLSEN, WANDAVISION

MARGARET QUALLEY, MAID

KATE WINSLET, MARE OF EASTTOWN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES, OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

PAUL BETTANY, WANDAVISION

OSCAR ISAAC, SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE

MICHAEL KEATON, DOPESICK

EWAN MCGREGOR, HALSTON

TAHAR RAHIM, THE SERPENT

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION

JENNIFER COOLIDGE, THE WHITE LOTUS

KAITLYN DEVER, DOPESICK

ANDIE MACDOWELL, MAID

SARAH SNOOK, SUCCESSION

HANNAH WADDINGHAM, TED LASSO

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION

BILLY CRUDUP, THE MORNING SHOW

KIERAN CULKIN, SUCCESSION

MARK DUPLASS, THE MORNING SHOW

BRETT GOLDSTEIN, TED LASSO

O YEONG-SU, SQUID GAME

Bad Boys 3 bests Dolittle at box office

For the weekend of January 17-19, 2020, Bad Boys for Life was the hit Will Smith needed after Gemini Man flopped, and Martin Lawrence has got to be happy to be there. It’s another hit for Sony, which had another Jumanji movie, and it’s getting steady legs for the heavily-nominated Little Women. (Meanwhile let’s forget their Grudge reboot dropped 75% in its third week.)

Dolittle had been originally envisioned as a new franchise, but after disastrous re-shoots and a bloated budget, Universal saw the stink bomb they had and moved it to January. Meanwhile they added more screen for 1917, which is that studio’s bright spot. (Universal’s Christmas release? Cats.)

The Rise of Skywalker has crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide.

Opens January 24

THE GENTLEMEN with Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant.

THE TURNING with Mackenzie Davis, Finn Wolfhard and Brooklynn Prince.

RUN with Sarah Paulson, Pat Healy and Kiera Allen.

THE LAST FULL MEASURE with Sebastian Stan, Ed Harris and Samuel L. Jackson.

Aladdin - Movie Review

Starring Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, Nasim Pedrad, David Negahban, Billy Magnussen and Numan Acar.

Written by John August & Guy Ritchie.

Directed by Guy Ritchie.

★★★ 

This movie balances nicely between being its own creation while also staying true to the original. The songs are all still here, there are many scenes that could be considered shot-by-shot remakes of the animated original, but it’s more comfortable in fleshing out some scenes and being a more fluid story when dealing with live-action/CGI elements.

First, how was Will Smith’s Genie? He was good. He wisely does not attempt to ape Robin Williams, but he makes the Genie his own. He gets the most laughs, as it should be, and he keeps things bouncing along. I also liked how they gave him a love interest, a new character: Dalia, Jasmine’s handmaiden, played by SNL alum Nasim Pedrad.

Second, how was the rest of the cast? The real standout of the movie was Naomi Scott as Jasmine. She has a great voice, and the character herself has been upgraded and given more to do, including her own new song. Mena Massoud (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) is good as Aladdin. Marwan Kenzari is a very different Jafar, but on its own level, I thought it still worked. 

Some of the humor of the original is edged away. The Sultan isn’t as bumbling, and Iago is creepier and doesn’t have any laugh lines.

Guy Ritchie does a good job of fleshing out Acraba, giving Aladdin plenty of buildings to jump from, and the musical numbers like “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali” are fun to see with real people dancing in them. They change some lyrics in the opening “Arabian Nights” number to justify people of all ethnicities (besides white people) in one city.

So yeah, I thought it was going to be terrible based on the original trailers, but I was pleasantly surprised. I liked it more than the live-action Beauty & the Beast.

Aladdin opens to $90 million

For the Memorial Day weekend of May 24-26, 2019, Aladdin was the predictable winner but it opened much higher than tracking had suggested. Despite mixed reviews to its marketing, the title, the familiar songs, and the idea of Will Smith as the Genie got people to flock to theaters for it.

Brightburn, the horror twist on the Superman origin story, never could build buzz. Meanwhile, Booksmart had fantastic reviews, but that message never got out to the general public.

Opens Friday
GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS with Kyle Chandler and Millie Bobby Brown.
ROCKETMAN with Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden and Bryce Dallas Howard.
MA with Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, Luke Evans and Allison Janney.

Suicide Squad - Movie Review

Starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cara Delevinge, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, Adam Beach, Karen Fukuhara, David Harbour, Common, Jim Parrack and Ben Affleck.
Written & Directed by David Ayer.

★★

Suicide Squad has so much potential, so many directions you could go with it, and yet this is probably the most frustrating movie of the year.

Let me start with what I liked.

1. Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn. Robbie's a movie star, and she has as much fun as possible as Quinn. The character has expanded leaps and bounds since she was first introduced on Batman: The Animated Series.

