Say Hey To The SUICIDE SQUAD!

Well, there they are.  There's your Suicide Squad.

Director David Ayer has been tweeting like a mad man as his Suicide Squad movie gears up and now he's given us our first look at Task Force X, featuring Captain Boomerang's duct tape boots, Rick Flagg's big ass rifle, Deadshot's chrome dome, Killer Croc's acne issues and Harley Quinn's complete lack of pants.  My wife is gonna have some serious issues with that last one.

There are a few others in there as well!  One of those other ladies is Enchantress, though I'd be hard pressed to tell you which one or, for that matter, who the other female character is.  We've also got what appears to be a tattooed quarterback and personality vortex Adam Beach with cornrows.

Look, I'm on board with this one.  In fact, while Batman v. Superman should be the easier sell, I'm far more fascinated by Suicide Squad.  David Ayer makes movies that are ugly in the best possible way and I suspect this is going to act as a strong counterbalance to Zack Snyder's sweeping visuals and majestic canvases.  And we cannot undersell how big a deal it is that Will Smith is joining the DCU and he's not playing a) the lead role or b) the hero.  There was time not too long ago when such a thing would have been unfathomable.

Bring it on, Suicide Squad.

UPDATED: I Feel Bad For That Leaked BATMAN v. SUPERMAN Trailer

Warner Bros has a big IMAX event scheduled for Monday night where they planned to unleash the first official teaser for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Then the internet went and ruined everything.  That's kind of how the internet rolls.

Even if the footage hadn't been taken down, I wouldn't run it here because I have a long-standing hatred of leaked trailers, especially ones that consist of shaky phone camera footage with muffled audio that occasionally drifts out of focus.  This is a bad way for any movie to be introduced to the public, let alone something as grandiose as Batman v. Superman.  The fact that the entire trailer is made up of nighttime combat footage and overlapping voiceovers only exacerbates things.  To be honest, there isn't really a whole lot to see here, but it's a teaser trailer so that's fine.  This should really be about tone more than anything else.  And, unsurprisingly, that tone can be most accurately described here as "dour as shit."

What's worse, the trailer was leaked just hours after the official release of that newfangled Star Wars trailer, which was met with such overwhelming enthusiasm by the nerd community at large that anything released in its wake could only be considered a disappointment.  Even if this BvS trailer had been more remarkable, between the poor quality footage and the shadow of Skywalker looming large, the deck was simply stacked against it.  What's worse, because of their big IMAX event, Warners can't even utilize Marvel's clever strategy of countering the leak by immediately releasing a high quality official version.

UPDATED: Well I called that one wrong.  Warner's did end up releasing the official version online in advance of their IMAX event, which certainly makes sense.  Once it's out there, it's out there. You might as well make it look as good as possible.  See it embedded below.

Make no mistake about it.  This is a very big deal.  In a few weeks Marvel will release the money printing machine that is Age Of Ultron and before rounding the corner into the truly epic weirdness of Phase 3.  Meanwhile, DC is just starting to roll out their cinematic universe with nothing but the promising-yet-problematic Man Of Steel as a foundation.  Frankly, audiences have no idea what to expect going forward and Warners has a long road ahead of them convincing the world that they've got something that's both compelling as/uniquely different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Right now their strongest indicator is probably Suicide Squad, which will certainly feel nothing like any other comic book movie to date, for better or for worse.

I'm probably a little more optimistic than most (I quite liked Man Of Steel!) but there's no way to overstate the value of a first impression and blurry iPhone footage is the polar opposite of what Warners was shooting for here.  The DCU is already on shaky ground when it comes to public opinion.  Here's hoping they can turn it all around.



Photo credit to Redditor Thomassaurus

Introducing The Daley Planet Podcast!

I'm now at the age where a bunch of my friends have kids, which means that they no longer have time to go to the movies.  That sounds like a horrifying reality that I want no part of, even though I do want kids eventually.  It's a conundrum.

A few of my parent-friends (among others) have told me that they often don't listen to our Daley Screening podcast because they haven't had a chance to see the movie in question, which doesn't really make for an enjoyable listening experience.  We initially tried to combat this by doing movie news stuff at the top of each episode, but eventually it just meant that episodes were approaching two hours in length which is a tad unwieldy and perhaps a bit daunting.

Problem solved!

