New UK trailer for Ridley Scott's "The Counselor"

When this project was being talked about a year or so ago I must admit I didn't give it much thought. It seemed like little more than a weigh station for Scott on the road to some other higher-priority project like the Prometheus or Blade Runner sequels. As footage has gradually leaked out though it seems clearer and clearer that this not a practice round before the big tournament. This is the real deal. The Cormac McCarthy story is one of an LA lawyer deciding to dip his toe into the drug biz to make a quick score like his parents might have done in the 60s. But its not the 60s and the people running the business in SoCal these days are not the hippie couple down the block but very, very nasty, conniving, unforgiving bastards with little (if any) fear of anyone or anything.

Featuring Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz (in a rare serious role) "The Counselor" is quickly moving up my list of must see films for this fall.


"The Counselor" opens October 25th.

The top 10 movies for the weekend of August 16 - August 18, 2013

1) The Butler	$24.6 Million
2) We're the Millers	$17.9 Million
3) Elysium	$13.6 Million
4) Planes	$13.38 Million
5) Kick-ass 2	$13.33 Million
6) Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters	$8.7 Million
7) Jobs	$6.7 Million
8) 2 Guns	$5.8 Million
9) The Smurfs 2	$4.7 Million
10) The Wolverine	$4.5 Million

The number one movie a year ago this week was Liongate's "Expendables 2" which debuted in the top spot to the tune of $28.5 million in ticket sales.

(Green indicates new release)

Ten best Robert DeNiro films

On the occasion of his 70th birthday I've put together a list of what I consider to be the iconic actor's 10 best films. It should be no surprise that most of these come from the first 25 years of his career, before he began to see films mostly as a way to raise captial to invest in Manhattan real estate. In spite of the fact that all the films on this list were released in the previous century the man himself is still here and working furiously and who knows? He might pull one more rabbit out of his hat before he throws in the towel.

1) Raging Bull - 1980 - A frightening, brutal, thrilling portrayal of a life lived in blood.

2) The Godfather Part II - 1974 - Picked up the baton from Brando and nearly matched him stride for stride.

3) The King of Comedy - 1982 - Just f***ing creepy.

4) Heat - 1995 - In spite of having to play off the woefully miscast Amy Brenneman De Niro manages to bring weight and pathos to the role of a big-time thief trying desperately to get out before time overtakes him.

5) Taxi Driver - 1976 - You lookin' at me?

6) Meet The Parents - 2000 - Not just one of De Niro's best but one of the best adult comedies of the past 20 years.

7) Analyze This - 1999 - In which he found the perfect comedic fodder in his own career and the perfect comedic foil in Billy Crystal.

8) Goodfellas - 1990 - De Niro captures the desperate edge of an outsider navigating his way through the belly of the mob beast.

9) Ronin - 1998 - In this much overlooked effort De Niro turns what could have been a paycheck film into a mid-career highlight. One of the few films he carries by strength of presence rather than quality of performance.

10) Brazil - 1985 - An unexpected bit part in this darkest of comedies pointed the way to a future 2-track career, though no one could have guessed it at the time.

That's it. My list of Robert De Niro's 10 best. Happy Birthday Mr D!

"Thor 2" Now with more Loki

"You must be truly desperate to be adding scenes at this late date."

Upset with the news that Loki wouldn't be appearing in "Avengers: Age of Ultron"? Despairing over the fact that "Thor: The Dark World" might be your last chance ever to see Tom Hiddleston's wonderfully infuriating god of mischief work his two-faced magic? Well the good folks at Marvel - ever with their ear to the pulse of the fanbase - have heard the mournful wails rippling across the cybersphere and decided to up the Loki quotient in The Dark World. Says director Alan Taylor in an interview with Collider:

"We're doing full scenes, scenes that were not in the movie before. We're adding scenes, creating scenes, writing scenes for the first time... We realized how well Loki was working in the movie, and we wanted to do more with him. So it was that kind of thing, it was like, 'Oh, we could do this, we could jam this in here because he's such a wonderful guy to watch do his stuff.'"

So step away from the ledge Loki fans or you'll miss all the added arrogance, sarcasm, bitterness and jealousy-driven duplicity that makes him so much fun to hate.

New trailer for "300: Rise of an Empire"

This new trailer doesn't cover a lot of new ground but there's less of Eva Green's massive forehead and more of Lena Headey in it; which can only be a good thing. Noam Murro directs.


"300: Rise of an Empire" opens March 7, 2014.

Trailer for John Turturro's "Fading Gigolo"

John Turturro writes and directs and stars alongside Woody Allen and Sharon Stone. Allen's character is a bookstore owner down on his financial luck who decides pimpin' out his buds might be a way to balance the books. He enlists the help of his friend Turturro who reluctantly agrees to be turned out and zany hijinx ensue. It actually looks pretty funny. Check it out.


"Fading Gigolo" doesn't have a release date as of this writing but we'll keep our eyes open.

Off the beaten track trailer of the day - "Rabbit Woman" (Mujer Conejo)

Let's say you're shooting a film about a Chinese lady who lives in Argentina and has to flee Buenos Aires to avoid being targeted by a Triad. Said young lady winds up in the pampas and must now deal with an infestation of mutant bunnies. Let's say funds dry up before you complete your picture (though I can't imagine why that would happen). What do you do? My guess is that you animate whatever is left. Nobody'll notice anyway.

The top 10 movies for the weekend of August 9 - August 11, 2013

1) Elysium	$29.8 Million
2) We're the Millers	$26.4 Million
3) Planes	$22.2 Million
4) Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters	$14.4 Million
5) 2 Guns	$11.2 Million
6) The Smurfs 2	$9.3 Million
7) The Wolverine	$8 Million
8) The Conjuring	$6.6 Million
9) Despicable Me 2	$5.9 Million
10) Grown Ups 2	$3.6 Million

The number one movie a year ago this week was Universal's "The Bourne Legacy" which debuted in the top spot with a $35.7 million weekend take.

(Green indicates new release)

RIP: Karen Black

Karen Black was a constant presence on movie screen from the late 60's through the early 80's. Her first big role was in Dennis Hopper's seminal counterculture film "Easy Rider". She followed that up with starring roles in, among other films, "Five Easy Pieces" opposite Jack Nicholson (for which she received an Oscar nomination) and a few years later in Robert Altman's sweeping treatise on an America in transition; "Nashville".

She kept busy over the past two decades working in TV and on numerous short films and low budget independents but there was a time when Karen Black was the epitome of the sultry Hollywood star, every bit the equal of contemporaries like Faye Dunaway.

Karen Black was 74.

New trailer for Ridley Scott's "The Counselor"

What I've always loved about Ridley Scott's work is that he doesn't pull any punches in his depiction of the real world as a sprawling, overbuilt mess where the have's revel in their "have-ness" and spend their time playing unethical, dangerous power games while the have-nots are either their errand boys or simply collateral damage. "The Counselor" seems to carry on that tradition beautifully. I hope the actual film lives up to the trailers 'cause the trailers look amazing.


"The Counselor" starring Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz hits theaters this October 25th.