2. Jay Hernandez's El Diablo. Not only does he have one of the better archs in the movie, but there's a sad soulfulness to the way Hernandez plays him. Right now he might be best known as the guy from Hostel but this should be a career-booster for him.

3. Jared Leto's Joker. Joker's part isn't as big as one might think from the trailers, and because he's the freakin' JOKER, but I liked Leto's take. Joker's sexier, more gangster, and serpentine. I look forward to seeing more of him in future DC movies. Plus he and Quinn had real chemistry.

4. Viola Davis's Amanda Waller. It's nice to have an actress like Davis in this role, where she can give ten minutes of expository dialogue and have it not bother you. Plus she's as mean as anyone else.

5. The first half hour. We get introduced to these characters through Waller's expository dialogue, with title cards and theme songs that get us right in the mood. Thirty minutes in, I'm going "This is a movie I can really get on board with." And then it slowly slips away.

Honorable mentions to Will Smith's Deadshot and Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang. I kinda liked Killer Croc too.

So what didn't I like? I'll have to get into some spoilers to explain it.

There are some basic problems with the story that I can't believe weren't halted in development.

1. The main villains. The "Big Bad" the Squad is sent after is not the Joker. And the Joker is not part of the Squad. The Joker is on the edges of the movie, working toward getting Quinn freed while she's engaged in this mission. No, the villains are ancient spirits that can possess people. They are the Enchantress and her brother Incubus. Enchantress happens to possess Dr. June Moone (Cara Delevinge, out of her league), who is the girlfriend of Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Waller's right-hand man, and the guy in charge of the Squad while they're on their mission. Incubus barely registers. He's like Apocalypse from the recent X-Men movie, except he has maybe three lines.

Once brother and sister are reunited, Enchantress declares that she is going to build a machine to destroy humanity. Her machine apparently takes all night to build and it involves shooting lightning into the sky while garbage swirls around it. We've seen this too many times in blockbusters lately. Avengers and X-Men: Apocalypse come to mind. Even Ghostbusters had the same kind of sky-portal gigantic chaos type ending.

Enchantress also has the ability to turn people into these oddly-defined CG-creatures that are there for the Squad to kill in various ways. The entire concept of them was a bad idea. They make it feel like we're stuck in a video game, just killing random monsters along the way.

2. Too many characters. Slipknot is barely in the movie. And Katana is such an afterthought they would have been better off cutting her out completely. ("Oh yeah, by the way, her sword stores the souls of everyone she kills." "Huh.") Also, if only the Squad can go on such a dangerous mission, then why does Flag also have about 10 regular soldiers come too, one being Scott Eastwood? Why not send 20 soldiers and don't release these villains? Or just have Flag and the villains because this mission is too dangerous otherwise. This means the most interesting characters don't get enough to do. Courtney's having a lot of fun as Boomerang, but his skill set doesn't seem to come in handy for this mission.

3. The mission. Like I said, after the Squad's assembled, it kicks into video-game mode. They enter the city, they come across the CG foot-soldiers, they go deeper into the city. They kill more. There's a "surprise" rescue mission thrown in there which didn't make any sense when you think about it, and then they finally set their sights on Sky Laser Beacon to go defeat the ancient siblings. The movie's strength is its characters, but rarely in the last two-thirds do these characters get a chance to just stretch their legs and be.

4. Basic logistical choices. The climactic moment for Killer Croc is when he swims beneath the building in order to plant a strategic bomb, but even then he only leads some other swimming soldiers under the building, and one of the soldiers is the one who actually sets the bomb. Why not have Croc do it by himself? As for Diablo, when he takes his final form I thought "So this whole time, he could have done that?" Each Squad member has an explosive implanted in their neck so they can be killed if they try to escape, but apparently Diablo could have left at any time, no problem.

And then there's Enchantress. At one point she takes on four Squad members with two swords, and after some fighting, she just says "Enough!" and uses her powers to disarm them all. So why not start with that? If she's so powerful, why would she ever need to swing a sword?

5. Ham-handed choices. We know that Deadshot loves his daughter. But they go to that well so many times it started to generate groans rather than tug heartstrings. The dialogue every few minutes keeps emphasizing. "We're bad guys!" "Remember, we're the bad guys!" Show, don't tell. Also, they go for slo-mo at the wrong times.

6. The PG-13 rating. This movie felt held back by its rating. It should have been an R-rated crime movie. But before Deadpool, studios understandably thought they couldn't do that with superhero movies. (See the box office receipts of The Punisher.)

7. Death by committee. You can really tell this movie was meddled with by several people. Rewrites and reshoots resulting in an ultimate mess.

So between Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad, the DC Universe has two financially successful movies that bombed with critics. The next one on their release slate is Wonder Woman. Even more pressure is now put on that movie to be good.

