Ford V Ferrari Review

Possible spoilers ahead!

The main plot of “Ford v Ferrari” begins on the day Ford Motor Company CEO Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) – acting on the advice of his VP,  Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) – tries to buy Ferrari (and its famous racing department), only to be denied  and insulted by its founder, Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone). Upon hearing this, an incensed Ford II orders his racing division to build a car that will beat Ferrari at the next 24 Hours of Le Mans (an event Ferrari has dominated several years).

There are only 90 days until the next Le Mans, so there’s any hope of Ford accomplishing this feat, the company is going to need the best of the best. But Iacocca knows just the man for the job, and he quickly hires retired racing legend and automotive engineer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and his entire team which includes the talented but hot-headed race-car driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale).

With the team now assembled it will be up to Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles do the impossible. This is assuming of course that they build the right car that can withstand a grueling 24-hour marathon race, find the right drivers, and perhaps more importantly of all: if the Ford ‘s own Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas), the senior executive vice president of Ford, stays out of their way.

A film like “Ford v Ferrari” should only appeal to car aficionados and fans of auto racing. While I enjoy an occasional  Indy car race, I am not a diehard racing fan and know very little about cars in general. Chances are if you’re like me you had little interest in going to the theater this past weekend. Yet, despite not being a car person, I sit here ready to announce that “Ford V Ferrari” is my favorite movie of 2019 (at least so far.)

There are several reasons for this. For one thing, “Ford v Ferrari” is far more than a racing movie. Oh, don’t get me wrong, “Ford v Ferrari” has plenty of racing action. Some of the best racing sequences I’ve ever seen in fact. There were times where it felt like I was in the car with Christian Bale, and I too felt the adrenaline rush.  I wasn’t alone in feeling like this, because there were several moments during the film when the entire audience gasped during the racing scenes.

Some of the car wrecks looked very realistic too like they were destroying actual cars and not CGI cars like in some other racing films. “Ford v Ferrari” also taught me several things about the racing world, especially how artists like Shelby and Miles were treated by the bigshots at Ford. Come to think of it that is the heart of this movie: the battle between creators and executives.

Matt Damon plays Carroll Shelby, a former race car driver and the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans winner. Early in the film Shelby is sidelined from racing due to a heart condition, but the man was able to put his car knowledge to good use by creating some of the most incredible racing machines ever built. Damon is top form as the legendary Shelby, giving the man a nice mix of humor and a bit of Texas swagger. He is also a very loyal guy to his friends, but if you get in his way, watch out.

Meanwhile, Christian Bale delivers one of his best performances ever as Ken Miles. Yup, you read that right, this is one of Bales’s best works to dare. Why? because it looked like the actor was having an absolute blast playing an arrogant, self-assured yet extremely talented driver. If there’s ever been perfect casting then this was it! Who better than Bale to play a man who balks at authority and drives the way he wants to?

That said, both characters are well developed in the film. Especially Ken Miles who has people depending on him, name his wife Mollie Miles (Caitriona Balfe) their son Peter (Noah Jupe). Both share Ken’s love for motorsports, and they support him no matter what. Mollie and Peter are the characters the audience can relate to the most because they’re watching the events unfold just like us. I liked the family dynamic between these three characters. Together they were the heart of the film.

“Ford v Ferrari” also features an array of supporting characters, including Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca, vice president of Ford. If it wasn’t for his idea, Ford would never have gone after Ferrari, so in a way, these events would not have occurred were it not for Iacocca.  Bernthal did a really good job as Iacocca, but I was surprised when his character all but disappeared in the second half of the film. He shows up. but his role was considerably smaller than it was in the first half of the film which was a shame.

If “Ford V Ferrari” has a villain it would be Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe, senior executive vice president of Ford. For years I’ve thought of Josh Lucas as the poor man’s Bradley Cooper, as if a film can afford or is unable to hire Cooper, they turn to Lucas. As you can probably guess, I’m not a fan of the actor, but if there is one thing Lucas does well plays bigshot jerks and that’s exactly what he does here. Beebe gets in the way of Shelby and Miles constantly, and while Shelby gets the upper hand more often than not, it would have been nice is Beebe got his in the end.

As I said earlier, “Ford v Ferrari” is my favorite movie of 2019 so far. This film was a joy to see, with stellar racing sequences, and intriguing business plot and with two award caliber performances from Matt Damon and Christian Bale. This is far more than just a racing movie, “Ford V Ferrari” is an epic adventure. That it’s a true story just adds to the entire experience. Do yourself a favor and go check out this spectacular film.