Introducing the Daley Planet podcast, a spin-off of our original Daley Screening podcast.  That's right, we're splitting up the podcast into two discreet branches.  The Screening will continue to discuss new releases and some old throwbacks in great spoilery detail, while the Planet will focus entirely on the latest news, rumors, casting and trailers in the world of movie magic.  We're still playing with the format a bit and working on some recurring bits to include, so if you have any suggestions (for either podcast) leave them in the comments below.

The good news is, because I don't want to pay double the web hosting fees, subscribing to our podcast feed either on iTunes or on SoundCloud will get you access to both shows as they become available.  I'm trying to work out a more routine release schedule too; since we typically record on the weekends, I'm shooting for Planet episodes to be come out on Mondays and Screening episodes to come out on Wednesdays or Thursdays.  We'll see how it works going forward.  Some weeks we might only do one show or the other, as scheduling requires.

Check out our first episode below, in which we talk about Simon Pegg writing the next Star Trek, Tom Hardy's potential replacements on Suicide Squad, and the impending resurgence of The X-Files.

Enjoy!

Podcast Episode 42: THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Proves A Whole Lot Of Nothing

I tend to look forward to the avalanche of serious, high class, IMPORTANT MOVIES that overrun the box office each December, all searching for a taste of that Oscar glory.  But I must admit that so far this year I've been largely disappointed.  I think that the Best Actor race is going to be very hotly contested (as it usually is) and while most of these performances will absolutely deserve all that praise and more, the films themslves simply have not measured up.  There's no better example of this conundrum than The Theory Of Everything.

Eddie Redmayne does some astonishing work, both physically and emotionally, as the brilliant cosmologist Stephen Hawking.  Watching him slowly succumb to the ravages of Lou Gehrig's Disease is a heart breaking affair and it's a wonderfully realized transformation.  Felicity Jones matches Redmayne punch for punch as Hawking's wife Jane Wild, who is put in the unenviable position of havingtory to not only spend a lifetime caring for her crippled husband (who's initially given a prognosis of two years to live) but also raising three children without the benefit of live-in assistance.  The strain and pressure that puts upon Jane, as well as the guilt the Hawking experiences over his lack of self-sufficiency, hardly makes for an ideal household.  More than anything else, this is a story about the burgeoning young romance that slowly and inexorably crumbles apart.

That's all well and good, but the movie never really manages to break the surface in regards to the themes, characters, their relationship, or the plot.  In fact, I'm not even sure if the movie really has a plot, strictly speaking.  It's more just a series of events tied together by a Rocky IV-esque number of montages.  There's seemingly no bigger message to unpack here.  I was hoping for something examining the price of success at the expense of family, or the ability of hope and strength to overcome incredible obstacles, or even just a keen juxtaposition of intellectual achievement set against extreme physical degradation.  None of those ideas are actually present in the film, despite director James Marsh's attempt to convince you otherwise in the last ten minutes.

I'm honestly left wondering if this film even needs to be about Stephen Hawking, as the film doesn't seem particularly interested in his work or personality.  You could essentially tell the exact same story with fictional protagonists and the only thing that would be missing is the name recognition that sells tickets.  It's a shame, because Redmayne and Jones really are doing great work and the sun-drenched cinematography by Benoit Delhomme is fairly stunning.  Unfortunately, the largely hollow script by Anthony McCarten simply strands everyone, most notably the audience.

This week marks the first episode of the show sans Bart.  Thankfully, Jamie stepped up in his absence in order to keep the podcast train rolling.  We also talk about the newly minted cast of Suicide Squad, Benedict Cumberbatch taking on the mantle of Doctor Strange, and the intriguing first trailer for the unfortunately titled Terminator: Genisys.

Jamie also makes a smart suggestion which I've been contemplating for a while now.  I ask you readers, would you prefer two shorter podcasts each week, one covering movie news and one examining a new film in detail, or do you like the single stream, longer format that we're currently producing?  I'm open to suggestions!

Next Week: Some combination of The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies and/or The Imitation Game.

Podcast Episode 39: Floating In ROSEWATER With The BIG HERO 6

This week's episode of the podcast tackles two very different movies aimed at two very different audiences.  But that's how we roll here at Daley Screening.  We take all comers.