After Earth - DVD Review

Starring Jaden Smith and Will Smith.
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

★½

M. Night Shyamalan has had a baffling career. If we pretend The Sixth Sense was his debut, then every movie he's made has been a little bit worse than the one before, until we get to the twin terribles of The Happening and The Last Airbender. While The Happening was silly, and The Last Airbender derivative, After Earth is just dull.  There's no sense of wonder involved. It feels more like Obstacle #3 before you can meet Lord Xenu.

Will & Jaden Smith play father and son Cypher and Kitai Rage, the former being a world-famous ranger, the younger living in his shadow. They are sent on a mission to Earth, a planet humans abandoned 1000 years ago. Their ship crashes, and Cypher's legs are broken, so Kitai must travel from point A to point B to retrieve a beacon so they can be rescued.

Some animals have evolved over those thousand years. They're more predatory. Most of the movie is Jaden Smith running through the jungle avoiding such animals. It made me think of the superior jungle scenes in Avatar or Apocalypto, movies made by much better directors than Shyamalan.

The film's central theme is about overcoming fear. Danger is real but fear is a choice. It leads to a fairly anticlimactic conclusion.

Weekend Box Office - 6/2/13

For the weekend of May 31-Jun 2.

1.  Fast & Furious 6 - $34.54 million ($170.38) - 2 wks (U) -64.5%
 . . . 3686 screens / $9370 per screen
2.  Now You See Me - $28.05 - 1 wk (LG)
 . . . 2925 / $9590
3.  After Earth - $27 - 1 wk (Sony)
 . . . 3401 / $7939
4.  Star Trek Into Darkness - $16.4 ($181.16) - 3 wks (Par) -56%
 . . . 3585 / $4575
5.  Epic - $16.4 ($65.16) - 2 wks (Fox) -51.1%
 . . . 3894 / $4212
6.  The Hangover Part III - $15.93 ($88.09) - 2 wks (WB) -61.8%
 . . . 3565 / $4468
7.  Iron Man 3 - $8 ($384.75) - 5 wks (BV) -58.6%
 . . . 2895 / $2765
8.  The Great Gatsby - $6.27 ($128.26) - 4 wks (WB) -53.7%
 . . . 2635 / $2378
9.  Yei Jawaani Hai Deewani - $1.65 - 1 wk (Eros)
 . . . 161 / $10,255
10. Mud - $1.23 ($16.87) - 6 wks (RA) -36.8%
 . . . 581 / $2110

After Earth was expecting to open to $40+ million a couple weeks ago, but the closer it got, the worse it looked.  Word of the stench broke out.  It was M. Night Shyamalan's biggest budget to date, but it won't do the numbers of The Last Airbender.

So the magic caper Now You See Me was able to capitalize with a likable ensemble.  Critics aren't in love with it either, but that didn't hurt it.

Men in Black III - Movie Review

Starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alice Eve, Bill Hader and David Rasche.
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.

★★★

The first Men in Black came out 15 years ago, and the second came out 10 years ago.  I can't remember much about the second one except that it wasn't near as good as the first.  But even so, the MiB team slide comfortably right back into our hearts, with the cocky Agent J and stoic Agent K keeping the aliens on Earth in line.

The plot here revolves around an alien villain named Boris (Jemaine Clement), who has escaped his supermax prison and stolen a time-travel device.  He intends to go back to 1969 and kill Agent K before he was imprisoned.  Therefore it's up to Agent J to stop him.

The best surprise of the movie is how good a job Josh Brolin does as the young Agent K.  He's not just doing a Tommy Lee Jones impression; we believe this is the same person forty years younger, and he and Smith quickly fall into the same chemistry that Smith and Jones have.

Boris is a good villain too.  He's up there with Vincent D'Onofrio's human cockroach in the first one. I don't even remember who the villain was in the second one.

Public service announcement: there's nothing at the end of the credits.

Random Movie Stuff - 5/2/12

- Due to positive reactions to Mark Ruffalo's take on the Hulk, Marvel's considering doing a stand-alone movie with him.

- Adam McKay (The Other Guys) is planning on remaking Uptown Saturday Night with Will Smith and Denzel Washignton.  The 1974 original had Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby as two normal men who get mugged, but then one learns he had the winning lottery ticket in his wallet.  They brave the criminal underworld to get the wallet back.

- Sharlto Copley (District 9, The A-Team) will star in Open Grave, about a man who wakes up in a grave filled with dead bodies and no idea how he got there.  He's also signed to play the villain in Spike Lee's Oldboy remake, which'll star Josh Brolin as a man who's kidnapped and left in isolation for 15 years, then let go without explanation.

- Tom Cruise is going to star in a Van Helsing movie.