“Ford V Ferrari” score: A+

I paid to see that: Reign of Fire

Thanks to a solid cast, a cool premise, and a pretty good marketing campaign, “Reign of Fire” had the potential to be one of the best action movies of 2002.

All the right elements for a hit movie were there. But when “Reign of Fire” came out, it was one of the most disappointing movies of the year instead.

“Reign of Fire” starred Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale, and told the story of mankind’s battle with fire-breathing dragons in the year 2020. Everything began in a tunnel beneath London that was under renovation or something. The construction crews broke open a cavern occupied by long-dormant fire-breathing dragons. The creatures then fly to the surface and attack.

These suckers are tough, so even when one is killed, countless more take its place. This sounded like an interesting angle, but I don’t believe the movie ever offered an explanation for this. Anyways, the beasts wreak havoc, and in not time at all civilization has been all but wiped out.

When all hope seems lost, Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), the Dragon Slayer arrives on the scene. Thanks to his bald and bearded look, Van Zan looks an awful lot like TNU’s Laneit, and Van zan is just as crazy! Even though Zan is supposed to be a good guy, he often clashes with Quinn (Christian Bale), the leader of a group of survivors. I am not sure why they don’t like each other, since their goal is the same.

The female lead is named Alex, and she was played Izabella Scorupco (“GoldenEye”). She’s Van zan’s number one helicopter pilot, and is supposed to be good in a fight. But she spends most of the time just standing between the two guys and trying to get them to stop shouting at each other long enough so they can kill some dragons.

I remember Laneit and I were really excited when we saw the first trailer for “Reign of Fire.” We liked the cast, and it had been some time since anything featuring dragons had come out. But most of all, we were excited because this movie looked like mindless fun.

Oh, “Reign of Fire” was mindless all right, but not in a good way. Our main issue was the lack of what do you call em? Oh right…. dragons. There’s a dragon cameo at the beginning of the movie when the cavern is discovered. But after that, there’s only small glimpses of the damn things until the third act of the movie!

I lost count of how many times we had to watch America’s favorite bongo player and the future Batman argue with each other. If those two weren’t fighting, then Christian Bale was being overprotective of some kid in his group of survivors. If he wasn’t busy with that, then Bale would be acting all sorts of weird around Izabella Scorupco, because he apparently didn’t know how to act around girls.

It got so bad, that about halfway through the movie, Laneit turned to me and said: “There are dragons in this here dragon movie right?”

There were some dragons in “Reign of Fire,” just not enough I’m afraid. Ah well, I guess if nothing else “Reign of Fire” showed Matthew McConaughey could play more than just a stoner. And I suppose that this movie also gave Christian Bale a chance to work on his soon to be famous Batman voice.

TNU Box Office Rewind: The calm before the Hobbit

“Exodus: Gods and Kings” didn’t exactly set the box office on fire, but it still easily won the weekend.

Dance-off, bro. Me and you.

Playing at 3,503 locations, “Exodus: Gods and Kings” opened to an estimated $24.5 million this weekend. That’s Obviously not a good debut for a film that reportedly cost $140 million to produce. The movie’s audience was 54 percent male and 65 percent over the age of 25. 3D screens accounted for 44 percent of the gross, which is above-average for the format.

The film hasn’t been helped by all the horrible reviews its been getting. As of Monday morning, the movie is hovering around 28 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Word-of-mouth has been mixed, so it’s not surprising the movie earned a poor “B-” CinemaScore.

And the bad news will keep on coming this week when “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” hits theatres on Wednesday. If “Exodus: Gods and Kings”hopes to make a profit, it will have to do extremely well extremely well overseas.

Bat-Archer

In second place, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” eased 40 percent to an estimated $13.2 million. To date, Mockingjay has earned $277.4 million domestically and $334 million overseas.

Meanwhile in third place, “Penguins of Madagascar” added $7.3 million, which was off 33 percent from last weekend. Penguins has now grossed $58.8 million domestically, which has to be a big dissapointment for Fox.

And finally, Playing at 979 theaters, Chris Rock’s “Top Five” opened to an estimated $7.2 million this weekend. That’s a very solid debut, and a step up from Rock’s last movie last directorial outing, “I Think I Love My Wife,” which opened to $5.7 million at nearly twice as many theaters.