Jon Stewart's Rosewater is an admirable freshman effort, depicting the story of Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari who was imprisoned by Iranian authorities and held in solitary confinement for 118 days.  Gael Garcia Bernal anchors the film with a lovely performance as Bahari.  Bernal not only conveys the anguish of Bahari's psychological torment, but also finds remarkable moments of levity and solace.  Stewart deserves credit for demonstrating the humanity of everyone involved, including Bahari's eponymous tormentor.  It would be easy to portray Rosewater and his superiors as paranoid, mustache-twirling dolts, but instead the audience walks away realizing that, from their perspective, the Iranian authorities were simply responding to a reasonably credible threat in the only way they knew how.  As Bahari tells Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones (who plays himself), America and Iran have more in common than most people realize or admit.  The film perhaps overreaches in a few of Stewart's more stylistic choices, but in the end it's a minor quibble.  It's a strong showing for Stewart's first film, even if it doesn't quite deserve some of the breathless adulation I heard coming out of Telluride.

Disney's Big Hero 6, adapted from an obscure Marvel title, is an absolute joy for both children and the grownups who take them to the theater.  We decided to go to a matinee screening with a friend and her kids (one of whom had never been to a movie theater before!) and everyone walked away smiling.  The story is just a little slighter than I would have liked and there are a few key moments where the movie really spells things out for the younger audience in a way that's almost eye-rollingly obvious for adults.  If you've seen a movie before, then you can basically see how the entire plot is going to play out after about 20 minutes, but I guess that's what separates Disney Animation from Pixar at this point.  Pixar doesn't talk down to its audience, ever.  But even if Big Hero 6 is lean on story, it's BIG on characters.  Baymax, the giant inflatable nurse robot, is equal parts sweet and hilarious.  He also sets a new standard for fist bumps.  But each of the supporting characters is totally awesome in their own distinct ways.  There's someone here for everyone to love, whether it be girly-girl Honey Lemon, hard-nosed speed demon Go Go Tomago, fastidious Wasabi or the overly enthusiastic Fred, who was MY FAVORITE.

Jenna and Jamie return to talk about all this plus casting developments for Suicide Squad, James Bond and Captain America, as well as Universal's misguided decision to reforge their classic monsters as modern day action adventures and the honest potential of the upcoming Rocky spinoff.

Next week: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Podcast Episode 35: Behold The FURY Of Marvel vs DC!

Last week was a doozy in terms of superhero movie news, with Marvel announcing that Robert Downey Jr. will be appearing in Captain America 3 to kick off their infamous Civil War story while DC finally announced their full slate of films through the end of the decade.  Along with the expected individual entries for characters like Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Green Lantern, WB also revealed the casting of Ezra Miller as The Flash, two Justice League movies filmed back-to-back, (but released two years apart) and a Suicide Squad movie to be helmed by David Ayer.  Due to a number of factors I didn't get a chance to write about any of this last week, so Bart and I decided to tackle all of these topics plus a few tangents (Might Will Smith actually play a DC villain?  Who's a better director, Zack Snyder or Joss Whedon?) in Episode 35 of the podcast.  As a result, this week's episode is a wee bit long and somewhat lopsided, but I think the conversation flows naturally so I didn't want to trim sections of it wholesale.

Eventually we get to talking about David Ayer's current film Fury, in which Brad Pitt plays a World War II tank commander fighting deep inside Germany at the tail end of the war.  Despite Pitt's star power, it's really an ensemble film and I think the work of Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal and yes even Shia LaBeouf really elevates the proceedings, as each character is extremely compelling in their own particular way.  There's also plenty of smartly staged tank combat, a style of warfare that seems well suited for cinema and yet feels largely underutilized by Hollywood.  But the action scenes, while intense, serve almost like release valves for the ratcheting tension that accumulates in the time between battles.  It's here where we see the true psychological horrors of war, which feel just as devastating as the physical toll wreaked upon the American GIs.

Suicide Squad was easily the most surprising title on DC's docket, but it's little wonder that the announcement was made just days before Fury hit theaters.  It's only too easy to connect the dots between this war film depicting some not-so-nice men on a mission and a movie in which comic book villains are enlisted by the government to go on suicide missions for the promise of amnesty if they somehow manage to survive.  In fact, it almost feels like Jon Bernthal's whole performance in Fury is an audition for that Suicide Squad.  We should be so lucky.  Still, with names like Will Smith, Tom Hardy, Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie all circling the film it seems all but certain that DC's first follow-up to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is not going to tread lightly.

Next Week: Keanu Reeves enacts puppy-vengeance in John Wick!