Your top five ugly Christmas sweaters this weekend:

1. Exodus: Gods and Kings – $24.5 million

2. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – $13.2 million

3. Penguins of Madagascar – $7.3 million

4. Top Five – $7.2 million

5. Big Hero 6 – $6.1 million

Told you I’d be back!

TNU Box Office Preview: Holiday movie season is here

The Christmas movie season finally kicks off this weekend with the release of “Exodus: Gods and Kings.” Ridley Scott’s big-budget retelling of the story of Exodus should easily take first place away from three-time defending champion “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.”

Playing at 3,503 theaters this weekend, “Exodus: Gods and Kings” is the latest film from Academy Award winning director Ridley Scott. Although the story of Moses has been told countless times, Scott’s version made headlines (and continues to do so)  by casting Christian Bale as Moses and Joel Edgerton as Ramses.

A lot of people complained, which could be why 20th Century Fox marketing has focused on the movie’s action, and not so much on who is starring in the film. And maybe its just me, but I think most of the tv ads for Exodus aired during NFL games, and other male driven shows.

“Exodus: Gods and Kings” has already earned $32.6 million from a handful of territories, including South Korea and Mexico. While at home Fox is expecting an opening somewhere in the mid-$20-millions this weekend.

That sounds about right, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Exodus made to at least $30 million. Keep in mind 2014 has been a good year for faith-based movies: “Heaven is for Real,” “God’s Not Dead” and “Son of God” were all over-performed at the domestic box office. And Darren Aronofsky’s big budget “Noah” opened to an impressive $43.7 million in March.

The bad news for “Exodus: Gods and Kings” is the film’s poor reviews (30 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and a mountain of tough competition in the next two weeks. Exodus could have trouble getting anywhere near $100 million domestically.

Then there’s Chris Rock’s “Top Five.” After premiering to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, the Chris Rock comedy had plenty of distributors to choose from. Ultimately, Paramount Pictures wound up getting the film for only $12 million.

Three months later Paramount is releasing “Top Five” in 979 theaters. This movie has a couple of things working in its favor, including some excellent reviews (93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and a star-studded ensemble cast that includes Rosario Dawson, and Gabrielle Union.

But with a low theatre count opening weekend, and a ton of new movies about to drop, “Top Five” may get lots in the shuffle. Still, the movie could make a run at third place this weekend with about $10 million.

TNU Box Office Preview: Scotchy, scotch, scotch

Move over you silly little hobbits, the Channel 4 news team is taking over! After nearly a decade, Ron Burgundy and crew return this weekend in “Anchorman: The Legend Continues.” Thanks to long, and I mean long,  marketing campaign and a rabid fanbase, Anchorman 2 should easily open in first place.

Today we think of “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” as a comedy classic, But when the movie opened In July 2004, it peaked at number two, earning $28.4 million. Anchorman ended its domestic run with $85.3 million. The comedy was a modest hit at best. The real success came through strong word-of-mouth, and excellent DVD sales. It wasn’t long before the Legend of Ron Burgandy grew to what it is today.

Paramount’s marketing machine has been working overtime to make sure everyone knows this flick is hitting theatres.The marketing avalanche kicked off in 2012 when Will Ferrell appeared as Ron Burgandy on Conan O’Brien’s talk show. In the last few weeks, Ron Burgundy has popped up everywhere. He co-anchored a North Dakota newscast, he’s sold Dodge Durangos, and even made a stop at Emerson College in Boston.

Anchorman 2 opened at 3,450 locations on Wednesday. Last time I checked, the film had already grossed over $8 million. As of Tuesday, Paramount was expecting $40 to $45 million for its five-day start. However, I think the final number will be more like $53 million.

“American Hustle” expands to around 2,500 locations after opening at six locations last weekend. Sony’s marketing has focused on the talent involved: Every trailer and TV spot points out that the movie comes from the director of Oscar winners “The Fighter” and “Silver Linings Playbook.” The ads also make it clear this movie is loaded with an A-list cast featuring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence.

From what I’ve seen, critics love this movie, as of this morning “American Hustle” sits at 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Not bad, not bad at all. I suspect more good reviews are headed its way after this weekend.

The movie has already racked up seven Golden Globe nominations, and with the heart of award season nearly upon us, expect Hustle to have long legs in theatres. Look for “American Hustle” to open around $20 million.

Meanwhile, Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks” is expanding to around 2,200 theaters this weekend, “Saving Mr. Banks” tells the story of how Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) convinced P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) to allow Walt Disney Pictures to adapt her book Mary Poppins. With a likable cast, and the director of “The Blind Side,” I expect Mr. Banks will do solid business during the holiday season. For its first weekend in wide release, I think  “Saving Mr. Banks” earns around $15 million.

The only other new movie this weekend is “Walking with Dinosaurs.” Opening in about 3,200 locations, the family film follows a group of CGI dinosaurs on a journey. Where to I have no clue because all the marketing focuses on the comedy aspects. Aiming all the marketing towards a younger audience, may not have been the smartest move by the studio.

Fox has already tried switching gears in the advertising, telling audiences “Experience the adventure that seeks to give kids what Avatar offered to adults.” A little too late if you ask me. Even with 3D showings, “Walking with Dinosaurs” will have a hard time getting past $10 million.

 

TNU Box Office Rewind: Cooling the fire

The first weekend in December is typically slow at the box office, mostly because people are busy holiday shopping and whatnot. With much of the country snowed in this weekend, the box office numbers were even weaker than usual. However, Disney Animation’s “Frozen” earned just enough to take first place away from “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” Meanwhile, the lone newcomer “Out of the Furnace” was a major flop.

The animated “Frozen” fell 53 percent to $31.6 million, but that’s the highest post-Thanksgiving gross ever ahead of “Toy Story 2” ($27.8 million). “Frozen” has now earned $134.3 million, and it remains on track for a total around $250 million domestically. Overseas the film has earned an additional $55,900,000.

After a stellar Thanksgiving holiday, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” plummeted 64 percent to $27 million this weekend. Yeah, that’s a mighty drop, but it shouldn’t be surprising. By now fans of the books have seen the movie, and Jennifer Lawrence fans have also seen Catching Fire. And it’s not like the movie is hurting.

To date, Catching Fire has earned $336.7 million, and it should still finish with at least $400 million at home. While overseas Catching Fire has earned an outstanding $336,700,000, for a worldwide total of $673,365,000. Cha-ching!

At 2,101 locations, “Out of the Furnace” opened to a dismal $5.3 million this weekend. That’s even worse than 2012’s “Killing Them Softly,” a similarly dark film that opened to $6.8 million on the same weekend last year. I think the movie was way too grim for this time of year, and the marketing wasn’t  compelling enough to bring people in.

How this bomb affects Christian Bale’s box office  in the future remains to be seen, but we should get some idea once David O. Russell’s “American Hustle” hits theatres next week.

Furnace’s audience was 60 percent male, and 77 percent were over the age of 25. It received a poor “C+” CinemaScore, which suggests this is going to fade from theaters quickly, unless of course “American Hustle” is well received. If that’s the case, it could spark some interest in “Out of the Furnace,” but it will be too late.

In fourth place, “Thor: The Dark World” fell 57 percent to $4.7 million. To date, the Marvel sequel has earned $193.6 million, and it should pass $200 million well before Christmas. Then we have “Delivery Man,” which moved up a spot to fifth place. The Vince Vaughn comedy added $3.8 million for a total of $24.8 million. Word-of-mouth seems to be helping, but the film has a little ways to go before it earns back its $26 million budget.

In other movie news, “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” crossed over the $100 million mark after pulling in $855,000 in its seventh weekend. Believe it or not, Johnny Knoxville’s prank comedy has out-earned big budget flicks liked “Elysium,” “White House Down, and ” The Lone Ranger.” The best news for Paramount? Bad Grandpa cost only $15 million to produce.

Your top five movies this weekend:

1. Frozen – $31.6 million

2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – $27.0 million

3. Out of the Furnace – $5.3 million

4. Thor: The Dark World – $4.7 million

5. Delivery Man – $3.8 million

 

 

TNU Box Office Preview: The place where holdovers rule

If you’ve seen “Frozen” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” this is a good weekend to go Christmas shopping.

 

The only new nationwide release this weekend is Relativity Media’s “Out of the Furnace.”  The gritty action flick is playing at 2,101 theaters, after opening at a few locations on Wednesday. Unfortunately for Relativity, “Out of the Furnace” won’t do much business, even with Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, and Woody Harrelson on board.

I gotta admit though,  I’m very interested in seeing how Christian Bale does at the box office post-Dark Knight. Not just in this movie, but in “American Hustle” too. From what I can tell, reviews for “Out of the Furnace” have been mixed, and while star power may bring some people in, the bleak storyline may keep many more away.  Furnace cost $22 million to make, but it will barely make it to $8 million this weekend.

Furnace’s failure means the battle for first place will be between Disney’s “Frozen” and two-time defending champion, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” Last weekend Catching Fire won with $74.2 million from Friday-Monday, but Frozen was surprisingly close with $67.4 million during the same frame. Both films come with great word-of-mouth, and reviews. It’s possible Catching Fire could be number one again, but  I think this is the week “Frozen” takes the top spot with $35 million, while Catching Fire drops to second with around $32 million.

And next week….

Does Superman know Batman is hitting on his girl?

In the next few months, there are a bunch movies I can’t wait to see. And as strange as it may sound, “American Hustle” is near the top of the list.

 

SDCC: Warner Bros. Announces Superman/Batman Film for 2015

Near the end of the Warner Bros. panel at San Diego Comic Con, director Zack Snyder took the podium. He thanked the audience for supporting “Man of Steel,” and then said:

“It’s official that we are gonna make another Superman movie… The truth is you don’t want me to tell you what the movie’s about, but I can say that maybe there’s a single element that will be in the film that I could help you out with…”

Snyder then introduced “Man of Steel” actor Harry Lennix to the stage to read something, saying, “We’re not adapting this thing, but it is the thing that will help tell this story.”  Lennix proceeded to read a passage from the Frank Miller classic comic The Dark Knight Returns. Harry Lennix read:

“I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to come, in all your most private moments. I want you to remember my hand at your throat.  I want you to remember the one man who beat you.” Yup, I think everyone is still in shock.

As you’d expect, most of geekdom fainted, squealed and more than a few probably peed on themselves. Here’s the official Press release from Warner Bros.:

 

NEXT DC SUPER HERO MOVIE IN PRE-PRODUCTION

Director Zack Snyder Unites Superman and Batman in One Explosive New Film

BURBANK, CA, July 20, 2013 – On the heels of the worldwide success of “Man of Steel,” director Zack Snyderis bringing together the two greatest Super Heroes of all time—Batman and Superman—for the first time on the big screen. The announcement was made today by Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, and Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution,Warner Bros. Pictures.

The current hit, “Man of Steel,” has taken in more than $630 million at the worldwide box office to date, and climbing. Along with its star, Henry Cavill, the upcomingfilm brings back Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane. The new Batman has yet to be cast.

Snyder is co-writing the story with David S. Goyer, who will then pen the screenplay. Production is expected to begin in 2014, with an anticipated release date inSummer 2015.

Silverman stated, “Zack Snyder is an incredibly talented filmmaker, but beyond that, he’s a fan first and he utterly gets this genre. We could not think of anyone better suited to the task of bringing these iconic Super Heroes to the screen in his own way.” Kroll added, “We are thrilled to be back in business with Zack and his team on this next movie. The success of ‘Man of Steel’ is a wonderful testament to the love and support that both fans and new audiences, worldwide, have for these characters. We are very excited to see what Zack has in store for all of us.”

Diane Nelson, President, DC Entertainment, noted,“Superman and Batman together on the big screen is a dream come true for DC fans everywhere. All of us at DCEntertainment could not be more excited for Zack’s continuing vision for the DC Universe.”

Zack Snyder, who made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con today, breaking the news to audiences there, later said, “I’m so excited to begin working again with Henry Cavill in the world we created, and I can’t wait to expand the DC Universe in this next chapter. Let’s face it, it’s beyond mythological to have Superman and our new Batman facing off, since they are the greatest Super Heroes in the world.”

The new film brings back Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder as producers. This time, Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas are serving as executive producers, along with Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan.

Thomas offered, “Whilst our ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy is complete, we have every confidence that Zack’s fresh interpretation will take the character in a new and exciting direction. His vision for Superman opened the door to a whole new universe and we can’t wait to see what Zack does with these characters.”

The film is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, and Batman characters created by Bob Kane, published by DC Entertainment.

After the initial shock passes, I think most people will focus on the line “The new Batman has yet to be cast.” A couple of weeks ago Christian Bale said he was done wearing the cowl, but I think Warner Bros. would be foolish to not try to get him back. This probably means writing a check with a lot of zeros, but you know what? It would be worth it. And even if he says “no,” at least the studio can say “We gave it a shot.” They could also sign Joseph Gordon-Levitt to take over as Bats, most fans would be okay with that.

Either way, buckle your seat belts kids, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.